A Christmas Yuleblog

To the readers of the yuleblog, I appreciate all the non-spam comments I've received here (over 150 comments) since my last blog post in March.  Or the last month when the Cubs were in first place.  Each of the comments were published and posted to their individual blog entries.   At some point in time, I hope to get to answer them.  At some point in time, I hope to rework this blog - correct the grammar errors caused by glitches in the code and by the author, upgrade the template, expand the columns to add more stuff, etc, etc, etc. Then there's the little matter of sharity. All of my shares were hosted by Rapidshare since the beginning.  About two years ago, they reworked their plans and upped their yearly fees.  I had banked enough Rapid points based on download hits that allowed the shares to be carried without cost to me until June of this year. I made the decision not to renew my account with RS for the following reasons: 1.)...

“I respect the man who knows distinctly what he wishes. The greater part of all mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims. They have undertaken to build a tower, and spend no more labor on the foundation than would be necessary to erect a hut.” - Goethe   What you are looking at is approximately two and one-half years in the making.  The tower of CDs represents the 240+ Christmas albums I've downloaded in that span of time from various Christmas blogs and sharity sites around the Internet.  Various blogs?  Half of these came from that mad genius Ernie (not Bert) ...  thanks for doing your part for the economy Ern! At the beginning of 2009, I was overwhelmed by the task of getting everything organized and burned.  So it began to pile up here, some over there, and everything that was downloaded was uploaded onto a Western Digital 500 GB external hard drive. After getting a new ...

The album you are looking at holds a special spot in my collection.  It was one of the first Christmas albums I actively searched for when I seriously began collecting Christmas music.  It also was the first album I ever shared online (first at FaLaLaLaLa.com , then here ).   And it's still one of the most popular shares in my sharity list   (over 800 downloads since I first posted this). Since I'm a sentimental guy, I decided when I got my new USB turntable in hopes of remastering many of my older shares that this would be the first album that would get the star treatment. I think Mae West would have been pleased. I had rescanned the covers (300 dpi) and the record labels and was getting ready to drop the needle to re-record the glorious tones of Ms. West. But... I was reading my new copy of Goldmine Magazine and discovered a vendor selling a new Canadian import 2-for-1 CD.  In addition to this album, you get West's 1970 album "The Fabulou...

To my family and friends: Still haven't found the playlist? First time receiving the CD? If so, click here .

Several years ago, I started a feature on this blog that showcased selections from my vintage Christmas ad collection. In years past, my collection of ads had come from antique malls and flea markets.  Vendors would take old magazines of LIFE, TIME, Look, Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Newsweek, Ladies Home Journal, and dozens of older vintage magazines and rip the ads out one by one to sell individually. The profit margins were substantial and a huge market began. Many people still sell ads on eBay, the antique stores and flea markets still peddle them. Then someone noticed the effect it had on the used magazine market - old magazines that normally sold for $5 or less were now $20 or more. Thanks to the continued shredding of older magazines, finding complete magazines are getting more scarce in the marketplace. I began to look at the ads I had collected and noticed the uneven cuts out of the magazine with a box cutter. The quality of many of the ads were good but could ...

I received a phone call this morning from my father-in-law, a hearty fellow with a dry sense of humor. If you happened to see "The FPT Christmas Revue", you might remember a character from Act II - a retiree who was spending his first Christmas in an assisted living facility. That character was loosely based on my father-in-law (you gotta write what you know about). Ed called here early this morning as I was waking up: "I wanna thank you for scaring all the mice out of our house..." Huh? I'm not sure what he was getting at... "They printed your interview in the morning paper... Front page too!" he stated plainly. Then I really woke up. A few weeks back, I was interviewed by Frank Gray, a gent who works for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, for a piece I had hoped would run before the run of the revue ended. As it turned out, they pushed it back to run today (of all days). If this seems familiar, this was the same newspaper that ran a C...

Here's is my final UPDATED list of what I have shared - click on a link to explore: 1983 Air Force Public Service Spots - Disc V The Alcoa Singers - An Olde-Fashioned Christmas Marian Anderson - Christmas Carols Anonymous - Two Christmas Songs Around The Christmas Tree - A Special Christmas Day Program Jan August - Christmas Favorites The Banjo Barons - Selections from "Play Music For Happy Times" Ben Best - Happy Christmas Party Bielefelder Kinderchor - Christmas In Germany Pat Boone - White Christmas Bowen & Csehy - Christmas Steepletime Owen Bradley & His Quintet - Joyous Bells Of Christmas The Bravo Singers & Instrumentalists - Christmas Sing-Along Bobby Breen - Songs At Yuletide Anita Bryant - The Miracle Of Christmas Al Caiola & Riz Ortolani - The Sound Of Christmas The Canterbury Choir - Christmas Hymns And Carols Sung By Capitol Production Music The Chicago Swedish Glee Club - Songs At Christmas Christmas 19...

Several hours ago, the curtain came down on the run of "The FPT Christmas Revue". It was a project that I was closely involved with since the beginning of this year; a journey full of challenges, frustrations, joy, and remarkable achievements while bringing a totally new work to the stage. I must thank Thom Hofrichter and Joel D. Scribner for this amazing opportunity. These two gentlemen gave me a chance to showcase my perspective on Christmas and they were supportive of the whole process. I owe them a lot and I look forward to working with them on other shows at First Presbyterian Theater. Over 1000 people came out to see the show over its run and saw a plethora of talent. We had 30+ people in the cast, ages ranging from five to 70-something. We had members of five different families within the cast, a wide range of Christmas songs to sing, and each member of the cast gave it their all every night on the boards. To my fellow cast members, thank you so much. I go...