deebeedee

• ‘Why Do They Hate Us?’ - washingtonpost.com
• The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats | iLounge
• Can Your iPod Help You Lose Weight, Reduce Your Blood Pressure, and Alleviate Pain?

One of Wikipedia’s recently created articles is on the Philippine gong instrument ensemble called the kulintang.

I’ve been listening to Christmas songs by Sufjan Stevens alongside ones by Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Guaraldi, and whatever iTunes has given away free so far. The following song fits my last post, I think.

That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!
by Sufjan Stevens

Going outside
Shoveling snow in the driveway, driveway

Taking our shoes
Riding a sled down the hill side, hill side

Can you say what you want?
Can you say what you want to be?

Can you be what you want?
Can you be what you are?

La la lala lalala

Our father yells
Throwing the gifts in the wood stove, wood stove

My sister runs away
Taking her books to the school yard, school yard

In time the snow will rise
In time the snow will rise

In time the Lord will rise
In time the Lord will rise

Silent night
Holy night

La la lala lalala

Silent night
Nothing feels right

La la lala lalala

Download the song here.

Lyrics via

Last year, we witnessed wacky Napoleon Dynamite get down to the funky music of Jamiroquai. Not since Pee-Wee Herman’s Tequila Dance have we been this much enthralled by a sissy strutting his stuff on stage. It’s probably the dream of all dweebs to gain fame through their unique style of dance (remember Patrick Dempsey in Can’t Buy Me Love?). Some shun fame altogether, however. Gary Brolsma, who gained notoriety for his hilarious Numa Numa vidcap, has become an “unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity.”

A lesser-known nerdy dance routine from 2004 that deserves a second look is found in the Kings of Convenience video for “I’d Rather Dance With You.” Erlend Oye’s performance eclipses that of Napoleon Dynamite in my opinion. From the Royal Tenenbaum nod in the beginning, to the silly dance lesson in the middle, to the recital as denouement, the song and dance number expresses endearingly the sweet revenge of a geeky dancer.

(Learn to Dance w/NP link via DYL)

There’s this Citibank commercial that cracks me up each time I see it. It shows a woman at a grocery store who mistakes a full-figured woman for being pregnant. The offending woman, embarrassed, utters a simple “thank you?” and all is fine and dandy. The voiceover goes, “It’s amazing what a simple ‘thank you’ can do.” Boy, I wish uttering those two words in real life can diffuse awkward situations just as easily.

“Thank you” songs are similar in a certain sense. There’s something light-hearted about them that takes the edge off of a stressful day. Dido surely feels this way when she sings Thank You, perhaps the most famous pop song about gratitude. Geggy Tah’s Whoever You Are, is so fun to listen to. Its chorus, “All I want to do is to thank you even though I don’t know who you are. You let me change lanes while I was driving in my car,” is a catchy little ditty that never fails to put a smile on my face. Del the Funkee Homosapien ends his 1993 underground hip-hop classic album with a tune called Thank Youse. In it, he takes time to thank his listeners, which is quite a nice departure from the rest of the album where braggadocio lyrics prevail.

Giving thanks has a way of focusing oneself towards the positive instead of the negative. And songs of gratitude, when directed towards the Creator, express the realization that every good thing is a gift from God and is not something earned.

*This was supposed to be my Thanksgiving post but it totally slipped my mind because of the busyness of the holiday.