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A Charlie Brown Christmas

Perhaps the most endearing of all the Charlie Brown specials is “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, the first in a long series of made for t.v. half hour films portraying the famous Peanuts Gang.For almost forty years, watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been an eagerly anticipated event for millions of households. I recall watching it as far back as twenty-two years ago, and have watched it every Christmas since.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” was made in a time when commercialism was running rampant all over the country. Stores advertising to shoppers what they ought to buy, long before Thanksgiving had come and gone. Unfortunately, we still see this blatant commercialism today, which makes this short film so very poignant and all the more special.

Charlie Brown is assigned to direct the school Christmas pageant, much to his glee; for he feels accepted and worthy. When Lucy tells him to go out and get an alumminum tree, he takes Linus along with him. What Charlie Brown ultimately gets is a small, sickly looking tree, which is rapidly loosing its needles. But, Charlie can see how much the tree “needs him”, somebody; something which he can identity with.

When he returns, he finds the gang dancing to un-Christmas like music, instead of rehearsing their lines. They stop to take a look at the tree he brought, immediately burtsing out in mocking laughter. Apparently Charlie Brown has failed again. In disgust and humiliation he flees, taking the tree with him. And when he comes upon Snoopy’s dog house, all decked out in Christmas lights, not to celebrate the joyous holiday, but to win money in a contest, Charlie Brown has had enough, and almost loses all faith in Christmas.

Linus saves the day, somehow able to bring the tree back to life, and make it look much healthier and stronger. But it is when he explains the meaning of Christmas that the “gang” gets the point of Christmas, and what Charlie Brown was trying to do.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” ends with newfound meaning for Christmas, hopefully not soon forgotten by either the Peanuts Gang, or, more importantly … us.

Lyrics by Sting

Book Description
From the first Police album, Outlandos D’Amour, through Sacred Love, here are the collected lyrics written by Sting, along with his commentary.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Publishing my lyrics separately from their musical accompaniment is something that I’ve studiously avoided until now. The two, lyrics and music, have always been mutually dependent, in much the same way as a mannequin and a set of clothes are dependent on each other; separate them, and what remains is a naked dummy and a pile of cloth. Nevertheless, the exercise has been an interesting one, seeing, perhaps for the first time, how successfully the lyrics survive on their own and inviting the question as to whether song lyrics are in fact poetry or something else entirely. And while I’ve never seriously described myself as a poet, the book in your hands, devoid as it is of any musical notation, looks suspiciously like a book of poems.

So it seems I am entering, with some trepidation, the unadorned realm of the poet. I have set out my compositions in the sequence they were written and provided a little background when I thought it might be illuminating. My wares have neither been sorted nor dressed in clothes that do not belong to them; indeed, they have been shorn of the very garments that gave them their shape in the first place. No doubt some of them will perish in the cold cruelty of this new environment, and yet others may prove more resilient and become perhaps more beautiful in their naked state. I can’t predict the outcome, but I have taken this risk knowingly and, while no one in their right mind should ever attempt to set “The Waste Land” to music, in the hopeful words of T. S. Eliot, “These fragments I have shored against my ruins.”

The Christmas Collection - Il Divo

Look, I loved Il Divo’s first album. Sounded great… but everything sounded the same.
Well, Houston, they’ve fixed that problem.
The Christmas Collection has gorgeous orchestrations and much better vocal arrangements.

1. “O Holy Night”. Let me just say that I think Josh Groban has the world’s best version of this, but they run a good second.
2. “White Christmas”. When a song is dead, dead, dead, and has no hope of musical resuscitation, you translate it into another language. Not too shabby.
3. “Ave Maria”. I can’t stand this song, but they do a beautiful version. If you like the song in general, you’ll love this.
4. “When a Child is Born”. The best version I’ve heard yet, absolutely SMOKING Charlotte Church and Andrea Bocelli. Has a little improvisational instrumental fling part way in that reminded me of “You Raise Me Up”. Interesting.
5. “Adeste Fidelis”. Awesome a capella first verse (mostly Seb, and nice to hear him not as breathy as usual), another classic and beautifully rendered.
6. “Over the Rainbow”. See #3. –Digression: I understand that this is considered classica Christmas music in the UK, which would make it an obvious choice for “the boys”. But why then would it be released on a CD that is a US-only release? That’s right folks, this wasn’t released in the UK. People on eBay over there are paying $25, $35 for copies imported from the good ol’ USA. End digression—-I’m not listening to it right now, so I don’t remember but I believe this is Seb starting as well. Interesting having the first 2 notes the same instead of the jump, although it’s an easy way of getting it in range.
7. “Panis Angelicus”. Their Latin pronunciation is right-on, this is one of my favorite songs.
8. “Rejoice”. WHOA. This track should be a single. And I sure hope it gets some airtime this year. I’m running out of words like gorgeous, amazing, wonderful, etc, but this song is more than all that. Do yourself a favor and listen to this. David’s part here (Sebastien comes first) is singularly beautiful and just soars. I would say that as a group, this is where they are best. The refrains on this song are breathtaking.

