This morning was kinda… delightful! Thanks to ABC Family, my sisters and I spent the morning watching Annie (1982).  It is by far the best Annie movie.  It makes all of the other versions look like mush.  Hog-wash.  Posers!

The cast is amazing:  Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters, Carol Burnett, and of course Aileen Queen.  I know what you’re thinking: who the heck is Aileen Queen??  She played Annie.  She will always be the best Annie because she fit the part so well.  I already have  a specially liking of red heads and she is just so cute and talented.  The sing and dancing is so on point!  It put a smile on my face today.  Here are some clips from my favorite opening  scene.  The scenes in the orphanage are the funniest.  Check it out:  Annie (1982)

Later today I am supposed to go see The Princess and the Frog!  Give it up for the new sistah girl on the 100 block of Disney Avenue!!  I’ll review it later tonight.

Thought of the day:  What did you want to be when you grew up? Was it a big dream or one of those spur of the moment thoughts?   How does that affect what you think of your life and the career choices you’ve made?  Just wonderin…

Annie

Mungolian Jetset

DJ Spinna

Underworld

GusGus

Danny Wang

Pet Shop Boys

Nouvelle Vague

N.A.S.A.

MSTRKRFT

The Presets

WARP20

Dear Everyone who reads my mama’s blog,

Merry Christmas!!!

Mama asked if I’d be the guest blogger tonight.  She said she’s a little tired…and I’m happy to help. Even though I can’t talk yet, I’ve got a lot to say.  [Don't tell her, but she needs to do a better job with this blog thing, anyway. Maybe I'll help more often.]

Did you guys have a great Christmas?  Boy, we sure did!  I thought my big brother’s eyes were gonna pop out of his head this morning when he saw that Santa had been here.  [Props to Santa...he is good!  I didn't even hear him come in last night.]  Mama had a big couple of days at work.  She plans all the worship and music details at the church, and Christmas is a very busy time!  Even though the weather was really bad, the church had all of their worship services.  Mama said that she guessed 4500 people came.  That is way cool.  Daddy took us to church for the early service, and it was super packed.  We had to sit in the back, because people gave us dirty looks when Daddy picked up Mama’s sweater that she’d used to save us chairs near the organ. Yikes.  Mama’s children’s choirs sang at that service, and they were great!  I can’t wait until I’m enough to sing.  Ben sings a lot.  Like, constantly.  He sings to me a lot, especially when I cry.  Sometimes I cry just so he’ll sing to me, because he has a really good voice.  And man, he knows a lot of songs.  Ben sings Rudolph and Frosty and Jingle Bells…and he knows all the words.  [But I think he leaves the 'red' out of "Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer..."]  He sings a song about baby Jesus; it’s called Away in a Manger.  Ben knows two whole verses of the song.  He’ll be so ready when he’s in preschool next Christmastime!  Mama also taught him Joy to the World this last week.  It’s my new favorite song, and here’s how he sings it:

“Joy to the worwd, da Savior’s here! An menn, sha den, na mehhhhh.”

Haha.  I don’t think he knows those last words.  He tries to fool me and makes them up.  Oh well…I still like it!

Mama left the house on Christmas Eve right before lunchtime, and I think I remember seeing her home around 7pm…but then she was back to work at 10 o’clock again.  I had a surprise for her, though!  When she got home at 12:30am after the candlelight service, I knew she wanted to spend some quality time with me; so I *stayed awake for her from 12:45 – 2:00 am.  Then I dreamt that she was wrapping presents until, like, 3:00am.

*and by that, I mean that I cried really, really, really hard

Mom and Dad woke me up at 7:30 today because Santa had come to our house!!!  My big brother was still snoring away, and they had to wake him up.  [Mom had to go back to work at 9am, so that's why we had to get up early.]  Whoa…you should have seen Benjamin!  He was so excited to see that Santa left presents under our tree.  He kept saying, “He has been here!!  He has been here!!”  Ben saw that Santa had eaten the star cookies [yummmm] that were left out for him; and Santa had even left a candy cane for Ben on the empty plate.  And we think Santa was reading Benjamin’s very-cool-homemade-fabric Rudolph book that he got from his godparents Adam and Ali, because it was on the table, too.

I can’t believe Santa was in our house!

Benjamin had asked Santa to please bring him a big digger.  A yellow and black excavator digger.  And whaddaya know – Santa did!  The digger has a cool remote control thing and Ben already knows how to work it.  He’s so smart.  Ben also got a few games – like Operation and Chutes and Ladders.  Daddy was teaching big brother how to play them this afternoon.  I think his favorite is the doctor game; he likes taking all the funny pieces out of the man and putting them in his – what else? - digger.  He also got a puzzle, some new socks, a few coloring books with stickers (to help him learn to go to the potty, I think), some candies, and a rolling pin.  Benjamin likes to help Mama cook.  Especially when she’s baking cookies [so he can eat the chocolate stars or chocolate chips or lick the spoon] or something with pepperoni or cheese [so he can eat it while she prepares the supper].

Ben calls them ‘peccoronis.’  That’s funny.

I got some really fun toys that I’m learning to hold.  Rattles and things.  I got some new pretty outfits to wear around the house.  Ben asked Santa to bring me a baby doll, and he totally did.  My favorite gift, by far, is the pile of bibs that Santa gave me.  I feel like a fountain most of the time!!  Good thing it’s cool to drool.  Right?? I think it’s fun to hear Mom and Dad guess as to why I either sleep a lot or don’t sleep at all, or cry a lot, or chew on my hands, or have a runny nose.  [Ok, don't tell them...but my teethers are getting ready to pop through! I'm excited!!]  Yup.  It kinda stinks, though, that my nose is so runny.  Mommy has this weird blue thing that she shoves up my nose to suck out all the gross stuff.  Sometimes I really don’t like it and I cry [a lot], but for the majority of the time I actually just look up at her and think about things.  Like – did it hurt when she got her ears pierced?  Because I would like earrings when I’m old enough.  And… what kind of gum is she chewing today?  Because she chews gum a lot.  Or… when is she gonna finish all that laundry?  Because I don’t have any clean pink socks left.

