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1. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel, from the "Elf" soundtrack. I love her as an actress, and the fact that she has a great voice, too, is just awesome.
2. "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole - total no-brainer there.
3. "This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway. A great
R-n-B holiday song from a great singer who died way too soon.
4. "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by the Jackson Five. I don't care how weird Michael is now, when he was young, he could put pure joy into a song better than anyone in the history of pop music.
5. "Jingle Bells" by those singing dogs (you know, they bark out the tune? can't resist that one.)
And, don't forget, the Cheech and Chong Christmas song ("Santa Claus and His Old Lady") and Bob and Doug McKenzie's Twelve Days of Christmas (and a beer....in a tree).
I just really love "Oh Holy Night." It's a beautiful song.
"The 12 Days of Christmas" I have hysterical family memories of. The memories are favorites, though, not the song. Although I wouldn't mind having a true love.
Um, my brother & I always have a go with "The Chanukah Song" & all it's versions every year. We like to laugh a lot, and always do!
Also, "Mary, Did You Know?" is a wonderful song.
Otherwise, I like it when the songs are sung but the old crooners, played by Celtic groups, or are done jazz-style. That's good holiday music!
"The 12 Days of Christmas" I have hysterical family memories of. The memories are favorites, though, not the song. Although I wouldn't mind having a true love.
Um, my brother & I always have a go with "The Chanukah Song" & all it's versions every year. We like to laugh a lot, and always do!
Also, "Mary, Did You Know?" is a wonderful song.
Otherwise, I like it when the songs are sung but the old crooners, played by Celtic groups, or are done jazz-style. That's good holiday music!

"Silent Night," because that's always sung with lights off and candles lit at the Christmas Eve services.
Even though I'm not a big Rod Stewart fan, I like the Dolly Parton/Rod Stewart version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
Bob and Doug MacKenzie's "Twelve Days of Christmas" is hilarious, and I can't hear the original 12DOC without singing in my head, "FIVE GOLDEN TUQUES! Four pounds of back-bacon, three French toast, two turtle-necks, and a beer...i-in a tree."
Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." Love the whistling part.
Just about any version of "Sleigh Bells."
I love Christmas music!


I love Harry Connick Jr.'s two Christmas CDs.
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I have to agree with Beth - I think my favorite Christmas song is "This Christmas" by Donny Hathaway. I love some good R&B. It always puts me in the Christmas mood.

Chris Cornell's version of Ave Maria is a favorite of mine, love his voice. Also, when I'm in the disco mood, I can't get enough of Gladys Knight's That Special Time of Year. Always makes me smile. :)
Oh, and Beth, you're spot on with your comment on Zooey Deschanel's singing in Baby It's Cold Outside. Love that part of Elf. talented actress too. She was great in the recent Tin Man miniseries.

Robbie, OMG! "12 Day of Christmas" with Bob & Doug McKenzie! Absolute CLASSIC. I have to get that now - I'd forgotten! I have the movie, though... and my brother and I call each other Hoser. We don't ever call each other by our first names... just "Hoser." It's a term of endearment for us now, but it didn't start that way! The funniest thing is that no one else - not even his fiance - is allowed to call either of us that. Just us two. So take off, eh!
I forget which version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" I like, but it's a more recent favorite... and yes, the Elf version is the bestest ever ever.
I just love it all, but especially the classic carols like "Silent Night," "Away in a Manger," etc. Oh! I can't think who did the version right now, but there is an intoxicating version of "O Come, O Come, Emanuel" that melts me. If I remember who, I'll post it.
Also, "A Song for a Winter's Night" by Jewel & Sarah McLachlan is pretty soothing.
I also like "Good King Wencelas" because it reminds me of England... from being there in December a little, but even more from Hugh Grant singing it in Love Actually to those three girls at the door!
"Sleigh Bells" is pretty great, Robbie! I still think "Oh Holy Night" is my favorite, though.
I forget which version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" I like, but it's a more recent favorite... and yes, the Elf version is the bestest ever ever.
I just love it all, but especially the classic carols like "Silent Night," "Away in a Manger," etc. Oh! I can't think who did the version right now, but there is an intoxicating version of "O Come, O Come, Emanuel" that melts me. If I remember who, I'll post it.
Also, "A Song for a Winter's Night" by Jewel & Sarah McLachlan is pretty soothing.
I also like "Good King Wencelas" because it reminds me of England... from being there in December a little, but even more from Hugh Grant singing it in Love Actually to those three girls at the door!
"Sleigh Bells" is pretty great, Robbie! I still think "Oh Holy Night" is my favorite, though.

