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Saints!

Thursday
March 28th, 2024

samara joy a joyful holiday spotlightELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Throughout this month, I’ve been searching for good Christmas music to listen to while working on assignments for the paper and recently, I came across an album I feel will become a holiday staple for me in the future with Samara Joy’s “A Joyful Holiday” album. 

For those who are unaware, Joy is is a jazz singer, having released her debut album in 2021 and was later named Best New Artist by JazzTimes. Her sophomore album, “Linger Awhile,” was released last September and ended up bringing home Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best New Artist honors at the 2023 Grammy Awards. She’s only 24 years old and based on only her “A Joyful Holiday” album (which features only six songs), I foresee a long and fantastic career for her. 

Joy’s “A Joyful Holiday” album begins with “Warm In December,” and it’s an overall great opener that can be interpreted as either someone singing this to a lover or someone kind of lonely and looking for love. Joy’s vocals are amazing, and listening to her reminded me of pure, smooth honey or a good hot mug of your favorite winter drink. Joy does a great job of evoking emotion, and there’s actually kind of a picture painted as the song goes along, and the instrumentals are also jazzy and quite lovely. After listening to the song, my first thought was “This is EXACTLY the type of song that would be played in either a coffeehouse or an independent bookstore when the holidays roll around,” and it has just a great vibe. My only complaint about this song is it’s essentially the same eight sentences repeated three times, and I was left wondering why there wasn’t a little more diversity in the lyrics. Overall, however, it’s still a lovely tune and a great opener. 

the shepherd spotlightELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Around this time of year, there is no shortage of options with Christmas movies and specials, and admittedly, I’ve been taking in my fair share in order to help get myself in the proper mood.

Among my viewings recently has been the short film “The Shepherd” on Disney+ which follows young Royal Air Force pilot Freddie (Ben Radcliffe) flying home across the North Sea on Christmas Eve and finds himself in peril when his radio and electric power cut out, leaving him stranded and running on limited fuel. Just when it appears his luck is about to run out, a Good Samaritan pilot (John Travolta) helps guide him to safety. 

To begin, the cinematography used throughout is absolutely outstanding. Most of the special, which clocks in at just a little more than 35 minutes, is spent in the air and I felt my jaw drop more than once at how crisp and clear everything is and how gorgeous everything looked. There were also a couple moments when I thought it felt like an almost interactive experience, which I thought was really cool. There was definitely some thought given to how the film’s overall atmosphere was supposed to look and feel, and it shows – all of the frustration and anxiety is felt, and I felt drawn in basically right away. I felt the movie overall did a great job of striking the balance of telling a Christmas story while mixing in some light chills and spookiness. 

meadowlark choir rehearsalStudents from Meadowlark Elementary School preview a number from their upcoming ‘A Martian Christmas’ program at the most recent USD 480 school board meeting Monday. The program will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the Meadowlark Elementary School cafeteria. L&T photo/Elly GrimmELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

The Christmas spirit is fully upon everyone and soon, Meadowlark Elementary School will be looking to spread some of that beyond Earth’s borders. 

Students from the Meadowlark Elementary School choir program will be performing 'A Martian Christmas' at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the Meadowlark Elementary School cafeteria. The show starts out with students helping with decorating their school for the holidays and then suddenly, they hear a weird noise and then see a flying saucer approaching. When the little Martians come out of the ship, they're curious about what's going on and have many questions about why they're decorating and singing, and then the students explain how Christmas is a holiday celebrated on Earth and teach them all about spending time together and exchanging presents and all about the holiday spirit.

Director Noel Delgado said his previous experience with the show inspired him to put it on again. 

“I've done this show before, I put it on when I worked at Sunflower Elementary School, and I wanted to bring it back while here at Meadowlark Elementary School because I think it's just such a good story about how even though you might not know each other and there might be certain differences between you, there are a lot more similarities and common ground to be found than you might think,” Delgado said. “Family and spending time together and all of that are pretty universal, and especially around Christmas, it's just such a great story to tell.”