Typical weekend activity at my "office" at Venice Beach, California. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4_6B8MIF0

Meet Izza Vera, a fresh young singer new to the Venice locale and a new friend as well. This song is especially poignant for her because this year she cannot go back to Peru to visit her family. But she is guaranteed to have a surrogate family here in Venice! This song is also poignant to me. A few short months after my mom passed away, I visited my Dad and Sister on Long Island which was my traditional Christmas voyage back home. I tried so hard to make it a merry Christmas in spite of the lack of Mom's presence. So, I began looking up some Christmas music to play. I happened upon The Pretenders version of this song to which singer, Chrissie Hynde, brings an air of longing and melancholy. When I heard the lyric, "?ℎ????ℎ ?ℎ? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?????ℎ??, ?? ?ℎ? ????? ?????, ℎ??? ? ?ℎ????? ???? ???? ?ℎ? ℎ??ℎ??? ????ℎ ??? ℎ??? ???????? ? ????? ?????? ?ℎ??????? ???..." I broke into tears, knowing that no longer would be "all be together." "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Some of the original lyrics that were penned by Martin were rejected before filming began. When presented with the original draft lyric, Garland, her co-star Tom Drake and director Vincente Minnelli, criticized the song as depressing, and asked Martin to change the lyrics. Though he initially resisted, Martin made several changes to make the song more upbeat. For example, the lines "It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past" became "Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight". I've always felt that in spite of the happy lyrics, there was an air of melancholy to the song. Perhaps I intuitively felt the original intention of the lyricist. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZqQOMa1olw

Here is a recent discussion with the members of my erstwhile band, The Elegant Strangers, mostly reminiscing on the fun times we had performing at the local Venice venues, Danny's and The Sidewalk Cafe. It was a fun walk through memory lane albeit a tad bittersweet considering current circumstances. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uahmcp6PdYQ

Part 2 of the brilliant, fun and educational Time-Life series from the mid-90's.