Merry Chirstmas

Enjoy some Christmas songs:



I saw this on another blog and enjoyed it very much, so I thought I'd pass it along.

Just in Time for the Holidays

HandBell Hero

Play it on your computer and remember the good ol days with the handbell choir. Notice how upset the ringers look, that's because I was missing a lot of notes, they get happier as you ring in correctly.

Enjoy

Marushka

A few weeks ago I received an email telling me that Richard Sweet died. Richard Sweet was an art teacher from Grand Haven, MI who started the company that produced many, many Marushka silk screens that were very popular in the 70's especially in West Michigan.

I went to college in West Michigan and any college student will tell you that thrift stores are good places to find decorations for your dorm/house. It was very common to find a Marushka at a thrift store and some are actually pretty cool. My fraternity had a house that was called Marushka's and the walls were covered with hundreds of those paintings. Every time someone found a Marushka it would eventually end up there. I found one at a thrift store in Illinois the summer before my senior year. It was a sailboat with a big sun in orange in blue (school colors), pretty cool. I paid $2 for it and decided to take it up to my house at school (I did not live at Marushka's). I left it there after I graduated, although now I wish I hadn't. Eventually it ended up at Marushka's.

Anyway I thought I'd pay some tribute to Mr. Sweet, whose mass produced art became a part of my formative years, just the name Marushka's floods my mind with good memories, and I bet many of my friends could tell you lots of stories of their own, if you bring up Marushka's. The fraternity doesn't have that house any more. I wonder what became of all those Marushkas.

Music in 07

At this time of year every music magazine, blog, tv show, website puts up a list of the 10, 50, 100 best albums of the year. They're pretty easy to find. You can agree with the lists or disagree (they are usually pretty similar). I think it's a matter of opinion and personal preference, if you happen to think Kevin Federline's contribution is the best then that is your right (I know KFed's cd came out in 2006 but I couldn't think of such an undisputed 2007 equivalent). So I won't make such a list. What I will do is tell you which 5 albums I voted for on NPR's Music website. They have a large list and you can pick your five favorite. They obviously don't have every cd that came out this year, in fact NPR music is kind of elitist so they might not even have all the ones you like, I had to write one in. It's possible I may have overlooked some cd but I still think my 5 is a good representation of what I enjoyed this year. You only have a few more days so go rock the vote.

Here are my picks:

1. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

2. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

3. Spoon - GaGaGaGaGa

4. John Butler Trio - Grand National

5. The National - Boxer