Meant to start this thread yesterday on the First Sunday of Advent.

 

Oh well, tonight is as good a time as any:

 

"Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" from 1965 is celebrating its 50th birthday with a special on ABC right now. The classic special will air on ABC immediately following at 9:00 pm.

"Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" from 1965 is celebrating its 50th birthday with a special on ABC right now. The classic special will air on ABC immediately following at 9:00 pm.

 

I'm just a few years short of 50, and not ashamed to admit I still turn the radio up when I hear this song.

 

Today is a ferial day under the old Roman Calendar so we use the readings from Mass the previous Sunday. Gives them a real chance to sink in. From the epistle, Romans 13:11-12:

 

"Brethren, knowing that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is passed and the day is at hand."

 

Choir at St. Martin on Sunday hit us with this absolute beauty: Palestrina's "Alma Redemptoris Mater" or "Loving Mother of the Redeemer".

 

[video=youtube_share;5xfT6ElPUPg]

 

Psalm 24: "None of them that wait for ther shall be confounded."

The classic 1964 special, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", will be on CBS tonight at 8 pm.

 

[video=youtube_share;_p298YqG2OE]http://youtu.be/_p298YqG2OE

"This Night Must Lead to Light": Fr. Delp, the Nazis, and Advent

 

Great story I'd never heard before about a Catholic priest who was imprisoned in the wake of the July 20 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler and ultimately executed by the Nazi regime after a few months of captivity. He managed to write down several things and a lot of them were about Advent since a portion of his imprisonment was during this season. Fascinating reading.

We have to honor this week right @Getslow:

 

 

Merry Christmas folks...it is my sincere wish you all enjoy the peace, love, and joy of our Lord and Savior this week and throughout the year.

 

:thumb:

Merry Christmas all. I have been struggling to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I have gone through the right motions...shopping mostly done, but maybe because I just had shoulder surgery, I have not been motivated to put up my usual decorations. Christmas day is my birthday as well...not that psyched about that either.

 

Maybe it will come around....but not looking like it.

My brother and I went over to my parents' last night to help make the lefse for Norwegian Christmas dinner on Thursday night. It would be a big job for just the two of them and they'd probably kill each other at the end of it so I'm glad we were there.

 

Got word yesterday as well that my uncle from Minnesota is bringing down TWO POUNDS of smoked trout to have through the weekend.

 

It's going to be the best Norwegian Christmas ever... despite it looking like it'll be about 60 degrees outside. :lol2:

Meant to start this thread yesterday on the First Sunday of Advent.

 

Oh well, tonight is as good a time as any:

 

"Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" from 1965 is celebrating its 50th birthday with a special on ABC right now. The classic special will air on ABC immediately following at 9:00 pm.

 

A little over a year ago I was pondering when the Charlie Brown Christmas Special first aired and came to find that 2015 would mark its 50th Anniversary.

 

Also while thinking about it I started wondering who were the children that sang the songs on the soundtrack and where were they from, and where are they now?

 

With a little bit of digging I came to discover that the Children's vocals for the movie and soundtrack for the songs "Christmas Time is Here", and "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" and also when the kids shout "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" were performed by members of the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California.

 

Several month before the making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" this choir was also featured on the Vince Guaraldi recording "Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral".

 

The music heard on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was also performed by the famed Vince Guaraldi.

 

St. Paul's Episcopal Church was founded in 1868 and is the oldest Episcopal Church in Marin County, and is still very much an active church today.

 

The recording of "Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral" can be found on Amazon.com, and while reading the customer review section I came across on comment made by a Jay Leydecker in 2011 who had this to say:

 

I was just a kid and in the St. Paul's choir with my brother and sister...we had the most wonderful choir director: Barry Mineah - just a giant of a person and completely devoted to music and to us.

 

We found out we were going to do a jazz mass with the Vince Guaraldi Trio at Grace Cathedral and although none of us knew who Vince Guaraldi was at that moment, we were to find out shortly that he was an impish, mischievous, fabulous man with a heart of gold and the ability to coax incredible music out of a piano...

 

We practiced for what seemed like endless months to learn these songs to perfection and finally the day of the Mass arrived. I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

I am a zealot when it comes to telling folks about this CD - It is a magnificent piece of creation and a wonderful gift to God and to music lovers of every age and taste.