Do you have as much snow as we do?!?!???? Whoa. We have a lot.  The man on the tv said 14 inches.  Mom and Dad both said that their shoulders were hurting today from shoveling all the snow.  Haha.

Speaking of Mom and Dad, they got some really cool presents too.  Dad got a glockenspiel!  Do you even know what that is??!?  It’s a pretty bell thing that he uses when he plays drums.  He got drumsticks, too, and some smelly cologne and some things to put on his desk at work.  Mom got some casserole dishes and two watches [one white, one brown] and York peppermint patties. [Her favorite.]  Mama told me this afternoon that she really loves her watches, too, because now she always knows what time it is.  She hasn’t worn a watch for a couple of years.  [Maybe that's why we're late pretty often.  Duh, Mom.]

Ummmm….what else?  Oh yeah.  Did you guys know that I love to sit in my Bumbo seat now?  I am really great at holding my head up, and so Mama has started to put me in the seat.  I l-o-v-e to sit up when I’m in my purple chair.  Now I can watch Ben so much better.  He makes me laugh all the time.  Seriously, people, he is hilarious.  Ok – so you’ve heard that he loves the Wizard of Oz, right?  He marches around the house, pretending to be one of the witch’s guards, and he sings, “Do-RI-to, YO-ho! Do-RI-to, YO-ho!”  Like the guards sing in the movie.  He’s gonna be a good baseball player when he gets bigger, because he runs from one end of the house to the other and practices his sliding.  Ben tucks that leg in really nicely, and I always call him SAFE!

AND – I made my acting debut last Sunday at our church’s live nativity.  Guess who I was?!?!

Anyone?  Guesses??  Okay, okay…I’ll tell you.  I was the best baby Jesus ever.  [Well, except for Jesus.  You know.]  Fun times.  Benjamin has been telling me the story about baby Jesus.  He knows the story so well and he really likes to tell it to me.  It goes something like this:

“Once upon a time, der was an old family.  Der names were Mary and Jophess.”  [I think he means Joseph.]  “Dey were going to Bephwehem, far, far away.  Mary was gonna have a baby, and dis baby was special!  But der was no room for dem cuz it was BUSY.  Den dey found a man, and he said, ‘Sorry, no room. But you tan go in da barn in da back.’ And baby Jesus was BORN! Out in da fields, shepherds were watching der sheep at night.  And an angel appeared in da sky and said, ‘Don’t be afraid – I bring good news!  GO! RUN to Bephwehem and see da baby Jesus! I will watch your sheep.” And da shepherds found da baby and said, ‘Sank you, God.’  And kings were fowwowing da star and found da baby Jesus too.  Dey brought him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave dem to da baby Jesus.  And dey said, ‘Sank you, God.’”

Ben and I sat in front of our Christmas tree last night while Mom and Dad took pictures.  Mom’s pretty good at taking pictures, but not so good at uploading them here.  I’ll try to get on that this next week.  Sheesh – you guys haven’t even seen Ben’s halloween pictures!!!  Unacceptable.

I slept most of the afternoon today [Mama joined me for most of it!].  We had a late supper tonight around 7:45, and when I looked over at Benjamin around 8:00, he was fast asleep in his chair. He must have been really really tired, because he didn’t even finish his food.  I think Mom and Dad were really happy about this early bedtime, considering Benjamin normally doesn’t fall asleep until 9:30 or 10pm!  They said something about that being a super duper Christmas present for them.

All right.  That’s all, folks.  Merry Christmas, everybody!!

Love,

Annie

Hulloo!

BYE CHRISTMAS! =(

Christmas was absolutely awesome! Merry Christmas to all the people who have Christmas right now, but for me it’s Boxing Day now!

I ate so much food yesterday

Like these Christmas cupcakes! They were so yummy! So sweet… I want more… *drools* They were really hard to eat, though because I was like ‘No… I don’t want to eat the Santa…’

I bet you want them If the picture isn’t very clear it is cupcakes with lots of icing cream with Santa’s and Christmas trees on top :] So yummy. My tummy wants more xP

And I didn’t just eat cupcakes, of course. I had turkey, ham, duck, chicken,  cheese, biscuits, grapes, watermelon, fish, cucumber … more foods I love Christmas lunches. Then I had the same thing for dinner xD

Then of course I opened my presents (;

I got a bag, lots of clothes, a diary, notebooks, nail polish, and an electric motorbike. I have no idea what to do with it, really, it’s just standing there making a motorbike ‘brrrrm brrrm’ noise. It’s so strange, its like for 4-year old kids xD

From Santa I got nothing, of course, seeing that SANTA IS FAKE. Teehee. Sorry for emphasizing a fact.

Anyway, I went to a friend’s house to celebrate. So we just ate, then watched TV =) We spent like 3 hours watching heaps of episodes of ‘The Chaser’s War On Everything’. It was so funny, except if you guys want to watch it, it is rated MA 15+ and has nudity and coarse language Then like 2 hours watching ‘Two and a half men’. That was funny too xD Oh, and we did watch like 10 minutes of Saw 3…. it’s rated R. And it’s really gross, and scary. So we gave up on it. I do not recommend it xD

Oh, and we had a chocolate coin hunt. So one person hid chocolate coins then the others would go out and find them. It was fun because my friend hid them in really hard places and no one could find them =_= Haha. And they all melted xD

And as always, I am as broke as ever, thanks to giving Christmas presents x]

Question of the Post:

How was your Christmas? What did you get?

Toodles.

DavePaul was up first.  We kept him occupied until Granny and Olivia got up.

