It's My TV….It's My Peanut Butter

To start:  Yes, I’m missing a lot of posts.  That is due to a work-related time vampire that I am just not going to discuss because it’s entirely too suck-tastic.

And now that I’m here thanks to the wonder of one of the few holidays we haven’t destroyed completely in this country*…..

Except that I’m here later than I expected because, it’s officially post-Thanksgiving-meal-consumption for me, which is my stated prerequisite for starting up Christmas music.  And I wanted friggin’ holiday cheer blaring before I started typing.  So, I sit down at ye olde PC…..about 2-3 hours ago.

Trouble is, I had hell getting MP3s loaded.  To own the truth, I am still playing them ones-y, two-sy.

In the off-season, when I’m shifting files around on computers to make space, or set up a new drive, the first thing to get shuffled aside in a less-than-orderly fashion, are the Christmas MP3s.  It’s generally done because, well, I won’t need them until after Thanksgiving, and of COURSE I’ll get them organized again before then.

Except I don’t.

So, here I am, ready to start rockin’ to my Danish Santa Rap, Juleman, and….where the hell was that file?

First there’s the consolidation into one location, then there’s dumb-ass iTunes and it’s molasses-in-January loading process (although, I suppose I shouldn’t blame iTunes totally….I have fairly extensive collection of holiday tune-age.  By-product of being a practically-Christmas-baby).  During this process, I get fed up and start my internet search for the killer-app to replace this nightmare that we call iTunes.  Download a few.  Install.  Realize they won’t fit the bill, go back to loading iTunes.  And here I sit, just now attempting to get this thing posted while a folder sits open next to this window so I can right click on a Christmas song and tell it to play in Winamp so as not to disturb the goings-on of iTunes (why don’t I just use Winamp?!?!?!)

Then again, the real time vampire in this is probably my own lack of organization….

*Though we’re working on it–I mean, whatever meaning it had, racist or not, is pretty much gone–but so far it’s still a mandatory day off.  Except for those poor SOBs in retail.  And because of that, the slippery slope is in place to make this into another work-day for the rest of us where only those with vacation time and forgiving superiors can manage to take the day.

This entry less-than-thoughtfully composed to the following soundtrack: “Kaj i kanen” - Kølig Kaj; “Podsafe Christmas Song” – Jonathan Coulton; “Es Wird Scho Glei Dumpa” – Stefanie Hertel & Stefan Mross; “Christmas Wishes” – Anne Murray; “Throw The Yule Log On, Uncle John” – The Christopher Wren Singers; “Wenn ein neues Jahr geboren wird” – Claudia Jung.

Okay, folks.  By now we’ve all consumed Thanksgiving dinner, which, in the world of Cammy, means it is now kosher to make with the jingle bells and crank up the Christmas tunes.

For those few of you who may not have known both members of My TV, My Peanut Butter for Christmases past, the official kick-off song of our holiday playlist is an obscure and hilarious bit by a fellow called Kølig Kaj.  The song is “Kaj i kanen” but we prefer to simply call it “Juleman.”  Not familiar with this Christmas ditty?  Allow me to explain it very, very simply:

Danish.

Santa.

Rap.

The only source I know of for the song is a European compilation known as Absolute Christmas 2–an album I’m still trying to get my hands on.  You see, the entry of this piece in our lives had a lot to do with shared files on a campus network which resulted in completely random things ending up on one’s hard drive.  Most of them were things long ago ditched, but in the midst of all the renditions of “Jingle Bells” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” something as unique as Danish Santa Rap is an absolute gem that you can’t allow to escape.

I love remakes, new takes, variations and alternative renditions of all kids of Christmas music, but even my love for hearing a new take on an old tune gets tried by mid December.  It’s a shame there aren’t more explorations of funky jewels from non-English speaking sources.  So, gentle readers, before you berate the repetitive nature of Christmas tune-age this holiday season, give a shot at branching out into new and uncharted territory, and when you find your own Juleman, share it with good friends and spread the multi-cultural holiday cheer.

And if Christmas isn’t your thing, then break out the sounds of the winter holiday of your choice and share with the class already.  What?  We’ve heard all about baby Jesus already–give us something else to work with here!