This Holiday (Don’t Stress Out) Redux

So, I was really hustling to complete a holiday video but I got caught up with a bunch of things: putting my life back into boxes, getting shots and shipping off to Africa. That’s right, AFRICA, I’m coming home!

Here are a few videos for a warm and cozy night. I invite you to pour a hot toddy and peep the following few videos back to back. One is my uber sincere holiday song from last year with me burning sage out in the woods. The other is a cover by Ricky Reed – aka Wallpaper. – who is a creative cat from the Bay who is known to seriously rock parties. I’m very tickled (platonically, in a bro kind of way) by his beachcombingwitboozzze take on the song:

Radio Voice: OK, welcome back and thank you for your generous donations. You’re tuned to the second annual Andy Williams-Kaufman-Dick-Partridge-Osmond-Jackson Christmas Special featuring yours truly blah blah blah and special guests me + my camera, a dude named Ricky and the solitary preambulations of Old Man Never Takes Vacations preparing for his work related holiday.

[I made up the word preambulations, I think. Oh, nope, looked it up, real word.]

To all my devoted listeners who called in with concern, NO, I’m not drinking again. My beloved editor was out of the office this week so this is what you get.

Happy Holidays, Love to the People. Please send me your private thoughts / art / recipes etc on the theme METAL RABBIT ~ y’know what I’m sayin?

Holiday Songs 2009

One of the bonafide blessings of working in this business is crossing paths with people doing inspired work. Of my favorite songwriters right now, I’m very fortunate to count about half of them as friends. In this collection I’m including a cover of “Pieces of String” by Alela Diane that really helped me weather some storms this year. If a holiday in Winter aint about that, then I dont know what it is.

“Oh Holy Night” has been my favorite Christmas song for quite some time. This version was recorded late in the night of Dec 20 2009, the sounds of the street are from the alley below my window in North Beach. For me, the sounds of suffering amplify the longing expressed in songs such as this one. Regardless of one’s religion, we all hope for deliverance sometimes.

“This Holiday (Dont Stress Out)” is an agnostic sentiment for the holidays. Many have come to agree that the best gift we can give each other is to not stress each other out. We do this by not putting all kinds of demands and expectations on folks, and most of all letting go of grudges, making amends for the wrongs we have done and moving forward into a new more peaceful future.

“Oh Holy Night” in North Beach

“Oh Holy Night” has been my favorite Christmas song for quite some time. This version was recorded late in the night of Dec 20 2009, the sounds of the street are from the alley below my window in North Beach. For me, the sounds of strife amplify the longing expressed in songs such as this one. Regardless of one’s religion, we all hope for deliverance sometimes.