For slightly more traditional fare, I love Elvis' Here Comes Santa Claus and All I Want for Christmas is You (from Love Actually) and Madonna's Santa Baby.
Beth are you a Weeds fan? I love that show - it makes the illegal world of drug dealing seems so darn fun.

All I Want for Christmas is My two front teeth was a favorite from my youth.I also love I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.Have alot of my favorites on my myspace page.

I just heard the hippopotamus song on the way to work, and was thinking I needed to add it here! Seems like I remember hearing that song was originally recorded as a fund-raiser for a zoo trying to buy a hippo. Did anyone else hear that?

Coming from Michigan, I can really relate to that song--more from knowing several Canadians than from actually wearing tuques!
I never saw the Nutcracker when I was growing up, but have seen it two times as an adult, and my daughter is going to be in a production with her dance school on Sunday. I'm going to have to be really careful not to sing along, "Smurfberry Crunch is fun to eat! A Smurfy fruity breakfast treat...dada dada dada dada..." My daughter actually said to me "absosmurfly" the other day. Hmmm...I wonder who she heard using that phrase?


I picked up "Strange Brew" from the five-dollar DVD bin at Wal-Mart over the summer. Not quite as funny as it was when I was twelve, but still good for a few laughs. I didn't pick up on all the parallels to Hamlet when I was young, but I can appreciate that now that I'm older.

Santa Baby, either the Eartha Kitt version, or Madonna's. NO others, not yet!
Baby It's Cold Outside
All I Want for Christmas Is you, I love the Mariah Carey version (not her biggest fan otherwise though) and the girl from Love Actually
And Beth, you are the only other person that I have heard of actually enjoying the Dog version of Jingle Bells! I thought I was the only one! For the past 4 years I had worked in a restaurant that had that in its rotation and everyone else despised it, but everytime it came on, I grinned! No matter how crazed we were or how many jerks I had to give food to!
Oh, and the Alvin and the Chipmunk Christmas Song....'and me, I want a HUUUUla HOOOOOp!'

1) Where are you christmas- Faith Hill
2) Christmas Shoes
3) I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
4) Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
5) Trans Siberian Orchestra

