Battle of the Hot Indie Rockers, Xmas Edition

In this corner, weighing in at 130 lbs, we have Sufjan Stevens, who recently released a box set of Christmas EPs with original Christmas songs like "Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It)," and (my favorite title) "Get Behind Me, Santa."

His opponent, weighing in at (i'm guessing here), 115 lbs, Conor Oberst a.k.a. Bright Eyes. His 2002 release A Christmas Album features more traditional fare like "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger."

Bright Eyes - Silver Bells

Sufjan Stevens - Get Behind Me, Santa!

This one's close, folks.

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About this recent snowstorm...

They say the best way to get through a cold spell is to imagine warmer weather, and for some reason I started thinking about high school and the times we spent on Lake Forest. Miranda, Derrick, Lori and I would take the boat out for a spin. I can't swim, so naturally, they all decided it would be a lot of fun to throw me in the water, with a life jacket, of course.

The boat had a tape deck, and I'd always beg them to let me play my Tracy Bonham tape. I was really into angry girl rock back then.

Looking back, they shouldn't have given in (she's just not that great). She had a gimmick though, she played the violin. And she had bangs.

Tracy Bonham - Mother, Mother

Speaking of high school --

To find out if we were getting a snow day, my sister and I had to tune into the Cape Girardeau news. We'd have to watch that boring shit for 30 minutes because they didn't really have a set time for cancellation announcements. I remember what a slap in the face it was when there were absolutely NO school closings. On top of that, we'd stayed up until 10:30 pm.

So imagine my surprise when I saw Ste. Genevieve School District R2 on the crawl during Must See TV two nights ago. Kids these days can find out about snow days while watching Scrubs (which is now the funniest show on TV). Bullshit, I say.