My Favorite Christmas Music in Videos Day 7

This duet by Bing Crosby and David Bowie is perhaps one of the most beloved Christmas pieces of all time. I remember the first time I saw the two of them do The Little Drummer Boy (Peace on Earth) on television and I make it a habit to see it every Christmas.  I hope you enjoy it as well.  Merry Christmas!

Thanks for listening!  Have a great rest of the day!

My Favorite Christmas Music in Videos Day 6

Perhaps my all time favorite Christmas song is Silent Night.  This is the first version of that beautiful song that I will post and is the 1980 version sung by the R and B legends The Temptations.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Have a very Merry Christmas!  Thank you for listening and have a great rest of the day.

My Favorite Christmas Music in Videos Day 5

Even though "We Three Kings" is not exactly biblical per se, I still love the song.  After all, the three wise men from the east came not at the birth of Christ, but later after He had been born.

I hope you enjoy this rendition of "We Three Kings" as performed by the incomparable and legendary Ella Fitzgerald.

Have a Merry Christmas and a great rest of the day!

My Favorite Christmas Music in Videos -- Day 4

Not all of my favorite Christmas music is traditional.  I discovered Trans-Siberian Orchestra by accident one day when I saw a video very similar to this on YouTube.  I had to know what the tune was and who performed it.  Turns out it wasWizards In Winter by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  Bought their mp3s and had more Christmas music to listen to.

Hope you enjoy.  Have a Merry Christmas and a great rest of the day!

My Favorite Christmas Music in Videos -- Day 3

Two of the greatest opera tenors sing one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time.  Enjoy Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo singing O Holy Night / Cantique De Noel  from the Christmas performance filmed in Vienna 1999.

Merry Christmas!  Enjoy the rest of your day.

My Favorite Christmas Music in Videos Day 2

One of the great crooners of all time singing one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time.  Enjoy Mr. Bing Crosby singing "I'll Be Home For Christmas".

Thanks for listening.  Have a great rest of the day.   Merry Christmas!

The True Meaning of Christmas

Every year I try very hard to post a video a day in December of something Christmas related.  Usually that is a video of one of my favorite Christmas songs and starting tomorrow that won't change.  But I wanted to start off my Christmas blogging tradition by showing you a clip from perhaps one of the greatest Christmas specials of all time: A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I watched this as a child and we continue to watch it every year, now with our children.  It never grows old and the truth in it remains the same.  So I hope you enjoy.  Linus explaining the true meaning of Christmas.

Have a Merry Christmas!  Thanks for reading and have  great rest of the day.

How Geno at Home Depot Saved Our Christmas This Year

On Black Friday this year, I waited up for most of the night to go to Home Depot for one specific item my wife really wanted: a Martha Stewart brand Christmas Tree.

We actually needed a tree this year to replace the one from last year.  That tree had served my wife's family, and our family for well over 15 years and to be honest I hated to see it go, but it had been dying for a number of years and last year it finally succumbed to its old age and could no longer be repaired.

So when Home Depot placed a seven and a half foot tall, pre-lit Douglass Fir style Christmas tree on sale for Black Friday for 59 dollars, I was told that this was the tree we needed to replace our last tree.  So I waited up through the night and at 4:45 AM, I drove to the Home Deport we frequently shop at and got in the line that had formed.  The store had 29 trees to sell and when the doors opened at 5:00 AM, I and a few others rushed over to the trees and started snatching them up like they were made of gold.  It was early, I was tired, but my wife would have her tree!

What the Martha Stewart Tree I purchased Black Friday looked like.

Later on in the weekend, we opened the box and assembled the tree, plugging in the lights and moving it to where it needed to go in our living room.  Everything was great, all were happy and Christmas was a joyous time!

Then the lights went out on the tree.

Not all the lights, but just the white lights.  You see, the tree had two settings for it: White Lights and Multicolored Lights.  We could turn on the multicolored lights, but when we tried the white lights, the multicolored lights would simply dim to almost dark and then nothing else would happen.  When you hit the switch again, all the lights would turn off.  Needless to say my wife wasn't happy.  Neither was I.  My wife started taking the ornaments off the tree and I called the Home Depot where I bought the tree.

