These are my (social) media habits

In our modern age of 24/7 social media and never-ending news cycles – plus our desire to stay ahead of the latest cutting-edge trends in music and pop culture – what does our media habits reveal about us?

With a shout out to The Monocle Minute newsletter for its list of questions it often asks movers and shakers, here’s a few things you might like to know about my media habits ...

What news source do you wake up to?

NPR, home delivery of The New York Times, and the Washington Post online. On Sundays, I also receive home delivery of the Washington Post. 

Coffee, tea or something pressed to go with headlines?

As I am not a tea drinker, I have three different-sized French presses at home at the ready and plenty of Community Coffee brand French Roast. Also, I maintain a supply of Community Coffee instant coffee & chickory, and once a week I treat myself to a Starbucks grande mocha.

Something from the FM dial or Spotify for your tunes?

When I’m driving up and down U.S. Highway 1, between College Park and Washington, D.C., and occasionally elsewhere within the confines of the Beltway, I enjoy – borderline love – listening to classical music via WETA. The more Dvorak the better. Otherwise, when at home, I enjoy listening to the “Morning Becomes Eclectic” show via KCRW, the Santa Monica, Calif.-NPR affiliate. While I’m late to the Spotify phenomenon, I enjoy putting together some simply playlists centered around some of my favorite musicians, such as Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Wynton Marsalis and Jazz @ Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Pink Martini.

Papers delivered or a trip down to the kiosk?

At home, it’s seven-day delivery of The New York Times and the Sunday Washington Post for me. When I’m traveling, I usually look for the nearest destination that carries The New York Times. There’s something about holding it in my hands every day and reading it wherever I am in the world. However, if that’s not possible, I’ll fall back on looking at the Times, either online or via its app. 

Magazines for your weekend sofa-side stack?

I look forward to perusing my two faves, Monocle and Racquet. The former I stop by one of the Hudson News kiosks at Union Station to purchase my monthly copy, while I subscribe the the latter, which is published quarterly. For years, I used to subscribe to The New Yorker just to make sure I never missed reading Roger Angell’s wonderfully penned baseball tomes. Eventually, I fell behind reading the magazine, week to week, and let my subscription lapse. If I’m going on a vacation trip, I might be tempted to buy a good travel magazine to put me in the right mood.

Are you a subscriber or more of a newsstand browser?

A subscriber although if I’m in a good bookstore, like Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle or Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., I’ll be tempted to browse a bit just to see what I might be missing out on. As someone who is interested in content and design, occasionally I buy Dwell, which is all about design and technology.

Bookshop for a drizzly Saturday afternoon?

In Seattle, Elliott Bay Book Company on Capitol Hill. In Washington, Politics and Prose on Connecticut Avenue NW. In San Francisco, Book Passage in the Ferry Plaza Building. All of them are independent booksellers. Sorry, no Barnes & Noble for me.

Sofa or cinema for the evening?

A little of both, although much of my cinema going takes place on Sunday mornings, as my wife and I belong to a cinema club in Washington, D.C. Otherwise, I spend a lot of time looking for hidden gems to view via Netflix or watch tennis on Tennis Channel because my job as a contributing editor for an English language tennis website based near Munich, Germany, requires me.

What’s the best thing you’ve watched recently on TV and why?

Two shows, actually. First, Good Karma Hospital, a British dramedy about a disillusioned doctor who heads to South India for a fresh start. It’s available via Acorn. Second, Kim’s Convenience, which is available on Netflix, is a Canadian sitcom about a Korean Canadian family who run a convenience store in the Moss Park neighborhood of Toronto. Each includes people of color in starring roles and the stories are believable.

Sunday brunch routine?

It starts with bringing in the Sunday newspapers from the front porch, turning on the radio to “Weekend Edition Sunday” and fixing coffee for myself. Brunch at home usually consists of a parfait of vanilla yogurt accented with maple pecan granola, a small glass of orange juice and a bagel with cream cheese or, possibly, coffee cake made by my wife. 

Last media of the day?

Usually before lights out, I make one final, brief pass through my Facebook and Twitter feeds. Sometimes, it’s valuable if there’s a late-break story worth reading or a sports score I’m searching for. Also, I’ll check to see if any of my family or friends has tried to text me or shoot me an e-mail. Then, it’s lights out by 11.

