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Holly Jolly X'masu

How to Record and Digitize Vinyl

Jul 31, 2020

One thing my less technologically-inclined friends have asked me is how to rip copies of their own vinyl records. Okay, what they actually ask me is if I can do it for them, but for the more adventurous out there, I thought I’d post some instructions and pointers.

The first thing you need is a decent turntable....


Blog Post – Christmas in July “Kentucky Christmas” dinner

Jul 24, 2020

To help celebrate Christmas in July, I decided to have an authentic Kentucky Christmas dinner with my family. If you listened to episode two, you’ve heard of Kentucky Christmas and its origins. If you haven’t, I’ll summarize. Thanks to a brilliant marketing ploy, KFC (or perhaps just one enterprising and...


Blog Post – Why Japanese Christmas Music, Part 2

Jul 17, 2020

We got a new car recently and we finally got a chance to take a road trip. My wife had been telling me she wanted to hear more of the Japanese Christmas music I’ve been getting. She’s heard some of it while I’ve been recording records and she’s listened to my podcast, but otherwise, she’s only heard the...


Blog Post – Why “X’masu”?

Jul 10, 2020

A friend sent me an email and said, “You realize nobody actually says that, right?” I was shocked! Okay, not really. Right off the bat, I’ll admit that, when I named the podcast, I was fully aware of the fact that “X’masu” is not a common pronunciation in Japan. You’ll hear Kurisumasu and Christmas, but...


Blog Post – Why Japanese Christmas Music?

Jul 3, 2020

“Dad, why are you listening this? You don’t even understand it!”

I’ve heard that a lot over the last few months. While my daughters have liked a few of the Japanese songs (Christmas and non-Christmas) I’ve played for them, in general, they just don’t get it. To be fair, they don’t get why I like Christmas...