The first Home Depot associate I spoke with sounded all of 20 something years old, and offered me the standard "bring it in for a refund" line after he put me on hold for a few seconds to see if they had any of the same trees in stock, which they didn't.  I'll be honest here, I wasn't really satisfied with that answer.  I shop at Home Depot a lot; almost everything I buy that is home repair related, lawn related, and gardening/landscaping related is purchased at Home Depot and I trust the brands they carry, and I trust the company itself.  So I did what I think everyone in my situation would have done and told him I would like to speak to the manager on duty please.

That brought me to Geno, who was the manager on duty that night.  Geno listened to my situation and said he'd be happy to replace the tree with a comparable one that was 150 dollars or under for the same price I had bought mine at.  I said that sounded like a winner and my wife and I went up to the store to look at what was available.

What was there was not much.  None of the trees available had the dual lighting feature, and most of the trees available were outside the 150 dollar price range Geno had mentioned.  My wife pointed this out and was upset.  Not really upset at Home Depot or Geno, but upset at the thought of having to find another tree that she liked and would be happy with.  I think Geno saw this and made another offer to us.  "I'm feeling really generous at the moment" were his exact words to my wife, and offered her whatever tree she liked right then for the same price we paid for the original defective tree!

I was floored and my wife was too.  She looked around and pointed to the Martha Stewart T-2 style tree and said that one.  A little while later after returning the defective tree and paying 59.00 dollars for the newer tree, I had loaded it in the van and driven home.  Everyone was happy, and Home Depot and Geno had saved our Christmas.

Our new Martha Stewart Christmas tree from Home Depot

So to everyone out there, a public thank you to Home Depot and Geno Specifically for their help and out of this world customer service!  I am my family greatly appreciate it very much.

Merry Christmas all!

Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the day!

Counting Down Christmas One Video At A Time -- Joy To the World as sung by the Mississippi Mass Choir

Let the world know that Joy has come to the it through Jesus Christ!  Joy to the World is a simple Christmas carol, but one that simply tells the truth.  Joy! to the world, the Lord has come!  What more should be said. What more could be said?

Enjoy this carol as sung by the Mississippi Mass Choir.

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down Christmas One Video at a Time -- White Christmas

One of the things I like to do at Christmas is watch the old Christmas movies.  Movies that meant something, movies that the whole family could enjoy without fear of wondering if it was appropriate for children or not.

One of the movies I love is White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye and the title song is today's video in my Christmas Video Countdown.  Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down Christmas One Video At A Time -- Joseph's Lullaby

This is one of the newer songs written for the Christmas season, written and performed by Mercy Me and I really don't know how popular it is, but this song has personal meaning to me.  Sometimes Joseph is called the patron saint of step fathers, for even though Jesus was God's only Son, and wasn't Joseph's son, I can imagine Joseph taking Jesus in his arms and knowing that while Jesus was on earth and Joseph was alive, Joseph would take care of Jesus, as if Jesus were his first born son.  And that's how I feel too.  No matter if I wasn't there for the conception or the birth of my first born daughter, she is and will always be my first born child.  So this one is for you and for her as well.  Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down Christmas One Video At A Time -- Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night)

One of my all time favorite Christmas carols is Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night).  And one of the best performances of this was done by the late great Luciano Pavarotti, singing alongside Placido Domingo.  Close your eyes and let their interpretation bless you.

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down Christmas One Video At A Time -- Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth

This is not one of my favorite carols per se, but it is one of my favorite collaborations of all time.  David Bowie and Bing Crosby, singing together for Christmas was one of the most anticipated parts of the special they appeared in.  I actually remember this special and thought it was great then and it is great now.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down Christmas -- One Video At A Time -- Silent Night

Today's posting is actually a twofer!  Silent Night is one of my all time favorite Christmas Carols and the two videos shown below are two of the most unique and all time best examples.  I hope you enjoy.

                                                                  Merry Christmas!

