There is a correct answer to the question, “What’s the best Christmas album.” The answer is Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas by Ella Fitzgerald. It is a truly great album. Not just a great holiday album, but a great album. It sounds as good in July as it does in December. It’s basically perfect….
“Ho, ho, ho, it’s that time of year again,” Santa said. It was one month until Christmas. “Time to start matching the Nice List with the Wish List.” An elf named Whinny placed two giant books on Santa’s desk. Santa opened the one to his left and said, “Let’s see. Ah! I knew it, ho, ho. …
I am more Jewish than most people, but not Jewish enough to be considered Jewish by most Jews, if that makes any sense. In other words, I have some Jewish heritage, but I’m not, nor have I ever been, Jewish by religion. However, I have always been in and around American Jewish culture. Starting in…
One thing I love about this time of year is all the Christmas decorations. And one of the best things about having a kid is having a good excuse to go around looking at all the decorations. Ever since Thanksgiving, we take the long and winding way everywhere we go, just looking for more decorated…
At this time, I want to bring your attention to something shameful. The album Christmas Soul Special is rare. Apparently we live in a world where people either don’t know about it or they don’t want to hear it. I really hope it’s that they don’t know about it. Ignorance isn’t a good excuse, but…
Well, we’ve come to the end. This stave is really more of a coda than anything else. It is here to show us the results and nothing more. Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning a changed man. He is happy and friendly and truly sorry for the way he acted before. He reconciles with his nephew…
Of all the staves, this is probably the easiest one to get right on film. The spirit is nothing more than a black, hooded robe with a “spectral” hand outstretched. There are a few conversations about the death (Scrooge doesn’t realize it is his own death, but it’s obvious to the audience). Then a scene…
This marks the center of the story. It is probably the most famous part of the story as well. We have Scrooge travelling with the Ghost of Christmas Present. It contains the scene in the Cratchit household where we meet Bob’s family and Tiny Tim says, “God bless us, every one!” It also has the…
Well, my schedule was thrown off a bit, but I’m back with the second installment. The first of the three spirits is more commonly known as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Of the three spirits, Christmas Past is the one that never looks right on screen. Dickens says: It was a strange figure – like…
I have a Christmas tradition that I would like to share. Every year, for the past twenty or so years, I have read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I always read it over five nights, one stave per night, so I finish the book on Christmas Eve. I don’t know exactly why I started…
