Well, according to the calendar it's Winter. It's hard to tell by any other means this season. Today is January 25. So far this season here in Kansas City, we have had an official total of 0.4 inches of snow. And that was spread out over two "snow events". And furthermore, temperatures have been consistently above normal. Many, many days in the upper 30s, 40s, and 50s. Very few days in the 20s.
I love Winter. I love cold weather and snow. Give me a season where it doesn't get above 40 between Nov. 15 and March 1, throw in lots of snow, and I'm good.
The last two Winters here we had over 30 inches of snow each season. Where are you Old Man Winter? Is it because I restocked the firewood?
It's looking like we'll be into February with less than a half inch of snow. Maybe we'll finally get a snowstorm next month. Or, we'll get one of those mid-March huge, heavy snows...
Thus endeth the Wintry Lament.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Housekeeping: Links, free downloads, etc
During the Christmas season with my main focus being sharing out vinyl, I didn't have much time to post information about new music. I did a few mini-reviews this year, and a couple full-CD reviews, but a lot of the information about new music that I received went un-acknowledged and un-posted. Fortunately, Stubby excels at keeping us all informed about new Christmas releases each year, especially the artists offering free downloads.
Here on New Year's Day, I want to list out some of the info I received during the season in the e-mail box. My apologies for not being able to give these artists the attention they are due. Hopefully these links are still valid when you, the readers, try them out. So, without further ado, here are links to some new music released in the 2011 season:
Amanda Lamb: Free download and artist info link
TimPermanent: Joy to the World link
The Bopst Show: Christmas-music podcasts, as well as others link
Alternate Root Holiday Sampler: zip file download
KDHX Radio Holiday podcasts: link
No Ninja Am I: free download link
Soujourn Music: free sampler download link
Jeff Mellin: free download link
That Band from Holland: free album link
The Very Most: free EP zip file download
Stratocruiser: free EP link
There is some very good music in the above list. I enjoyed Stratocruiser and Amanda Lamb quite a lot, but I just didn't have the time to do them justice with a full review. I hope you enjoy them, and the other artists and podcasts listed above, as much as I did.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Breakfast with Sophie
In an earlier post I alluded to meeting one of my favorite musicians while in New York. That musician was the totally amazing Sophie Madeleine, the Duchess of Awesomeshire (made that up myself).
I've posted a couple entries in the past about Sophie Madeleine, here and here. I discovered Sophie's music in 2009, somewhere on the internet. When her video for "You Are My Favorite" was released and featured on BoingBoing.net, I was hooked. It was the happiest video I'd ever seen, and I loved Sophie's song.
Shortly thereafter I bought "Love, Life, Ukulele", Sophie's first album release. In 2011 she released "The Rhythm You Started" as her second solo album, and "We Like Cake and Beards and Stuff" with Hannah-Rei as the duo Rocky and Balls.
In the past year and a half, I've listened to Sophie more than any other artist. And, believe me, I listen to a lot of music. One of the perks of having an office - speakers attached to the computer and the freedom to listen for a goodly part of the day.
So, prior to my trip to New York, I contacted Sophie (exactly how will remain private) and asked if she and a guest would like to join my wife and I for breakfast (her public Facebook page had the information that she was in NYC). You know, you don't accomplish things unless you ask. So I just asked, as politely and unobtrusively as I could. I was thrilled when I got the response back from Sophie - she and her boyfriend would love to meet us!
We worked out the details, and met for breakfast at a diner in New York near Grand Central Station. Sophie and her boyfriend Tim spent an hour or so with us, chatting over breakfast (French Toast for Sophie and me, omelets for Tim and my wife). We talked about many things - the differences in Christmas time between Kansas City, New York, and England; the live production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Sophie and Tim had seen the night before; what to do while in the city; Sophie's popularity in the USA, etc. We had a wonderful time talking with them - Sophie and Tim are superbly nice people, and seemed to enjoy the time meeting us mid-westerners as much as we enjoyed meeting them.
Toward the end of breakfast, Sophie very graciously let me be a silly fan. She signed a couple CD cases I happened to have with me, with the ultra-fine black Sharpie I also just happened to be carrying :-) She recorded a little personal greeting to my daughter, who is also a big fan, and who did not know about this breakfast meeting. And she posed for a few pictures, posted below.
We concluded breakfast, walked together toward Grand Central Station, all wished one another a Merry Christmas, and parted ways. It was, indeed, a lovely way to spend a morning.
Frankly, I would not have been more pleased if I had breakfast with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, or Lady Gaga.
Sophie is an amazing artist. She is an accomplished singer and ukulele player (guitar as well). She writes all of her own songs, and, as Tim proudly pointed out, also produces and engineers her records. I'm pretty sure she does most of the work on her videos, too.