Illustration: Courtesy of Google images.

A Tuesday Night Memo: Thoughts on turning nine

My blog, “A Tuesday Night Memo,” turns nine later this month.

People who know me well know that I've been interested in writing, reporting and storytelling for a long time. So, it's only natural that I turned to blog writing because it gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills and provided a forum for writing about things that truly interested me that I wanted to share with others.

Here’s a little history about my blog:

I started writing “A Tuesday Night Memo” on January 26, 2010, as a means for sharing musings about my life filled with music, sport, and urban travel, and to foster community with my friends, family and Facebook acquaintances. More recently, I added a Twitter profile, which has allowed me to reach a wider audience across the country and the world.

People who read my blog know that I'm passionate about music, sport, and urban travel. Additionally, I have used “A Tuesday Night Memo” as a vehicle for writing about art, food, fashion, religion and gardening – and, in the age of Trump, about politics. Before we moved to the east coast, sharing news and photos about our former Oakland, Calif., flower gardens at home always seem to generate great interest and enthusiasm. Maybe, it was the pretty shapes and colors of our flowers that others found appealing, especially since we could maintain a garden all year long.

Up to now, I have "blogged" 439 entries for “A Tuesday Night Memo,” which collectively have received more than 161,700 page views. Among many subjects I have written about, some of my favorites have been: my appreciation of tennis champion Roger Federer; how the city of Seattle fosters community through international cinema; a history of the world as seen through 100 objects; classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr; my music love affairs with Pink Martini and Elvis Costello; validating our travel through our photographs; and Jerry Seinfeld's Internet comedy Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Among my recent posts, I have written about the Golden Globe-winning film “Roma”; the humanitarian work of Washington, D.C. chef José Andrés; and recent books written by American historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham. Also, I have shared my interest in digital photography since beginning my blog, which has enabled me to illustrate many if not all of my posts with colorful visuals to match the words I've written.

The feedback I have received not only is very much appreciated, but I also find it very useful. Much of it has been positive, but sometimes it's also been critical. Whether good or bad, I've found the feedback readers provide to be a valuable learning tool. Occasionally, I like to sneak a look at my blog's statistics, which are the key indicators that show how many total "hits" my blog has received, which stories have been read the most, and what countries comprise the blog's readership. The numbers are modest but nevertheless interesting.

Here are a few fun facts about “A Tuesday Night Memo” I thought you might enjoy:

• Since my blog's debut, it has been read in dozens of countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Hong Kong – even Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Australia. The top five countries reading my blog include the U.S, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany and France. I hope Russia's interest in my blog has nothing to do with their wanting to hack me because of my occasional blog posts about President Donald Trump.

Looking ahead, two years since he was inaugurated, the Trump presidency continues to garner my interest and attention from time to time. How could it not? However, there's so much more to write about. Among things that I look forward to learning about include my continuing interest in exploring museums – and what we can learn from them. Also, I would like to explore the effect digital music and media have in connecting our world.

In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoy sharing my writing week in and week out, and I look forward to contributing more of my words and thoughts in what is shaping up to be another exciting year awaiting all of us.

Stay tuned! 

'Little orchestra' Pink Martini – "Je dis oui!"

Pink Martini / "Utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious."

I am not unabashed by my love of Pink Martini. The internationally acclaimed "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, founded by a couple of Harvard classmates, pianist Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes, mixes glamour with their style of sophisticated, easy-listening music. After all, what's not to like about vintage French and Italian pop, American swing and standards, Latin jazz with an orchestral twist or classic Hollywood film and musical soundtracks?

Since 1994, the band that the Washington Post once called "utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious," has amassed an impressive repertoire of festive songs drawn from around the globe, including many timeless classics and a few rarely heard chestnuts. Each new Pink Martini album and concert tour, I've discovered, pushes the boundaries of language and musical style.

