Song for a Crappy Tuesday

Tuesday can’t win.

Especially, the Tuesday before Christmas. It can’t even disguise itself as a Hump day. Tuesday absconds with Wednesday’s Novelty Ball Cap/Santa Hat (that reads “Santa’s Workshop” in Comic Sans on the front) and then skips to the office Holiday Party. After two wine coolers, Tuesday starts doing impressions of Wednesday…everyone looks to the side to down at their plates full of sausage bites and Cheese balls.

Tuesday can’t even win if it’s ON Christmas. “Dang, if Christmas were on a Thursday or Friday, we could have the whole weekend off. Now we HAVE to go back in tomorrow.” And Wednesday just stands idly by with a smirk, having swiped back his hat during a scuffle in the supply closet.



I was walking home from my job a few years ago, listening to the radio (Yes, back in the day, personal listening devices had RADIOS on them. Tough to imagine, right? That even though we were able to control what we heard on our headphones, we would still elect to listen to the radio….and that manufacturers still believed it necessary to include AM/FM radio as a feature.) It was just before the Christmas frenzy reached its peak and had been a particularly bad week for snow. I trudged through the dunes to the EL and the white flakes floated down, swirling in front of the orange streetlights.

It was then that I heard, for the first time, “Christmas Eve In Sarajevo” By the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

It’s difficult to describe my love for this sort of music. I know that anymore The Trans Siberian Orchestra is just a hop skip and a jump away from Mannheim Steamroller in the “Edgy, new age CD section”, but there is something about post-Glasnost Ruskie Rock that makes me dance a little. The Trans Siberian Orchestra puts Western Pop Culture through it’s aged blender, and the result is sort of powerful and sad, jubilant and weary.

I don’t own any other Trans Siberian Orchestra music. This is the best one in my opinion.

And for those of you who have heard the many and sickening versions of “Carol of the Bells” these last weeks, I apologize…but not really. This is my evil gift to you.

Merry Christmas everyone. And if you aren’t into that kind of thing…may the next few days be peaceful, warm, and surrounded by things you like.




Influences (Some of you have a couple more than 3)

MJ: Bette Davis, Carol Burnette, David Sedaris
Jan: Depeche Mode, Noel Coward, Ambrose Bierce
Freddie: Jim Henson, BNL, The Electric Company
Mr. B: Ernie Kovacs, Del Close, Elvis Costello
Sharko: (Oh, man…you make it so easy…) Frank Zappa, The Residents, Tom Leher, Stephen Sondheim,
Erica: Judy Blume, Dr. Seuss, Dr. Dre, Sir-Mix-a-lot, Anne Sexton, Lucille Ball