*****I am going to digress here about the tenor voices. Tenors, let’s face it, are a dime a dozen, and it’s hard, often, to keep track of the various colorings of tenor ranges.
Sebastien you can pick out no problem, he has a very fresh, pop-sounding voice. David has the really clear high range –frankly, when I think of a true tenor, his voice comes to mind–, and even though Urs’ range is essentially the same as the other two, he has a more “covered” sound, which ends up giving a slightly operatic, almost “warmer” impression, seeming to move him into a slightly lower register.*****

Yeah, you could call this a secular love song, but “Come and rejoice/what was lost is found” is very nearly a direct quote from the parable of the Prodigal Son. I enjoyed this song more than I can say. Makes your heart sing, and there’s a lack of that kind of music.
9. “Silent Night”. They do a nice version but I’m just afraid that I’ve heard this too many times to enjoy it any more.
10. “The Lord’s Prayer”. Good version, not something you hear too much.

So overall! The standout tracks are #4 and #8.
Recap: the all-the-same problem from Il Divo has been fixed.
Orchestrations: much lighter on the drum lines (thank you!) and more of an old-time, almost Big-Band sound (well, that’s when most of this music was written, let’s face it…).
Vocal arrangements: the last album had too much Carlos (baritone) starting the songs, and this one has just a tad too much Sebastien, but hey, I’m not complaining. You really get to hear each of them shine at what it is they do best.

My sole complaint? This is a really short album! 10 songs? Come on! The average regular CD has 13, and as I remember, Charlotte Church’s Christmas CD had 23.

Ancora, here I come.

Apple 8 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Black

Amazon.com Product Description
An anodized aluminum top and polished stainless steel back. Five eye-catching colors. A larger, brighter display with the most pixels per inch of any Apple display, ever. iPod nano stirs up visual effects from the outside in. And it’ll wow you for hours. Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on a single charge. All that staying power and a wafer-thin, 6.5-mm profile makes iPod nano one small big attraction.

Cover Flow
If a picture says a thousand words, think of what all the album art in your collection might say. With Cover Flow on iPod nano, you can flip through your music to find the album you want to hear. Use the Click Wheel to browse music by album cover, then select an album to flip it over and see the track list.

In addition to listening to music you can now enjoy TV shows, movies, video podcasts, and more. View iPod nano dimensions.

The iPod nano comes in a host of exciting new colors.

Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on one charge. View larger.

Music
Use the Click Wheel to adjust volume, navigate songs, browse in Cover Flow, or explore the Music menu by playlist, artist, album, song, genre, composer, and more. Want to mix things up? Click Shuffle Songs. iPod nano makes your music look as good as it sounds, thanks to its bright color display.

Movies
Buy movies from the iTunes Store and you can sync them to your iPod nano to watch anywhere, anytime. Up to 5 hours of video playback means you can watch two movies back to back. And for your viewing pleasure, the 320-by-240-pixel display–with a whopping 204 pixels per inch–is 65 percent brighter than before.

TV Shows
There’s always something good on iPod nano. Browse thousands of episodes of your favorite TV shows on the iTunes Store, buy them for just $1.99 each, then sync them to your iPod nano. Watch last night’s episodes this morning, or buy a whole TV series and play a pocket-size marathon.

Podcasts
The iTunes Store features thousands of free video and audio podcasts, including indie favorites and offerings from such big names as ABC News, Comedy Central, ESPN, PBS, NPR, and many more. Browse and subscribe to podcasts, then sync them to your iPod nano. You can even play video podcasts on TV using an optional Apple component or composite AV cable.

Audiobooks
The digital shelves of the iTunes Store are stocked with thousands of audiobooks–including exclusives like the entire Harry Potter series–so you can catch up on your reading wherever iPod nano takes you. iPod nano even recognizes where you left off reading and bookmarks your place.

