Heads up, ya-all!

It is Tuesday, August 17, 2010. I'm quite certain you knew that already, but did you know what this also means? It means CHRISTMAS is just four months away!! Less if you consider the time the decorations start going up and the rampant commercialism kindles. A few short months, grumpy, and Christmas time arrives! I'm going to make some mulled cider sometime this week just so I can get into the spirit of the season sooner.

Com'on, get in the spirit, will ya? And lose that cheerless demeanor, it's just not welcomed here.

I love Christmas. I've always wanted to spend it somewhere in a New England village with lots of snow, narrow streets, and colonial-style architecture. Instead, I get to spend my Christmases in a barren dessert with ubiquitous roadwork, unnatural palm settings accompanied by man-made oases and white tigers. Lovely. But it isn't all that bad. I have some very fond childhood memories of Christmas here in Vegas. Simpler times when I had my grandparents with me.

Well, that's it my little Grinches. I just wanted to remind you that it's almost Christmas and you should feel joy, happiness, merriment, and, yes, some nostalgia. M'kay Ebeeezer?

And speaking of Ebeneezer, I'm going to leave you with two of my favorite Christmas songs. The first one is called "December the 25th" and it's from my all-time favorite Christmas movie: Scrooge with Albert Finney. It's a musical that you just have to make a part of your Christmas movie collection (I know, it's a musical. But some musicals are actually pretty good!). Mr. Fezziwig has lead vocals on this one and he's just so darn jolly!

The second song is the classic "Gabriel's Message." Listen to the arrangement of this song. It's so contemplative and evocative of a snowy, gray-sky Christmas Day. Turn your volumes up for this one.