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December music
I wonder if there are any restaurants in Pittsburgh that are not playing steady streams of Christmas music. Besides the kosher restaurants, I mean, which don't work for lunch or post-Shabbat excursions.
I actually don't mind the better Christmas music so long as it isn't blaring and thus intruding on thoughts/conversation. Basically, don't make me become involved and I can ignore it, or even appreciate the occasional piece's craftsmanship. I think the insipid stuff is a lot worse than the religious stuff. The radio stations or muzak sources or whatever seem to be going entirely for the secular stuff, like "Rudolf" and "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", to name three I heard at Sushi Too today. Sheesh. I think if I were a Christian I'd rather hear *no* music than hear *that* stuff. I can empathize with the people who are unhappy about the secularization of their holiday.
The best compromise IMHO for places like restaurants and public buildings would be to stick to instrumental renditions and lose the cheesy stuff.
I actually don't mind the better Christmas music so long as it isn't blaring and thus intruding on thoughts/conversation. Basically, don't make me become involved and I can ignore it, or even appreciate the occasional piece's craftsmanship. I think the insipid stuff is a lot worse than the religious stuff. The radio stations or muzak sources or whatever seem to be going entirely for the secular stuff, like "Rudolf" and "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", to name three I heard at Sushi Too today. Sheesh. I think if I were a Christian I'd rather hear *no* music than hear *that* stuff. I can empathize with the people who are unhappy about the secularization of their holiday.
The best compromise IMHO for places like restaurants and public buildings would be to stick to instrumental renditions and lose the cheesy stuff.
Secret weapon #1: Tom Lehrer
Unfortunately, Penn Station usually plays lots of christmas music, and I have to go through there on my way to work. If I'm unlucky, I get stuck there waiting for my train.
But I have a secret weapon: Tom Lehrer.
Also I make nice little comments (usually just to myself) like:
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know...
Nu? Where, Irving? In the Shtetle?
(Actually, the really cheezy ones like grandma got run over by a reindeer don't bother me as much. Instrumental would be less bothersome to me, I think, than vocals... depending upon the song, frequency, etc. And I don't think that a token chanukah song would appease me much.)
Thankfully, it's 12/12, and Penn station has yet to go to all carols, all the time.
Re: Secret weapon #1: Tom Lehrer
And I don't think that a token chanukah song would appease me much.
Definitely not. They are not equivalent holidays, and, as someone else pointed out recently, it's kind of ironic that a holiday about resisting assimilation is routinely used as a means to assimilation...
Thankfully, it's 12/12, and Penn station has yet to go to all carols, all the time.
Hey, that's pretty good! I would have expected it to start right after Thanksgiving.