Friday, November 30, 2007
Joy to the World!!
Sorry for the delay in my latest Advent video. There have been unforeseen technical difficulties. I'm not sure if I'll post another tomorrow, but I'll sure try! :-)
I originally wanted to find a nice video of O Come O Come Emmanuel, one of my absolutely favorite Christmas hymns. But the only two versions of it on YouTube that I liked weren't really videos. If you want, check out Whitney Houston's version or boyz ii men's version. They're both beautiful, but they're only the audio tracks with a graphic in the video screen. Not the kind of thing I'm looking to post here for now.
In the meantime, another great Christmas hymn is Joy to the World. One of my all time favorite Christmas albums that I have had for years and years and have listened to at least a million times is by Take 6 (He is Christmas). If you're not familiar with them, they're an a capella group, all male, and are amazing! This version is a bit jazzy (beware if you're only interested in the traditional Christmas songs done in the traditional way). They also sing a Christmas medley on this same video after singing Joy to the World. Nice.
Enjoy!!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Nutcracker Suite
What's Christmas time without some music from the Nutcracker Suite. It's SO festive!! But, if you're me, you can't easily spell those Russian names like Tchaikovsky or Baryshnikov. But I had it in my head that today's blog post was to be a scene from the Nutcracker, and Mikhail is my absolute favorite ballet dancer. Well, I finally figured out the spellings (thanks to YouTube (aka Google) and their spelling suggestions). Enjoy watching the best ballet dancer who has ever graced the stage.
Some other Nutcracker videos that you might also enjoy:
* Part One and Part Two of a special symphonic presentation of the Nutcracker music. Pay special attention to the tympanist. :-)
* Waltz of the Flowers - of course, if you're a French horn player like I am, you LOVE this piece!
* Trepak - my favorite Nutcracker music is The Russian Dance. This guy is amazing!!
I have to add that when you do YouTube searches for music from the "Nutcracker" you get some cheesy stuff. I mean, there is one video of a guitar ensemble ... guitars? But the worst (as in cheesiest) is the accordion duet! Amazing the stuff that's out there!!
(P.S. The entire (ENTIRE) time I've been typing this I have been on the phone with Geico's property insurance department about my stuff in storage and my personal property that is with me here in NY. I did the YouTube research earlier ... but the typing during the "hold" periods on the phone. UGH!!)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Christmas Advent Blogging
Christmas advent blogging has returned to a "louannsplace.com" near you! :-) You may or may not remember that for the past several years I have made an attempt to do special blog posts during the advent season. A couple of the attempts were successful, and others were less so when the season got busy, the blog was ignored. But, if you want, take a look at the archives for each year, November and December. My favorites were to go through words of familiar Christmas Carols and to talk about playing Secret Santa at work. Well, Secret Santa ain't happenin' this year. But I have really been hitting the Christmas Carols hard already. (Yes, yes, I'm the one who complained about early Christmas ads on TV....)
My goal is to present to you a YouTube video of a Christmas Carol each day (or close to it!) between now and Christmas. I am having fun looking them up. Some will be fun, some serious, some festive, some silly, some sacred, some secular. To kick off this event, I'm appropriately starting with "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas". It is, though, isn't it? This video shows Christmas scenes from around the world. Enjoy!
If you have some extra time, try some of these other videos:
* Peanuts - this one shows favorite scenes from the Peanuts' holiday special. It's been around for years, hasn't it? :-)
* Perry Como" - If you enjoy classics, this is for you.
Enjoy!! And check back tomorrow!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving again!
I just found this site, thanks to Girls Gone Geek. Thanks, gals!
You can spell your own words with Flickr at Spell with Flickr. Have fun!!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Just a quick note to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I'm sitting here enjoying the amazing scents of mom's pies in the oven. Can't wait to take a break from the South Beach Diet and have some STUFFING later!!!!!!!
Oh - and a heads up for you: I will be starting my Christmas advent blogging a bit early this year. Hopefully it will be a daily advent deal (like the calendars with the windows that you open every day until Christmas) ... so tune in within the next day or two and enjoy getting in the mood for the holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Hilarious Billboard!!
This story has been all over the news lately. The billboard is causing huge amounts of controversy ... and I have to admit that I merely think it's hilarious. I'm a sucker for advertising anyway. Not that I plan to go out and buy a bunch of concrete any time soon. I just mean that I think that there are so many creative people in advertising and this is a fine example. Especially for Upstate New York. I mean, really. I hate to say it, but there are people who need to lighten up.....
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tom Toles on living in Western NY
I try to tell you folks that it's not so bad living here! :-)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I can't believe THIS!!
Check out this Buffalo News article. I can NOT believe that they are selling tickets now for a concert in SEPTEMBER!!! I mean, I can't imagine buying tickets for ANYTHING nine and a half months ahead of time. I don't know a lot about Celine Dion, as I don't typically listen to that kind of pop music. But I DO know that I wouldn't buy tickets for ANY concert that far ahead of time. When I saw the commercial on TV I thought for SURE that they had gotten the month wrong. I figured "September" should be "February" or something. In November, how can you believe seeing a commercial for a concert on "September 3"!!!!! Unbelievable!!!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Other France
So, while transitioning to Buffalo, a friend got in touch with me to ask if I might be able to put together a website for her new business ... or if I could point her out to someone who might be able to do so. I thought that, since I enjoyed working on programming the html and css for this blog, I might enjoy working with people on business websites. So I agreed to work with her, and she agreed to be my guinea pig. :-)
Well, the site is done, and I am pumped. I think it looks great, and every single page validates!! And she seems to be happy with the result, so all is well in Lou Ann Land. Please take a look at the site and let me know what you think. The Other France
I think I might be happy doing this for a living. :-D
My life......
FYI ... just a quick note here. I think that all of my readers are aware of this ... but I have decided that living in Colorado isn't commensurate with my financial goals (i.e. to not be broke), so I have revised my thinking. I am back in Western New York (where I grew up) working on finding a new career field and a job and a house and a church and and and......... :-)
