As a Norwegian I am very proud to hear that Sissel (Kyrkjebø) is in 1st place on the Billboard Classical Albums list for the 9th or 10th week in a row (11 weeks in the chart altogether), together with the massive Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra with their Spirit of the Season. They have also been nominated for a Grammy.

As a Weezer aficionado, I am very happy to hear they're planning the release of their sixth album for April/May 2008. By that time I will have been a fan for 14 years. Wow, how time flies.

I was also surprised and happy to read that the late Denis Quilley was part of the Chess concept album from 1984. I discovered at the same time that James Graeme, my favourite from the first concert featuring songs from musicals that I ever went to (in 2002, after Philip Quast had turned my world upside-down with his fabulous voice some months earlier), features on one of the many Chess albums. Unfortunately the only one I don't have (I think). But hey, as long as I have the ones featuring Tommy Körberg, I'm happy. I also have the Which Witch? album with Tim Morgan on it, so I shouldn't really be complaining. And I'm not. It's Christmas, after all!

Speaking of the Holidays, my Christmas has been very lazy so far (which would make Aug happy, since he told me to have a lazy Christmas). I managed to wait until around 1pm on Christmas Day with opening my presents, and was very happy with every single one. I am proud to say I have FINALLY got Dirty Dancing in my collection. It's the weirdest thing; I watched it at least five times in the cinema back in 1987/88 and have seen it about a dozen times on telly afterwards, but I have never owned it (probably because it's on telly "all the time" anyway). This year, however, marks the 20th anniversary and that means they released a special edition double-DVD which, together with the new Hairspray film, was the only thing I specifically wished for this Christmas (as, PER USUAL, people didn't heed my pleas of giving their money to charity instead, apart from my dear friend in Holmestrand (kudos!) - and therefore certain people demanded to know what I wanted for Christmas).

I am currently updating my film collection database, and have hit the 1000th mark, which is slightly distressing and impressive at the same time.

I have also started watching old episodes of Whose Line is it Anyway? (since there aren't any new ones, let's face it) and have thus rekindled my old semi-admiration of Greg Proops and acquired an interest in the comedy of Colin Mochrie. To my great surprise (since I didn't know the history of the show, frankly) they both feature in the UK as well as the US versions. Unfortunately the current repeats date back to the early nineties and up to 2002, but beggars can't be choosers etc.

Since I believe I'm due back in the office tomorrow morning (I'd better be, since I've been off for the past 12 days and feel like I've been gone an eternity), I guess I should go to bed right about now. Just have to upload some new music to my mp3 player. And by "new" I actually mean music which isn't there already, like Norwegian favourites Surferosa, DumDum Boys, Xploding Plastix, Gatas Parlament, Jaga Jazzist, Dimmu Borgir and Briskeby (Apoptygma Berzerk having already been uploaded a long time ago).

A continued Happy Holidays to everyone! *hugs and smooches to those who feel they deserve them*

Labels: Christmas, comedy, film, music, musicals, Norway, philip quast, tim morgan