Games
Put hours of fun at your fingertips. iPod nano comes with three games–Vortex, iQuiz, and Klondike–and you can download more from the iTunes Store for $4.99 each. All iPod games are designed specifically for the iPod interface. And all of them look great on the 2-inch color display.

Photos
iPod nano holds up to 7,000 photos you can sync from your Mac or PC via iTunes. Use the Click Wheel to scroll through photo thumbnails. To see a photo full screen, click the center button. You can even view your photo slideshows–complete with music and transitions–on a TV using an optional Apple component or composite AV cable.

Extras
Calendars, contacts, and a screen lock appear in the Extras menu, along with a few more handy items. Take the world clock, for example. Spin the Click Wheel to choose different clocks for cities all over the world. For workouts, use the built-in stopwatch to log your best times.

Product Description
iPod nano is the small iPod with one very big idea: Video. Now the world’s most popular music player lets you enjoy TV shows, movies, video podcasts, and more. The larger, brighter display means amazing picture quality. It features an anodized aluminum top and polished stainless steel back. It’ll wow you for hours. Play up to 5 hours of video or up to 24 hours of audio on a single charge. iTunes provides music, movies, TV shows, games and more. All those features within a wafer-thin, 6.5-mm profile makes iPod nano a tiny big attraction you’ll just love carrying around! 2-inch (diagonal) liquid crystal display with blue-white LED backlight; 320-by-240-pixel resolution at 204 pixels per inch Compact and lightweight - Unit Size 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.41 inches (103.5 x 61.8 x 10.5 mm)/ Weighs 4.9 ounces Photo support - Syncs iPod-viewable photos in JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG formats Internal rechargeable battery delivers up to 24 hours audio or 5 hours video per charge / Recharges in about 3 hours (1.5-hour fast charge to 80% capacity) Includes Earphones, USB cable, dock adapter

Some Hearts - Carrie Underwood

Like all American Idol produced albums, there is always some inconsistency with production and etc… There is the slightest bit of this on Carrie’s album. We first began to truly see this with Fantasia’s exceptional debut, Ruben sophomore effort (better than his debut Soulful), and of course multi-platinum pop-rocker Kelly Clarkson’s Grammy deserving Breakaway. SOME HEARTS presents a truly credible country album without the American Idol aspect attached, which may mark the first American Idol debut to officially shed that image.

Carrie’s debut is just as expected-a country set that has some pop sensibilities. The emphasis is on some because for the most part, this album will appeal to those who loved Carrie on American Idol as well as those who love a good country album. The pop sensibility comes with such a track as the excellent “Some Hearts” which features driving guitars, slick production and Carrie rising to a high E. Despite that, Carrie sings her heart out on this appropriate title track.

On her opening track “Wasted”, as with ever American Idol album, Carrie’s grabs the audience’s attention with a well written selection that shows off Carrie’s pure upper register. That is followed by an incredibly country influenced “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, which isn’t a bad track, but it slightly lessens the heightened momentum created by the great “Wasted”. Nonetheless, that is where “Some Hearts” and the touching first single “Jesus Take The Wheel,” which is made of a stunning piano, string, and electric guitar driven arrangement, throw the album back into full swing. Other notable highlights from SOME HEARTS include “Before He Cheats” which uses a bluesy production sound mixed with the first time that I’ve personally heard Carrie achieve some much needed grit to her pure voice.
Selections “Whenever Your Remember” and “I Ain’t in Chocatoe No More” also steal the show. There are some other tracks of less notability, yet it is important to note that this album is consistent for the most part lending many great tracks besides the major ones such as “We’re Young and Beautiful” and “Starts with Goodbye”.

While this album has a few flaws (Carrie over sings slightly on “When you’re Beautiful”), for the most part it is well produced, Carrie’s pitch is impeccable, and it is just a fine, well rounded debut. Where this album is concerned- a big fat 4 stars from a non-Carrie fan for this very fine debut.

Motorola Q Music 9m Smartphone

Amazon.com Product Description
The musicÐcentric Motorola Q9m provides a multimedia-optimized user interface that’s great for playing your favorite tunes transferred from your PC or discover new faves downloaded from Verizon’s V Cast Music service. It also adds the power of the Windows Mobile 6 operating system, which provides push email for immediate send and receive on Corporate Microsoft Exchange servers as well as editing of Microsoft Office documents. It also comes equipped with Bluetooth Stereo wireless connectivity, a 1.3 megapixel camera/camcorder with flash, and a MiniSD memory card slot that supports up to 4GB of additional memory.

