A Christmas Yuleblog

Christmas Day, 1974. I ran from my bed to my parents bed to announce that Santa had come. The only problem was the time read 4:30 AM. After a few protests, I went begrudgingly back to bed. Several hours later, I woke up again and grabbed the closest present under the tree. It was a genuine Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle - just like I asked Santa down at Sears. Like Ralphie in "A Christmas Story", this was the greatest Christmas present I had received or ever will receive. The many hours I spent hurtling Evel on his Harley over toy trucks, buses, and the occasional anthill doubling for the Snake River Canyon became some of the most vivid and exciting memories of my childhood. Many kids of my generation got those Stunt Cycles - to the tune of $300 million dollars (in 1970s money). Many Christmases were just like mine. Evel Knievel died yesterday after a long, action-packed, controversial, and even violent life on this Earth. At a time when America needed heroes badly...

There's nothing like having family around at Christmas time. The reconnects, the laughter, the warmth, the love, the sibling rivalry, the photos, the big family meals, the one too many servings of egg nog, the inappropriate comments, the misunderstandings, the snits, the feuds, the clock watching, the diviing up of the leftovers, the opening of presents, the swap of gift receipts, the rounding up of the noisy kids, and the drive home. Ahhh, there's no place like home for the holidays... This album is from The Mom & Dads , a Spokane, Washington music group that specialized in Western styled dance music - polkas and waltzes mainly. I first came across this album in an impulse book I purchased last year at Barnes & Noble called " Horrifically Bad Album Covers ". The author of the book is Nick DiFonzo who runs the aptly named Bizarre Records website - some real gems over there! As soon as I saw the cover, I immediately began searching online and found ...

I just fixed some broken links and added other older ones I had forgotten! In any case, this is what's available for your dancing and listening pleasure for 2007 (so far): 1983 Air Force Public Service Spots - Disc V The Alcoa Singers - An Olde-Fashioned Christmas Pat Boone - White Christmas Bowen & Csehy - Christmas Steepletime A Country Christmas Jimmy Dean - Jimmy Dean's Christmas Card Pete Fountain - Candy Clarinet: Merry Christmas From (STEREO) DeWayne Fulton - Christmas Greetings From Will Glahe & His Orchestra - Christmas On The Rhine Earl Grant - Winter Wonderland Ken Griffin - Christmas Organ Funky Christmas (Cotillion Records) Alex Houston & Elmer - Here Comes Peter CottonClaus Jim & Tammy - Christmas With Love Sy Mann & The Malvin Carolers - Let's All Sing Christmas Carols Bob Mantzke Choralaires - Christmas Songs Pat O'Brien - A Quiet Christmas O Tannenbaum - Christmas On The Rhine Pac-Man - The Pac...

It's been some time since I've sat down in front of my trusty ol' computer and bang on the keyboard for the yuleblog. My schedule has been written on an Etch-A-Sketch recently and my time was very limited for anything online. However, the Christmas gods have opened a 18 day window where nothing is scheduled (quite the gift). Taking advantage of this, I wanted to catchup on the numerous comments that were left here - click on the album title link to see my response: Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Robert Way - New England Sleigh Ride: Music For Th... ": Hi Captain! I love your comments about my old LP "New England Sleigh Ride." Recorded in 1967 in Munich, Germany. I'm now back in the music saddle after retiring as a clinical psychologist. Visit my web site: themusicway.com . I have two new Christmas CDs and a third in production. Let me hear from you. Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Bowen & Csehy -...

This YouTube clip is from "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" from 1958. Dinah begins with a beautiful song about Thanksgiving (around the 3:20 mark) and joins her special guest stars around a lovely Thanksgiving setting. What makes this clip special is the fact her guest stars were all real-life spouses appearing on the same show: George Montgomery (then Mr. Dinah Shore), Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Edie Adams, and Ernie Kovacs - two husband and wife teams and some of my personal heroes. After some appropriate solemnity, Dinah, George, Louis, Keely, Edie, and Ernie all join in for a spirited singing of "Dry Bones" over a turkey carcass. Some time this Thanksgiving weekend, I will be answering the 50+ comments left here since I last visited this place, fixing some broken links (if any), and quite possibly posting an actual yuleblog entry (WOW). Have fun eating, visiting with your loved ones, and travelling safely wherever you are. Capt