Merry Christmas

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Parenthetical Girls "Festive Friends Forever"
from A Parenthetical Girls Family Christmas
(2006, Slender Means Society)

(photo: Seattle WA December 2011)

Chrisssssmissssss

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One choice selection from 16 Amazingly Terrible Christmas Cards.

Can It Be

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David Bowie & Bing Crosby: "Peace on Earth" / "Little Drummer Boy"

Image of the Day

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Richard Avedon: Christmas Boy, 1965
(via Steven Kasher Gallery/1stDibs)

Need vs. Want

Vintage Daisy BB gun for shooting cans on Whidbey Island – highly relaxing activity. Need.

In the Studio

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Dave, Christmas

Merry Christmas Baby

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Otis Redding "Merry Christmas Baby" from Soul Christmas (Atlantic, 1968)

(Photo: Radio towers on Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, WA, December 2010)

6:18 AM

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Vince Guaraldi "Christmas Time Is Here"
from A Charlie Brown Christmas (Charlie Brown Records, 1965)

(Photo: Beauregard, the tree we bought in I think 2003 from a hardware store while passing through Staten Island. I never thought it was such a bad little tree.)

8:42 AM

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A rendition of "Christmas for Cowboys" by former poet-laureate of Colorado John Denver, from Rocky Mountain Christmas (1975, RCA)

(photo: My grandpa, Don Woodfin, Ellensburg, WA, 1968)

Image of the Day

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Star on the Bon Marché department store in downtown Seattle.

Christmas Power

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In the late '60s, through some back-channel negotiations that I still don't fully understand, my dad got on Phil Spector's mailing list.


(photo by the legendary Guy Webster)

6:18 AM

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Band of Horses "The First Song"
from Everything All The Time (Sub Pop, 2006)

This coming Friday, December 10, Ben Bridwell and members of Band of Horses will play a show at the Pour House in Charleston, SC, with Holopaw opening. Proceeds benefit the Andy Kotowicz Family Foundation. If you're anywhere remotely nearby, get your tickets here.

(Photo: Seattle from our apartment, before the sun came up, Monday morning)

The Best Things In Life Aren't Things

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Miscellaneous pics from our Christmas in Idaho...

Your Weekly Mr. Littlejeans

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Inez: "What the hell is Christmas?!"
Jeans: "More food for everyone, I says."

Records I Own Only For the Cover

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Christmas edition, what. I love the color circles over the black and white photo, and the type is kind of festive too. The music is played solo by the "bell master of Princeton University." Could use some drums or mushrooms.

Switch It On

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When he's off duty, Santa is a freaky moog weirdo freak. Don't look into his eyes.
Sy Mann Tijuana Christmas mp3
Sy Mann Jingle Bells mp3

Wall of Santa

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My friend Josh found a gem for me at an estate sale earlier this year: an '80s re-issue of Phil Spector's Christmas Album, a 1963 album featuring Spector-produced Christmas jams from The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, Bobb B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, and Spector himself. A few sample cuts:

The Crystals Santa Claus Is Coming To Town mp3
Darlene Love Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) mp3
Phil Spector Silent Night mp3

In the never-ending December search for holiday music that doesn't suck, this is definitely a must-have. It's not too tough to find copies in used record stores (for the locals: last time I was in Atlas/Jive Time on 10th they had a copy) and Amazon has it on CD with the original cover art.

Emmet Otter

As long as it's small animal day on Pacific Standard, this is worth a mention: Acquarium Drunkard has posted the entire soundtrack and a funny outtakes video from Jim Henson's 1977 TV special Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. It is pure magic. A small sample: Paul Williams Instrumental Theme mp3

Visit Acquarium Drunkard for much more.
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Gonna Find Out Who's Naughty or Nice,or Irritated and Terrified

. I can't decide if these are funny, creepy, or funny and creepy: Sketchy Santas.

[via SLOG]
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While we're on that:
I went to see Santa once, on an old steam train in Snoqualmie. I don't really know what's going on in this picture though:

That's me, and the kid in the white sweater behind me is my brother. I remember I asked for red socks for Christmas, which is what I want now. I want that red hat too dammit. Click to enlarge and check out the fire truck patches my mom made for my Osh Koshes. Pretty snappy little dresser if I do say so myself.
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On to Sketchy Santas >

Purple Reign

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Another thing I got Emily for Christmas is the Purple Magazine Anthology. Purple was one of the first magazines to interweave contemporary art and fashion, and while that mix can easily go horribly wrong in either direction, the various incarnations of Purple have been consistently smart, albeit in kind of a dirtbag way, since they started in 1992. Here are some spreads, click to enlarge:













More info at purple.fr