I Told You I Liked Guys Singing

Straight No Chaser

I am very fond of guys singing Christmas carols, especially when they appear to be intoxicated. I'm not sure what to call this: maybe 12 Days And More Of Christmas. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Here is the group Straight No Chaser.



I'm still fond of guys singing Christmas carols even after the above strangeness. This is Straight No Chaser singing Carol of the Bells.

Billings Surgeon Performs Miracles

Who would have thought that a skilled plastic surgeon could alter the shape of a soul. This guy is really good. Check this out here.

Moscow Ballet Dances Nutcracker In Billings

Tuesday evening Moscow Ballet was in Billings' Alberta Bair Theatre doing their Great Russian Nutcracker along with large numbers of kids from Billings and Bozeman. It was fun except for the ridiculously loud music, not live. So loud that it hurt the ears. I'm sure Mr Tchaikovsky would have objected to his lovely music having all that fuzz on it. The backdrops were a little garish but the dancing was splendid. Attractive young people, both male and female, danced in a relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable way. Some of the young ladies approached nubility. Many of the local kids did very well by the way, though sometimes they seemed to distract from the main event. I'm sure their parents were not distracted. A fairly full house for a change. They are off to Great Falls on Wednesday, 18 December and then to medium- size cities in California.

Was Lincoln Correct?

"Not only is Lincoln one of my political heroes," Obama said, "but like Lincoln, I served for seven years in Springfield in the state Senate, and it's there I learned how to legislate, it's there that I developed many of my political ideas." Certainly not in Chicago, oh no, never, nada.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

But you only have to fool a simple majority of the Senate and House of Representatives and the President to pass most laws. So then, maybe Lincoln's aphorism is true, true, true and irrelevant to the political process. By the way I think when people use the word "attributed" they usually mean that the quote sounds good, but they can't track down the actual reference.

3rd Sunday in Advent—Gaudete—Rejoice

These are some of my favorite things. Last Advent/Christmas season Carol and I were in Italy. We enjoyed visiting Venice, Florence and Rome very much but we also realized that we loved a lot of things that go on in our home town of Billings Montana USA, especially starting in late November and going on through most of December all the way to Epiphany in early January.

I suppose that is one of the reasons for travel: to realize how good you have it at home. One of those goods in Billings is the presence of many good singers and instrumentalists and fans of that sort of home-made music. And there are enough of us show-offs, religious or not, that we like to do this sort of thing around this part of the year, early on the religious calendar and late on the secular calendar.

This past Sunday afternoon we enjoyed Bellissimo, a really good bell choir, at First Methodist—see the sanctuary above, the big bells to the left, with the ringers and singers below— in downtown Billings. They usually have enough fans to warrant a couple of performances. Led by Julie Draeger and joined by the Magic City Singers, this was a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Even got to sing a few verses of Silent Night.

With the malls and other places spoiling ordinary versions of a lot of Christmas carols by their constant repetion it seems to me that we need an unusual sound or arrangement or both to perk up our interest in Silent Night or Joy To The World, but curiously enough, there are still lots of people out there still writing songs to celebrate this joyous Jesus season: John Rutter is one of them; and not surprisingly Bellissimo performed Hart Morris's difficult On This Day Earth Shall Ring with notable aplomb.

The Magic City Singers were led by Chris Sheppard with some help on percussion from young people pressed into service as jingle bell shakers and whip snappers on a nice vocal arrangement of Sleigh Ride.

For unclear reasons a very early carol, The First Nowell, always attracts my attention and it did here as well. There were other good songs including one by John Rutter. Nice solos too.

Those are the ringers taking a bow to the right with the singers in the background and some appreciative fans in the foreground in the very attractive First Methodist sanctuary.















To the right and left are some of the decorations at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in preparation for the Christmas season. These elaborately dressed dolls are getting ready for a concert by the nearby West High School choirs this coming Thursday evening, 18 December. This should be worth listening to.

I forgot to mention some of the stuff that went on the weekend before. On the left is the big-voiced and pretty Amy Logan, almost hidden by the acrobatic John Baber, and some members of the string sections of the Billings Community Orchestra. Amy alone was worth the price of admission. They were getting ready, along with the Al Bedoo Chanters and the Akzents, for their 6 December Saturday afternoon concert at the Alberta Bair Theatre.

And then Sunday afternoon was the Messiah with some very able soloists and a strong-throated community chorus led by the prodigal David Reynolds: excellent stuff.

And then in the evening we heard the absolutely delicious Rocky Mountain College singers and instrumentalists led by the splendid splinter—sorry Ted W— of Billings, Stephen Hart, doing their annual Festival Lessons and Carols concert at the First Presbyterian Church on 13th and Poly. Dr Hart is clearly a wizard and one of our true treasures.

This year we will have two performances of the Nutcracker. The Eugene Ballet did one in late November and one of the Moscow Ballet companies is doing one this coming Tuesday, 16 December, at the Alberta Bair Theatre. This is only a sample of all the musical celebrations going on at this time of the year.

Don't Drink and Drive

Martin Luther was right, of course, when he suggested that beer, especially good German beer, is not only good for you, it is also evidence that God loves you.

Pope Benedict XVI reminded his parishioners in early November that Saint Paul cautioned against drinking and driving: “Dear brothers and sisters, I implore everyone — drivers, passengers and pedestrians — to heed carefully the words of Saint Paul in the liturgy of the word today: Stay sober and alert,” he added.

By the way, are the Sundays in Advent like those in Lent where you can celebrate a little?

It looks like this is not a recent picture as the Cardinal has been promoted.

There Are Many Reasons to Like the Advent/Christmas Season

One of the many reasons is the Clementine or Christmas orange. It is surprisingly juicy, almost always seedless, very easy to peel and just the right size for a between-meal snack. I was reminded of these by the Pious Sodality of Church Ladies excellent blog, whose purpose is "to exchange such pieces of feminine genius as are useful to their craft." They also point out where more information is available on these seasonal delights.

Something Sublime

Do not pass GO.

Do not collect $200.

What a treat.

Go directly here for delighting your senses.

This one is called "There's a snowman on your snowman."

I Like The Way This Lady's Head Is Screwed On

Check out this blog at this and any other time of the year.