Best Christmas Hymn Ever

While there's still time, I'd like to make a pitch for my own favorite Christmas song.  In the past few years I've been introduced to my recent favorites, "Fairytale of New York" and "Baby It's Cold Outside," and I'm grateful for the exposure.  But when it comes to traditional Christmas songs, there's one that stands out more than any others, and you almost never hear it sung.  The hymn in question is "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence."  

I've loved the song ever since I first performed it in choir almost 25 years ago.  It's eerie and somber and speaks to the potential unearthly holiness of Christmas better than any other hymn out there.  (The medieval mode helps.)  Unfortunately, a truly great version that's free is very hard to find.  So I've offered two YouTubes here.  The first, a single voice, will give you a sense of the lyrics, and the second will demonstrate how it can sound when it's arranged all pretty.  

If you enjoy it, spread the word!  I'd love to hear some pop singer cover this instead of "Silent Night" for the gazillionth time.

...And Here's Reason Kajillion-and-One

I was walking home from the PATH station (that's the train to/from New Jersey) and saw the following display at 14th and 3rd Avenue, a good distance away from where the ginormous flag had been earlier.  Apparently someone had brought along a drum.

It was like this everywhere, even at 3 a.m.  When the subway stopped and the doors opened, you could hear cheers from distant cars.  People were honking horns and shouting "Obama!" at passersby through their open windows.  I can only imagine what it must have been like in Chicago.

Why I Love Manhattan, Reason Number Kajillion

At tennish, Obama had 197 electoral votes and we figured we could stop worrying.  So while my friend Tracy and I were leaving a viewing and heading to her place in Jersey (where Jon Stewart lay TiVoed), we passed Union Square (roughly 14th St. and 4th Ave, for you out of town folks), and saw that someone had covered the entire apron near the street with a giant flag that a bunch of people were simply flapping up and down in a celebratory manner.  It was a lovely, fun, and essentially nonpartisan way to celebrate Election Day, and I even got a little video so you get some sense of the size involved.  Thanks a lot, Crazy Benefactor!