 

Take a listen! I think this CD will blow you away!!! (BTW, I am STILL a member of St. Paul's Church!)

 

John Leydecker

San Rafael, CA

 

After finding this information I sent a message to the St. Paul's Episcopal Church before last Christmas reminding them just in case they hadn't thought about it that 2015 would mark the 50th Anniversary, and that it might be interesting if they researched the surviving members of that choir to possibly present to the Today Show, or some major network the idea of a "Where are they now?" piece in celebration of the 50th.

 

They thanked me for the info and said that they thought that was a great idea.

 

This past July I sent to the Today Show an online message with the info that I had found and suggested to them that if they wanted to do a piece like this that they had plenty of time to work on it.

 

I'm not aware if St. Paul's, or the Today Show ever ran with my suggestion, but am glad to see that ABC at least have done a special recognizing it. I caught some of the special and saw about a 5 second mention of one of the original choir members, but that was all.

 

Without following up or being overbearing about it, I thought "Well, I gave both the Today Show and St. Paul's enough info to go on to make something happen, so I'll just sit back and wait to see if anything does happen".

 

Other than the ABC special it doesn't appear that the idea that I had about recognizing the original members of the choir came to fruition, but I know that personally I would have been very interested in seeing an interview with them and hearing them share their experience.

 

I'm guessing that others would have also found it to be interesting. I suppose that I could have pushed harder to try to make it happen, but feel that I at least gave both St. Paul's and the Today Show enough info to work on it. If they didn't I'm a bit disappointed that they let this opportunity pass them by.

 

If is does turn out that a reunion of sorts has happened and was presented on TV, I'd love to see it, and if anyone happens to come across something like that, please bring it to our attention.

I turned 11 on the first Christmas that the Charlie Brown Christmas special aired. I was already a huge Peanuts fan, so it didn't take much for this to replace Mr. Magoo's Christmas as my no. 1 Christmas show. Thanks @B-Ball-fan for the background. The special featured great music, a story with a point and otherwise a mood somewhere between melancholy and joyous. I grew up in the south, and I always wanted (and later did) live somewhere where the Christmases were white, the ponds froze and it actually looked like I imagined Christmas should look...like Charlie Brown's neighborhood.

I turned 11 on the first Christmas that the Charlie Brown Christmas special aired. I was already a huge Peanuts fan, so it didn't take much for this to replace Mr. Magoo's Christmas as my no. 1 Christmas show. Thanks @B-Ball-fan for the background. The special featured great music, a story with a point and otherwise a mood somewhere between melancholy and joyous. I grew up in the south, and I always wanted (and later did) live somewhere where the Christmases were white, the ponds froze and it actually looked like I imagined Christmas should look...like Charlie Brown's neighborhood.

 

Doomer,

 

May the Christmas spirit envelope you in the days ahead.."gratitude and honor" are great equalizers in the game of life. Look back at what you accomplished this year. Call it a hunch but some horses who are a lot closer than they were before may help you.....shopping and decorations are just that shopping and decorations ( they don't define the season ). The spirit of Christmas lays in the peace and joy we honor and share with others not in a day, or week, but throughout the course of a year! To God be the Glory... and Merry Christmas doomer!

Apparently a Cov Cath grad helped the school's chamber choir put together a music video for one of the songs they released on their Christmas album this year. I actually dig the song pretty well, and they did a really nice job putting the video together.

 

[video=youtube;Zs-oJBwmMIo]

 

#GoColonels

Sister and brother-in-law just got into town with their 11-week-old son. He's hilarious.

 

Mom and sister made stollen for everyone for Christmas morning today.

 

Just picked up the beer for the post-midnight-mass family gathering: six-pack of the West Sixth Christmas Ale and the Sam Adams holiday sampler.

 

I'm finally really feeling that holiday spirit.

Tomorrow I travel to see my avatar. I will be in the Christmas mood along about the time I pull up in the driveway on the north side of Evansville!

Wrapping up some gifts this morning and watching A Christmas Carol, the one with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge and The Wire's Dominic West as his nephew, Fred. It might be my favorite version.