A typical Pink Martini concert is both multilingual and multicultural, and at holiday time it's also multi-denominational. I speak from the experience of having seen the band perform a dozen times over the past decade in a variety of California settings: from a beautiful, summer outdoor evening at the Hollywood Bowl to the intimate, acoustically perfect Weill Hall at Sonoma State University. Above all, a Pink Martini show is inclusive – full of warmth and good cheer – and represents many human experiences. Through the energy and creativity of their music, Pink Martini brings joy to the world in these troubled times – something which should make all of us feel grateful and appreciative.

Pianist Thomas Lauderdale co-founded Pink Martini
with China Forbes in 1994.

"We're very much an American band," Lauderdale once said, "but we spend a lot of time abroad and therefore have the incredible diplomatic opportunity to represent a broader, more inclusive America ... the America which remains the most heterogeneously populated county in the world ... composed of people of every country, every language, every religion."

Pink Martini has performed on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe and Asia, as well as in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. I have seen them perform both as a little orchestra as well as in concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. When his schedule allows, NPR "All Things Considered" host Ari Shapiro, also a Portland native, joins Pink Martini as a guest vocalist.

Last Wednesday, in the intimate, 842-seat Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University, about an hour's drive from home, my wife and I saw our most recent Pink Martini show. It was part of a two-week California/Nevada "Holiday Spectacular" bus tour that began in San Francisco and included shows in Reno, Modesto, Escondido, Palm Desert, Santa Rosa and concluded in Palo Alto. After playing shows in North Carolina and Virginia over the weekend, the "Holiday Spectacular" tour continues in New York City and Boston this week before wrapping up with a pair of New Year's Eve shows at Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

During their Palo Alto "Holiday Spectacular" show, the 12-member band delighted the audience by performing from their expansive catalog of pop, jazz, classical and holiday songs that were beautifully sung in many different tongues: German ("Ich dich liebe"), Spanish "Yo te quiero siempre"), Turkish ("Askim bahardi"), Croatian ("U plavu zoru"), Armenian ("Ov sirun sirun"), French ("Sympathique") Xhosa ("Pata Pata"), Chinese ("Congratulations – A Happy New Year Song"), Italian ("Una Notte a Napoli"), and oh yes, English, too ("Little Drummer Boy"). No matter the language, each song expressed a variety of human emotions – love, pain, joy grief – in an honest feeling.

Je dis oui! / Pink Martini's ninth album
features songs in no fewer than eight different languages.

Recently, the band's much-anticipated ninth album, Je dis oui! (I say yes), was released. It features Forbes and Storm Large sharing lead vocals, and includes Shapiro ("Finnisma Di") plus frequent collaborator Rufus Wainwright ("Blue Moon") along with the Harvey Rosencrantz Orchestra and the Pacific Youth Choir.

"To take in Je dis oui! is to experience a globetrotting victory lap across no fewer than eight different languages – English, French, Farsi, Armenian, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish and, in a cover of Miriam Mekeba's glorious 'Pata Pata,' Xhosa – all tackled with cosmopolitan sophistication and the playfulness of pop, wrote NPR music critic Stephen Thompson in reviewing Je dis oui!

"Exploring just one language or genre, and doing a whole album like that doesn't interest me," said Lauderdale, during a recent interview with the Hartford Courant. 

Pink Martini's unique vision can be attributed to its inclusiveness of language, culture and religion, musically. The band wants anyone and everyone to feel welcome at its shows and, if they are so encouraged, to jump up and dance along with the music. And many did just that during their Palo Alto show. The evening was complete with an encore performance of the band's signature closing tune "Brazil" in which many in the audience, at Lauderdale's urging, formed a conga line that snaked its way around the stage while others danced at their seats and in the aisles.

If  you think about it, Large once said, "It's really the perfect recipe for 'Peace on Earth and Good Will' we hear about so often during the holidays, but sadly have witnessed quite the opposite in the world of late."

Pink Martini concert photos by Michael Dickens © 2016. Album photo courtesy of Pink Martini website.

Pink Martini: The "little orchestra" that's bringing joy to the world in these troubled times

Pink Martini / The "little orchestra" that's inclusive, full of warmth and
represents many human experiences.

Pink Martini is an internationally acclaimed "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, founded by a couple of Harvard classmates, pianist Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes, that mixes glamour and sophisticated easy-listening music. Since 1994, the band that the Washington Post once called "utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious," have amassed an impressive repertoire of festive songs drawn from around the globe, including many timeless classics and a few rarely heard chestnuts.