I hope that this post spurs my readers to check out the music of Sophie Madeleine. Her music is all available on iTunes and Amazon. She has a youtube channel ('misssophiemadeleine'), a Facebook page, and a blog called Sophieland. She did an incredible 30 cover songs in 30 days last summer to promote the release of her CD (all available on Youtube). Check her out, and if you like what you hear, buy her music :-) And tell all your friends.
Breakfast with Sophie Madeleine:
I've posted a couple entries in the past about Sophie Madeleine, here and here. I discovered Sophie's music in 2009, somewhere on the internet. When her video for "You Are My Favorite" was released and featured on BoingBoing.net, I was hooked. It was the happiest video I'd ever seen, and I loved Sophie's song.
Shortly thereafter I bought "Love, Life, Ukulele", Sophie's first album release. In 2011 she released "The Rhythm You Started" as her second solo album, and "We Like Cake and Beards and Stuff" with Hannah-Rei as the duo Rocky and Balls.
In the past year and a half, I've listened to Sophie more than any other artist. And, believe me, I listen to a lot of music. One of the perks of having an office - speakers attached to the computer and the freedom to listen for a goodly part of the day.
So, prior to my trip to New York, I contacted Sophie (exactly how will remain private) and asked if she and a guest would like to join my wife and I for breakfast (her public Facebook page had the information that she was in NYC). You know, you don't accomplish things unless you ask. So I just asked, as politely and unobtrusively as I could. I was thrilled when I got the response back from Sophie - she and her boyfriend would love to meet us!
We worked out the details, and met for breakfast at a diner in New York near Grand Central Station. Sophie and her boyfriend Tim spent an hour or so with us, chatting over breakfast (French Toast for Sophie and me, omelets for Tim and my wife). We talked about many things - the differences in Christmas time between Kansas City, New York, and England; the live production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Sophie and Tim had seen the night before; what to do while in the city; Sophie's popularity in the USA, etc. We had a wonderful time talking with them - Sophie and Tim are superbly nice people, and seemed to enjoy the time meeting us mid-westerners as much as we enjoyed meeting them.
Toward the end of breakfast, Sophie very graciously let me be a silly fan. She signed a couple CD cases I happened to have with me, with the ultra-fine black Sharpie I also just happened to be carrying :-) She recorded a little personal greeting to my daughter, who is also a big fan, and who did not know about this breakfast meeting. And she posed for a few pictures, posted below.
We concluded breakfast, walked together toward Grand Central Station, all wished one another a Merry Christmas, and parted ways. It was, indeed, a lovely way to spend a morning.
Frankly, I would not have been more pleased if I had breakfast with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, or Lady Gaga.
Sophie is an amazing artist. She is an accomplished singer and ukulele player (guitar as well). She writes all of her own songs, and, as Tim proudly pointed out, also produces and engineers her records. I'm pretty sure she does most of the work on her videos, too.
I hope that this post spurs my readers to check out the music of Sophie Madeleine. Her music is all available on iTunes and Amazon. She has a youtube channel ('misssophiemadeleine'), a Facebook page, and a blog called Sophieland. She did an incredible 30 cover songs in 30 days last summer to promote the release of her CD (all available on Youtube). Check her out, and if you like what you hear, buy her music :-) And tell all your friends.
Breakfast with Sophie Madeleine:
Christmas in NYC
As promised in an earlier post, here are a few pictures from my trip to New York City earlier in December. I hope you enjoy them.
Near Radio City Music Hall/Rockefeller Center
Inside Tiffany & Co.
Lady Gaga's Workshop, in Barney's Department Store
Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center. Note the other camera phones :-)
Flatiron Building. I'm sure I'm one of the first tourists to take this picture... ;-)
Da Nico, in Little Italy. Had a fantastic dinner here.
A few scenes from Santaland
Windows at Tiffany & Co.
Radio City at night
Christmas Tree in Bryant Park, NY Public Library in the background.
The Origami Tree at the Museum of Natural History
Windows at Lord & Taylor - spectacular!
And, lastly, me and my wife with a Rockette. The Rockette is the one in the middle :-)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas Fever
I'm not talking about the 1957 song "Christmas Fever" by "Timmy Christmas" (by the way - a great story about that song at the WFMU Beware of the Blog site here). I'm talking real fever, of the Grinchy Christmas-stealing kind. I had started antibiotics on Friday the 23rd to kill off a sinus infection, when all of a sudden, in swoops a virus. Antibiotics HA! says the virus, and proceeds to give me a fever and bodyaches for the next three days. My Christmas cocktails consisted of alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen, OTC dextromethorphan, OTC pseudoephedrine, and the usual scrips for the ol' blood pressure and cholesterol. All under the watchful eye of the oldest Bingle child, who is in a Doctor of Pharmacy program.