It was a hoot to see them opening all their gifts (so many of them too).  They seemed genuinely amazed and thankful.

I made breakfast (nothing fancy, just scrambled eggs, toast, hot fresh coffee, and some juice), and then we opened more gifts!

The sun was shining in, and the wrapping paper had been gathered up.  The females rolled up their sleeves and went into the kitchen to take on the turkey.  The children were quietly playing with their toys, I checked some e-mails, downloaded a few things, listened to some Wagner, and did some tidying up.

Christmas Lunch was superb!  No-one was stressed, everyone behaved well, and as the sun had gone, a fire was roaring up the chimney again.  Some of us dozed off (ahem), we watched Annie on TV.

I cannot say enough how wonderful and loving and easy this Christmas Day has been — thanks mostly to my lovely wife Ruthie, she’s just the best!  The whole family was so perfect this year,  was so chocolate-boxy magic I could just choke! How good is this married with children lark? Tell you  what, when it’s good, there’s nothing better.

Happy new Year 2010!

Perfect Christmas Eve television for the family.  We all settled down by a roaring fire to enjoy Gogol and Tchaikovsky’s “Cherevichki” on BBC2 at 14:15. The overture was engaging, and my daughter laughed at the devil’s piggy nose.

We absolutely loved the sets (by Mikhail Mokrov), but at the end, we felt that “Cherevichki” had failed to return to the mainstream as “The Tsarina’s Slippers”. It was a brave but vain attempt by Francesca Zambello to breathe life back into what was apparently Tchaikovsky’s personal favourite.

Don’t get me wrong; we enjoyed it alright, but we were all built up for something extra special, a magical experience – dancing bears et al.  This did not compete with Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” for us.

I have to admit that I am not a great fan of the Romantics, and was not as familiar with this opera, so I was pleasantly surprised by some of the musicality and construction. Having said that, I seem to recall a favourite bit of Act II being longer and fuller. Maybe the Beeb chopped a bit to fit the schedules!  I just listened to a lot of it again, and the Royal Opera House are just a tad short of getting it superb. How annoying!

Anyway, it is so nice not to be working.  It is great not to hear anything but choice music. We all stuffed ourselves with traditional turkey and trimmings after which we watched “Annie” on TV.  I love musicals (but I am not a GAY)!  The Christmas holiday TV schedule should just be filled with musicals and opera through the days and maybe Jazz or rock in the evenings!

Everyone’s zonked out in bed, so I am now off to slip on the headphones for some late night listening to English National Opera’s new staged version of Handel’s Messiah, directed by Deborah Warner on the BBC iPlayer. It was broadcast last night on BBC Radio 3 at 19:00 so I missed it.  Mind you it is about two and a half hours long, so I might have to skip some recitatives before turning in myself – ah, a perfect Christmas!

Happy New Year 2010!

§

MONDAY: Beverly Hills 90210

TUESDAY: Dawson’s Creek

WEDNESDAY: The O.C.

THURSDAY: One Tree Hill

TODAY: Gossip Girl and 90210

GOSSIP GIRL

1. Episode 1.11, Roman Holiday

In Gossip Girl’s three seasons, this is the only Christmas episode we’ve been treated to and, thankfully, I look back on it pretty fondly. At the time I was a Serena-Dan shipper (and still am, for the most part) and they had a really sweet storyline this episode, which culminated in them sharing one incredible X-mas gift: their bodies! The episode also significantly advances the Rufus-Lily storyline that had been slowly building: we have Rufus realize his marriage with Allison can’t be saved and admit Lily’s been what’s missing from his life. Unfortunately, around the same time, Bart proposes to Lily. The third main storyline–Blair’s hope for the perfect Christmas is comically toyed with when her father comes to town along with his lover–I could take or leave.

90210

1. Episode 2.12, Winter Wonderland

Okay, so this technically isn’t a holiday episode but I’m including it anyway. After all, isn’t “winter wonderland” just the PC-way of saying Christmastime? And, besides, this was a pretty amazing episode–and I never even come close to saying that about this show. But this ep had what I love most: unrequited love, love triangles and several drawn-out storylines coming to a climax, rewarding viewers for their patience. We have Teddy pining for Silver, Dixon’s feelings for Silver reawakened, Liam & Naomi reunited by a selfless Ivy, Naomi’s well-warranted apologies to Annie and a jaw-dropping confrontation between Annie and Jasper. No doubt about it: this was my gift this holiday season.

What’s your favorite holiday episode?

Merry Christmas to all!  It’s almost noon here Christmas Eve Day in Kansas.  No snow here but Annie and I tried to take a little walk down my sister’s street, but even though the both of us were bundled up, the bitter north wind with a temperature of 21 degrees chased up back inside within less than five minutes.  My head was already aching from the cold.  It doesn’t take much of this weather to remind me why I live in hot, humid Houston.

The awful winter weather in the northeast part of the state will delay some of the family from arriving today.  My nephew said they drove 6 miles to Lyndon and had to turn back home because the strong wind was blowing freezing rain, making the driving treachorous.

However, we’re warm and toasty inside waiting for stew or soup or whatever my sister has on the stove for lunch.  “Vegetable soup,” she says.

By Mark Alexander

“The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.” –George Washington

When our children were young, Ann and I would help them comprehend how great God has always been and always will be, the Alpha and Omega, by using metaphors with tangible examples that they could grasp.

We wanted our children to understand that it is only the rare occasion, given the immensity of His universal plan, which affords us a perfectly clear view of God’s plan for each of us. But we also assured them of the Truth we had learned: that through faith, we always know that He will use our circumstances, however corrupted by our own free will, to guide us to where He wants us to be.

