One family Christmas down. The good parts still outweighed the bad, but it was a much closer call than usual this year.
All posts by Philosofer
FMD: Sweet Emotion
Lately it seems like people in the nation have been mentioning songs that serve a specific emotional purpose. “Songs for a breakup” and “get drunk and sing along,” etc. I once put together a mix for the songs to play when I was feeling melancholy. It seems we’ve all got them. Songs for hitting a precise emotional state.
So I’d love to hear what songs you love to hear when you’re feeling happy? Sad? Wistful? Angry? Like you keep falling short? Like you’ve worked hard and succeeded? So on, and so forth. If there’s a specific mood that a song has helped you identify, toss that out there too.
And we might as well drop our lists while we’re at it, right?
December 11, 2015: Kids These Days
When I was a kid, we puked in the toilet. Or at least in a bucket. Or in our own beds.
FMD: The Best Laid Plans
I had some plans to put together a couple discussion topics - and hopefully I'll get to them at some point (recognizing that I'm covering both Christmas and New Year's... discussion might not be exactly happening on those days)(Can I get added for another month's rotation at the back end of the schedule?). But my kid puked all over the house last night, so I was addressing other things than planning this post. So I'm just gonna shoot from the gut and spew some words in this space so there's something going up for y'all to hurl your random 10 at.
Anyway, for today, how about we talk "non-standard" Christmas songs. I had a couple more to mention, but for now I'll just nominate this one as one everyone should add to their regular Christmas listening:
httpv://youtu.be/1wS-k66MKgs
What holiday songs do you know that others should be adding?
Also, drop your lists!
Jonathan Coulton – The Future Soon
I'll cap my week with a somewhat funny, somewhat creepy, somewhat sweet song. And then a bonus song, because I really almost picked that one instead.
The story here is, I had no idea who Jonathan Coulton was until one night I went to see a book reading by John Hodgman. I also had no idea who he was. At the time, no one did. His first book had just come out, and he had organized his own book tour. It involved traveling around with his buddy Mr. Coulton and some cartoonist friend of theirs, and maybe one other person who sang backup or something. We didn't make the reading in time, but that was okay, because they decided to add a late show. Yeah, for a book reading. The entire room was, and I'm not exaggerating here, probably twice the size of the stage he's performing on in this clip. There were maybe 40 people squeezed in. They passed around a bottle of whisky. As in, Hodgman or Coulton handed someone in the audience the bottle, and we just passed it around. There may have been like 3 dixie cups, but when they ran out people were taking swigs straight from the bottle, and then passing it back to the performers. The cartoonist literally did performance cartooning, where he drew things while Coulton played guitar. Hodgman read 100 of his Hobo names. It was insane. Anyway, that was the night I learned about Jonathan Coulton.
This is my favorite song of his:
httpv://youtu.be/RFoYNVp6k8A
And here's the bonus song, because you gotta love some Portal, and it totally works for that tag I just wrote too.
httpv://youtu.be/sxNmeMklFk8
Spinal Tap – Stonehenge
Not the super best video, but, whatever. It's fun. I debated between this and "Big Bottom" but the amount of bottom shaking in that one left me a bit uncomfortable.
httpv://youtu.be/6Ec1WaFrK8E
Canadian Brass – Just A Closer Walk With Thee + Saints Go Marching In
As I've tried to suggest, there is so much simple joy to be found in music. That's why, when the time comes, this is what I want played on my way out.
httpv://youtu.be/eZqsvncYMy4
Flight Of The Conchords – Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)
Now here is some quality humor music.
httpv://youtu.be/84EoBQfdrb0
The New Standards – Toxic
I love the concept of "new standards." I enjoy covers and having new bands bring a different take to a song, and I also love that classic standard American songbook, so having it expanded is excellent. All that said, a band embracing that idea is just awesome in my mind. Once again, not regular listening, just great fun. I've sadly never been to one of their shows, but hopefully someday.
httpv://youtu.be/67PS40PRjb8
I wanted to play their cover of "Hey Ya" but couldn't find a decent version, so "Toxic" will have to do.
A Prairie Home Companion – Lutheran Joke Medley
Look, I ain't Lutheran. But I'm Minnesotan, and that means I can still laugh at 'em.
After discussing Prairie Home Companion recently, I thought this might be a nice share. Bonus, this is taken from a show just over a week ago, so it's all fresh. Yup, you've never heard any of these jokes before.
httpv://youtu.be/-_9uU32MzmY