so much sound.

thanks to mr. harper for sharing.

last year my friend luke mundy suggested that we make a christmas ep to give away on our blogs.

it was a little last minute, but we decided to go for it and i am very glad that we did.

we had a wonderful time getting it done for the 2008 christmas season.

this year the tradition continues with the Noel ep.

4 songs, free to you, that you might be reminded of the precious gift we received from God, who sent His only begotten Son to live, die and rise again.

all for us.

not enough gets given away for free these days, so Noel (along with the With Us EP) are available at no cost, no spam and no strings attached.

many thanks to sean munoz for partnering with me on this year’s project. his creativity, musicality and friendship made the process tons of fun, while also helping me learn some things along the way.

sean and i hope you enjoy the songs and, most importantly, we hope that they remind you of Jesus.

blessings and merry christmas!

click to download the Noel ep

thanksgiving is gone.

which means that it’s time for my favorite christmas-time tradition.

enjoy.

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(as always, you’re more than welcome)

you know, christmas isn’t all that far away.

i know, i know. some of you out there are naysaying my recent rash of christmas-themed posting, but the truth is that christmas is just a very special season in all pensiero households.

a few posts back i confessed how the mrs. and i listen to christmas music starting october 1. in one of the comments it was suggested that a weekly pick be promoted for lovers of yuletide cheer.

so, without further disclaimer, welcome to:

Christmas Caroling @ genepensiero.com!

our first selection is one of my very favorites:

The Sounds Of Christmas: Christmas Symphony by the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

this album is a perfect background companion to decorating, wrapping presents, driving to the in-laws’ or even just working at your desk. the orchestration is beautiful and creative, while never losing any of the stately and formal charm that you’d expect from a philharmonic.

the album has some very popular favorites like Joy To The World and We Three Kings, but also has some less familiar tracks like In Dulci Jubilo and Still, Still, Still, which is part of a ‘manger-medley’.

what i like most about this album is that when it’s on you feel like you’re walking around Disneyland in December. it’s just big and grand and lush and musical. it puts a smile on my face every time.

bad news: this album is not available on iTunes.

good news: it’s available here for $6.98 (cd)

so get in the spirit: cook up some cider, grab a new song or two and let us know what christmas albums make you ready for december 25.

UPDATE

ok…so it seems that they’ve discontinued this album, reworked it and are now selling it under the name Christmas Violin. the song list is a little different, but they’ve added a few tracks to fill out the list.

the best part is that you can get the mp3′s off of amazon or iTunes.

let me know if you get it. and, most importantly, let me know about any christmas music you think i might be missing!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcsSPzr7ays&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

ht: mr. munoz, as usual.

my niece is a serious contender for future american idol.

hear for yourself:

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if not idol, certainly broadway. she seems to have an affection for show tunes.

on wednesday nights i’m doing a little ‘mini-study’ on 2 timothy.

it’s called Tiny Tim.

part 1 is back here.

here’s part 2. it’s 18 minutes. which means it’s not as mini as it needs to be.

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read the transcript

blessings

started a series on wednesday nights called Tiny Tim.

first installment below.

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Read The Transcript

so, we’re italian.

and happily so.

being italian means that i must have an uncle tony.

i do.

here he is:

i always knew that tony had, in his youth, done some recording and performing under the moniker of tony penn.

no…not this tony penn:

not this one either:

the one from the first picture (there is much to be thankful for).

i remember growing up we had an old cassette of some of tony’s music. other than that i didn’t know too much.

then one day, while perusing google for any family relations, i stumbled across this listing of PRI Records. as in, Pensiero Records Incorporated.

to answer your question: no, they won’t be signing me any time soon. namely due to lack of existence.

anyhow, this was the extent of my pensiero-recording-history knowledge.

until now.

see, last weekend my mom, dad, sister and niece attended my uncle’s wedding.

not uncle tony’s wedding, a different uncle.

uncle bobby.

while there they were able to catch up with the family a bit.

part of catching up was taking a lot of pictures.

one of those pictures was this one:

notice anything?

if not…look again:

that’s right.

a gold record.

turns out, my uncle tony’s ‘big hit’ entitled A King Or A Fool (released in 1959 and again in 1961) sold 500,000 copies.

five hundred.

thousand.

WHAT?!?

family history was never a big topic with the older pensieros.

a little search of ebay yielded this gem:

and it even came with a sound byte:

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so yeah…my mind is officially blown.

i thought i’d share my fun story.

now it’s time to start getting my hands on some old tony penn vinyls.

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