As our kids have grown older, each has demonstrated a substantial interest and aptitude for science. Thus, I was captivated recently when I came across this elucidation of God’s infinite domain from Dr. William Blair, an astrophysicist and research professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Blair wrote: “Today we know that galaxies are as common as blades of grass in a meadow. The Hubble Space Telescope recently completed a particularly deep (faint) census of a tiny ‘pencil beam’ extending far out into the Universe. This survey, called the ‘Hubble Deep Field,’ was targeted on a region of the sky that was nearly devoid of known objects, so as to be (hopefully) representative of conditions in the distant Universe. The resulting images are truly amazing. Strewn across this tiny piece of the sky are perhaps 1500 or more galaxies of all shapes, sizes, and colors! Because this survey pertains to such a small piece of the sky, the implications are staggering: if the region of sky demarked by the bowl of the Big Dipper were surveyed to the same depth, it would contain about 32 million galaxies! And the estimate for the entire visible Universe is that there are upwards of 40 BILLION galaxies, each containing tens to hundreds of billions of stars!”

To put the vastness of creation into perspective, Blair uses a sheet of paper: “Imagine that the distance from the earth to the sun (93 million miles, or about 8 light minutes) is compressed to the thickness of a typical sheet of paper. On this scale, the nearest star (4.3 light years) is at a distance of 71 feet. The diameter of the Milky Way (100,000 light years) would require a 310 mile high stack of paper, while the distance to the Andromeda galaxy (at 2 million light years one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye) would require a stack of paper more than 6000 miles high! On this scale, the ‘edge’ of the Universe, defined as the most distant known quasars some 10 billion light years hence, is not reached until the stack of paper is 31 million miles high — a third of the way to the sun on the real scale of things!”

Pondering this vastness is a humbling experience indeed.

Knowing quite a few professional physicists who are men and women of faith, I wrote Dr. Blair and asked him, “Are you a person of faith in God as our creator?” and, “If so, what does your analogy reveal about the creator of our universe?”

As to the first question, he answered, “Yes, I am.”

As to the second, he replied, “In short, ‘God created the heavens and the earth.’ Understanding more about the ‘heavens’ and the scale of the Universe only magnifies my personal impression of what it is that God has created. Having a personal connection to that same God is a defining aspect of my faith.”

According to Blair, who heads a NASA project looking into deep space, “Some people can look at the spirals of our galaxy and not see the hand of God, but I beg to differ.”

Of course, my children, like all of us who haven’t obscured knowledge of our Creator by the idolatry of self or materialism, strive for a more personal understanding of God. But how do we grasp such knowledge when the object of our desire is so far beyond mortal understanding — how do we find our way to Him?

The answer is obvious to all who have opened their eyes — just follow the Light.

And it is the dawn of the Truth and Light that we celebrate at Christmas, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It is no coincidence that as the story of His birth is recounted, it is a star that guided wise men to his side.

In the Gospel of John (1:5), it is written, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Now, a physicist will tell you that darkness doesn’t exist except for the absence of light, which isn’t to say that we can’t live in darkness: Given the degraded state of our nation, many among our countrymen have chosen to reside in moral darkness, or worse, have been abandoned there.

But Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Thus, if we want to see our Creator, we have only to turn toward the Truth and Light, and, as implicit in our motto: Veritas vos Liberabit — the Truth will set you Free (John 8:32).

As for my family and me, Dr. Blair and his family, and hundreds of millions of our brothers and sisters around the world, Jesus Christ is the Light, our personal connection to our Creator. And he is that for anyone and everyone who will just turn toward Him.

The Gospels, which attest to the life of Jesus, reveal what we most need to know about God as our Creator, and His purpose for us.

We live in a world today that is no different from yesterday or tomorrow, in the sense that we have and will always have a deep desire to understand our Creator. Unfortunately, we tend to complicate the fulfillment of that desire by satiating it with all manner of false gods.

I am no stranger to false gods, which, ironically, helped me to distinguish between those idols and my authentic Creator, who endowed me with “certain unalienable rights.”

Our Founding Fathers understood that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” could not be sustained in the absence of Light, that our Creator endows these rights, not men.

According to George Washington, “Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

John Adams wrote: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. … Statesmen may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a greater Measure than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty.”

Benjamin Rush proclaimed, “[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”

Likewise, Gouverneur Morris wrote, “Religion is the only solid basis of good morals and Morals are the only possible Support of free governments. Therefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man towards God.”

Samuel Adams added, “Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness. … Religion in a Family is at once its brightest Ornament and its best Security.”

Perhaps John Jay said it best: “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.”

But as Benjamin Franklin noted, “How many observe Christ’s birth-day! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.”

Franklin’s observation is as true today as it was at the dawn of our great nation.

Fellow Patriots, during these dark days it is my fervent prayer that we, individually and as a nation, turn to the Light by, first and foremost, following God’s Commandments, by acknowledging that we are endowed by our Creator alone with life and liberty, and by restoring these rights for ourselves and for our posterity in accordance with His will.

On behalf of our staff and National Advisory Committee, may God bless and keep each of you.

Merry Christmas.

Publisher’s Note: To our Patriot readers of faiths other than Christianity, we hope that this edition serves to deepen your understanding of our faith — and the faith of so many of our Founders. Permission to forward or reprint is granted.

As always, we take leave between Christmas and New Year’s to be with our families. Our next edition will be on Jan. 4, 2010.

We will send you a final update on The Patriot Fund next week. As of this morning, we still need $95,542 to make budget. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot’s Annual Fund today by making a contribution — however large or small. (If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.)

Random Music Wednesday! It returns! I’ve been meaning to do this post for a few weeks now, but I’ve been hemming and hawing over it since I don’t have any of my music with me in Singapore. Well, I do, just about a hundredth of it, and not in a readily accessible form either. Anyway, this started off as “Most Enjoyable Albums of 2009,” but it’s now going to be truly random and be “A Handful of Songs I Really Liked Listening to This Year, Randomly Selected.” Thus is the spirit of Random Music Wednesday. And without further ado, in no particular order but numbered anyway, a handful of songs I really liked listening to this year, randomly selected.

