Today,
just some leftover random thoughts before closing the book of the 2011
holiday season. No adventures or misadventures to speak of; no wit, wisdom
or astute insights, either. Nope, today I got nothin', except
some meandering streams of consciousness. Those who bore easy read on at
your own peril...
....Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas music. I just like hearing it more during the week of Christmas than in the week after Halloween. So when I got in the car on December 26, I was pleasantly surprised to find both my favorite music stations playing their regular stuff again rather than the all-Bing/all-Chipmunks/all-Christmas/all-the-time that’s been playing since early November. Hallelujah!
But on that subject: Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra?
....Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas music. I just like hearing it more during the week of Christmas than in the week after Halloween. So when I got in the car on December 26, I was pleasantly surprised to find both my favorite music stations playing their regular stuff again rather than the all-Bing/all-Chipmunks/all-Christmas/all-the-time that’s been playing since early November. Hallelujah!
But on that subject: Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra?
I have
friends who wouldn’t be caught dead even inadvertently listening to, what they
term the musical blasphemy of Mannheim Steamroller. They’d rather listen to the
Singing Dogs do “Jingle Bells”. So I’d probably put them in the Trans-Siberian
camp. On the other hand, I own three Mannheim CD’s, which these same friends
would mock me for if they only knew. So put me in the Chip Davis/Mannheim
column. I can live with it.
It
hasn't always been that way, though. Working in radio and, before that,
steadfastly listening to radio, a lot of music has passed through these
tin ears over the years. I'm familiar with a ton of genre's, groups,
styles, singers and songs. A lot I liked, some I didn’t, but Mannheim wasn’t on
my radar at all, not during their first decade anyway. But when they started landing on mainstream
radio in the late-80's, that's when I really started getting into them.
And
though the arrangements may not resonate to some, even after all this
time I find the distinctive Mannheim Steamroller sound still holds
up. It stands out in a very crowded field, especially at Christmas. Yeah, TSO
is newer and hipper, and I'll probably continue to catch crap from the music
snobs I hang out with. But Mannheim Steamroller will always be a breath
of fresh winter air to me.
....I don't like when Christmas falls on a Sunday, as it did this year. Not quite sure why, either. It should be cool going to church on the same day we celebrate the birth of Christ. But we go to church nearly every Sunday. So this past Sunday didn’t feel like a special day at all- it just seemed like Sunday, even though the entire service was Christmas themed. Except for finding a few nice things for me under the tree, this past weekend had the familiar feel of almost any other weekend.
But when Christmas happens on, say a Tuesday, that Tuesday is like no other Tuesday the entire year. Almost everything is closed and it feels like the whole world- if only briefly and only in my mind- comes to an anticipatory stop; as if it's really in awe over the arrival of the baby King. Believer, atheist or somewhere in-between, no other holiday or observance prompts this type of peaceful sacredness. So from now on I vote that Christmas Day can only land on, say, a Tuesday. Yeah, I like Tuesdays.
....Oh, I lost four more pounds in the week between December 17 and December 24. But with so many goodies and cookies still in the house, the odds of reclaiming at least part of that loss seem to be increasing by the day. I think I need to hire a fat guy to come over and eat everything else post haste before I eat it all myself. It's all so yummy! But I really hope the loss sticks because I'm almost back to where I was on my wedding day. That's kind of the goal, now.
....Finally, Amy asked the other day if there was any particular Christmas tradition I'd like to see started or re-started in our own home. Don't know why I didn't have much of an answer- I couldn't really think of any. I thought back to Christmases as a kid, and while always fun, if there were any established 'traditions' they escaped my tiny and too excited little mind. What'd Santa bring?! That’s all I was focused on. Later when grown, I spent a lot of years alone at Christmas, or working, and often forgot- or tried to forget- that Christmas was even happening.
Today, besides the different breakfast fare (pancakes and sausage) and opening our stockings and presents on Christmas Day, we've never really gone out of our way to do anything out of the ordinary. Besides, once December 24 arrives, the next two days are usually a blur anyway; getting from one set of relatives to the other, or receiving visitors at our place. Sometimes the pace is set so frenetic, that by the time the sun comes up on December 26th, except for the clean-up and bills to pay, I often wonder if Christmas happened at all.
And I don't say that to be cynical or Scrooge-esque; it’s just that sometimes I really miss Christmas.
But then I stopped and thought back to the 15 years spent at KNCO when I worked almost every Christmas Day the entire time I was there. At first, because I was single, I volunteered to do it so the married guys with kids could stay at home. But after awhile, and after being put in charge of the music, I actually wanted to be there on Christmas. It was the only time I could really influence how the radio station sounded. During the hours after 8 pm Christmas Eve, through about midday Christmas morning, I purposely slanted the music in a direction it'd never go otherwise.
The regular format was chucked and poor 'ol tanked Grandma didn't get run over by a reindeer during those hours, either. The music was softened to traditional, reverent and sacred. On such an important holiday, the office was empty and quiet, the phones seldom rang- if ever- and during the hours I worked, I used them as my own little private moments of worship. It was my time to- finally- have a chance to soak in Christmas and remember why we- or at least everyone else- had the day off in the first place.
Odd as it sound, on Christmas, working at KNCO was where I found my peace and my joy. I even read from the Bible- on the air- generally from the second chapter of Luke. Imagine pulling that off in the antiseptic world of cookie-cutter corporate radio today? How many feathers would that ruffle? I don't know because I'm not sure anyone would bother to try. Oh, at the few remaining smaller independent stations out there, where creativity and individuality haven't been completely wrung out yet, some lone spirit-filled announcer might. But likely not anywhere else on the commercial band.