Christmas morning was super, aided by 600mg of ibuprofen at 6AM, before the 7AM awakening by the Bingle children. All was great with the family - me, my wife, the five children, and our son--in-law, the husband of our oldest. Hung in there pretty well through about noon, then a nap took me (that's more accurate than "I took a nap"). 45 minutes before time to leave home for the in-laws, temp was about 97.2. I'm not dead yet, sire. 15 minutes before time to leave, temp was 100.5. Der Bingle stayed home, the rest of the family left. Temp peaked at 101.6 before the ibuprofen took hold again. So, while the rest of the family enjoyed Christmas dinner and festivities with the extended family, I slept the afternoon away and drank lots of water.
All is well now, though. Fever gone, antibiotics still fighting the sinus infection. Feeling good again.
So what's the point of this post, besides relating the story to the world? Well, one thought that really crystallized was that it's not Christmas day that I look forward to every year, it's Christmas season. The season starts in earnest for me on November 1 and goes through the New Year. So, instead of a year away, it's 10 months. A shorter wait :-)
I knew this all along, but not quite as clearly as I do now. Our family does many, many things during the season, including candy making, lots of music-related stuff, usually attending a concert or play, Christmas cards, Christmas movies and classic TV shows, and more. And to me, it's not just a build-up to the 25th of December, it's all a tremendous celebration of family, friends, and good feelings, spanning the last two months of the year.
So, I had an awesome Christmas season again this year, despite being under the weather on the big day. Sharing music, getting new music, a trip to New York City, candy making, friends, family, shopping, watching the children unwrap the presents we'd given them - tremendous!
Christmas morning was super, aided by 600mg of ibuprofen at 6AM, before the 7AM awakening by the Bingle children. All was great with the family - me, my wife, the five children, and our son--in-law, the husband of our oldest. Hung in there pretty well through about noon, then a nap took me (that's more accurate than "I took a nap"). 45 minutes before time to leave home for the in-laws, temp was about 97.2. I'm not dead yet, sire. 15 minutes before time to leave, temp was 100.5. Der Bingle stayed home, the rest of the family left. Temp peaked at 101.6 before the ibuprofen took hold again. So, while the rest of the family enjoyed Christmas dinner and festivities with the extended family, I slept the afternoon away and drank lots of water.
All is well now, though. Fever gone, antibiotics still fighting the sinus infection. Feeling good again.
So what's the point of this post, besides relating the story to the world? Well, one thought that really crystallized was that it's not Christmas day that I look forward to every year, it's Christmas season. The season starts in earnest for me on November 1 and goes through the New Year. So, instead of a year away, it's 10 months. A shorter wait :-)
I knew this all along, but not quite as clearly as I do now. Our family does many, many things during the season, including candy making, lots of music-related stuff, usually attending a concert or play, Christmas cards, Christmas movies and classic TV shows, and more. And to me, it's not just a build-up to the 25th of December, it's all a tremendous celebration of family, friends, and good feelings, spanning the last two months of the year.
So, I had an awesome Christmas season again this year, despite being under the weather on the big day. Sharing music, getting new music, a trip to New York City, candy making, friends, family, shopping, watching the children unwrap the presents we'd given them - tremendous!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Thank you all for the kind comments. It is my absolute pleasure to share the joys of Christmas music with you, and to reunite so many with the songs remembered from childhood.
May you all have a very happy and safe holiday season with family and friends!
Der Bingle
Thank you all for the kind comments. It is my absolute pleasure to share the joys of Christmas music with you, and to reunite so many with the songs remembered from childhood.
May you all have a very happy and safe holiday season with family and friends!
Der Bingle
Saturday, December 24, 2011
An Orchestral Finale
Here we are on Christmas Eve, approaching the finale of the sharing season. Der Bingle is in Day 3 of fighting a sinus infection and/or cold and/or flu, but is on the upswing today. Good thing, too - have to be ready for the big day tomorrow.
For the final share of this season, I've chosen "Tis the Season", a selection of Christmas songs performed by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Giordano. The album contains 10 tracks, including a very well-performed Nutcracker Suite and "Christmas Eve", an accompanied narration of "The Night Before Christmas", narrated by Mel Dacus.
These are traditional arrangements, performed expertly by the orchestra. I think you'll enjoy them.
Please enjoy 'Tis the Season download link
And so, that concludes this season's shares. I hope you have enjoyed them, despite a few hiccups with artwork and stereo. Have a very Merry Christmas!
For the final share of this season, I've chosen "Tis the Season", a selection of Christmas songs performed by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Giordano. The album contains 10 tracks, including a very well-performed Nutcracker Suite and "Christmas Eve", an accompanied narration of "The Night Before Christmas", narrated by Mel Dacus.
These are traditional arrangements, performed expertly by the orchestra. I think you'll enjoy them.
Please enjoy 'Tis the Season download link
And so, that concludes this season's shares. I hope you have enjoyed them, despite a few hiccups with artwork and stereo. Have a very Merry Christmas!
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