10. Major Lazer (feat. Nina Sky and Ricky Blaze) — Keep It Goin’ Louder
A collaboration between DJs Switch and Diplo, Major Lazer is pretty much Jamaican dancehall. The end. “Keep It Goin’ Louder” is the highlight of the album Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do and epitomises the spirit of good old clubbing beats, and you just want to keep it goin’ louder (yes, I had to pun it).

9. Camera Obscura — French Navy
I love it when album openers are so awesome that you just vibrate with anticipation for the rest of the record. Unfortunately, “French Navy” is so enjoyable that I haven’t gotten past the first half of My Maudlin Career because I keep going back to track one. This is classic Camera Obscura at their indie pop best, although I really shouldn’t be saying that because the second half of the album could contain some marvellous gem that I haven’t been able to get to yet. Then again, that’s just testament to how good this single is.

8. Phoenix — Lisztomania
Phoenix! You thought they were just some French band playing musics. And then they released Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and you really took notice then. Mozart? Liszt? What kind of French album is this?! It’s one of my favourite albums of this year and I don’t even know what to say about this song. It makes you dance.

7. Jay-Z (feat. Alicia Keys) — Empire State of Mind
This song made me feel happy while I was studying for exams. It also makes me want to go to NYC more than ever. Singapore’s bitten me with the travel bug and I’m already thinking about NYC or London next year (academics allowing)… this song is pure collaboration genius. Thanks, Jay-Z, for showing the world that hip-hop doesn’t have to be all thug and grills.

6. Lady Gaga — Bad Romance
Ra ra ah ah ah, roma ro ma ma, gaga ooh la la, want your bad romance. With those nonsensical syllables that make so much sense at the same time, Lady Gaga sealed her domination over 2009. She came out of nowhere with 2008’s The Fame, and while people were still trying to figure out what she really looked like, she released another 8 whopping tracks to prove that she is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who writes her sheer talent off just because she makes pop music (and does it well) is a fool. I have never been so excited to see an artist live for the first time (Muse notwithstanding).

5. Annie — Songs Remind Me of You
I actually only heard this song for the first time a few days ago. But if my netbook were scrobbling last.fm, “Songs Remind Me of You” would probably be right up there for most played track already. 2009 has seen a whole slew of 80s synthpop revival (Ladyhawke, La Roux, Little Boots to wit), except “Songs Remind Me of You” stands out not only because Annie’s name doesn’t start with an L, but because it really demands that you dance, DANCE RIGHT NOW, and by god you can’t help but just do it. You kinda don’t even realise that the lyrics sound a little not-happy because you’re too busy bopping.

4. Royksopp — Royksopp Forever
Royksopp’s Junior was another album highlight of 2009 for me. “Royksopp Forever,” to me, is the triumph of a band that knows it has the world of electro bowing at their feet. Just the title of the track screams confidence, screams “You can’t top this!” and I’m actually not sure that Royksopp themselves can.

3. The xx — Crystalised
Again, another song I only recently “discovered,” specifically last week. I would never have heard of the xx at all if it weren’t for them listed alongside Florence and the Machine at Laneway festival next year. “Crystalised” is only one out of the many sweet tracks they’ve released this year, the two lead singers (one male, one female) really complementing each other against a chilled out musical background.

2. Taylor Swift — You Belong With Me
Taylor Swift. So sweet. So earnest. So polite, she let Kanye West “Ima let you finish” all over her, rousing the righteous indignation of anyone with a social network. Her music is just as sweet, just as earnest, just as polite, it belongs with your iPod.

1. The Rural Alberta Advantage — Don’t Haunt This Place
This song has been on my iPod for so long that I forgot it was re-released in 2009. This song is, like, uplifty depression (it’s about a break up), but what really makes it are Nils Edenloff’s voice and the drums, which kind of frenetically complement the solemn, measured vocals.

So there you have it, ten random songs that I enjoyed listening to in 2009. You might have noticed that Muse aren’t on this list. To that, I have this to say: 1) This is random music Wednesday, and 2) did you really expect me to pick just ONE Muse song, no matter how ridiculous (in that dubiously good way) The Resistance is?

Halfway through the sixth viewing of the film “Annie” with a group of spellbound kids, something struck us beyond the great score,  brilliant casting and choreography: Miss Hannigan.

Spectacularly played by the great Carol Burnett, Miss Hannigan goes down as the single greatest movie drunk we’ve ever seen. Well, Lee Marvin runs a close second in his role in “Cat Balou”, but Burnett plays the role with such gusto, joy and credibility that you can’t help but fall in love with her. Again and again.

From the scenes where she passionately kisses her radio, bumps into swinging light bulbs and grasps her head in pain as the orphans shout, to the decreasing sigh tones as she swallows one glass after the next of cheap booze, this is an acting feast that you want one serving of after the next.

The hair, the make-up and costumes and her ability to imitate the voices of her little “pig-droppings” is unparalleled.

Who the hell else could pull off  the following punch-line?

Grace: What about this child?
Miss Hannigan: Annie?… Oh, you don’t want Annie.
Grace: Why not?
Miss Hannigan: Because… Because she’s a drunk!

Brilliant. And we’ve attached a clip below for your viewing pleasure.

You have other nominations? Send ‘em in!

What’s that sound? Fanfare? Trumpets? Hysterical screaming? No, it’s actually tumbleweed. Festive tumbleweed, perhaps. Everyone’s pretty much in a holiday mood now, I’m assuming, so now is clearly the best time to sneak out the much-anticipated (HA!) conclusion to my annual rundown of tunes of the good variety.

Behind the click below are my top 10 tracks of the year. And you can listen to a (rather pitiful) 42 of the 50 tracks over here via Spotify.