The Motorola Q9m provides a powerful platform for listening to music as well as working on important emails and Microsoft Office documents, thanks to the Windows Mobile 6 operating system.

Easily download your new favorite tunes from Verizon’s V Cast Music service.

Verizon Service Options
With support for the EV-DO high-speed data standard, you’ll enjoy fast access to the Internet and Verizon’s multimedia services (additional charges applicable), with average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2 Mbps. The V Cast Music service enables you to download songs instantly to your phone, or purchase music through your PC and transfer the files to your phone. If purchased from your phone, you’ll receive two copies of the song: a Windows Media Audio Pro Plus format at 64Kbps stereo is sent to your phone, and a Windows Media Audio 9 format at 160Kbps stereo is sent to your account in the V CAST Music online store for downloading to your PC. V Cast Music offers nearly 2 million songs, with more being added all the time.

Phone Features
The Motorola Q9m makes it easy to access your music, videos, photos and favorite social networking sites. The phone offers two Home Screen options–one Multimedia and Standard. The exclusive Multimedia home screen together with the thumbwheel and center navigation key allows you to maximize the V CAST Music experience, while the Standard home screen offers oneÐtouch access to voice, email and text messages.

Downloading music to the Q9m is a snap. Just select the V Cast Music icon using the thumbwheel, browse the catalog of nearly 2 million songs, highlight a song, and press the Buy button. The phone is compatible with a wide range of music files, including MP3, AAC, AAC+, WAV, WMA 9/10, AMR, XMF, and Real. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones.

The integrated Bluetooth version 2.0 wireless connectivity also includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and audio/video remote control. You can connect your laptop (either via Bluetooth or wired USB) and enjoy dial-up networking–surf the Internet, send email, and access files from a server.

The svelte and sleek design of the Motorola Q9M measures just 0.47 inches thin, and it’s complemented by with high-end finishes and soft touch materials. A bright 2.4-inch display (320 x 240 pixels, 65K colors) with smooth lighting transitions thanks to its adaptive display technology enables you to enjoy reading in environments where lighting is poor. The optimized QWERTY keyboard makes quick work of typing emails, SMS messages, notes, presentations and more.

Other features include:

• 64 MB of on-board memory, expandable via MiniSD cards
• Compatible with multiple personal and business email accounts (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.), and MMS and SMS
• 1.3-megapixel camera captures video up to QCIF resolution (176 x 144)
• Compatible with multiple personal and business email accounts (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc.), and MMS and SMS
• Speakerphone with stereo speakers for excellent conference call capabilities
• Personalize My Q application to customize ringtones, home screen (wallpaper, shortcuts, and right soft key) and start menu view
• PIM tools: calculator, calendar, alarm clock, world clock, notepad
• Advanced Speech Recognition: Commands include call, send, lookup, play, go to, check, my account, help guide
• Embedded ring tones, plus vibrating alerts and silent; compatible with MP3 and polyphonic ringtones
• M3 hearing aid and TTY compatibility
• aGPS capable for E911 emergency location/sGPS
• Flight mode allows you to safely use the non-wireless functions of this phone (such as music, games, or organizer functions) on an airplane during flight

Thanks to the integrated Bluetooth stereo profile, A2DP, users can enjoy premium sound quality wirelessly via compatible Bluetooth enabled stereo headphones or take calls at the same time with just the touch of a button Vital Statistics
The Motorola Q9m weighs 4.76 ounces and measures 4.6 x 2.5 x 0.47 inches. Its 1170 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4.5 hours of talk time, and up to 212 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/1900 CDMA frequencies and is compatible with the EV-DO data network.

Powered by Windows Mobile 6

Windows Mobile 6 adds power to your mobile office with up-to-date e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization of Outlook calendars.

Edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets on your phone, just as you would on your desktop/laptop PC.

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6 updates the Windows Mobile 5 platform with a number of handy features that make searching through email, editing Microsoft Office documents, and staying on top of your most important communications even easier. Emails can now be viewed in their original rich HTML format and now offer the ability to visit embedded links. It also includes Windows Live for Windows Mobile, which provides a full set of Windows Live services, such as the Windows Live Messenger IM application, which now enables you to chat with more than one person at one time or send a file.

