Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letters or Numbers

It’s been awhile but I’m really fighting to get back to contributing on a regular basis. Here are some photos for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letters or Numbers.

Have a great weekend!

-Kat

 

Tonight is Christmas

…. so no, it really isn’t Christmas- obviously. I’m a little late with this one but here is my third Christmas song for 51 Weeks: 51 Songs from the Past.

The country band, Alabama, released their first Christmas album in 1985. I was working in retail at the time- open to close almost every day of the week for the month before Christmas, and I had the distinct pleasure(?) of working near the electronic department….where Christmas music was blasted at top volume from open to close. And Alabama Christmas was the music of choice….. By December 26th, I hoped to never hear any of the songs on this album ever again but in time, this became some of my favorite Christmas music.

Tonight is Christmas is a moving song about Christmas, peace and love.

“’cause tonight is Christmas, tonight is love
Tonight we celebrate god’s one and only son
Tonight there’s hope for peace on earth eternally
Tonight is Christmas and the world’s in harmony”

Hope your Christmas was peaceful and happy!

-Kat

Linus and Lucy

My second festive song for 51 Weeks: 51 Songs from the Past is Linus and Lucy. Although not really a holiday song, it is featured in A Charlie Brown Christmas and is often associated with Christmas.

Recorded in 1964 by Vince Guaraldi Trio, this jazz piece has been the opener for several Peanuts movies and is a standard Christmas classic.

The song is named for Linus, Charlie Brown’s best friend, and his sister, Lucy, Charlie Brown’s nemesis. I tried digging into why this song was named after Linus and Lucy but was unable to find anything.

This song always fills me with energy and I have to resist the urge to break out into a very clumsy (and horrifyingly humiliating) Kat dance. In my head, I like to think I look like one of the twin girls who mirror each other, but in my heart I know I just look ridiculous and like I’m having some kind of fit.

The kid in the orange shirt doing the shoulder shrug dance move is the coolest by far. The guy doing the zombie walk in the back is another favorite.

And dare I mention the ending with Snoopy dancing his heart out and upon seeing the expression on Lucy’s and Schroeder’s faces blushing and slinking away….

Hope you are getting into the holiday spirit!

-Kat

 

 

Happy Holidays!

It’s difficult to not get caught up in the holiday spirit this time of year. It’s all around- from the commercials and favorite Christmas movies to the holiday specials on television. Houses are decorated, stores are filled with holiday cheer and holiday sales. It seems like the more you might try to resist, the more invasive it becomes in your life. Luckily, this year I’m not fighting it. And the one thing that puts me in that holiday mood more than anything else is music.

The video I’m sharing is Happy Holidays/White Christmas performed by Barry Manilow. I love the energy he brings to his performance.

For 51 Weeks: 51 Songs from the Past, Hugh asks us to share a festive song.

Hope you’re kicking off a festive holiday season!

-Kat

Happy Day After Halloween

Hi! I’m not a fan of Halloween. I mean, I guess I liked trick or treating somewhat when I was growing up, although I was always on edge looking out for other kids in creepy costumes. I don’t like costumes. Never did. Still don’t. I never liked being scared as a kid and that remains true even today. The scariest movies I ever saw were The Amityville Horror (1979) and The Exorcist (1978).

Haunted houses are not my idea of a good time and the last one that I was in was back in 1982. My boyfriend at the time had his heart set on going to this haunted house that was affiliated with a community group of which he belonged so being the good girlfriend, I agreed to go. I never said I would participate though and I think he was a tad disappointed when I informed him that I would be following close behind him, my hand gripping the belt loop on the back of his jeans, with my eyes tightly closed. And that’s exactly what I did, shuffling along, hearing music, screams and cries of thrilled terror, being jostled here and there as people reacted to the frightful happenings, never loosening my grip on my boyfriend’s jean’s belt loop.

We were nearing the end when my boyfriend came to a sudden stop. I ran straight into him and as I was attempting to peel myself off his back, I heard a voice calmly say, “Hi, Kat!” My eyes flew open and my head whipped every which way looking for person who knew me, in the dark, plastered to my boyfriend’s backside with my eyes screwed shut. Despite me asking my boyfriend (and anyone else I could think of), who that could have been, I never found out who it was. 35 years later, I still wonder who felt the need to break character and say hi amid the chaos of a haunted house, which I obviously was not enjoying.

And that leads me to the reason I shared that story from teen Kat’s past. In honor of Halloween, Hugh shared a song that would make his Halloween playlist and asked others to share their favorites for 51 Weeks: 51 Songs from the Past.

I’ve already shared the song that would have topped I list, if I did Halloween- see Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

This caused my mind to wander down a more creative path and I began thinking of haunting songs (keeping with the Halloween theme) but I guess when that rabbit scurried past me tsk tsking at his pocket watch, I fell down a rabbit hole and found this song.

White Rabbit, written by Grace Slick and performed here by Jefferson Airplane, hit the airwaves in 1967- a mere 50 years ago. The song, based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, is said to be a cautionary tale to parents of the dangers of reading your children stories like these and then wondering why they take drugs. I’m not sure how true that is. I lost count of the number of times I read Alice and have never tried a single illegal drug to date! I have loved Alice as long as I can remember and as a child, I could relate to her confusion in Wonderland where nothing is quite as it seems. It’s quite ironic how much I truly love this story given my intense fear of the unknown!

Now that I’ve shared with you my (most likely confusing) train of thought, please be sure to head over to Hugh’s place and see what he’s been up to. Not only does he have his weekly song feature, but he’s the king of short story endings with a twist!

Happy November!

-Kat

 

My Three Little Birds

Airport last month

This week’s song, Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977), never fails to bring me a renewed sense of determination and a feeling that I can overcome anything as long as I keep my priorities straight. As long as I can remember, what makes me happiest is my family. The combination of this reassuring song and my love for my “three little birds” gives me motivation to keep moving.

“Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Saying’, (this is my message to you)

Singing’ don’t worry ’bout a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright
Singing’ don’t worry (don’t worry) ’bout a thing
‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright”

–Three Little Birds, Bob Marley and the Wailers

 

This post is working double duty for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Happy and 51 Weeks: 51 Songs from the Past. 

What Does the Fox Say?

I thank goodness that when this song was released only four years ago that my children were too old to get obsessed with it. This kept the song from being played continuously in my house so I only heard it everywhere else I went, where it was being played non-stop. The Fox by Ylvis was a music video that was uploaded onto YouTube by the Norwegian comedic duo as a teaser for the new season of the pair’s television talk show. Going viral was purely accidental. The “anti-hit” topped the Norwegian Singles Chart and spent three weeks in the #6 spot on Billboard Top 100 in the U.S. (Thank you, Wikipedia!)

I always thought the song was rather strange but then I saw the video and that sealed its fate as the most unusual song ever. I have nothing against people wearing animal costumes. Or even people wearing animal costumes singing…and dancing. There’s something about the combination of the song and the animals and….. I just don’t know. And I thought I was slightly spooked by the gnome video Hugh shared for 51 Weeks: 51 Songs From the Past: Week 39. His topic was a favorite “unusual” song. I can’t claim this as my favorite but it’s definitely unusual.

What do you think? Was this song stuck in your head for what seemed like yearsmonths when it was getting way more attention than it probably should have?

Happy Saturday!

-Kat