No, not the tune I dislike that almost everyone sings. A better one. This performance is at a nice tempo for the instrumental arrangement played, but not a suitable tempo for singing. Still, you’ll get the idea.
[audio:http://thirdworldcounty.us/Media_Files/Track_06.mp3]Christmas Pipes
Go Tell It!
A very brief snippet of a James Taylor performance of “Go Tell It On the Mountain”
[audio:http://www.thirdworldcounty.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Go-Tell-It-James-Taylor.mp3]Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.When I was a seeker
I sought both night and day,
I asked the Lord to help me,
And he showed me the way.Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.He made me a watchman
Upon a city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.
Christmas “Chili”
Since there is no “chili” spice in this (aged anaheim chilis–the base of standard chili recipes’ sauces–are completely absent from this recipe), it’s not actually a chili, and I’m not actually reproducing the recipe here, just giving a pointer and an instruction: Go here. Follow the recipe and add the suggested green chilis and tomatoes amendment.
Done. It’s green and red (with some white) and delicious.
Keep “X” in Xmas!
Some folks get fixated on the silliest things. I can recall folks, speaking from their profound, almost impervious to reason, ignorance, condemning the formulation “Xmas” as being somehow disrespectful of Christ. *sigh* Are these same folks condemning the Chi Rho symbols so common in Lutheran and RC and other heavily tradition-oriented church use? Do these same folks become incensed at their own use of the ignorant display of a “fish symbol” on their own cars? *heh*
Sidebar: the “IXTHUS-fish” symbol was a very, very early “Chrismon”–a symbol meant to represent the Person, life and work of Jesus Christ–formed from the first (Greek) letters of the phrase, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” In case it flew by you, “X” is the first letter in the Greek word we transliterate as “Christ.”
“Xmas” IS “Christmas” just as much as the Chi Rho (Chr–first two Greek letters of “Christos”) symbol is a long-established and respectful Chrismon for “Christ”.
So, folks, let’s put X back in Xmas, OK? At the very least, perhaps it will open doors for a conversation on just Who “X” is.
The Nativity
A note from C.S. Lewis:
THE NATIVITY
Among the oxen (like an ox I’m slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow
Which, with the ox’s dullness might at length
Give me an ox’s strength.Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Savior where I looked for hay;
So may my beastlike folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence.— C. S. Lewis, from POEMS, edited by Walter Hooper, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977
Announcing: Carnival of Christmas, 2009
Folks, get your Christmas posts ready for the Carnival of Christmas, hosted by Cathouse Chat, again this year.
Note the specifications:
A Carnival for anything Christmas related. You can share Christmas stories, Christmas poems, Christmas podcasts, Christmas parodies, Christmas pictures, etc. The only requirement is that the post be respectful of the Holiday and in the Spirit of Christmas cheer and kindness.
Kat adds these clarifications:
…first of all, absolutely no political or advertising posts. I want to make sure the Carnival remains focused on the season and that it celebrates the joy, solemnity and unity that the season ought to bring. Secondly, I earnestly request that all submitted posts be dated from November and December of this year, 2009.
*sigh* And here I was going to simply submit pastiches of past Christmas posts… Oh, well. 🙂
Getcher fingers tappin’ folks.
Hallelujah
I could have used these folks in a handbell choir (pretty much the same skill set).
Found at TF Stern’s Rantings. Thanks, TF.
A Reminder
As crass commercialism and political correctness collide to create “The Contemporary (Generic) Holiday Season” once again this year, may I–once again–offer a modest proposal not to just defend a traditional “Merry Christmas” greeting but to stop and consider the season?
The Gift
Trees and lights and bells and carols,
Bright-wrapped packages piled high.
Winter’s sharp blow joins the heralds:
“Christmastime is nigh.”Mailmen hurry; shoppers scurry;
Time is fleeing–Oh! so fast.
Parties gather, loud and merry,
Grander than in Christmas’ past.Pause a moment to remember
That a Savior’s simple birth
Still stirs angel wings in susur’–
“Peace to men; goodwill on earth.”Now the Father’s hands that molded
The first Adam in the clay,
Gently ’round a manger folded,
Cradle a Baby in the hay.So, the Greatest Gift extended–
Gift of love and peace to all;
God’s great love to man descended
Calls us to a stable stall.Tiny Babe, Eternal Son;
First step to Calv’ry, vict’ry won.©1990-1991 David W Needham
Never Got Under the Tree @twc
Well, my Wonder Woman had a couple of small surprises up her sleeves, I suppose because Barnes & Noble wasn’t as quick to deliver as Amazon.com was (similar packages ordered at virtually the same time–the B&N actually first–arrived at hugely different times). Listening to one right now, Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace, and enjoying the living daylights out of it. Have to do it in my office with the door shut, of course, since I like music at performance levels. It doesn’t mean I actually get the air movement of a live performance, but it’s closer than listening at “background music” levels, as far too many people do. But–even more “of course”–it’s worlds and worlds better than people who listen to stuff at excessively loud levels that are impossible without electronic amplification taken to its most hideous extreme.
Of the 22 cuts on the album, I count only two that I will NOT rip for storing on my mp3 player. That’s moderately to partly amazing, but then Yo-Yo Ma has made some amazingy musical decisions in both pieces to include and arrangements/performances of those pieces–few of which he uses as a showcase for his own considerable talent and skill on the cello. In fact, one of the ensemble pieces featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Dave Brubeck and Matt Brubeck is pretty wonderful itself, simply for the ensemble work of the two cellists playing together (No, Dave Brubeck doesn’t play cello :-)).
Really nice stuff–especially all the varied treatments of Dona Nobis Pacem, long one of my all time favs. Do yourself a favor and check this album out. Next up, The Priests. We’ll see how they fare…
Remarkably well. I didn’t want to see the PBS program earlier, because of several reasons, so all I knew of this buncha guys was what had come out in Mass Media Podpeople comments. Since Mass Media Podpeople are universally idiots, that was no help. Not bad voices (OK, very, very good, though not to the quality of Placido Domingo or Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, et al), very good arrangements and choral/instrumental performances. Sucker that I am for well-performed vocal and choral music, I know I’ll spend a lot of time with this one.