"Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!"

One of my favorite moments from any Christmas movie:

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Linus Van Pelt

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Painting Music

So much of the music I listen to on a daily basis is done in my car or on my ipod. The car has a factory installed stereo which isn't too bad, but CD's skip when it's very cold or very damp. Pretty much unless it's Spring or Summer. The ipod is nice, and it's a godsend at work, but I can only take so much music channeled directly to the eardrum.

Knowing the Holidays were approaching and having a painting project (the living room) to finish before it arrives, I took the old Sony CD player and receiver out of storage, hooked it up to my speakers and...whoa! I forgot how good music sounds on a decent stereo. I mean, REALLY GOOD! I realized I've been doing myself a disservice by relegating my collection to inferior output devices only. Don't get me wrong, the car stereo is a necessity and I love the ipod, but to really HEAR your music you need to go back to the beginning. Back to when you were a teenager and had nothing but time to sit back, read the CD inserts and absorb the music. Really listen to it.

We don't always have the time to do this anymore as we get older, so what better time than while working on an indoor project. I'm glad to say that at times it was like hearing the discs for the first time. Some of the music that helped me through my painting project:

- Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" (great for doing delicate trimming)
- King Crimson "Live in Chicago 2008"
- The Beatles "Revolver"
- Adrian Belew "Side Four Live"
- Tears For Fears "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending"
- Ani DiFranco "Knuckle Down"
- Porcupine Tree "Fear of a Blank Planet"
- NoMan "Schoolyard Ghosts" (the production and the arrangements on this disc in particular were stunning on my stereo).

Now if I could only figure out a way to get this stereo hooked up in my work cubicle!