Did a search for this on Spotify, and this showed up; pure class, and his phrasing is spot on as well.
Willie!
Some are “sophisticated” and some are just plain, old Willie with a guitar.
Personal faves were Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and just like REO Speedwagon yesterday, he for some reason includes Blue Christmas – and nails it!
Willie being Willie
The final entry, What a Wonderful World, is here for some reason? Though I’ve never understood why. It was released in September 1967 originally (by Louis Armstrong), but somehow actually fits here.
Why not do this, listen to a different Christmas album each day of this Yuletide season?
REO’s Christmas album – 2009
And why not start with some of the more obscure ones, as the above certainly is. In addition, it is actually the last album (to date?) from the boys from Champagne, Illinois.
The album, including bonus tracks, has 18 tracks on it, and should really be listened to, to be believed! At times, I literally didn’t know that Kevin Cronin was still in the band and singing; his once bright voice is simply gone, but then again, they all must be pushing 180 years of age, so give then an A+ for effort.
The problem, and hopefully will not rear its ugly head in the coming weeks, is that there is nothing really “REO” about the album, and is distinctly regular at times. Though an original, the downbeat, adult contemporary, “I Believe in Santa Claus”, by Cronin and Hall, is a very passable new song.
C’mon lads, you are a very talented group of musicians, and some of the arrangements should have been more diverse and unique. Though at the end, God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen and Blue Christmas make the album very enjoyable at times.
Another walk in the West End (I really need to go to the city centre more often, and I did, last Friday to see the illuminations in George Square, report to follow), and I came across a couple of new works, apparently from the same street artist, “Silva”?
Silva’s Work
Not really sure what to make of it, though there has been a glut of this during the recent lockdowns, but have been unable to ascertain just who they are? Though to the left, there appears to be some address; @silva.project, which is apparently their Instagram account; worth a look.
Closing my review of the delightful (to me at least!), we look at the southern or eastern part of the village (I think?) and a few titbits of trivia.
After the “central” part of the village, said with a cheek, looked at the “residential” area of the village; which ranged from a new development of luxury flats, only 4 in total, which seems to be about the right number (not too many that is) and replaces the old Black Bull hotel, which sadly was sold?:
Old Black Bull hotel, sadly demolished for new flats
Now that things are a wee bit more healthy, we will start to write a little bit more here; but thanks again to our NHS, and in particular, in the speed of their service, that I thought was an oxymoron due to the pandemic – I was wrong, they have been superb!
Killearn – Part 1
But first, finally had a wee trip away from Glasgow, first time in a long time that is, to a lovely village called Killearn.
I always had a memory of the last 10 years, where I was in a small village, with two churches opposite a narrow group of old one floor cottages; this was it.
Village HallTown & Country Designs / CafeMontessori SchoolVillage HallView WestwardKillearn Church of ScotlandChurch SignA Killearn WalkLooking back to Village Hall
The instant that I was here on a Saturday lunchtime, I immediately noticed the two churches, one has since been turned into a village hall / cafe / church, with stunning views westward.
What struck me, at least in a way that it appealed to me, was that there was everything you wanted; school, church, village hall, two cafes, pub / restaurant (the Old Mill), and even a “luxury” food shop (below):
Speaking of the café, we did lunch at the Town & Country Designs shop / cafe – very nice food and cake.
More on Killearn later and more blogging during the upcoming week.
I also noticed that the red wine we chose, Cal y Canto, I thought I had seen before in “fine” supermarkets, but it still tasted quite nice (superb even!).
This raises the question, why does this happen? Why is it, if I had bought the wine and taken it home to consume, it would not have been so good?
As I am still under the weather a wee bit, my aim is to blog a bit more than lately!
I’m not sure if these photos have appeared before on this blog, but they are part of the new development at Glasgow University (along University Avenue), here in Glasgow, stemming from the mammoth expansion of the university, see below:
This week I’ll include even more. Believe me, it is huge with some completion date, well into the future.
Equally, will blog on my TV of the Week, and more Cafes.
Also, will take a look at another Glasgow neighbourhood, this time; Garnethill.
As I am still under the weather due to a recent surgery, there is not much travel (I had to cancel several trips), but we still have many things to look at both in the arts and in Glasgow, Scotland, and the UK
If you have not been under a rock, COP26 is still here until Friday, and I will put some more shots of the proceedings during the week. Like below, where a protest with Greta Thunberg was happening on the weekend:
Heading off to the protest on Friday
Also, we’ve a new bakery here call Lily Bakes Cakes, they are in the West End and are completely lethal! Honestly, they are sickening in a good way, and though I am not sure if I posted before, due to the fact that they are only open to the public for 2 days, they usually have a queue outside!
A queue for cakes; brilliant I say! Here’s what they did for Halloween – to die for:
A casual stroll through the extreme west of the West End, and lo and behold, we come to the West of Scotland Cricket Ground.
The first thing I notice, is that it is not only large, but must now be worth a fortune! As the ground would easily be consumed by very expensive flats, if it were to ever be sold.
This is an interesting spot, as whenever I have walked past it in the past (a good many times), there were always quite a few people inside. I despair, as the burger, ambiance, music were definitely not my scene – though the service was outstanding.
Bread Meats Bread, Great Western Road, Glasgow
I don’t know much, but when the three students next to me only ordered tap water, and all three shared a bowl of chips, I sorta got that it would be expensive – it was. £9.00 for a Vegan Burger, but you have to THEN pay more for the chips / fries, what ever they are called nowadays.
Sorry, it seems to me that at every other place I’ve been to recently, the chips are included with the burger. In addition, with my tea (merely a cup), the bill would have approached £15.00; but they conveniently (for me) forgot to charge me for it.
Another “plant” based burger
The other two things that had me, were:
The burger was not beans, falafel, etc – It looked just like real meat; but it also tasted like real meat – as in real meat that had been undercooked.
The bowl of chips contained old and slightly cold chips – Hey, this is NOT that difficult to do correctly – Up your game!
Would I go again? Probably never; not tasty, overpriced, and lastly, as you can see in the entrance shot above, slightly cold as one of the two doors was always open.
Curious Bystander 