I went to my parents’ house for Christmas and had a chance to visit with my sister, brother-in-law and niece. It was a nice time. Maggie and Dylan had fun. Sarah had a good time, too. She spent most of the holiday with her dad and is still there. Sure does seem like a houseful when all the kids are together. My sister gave me the director’s cut of Amadeus, which I had been coveting. Sarah gave me her 100% Spanish test, all wrapped and everything. I also received some nice clothes and teacher things. The kids cleaned up. I gave my sister and parents copies of their family trees/family history books, and my brother-in-law and niece also received books from me. I hope all of you had happy holidays and will enjoy a good new year.

I finally managed to get into Odeo. I am frustrated by the fact that the bluegrass podcast I wanted to listen to sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks go Appalachian, but from what I understand, this is a bug that Odeo knows about, doesn’t plan to fix, and instead places squarely into the hands of podcasters. From what I understand, not all podcasters upload their podcasts to Odeo, but gathers RSS feeds from podcasts and puts them in one location. If you browse the site, you’ll notice that many of the podcasts are not “claimed.”

Just as many of you may not have known that I like Delta Blues, you probably also didn’t know I’m a huge fan of Big Band Swing — Glenn Miller in particular, but I listen to others. It started when I was in 7th grade. My band teacher let us join jazz band even if we didn’t play a “jazz” instrument. In the years since, I have learned that my flute is indeed sometimes used in jazz, though not as often as brass and sax. Anyway, we played a swing tune called “Tuxedo Junction.” I thought it was so much fun, and I began to listen to other big band tunes. I remember my college friends really scratched their heads over it. I wondered after swing music came into vogue again in the mid to late 1990’s if they remembered I had listened to it. I am so rarely ahead of the curve on anything. Of course, one could and probably should argue that I was not ahead of the curve; rather, I was behind the curve by about 50 years. Whatever. Who would have thought I would like the same popular music as my grandfather? Well, it’s true. I find myself tapping my toes and really wishing I could actually dance when I hear swing music. I found some great swing music from Radio Nostalgia Network via Odeo. You can listen to anything from swing music to old radio programs (including soap operas and radio plays). You can enjoy a big band swing podcast in the music player in the lefthand sidebar.  Remember the recording is old and was broadcast over the radio in 1939, so the sound quality is not what we’re used to in 2006.  Still sounds good, however.