Since it's the end o' the year, I suppose I should do some kind of thematically appropriate post. So, now that it's too late to do anything about it, here's a travel tip (maybe you could use it next year): apparently, in Bethlehem, PA, they drop a giant marshmallow peep to ring in the New Year. I've seen a few mentions here and there of Raleigh's giant acorn, which seems to strike some as odd. Doesn't seem all that strange to me. Perhaps that's how the folks in PA feel about the big peep.
Of course, along with dropping big things out the sky, the other thing people like to do this time of year is make lists.

It's decidedly not wintry 'round these parts lately. But here's a really interesting article from the NYTimes about winters past. And they're not talking blizzards from the 1960s or 1940s, either, but 1920s and 1890s. Some great photos in the accompanying slideshow. But none, alas, of the troops with flamethrowers who apparently hit the streets for snow removal in 1920.

XDU wrrld music top 20 (year ending 31 dec 06) ::

Panama! Latin, Calypso, and Funk on the Isthmus, 1965-1975 :: various
the In-Kraut, vol. 2 :: various
La Cantina: Entre Copa y Copa :: Lila Downs
Que Viva la Musica :: Ray Barretto
Best Off :: Lizzy Mercier Descloux
Boulevard de l'Independence :: Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra
Siete Rayo :: Descemer
Aprelhagem :: DJ Dolores
Radio Thailand :: various
Estudando O Pagode :: Tom Zé
Rough Guide to Urban Latin :: various
Rough Guide to the Music of Madagascar :: various
Lunático :: Gotan Project
Bagels and Bongos :: Irving Fields
Savane :: Ali Farka Toure
Rio Baile Funk: More Favela Booty Beats :: various
Rough Guide to Bhangra Dance :: various
Echu Mingua :: Angá
Radiodread :: Easy Star All-Stars
Time for Change :: Apache Indian

I have nothing in particular to say, since I'm still feeling sick and we didn't do all that much of anything today. But I wanted to share this holiday display photo from Staten Island. What's worth mentioning, to me, is not that the Xmas decorations have taken over the entire small front yard but that a display like this isn't all that unusual for SI. They're everywhere...

Home. A bit more of an adventure than expected. Traffic from SI to Philly was a nightmare and I would have missed my flight, except it was delayed for 35-40 minutes. And yet we ended up getting in only 5 min. after our original arrival schedule. So a lot of panic but no permanent damage. I seem to be on the outside edge of a cold, where I've been on/off all week. Possibly from traveling. Possibly from spending a bit of quality time with a smoking relative. Possibly from a flu-ridden colleague at work who would not Go The Hell Home last week.
Now we're watching the Xmas episode of Worst Jobs. Like fun!!
Hope everyone had big fun holidays. Or enjoyably low-key. Or wherever in between is good for you.

Okay, just one more shot of holiday linkage: Vegas Xmas. Altho the article would be much improved by a slideshow... I'm pleased to see that the holiday spirit has been getting amped up a bit. As much as I loved the Christmas we spent in Vegas, it was a bit thin on the decor. Once you got past the Bellagio Conservatory there wasn't much to see. Sounds like that's changing. I guess the downside is that the crowds will be getting ever bigger.

Merry Xmas Eve, y'all. It was a pretty quiet day 'round these parts. As detailed elsewhere, we put together a ramp and Sarah hosted the Cool Yule edition of Divaville. A yummy enchilada casserole was consumed. Stockings were unstuffed. Gifts were exchanged. Bags were packed. Blog posts were written...



Finally, here's one last blast o' retro Xmas goodness from the fine folks at Swapatorium.

Ms. Pants left the following task on her way out of blogland for the hols, and I'm nothing if not cooperative... (hey, no one asked you!)