A typical Pink Martini show -- and I speak from experience have seen the band perform nine times over the past decade in a variety of California settings -- is both multilingual and multicultural, and at holiday time it's also multi-denominational. Above all, it's inclusive -- full of warmth -- and represents many human experiences.

Through the energy and creativity of their music, Pink Martini brings joy to the world in these troubled times -- something which should make all of us feel grateful and appreciative.

"We're very much an American band," said Lauderdale, "but we spend a lot of time abroad and therefore, have the incredible diplomatic opportunity to represent a broader, more inclusive America... the America which remains the most heterogeneously populated country in the world... composed of people of every country, every language, every religion."

Pink Martini has performed on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe and Asia, as well as in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. I have seen them perform both as a "little orchestra" as well as in concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. When his schedule allows, NPR "All Things Considered" host Ari Shapiro, also a Portland native, joins Pink Martini as a guest vocalist.

Pink Martini's 'Joy to the World'

Last Monday in Livermore, about 30 miles inland from Oakland, my wife and I saw our most recent Pink Martini show. It was part of a two-week "Joy to the World" bus tour through northern and coastal California towns, including Arcata, Davis, Monterey, Redding, and Santa Barbara.

On this night, the 12-member band delighted their audience at the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center's 507-seat Bankhead Theater by performing from their expansive catalog of pop, jazz, classical and holiday songs that were beautifully sung in Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, German, Turkish, Armenian, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian, Croatian, Chinese, Japanese and, oh yes, English, too. There was a nice mixture of charm, elegance and humor throughout the band's two-hour performance.

In a recent interview with the Santa Barbara Independent, co-lead vocalist Storm Large said: "Every language expresses love, pain, joy or grief, in whatever song I'm singing, in whatever language, it's just a matter of being honest in the feeling I'm expressing." This was plainly evident when Large sang the very serious Romanian folk tune "Pâna când nu te iubeam" ("Until I Loved You") as well as a long-time favorite of mine, the spine-tingling Croatian song "Eu plavu zoru" ("At Blue Dawn"), accompanied by violinist Nicholas Crosa.

Pink Martini performs their "Joy to the World" holiday
show in Livermore, California on Dec. 7.

Among the sacred and secular holiday songs which Pink Martini performed in Livermore were: "Little Drummer Boy," "We Three Kings," "A Snowglobe Christmas," "Talj, Talj," "La Vergine Degli Angeli," "O Holy Night," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

"Christmas music is so inherently joyful for me, as well as for the audience," said Large. "People just have so many good feelings around the holidays. It's a marvelous reason to sing."

Pink Martini's unique vision can be attributed to its inclusiveness of language, culture, and religion, musically. The band wants anyone and everyone to feel welcome at its shows and, if they are so encouraged, to jump up and dance. And many did dance in Livermore. The evening was complete  with an encore performance of the band's signature tune "Brazil" in which many in the audience at Large's urging formed a conga line while others danced at their seats and in the aisles.

If you think about it, said Large, "It's really the perfect recipe for 'Peace on Earth and Good Will' we hear about so often during the holidays, but sadly have witnessed quite the opposite in the world of late."

Note ~ Hear Pink Martini's "Joy to the World: A Holiday Spectacular" that's airing this month via NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/09/458905971/pink-martinis-joy-to-the-world-a-holiday-spectacular

2015 Question Time: Let's ask the "Memo" blogger

Question Time / Ask the Blogger

As many of you know, I enjoy the art of conversation with my friends on Facebook. I find it to be a great way to get to know this diverse and inclusive group of people better, and I can do it either from the convenience of home or while sipping a cup of coffee at a favorite café.

If you think about it, what's not to like about enjoying a cup of French roast coffee, creating an ambient music soundtrack to fill my chat room, and catching up on the world events around me that my Facebook newsfeed sees fit for me to read? And, best of all, I can learn what's on the minds of my friends near and far.

Add to this mix, I occasionally text with a select group of friends via WhatsApp and, sometimes, I like to share conversation by using Skype video, too. It's the kind of multi-tasking I truly enjoy and derive a tremendous amount of benefit from.