With Windows Mobile 6, your phone will finally be able to emulate the power and features of your PC’s Microsoft Office suite. You’ll be able to neatly view, navigate and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets in their original formatting–without affecting tables, images or text–as well as view PowerPoint presentations.

• Microsoft Office Word Mobile features include spell-check, Find and Replace commands, bulleted lists, text formatting, and support for tables for the first time.
• With Excel Mobile, youÕre not just confined to editing charts: with the new Chart Wizard you can create charts quickly and easily.
• PowerPoint Mobile allows you to view the full presentation, rehearse timings, check the order and any live links you may have in your presentation. You can then email comments back to the team or communicate via MSN Messenger for an immediate response.
• After creating or editing a Word document or Excel spreadsheet, you can synchronize it with your PC and it will automatically be converted to the PC version.

All Windows Mobile 6 powered devices include Direct Push Technology for up-to-date e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization of Outlook calendars, tasks and contacts through Microsoft Exchange Server. It also offers a set of important device security and management features that include the capability to remotely wipe all data from a device should it be lost or stolen, helping ensure that confidential information remains that way.

Product Description
The media–centric Motorola MOTO Q™ music 9m offers 2 Home Screen options – one Multimedia and Standard. The exclusive multimedia home screen together with the thumbwheel and center navigation key allows the user to maximize the V CAST Music experience while the standard home screen offers one–touch access to voice, email and Text messages. The Q 9m operates on the Windows® Mobile 6 OS and comes equipped with Bluetooth® Stereo Wireless Technology, a 1.3 megapixelcamera/camcorder with flash and a miniSD™ memory card slot which supports up to 4GB of additional memory. Also add to this impressive list of credentials a web browser, tethered modem support, and an ergonomically redesigned Keyboard.

NOW 26

first id like to say great cd
there was no doubt that they’d put souja boy on, #1 song out there it has great feel. every other hip/hop/rap/rNb song on the CD is one that you’ll like. Besides Crank That, Kayne West is the most explosive rapper on this CD, he’s great! Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” is one of my favorite new songs, im personally not a huge of her, but who doesn’t like this song? I was really surprised to see The Last Goodbye on this CD, I personally dont like the song, they need to pick one genre: they are between retro and rock, which ussually = punk, but not here. I love “Hey There Delilah” it’s a great pop/rock accoustic song, but it really should have been on Now24 or 25. It’s kind of old. Daughtry is the most popular rock band out there, and his new hit is great! I was also amazed to see “Never too Late” by 3 Days Grace, im glad they put it on though because Im a HUGE 3 Days Grace Fan, I got both of there CD’s, its good to see a band who puts rock on rock, if u know what i mean.

I think everyone knew Lifehouse’s “First Time” would be on here, great song, the first time you here “First Time” you know it’s by Lifehouse, another great song. And finnaly Good Charlote’s “I dont wanna be in love” is an alright song. Im more of a fan of their older stuff, but this song isnt bad i geuss. So overal “Now” hit it good once again.

Lost Highway - Bon Jovi

Product Description
“Artistic freedom made this record possible,” says Jon Bon Jovi. “Musical freedom to explore–and emotional freedom to express what was in our hearts.”The result of that freedom is Lost Highway, an album Jon describes as “a Bon Jovi record influenced by Nashville.”

Bon Jovi explains. “Nashville is all about songs and songwriters. If you’re someone like me who loves songs and hanging out with songwriters, Nashville is the place. I thrive on that feeling and I’m inspired by that creative ambience.”

The result, a haunting set of 12 new and original sounding songs, is a stunning, multi-layered look into the nature of love and life in all its glory. Love, like life, is lost, found, forgotten and reclaimed in this collection.

The moods are many, but the core feeling is pure Bon Jovi.

“Writing this record with Jon was deeply cathartic,” says Richie Sambora, who collaborated on ten of the songs. “I was going through emotional changes that were new for me. An ailing father. A painful divorce. The start of a new chapter in my life. I poured everything I had into this project, every last bit of soul at my command.”

“For over twenty years now,” Jon explains, “Richie and I have been close collaborators. Even when our songs create fictional stories, they reveal our states of mind. To a large degree, Lost Highway focuses on the light that love brings. When you shine the light on love, you see the chinks in the armor. You see every crevice, every crack. And that’s all right”.

Lost Highway is Bon Jovi’s tenth studio album since the band formed in the early eighties. One hundred and twenty million albums and 2500 concerts in over 50 countries later, Bon Jovi is enjoying the greatest popularity in their history.