Cuneo Christmas 1949

To continue the series of posts about the Cuneo Christmas Books, here are some photos of the 1949 edition.  In 1949, John Cuneo chose to feature Christmas stories by Charles Dickens, including two stories of three chapters each.  And, continuing the annual tradition, Pope Pius XII's 1948 Christmas Broadcast brings another fine Cuneo Christmas book to an end.

Spine:

Title Page:

Table of Contents:

Illustration:

Pope Pius XII Christmas Broadcast (first page):



Kelley McRae Kickstarter project

Hello good readers.  Last summer I blogged about singer-songwriter Kelley McRae coming to my living room and giving my family and friends an amazing house show, as part of her VW Camper Van tour of the US. 

Kelley McRae Kickstarter

Kelley and husband/guitarist Matt completed the 2011 tour and settled for a time in Tennessee, where they worked on a new album (Kelley's third), chock full of songs inspired from their time on the road.  "A Kansas City Living Room and a Kitchen Full of Snacks", perhaps?  Oh, probably not...  :-)

To complete the project and get the CD manufactured, Kelley has a Kickstarter project set up.  Kickstarter is a terrific way for artists to connect with their fans, and allow their fans to be backers for their projects and provide the funds for the artists to complete their work.  I'm a big fan of the Kickstarter philosophy - it's a social network of fans who can fund the artists at any level they can afford.  The artists repay the fans with perk packages based on the amount contributed.  All the details are on the Kickstarter sites.  Kelley is the fourth project I've backed - two Christmas projects from Sam Billen, one by Jessica Frech, and now Kelley's new album.

I love Kelley's music.  She is a gifted songwriter and an amazing, talented singer.  She and Matt give us music from the heart - you can hear it in their performances.  I was a Day 1 backer on Kickstarter, and am anxiously awaiting the new album.

So - here's your chance to be a backer for Kelley.  Now through April 3, 2012, Kelley's Kickstarter project is accepting fund committments.  She has some fab stuff for everyone who contributes.   The link to her project follows (and is at the top of the post, too, for your convenience).  Please check out Kelley's music and go to Kickstarter and be a backer.  You'll feel like a record mogul, just a little bit  :-)

Kelley McRae Kickstarter

Kelley McRae's Website

Spring is Here

Spring doesn't officially arrive until March 20, but with highs in the 70s all week, and a chance for 80 tomorrow (3/13), I think Winter has pretty much gone away.  I believe our official snowfall total for the season was 3.4 inches.  We added a little bit last week at the airport, where they take the official measurements.  That day at my house, which is about 10 miles east of the airport, I awoke to about a half inch of sleet on the ground.

In the past we have had some doozy snowstorms in mid-March, but I don't see anything like that coming.  If that's the case, this will be the lowest snowfall total ever recorded in KC.  It almost seems like the big snow Winters the last two years sucked all of the Winter energy out and left this season just a little weakling....

Well, onward to Spring, and St. Patrick's Day this weekend.  Time to break out my Irish music :-)