Tag: Christmas

Let it snow, Mr. Grinch!

It’s almost Christmas and I happen to have recorded a song for an online singalong coming up from Regina Lyric Musical Theatre. So, to add a little holiday cheer, here’s my recording of “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” supposedly in the style of Michael Buble. A few more takes to polish …

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Christmas special: save $15 when you buy all four Shards of Excalibur books at once!

                                              Coteau Books is offering a special Christmas promotion in its online shop: buy all four Shards of Excalibur books, Song of the Sword, Twist of the Blade, Lake in the Clouds, and Cave Beneath the Sea, for just $45. That’s …

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‘Twas the Nocturnal Time of the Preceding Day…video edition

A “science column” I wrote several years ago, my science-writer’s take on the famous poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” has had remarkable life. It appeared in the newspaper, of course, but it was originally written for for CBC Saskatchewan’s Afternoon Edition radio program, and first read at one of their Christmas open houses (a different …

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I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas

Yep, I’ve recorded another Christmas song. Here in Saskatchewan, we don’t exactly “dream” of a White Christmas as have the occasional nightmare about it, but, hey. It’s still a classic. Enjoy!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I’ve been experimenting with my recording setup today. Now that I have a MacBook, I can have my microphone in the same room as my computer (no fan!), which has opened up much better possibilities for doing things like mixing my voice with backing tracks. Which is how I created this. I only did a …

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Retro Sunday: Ads from the 1930 Child’s Own Annual

As promised, some of the interesting (and, to modern eyes, occasionally odd/bewildering) ads from the 1930 (my best guess) Child’s Own Annual. What strikes me most is that, though the annual was clearly intended to be read by children, the ads are very clearly intended only for grown-ups: there’s very little here that’s going to …

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The Boxing Day solution to the Christmas Day rebus

Two things for you on Boxing Day. First, for no particular reason, my daughter Alice sings the Star Wars theme: And second, as promised, the answer to the Christmas Day rebus. Happy Boxing Day!             Wee Fish               Ewe           …

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A Christmas greeting from me to you!

Yes, that’s me, as an elf, a role I played with…um…gusto at the Golden Apple Theatre’s Christmas cabaret Christmas Crackers on December 23. On the wall that evening were photos similar to the ones below: my wish for you this holiday season. (And if you really can’t figure them out, I’ll post the answer on …

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A Christmas tradition: ‘Twas the Nocturnal Time of the Preceding Day to the Day We Call Christmas

There’s a great song called “Christmas Cliches” in which the singer expresses a love of all the Christmas things that come ’round year after year, from plywood reindeer on the roof to Johnny Mathis on the radio. One of the reasons we love Christmas (those of us who do, and you can certainly count me …

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To mark the first day of winter…

A picture-perfect Saskatchewan winter day, and a song! (In lieu of a longer blog post, because too much pre-Christmas running around for that.) Enjoy! Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

The science of Rudolph’s red nose

Long-time readers of my column will be aware of how closely I like to keep tabs on aerotarandusdynamics, the shamefully under-studied science of flying reindeer. I am pleased to note that there has been a small but significant development in aerotarandusdynamics research this year, but before I get to that, perhaps I should recap some …

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Pondering perfection in an imperfect post

Here’s a rather metaphysical question for you: why do we strive for perfection? Cold logic tells us that perfection is impossible. As a writer, I know perfectly (sorry) well that I will never in my life write something perfect. In fact, I know logically that it’s impossible to even define what a perfect piece of …

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