Would you like a free Christmas DVD? It is called Joy to the World, and it is a beautiful depiction of the Savior's birth featuring music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. You can order your copy at this link. It is a free gift from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Such a cool video! This is Elvis at his best, in color. He's cool, and he knows it.
U2, especially Bono, define cool. They don't need to flaunt their coolness, they just are.
And what does author James Dashner have in common with Elvis and Bono? . . . (crickets chirping) . . . Well, he does have one of the coolest book trailers I have ever seen. (Warning! This might scare little kids.)
Seriously, though, James Dashner is one of the coolest authors I've ever met. Doesn't that trailer make you want to run out and get the book RIGHT NOW? You can find it on Amazon if it's too cold outside, or if you're out shopping, make a detour to Barnes and Nobel. It's published by Delacorte, so it's out there everywhere.
Remember to enter my post-Christmas giveaway. Maybe I should call it the Boxing Day Giveaway. Yeah, that sounds better. You can have one entry per post you comment on. I'll put everyone's name in a hat and have someone impartial pull out the winners on December 26th.
Today, I am feeling a little sleep deprived, and it partly Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen's fault. She wrote this book called Missing. It's a mystery about this young woman who is performing on tour with her college choir and spots a child who was kidnapped from her home town. Ronda is an amazing writer. I stayed up way too late reading Missing. I know I should have just used a bookmark and put it down, but I got so involved with the story and the characters. I just had to know what happened. I was reading late at night because I made the mistake of telling my teenage daughter how good the book was before I had a chance to finish reading it. She started reading it after school, while I was still working, and I had to wait until I could get her to stop reading and go to bed before I could get it back again. She couldn't put it down either without some parental intervention.
Remember to post comments to be entered in the drawing on December 26th. One of the prizes will be an autographed copy of Missing by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen. You can have one entry for each post you comment on.
I knew it was possible to make a musical tone by wetting your finger and running it around the rim of a fine crystal goblet. I knew the tone could change according to how much water was in the goblet and the size of the goblet itself. I didn't know there was such a thing as a glass harp, or that it could sound this good.
Here's another contest you can enter. Kathy Oram Peterson, author of The Forgotten Warrior and her latest release, An Angel on Main Street, is holding An Angel in Your Life Contest. Here is what she says on her blog.
"I'm holding a contest...An Angel in Your Life Contest. It started October 15, 2009 and runs until December 15, 2009. All you need to do to enter is write down an experience when someone was an angel in your life and email it to me (kathiorampeterson@yahoo.com). The winner will be announced on my website and here my blog December 16th. The winner and the angel in his/her life will each receive a $25. gift certificate from either Seagull Book or Deseret Book Stores."
Like she said, the contest ends December 15, 2009, so hurry! In the meantime, you might want to pick up a copy of An Angel on Main Street. It would make a great Christmas present.
And remember to enter MY giveaway, by leaving a comment on a blog post. You can have one entry for each post you comment on, or one entry per comment per post. I'll draw for the winners on December 26th. I'll be featuring another prize in the drawing tomorrow, so see you then!
So I was out shopping with my daughter and we saw David Archuleta's new Christmas album, Christmas from the Heart. Of course, we bought it. (Love that voice!) We listened to it all the way home, and I have had this song, Riu Riu Chiu, stuck in my head for days. I had never heard it before, so I did some research to see what it was all about. The "riu, riu, chiu" part is supposed to be the song of a nightingale. The song is a Spanish "vilancico" dating from the 16th century, written in a very archaic form of Spanish.
Here are the lyrics in Spanish:
Riu, riu, chiu La guarda ribera Dios guarde el lobo De nuestra cordera
El lobo rabioso La quiso morder Mas Dios poderoso La supo defender Quizole hazer que No pudiesse pecar Ni aun original Esta uirgen no tuuiera
Riu, riu, chiu La guarda ribera Dios guarde el lobo De nuestra cordera
Este uiene a dar A los muertos uida Y uiene a reparar De todas la cayla Es la luz del dia Aqueste mocuelo Este es el cordero Que San Juan dixera
Riu, riu, chiu La guarda ribera Dios guarde el lobo De nuestra cordera
Yo ui mil garcones Que andauan contando Por aqui bolando Haziendo mil sones Diziendo a gascones, Gloria sea en el cielo Y paz en el suelo Pues Jesus nasciera
Riu, riu, chiu La guarda ribera Dios guarde el lobo De nuestra cordera
Este uiene a dar A los muertos uida Y uiene a reparar De todas la cayla Es la luz del dia Aqueste mocuelo. Este es el cordero Que San Juan dixera.
