Please explain to me—in 25 words or less—exactly what this lyric means: “Are we human, or are we dancer?”

Judging by the drum machines in the song, I’d have to say he’s dancer. Actually, no, Dancer is Dancer, but, well, he’s a fictional reindeer.

Add one more lyric to my list of stupid lyrics, which include even Carole King: “Snow is cold, rain is wet.”

Uh-huh.

If anyone can figure out why I’ve had Brahms’ Hungarian Dances running through my head all morning, I’d appreciate it. Because it took me a while to figure out that no, it isn’t Slovanic Dances, and no, Sorena’s orchestra did not play it at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, and, well, I haven’t heard it in an age, so I have no idea why this music refuses to exit my brain.

Having listened to 70s music for the past twenty minutes, it astonishes me that the cowbell ever went out of fashion.

We should hope for a comeback.

Sarah tipped me off to this video. The lyrics may not be so great, but the concept is a hoot. Especially for Meat Loaf and Rocky Horror fans.

The original, the one, the only: Adam Sandler and The Chanukah Song, straight from SNL.

This one was submitted by Sarah.

And now, in place of the lame Flash embed from Albino Blacksheep, Sarah found this rockin’ Chanukah video by a group that I would have rocked to during the 70s. Whoa. I’m sensing a little Grateful Dead, a little Mountain, a little Clapton, a little ZZ Top—complete with guitar solo and, uh, an Orthodox bass player. Kewl.

This spot used to hold the Flash embed code of “Hey Ya Hanukah.” I have removed it, because you don’t have a choice to play it or not. Every single time you load this page, the video loads and plays. Screw that. That’s not what “embed” should be used for. I am not interested in any more Albino Blacksheep videos if that’s how they try to push them on people.—Meryl

It’s got a beat you can dance to.

Reader chsw gave me this one, which started the trend of Chanukah/Hanukkah videos. It’s a Tom Lehrer cover with a little topping of South Park at the end.

Another one from Sabba Hillel, with some pretty great video.

This one’s audio only, but so worth it. Melvin and the Chipmunks sing a Chanukah song.

Sabba Hillel has sent a few more Chanukah videos. Here’s one that holds a more spiritual bent, yet still has a beat you can dance to:

A very pretty songfest by a choir in Edwardian dress singing a Chanukah medley (all two songs) plus Shalom Aleichem. Go figure.

Okay, I really can’t stand Bon Jovi, but I know a lot of you out there do. So here’s his version of the Adam Sandler Chanukah song.

Yes, really.

My Menorah: This one is going to sound really familiar to all you old fans of The Knack. (I wasn’t one of them.)

So how was your first night of Chanukah? Mine was latkes and music at the R household. I burned my finger in the oil (sigh) but not badly enough to do more than sting after an hour or so of aloe vera, ice water, Advil, and, um, wine.

Sam and his friends had a concert last night. I asked them to please sing a bit for me, and when they said they had a Jewish song, well, here’s part of it.

If you’re wondering why they paused from time to time, it’s because they were waiting for the rest of the choir to sing their parts.

It’s an extra Hanukkah treat for you all (and it was for me). They even sang it in English, but somehow, it seems more repetitive when you hear it translated.

This year we’re going to have something new for Hannukkah: A video each night. You can thank regular reader chsw, who sent me a link to the video I’ll be using on the sixth night.

Tonight’s video: How Do You Spell Hannuka? by the LeeVees.

And we’re putting it in during the day so you can all enjoy before you go home from work. (Oh, like you don’t all call from work.)

Got home after a long day out, and went searching for Gracie, who was in her new hidey-spot: The corner of the spare room, between two bookcases, where it’s very difficult for Tig to bully her. And because I have a long history of show tunes and movie musical tunes in my head, I started singing “In My Own Little Corner” to her as I lured her out for some attention.

Scanning the TV Guide listings tonight, I find that our Richmond PBS will be showing—you guessed it—Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” whence (ooh, fancy word!) came the song I was just singing.

Guess what I’ll be doing from 8 to 10 p.m.?

The Protocols, a song by, well, an Elder of Zion.

You should read the comments. They’re filled with remarks by morons who think this song isn’t parody.

Okay. Which of my New Jersey readers wants to go see Mary Chapin Carpenter at the McCarter Theater on Tuesday, April 10th?

I don’t have Hebrew School that week. I think I’d consider going up to NJ for a few days to see my favorite songwriter/singer. I have friends who live in the Princeton area who have a very comfortable sofabed.

Okay, I give up. I have looked and looked for A) a legitimate version of this song or B) a CD-quality mp3. The closest I came to it was a torrent file that, I was told, was probably no longer any good, as it’s a year old. It’s not on the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack. It’s not on The Two Towers soundtrack. It is not, as far as I can tell, commercially available anywhere.

