Holiday Extremes Meme Of Four

It has been awhile since a good meme of four has gone around the cultural blogosphere so in the spirit of the holiday season, let’s start one: The Holiday Extremes Meme Of Four. Although garden variety memes are always great fun, wouldn’t it be entertaining to toss a twist into the mix. To that end, this is a meme of extremes, meaning for each holiday topic, you list the four most enjoyable and four least enjoyable…

  • Four holiday songs/pieces you enjoy the most:
    • Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Dean Martin/ Martina McBride version)
    • Sleigh ride (Boston Pops, instrumental version)
    • Winter Wonderland (Johnny Mathis, 1958 version)
    • Christmas Time Is Here (Vince Guaraldi Trio, instrumental version)
  • Four holiday songs/pieces you enjoy the least:
    • The Little Drummer Boy
    • Jingle Bell Rock
    • Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
    • Santa Baby
  • Four holiday concerts (live) you enjoyed the most:
    • TubaChristmas, Baltimore MD, 2004
    • Chicago Symphony Orchestra Holiday Brass Concert (the past few years)
    • I really worked at this but simply couldn’t come up with more than two. I guess that’s what happens when you generally avoid holiday concerts. Does that make me a Scrooge?
  • Four holiday concerts (live) you enjoyed the least:
    • Any performance of The Nutcracker I watched as an audience member.
    • Any performance of The Nutcracker where I performed in the pit orchestra.
    • On the upside, the lack of holiday concert exposure means I haven’t been to so many stinkers (or I’ve successfully blocked them from my memory).
  • Four holiday CDs in you enjoy the most:
    • Merry Christmas (Johnny Mathis, 1958)
    • A Charlie Brown Christmas (Vince Guaraldi Trio)
    • Joy To The World (Boston Pops, John Williams, 1992)
    • The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole, 1963)
  • Four holiday CDs you enjoy the least:
    • Anything featuring the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
    • ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Liberace – worst delivery, ever.)
    • A Winter Symphony (Sarah Brightman, 2008)
    • The Andy Williams Christmas Album (1963)

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About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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5 thoughts on “Holiday Extremes Meme Of Four”

  1. Four holiday songs/pieces you enjoy the most:

    Carol of the Bells
    Bring a Torch
    Sleigh Ride
    Winter Wonderland

    Four holiday songs/pieces you enjoy the least:

    Jingle Bell Rock
    Jingle Bells
    Twelve Days of Christmas
    The long movements in Messiah that are painful to play

    Four holiday concerts (live) you enjoyed the most:

    Canadian Brass
    Tuba Christmas
    Elgin Symphony’s 2007 ice rink concert
    Baltimore Chamber Orchestra 1999

    Four holiday concerts (live) you enjoyed the least:
    A nameless chamber orchestra 1998-the conductor had to say “That’s it!” at the end of the last piece when nobody applauded.

    A nameless symphony orchestra with nameless conductor’s rendition of Mozart’s version of the Messiah, 2003.

    Same nameless symphony orchestra’s 2001 holiday pop’s program which was more than embarrassing with it’s lack of any traditional holiday music.

    6th grade holiday concert recital.

    Four holiday CDs in you enjoy the most:

    Merry Christmas (Johnny Mathis, 1958)
    Charlie Brown Christmas (Vince Guaraldi Trio)
    Joy To The World (Boston Pops, John Williams, 1992)
    The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole, 1963)

    Four holiday CDs you enjoy the least:

    Don’t own any!

  2. Four Holiday Songs/Recordings I Enjoy The Most:
    1. Most of the cuts on the Take 6 “He Is Christmas” CD. Amazing a capella singing! Beware, some cuts are goofy.
    2. Light One Candle – Peter Yarrow channels his inner Jewish soul
    3. Silent Night
    4. Felice Navidad

    Four holiday songs/recordings I Enjoy the Least:
    1. Anything by Bob Dylan – Bob, love your songwriting, not your singing.
    2. Anything off of the Barbara Streisand CD – Barbara, love your singing (mostly), but some of the cuts on this CD are crimes against humanity.
    3. Anything by the Chipmonks – no explanation needed.
    4. Any Smooth Jazz CD – no explanation needed.

    Four Holiday Concerts I Enjoyed/Hated the Most:
    1. Chicago Sinfonietta’s 2008 Concert at the Harris Theater – despite my lack of objectivity, it was a really NICE show!
    2. Johnny Mathis – When I managed the Chicago Theater he came a performed his holiday concert. I grew up with his music – thanks Mom – and this was a stroll down memory lane!
    3. Dave Koz Smooth Jazz Christmas – As noted above, I’m not a big fan. Good musicianship, no soul!

    Four Favorite Holiday Movies:
    1. It’s A Wonderful Life – duh!
    2. Miracle on 34th Street – original version, though the remake was not totally awful.
    3. Family Man – Nick Cage and Tea Leoni in a quasi-remake of It’s A Wonderful Life.
    4. Elf – Normally don’t like Will Ferrell but he is so good in this, and then of course there’s Zooey….

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