it must have been the mistletoe the seasonal standard no one wanted

‘It Must Have Been the Mistletoe’: Mandrell Knew It Was Cool Before It Was Cool

"It Must Have Been the Mistletoe,' written by JUSTIN WILDE and DOUG KONECKY, has become a contemporary seasonal standard, but it wasn't an easy sell. The story behind the song follows.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Baby, It’s Hot in Here!

A vintage pick from 2009: The HOT CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO in various configurations performing unique and often witty transformations of Yule classics.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Southern Strategy: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino Brings the Music and Culture of Italy’s ‘Heel’ to the World at Large

Southern Strategy: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino is making waves bringing an updated version of the traditional pizzica music and the culture of Italy's 'heel'--Salento-to the world at large.
by David McGee
 

 
 
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The Dog Aging Project: All Pooches Invited

'They age like us." Dr. Daniel Promislaw has some news about your aging canine.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Up-and-Coming Illustrator Brooke Boynton Hughes: ‘I Love Residing in Imagined Worlds’

This month JULES interviews a real find in children's books in up-and-coming illustrator BROOKE BOYNTON HUGHES, who tells us she loves 'residing in imagined worlds.'
by David McGee
 

 
 
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When Robert Mitchum Was Like So…

In 1957, while filming in Trinidad with director John Huston, ROBERT MITCHUM became obsessed with Calypso music, so much so that he made an entire album of it, for Capitol, with Johnny Mercer's blessing. It's good stuff. Let's ...
by David McGee
 

 

 
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They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

Now showing: THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL, the 1939 Busby Berkeley-directed drama of a boxer on the run starring JOHN GARFIELD, THE DEAD END KIDS, CLAUDE RAINS and the ill-fated GLORIA DICKSON. Also: More Busby Berkeley, plus GOOFY'...
by David McGee
 

 
 
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In Her Own Words: Up-and-Coming Illustrator Sairom Moon

Our heralded kids' lit blogger JULES interviews up-and-coming illustrator Sairom Moon, and kicks off the new year by blessing us with a couple of new illustrations from the redoubtable illustrator Elisa Kleven.
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Sublime & Swingin’

A tribute to the late, great VINCE GUARALDI, and his masterpiece within a masterpiece, the score for the holiday classic TV show, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Feeling the Spirit, Orcas Circle Ferry as It Carries Native Artifacts to Ancestral Home

When a ferry showed up in Puget Sound carrying Native artifacts to the Burke Museum in Seattle, nearly three dozen orcas escorted it safely to the terminal. Coincidence, or feeling the spirit?
by David McGee
 

 

 
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Feeling Nature’s Rhythms, Mystery and Spiritual Beauty

A sequence of nine evocative, often poignant solo piano pieces by the young Scottish composer/pianist Alexander Chapman Campbell, inspired by a walk through Norwegian mountains
by David McGee
 

 
 
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Joseph FireCrow Jr. Walks On

Remembering JOSEPH FIRECROW, cultural ambassador and GRAMMY winning Northern Cheyenne flute player, who walked on at age 58.
by David McGee