I'll write more later about everything that happened, but this is just a quick post to show off the family again. We were missing Jon, Aaron and Wayne Isaac, but most everyone else made it and we had a grand time. You won't see me in the shot because I was conducting and the camera was to my right to get all the faces of the choir.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt-zkZc7L9U
I like my family.
***** Added Feb. 03 *****
Forgive the lateness of this entry. I'll skip explanations and just get to it.
While out caroling this year, I realized why it is that we do it and why it is so important that we put up with the hassle. Let me explain the hassle part of it first.
My parents had 10 children. That's a brood by any measurement, and when we were younger and my parents began this tradition of caroling every year, it was a feat to get us all wrangled and transported from place to place. Since then, all but one of us has gotten married effectively doubling the choir, and of those that are married, only one is without children to date.
What was a mass of humanity has grown into a mob of strong willed adults, crying children .... well you get the picture. Each year it gets harder.
We start the night around 6pm (although every year the plan seems earlier and earlier and the actual start time gets later). Cramming around the piano in my parents 20x20 living room we have a practice of the songs that we will be singing. This lasts about 1/2 an hour then we get packed in the car and on to the first house.
We go to about 8 different houses that are miles apart, so every visit requires unpacking the children, arranging them in front of the house, repacking and driving to the next house. By the time we get to the last house around 9pm, the youngest are falling asleep in their parents arms, while the group just older is complaining of their feet hurting and hunger is setting in for all of us.
So why do we do it? That question gets asked by at least one brother or sister every year. This year it finally struck me what the answer is, while we were at our second house.
An older couple who has been on the route for as long as I can remember invited us in to their house and positively beamed as we all filed in through the front door. Shoulder to shoulder we crammed into their sitting room and belted Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Rudolph, and Carol of the Bells. When we were done, the wife was weeping. As we left, we exchanged hugs and handshakes with each of them. Then my sister said to me "See? That's why we do this every year."
We aren't doing it to show off how great our family is. It's not even so that we can feel close as a family by continuing a rooted tradition. While both of those are nice, it's become a service. Caroling is not just our tradition anymore. It's theirs. These families that we visit every year now have a tradition of inviting us into their homes. Hearing us sing is now part of their Christmas and they look forward to it. We do it because, they love it, and we get to show our love for them.
Don't click the links until I say otherwise you'll miss out on the experience.
This could be a subject I've blogged on before but I'm really not sure. If I have, I couldn't find it on this site anyway.
I'm not sure whether this is bragging or not, but I have the most talented family in the entire universe and possibly beyond. I'm not kidding. Not to oversell it but musically the Fam is just oozing with concepts and execution of composition of musical themes that are both innovative and auditorially pleasing. (What auditorially isn't a real word?)
See I can say it's not bragging simply because I'm not including myself in the bragging. Additionally I have proof of their brilliance listed. I've heard it said thousands of times that "It's not bragging if it's true".
Alright, I may have oversold it a bit but the songs that you're going to hear are really good IMHO.
Ok. You can click the first one. On her MySpace page click the second song "Home" in a new browser (Right-Click and select "open in a new window" for the noobs), then come back and read.
http://www.myspace.com/nellieriddle
Ok. This is a simple intro, but just wait it gets good. Listen to the lyrics and imagine the sweet little girl that singing.
Now we're getting to the Chorus. Great theme. And then the hook. At this point you should be getting chills. I do anyway as I listen and write this.
Nellie is the youngest in my family and she's had a little bit of a rough time. All the older siblings want to keep her safe and she gets frustrated that we don't think of her as a grown up capable of making good decisions, even now that she's married.
Back to the chorus. How can anyone listen to this and not be inspired. The message is great. Even the weakest amongst us can succeed and even excel when we get the help from those around us that feel personally invested in our lives. We all get to support each other. "Home" of course takes on a deeper meaning when it's thought of in a spiritual context. But the concept of being edified through lifting someone else is a universal one.
Ok. Now on to Aaron.
Same as before, open in a new window and listen to.... let's see. 3rd song "Time won't wait"
http://www.myspace.com/amicuscuriaeband
My favorite part of Aaron's music is the minimalism of it. Just him, a guitar, and I think some beat boxing. The harmonies are all him if you couldn't tell. But the choices that he makes for the harmonies blow me away. Instead of making it barbershopy or fifties-ish he adds them together in a fashion that sounds almost new-waveish.
Let it keep playing to the next song Stars.
Now this song could be on Scrubs. Just mellow and like Nellie's song, inspiring.
Don't forget to look into the stars. The idea being, let yourself be encircled by the awesomeness of creation and realize the duality of your insignificance in the vastness of an endless universe, and the importance of your existence as part of this universe that is so amazing.
Songs like these impress me so much because these are the two youngest in our herd of 10. You expect wisdom and depth from folks that are older by virtue of their experience. These youngest though ..... I'm just so lucky to have them as family. That I get to associate myself with them makes me feel like the message that their music conveys, better than I am because I'm a part of something better.
One last one.
Wayne has one of the best male voices I've heard. Here he is doing Les Miserables
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaNF8WBC_0
