The 2007 HMO Christmas Mix

You knew it was coming. I gave you hopefully fair warning.

In case you're not used to reading this blog (in which case I don't really blame you), every Christmas I become so inundated with holiday music that there's only a few you can really stand while the rest threaten to drive you insane.

Here's 2004's offerings.

And here's the list from 2005.

And for good measure, 2006 found here and here.


This year, the Song List gets a twist. Instead of listing the same songs for four years in a row (and I still enjoy quite a bit of stuff on there), I burned myself a CD of the Christmas songs I've found myself enjoying a lot on the radio this year. There may be a few repeats, but for good reason. The 27 tracks are listed in the order that I burned them.

So without further ado, here we be.....The 2007 HMO Christmas Mix.

1. "Happy Holidays," Andy Williams. Heiniken ads be damned, this is a tune I find myself singing along with whenever I see the dude with his ill-fated six pack.
2. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Burl Ives. Being on a Rankin/Bass kick like always, this is the version I seem to enjoy most.
3. "Holly Jolly Christmas," Burl Ives. The actual cut from the Rudolph special, not Burl's redone version. Not that I don't like that one, but I like the briskness of the TV version, especially done by that lovable snowman. Good ol' Rankin/Bass specials.
4. "Frosty the Snowman," Jimmy Durante. Yes, another song from another Rankin/Bass special. (I'm going to have to drag out the ol' retro Rankin/Bass-South Park post, won't I?) I do a semi-decent Jimmy Durante impersonation, despite only ever hearing him from this cartoon.
5. "Carol of the Bells," Richard Carpenter. The non-anorexic Carpenter lets loose with a piano version of the old caroling chestnut. You never hear the words from this song, but there are a few exceptions. Mr. Mackey, for one.
6. "Marshmallow World," Darlene Love. A great ode to the white shit that blankets Wisconsin every winter.
7. "Christmas, Baby (Please Come Home)," Darlene Love. David Letterman has said numerous times that this is the ultimate Christmas rock'n'roll song. So many times that he's had Darlene perform it on the last new Late Show of the year. A shame we won't hear it this year, unless we have a repeat.
8. "Rusty Chevrolet," Da Yoopers. The original ode to automobiles long past their primes. Sounds like my old Celebrity.
9. "O Holy Night," Cher. Yes, Cher. Yes this is the version from the Sonny and Cher special. The only way you can hear this is by either going on a long-ass Internet search like me, or watch Letterman for Paul Shaffer's yearly impersonation.
10. This track is Paul's 1988 impersonation of Cher's rendition of "O Holy Night." The audience laughs when Paul comments that Cher has a muff. The fur muff, sickos.
11. "This Christmas," Donny Hathaway. I do enjoy some Motown holiday music once in awhile. This is one of my faves.
12. "Deck the Halls," Mannheim Steamroller. A nice new-agey interpretation of the classic carol.
13. "Winter Wonderland," The Eurythmics. I've been on an Eurythmics kick ever since I got "Here Comes the Rain Again" stuck in my head. A nice new-wavey twist on another holiday tune.
14. "When My Heart Finds Christmas," Harry Connick Jr. Ahhh, sentimental Christmas ballads. It is lovely, IMO and almost sounds like it came from the '60s.
15. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," Johnny Cash. There aren't enough versions of this song, which is a damn shame. The message resonates to this day, although it seems that poor angel's message has been ignore for centuries.
16. "Angels We Have Heard on High," Mannheim Steamroller. This has always been one of my favorite songs to sing at Christmas Eve Mass (and I'll never forget the year they chucked the responsorial psalm in order for us to belt out the chorus and try to hold the "o" note for several seconds)
17. "Christmas Ain't Christmas," The O'Jays. Another enjoyable Motown Christmas track.
18. "The Twelve Days of Christmas," John Denver and the Muppets. Classic. My favorite part: the ninth day performed by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker. Beaker kicks ass. Meep meep!!
19. "Deck the Halls," The Muppets. Apparently they ditched John Denver for this one. More Muppety goodness, although sadly we don't hear Beaker. We do get the Electric Mayhem, the baby Muppet singers, and Statler and Waldorf, perhaps The Greatest Muppets EVER.
20. "Christmas Bells are Ringing," Nat King Cole. I prefer this holiday tune to his most famous one about chestnuts and Jack Frost.
21. "Christmas Vacation," Mavis Staples. The theme from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, possibly one of the funniest holiday movies ever. I'm surprised this was rated PG-13 with all the double entendres and Chevy Chase uttering an effenheimer near the end. Of course, European Vacation was also PG-13, and there were boob shots.
22. "Someday at Christmas," Stevie Wonder. His vision of Christmas...whoops, that was accidental.
23. "What Christmas Means to Me," Stevie Wonder. My favorite of his two Christmas songs.
24. "Carol of the Bells," Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Fab, fab, fab, and it even has strains of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."
25. "Wizards in Winter," Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Will live in history as the song from the Miller Lite ads with the flashing light display. Double fab.
26. "Christmas Canon," Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I never knew you could use Pachelbel's Canon as a song about the joy of Christmas. It's beautiful and an interesting diversion from TSO's normal blaring rocking holiday music.
27. "Last Christmas," Wham. George Michael kept his pants zipped long enough for this tune about holiday heartbreak.

And there we have the 2007 HMO Christmas Mix. Next post should be Dec. 26. Until then, a very Merry Christmas, and remember the real reason for the season!

Happy Birthday to.....SQUEE!!

It's the 10th, which means I've now been 25 for a day.

Overall, it was a fantastic birthday. No crappy weather, nobody was sick, and Green Bay and Denver both won. Yaaay!!

Present-wise, I always prefer something practical or something I know I'm going to use repeatedly. My DVD player from last year is still in fab shape. This year I got a nice throw blanket for my room, along with a new purple cardy and three word find books.

Dinner-wise, it was a reprise of last year. I wanted pizza and cupcakes. The cupcakes were still awesome.

Of course, now that birthday is out of the way, now comes the biggie: Christmas. I have a list already, so I think I know what I'll be buying. And you can expect the 2007 Christmas Song List, this year with a twist.

I'm going to go sleep off the birthday hangover now.

Happy Birthday to......meh.

Oh, boy. Look at the calendar. I can hardly believe December 9 is finally here. Yep, it's my birthday, and I've hit the quarter century mark. As that famous anorexic Karen Carpenter put it, I've only just begun.

Birthday-wise, I'm hoping for a decent gift. Not too fancy but just practical enough. Oh, and wins for Denver and Green Bay, even though I picked Oakland to win. And for it to stop being so damn cold.

I'll have to see how it turns out.

More NFL Picks

And you'll know over half of them'll be wrong!!

• Bears
• Bills
• Bengals
• Cowboys
• Raiders (upset pick)
• Buccaneers
• Jaguars
• Giants
• Chargers
• Vikings
• Seahawks
• Broncos (dammit, they'd better win on my b-day)
• Steelers
• Browns
• Colts
• Saints

Holy Crap, Part Something

Last week, I posted a link to the infamous (for Chicago) Max Headroom Pirating Incident.

While perusing a DVD forum I'm a lurking member of, along comes this:
an ad for British network Channel 4 featuring none other than....Max Headroom! Mind you, the years have not been good to Matt Frewer, but I digress...new Max is always awesome! And you don't even have to sit through PBS's butcher job of good old British sci-fi!

(although, that would have made a helluva DVD extra. The pirate clip, that is.)