If anyone’s paying attention, what do you reckon to my choices? Too obvious? Not obvious enough? Most importantly – what have I missed? What’s been floating your 2009-shaped boat that should be in here?

So, here goes…

10. La Roux – Bulletproof

Polarising opinions like no one else this year (OK, except perhaps Gaga until she put out Bad Romance), La Roux nonetheless, for my money, were one of the more reliable performers of the 80s-obsessed Class of ‘09. Leaving aside a succession of increasingly jaw-droppingly naive interviews, this year was a good one for Elly Jackson and her ice-cream head. Bulletproof’s jittery Yazoo-pillaging and controlled hysterics were my highlight.

She say: Nothing remotely sensible about anything. Obviously.
Best Bit: The intro, which sounds like it’s falling over itself. In a good way.
See also: The self-titled debut is solid enough, but there was more fun to be had with remixes. Predictable link to Skream’s In For The Kill remix here.

9. Metric – Help I’m Alive

There’s a hierarchy of Emily Haines love in my head. Bottom of the list sits the solo/Soft Skeleton material which wastes her pop-ready vocal talents on drab mumbly twindie. Top of the list is the idea (if not quite the reality) of collaborations with Tiesto. Very near the top, though, is any Metric song that is this great. Much like Monster Hospital a few years back, the original is lent more power by an absolutely blinding pop makeover. Here it’s the Twelves doing the work, but that it doesn’t diminish the appeal of the simple, stuttering rock of the original is to its credit.

They say: “It was completely an accident that it got out to the world. We were just going to make it a 7” limited edition for a tour, and then we started getting calls from friends telling us that KCRW was playing “Help I’m Alive” and then it went to #1 in Canada and got into the top 100 in the States, it totally went and ran off by itself “
Best Bit: 1.37 onwards – simple but effective.
See also: Definitely check out The Twelves remix.

8. MSTRKRFT ft. John Legend – Heartbreaker

As I probably said at the time, this silk-smooth slice of electro-soul is an absolute world away from DFA 1979. Strangely though, that’s no bad thing. For me, an effective rehabilitation of the image of John Legend – a man that clearly has a voice, but didn’t seem keen to use it on anything with any life to it previously. Also, quite possibly the best thing MSTRKRFT have put their name to so far.

They say: [On courting R'n'B artists] “Other than John Legend, no one was receptive to the idea of working with us at all… I mean, no one knew who we were. This music is completely unknown to that world – they have no idea we’re playing festivals, that the kids like us; they don’t know anything about us. They’re like: ‘This is that weird Euro shit, right?’ And we’re like: ‘Yeah, yeah it is. Expand your audience into Europe with us Canadians.”
See also: Well, the offical non-embeddable vid is here. MSTRKRFT put out lots of good stuff, and I even found a solo John Legend song that I sort of liked, really because of this RAC remix though.

7. Annie – Anthonio

I still don’t understand why this was left off Don’t Stop, but nevermind. Here it is in all its rubbish video glory. Don’t let that put you off though, because it’s a brilliant slice of mid-paced Italo-disco type thing that almost makes up for me forgetting to include anything at all by Sally Shapiro in this list. It raised hopes that Annie’s sophomore album could be a classic in the making, but that wasn’t quite to be. Nevertheless, this is near-perfect.

She say: [On why Anthonio isn't on the album] “It was actually a song I just recorded. I like to have some releases that are just special for fans. It’s sometimes good to keep the album a little bit special.”
See also: Fred Falke remix (three words which tended to signify quality in 2009); Songs Remind Me Of You.

6. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind

If this list pretended to be objective in any way at all, this would be higher up the list. As it stands, I don’t feel a massive connection with a song about loving a city I’ve never been to. However, if there’s been a better chorus than Alicia Keys’ contribution here this year, then I haven’t heard it. Jay-Z is coasting, but that kind of fits with the laidback vibe. An instant classic, without any doubt.

Best Bit: 0.57 – first chorus hit
See also: Run This Town

5. Passion Pit – The Reeling

If Manners didn’t quite live up to the early hype, this lead single more than compensated for it. The glorious blast of energy that kicks things off is probably one of my moments of the year. The over-massaged, falsetto vocals actually, I’ve decided, come into their own in the hyperactive chorus. The relatively underwhelming verses leave this a step away from real classic status, but at its best The Reeling sounds like carefree, arms in the air dancing, in a welcome summer downpour, somewhere in a field in anywhere.

They say: “Listen to my voice on this record. I have to repeat myself. That is a particular character I have decided to sing. I don’t normally sing that way. It’s a whole other voice. My father sang opera for many years and he thinks that I am absolutely insane. But he loves it. But he has no idea what I am doing. It’s not necessarily not good for you, but it’s not the way people are supposed to sing.”
Best Bit: That incredible first 20 seconds or so – best played really, really loud.
See also: Moths Wings was another album highlight.

4. Saint Etienne – Method of Modern Love

The fact that I’ve already mentioned them three times so far, in a year in which they basically only put out a single and a remix album, should give some indication of the depth of my current obsession with this band. In any right-thinking world, this would have been number one for several weeks. A Richard X/Hannah Robinson track merely fronted by the band, it’s pop music as good as some of Girls Aloud’s better moments, while still retaining the unique Cracknell charm and beauty. Simply ace – and the lack of a proper video is inexcusable.

Richard X say: “Having been a fan I’m sure I’ve ripped off many ideas from them, hence why we seem a good fit. I was also a big fan of the Icerink label they had for a while, and that informed some of my pop sensibilities.”
Best Bit: Another one with a rather good intro, I’d say?
See also: Their latest best of compilation, London Conversations, came out this year, and is perfect.

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero

It’s always amazing to see a band taking a step to the next level. It would be a mistake to say that It’s Blitz and its lead single marked an entirely new chapter for the band – they’ve hinted at this kind of synth-assisted savvy in places since their debut. But this felt like ambition fully realised, a mature album without all the grimness maturity usually implies. If Heads Will Roll gave more visceral thrills later in the year, this was a blinding statement of intent and thus it wins out here.