                                                                      Stevie Nicks

                                                                   The Temptations

Counting Down Christmas -- One Video At A Time -- Christmas Canon by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

This is my favorite time of the year.  The music, decorations, cheer and the giving.  Of course, with my faith, this is a celebration for me and my family as well. With that said, until the day of Christmas, I would like to post videos of some of my favorite Christmas music for you to enjoy.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas At Work

I absolutely love where I work!  Employee owned, every monthly and quarterly meeting is started out with a prayer and they love to have fun!  Now I don't really do the Halloween decorating thing, but I do like decorating for Christmas, so I decided to decorate my cube this year.  It's not complete as I still need to tidy up the lights some, and hang icicle lights from the ceiling above my cube, but here is where it is at right now. 

As you can tell, I have a certain theme: The University of Texas.  Tell me what you think.

Merry Christmas!

Eric

The Newest Grinch This Christmas -- Sean Thomas

As I was reading through the news from around the country today, I came across this headline:

Activist who fought bell ringers explains motives
Man sought to have Salvation Army collectors moved from post office.

Now, the headline alone was enough for me to immediately think of the word Grinch.

Sean Thomas is this week's Grinch who stole Christmas.

Mr. Thomas, a 65 year old gay man, apparently has a bias against the Salvation Army, mistakenly believing that the Salvation Army is anti-gay. It is a sad situation when a person's intolerance and prejudice hurts many needy and deserving people. How you may ask?

The Salvation Army, for 25 years has had bell ringers located in front of a post office in Orange County. It is one of their best producing sites, averaging over 6,000 dollars a year. Because of one man's prejudice, the Post Office asked the Salvation Army to move from their spot of 25 years; the Salvation Army moved to the entrance of a nearby mall.

Mr. Tomas said about the Salvation Army being at the Post Office:

"How can we have a church set up a collection facility in front of a federal building?" the 65-year-old Brea resident said today; he is chairman of human resources for a Unitarian Universalist Church in Fullerton. "I wanted to know who allowed these people to be here. … I don't think it is appropriate."

"Would it be right for my church to solicit funds in front of the post office?"

Not only was Mr. Tomas angry at the Salvation Army being in front of the post office, he was angry to know that the Salvation Army partners with the city's resource center, which staffs the kettles with volunteers from local churches, community groups, schools and city staff. The resource center doles out the money to charities.

"For the city to be involved in the middle of it bothers the heck out of me," Thomas said.

At least some people locally don't agree. The local Mayor could not believe a single person would do something to harm others who would benefit from the Salvation Army's programs

"First off, I don't believe that it is a church-and-state issue," Schweitzer said. "It's an issue of a charity raising funds for the needy of the community. It saddens me that there is a member of our community that would take action and reduce those funds that we've been counting on for 30 years."

A spokesperson for the Salvation Army disputed the charges that the organization was anti-gay:

Major Lee Lescano, the Salvation Army's Orange County coordinator, disagreed with Thomas as well.

"We are absolutely nondiscriminatory,'' he said. "We serve gays on a regular basis in our treatment centers and other programs with no discrimination. I would not consider us anti-gay in any shape or form."

A part of me wonders if this is just further backlash from a gay individual, lashing out at a Christian organization because of Prop 8 passing, or is Mr. Tomas just a prejudiced, intolerant person who simply doesn't care about others in need, who are helped out by the one organization he has singled out and attacked.

Either way, Sean Thomas is this week's Grinch who has stolen Christmas for his community.

Well, It Certainly Felt and Looked Like Christmas!

We had a bit of weather here in North Texas the day before yesterday and my wife had a really good idea of taking the girls out to an untouched park to play. Here are some of the pictures I took from my cell phone.

 

We all enjoyed it. You can see more of the pictures taken by going to my wife's blog.

Christmas According to Charlie Brown

This is one of the most beloved Christmas Specials of all time, in my opinion. I just wish they made more like this.

Enjoy!

Favorite Christmas Music - David Bowie and Bing Crosby Sing Little Drummer Boy

I wanted to share with you one of my all time favorite Christmas duets. I actually remember when David Bowie and Bing Crosby sang this live on TV and I was floored. This duet is one I consider pure magic. I will be sharing other songs later on.

Enjoy!