However, the stuff I did on the radio 20 years ago is probably a little too unsophisticated and outdated for what radio sounds like these days. It worked then, but probably wouldn't fly now. And that's okay. Times change. Tastes change. Audiences change. Anyway, I'm not on the air anymore, KNCO let me go long ago, and if I bothered to show up to work on Christmas where I'm at now, they'd have to pay me double time and then fire me for working on a holiday without permission. So I guess Christmas mornings on the radio are the lone tradition I had that I won't be able to recreate or ever bring back.
Anyway, finding the joy and spirit of Christmas ultimately has to be up to me. It can't be contrived, made up or faked. It either happens for real, or it really doesn't; which for me, has often been the case. It shouldn't be that hard either, because I know deep down what Christmas is really all about. So often though, making that connection between heart and head stick has been like trying to fuse together two wires with a soldering iron set at room temperature. It might hold, but not for very long.
....I don't like when Christmas falls on a Sunday, as it did this year. Not quite sure why, either. It should be cool going to church on the same day we celebrate the birth of Christ. But we go to church nearly every Sunday. So this past Sunday didn’t feel like a special day at all- it just seemed like Sunday, even though the entire service was Christmas themed. Except for finding a few nice things for me under the tree, this past weekend had the familiar feel of almost any other weekend.
But when Christmas happens on, say a Tuesday, that Tuesday is like no other Tuesday the entire year. Almost everything is closed and it feels like the whole world- if only briefly and only in my mind- comes to an anticipatory stop; as if it's really in awe over the arrival of the baby King. Believer, atheist or somewhere in-between, no other holiday or observance prompts this type of peaceful sacredness. So from now on I vote that Christmas Day can only land on, say, a Tuesday. Yeah, I like Tuesdays.
....Oh, I lost four more pounds in the week between December 17 and December 24. But with so many goodies and cookies still in the house, the odds of reclaiming at least part of that loss seem to be increasing by the day. I think I need to hire a fat guy to come over and eat everything else post haste before I eat it all myself. It's all so yummy! But I really hope the loss sticks because I'm almost back to where I was on my wedding day. That's kind of the goal, now.
....Finally, Amy asked the other day if there was any particular Christmas tradition I'd like to see started or re-started in our own home. Don't know why I didn't have much of an answer- I couldn't really think of any. I thought back to Christmases as a kid, and while always fun, if there were any established 'traditions' they escaped my tiny and too excited little mind. What'd Santa bring?! That’s all I was focused on. Later when grown, I spent a lot of years alone at Christmas, or working, and often forgot- or tried to forget- that Christmas was even happening.
Today, besides the different breakfast fare (pancakes and sausage) and opening our stockings and presents on Christmas Day, we've never really gone out of our way to do anything out of the ordinary. Besides, once December 24 arrives, the next two days are usually a blur anyway; getting from one set of relatives to the other, or receiving visitors at our place. Sometimes the pace is set so frenetic, that by the time the sun comes up on December 26th, except for the clean-up and bills to pay, I often wonder if Christmas happened at all.
And I don't say that to be cynical or Scrooge-esque; it’s just that sometimes I really miss Christmas.
But then I stopped and thought back to the 15 years spent at KNCO when I worked almost every Christmas Day the entire time I was there. At first, because I was single, I volunteered to do it so the married guys with kids could stay at home. But after awhile, and after being put in charge of the music, I actually wanted to be there on Christmas. It was the only time I could really influence how the radio station sounded. During the hours after 8 pm Christmas Eve, through about midday Christmas morning, I purposely slanted the music in a direction it'd never go otherwise.
The regular format was chucked and poor 'ol tanked Grandma didn't get run over by a reindeer during those hours, either. The music was softened to traditional, reverent and sacred. On such an important holiday, the office was empty and quiet, the phones seldom rang- if ever- and during the hours I worked, I used them as my own little private moments of worship. It was my time to- finally- have a chance to soak in Christmas and remember why we- or at least everyone else- had the day off in the first place.
Odd as it sound, on Christmas, working at KNCO was where I found my peace and my joy. I even read from the Bible- on the air- generally from the second chapter of Luke. Imagine pulling that off in the antiseptic world of cookie-cutter corporate radio today? How many feathers would that ruffle? I don't know because I'm not sure anyone would bother to try. Oh, at the few remaining smaller independent stations out there, where creativity and individuality haven't been completely wrung out yet, some lone spirit-filled announcer might. But likely not anywhere else on the commercial band.
However, the stuff I did on the radio 20 years ago is probably a little too unsophisticated and outdated for what radio sounds like these days. It worked then, but probably wouldn't fly now. And that's okay. Times change. Tastes change. Audiences change. Anyway, I'm not on the air anymore, KNCO let me go long ago, and if I bothered to show up to work on Christmas where I'm at now, they'd have to pay me double time and then fire me for working on a holiday without permission. So I guess Christmas mornings on the radio are the lone tradition I had that I won't be able to recreate or ever bring back.
Anyway, finding the joy and spirit of Christmas ultimately has to be up to me. It can't be contrived, made up or faked. It either happens for real, or it really doesn't; which for me, has often been the case. It shouldn't be that hard either, because I know deep down what Christmas is really all about. So often though, making that connection between heart and head stick has been like trying to fuse together two wires with a soldering iron set at room temperature. It might hold, but not for very long.
But
there's always next year and, whether Amy and I establish any new traditions by
then or not, next year Christmas falls on a Tuesday... yay!
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