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: The Most Honourable Georg the Mad of Fritterton on the Marshes Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

As babbled previously, this afternoon I was at XDU for two hours o' wrrld musical fun. Now it is, in fact, possible to do an almost all Xmas-themed wrrld music show. But I just wasn't feeling it this year. Possibly because I already did it last year. Possibly cos it's not Xmas Eve but Festivus (!!). At any rate, I chose, instead, to do a best of '06 recap. Granted, a hugely idiosyncratic one. Not the most popular wrrld CDs from the XDU top 88.7 of '06, but my faves from the CDs I reviewed for XDU. For those keeping score at home, I'd say about half of my absolute top 10 is drawn from stuff I reviewed. Others to be drawn from a shortlist including: Los de Abajo, Descemer, DJ Dolores, Gotan Project, Lila Downs, Toumani Diabate, and probably some others I'm forgetting. But w/o a doubt my top 3, in an order that varies depending on mood, are:
Gili Garabdi :: Fanfare Ciocarlia
Bonfires of Sao Joao :: Forro in the Dark
Lamp Fall :: Cheikh Lo

serenity now!

My advice is: don't slam your camera in the door of a VW.

For those who never learned not to play with their food: Pimp That Snack. If bigger is better, than biggest is best. Apparently. This seems, at least from looking at this site, to be a wholly British craze. I wonder if there are US-based food pimping sites and that's where all the American kids making 20-lb M&Ms are hanging out. Aside from the sheer insane wonderfulness of gigantic snax, it's also a look at the (to me) previously little-known world of UK junk food

(this post has been largely rewritten from the original -- altho my larger point about presents and trees was correct, I was wrong on about every single detail, including the name of the song)
I noticed, while listening to Xmas music, that in earlier versions of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" there's a line that goes "...and presents on the tree" but later takes on the song tend to change it to "...and presents under the tree." The later version makes sense, of course, since under the tree is where presents are put these days. But the custom of presents on the tree is much earlier (I was trying just now to track down when that was the norm, with no luck) than the 1940s when the song was written (1943, when it was a big hit for Bing Crosby). I've noticed that lots of the Xmas songs from the 40s tend to be explicitly nostalgic. Which had more than a little to do with the war, I'm sure. Also, since it was written a year after the fiercely nostalgic "White Christmas" it may be that was an influence on songwriters of the time.

Happy Solstice, y'all. Time for another holiday grab-bag:
Xmas art car
Santas on the march
the Nativity of the Awesome (and it is, indeed, the awesomest thing evah!)

Another of the great divides of American culture: the fruitcake. Now, I must admit, I love a good fruitcake. Of course, I have a pretty hardcore definition for what counts as a good fruitcake. The one I make (which is a variation on Alton Brown's free range fruitcake) is, if I do say so myself, damn good. Most commercial fruitcakes I've tried are frankly lacking. Enough so that I understand the popular belief that all fruitcake sucks.
Of course, I am totally down with any fruitcakes made by a monkey.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 17 dec 06) ::

A Secret Gate :: Mostar Sevdah Reunion
World Musette :: les Primitifs du Futur
Legends of Life :: Mostar Sevdah Reunion and Ljiljana Butler
Oye :: Aterciopelados
Hava Nargile: Turkish Rock, 1965-1975 :: various
Rio Baile Funk: More Favela Booty Beats :: various
the Way the Wind Blows :: A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Electric Gypsyland 2 :: various
Infinito Particular :: Marisa Monte
Panic in Babylon :: Lee "Scratch" Perry

Here's the playlist from this evening's show (which I forgot to mention I'd be doing). I am, I have to say, inordinately proud of the fact that I was able to hit all my playlist requirements and still play a ton o' Xmas music. My one regret -- I forgot to bring my Run-DMC disc with "Christmas in Hollis" on it. I'd expected there to be some Xmas comp or Run-DMC comp at the station that had it. But, alas, no. Still, a fun fun couple hours o' radio. I'll be back on the air this coming Saturday from 1-3pm for Mondo Mundo. I'll probably be focusing on my fave wrrld releases from the last year. Also, make sure to tune in on Sunday, Xmas Eve, from 3-5pm for the special holiday edition of Divaville, hosted by Sarah.

The National Design Triennial exhibition is going on now at the Cooper-Hewitt in NYC. We went to the one six years ago (unless it was the 97 show we went to; I'll have to see if I've still got a copy of the catalog. We've been looking for things to do in Manhattan and this might be a contender. Here's a review from this morning's NYTimes. What I find odd about this review is the sense I get that the critic is personally offended by any design object that does not meet her standards of utility. Sure everyone's entitled to their opinions (especially critics, who get paid to have opinions). But when you start making ex cathedra pronouncements that this or that thing should not exist because you don't think anyone needs such a thing... well, I'm not really taking anything else you say all that seriously.

