Peace on Earth, gimme presents!

I don't really think too highly of our radio options here in town. As I've mentioned before, KSHE is a shadow of what it once was (Creed in the same promo as Rush and Floyd?), and the other major stations are pretty hit-or-miss in terms of something I want to hear. 98% of the time it's 'miss,' although KHITS isn't too bad most of the time. My general disdain for a lot of current music doesn't help me too much, I suppose. I'm not big on talk radio, either, so the whole of the AM side is out. Again, NPR isn't too shabby, but I just can't get into sitting around listening to people talk, good or bad.

All that being said, there is one station I can almost always count on. I think it's KDHX, although I'm not too sure. It's 88.7, and it's nuttin' but jazz. Real jazz, too. Not that hokey "smooth jazz" that people seem to like these days (*cough* Kenny G *cough* dork *cough*), but honest-to-God jazz: guys on upright bass, wacky piano lines, hi-hats, etc. Not always guitar, but I don't mind in this case. It's great listening, and very low on commercials.

I was lucky enough to catch some Christmas music on that station the past couple days. I enjoy the jazz take on the old standards, although it can be hard to pick up what they're playing sometimes. I do believe, though, that anything I hear on the radio is going to be trumped by what may be the best Christmas album I've heard: the wonderfulygoodandfun Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack done by Mr. Vince Guiraldi. I think it even trumps Merry Axemas Vol. 1, but only slightly. Damn that's good stuff. And, as I was pondering it tonight, 'Linus and Lucy' could, in a sense, be considered a Christmas song, since it is on the album, and I think it might have been the first appearance of the song. I s'pose that's sort of pushing it a bit, though. I wonder if Mr. Guiraldi knew he had a hit on his hands when he was writing that, or if it was originally intended to just be filler music for the show. It's one fine piece of music, either way.

Another nice thing about no TV right now: no stupid Christmas commercials, or ho-ho-hum 'Holiday specicals.' Especially the stuff on ABD Family. Bleh bleh bleh. Someone (usually a guy) is being a clod, and through some magical happenstance, learns the True Meaning of the Season in time to....get the girl, or something. The end. Ignoring the fact none of these shows talk about the real meaning of the season, they just aren't much fun. Give me Pee Wee's Christmas Special anyday. Mmm...potatoe-y.

Or, even better, give me The Muppet Family Christmas. Now THAT is some funny stuff. You've got the regular Muppets, the Sesame Street gang, fraggles, and the best version of 'Jingle Bell Rock' all in one. Careful of the icey patch!

My Christmas shopping is coming along...um...good..ish. Yeah. I sat down the other night and made a list of everyone I'm gifting this year (13? sounds right), and then sat down and sifted through all my pictures. I'll have to assign pictures to people this week and then get them printed. It's no secret I do it for people, so I can safely type it here on the 'net. I'm also a bit of a rebel for the second straight year: I'm getting something for everyone, Dalette and her 'exchange list' be damned. Bring her on, I say! If she doesn't want what she gets, I'll give it to Janice, along with her other gift. For new readers, her present was made by the fine folks at ********.

I have to work 5 of the next 10 days. I do believe I can hold out, despite the slowness of things at the office right now. How slow, you ask? Our boss was out of the office Monday, so one of our 'official' tasks was to make paper snow flakes for decoration. A few more weeks and the action should pick up, thankfully. For now, I'll enjoy the lull.

I think that's enough for now. I hope to regal you all with a first-hand account of Un-Bit Butter later this week. Stay warm, folks. It's cold enough out there to freeze your Winnebago!

How can he be all ears? Frogs don't even have ears.
Dave