After Thanksgiving, after spending all day watching people at the malls, after all that, I came home to find Thad Jones and Mel Lewis‘s great CD Consummation in my mail.

I first got exposed to Jones & Lewis back in high school, when our band director moved our jazz band from playing cheap-sounding arrangements of Windy and the like to the good stuff – Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Jones & Lewis and others. (Thanks, Bill!) We played at least four tunes from this collection and I loved all of them. I had the album (you know, black vinyl, about 12 inches in diameter, played on a turntable, historical relic!) but it went out in the trash along with the other four boxes of albums when we moved a few years ago.

Why I ever talked myself into putting them by the street for the trash man is beyond me. At any rate, I’ve had Consummation on my Amazon wish list for a while. The other day I noticed it was included in the Jazz Heritage Society’s “clearance” section, so I scarfed it up – for five bucks!

Anyway, for what it’s worth, I’m digging Dedication, It Only Happens Every Time, and Us all over again! Of course, the haunting melody of A Child Is Born is not really a Christmas song, but it should be.

BTW, anybody know where I can get a decent flugelhorn for cheap? Just wondering…

Once again, it’s time for another installment of Random Links from the Stack O’ Drafts! Here are some links to stuff I found on the way to somewhere else…

• A seminary professor wonders, “Now that we’ve entered ‘their’ world, what do we do about it?” Great stuff via Steve McCoy
• Ben Arment drops a Steve Sjogren quote about planting a church in the shadow of a mega-church
• Generate your own warning labels
• Eight irresistible principles of fun. (Link via Good Morning Thinkers)
• New Year’s resolutions? Yeah, well, what about stuff to do before this year ends?
• We must protect our children from all religious – specifically Christian – influences. Let’s start by banning all the great literature.
• Mistakes are cool, part 2. Part 1 is over here.
• Rut-busting with unfamiliar magazines

My favorite jazz Christmas album has always been Stan Kenton’s A Merry Christmas. But this year, Ray Charles’s The Spirit of Christmas may give the Kenton classic a run for its money! Of course, Ray is in fine form as usual. But the band! Man, the band smokes! If you’re into jazz and Christmas, you’ll do yourself a favor by running out and getting this 1985 classic!

I picked up Ray’s CD and the lovely and gracious Ms. Monheit’s holiday offering at Borders the other night. Good stuff!

In a couple of hours, we’ll be off to do the second family Thanksgiving gathering, with the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie’s” side of the family.

With a couple of minutes to use up, I just wanted to say to all the loyal readers of this space (all two of you – and you know who you are!) that I’m thankful for all the good stuff you share with me – through this space and in your own corners of the blogosphere. I’m thankful for the relationships we develop – online and in real time/space. I pray that you and your family and friends will never get over the blessings of God in your life, that you’ll never take those blessings for granted, and that you’ll remember to thank Him for those blessings and appreciate the people who are the “blessing agents” in your life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Oh, to you Canadian readers…happy plain-old-day-after-Wednesday to you! :))

We just returned from a short, but good Thanksgiving trip to my folks’ house. As usual, Martha outdid herself with the traditional Pharis Phamily Pheast! Not a turkey leg in sight, but the good stuff…low country boil, shrimp, beef stew, cakes, cookies, etc.! Yes!

We’ll do the other side of the family tomorrow evening.

Thanks, Martha and Howard, for a great day!

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I think some of you didn’t believe Gary and me when we posted that the Dog-Faced Gremlin is on our school board now.

Well, this link will take you (today at least!) to an image of today’s local news section of the local paper that shows Rick Steiner being sworn in!

See?!?!?

Let that be a warning to you all:

Do not – I repeat, do not doubt Gary Lamb!

(There might just be a Steiner Line in your future!)

Someone pointed out to me this morning that my blog has become a veritable graveyard, what with the latest – and only – posts being obituaries and all.

Trust me, it hasn’t been intentional. In fact, I’ve got a whole stack of stuff in the ol’ draft pile that I just haven’t had time to get to these days.

One reason is I’m engrossed with Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus’s Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. I started out reading it for a project in which I’m involved. I began making notes as I read, and soon discovered that I was practically copying the book into my Moleskine! Good stuff that’s hitting me right where I need to be hit these days.

That and trying to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas, combined with a touch of the ol’ flu bug, has made posting a chore that is less of a priority than I planned.

One of the architects of the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Adrian Rogers, died earlier today after a long bout with cancer.

Leadership and management guru Peter Drucker died early today. He was 95.

Rick Warren and others give Peter Drucker loads and loads of credit for influencing leaders today.

I, for one, thought he summed it up pretty good when he said…

Efficiency is getting things done right. Effectiveness is getting the right things done.