The day after Thanksgiving is always a potpourri of activities for us. This year we shopped for some new lighting in our basement, I went to pick up a part for Nicole's car from the Toyota dealership, only to find out it was the wrong one, and Kathy and I spent time cleaning out our storage area in the basement and I installed our new lighting. We took some time to watch a Christmas movie titled Christmas Angel. It was the story of a wealthy philanthropist who found out late in life that it is better to give than receive. A multi-millionaire businessman who lost his wife and family because of his obsession with making money. In the end, he gave it all away to needy people. A little predictable, but a fun way to start the season.
The other thing I did has become a personal tradition. I watched, (I'm not sure how many times this is, but it is a lot), Ray Charles Celebrate A Gospel Christmas. In what may have been his last video taped concert, (Christmas 2003, Ray Charles died in June of 2004), Ray Charles sang Christmas songs, gospel songs and his famous arrangement of America, the Beautiful. In this concert he is joined by the 120 Voices of Jubilation from Newark, New Jersey. The wild thing about this concert is that it was performed in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is obvious from the first song that the audience is incredibly responsive to Ray Charles and all the music. They clap as each song starts, they clap in the middle and they go wild at the end. The interesting thing is that when the cameras pan the audience, there is not a single black person in the audience, and almost everyone on the stage is black. What a wonderful inter-cultural experience for all those folks. One of the memorable performances on this video is the Voices of Jubilation's rendition of Total Praise. The director is wonderful to watch. His animation makes the song come alive. The entire concert is a lot of fun and a great way to start the Christmas season. Ray Charles and the choir singing Oh, Happy Day is great.
Now, on the the big stuff. Unwinding the outdoor lights and making sure they all work...
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