Often, I am asked a lot of personal questions, especially by newer friends who want to get to know me better -- and I'm cool about this. Some of these questions are about my blog or other writing projects I may be engaged in at the time. Other times, I'm asked about what I majored in at university (the answer: American History) and, especially from friends where English is their second or third languages, they ask me about how to improve their English-language conversation and writing skills. I don't mind because I'm usually the one asking a lot of questions of my friends. I guess, it's the natural reporter's instinct in me. And, it's only fair to turn the tables every once in a while.

So, here are my answers to five questions I'm often asked:

What book is currently on my bedside table?
The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love and Survival by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen tells the inspirational true story of Lisa Jura, a child prodigy pianist ---- and Golabek's mother -- who escaped Nazi-controlled Vienna for London on the famed Kindertransport during World War II. It's a coming-of-age story of one young girl's survival and how music saved her life. I began reading this wonderful book after seeing Golabek star in her one-woman show The Pianist of Willesden Lane last month at the Berkeley Rep Theatre -- and I haven't been able to put it down. 

What is an unforgettable place I've travelled to in the past year?
In the past calendar year, my out of Bay Area travel has been limited to a summer trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., and two visits to Seattle -- Labor Day weekend and Christmas. I love visiting both cities. If I could re-phrase the question to "An unforgettable place I'll be traveling to in the next year is," I would definitely say my upcoming trip in mid-June to Vancouver, B.C. to see the U.S. women's national football (soccer) team face Nigeria in the 2015 Women's World Cup. I've visited Vancouver several times over the past 20 years -- including a week's stay during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games-- and I love walking through Stanley Park and shopping and dining on Granville Island. 

What are my favorite comfort clothes?

A pair of Land's End traditional fit medium indigo blue jeans, Uniqlo black long-sleeve t-shirt, a Land's End half-zip black fleece top and a pair of classic Stan Smith Adidas sneakers. Sometimes, I'll switch out and wear navy blue instead of black for the long-sleeve t-shirt and half-zip fleece, but I think you get the picture of what I love to wear: comfortable casual clothes.

What is my favorite guilty-pleasure snack food?
My favorite go-to guilty-pleasure snack food that always puts a smile on my face is: Chicago Mix popcorn from Trader Joe's. For those not familiar, Chicago Mix is part salty cheese-flavored popcorn, part classic caramel-flavored popcorn. Throw them together and mix 'em up and you've got one great guilty-pleasure snack food that tastes wonderful.

What kind of music always puts me in a good mood?
I love to listen to music by Pink Martini. This Portland, Ore.-based "little orchestra" is fronted by bandleader and pianist Thomas Lauderdale and it features the vocalists China Forbes and Storm Large. The band's music crosses many genres, including: classical, latin, jazz and classic pop. I've seen Pink Martini perform in concert here in the Bay Area on numerous occasions and their shows are like urban music travelogues. A typical concert includes songs sung in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Turkish, among many. As an aside, another reason I like Pink Martini is because they are supportive of liberal political causes such as: civil rights, affordable housing, the environment, libraries, parks, education and public broadcasting. 

With peace and joy fully alive in our hearts

Christmas tree at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco.
(2008)

The season of Advent is upon us, and it marks the beginning of the Western Christian liturgical year. Advent is arguably the most easily recognizable season of the year. The signs of the Advent season are familiar: Christmas trees and decorations, both in homes and in public places, are in abundance in cities and townships from coast to coast in the U.S. and throughout much of the world.

It's hard to believe that Christmas Day is but three weeks from today as I write this post.

Advent commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This year it began on December 2, and it's a season which is observed in many Western Christian churches across the world in preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term advent is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, which means "arrival" or "coming" -- anticipating the coming of Jesus.

This is a time of spiritual reflection and anticipation. As Advent begins, so, too, does the holiday season of music, found in both sacred hymns and carols and in secular songs.

An early feature of the celebration of the Christmas season, the rise in the importance and popularity of the carols can be attributed to the influence of Francis of Assisi. It should be noted that chants, litanies and hymns were written and sung in Latin and were used during the church liturgy, rather than popular songs. And, yet, today, whether sung in English, French, Latin or Italian -- or any other language for that matter -- these hymns ring out as beautiful sounds to our collective ears.