Best Bit: The joyful synth explosion around 2.42
See also: Can’t go without mentioning this awesome A-Trak remix of Heads Will Roll.

2. Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi

More synth-based pop fun, shock horror. Kid Sister popped up somewhere relatively lowly in my list last year with the fun but silly Pro Nails, but this one’s barely been off my iPod since it showed up months and months ago. It bombed on its UK release, but I’m still holding out for a reissue in 2010. We can but dream. Anyway, it’s up here because of its relentless energy, sense of fun, and would be number one if it wasn’t for the fact that a certain other Lady went and did it all that little bit better…

She say: “Music like me, like A-Trak, like whatever, all of our little network, our little family, I hope music like that becomes the mainstream rather than listening to these bastardized versions of it that we hear on the radio. Because you’ll hear a lot of these Top 40 producers, they’ll straight up bite some of the stuff that is going on “underground,” and they do it in such a way that it’s just tasteless.”
Best Bit: Intros tend to feature heavily in this slot don’t they? Stabby synths though!
See also: If you’re in the US, pick up her album. If you’re in the UK – wait ’til March! That’ll learn ya.

1. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

It couldn’t be anything else, could it? I’ve proved on numerous occasions that I’m a massive fan of preposterous music. The more ludicrously overblown the gooderer, as far as I’m concerned. (Although strangely I don’t love Queen all that much, but that’s another story) This record is the queen of ludicro-pop in 2009. Without this, Gaga would probably have been a top 20 entry at best – with one of her better Fame tunes like Paparazzi or Just Dance. I don’t buy into the theory that she was rubbish and now she’s great. She was great already, now she’s bloody amazing. Fin.

She say: “I don’t wanna be one song. I wanna be the next 25 years of pop music.”
Best Bit: I have a passionate love of the bit at 3.59 where she switches back from the random French into a drunken-drawled ‘I don’t wanna be frrrieeends…’
See also: The vast majority of things she’s put out this year (we’ll excuse the rubbish LoveGame as that was floating around in early 08); and it’s always worth another look at her showing the X Factor lot what a pop star looks like.

The festive season means different things to different people, and whilst in no way do I intend to insult or offend those with strong convictions or beliefs about this time of year, I would like to share what it means to my family and to myself.. and share a few things which makes my Christmas so special.

I spent five Christmases in the Northern Hemisphere and whilst I enjoyed the difference, the cold never felt right as a time to celebrate Christmas.  It was highlighted of course by the fact we had no family to share it with and phone calls can only last so long, before you need to hang up and look at lunch by yourself; the tiny plastic tree with tinsel and turn on the Christmas message by the Queen. Christmas – as far as I am concerned – is meant to be steaming hot!

Christmas has always meant a time for or family to get together, to relax and have fun. It was one day of the year that once the cows had been milked, ( if they hadn’t been turned out with calves for a few days beforehand anyway) it was a day for us to do a great load of nonsense. This ethos has not changed a great deal as I have grown and have family of my own; thankfully we don’t have room for cows in the suburbs!

Every Festive season, in the lead up to Christmas, we  drive or walk about our suburbs, windows down so the breeze would fill the car and shout our Christmas greetings to families as they sat on their lawns or having a BBQ in their driveways whilst admiring the light displays. Our street have a strong competitive streak, where we try to out do each other with our light displays. I am one of the organisers for the street party, held on the second Sunday of December. We play silly games such as egg and spoon races, thong and egg tosses; wheel our BBQs into the street and share food and drinks till late. Our family also likes to be involved with a christmas charity, where we pack baskets of food and deliver them to less fortunate families and individuals.

The festive season for my intimate family alternates each year. One year, we travel to my parents property 200 km away and spend up to two weeks on the farm. My parents have a sprawling home and is capable of housing up to 30 of us at one time. My 5 brothers and sisters; along with their families and any orphans we pick up on the way, play backyard cricket, throw knives at large wooden boards in the garden, target shoot with compound bows or rifles, play golf, darts and billiards – all within the confines of my parents property. These games have become extremely competitive, with trophies and glory to be won each year. At night  – particularly Christmas Eve we play cards or board games, cook enormous amounts of steak and drink copious amounts of softdrinks and beer. Buckets of water and apples are left outside for Santas reindeer, and treats left in prominent places for Santa when everyone in the house leaves a small santa sack at the base of thier beds, hoping for it to be filled by the morning. A glimpse of Santa is usually guaranteed just before the children go to bed – as he runs through the garden.

Christmas day starts at daybreak with everyone jumping onto one anothers beds showing off a favoured Santas gift. Santas sleigh marks are closely inspected as he usually lands in  sand patches outside the childrens windows.  Bite marks from hungry reindeer are compared and empty buckets put away. Breakfast consists of lollies and coloured popcorn, while one of the boys dresses as Santa and hands out the presents under the tree.  You can imagine how many gifts there are stacked underneath – and the enormous pile of gift wrapping once they have all been unwrapped. Even though we have a rule of gifts under $15, there is always someone who breaks it; but quickly forgiven when its revealed we all cheated a bit.  I don’t do stress shopping well – and begin my Christmas gift shopping in May; attempting to get it finalised by early November.

Christmas lunch is a smorgasboard of cold meats, hot roasted chicken, salads and a mountain of prawns. Dessert, for those with room consists of my grans date pudding and custard or watermelon and mangos. The next few days meals are drawn from the left overs from this offering.

After lunch, the annual water war begins. Santa always brings waterballoons, water pistols and a myriad of war like weapons to do battle in the heat. Sides are drawn and the pressure to take over the backyard and supply lines begins. With the only rule that Grandma is not to be wet, its a game of tactics, politics and very damp fun. As the years have progressed, the technology for waterpistols and their capabilities have as well.  I notice this year there is a backpack water reserve version which holds iced water.hummmmmm.

