It's Over. For now.

It’s the holidays and my blog days are jammed in after Christmas and on national hangover day. I have to resort to the oldest, most clichéd topics of all time. Makes me feel a little like I’m writing episode of Nash Bridges.

Let’s start with Christmas. An important day to most Christians, despite it’s origins and arbitrary date, it represents the birth of Christ and that’s a big deal to some of us. Whether it has meaning to you or not does not give you a reason to recuse yourself from this vital question: “What’s your favorite Christmas song? And what trivia can you give us about it?

I love Christmas songs, I admit it. But it has more to do with childhood memories than anything else. I like most of the remakes as well, except the ones where the current crop of singers feel the need to show off their vocal dexterity or deep soul. I call it the Alicia Keyes syndrome. It’s not enough to sing the words but to prove they can emote as well. Ms. Keyes is to singing what Charleton Heston is to acting. If a little is good, too much is better.

The my favorite two songs both come from sixties TV special still running on the network today. From Rudolph the Rednosed Raindeer is Burl Ives version of Holly Jolly Christmas. Love the simple message sung by a truly jolly voice.

Next is the somber Little Drummer boy. The broadcast of these puppet or whatever they were, stories signaled to all the Born children that Christmas was on it’s way. No school, good food and presents. (It was only later I grasped the deeper meaning in the holiday).

Here’s the trivia for Rudolph:

Although the animations were filmed in Japan, the entire soundtrack for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was recorded in a studio near Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario; most of the singing and speaking cast were Canadian.

Burl Ives' "Holly Jolly Christmas" was a seasonal standard long before it was used in the film.

When Santa's sleigh finally takes off into the storm near the end of the film, it's being pulled by SIX reindeer instead of eight, with Rudolph leading the way.

Now it’s your turn.

What song do you like and what’s something we don’t know about it?

Here’s looking forward to the next Holiday, whatever you celebrate.
Next week we’ll look at -- you guessed it – New Year’s resolutions.