Christmas/New Year’s went just fine. The family gathered, made merry, and departed without incident. I can’t think of any rational reason to think I messed up in any major way as a host. Which doesn’t, of course, stop me believing I did.

We got enough snow today to justify my going out and blowing it out of the driveway after work. Interesting snow. It was in no way sticky (it’s far too cold for that), and yet it tended to clump up in the chute anyway, having to be cleared out. Which could generally be done by jerking the front up and down, because the dry snow fell right out again.

A Facebook friend alerted me to this video of Sissel doing “Auld Lang Syne” (mostly in Norwegian). The version I first saw was somebody’s creative mash-up, incorporating a rather banal poem and pictures of cuddly forest creatures. Fortunately I was able to find a clean version:

I don’t like the androgynous look on Sissel at all, but I think I’ve never heard her in finer voice.

Happy New Year.

Here’s one of my favorite songs from Sissel’s Kyrkjebø’s first Christmas album, the one that made her a superstar in Norway. The title means “Now a thousand Christmas lights are being lit.” I was looking for a live performance video, but the only one I could find is half talk (in Norwegian). So you’ll just have to look at her face on the album cover, which seems to me no chore. Below is an original translation of the lyrics, done by me at this keyboard at this very moment:

Around this darkened world tonight,

A thousand candles glow,

And all God’s stars above shine down

To cheer our night below.

And over towns and over fields

The joyful carols sing

The news that in a manger bed

We find our God and King.

O Star that shone o’er Bethlehem,

To hail the holy birth,

Bring to our hearts the angels’ song

Of love and peace on earth.

So every wand’ring heart shall see

A beacon in their sky,

To light their path through this dark world

To Christmas home on high.

(For the record, this picture of Sissel on the “Glade Jul” album was the inspiration for the appearance of the character Halla in The Year of the Warrior.)

Let sin depart, while we His grace,
And glory see in Jesus’ face;
For so shall we sure comforts find
When thus this day we bear in mind. (from the old lyric of “The Sussex Carol”)

Tonight, another Christmas hymn sung by Sissel. This one probably isn’t familiar to you (I think it’s Swedish), but it’s one of Sissel’s own favorites, and has become one of mine. “Mitt hjerte altid vanker” means “My heart always wanders,” and the song goes on to say that the singer’s heart always wanders back to the place where Christ was born, because all his/her joy is there.

I particularly like the way they use some strains of Grieg for the bridge.

This Christmas Carol by Christina Rossetti, performed by Sissel, seems a good choice as I approach a weekend when YET ANOTHER snowstorm is portended. It’s supposed to start coming down heavily late tonight, and continue tomorrow–pretty much all day. Indications suggest I’ll finally be able to get to snowblowing on Sunday morning, which may interfere with church.

At least I ought to have plenty of time to work on Christmas cards without distraction.

Have a good weekend!

Kudos to a great new band based in Chattanooga, Concerning Lions. This isn’t a great video, but the song is cool and, I believe, will be in an upcoming album. I wish I could point you to the lyric, but if you’re in a place where you can crank the volume, then you’ll be able to hear the words yourself, which is, like, better.

Concerning Lions – Young Curmudgeon – TBP from Concerning Lions on Vimeo.