Have a Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!

I read a funny book by John Grisham called "Skipping Christmas". The premise was that a couple decides to skip all the trappings of Christmas by taking a cruise to the Caribbean. Their daughter had left the nest and they wanted a relaxing holiday for a change. It was a very interesting book because there are so many people who seem to get caught up in the anxiety of the season that they do not truly enjoy it. Everything from Christmas cards, to fruit cakes, to company Christmas parties, to decorating the house seems to drag from the true meaning and makes Christmas more tiring than joyful. I would not recommend skipping Christmas, but scaling back might be appropriate for some people. In the book, the daughter returns at the last moment to celebrate with her parents and her new fiancee. There is a funny ending where the parents have to recreate the Christmas of her childhood very rapidly which makes the anxiety even worse. But they manage to learn a lesson about what is really important in life, when they give their trip to a neighborhood woman with cancer and her husband.

On a related note to my previous posting, the most over-rated band of the last half century in my opinion is the Beatles. I may be the only baby boomer who feels that way, but I just never saw the appeal. The fact that I don't have a favorite Beatle probably has something to do with it. For a while, I kind of liked George Harrison because he seemed rather spiritual and I liked his recording of "My Sweet Lord". Then recently I read that he didn't leave one dime of his vast fortune to his poor sister bacause he had some petty argument with her over the name of a restaurant. It seemed rather small-minded to carry it to his grave. John was a lunatic and from everything I've seen, Paul is a bit of an idiot. I still have hopes that Ringo might be a decent bloke. The fact that he used to appear on a children's show is a good sign. The Beatles did write a few good songs, but they weren't the geniuses that everyone made them out to be. I don't think that Beethoven and Mozart are in jeopardy of being forgotten.
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The most over-rated entertainer is Madonna; no one else is even close.

I saw that Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones has a new book, "Rolling with the Stones". Incredibly, he's 66 years old. Since he retired, he may be the only sane member of the group. It made me start thinking of my favorite entertainers/bands of the last five decades.
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Entertainer
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50's Elvis Presley
60's Janis Joplin
70's Joni Mitchell
80's Bruce Springsteen
90's Sarah McLachlan

Band
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50's Buddy Holly and the Crickets
60's Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
70's Jethro Tull
80's U2
90's Depeche Mode