Christmas time is the only time that we as a family see one another as we all live thousands of km away from one another. Its a time for laughter, for fun and good times.

On our alternate years, we spend Christmas in the Evett tradition; in a more refined manner and closer to a cold weather one – as the family are English and only been in Australia for 37 years.  Evenings were filled with card games, old time carols cranked out and the Stuart Crystal getting an airing as it was filled with champagne or sherry. Christmas lunch is always extremely traditional; with the huge turkey, stuffing, meatballs, chipolata sausages, brussels sprouts, honeyed carrots, backed pumpkin and potato,  bread sauce, plum pudding and brandy sauce. Until the year before, the Evett Christmas was spent at the beach. In the morning we would sit on the cold sand, digging our bare feet as deep as we could and greeting the sun as it rose, orange juice and croissant in hand; then a mad dash into the waves and making sandcastles till it was too hot and we were forced back into the airconditioning and the prospects of a hot lunch and the grand unwrapping of the gifts. However, with new marriages, breakups and family members returning to the UK, the beach Christmases have been replaced with ones around our pool; cocktails in hand and laying on the sun lounges.

I love that my children have the opportunity to experience different styles of Christmases.  For me, the emphasis will always be on family and having fun together. I adore everything about Christmas – the lights, the decorations, the tacky christmas carols, being able to be joyful all the time and wish everyone you meet a merry xmas – and getting a reply! Its  a mad time of year with more parties and activities to attempt to fit in within 3 weeks than you normally have in the rest of the year.  My wish would be that everyone stayed as happy and communicative as they are during the festive season – all year round.

Backyard Golf photo is drawn from a private collection (note : water fight still continues in background)

Hullo!

Yes, I’m sure you all have realised (unless you are colour-blind), that the theme of yellorange on this blog has disappeared xD I’m sure you are all rejoicing xP The orange got too like, hard to read because it was so…. orange, I guess. BUT, it’s still my favourite colour (; I’m just changing my blog around a little, I don’t really want to have a black texted blog… so I guess purple looks nice xD Please comment on what you think! If you don’t like the purple please suggest =D

PurpleGreen

BluePink

PurpleBlack

Hmmm I don’t know what colours my site should be now =S Any ideas? It doesn’t have to be the ones I put above ^^ I just was testing how they looked together :] So far my site is purple and black

Hmm well I went to a Christmas Carnival kinda thing a few days ago ;P It was fun. So I got there, and my friend and I went to look around on the stalls. We were feeling hungry so we tried all the food sampling =D So I saw this lolly stall, and they chopped up some lollipops and let us eat them. So I ate some of it xD Then I found free sampling of orange juice. So I took one too xP Haha.

Then we found a stall that sold hot chips (; So we shared one of those. Then we got hungry again. So we bought another xD It was yum. Ya so we wondered around and it started raining and I didn’t have an umbrella xP Luckily, we went past this stall that was giving away free cloth bags with jelly beans and balloons in it :] I love free stuff!

So me, being the silly and strange person I am, used the bag as an umbrella. Yep, I just stuck the bag onto my head. I could see all the little kids pointing at me and laughing Haha and I heard one of them say to their mum ‘Mum! Look at that strange girl over there! She has a bag on her head!’. Then the little boy adapted my idea and put his free bag on his head too =P I felt like such a role model xD But unfortunately… he put the bag on his head with his jellybeans inside and he lost all his jelly beans LOL

I love Christmas (; Another one of my friends gave me a Christmas present. I’m very curious about it… it’s wrapped so I was trying to figure out what it was but… no. Strange. I’m so tempted to open the presents now, but no, I must resist the temptation and open it on Christmas Day, lol. But I think you’re meant to open presents on Boxing Day. Meh.

OOOH! Did you know that today is Christmas eve’s eve’s eve? Awesome, right? Bwahaha.

Twenty ten is coming up soon! Weehee! Woohoo! 2010 will be the best year ever ;]]

I doubt I’ll post on Christmas Day, so,

I WISH YOU GUYS A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS FILLED WITH FUN, YUMMY FOOD AND AWESOME PRESENTS [; And hope Santa brings you something nice, huh xP

Question of the Post:

Did you ever believe in Santa? If so, how did you find out Santa was not real xD And if you still think Santa is real, I'm sorry to break this to you but... he's not real x]

Ya know, I used to think Santa was real until one Christmas a few years ago, Santa gave me this present which was wrapped up in this wrapping paper that we had at home xD I was a little suspicious. Then I opened it, and it was a shirt which was too small for me. Then my mum said Santa could change it and the next day went and refunded it and gave me a bigger size. Then finally, I was clever enough to realised my mum was faking Santa

Haha how sad.

If Santa was real, he must travel on Christmas Eve to deliver all the children’s gifts: 160 million kilometres, farther than the distance from here to the sun. So technically he would have to travel at the speed of light-ish or something like that. Like really fast. 

BAHAHHA. SO INCREDIBLY FUNNY!

Toodles.

p.s. go to this website. it’s so incredibly phunnie. i can’t believe anyone would want to do maths to see if santa was really real and if santa would actually fit down the chimney! http://www.fnal.gov/pub/ferminews/santa/

We decided to do something different this year and send out a video greeting.  It’s a thumbnail of our 2009.  We hope you like it!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

John, Julie, Annie & Michael Knight

Merry Christmas!

hey everyone its Maddie

I would just like to say that this blog is new and we are just starting off so giving us as many views and comments as possible would be very helpful. Any tips on how to start off our blog would be great. Any topics that you would want to be discussed, just tell us. We also have a youtube account — check it out www.youtube.com/user/twinsieglam .. check it chicks!heckk yes:D
lol thanks.
leave stuff.
love you
xoxo.
maddie!!