2024 / Dec 16 - 22
Things I Have Enjoyed This Week
[5 min read]
Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas
I have generally disliked Christmas for a long time. (Stay with me!) I hate nearly all Christmas music. I don’t like a lot of Christmas movies. I would rather not do gift exchange as I have a very hard time both giving and receiving gifts. It’s just not for me. But I’m not a total humbug about it or anything. I try not to complain. I know other people love it, so I let it be, I participate, I try to be a good sport.
In the last few years, tho, I’ve managed to not only loosen up about it, but actually like some of it. Better is better™️.
I love the farolitos in and around Santa Fe.
☝️👇 Farolitos on display at the Jemez Historic Site ruins.
I love that Pogues song.
I love Gremlins.
I love the Die Hard advent calendar my buddy got me.
And I love the Vice Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas album. I’m not sure how I got into that. I think a lot of people grow up watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special over and over. I only remember catching bits and pieces of it when flipping through the channels, but never really paying much attention. I never sat down and watched it all the way through until I was maybe 30? But at some point, someone either gave me a copy of the album or told me to check it out. Surprisingly, I loved it. Not just a great Christmas record, but a great record. To state the wildly obvious.
One year a friend of ours in Chicago said there was a jazz trio playing the whole album in some club downtown. We got tickets and went, not really expecting all that much. Turns out? IT WAS THE GREATEST. We’ve talked about it every year since.
Remember that time we saw that jazz band play the Charlie Brown Christmas album?
Yeah. That was the best.
Yeah. It was. We should really try to do that again.
Yeah. That was THE BEST.
And so forth.
Well this week we finally got to do it again and IT WAS THE GREATEST AGAIN. Right from the opening notes of O Tannenbaum, the heart melts.
If this happens anywhere near you, I highly suggest checking it out. It will be the best thing you do for the whole holiday season.
The Bright-Ass Moon
This photo was taken right before the full moon peeked over the mountains. Practically daylight. I have no idea where it peaked.
Waxahatchee Tiny Desk
Similar to Christmas, I’ve never really loved Alabama, my state of origin. And in similar style, I’ve softened toward it in recent years, trying to latch on to anything in or from that state that I can enjoy.
I of course love all my friends there.
I like the Mobile Mardi Gras.
I like the bay and the gulf coast and Fowl River and Dauphin Island and the alligators and the seafood.
Space camp seems cool for nerds.
I love DeSoto Falls.
I love Yellowhammer Creative.
I love Good People Brewing.
I love To Kill a Mockingbird.
And I love Waxahatchee. I don’t think she lives in Alabama, but I think she’s from Birmingham. I’ve been getting into her for the last couple of years. Pretty much all the albums are good all the way through, which is so rare. She’s such a killer songwriter, one of the best around IMO. Her latest Tiny Desk (her 3rd, maybe?) is so good. I particularly love Fire, the last song of the set. It’s a song I can’t get enough of. Every time I listen to it, I let it repeat at least 3 or 4 times because I just wanna stay in it. And I love that this live version has such a strut to it.
Sugar in the Tank
New single from Julien Baker and TORRES. V good. Someone said to me “Julien Baker is the best thing about this song.” Yeah. She sure is. Isn’t she always?
Listen on Apple Music • Spotify
Voyager Satellites
I saw a headline about them this week. I don’t remember what it was. It doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking about them almost nonstop ever since. Aren’t they the best? The golden record. The Pale Blue Dot. What a grand thing for us to have done.
That’s all. I’m just very very very fond of them.
Just Like Christmas
Every year I think that I’ll properly license and release this cover. But the time always sneaks by and I’m too late. Sigh. Maybe 2025?
But I love the song. Hope you like it, too.
(LOOK AT ME BEING A GOOD SPORT ABOUT CHRISTMAS! Better is better™️.)
What did you enjoy this week? I’d love to know. Leave it in the comments - thanks!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK! ✌️❤️🤘
Your pal,
Robert