Happy New Year 2011 everyone!

Auld Lang Syne - this touches me because of my Scottish heritage through Daddy (Julian McKnight).

Go to Playlist and turn MUTE on -- look for the small loudspeaker on the top right.   I also just found out how to shuffle the playlist songs so that they don't always play in the same order -- YAY!  -- I've been wanting to be able to do that for a LOOOONGGG time!  It is the thing that looks like backward C connected to forward C in the same genearl area  )(.   Look up above the mute area.

Auld Lang Syne was written by Robert Burns.  I think I probably knew he was a Scottish poet, but hadn't thought much about it.   

I've had this pulling for some time now to my Scottish roots -- I love Celtic music (not necessarily Scottish, but close) and for other things Scottish/Irish.  Earl and I love watching Celtic Women and I love to hear them sing in what I think is their native language. 

This version of Auld Lang Syne came through on email today and is beautiful.   She sings in Swedish.   One can click on a link at youtube and the words will display.  She sings the first verse in English and then the rest in Swedish.   Lover of words that I am, I enjoy looking at the words written in Swedish and hearing the pronunciation of them in the song.  This is by Sissel.  I have not heard of her before an email came today with this video in it, but I think I may look further into her music.

Speaking of music, Earl and I went to a John Berry Christmas concert at the Performing Arts Center at Georgia Southern University in late November or early December.  It was WONDERFUL!   It was truly a Christmas gift from him to the audience.  The second half of the concert was all Christmas songs, except the first, which was Celebrate Me Home, a song about welcoming back those in our military service.  There were a few secular Christmas songs, but overwhelmingly the songs were about Jesus' birth.   You could tell by those songs he chose to sing that they were his gift to those of us listening.  He shared his faith - not overbearingly, and not lightly - but just right.   One beautiful song was My Heart is Bethlehem.   I've ordered that CD and two Christmas ones.  One of the Christmas ones, to my delight, has him singing the Lord's Prayer.   Ever since we sang it years ago in church, I have loved the Lord's Prayer put to music.  It is beautiful sung.  I was not able to find The Lords Prayer on video to embed here, but did find

My Heart Is Bethlehem sung by John Berry: