Jazzy Christmas Evening” “Christmas Time is Here” with George Winston



Photo: d3b

Most Christmas songs are peppy or sentimental, but this tune written by Vince Guaraldi and performed by George Winston is just the right blend of smooth and nostalgic.

It evokes fireplaces and hot chocolate with a touch of cinnamon. The Christmas lights are one, the rest of the lights are off, and no one is thinking about shopping or traveling.

We might be thinking of the Peanuts gang, but that’s to be expected.

The easiest way to find this one on Freegal is to do an advanced search. Put “George Winston” in the “Artist” field and “Christmas Time is Here” in the “song” field.



30th Anniversary on the 30th: Thriller by Michael Jackson



Photo:  XFONG



Today marks the 30^th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson’s album, Thriller, the best-selling album of all time.

 

The album is available on Freegal.

From the top of the world in 1982, Jackson took a 20-year fall, his albums becoming less popular, and his persona devolving from a general weirdness into felonious creepiness.

Now that he has died, his reputation is predictably starting to recover, with shows like Dancing with the Stars doing several tributes to his dancing and his music.

In case you’ve forgotten, here are some factoids about the album:

·         At its peak, it sold 500,000 copies every week

·         The song “Beat It” featured Eddie Van Halen on the guitar

·         The first single released was “The Girl Is Mine” by Paul McCartney

·         MTV would air the 14-minute “Thriller” video twice an hour to meet demand.

Jackson pretty much built MTV with his “Thriller” and “Billie Jean” videos. All Jackson, all the time.

The man could sing and dance. Bob Fosse, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were all fans of his dancing, with Astaire being quoted as saying, "My Lord, he is a wonderful mover. He makes these moves up himself and it is just great to watch...."

"Michael Jackson." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 76. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

 

The Cuban-American Party Ambassador: Global Warming by Pitbull

I suppose Pitbull would want to look cooler and meaner than this, but it’s the best bulldog picture I have.

Pitbull’s new album Global Warming  is available for free download from Freegal.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have a message about global warming.

Entertainment Weekly describes his music as a “booming brand with border-crossing dance-floor thumpers…”

He collaborates with the Wanted, Enrique Iglesias, J. Lo, and Christina Aguilera on this album.

“Just eat it” –A Song for Thanksgiving Leftovers: “Eat It” by Weird Al Yankovic

On your third day of turkey?

Had it baked boiled, fricasseed, fried, tetrazzini, a la mode?

You might be in the mood for Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

Reportedly, Yankovic wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he’d get from the King of Pop when he submitted the lyrics.

Jackson thought it was funny, and let him proceed. Makes me think a little better of him, somehow.

“Eat It” is available for free download on Freegal. And so is Michael Jackson’s song, “Beat It.”

“She’s just a girl, and she’s on fire”: “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys



Photo: Sebastian Ritter

Alicia Keys came up out of Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, and signed with Columbia at age 15. (They won the bidding war because they threw a baby grand piano in with the deal.)

She graduated high school two years early.

She says her musical influences were Mozart, Led Zeppelin, Nina Simone and Notorious B. I.G.

Her new single, “Girl on Fire” is available now on Freegal. The rest of the album is coming soon.



A Song for Thanksgiving: “Thankful” by Kelly Clarkson

Afternooon sun at Hudson Gardens. Photo: Ellen Mackey

Once there was this girl, named, Kelly in Texas who was great in school choir and was regularly chosen for the lead in school musicals. She dreamed of a career in singing, but back in ’02 she had a job handing out samples of Red Bull.

A friend convinced her to try out for this new TV show, called American Idol, or something like that. Kelly was known as a late sleeper, and she was so worried she’d miss the audition that she stayed up all night the night before.

Seems to have worked.

Thankful  is also the name of her first album. It’s available for free download from Freegal.

“Use the Force, Luke”—The Star Wars Theme by John Williams



"Star Wars" truffles by Ana Fuji



So, Disney has bought Lucasfilm, with their eyes especially on the Star Wars franchise. They promise episodes VII, VIII and IX in short order. Fortunately, they are going with respected screenplay writer Michael Arndt. Lucas made such a mess of I, II, and III, that I hope they’ll never let him near pen and paper again.

