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 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Invalid Item" "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
 | Day 3 | "One More Sleep" by Leona Lewis This is a song I discovered this year, courtesy of Spotify. I had no idea that Leona Lewis even had a Christmas album and, while I don't necessarily think that this is necessarily a straight-up Christmas classic, she has a great voice and I think the cadence of the first verse in particular is really entertaining. I really love her song "Bleeding Love" but, being mostly a one-hit wonder, I haven't really followed her career and didn't realize that she had released several albums, including the Christmas one that this song is featured on. To me, it sounds a little similar to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas (Is You)," or at least shares a lot of the same catchy pop elements. A couple of fun facts that I learned about Leona Lewis while researching this song: 1. Her breakout came as a result of winning the third series of THE X FACTOR in 2006. 2. Her biggest hit ("Bleeding Love") was co-written by Ryan Tedder (of OneRepublic) and Jesse McCartney. 3. She and Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers were jointly named PETA's Sexiest Vegetarians of 2008. |
| Day 2 | "Please Come Home for Christmas" by Charles Brown Most people are probably familiar with the cover versions of this song by the Eagles in 1978, or the Bon Jovi version in 1992, or more recently Kelly Clarkson in 2013. Or any of the other various covers by the likes of Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Ryland James, etc. But this year I want to pay tribute to the original version, co-written and performed by blues singer and piano player Charles Brown. This ended up being the most popular song he ever came up with, and I love the old vinyl sound of this recording. It's a testament to the quality of the song that so many really famous artists have covered it for their own Christmas albums over the year. This is one of the songs I listen to when I'm feeling a little melancholy around the holidays. I've found this season to be particularly difficult over the past few years after losing my mom unexpectedly in November 2020, and one of the things that's surprised me is how often I want a bit of a sad song to listen to and just sit with my feelings of loneliness and missing her. It's a careful balance though, because if I listen to something too sad or somber then it puts me in a worse mood. But certain songs, like this one, are upbeat and positive enough while still maintaining a bit of the twinge of sadness that it just kind of works when I want to be just a little blue while I'm feeling nostalgic. This song strikes that right balance for me, so while I didn't often listen to it before, it's definitely become one of my holiday standards in recent years... particularly this version. |
| Day 1 | "Santa Tell Me" by Ariana Grande This song is probably my current favorite in terms of "contemporary classic" holiday songs. It was released in 2014 and has charted every holiday season since its release. It's become such a popular standard that Ariana Grande has been dubbed by some to be the "Princess of Christmas," a nod to the fact that Mariah Carey remains the undisputed "Queen of Christmas" thanks to the unbelievable success of her 1994 hit "All I Want for Christmas (Is You)." It's really kind of amazing that any song is considered in the same league as that massive success, and it's even more impressive that this song from Ariana Grande came along twenty years later and is considered popular enough to be the runner-up among modern-day Christmas pop songs. Longtime Soundtrackers might recall my ride or die attitude toward "All I Want for Christmas (Is You)," but if I'm being honest, after being out in the world for nearly thirty years, I might, might be willing to concede that I listen to this song more at Christmastime these days that I do Mariah Carey's hit. Shh, don't tell Beth...  |
| Explainer ▼ Movies  The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special I Am Vanessa Guillen Samaritan The Star The SwimmersTelevision  Partner Track Tales of the Jedi White Lotus (Season 2) The World CupOn the movie side of things, I really liked THE SWIMMERS a lot more than I thought I would. It's a biographical drama about the story of real-life Syrian refugee sisters Yusra and Sara Mardini, who crossed the Aegean Sea by swimming alongside a dinghy full of other refugees to lighten the load. Yusra eventually became an Olympic swimmer, and Sara joined a refugee rights group. I'm normally not big on biopics, but this one was really well done, with a great underlying true story and excellent acting and filmmaking to accompany it. The only other notable movie I watched as SAMARITAN, although not because it was a good movie. On the contrary, it was actually pretty bad, but it's notable because it has a twist at the end of it that I've contemplated for one of my own scripts for years, and it's always a little frustrating when you find someone else has beaten you to an idea, especially when it doesn't quite live up to the potential of the concept. For the television I watched this month, the second season of WHITE LOTUS is decent and I like the idea that the new season is basically a new set of characters at a new resort somewhere in the world. Talk about a great concept. Every time they want to renew the show for another season, they go to the showrunner and he probably goes, "Okay, the next season will be set in the White Lotus luxury resort in... hmm, where do I want to travel next?"  And TALES FROM THE JEDI is an interesting collection of shorts. There are six of them and, like any collection of shorts, they're not all winners. I'd say there's probably one really good one, two okay ones, and three that really didn't do much for me at all.The real highlight of this month has been watching the World Cup. I splurged on a Hulu + Live TV subscription so that I could watch a few of the games. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it because the whole thing being set in Qatar has been a real case study in corruption and human rights violations, but the actual sport itself has been great, including some surprisingly results, really intense games, and amazing goals. I'm not a huge soccer fan like my brother, who follows a ton of the international teams throughout the years between, but I get on the bandwagon every four years for the World Cup and have really enjoyed watching it so far. TOP PICK: The World Cup |
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