OT: The Christmas Haul...

[tugmcmartin]

Just returned last night from my week long "vacation" back to VA for the Christmas Holidays. Was great to see all of my family and friends, some for the first time in a couple years. Only downside: crowded house. Stayed with my parents, who also have my mom's mom living with them, and my sister with her two kids and husband were also there, as was my brother. Ten folks in a 4 BR house, all tripping over each other. But hey, family is family and it was a good time. I hope all of you had a great holiday season, no matter what holiday you celebrate.

So... anyone get anything worth talking about? Good albums? New equipment?

I got pretty boring stuff. The obligatory shirts and a pair of shoes from my parents, some XBox games from my brother. In other words, nothing to write home about. Oh shoot... thats not exactly true. My dad gave me a really cool model sailboat. A scaled down J-29. Its about 3.5 feet long. I haven't put it together yet, but look forward to doing that. Will make a great mantle piece. It has to be shipped from VA to Colorado though... couldn't make room for it for our flight back yesterday.

Anyway, good to be back home in the thin air and back with the RR group.

T-

[Dusty Chalk]

I got the soundtrack for the latest Cirque du Soleil thingy, which is surprisingly beautiful. I mean, I always like the CdS soundtracks, but in an embarassed, John Tesh/Enya/Yanni way, not expecting anyone else to like it as much as I. But this one I could play for some of my indie-loving friends, and I wouldn't even flinch.

Also got the True Romance DVD (already watched it again -- what a great movie!). And a Tower Records gift certificate.

[Swish]

of Echo and the Bunnymen "Live in Liverpool" from one of my buds, and that should be pretty cool to watch. I got some nice Calloway golf balls from my son (which I'll promptly hit into some water when I play in Orlando in a couple weeks!), a home beer brewing kit from my daughter (I'd rather just buy the finished product, but what the hell), a "Best Buy" gift certificate and some wine from another friend, and a really nice watch from my wife. I fear she went a little overboard on it, but it will be treasured for years to come.

Overall not a bad haul. Of course, I spent waaaaaaaay more on my kids than I should have, but what the devil, it's Christmas!

Swishy

[dld]

True Romance. Awesone screenplay, plot, cast, and soundtrack. One flick I never tire of. Once it gets going, not a weak scene in it. Gandolfini, Walken, Hopper, Kilmer, Jackson, oldman, Pitt, Arquette, Sizemore, Pinchot, Penn, Slater, etc...

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I actually forgot some of those people were in it (Oldman, Samuel L., Kilmer), because of the nature of their parts (trying to say that euphemistically enough and generally enough not to spoil).

Funny, we seem to have very similar tastes in movies. I'll have to pay more attention to what you like and recommend...

[Jim Clark]

Heck yes, too many toys have rolled in lately. I think I've already covered everything though. Polyphonic Spree and Cat Power CDs. Mentioned the DVD burner but I got it hooked up and started burning yesterday. Stayed up till 1:00 to watch my perfect copy of U571, this thing is freaking awesome! Today my AR DIY speakers and stands showed up so I've just hooked them up after giving them sometime to adjust to the temperature. Gonna go spin my latest version of -The Golden Path-jc's best of 2003.

Who said I was too old for toys?

jc

[Chip_B]

So... anyone get anything worth talking about? Good albums? New equipment?

T-


From my post below, here's what was under the tree for watashi-wa:

Robben Ford - Keep on Running
Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers - True Stories
Chris Duarte - Romp
Tommy Castro, Jimmy Hall, and Lloyd Jones - Triple Trouble (with Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon)
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer - Tanglewood Tree
Larry the Cable Guy - Lord, I Apologize

[ForeverAutumn]

Only downside: crowded house.

I LOVE Crowded House! Woodface has to be one of the best CDs ever recorded. :D

I had a great holiday which included a few musical gifts:

The new Rik Emmett disk - Good Faith
A DVD of The Police videos
DVD of The Red Hot Chile Peppers
DVD of John Denver in concert
Hubby got a Frank Zappa DVD (not from me!)

We also picked up a new StudioLab centre speaker for the home theatre system on sale after Christmas. So those 5.1 DVDs are going to sound pretty sweet.