Freegal has lots of Star Wars music for free download, including music conducted by John Williams himself.

The most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly (Nov. 23) had a section for “5 Tips for Sequels That Won’t Suck.” Disney would do well to take note, especially tip # 3 (“Ban all Ewoks and Gungans”) and #4 (“Go easy on the phony-baloney bluescreen, please.”)

They also want Disney to kill off Han Solo. I don't know. Seems like he was the best character they had.

Dust Bowl Geek: “Do Re Mi” by Woody Guthrie

Photo: Dept. of Agriculture

I listened to Nanci Griffith’s version of this song for the longest time before I realized it was a song about the Dust Bowl. Or more precisely, it was about the Okies who tried to find a better life in California, but found it was hard to make a go of it if they didn’t already have some money—that do-re-mi.

It’s a little tough to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you don’t have any bootstraps.

Woody Guthrie’s version of the song is available for free download from Freegal.

Dust Bowl Geek: “Dust Bowl Blues” by Woody Guthrie

Photo: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library

Ken Burns is premiering his Dust Bowl series tonight.

Today’s Denver Post has an interview with a Colorado woman who was a social worker in Prowers County duting the Dust Bowl. She says “You couldn’t leave your shoes out at night or you had to empty them in the morning.”

After I read Tim Egan’s book, The Worst Hard Times, I wrote a column for the Denver Post about the Dust Bowl and global warming. It’s reprinted here.

The Dust Bowl also left quite an impression on Woody Guthrie. He has a whole album Dust Bowl Ballads available for free download fromFreegal.

Dust Bowl Geek: “So Long It’s Been Good to Know Ya” by Woody Guthrie

Photo: Arthur Rothstein

Ken Burns is turning his camera towards the Dust Bowl, the biggest ecological disaster in the US—so far.

Woody Guthrie turned his music towards the Dust Bowl several years ago. According to Tim Egan, author of The Worst Hard Times, a young Woody Guthrie was sitting in a house waiting out a dust storm when he came up with his song “So Long It’s Been Good to Know Ya.”

Sometimes the dust storms were so bad, people couldn’t see each other across the living room. That’s a lot of dust inside. And they had to be careful not to touch each other. The static built up so much that static shocks were painful.

A whole album Dust Bowl Ballads is available for free download from Freegal.



Bond's Aston Martin



Adele is the newest Bond girl (singer, that is) and her song, “Skyfall” has gone to the top of the Freegal charts.

I you’re in the mood for more free Bond downloads, the following are also available on Freegal:

“Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey

“Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon

“Another Way to Die” by Jack White and Alicia Keys

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “We Take Care Of Our Own” by Bruce Springsteen

Crowd at rally for Obama in Aurora, Colo.

It’s his number one campaign song & The Boss has been touring with him.

This photo reminds of an op-ed piece that I read.

If Obama wins, it will be because so many varied people voted for him: working class, big-city coastal residents, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, GLBTQ, young and old.

Let’s hope that someday Congress will look more like this crowd, too.

The following posts cover some of Obama’s playlist regulars which are available on Freegal. (All of Springsteen’s newest album is there, too, by the way.)

I’m predicting they’ll be played at some time during election night.

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “Love You I Do” by Jennifer Hudson

Obama's signature "Forward" sign at a rally in Aurora, Colo.

The soul classic has been a standard at Obama events.

The Dreamgirls album is available to download free from Freegal.

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “Your Smiling Face” by James Taylor

A boy sits on shoulders to see Barack Obama.

Okay, he’ll for sure play this one if he wins. It will be a bit incongruous if he loses.

I know I don’t have any smiling faces in the picture, but I thought it was cool to see kids literally sitting on their parents’ shoulders.

A chance to see history. Their lives made possible by history.

James Taylor's songs are available for free download on Freegal.