On the occasion of the arrival of this holiday season, my wife and I recently enjoyed a lovely evening with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra as they welcomed Pink Martini in concert at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The "little orchestra" from Portland, Oregon, draws its inspiration from music from all over the world -- it crosses genres of classical, jazz and classic pop -- and its repertoire includes songs sung in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Hebrew and Arabic.

During the band's two-hour, 20-song concert, Pink Martini performed the familiar "The Little Drummer Boy", "We Three Kings" and "Auld Lang Syne" in the spirit of the holiday season as well as a couple of their own original holiday songs, "Congratulations – A Happy New Year Song" and "A Snowglobe Christmas". 

However, one holiday song which made an emotional impact with me was "La Vergine Degli Angeli", written by the Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi. The song title, which translates to "The Virgin of the Angels", was written for the opera La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny), which had its debut in 1862. On this evening, "La Vergine Degli Angeli" was beautifully interpreted by Pink Martini vocalist China Forbes.

"La Vergine Degli Angeli" appears on Pink Martini's holiday music album 'Joy to the World' and I encourage each of you to listen for both its beautiful lyrics and passionate vocal quality.

http://youtu.be/4vOLnP9pcZQ

La vergine degli angeli

La vergine degli angeli

Mi copra del suo manto

E me protegga vigile

Di dio l'angelo santo

La vergine degli angeli

E me protegga me protegga

L'angiol di dio

E me protegga

L'angiol di dio

Me protegga

E me protegga

The Virgin of the Angels

The Virgin of the Angels

Covers me with her mantle,

And protects me vigilantly

Sacred angel of God.

The Virgin of the Angels

And/She protects me, protects me,

The angel of god

And/She protects me

The angel of god protects me.

And protects me.

There are lessons we can learn during Advent. 

"During this season," says San Francisco's Grace Cathedral on its website, "we wait and hope for the arrival of a state of perfect peace and harmony. We still live in a world where violence and injustice exist and so, throughout Advent, we slow down, and endeavor to live in a way as though these problems have all been washed away. Advent is also an active sort of waiting, in that we strive to do justice and to love our neighbors with renewed vigor.  We try to seek out places where violence and iniquity exist, and step into them with peace and joy fully alive in our hearts." 

May this be a season of peace and joy for all of us -- and, may we all take part in promoting the spirit of sharing peace and joy.

To hear the entire Pink Martini 'Joy to the World' holiday music CD: http://youtu.be/RcIUz9jop5E

1. White Christmas

2. White Christmas (part II) featuring Saori Yuki

3. Shchedryk (Ukrainian Bell Carol)

4. Santa Baby

5. Elohai, N’tzor

6. Little Drummer Boy

7. Congratulations – A Happy New Year Song

8. Do You Hear What I Hear?

9. La Vergine Degli Angeli

10. We Three Kings

11. A Snowglobe Christmas

12. Ocho Kandelikas (Eight Little Candles)

13. Silent Night

14. Auld Lang Syne 

Christmas tree at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, by Michael Dickens.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

Summer is: enjoying songs in the key of life

Summer is about enjoying leisurely activity. Although the season may be winding down ~ the Labor Day holiday that signals an unofficial end to summer in the U.S. is this weekend ~ there are still plenty of sunny days and balmy evenings until autumn officially arrives. What better way to celebrate than by spinning some enjoyable tunes.

Whether you're looking to create a mood or, simply, be in the mood, here's a multicultural (think U.S., England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden) playlist of some of my favorite music I've been exploring this summer that's worth a good listen. Hopefully, these songs not only appeal to your inner ear and hungry mind, they'll make you smile, too.

Happy listening!

Ray Charles / Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

Ben Howard / Promise

Mark Ronson and Sean Lennon / Sail on Sailor

Grizzy Bear / Yet Again

Lianne La Havas / Is Your Love Big Enough?

Raphael Saadiq / Radio

Agnes Obel / Just So

Koop / I See A Different You

Pink Martini / City of Night

Belle & Sebastian / Another Sunny Day