Io Saturnalia
Io Yo Saturnalia! Yo, in my opinion, is both underused and underappreciated as a festive holiday exclamation. In addition, it's just plain superior to 'Merry' or 'Happy.' Interject it into your conversation today for added festiveness.
I feel the need to make some mention of Saturnalia because, since it started on the 18th, I've had it pointed out to me by various sources that Saturnalia-was-corrupted-into-Christmas-by-the-Romans-to-make-conversions-that-much-easier no less than four times. Ignoring the fact that I already knew this, and have known it for ages. It must be chic to intellectually re-paganaize Chirstmas this year or something. I don't know.
A traditional Roman gift during Saturnalia was a packet of peppercorns, if you were wondering (you weren't but you're going to be told anyway). Peppercorns imported from India's spice fields to Rome's jumbled streets - they were a bit like iPods are now. Not rare, exactly, but a little on the pricey side. Life is less bland with them, and they come in a variety of hues. TRUE FACT.
Lately I've been sucked into the whirling technicolor vortex that is the Chirstmas A Go Go! blog. It's strangely mesmerizing: a bizarre, esoteric, peculiar mishmash of holiday songs. Most are possibly best viewed (listened to?) through the soft, extremely forgiving, sepia-toned lense of noglastalgia, but there's enough posted by this point that you will probably find something downright delectable.
(Christmas in Outer Space is worth a listen if only for the first song: Dickie Goodman's Santa and the Satellite. It's Cold War era spaceraceriffic.)
My own festive playlist has finally been put in some sort of order and is . . . well . . . decidedly less technicolor. You might go so far as to say that it's grey. Luminously shades of grey and slightly obsessed with snow and/or ice. Shocking, no?
Feels Like Winter playlist
There is the telling existence of an A side and a B side; I'm not sure if I should be amused or alarmed that I still fashion mixes that way. In any case, making purely Christmas mixes is too much of a pain when nine out of ten songs begin with a 4/4 chiming jingle-bell intro. Listen to them too long and they'll make you glad for the advent of the internal combustion engine and snow plows.
I feel the need to make some mention of Saturnalia because, since it started on the 18th, I've had it pointed out to me by various sources that Saturnalia-was-corrupted-into-Christmas-by-the-Romans-to-make-conversions-that-much-easier no less than four times. Ignoring the fact that I already knew this, and have known it for ages. It must be chic to intellectually re-paganaize Chirstmas this year or something. I don't know.
A traditional Roman gift during Saturnalia was a packet of peppercorns, if you were wondering (you weren't but you're going to be told anyway). Peppercorns imported from India's spice fields to Rome's jumbled streets - they were a bit like iPods are now. Not rare, exactly, but a little on the pricey side. Life is less bland with them, and they come in a variety of hues. TRUE FACT.
Lately I've been sucked into the whirling technicolor vortex that is the Chirstmas A Go Go! blog. It's strangely mesmerizing: a bizarre, esoteric, peculiar mishmash of holiday songs. Most are possibly best viewed (listened to?) through the soft, extremely forgiving, sepia-toned lense of noglastalgia, but there's enough posted by this point that you will probably find something downright delectable.
(Christmas in Outer Space is worth a listen if only for the first song: Dickie Goodman's Santa and the Satellite. It's Cold War era spaceraceriffic.)
My own festive playlist has finally been put in some sort of order and is . . . well . . . decidedly less technicolor. You might go so far as to say that it's grey. Luminously shades of grey and slightly obsessed with snow and/or ice. Shocking, no?
Feels Like Winter playlist
- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab for Cutie
- The Winter Is Coming - Elf Power
- Suzy Snowflake - Soul Coughing
- Christmas Is Going to the Dogs - Eels
- Oi To The World! - No Doubt
- Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy (Red Baron Remix) - Berlin Symphony Orchestra
- Snow Like This - The Softies
- Rusty the Skatemaker - Rasputina
- Just Like Christmas - The Dudley Corporation
- Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - Eels
- Our Furnace - The Little Champions
- I Was A Kaleidoscope - Death Cab for Cutie
- Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas (Sometimes) - Harvey Danger
- Grey Ice Water - Modest Mouse
- Winter Song - Rasputina & Ultra Vivid Scene
- Three Coat - Pairdown
- NY Snow Globe - Rachel's
- Winterlong - Smashing Pumpkins
- Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
- Silent Night - Fredo Viola/Prugelknaben
There is the telling existence of an A side and a B side; I'm not sure if I should be amused or alarmed that I still fashion mixes that way. In any case, making purely Christmas mixes is too much of a pain when nine out of ten songs begin with a 4/4 chiming jingle-bell intro. Listen to them too long and they'll make you glad for the advent of the internal combustion engine and snow plows.