Riu, riu, chiu La guarda ribera Dios guarde el lobo De nuestra cordera
Yo ui mil garcones Que andauan contando Por aqui bolando Haziendo mil sones Diziendo a gascones Gloria sea en el cielo Y paz en el suelo Pues Jesus nasciera
Riu, riu, chiu La guarda ribera Dios guarde el lobo De nuestra cordera
And here is the rough translation:
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
The rabid wolf tried to bite her, But God Almighty knew how to defend her, He wished to create her impervious to sin, Nor was this maid to embody original sin.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
The newborn child is the mightiest monarch, Christ patriarchal invested with flesh. He made himself small and so redeemed us: He who was infinite became finite.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
Many prophecies told of his coming, And now in our days have we seen them fulfilled. God became man, on earth we behold him, And see man in heaven because he so willed.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
A thousand singing herons I saw passing, Flying overhead, sounding a thousand voices, Exulting, "Glory be in the heavens, and peace on Earth, for Jesus has been born."
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
He comes to give life to the dead, He comes to redeem the fall of man; This child is the light of day, He is the very lamb Saint John prophesied.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
Now we have gotten what we were all desiring, Go we together to bear him gifts: Let each give his will to the God who was willing To come down to Earth man's equal to be.
Riu, riu, chiu (nightingale's sounds) The river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb.
Now here's the giveaway. If you leave a comment on my blog between now and December 25th, I will put your name in a drawing to be held on December 26th for some great prizes. You can have one entry per blog post that you comment on. The prizes will be some of the great gift ideas I will be featuring this month. One prize will be a copy of Christmas from the Heart. (Not mine. A brand new one with all that annoying security sealing tape still on it.) Yes, I realize it's a Christmas album and the person who wins it won't be getting it until after Christmas. There's always next year. Or, if you just have to go out and buy your own copy before Christmas, I can make a substitution.
Now just for fun, I saw this video today and just had to throw it in.
I love Christmas music! Every December I turn my regular blog into a musical advent calendar. It's like my Christmas card to family and friends - without the postage. Every day from now until Christmas I'll be posting wonderful Christmas music videos, some old favorites, and some new ones I have just discovered. I'm also throwing in some gift ideas and recipes I like, and a few extra videos or pictures that may or may not be about Christmas, but I like them anyway. I'll also be posting about some fun contests on other blogs, and one of my own.
Let's get started with Bing Crosby singing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas."
Now here's a fun contest from author Heather Justesen on her blog. (Click here.) She's giving away a bunch of books and things this week. You could get a jump on your Christmas shopping if you win something. Even if you don't win, there are some really great gift ideas.
And here's the trailer for Heather's book, "The Ball's In Her Court."
This mural, which is over 200 feet tall and 135 feet wide, is based on a painting called America's Heart, by Yakov Smirnoff. It was put up at a building standing next to Ground Zero in the early morning hours before the 9/11 '02 Memorial Services. The story of how this mural came to be can be found at Smirnoff's website.
An immigrant from Russia, Smirnoff became an American citizen on July 4, 1986, in a ceremony held at Ellis Island, at the unveiling of the renovated Statue of Liberty. With the rest of us, he watched in horror and grief as the events of September 11, 2001, unfolded. He created America's Heart as an expression of his love for his adopted country.
Smirnoff's words are one of the best expressions I have found of the feelings of patriotism and national loyalty we all felt after 9/11, our country's big wake-up call.
"Seeing the mural at Ground Zero has helped me reaffirm my participation in the American Journey. Once again, we joined together to give each other support and love in the worst of times. That's something about being an American, living in freedom, that no terrorist can take away from us. Our ability to overcome and maintain the real vision of the human spirit." - Yakoff Smirnoff
Today, I am feeling a little sleep deprived, and it partly Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen's fault. She wrote this book called Missing. It's a mystery about this young woman who is performing on tour with her college choir and spots a child who was kidnapped from her home town. Ronda is an amazing writer. I stayed up way too late reading Missing. I know I should have just used a bookmark and put it down, but I got so involved with the story and the characters. I just had to know what happened. I was reading late at night because I made the mistake of telling my teenage daughter how good the book was before I had a chance to finish reading it. She started reading it after school, while I was still working, and I had to wait until I could get her to stop reading and go to bed before I could get it back again. She couldn't put it down either without some parental intervention.
So I was out shopping with my daughter and we saw David Archuleta's new Christmas album, Christmas from the Heart. Of course, we bought it. (Love that voice!) We listened to it all the way home, and I have had this song, Riu Riu Chiu, stuck in my head for days. I had never heard it before, so I did some research to see what it was all about. The "riu, riu, chiu" part is supposed to be the song of a nightingale. The song is a Spanish "vilancico" dating from the 16th century, written in a very archaic form of Spanish.