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray La Montagne

Supporters at an Obama rally.

If you don’t have an Obama button, just put a sticker on your shirt. (It goes through the metal detector better that way.)

La Montagne’s song can be downloaded free from Freegal.

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra

Supporters at the Obama Rally in Aurora, Nov. 4 2012

Yup, Obama is definitely from my generation. Go ELO.

This handsome fellow is definitely not from my generation.  But he’s a fellow who likely waited 2 hours to get a chance to hear Obama speak.

I know, because he was standing next to me, and I had to wait 2 hours to get in. So here’s a cheer for all us line-standing, back-of-the-row people who still support Obama.

And if you want “Mr. Blue Sky” on your playlist, you can get it free, from Freegal.

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “Roll with the Changes” by REO Speedwagon

My Obama Speedwagon

This one has got to be on his playlist. It has the word change as well as the word roll.

Can you believe it? I couldn’t get a yard sign for Obama. So I cut out letters and taped them to my car windows.  I kinda like the whole “rollin’” imagery.

REO Speedwagon has a bunch of songs you can download for free on Freegal.

Predictions for Obama’s Election Night Playlist: “Got to Get You Into My Life” by Earth Wind & Fire

Obama Rally Nov. 4, 2012

According to HuffPost, EW&F’s song is on Obama’s playlist. 

I know he’s been in my life lately, to the tune of 5-10 e-mails a day. The question is, will he still be in mine?

The song is available free, from Freegal.

Rollin' :a Song for Obama

Here I am, holding my sign for Obama.

When you think about it, “Forward” is a catchy slogan. For one thing, it has an “O” in it, which is required with a name like Obama.

And it gives that sense of moving into the future, being a forward-looking nation.

 And of course, if you come across a positive message about him, Obama would like you to forward it on e-mail.

But I think his team missed an opportunity. They should have mode a little animated short in which the “O” in forward turns into a wheel.

So, I did the wheel idea for Yahoo! And it got picked up by the US News division. Maybe the photo had a lot to do with it.

And for the music tie-in –you can get “Proud Mary” rollin’, rollin’ from Freegal.

“That old north wind should begin to blow”: James Taylor is a Friend at Obama Rallies

Photo: Obama Rally 2012, Aurora, CO Nov. 5, 2012 (photo by Ellen Mackey)

Somewhere around 20,000 people turned out for the Obama Rally in Aurora, Colorado.

What you have to realize is that people walked for blocks and blocks to get there. Then it took them one or two hours to get through the line and into the quad.

And what you really have to realize is that this is November. In Colorado. A night nice, granted seeing as it’s November. But, still, it gets a bit nippy. And most of us were there at least 4 hours.

Politics aside, it’s amazing that people will do so much for a glimpse (we were in the back—so that’s what I got—just a glimpse) of a candidate and a 20-minute speech.

I know many people are uninvolved, but there are a heck of a lot that are committed and involved.

I thought it was fitting that the Obama team played “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor.

Bunches and bunches of James Taylor available on Freegal.

20,000 People in Aurora Colorado: Dave Matthews Sings at Obama Rally

Dave Matthews at Barack Obama Rally Nov. 4, 2012 (photo by Ellen Mackey)

I went with four Obama volunteers to the Obama Rally at Community College of Aurora’s Lowry Quad.

We think that the line snaked around the campus for about 2 miles long. It took us two hours to go through the line and get to the quad, but it was worth it.

Dave Matthews played an acoustic set.

Now I can go and explore more of his music on Freegal.

Gift Ideas for Families with Children from China

Freegal has all kinds of music, including traditional Chinese music and C-Pop.  You can browse all the genres. Some pretty amazing stuff.

This picture is from a site I've been working on from months. I'm a book and movie person as well as a music person. And, I have a daughter from China.

So, I decided to put together a list of all the best things I've read and watched and listened to about China and adoption. I've got some pretty cute panda stuff, too. And some Asian snacks.  My daughter loves the sodas and the pocky sticks.

So, take a look. It's always nice to have your holiday shopping done early.