tuque /tuk, tyuk/ –noun
a heavy stocking cap worn in Canada.
Bob & Doug would not appreciate it being narrowed to only FRENCH Canadians. LOL
I just listened to the song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." Man that little girl could sing! And it was so funny!
I've become a huge Eartha Kitt fan, and it pretty much started with "Santa Baby!" She is sooo great! Her sexuality is always so tongue-in-cheek, but her voice and intonations are raw sex with a hint of little girl.
I have the Love Actually version of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on my myspace page. such a good movie that I like the reminder!
I wanted to add a beautiful song called "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant. It always moves me.
Beth, we talk about the movie Alvin & the Chipmunks on the holiday movie thread!
I think I'm going to have to find that barking dog "Jingle Bells." Having taught music to children for a couple of years, when it was time for them to choose a song to sing together, I kid you not... EVERY SINGLE LESSON they wanted "Jingle Bells." We're talking YEAR-'ROUND. OMG. I wanted to puke that song for a while. But the barking version might just bring me back 'round! LOL
a heavy stocking cap worn in Canada.
Bob & Doug would not appreciate it being narrowed to only FRENCH Canadians. LOL
I just listened to the song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." Man that little girl could sing! And it was so funny!
I've become a huge Eartha Kitt fan, and it pretty much started with "Santa Baby!" She is sooo great! Her sexuality is always so tongue-in-cheek, but her voice and intonations are raw sex with a hint of little girl.
I have the Love Actually version of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on my myspace page. such a good movie that I like the reminder!
I wanted to add a beautiful song called "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant. It always moves me.
Beth, we talk about the movie Alvin & the Chipmunks on the holiday movie thread!
I think I'm going to have to find that barking dog "Jingle Bells." Having taught music to children for a couple of years, when it was time for them to choose a song to sing together, I kid you not... EVERY SINGLE LESSON they wanted "Jingle Bells." We're talking YEAR-'ROUND. OMG. I wanted to puke that song for a while. But the barking version might just bring me back 'round! LOL
Again, I love this group.
Best Christmas songs...
1. River Joni Mitchell/The Indigo Girls
2. Blue Christmas Elvis (we don't use the last name down here)
3. Christmas by Blues Traveler...Best Line: I wish a one horse open sleigh, would come and carry me away
4. Guilty Pleasure: Grown up Christmas List (Amy Grant/Kelly Clarkson)
5. I love it when they play the song from The Grinch on the radio (You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.)
6. Yes, yes, yes...Baby it's Cold Outside (by anyone)
7. Also, a very sad song that mentions Christmas and makes me feel very cold is "Brick" by Ben Folds Five
8. Favorite hymn: Hark the Herald Angels Sing
9. All of Handel's Messiah
But most, most, mostest favorite...10. "Snow" from White Christmas...
"I'll soon be there with snow
I'll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I'll build a man that's made of snow."
Watch the movie. Love the song. Now! Go people!
Best Christmas songs...
1. River Joni Mitchell/The Indigo Girls
2. Blue Christmas Elvis (we don't use the last name down here)
3. Christmas by Blues Traveler...Best Line: I wish a one horse open sleigh, would come and carry me away
4. Guilty Pleasure: Grown up Christmas List (Amy Grant/Kelly Clarkson)
5. I love it when they play the song from The Grinch on the radio (You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.)
6. Yes, yes, yes...Baby it's Cold Outside (by anyone)
7. Also, a very sad song that mentions Christmas and makes me feel very cold is "Brick" by Ben Folds Five
8. Favorite hymn: Hark the Herald Angels Sing
9. All of Handel's Messiah
But most, most, mostest favorite...10. "Snow" from White Christmas...
"I'll soon be there with snow
I'll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I'll build a man that's made of snow."
Watch the movie. Love the song. Now! Go people!

I have that Grinch song on my holiday playlist. The garlic in his soul line makes me laugh every time!

And you would have loved being in the huge line--if you can still call it a line when it's 20-30 people wide--leaving Disney's Magic Kingdom (the one in Florida) at closing time when my son was two. He loved that song so much he was still singing it in March. He sang it over and over and over. His own special version, "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, one-horse open sleigh. OHHHHHHHHH! Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, one-horse open sleigh. OHHHHHHHHH! Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...[repeat for 30-40 minutes]."

I think dictionary.com just indicated that the *word* tuque is French Canadian, so Bob and Doug can still love me :P
LOL, Robbie... that's where I copied the definition from. You are the weakest link! Hahahaha!
At least I know that a tuque doesn't have to have flaps (though they are an option)! Hee!
At least I know that a tuque doesn't have to have flaps (though they are an option)! Hee!


i think someone already mentioned Amy Grant's Home for Christmas, another really good seasonal album.
for more traditional music, ala Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, I also really enjoy the Time-Life Christmas Music collections.
Beth - yay a Weeds fan. Kevin Nealon is excellent on that show and yes I had never been blown away when he was on SNL. It's the perfect character for him. There are some many things I love about that show. Here's one more - all of the great versions of Little Boxes.
Artic - how's the Sufjan Christmas cd? I've heard a couple songs of it but haven't picked it up yet. Illinoise was one of my favorite albums in '05.
Artic - how's the Sufjan Christmas cd? I've heard a couple songs of it but haven't picked it up yet. Illinoise was one of my favorite albums in '05.