I want the background music to this video. It’s called “Requiem for a Tower,” and I want the full orchestral version, with choir, and I want the 6:44 (or thereabouts) version. Nothing else will serve. Nothing. I. Want. This. Song.

I cannot find a decent quality version of it for love nor money. This is close to what I want, and legal version, but it’s not available to buy. The three songs available for (pay) download aren’t this music. This is the music that was sent out with the international version of The Two Towers trailer, and nowhere else. It was widely available for download when the film was released, but obviously, those files are long gone.

I would be happy to purchase it legally, but, well, I can’t. It doesn’t exist, except in that trailer, or ripped out of it by people who loved the music when they heard it four years ago.

If anyone out there has a CD-quality version, or just a link to one, I will be eternally grateful. You have no idea how obsessed I get over things. Sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s a television show, sometimes it’s a movie, once it was a game called Photon (the precursor to Laser Tag, and I even flew to Dallas to play in a tournament at the original Photon site, and yes, that was a bit much, but hey, I was in my twenties). The good thing about my obsessions is that none of them were ever of the drugs or alcohol or gambling type, so the worst that happens is I spend a little money on a DVD or three.

Mind you, a simple Google search isn’t going to do it. I’ve spent the last week searching for this song. The best I can come up with are songs that I need to rip with a program that I don’t possess, but which I’m thinking more and more of getting. Except there’s no guarantee that the videos I’ve found will have decent quality music in them.

So. A plea for help, from an obsessed blogger to her readers, before heading off to bed.

So I went out last night and got the soundtrack to Requiem for a Dream, which has the music on which the music from the LOTR video was based. It seems that a bunch of musicians remixed Lux Aeterna and turned it into “Requiem for a Tower,” which is not available in its entirety anywhere.

You can get movements 2, 3, and 4 on a CD, but I don’t see the point in not having the first movement.

Okay. Time to capture the music off the YouTube video.

Sarah sent me a link to a YouTube video of a Bollywood version of Thriller. It has to be seen to be believed. Personally, I think the girl is screaming at the guy’s outfit, or at his dancing. They both scared me.

And just to compare and contrast, here’s the original.

Elie Deutsch is an American-born IDF soldier, and a talented musician. He’s currently posted to the Northern border with Lebanon. He and his unit have recorded some songs, which are being sold as MP3s, with proceeds going to a number of charities helping the IDF and Northern refugees.

The album is only $10.00, and you’ll be helping Israel in her time of need.  More information is available at the links above, including pictures of Elie, who I believe is single, though probably too young to be Mr. Meryl Yourish.

I just got an unexpected windfall due to making a really stupid mistake on my taxes. I am using the tax money to buy an mp3 player. I was thinking of buying an iPod, then got into a couple of discussions with people.

As I know exactly zero about mp3 players (other than their general concept), any suggestions out there from my readers? iPod or not iPod?

I want two things: A decent amount of storage (I’ll get the 60 gig iPod if I go that way) and the ability to play videos (but not on a one-inch screen, I’ll probably plug it into my widescreen laptop or my TV set). Wait, three things. A decent headset to go with.

Anything else is gravy. Lair Simon suggested a player that comes with a phone. Or a phone that comes with a player. Don’t need it, and really don’t want it to be overly complex.

Suggestions? Comments? Preferences?

Unfortunately, the Tony Awards are as close as I get to Broadway these days. Sigh. I want to see plays again. All of them. Even the dogs.

The revivals of Sweeney Todd and Threepenny Opera look phenomenal.

How do you listen to your CDs?

A very long time ago, a friend taught me a brilliant rule to follow for whether or not you buy a CD: If you like three songs, you will probably like the CD. If you like fewer than three songs, you won’t like the rest of the CD. I’ve found that rule to be pretty much foolproof. I also tend to be very picky with the CDs that I actually buy. Well, and then there’s the obsessive part of my sometimes obessive-compulsive behavior: I have, on more than one occasion, gotten so enamoured of a song/artist/CD that I’ve gone out with minutes to spare before closing time just to buy a CD from the record store. The last time I got that obessed, I discovered that a local music store stocked the CD that I wanted, and went there on my way home from work that day.

In any case. I tend to listen to an entire CD, from beginning to end. If I’m listening in my car (I tape them; I never got a CD player for the Jeep, what with it being a super-easy target for thieves), I will rewind the tape to the first song if it isn’t already there. And sometimes, I get out of the car and pop the CD into the player at home and start it exactly where the tape left off.

Do you listen to your CDs in order? Or are you a shuffler?

I’m planning on getting an iPod, but I don’t think I can ever really be a shuffler. When I hear one song by an artist, I tend to want to hear more songs by that artist.

On the other hand, I’ve noticed that this seems to be true for all folk music CDs I own, but only about half the rock CDs. The three-song rule works for the harder stuff, but I confess there are more than a few songs that I skip on my rock CDs, and almost none on the folk CDs.

So. How do you listen to your music? Are you a serial musicologist, or do you flutter from group to group?