Monday, December 24, 2012
Ghosts of Christmases Past
Today I discovered the music channels on my parents' cable. Since they make an excellent alternative to the Mythbusters and Monk reruns that are par for the course around here, I decided to partake. The great part is that they have songs arranged by decade, which allowed me to relive the era of high-waisted jeans and peasant blouses (although not for me, obviously) as well as the '00s, which I don't think are really the era of anything yet. (The era of Guantanamo? American Idol? But I repeat myself.) It was quite an experience. I mean, remember the swing craze of the late '90s? I actually rode to U of I in someone's van on a Saturday night once just to attend a swing dance at the student union, which ended up being nearly over by the time we got there, so we just drank instead. Ah, memories. Or what about ska? I remember that we tried to get the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to come play at Millikin once, but they didn't, so we just drank instead. And then there was Lilith Fair. Yeah, I never really much cared for Lilith Fair.
They also have retro Christmas jams. Do you remember where you were the first time you heard Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You? I certainly don't, but chances are I was serving as a historically-costumed guide for the local architecture museum at the time. Or checking coats for the holiday event at the John Wood mansion as part of the QHS beta club. Or getting ready to perform a medley of B-side Christmas songs like "It's a Marshmallow World" with the QHS show choir. I had a very rich childhood, obviously. I can, however, tell you exactly where I was when I first heard Mariah Carey's "Oh Santa." I was watching it on demand in my living room, trying to figure out how exactly Mariah Carey allows something like that to happen to herself. I guess the holidays do weird things to all of us.
Today I discovered the music channels on my parents' cable. Since they make an excellent alternative to the Mythbusters and Monk reruns that are par for the course around here, I decided to partake. The great part is that they have songs arranged by decade, which allowed me to relive the era of high-waisted jeans and peasant blouses (although not for me, obviously) as well as the '00s, which I don't think are really the era of anything yet. (The era of Guantanamo? American Idol? But I repeat myself.) It was quite an experience. I mean, remember the swing craze of the late '90s? I actually rode to U of I in someone's van on a Saturday night once just to attend a swing dance at the student union, which ended up being nearly over by the time we got there, so we just drank instead. Ah, memories. Or what about ska? I remember that we tried to get the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to come play at Millikin once, but they didn't, so we just drank instead. And then there was Lilith Fair. Yeah, I never really much cared for Lilith Fair.
They also have retro Christmas jams. Do you remember where you were the first time you heard Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You? I certainly don't, but chances are I was serving as a historically-costumed guide for the local architecture museum at the time. Or checking coats for the holiday event at the John Wood mansion as part of the QHS beta club. Or getting ready to perform a medley of B-side Christmas songs like "It's a Marshmallow World" with the QHS show choir. I had a very rich childhood, obviously. I can, however, tell you exactly where I was when I first heard Mariah Carey's "Oh Santa." I was watching it on demand in my living room, trying to figure out how exactly Mariah Carey allows something like that to happen to herself. I guess the holidays do weird things to all of us.