My cousin e-mailed me that he's sending me a mix cd with several of the Sufjan Stevens Christmas songs on it. How timely! I've heard a few from Illinoise, and they're really in a league of their own.

My mom plays Celine Dions' Christmas album and the new Josh Groban one, so when I'm around her/my family we hear that.
Otherwise, home in Italy, we listen to lots of Trans Siberian Orchestra type of stuff.

Where did you live? And where are you planning to live again?
Ok I am going to have to find out the artist - but I just heard a great remake of Holiday Road. They slowed it down and it sounded great and brings back all those great Griswald memories.
A little more searching I found it and you can listen here - by Matt Pond PA
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...
A little more searching I found it and you can listen here - by Matt Pond PA
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...

Dee, I lived in Florence. When I moved there I didn't have a clue what city I would end up in, but the one thing I did know was that it WOULDN'T be Florence because of all the students and tourists. I wanted a more... "authentic" experience. Whatever. Man when God makes something clear to you, you do it. And experiencing Florence was equally as authentic as most any good-sized city there. Most of my friends were Italians, though I did live in a multi-cultural flat!
I will say because I was hired to speak English always, I didn't get the grammar of the language down at all. Which is pathetic after living there as long as I did.
I don't know where I will return to when I do finally return. I love Firenze dearly, but want to experience beyond it as well. However, Italy is very much all about connections, and I still have them there... so who knows?
Sounds like you mostly stayed in the North, with the exception of Capri.
Okay, I'm so tired, I'm dozing as I type. Not healthy. I'll try to pick this up later... but we open gifts on Saturday and my bro and his fiance are coming in tomorrow, so we'll see! Night!
I will say because I was hired to speak English always, I didn't get the grammar of the language down at all. Which is pathetic after living there as long as I did.
I don't know where I will return to when I do finally return. I love Firenze dearly, but want to experience beyond it as well. However, Italy is very much all about connections, and I still have them there... so who knows?
Sounds like you mostly stayed in the North, with the exception of Capri.
Okay, I'm so tired, I'm dozing as I type. Not healthy. I'll try to pick this up later... but we open gifts on Saturday and my bro and his fiance are coming in tomorrow, so we'll see! Night!

HAVE FUN SATURDAY! I love giving presents to people (more so then opening them myself). I hope you have fun!
Most people who pick it up as a second language, which it sounds like you did, either get the grammar part of it first, or they barely get it at all.
And yes, connections are everything in Italy (they are in most places actually) but in Italy it's very easy to create new ones if you lost your old ones. That's one of the wonderful things about the country.

Capri is just beautiful, Dee! Experiencing the Blue Grotto was one of the most moving experiences of my life.

It's scary for a little kid! I was waiting for like demons or a loch ness monster type of thing to come out from under the rocks and swallow me whole!
I had a very active imagination as a child... lol!
But it's gorgeous, breathtakingly gorgeous. My fiance and I go there every time we visit Capri, he had never seen it until I took him, and I still just get awestruck by it.
http://woxy.lala.com/holiday.php
Here's a description from the site:
From now through Christmas, we're pleased to offer up the WOXY HOLIDAY MIXER! This unique 24/7 collection of seasonal tunes is filled with vintage renditions of your holiday favorites by modern rockers from around the globe. We have a little bit of something for everyone with new music this year from the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Aimee Mann, Over The Rhine, and The Teenage Prayers. If you stick around long enough, you'll probably hear some irreverent selections from "A John Waters Christmas" and Spinal Tap but we've balanced them out with some classic tracks from Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and James Brown among others. To round things out a little more, we've also included some tunes about winter, snow falling, and the month of December because we know you can only hear "Jingle Bells" so many times...