Time for this week's holiday grab bag o' fun:
Vintage photos (check)
Holiday mashups (check)
Space age bachelor snacks (check)
and, of course, the holiday season can't really get going without a good old fashioned Santa Rampage!!

¡viva santarquía!

Stop. Treating. Us. Like. Children.

(preach it, Brother Wheaton!)

The holidaze mayhem continues on in full effect. We've got our tinsel trees deployed with all their wacky decor. It's driving me crazy not to be able to get pictures of this year's trees. Instead I'm trying to satisfy the jones with the Merry Kitschmas pool on flickr (from whence comes this cool photo). Tons o' fun.

One thing I've definitely noticed this year, is that there's a definite interwebs subculture of Xmas geeks. I especially appreciate the sites like Basic Hip and FaLaLaLaLa.com who do the mudlarking thru Ebay and yard sales and such to find obscure and cool Xmas music. Cos having bought all of the Christmas Cocktails CDs, it's nice to have somewhere else to go to get my holiday lounge on.

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 10 dec 06) ::

the Way the Wind Blows :: A Hawk and a Hacksaw
A Secret Gate :: Mostar Sevdah Reunion
Die Cowboy Die :: Quetzal
These Are Serious Times :: various
Infinito Particular :: Marisa Monte
Blues Around the World :: various
Heritage :: Mamadou Diabate
Panic in Babylon :: Lee "Scratch" Perry
Rio Baile Funk: More Favela Booty Beats :: various
World Musette :: les Primitifs du Futur

As previously threatened, I subbed Divaville this afternoon and did two hours of Sinatra. Total blast, even with the too-boring-to-discuss technical fubars that stressed out the first 30 minutes of the show. Here's the playlist. There was an actual request. Which I almost wasn't able to fill. Someone called to ask for "In the Still of the Night" and Ring A Ding Ding was the only Sinatra album I didn't bring. Fortunately, I had some of Christa's CDs and there's a version of it on the Live in Paris disc.
I'm pretty pleased that I managed to stick to mostly stuff I'd not played in previous Sinatra specials. Of course, there's tons of material. I could've easily done another hour without feeling I was stretching to fill time. There was an all-duet set I'd figured out. I mostly skipped over the early Dorsey/James years. Plus I didn't get too many of the saloon/torch songs into the show this time either. And so on...

Good: the Xmas Parade this morning thru the streets o' Chapel Hill and the People's Republic of Carrboro. Much fun was had by all. Like I said, I was rolling with a crew of new VW Beetles, all decked out in a Yuletide stylee. Complete w/ antlers and a big red balloon nose for the lead bug-deer. This is one of spacegrrl's pics. (more on why it's not one of mine to follow)

Good: after the parade we had lunch at Owen's 501 in CH. Mmm... medium rare burgers.

Bad: Driving home from lunch we heard the XDU DJ announce that the person doing the wrrld music show hadn't arrived. At this point it was after 1.30 (the show starts at 1). Since I'm wrrld music director, I'm responsible for staffing that block, so I called the DJ on air, had Sarah drop me off on her way to returning Spacepod, and ended up doing the last hour+ of today's Mondo Mundo. Needless to say, all tracks played were long. Needless to say, that particular DJ will not be doing any more wrlld shows any time soon

Bad: here's what I learned today -- if you have a digital camera, don't put it in the pocket of a very long coat you're wearing (especially if you're not used to wearing very long coats), as there is a good chance you will close a car door on the end of your coat. And if that end is the end with the pocket which contains your camera, very bad things will happen to said camera. Which is why I have no pictures of today's parade. At least, though, there weren't any undownloaded photos on the camera before it got trashed.

...and the day after too.

For those locals of a calendar-marking bent, tomorrow is the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Xmas Parade. UMJ is sitting out this year. Instead I'll be passengering with these fine people. It'll be colder 'n (insert expletive of yr choice here) but I'm sure a fine time will be had by all.
On Sunday (3-5pm), I'll be hosting Divaville. This coming Tuesday (12/12) is the birthday of Frank Sinatra (would've been his 91st, I believe). So I'll be doing a two-hour all Frank! blowout special. I was sure I'd done a full show of nothing but Sinatra at some previous point but none of the old playlists I can find are for anything more than one hour blocks. At any rate, I'm looking forward to it. Please tune in (88.7fm) if you're able. Or log in at wxdu.org.

Congratulations Bill and April!!

Happy Repeal-of-Prohibition Day to y'all. I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm totally down with the whole repealing-prohibition thing. But does December need another holiday? Especially a fabricated, Cinco de Mayo-ized boozefest.

Watched Year Without a Santa Claus tonight so I guess that's it. I've now drunk the kool-aid and am in the early stages of Xmas-iness (and almost two weeks earlier than last year) (what?!? like you don't search your old blog posts to figure out what you were doing last year) (which reminds me, I need to buy some eggnog). Anyway. Sarah asked an important question: which Miser Brother is better? Of course, my natural affinity is for all things wintry so I prefer Snow Miser. But I have to admit that I think the Heat Miser section is a better production number. Better singing, better staging, and the little Heat Miser dancers are just funnier than their Snow Miser counterparts.

Logan Whitehurst died earlier today. (Heard this via wordnerdy) I didn't know Logan Whitehurst but the Junior Science Club CD was one of those unexpected joys, the sorta thing that keeps me checking the rock CDs on playlist.

Just a short break from the usual blather about music, food, generalized weirdness and snark to mention that noted tool-for-America John Notlob has finally come to terms with reality-based... well, reality and stepped down as UN Embarrassment. That's the good news. The bad news, of course, is that Donald Rumsfeld's looking for work...

XDU wrrld music top 10 (week ending 03 dec 06) ::

Hava Narghile: Turkish Rock, 1965-1975 :: various
Rio Baile Funk: More Favela Booty Beats :: various
¡Tierra Caliente! Music from the Hotlands of Michoacan :: Conjunto de Arpa Grande "Arpex"
Die Cowboy Die :: Quetzal
Infinito Particular :: Marisa Monte
World Musette :: les Primitifs du Futur
Blues Around the World :: various
Panic in Babylon :: Lee "Scratch" Perry
Oye :: Aterciopelados
Soneros Jarochos :: Grupo Mono Blanco

Tonight we went to see the Rat Pack: Live at the Sands. Wow! What an amazing show. If it lost something by being in a concert hall (as opposed to a Vegas showroom, like the Rat Pack is Back when we saw it at the Sahara), it also gained from bigger production values and a bigger band. Plus, I'm more familiar with the Rat Pack ouevre at this point, so I recognized a lot more of the songs and the shtick. And I'll give 'em credit for sticking with the groan-inducing, not-even-close-to-PC humor that defined the Rat Pack shows. The standout performers tonight were Stephen Triffit, as Frank, and David Hayes, as Sammy. Triffit has a huge voice and he really nails Sinatra, both when singing and when doing the banter and shtick. According to the playbill, Sammy Davis, Jr. reportedly thought Hayes did the best vocal impersonation of him he'd ever heard. And I'd have to agree. It was stunning. Hayes doesn't resemble Sammy quite as much, and his dancing, while good, isn't up to the original. But he has Sammy's moves and energy. Nigel Casey, as Dean, also has the moves down and he does a really good job in the second act, which is more like an actual Rat Pack show, with lots of shtick and goofing around. The problem is that he's basically a tenor and almost every time he was singing, I ended up thinking Bobby Darin way more than Dino. Songs included: "Angel Eyes", "Fly Me to the Moon", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Too Close for Comfort", "Just Once in a Lifetime", "Evening in Roma", "Sway", "Birth of the Blues", "That's Life". If you're even half as into this stuff as I am, you'll perhaps recognize that some of those are actually from later than the Rat Pack years. True enough, but I'm not gonna let hardcore purism detract from a good night out. In particular the finale ("My Way", not my favorite song) seemed straight outta the Sinatra at Caesars years and it was frikkin' amazing.



super good times!

You may need to be (or to have been, at some point) a New Yorker to find this article (a guide to having a crappy weekend in NYC) hilarious. What I like about it is the way it both parodies and expresses the inherent contempt many NYC denizens feel for all things touristical. And yet, buried underneath the withering scorn is useful advice that I whole-heartedly endorse, for traveling to New York or anywhere else. (Tourists are people who never leave home, etc. etc.) And yet, buried underneath the useful advice is more withering scorn.

good times...