Can it really be that we are on the cusp of 2008?  Amazing.  One of my personal traditions at the end of the year is to take a look through our kitchen calendar and “re-live” the year.  Last January I started my Italian linguistic adventure and I’m happy to report I’ve come a long way.   I’m currently plodding my way through a novel in Italian (with an Italian/English dictionary close by of course.)  In spring of 2007, we took Monica on a tour of California colleges and now she’s half-way through the application process.  Our summer vacation in Provence was the highlight of the year for me and I’m hoping to visit the Amalfi Coast of Italy in fall of 2008.

Recommendations?   As a rule, I don’t believe in New Year resolutions;  meant to be broken.  But really this has got to be the year that I treat my body better and actually consume some vegetables and exercise more.  I know what you’re thinking, yeah right!

Here’s wishing you the best year ever.

I was a little hesitant to “buy” the explanation of the 12 Days of Christmas double meaning and it turns out my suspicions were on target. Sandra from El Cerrito forwards me this from the Snopes website indicating that the double meaning is an urban legend. Like so many things (okay, most of the stuff) on the web the jury is out until more substantive proof is found.

A fun piece from 19th century New Orleans native Louis Moreau Gottschalk called “The Banjo” was our Blind Date piece at 8:30 this morning from the year the first class graduated from the United States Naval Academy at  Annapolis…1854.

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I love the interaction that the internet gives us. Just before signing off today, Christmas eve, I received a fascinating email from Marion Blanton explaining the carol to me. I’ve found similar explanantion around the web so it’s either true or a widespread myth. Sounds real enough to me. here goes

“From 1558 until  1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to
practice  their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a
catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning:  the
surface meaning plus a hidden  meaning known only to  members of their
church. Each element in the carol has a code word  for a religious reality,
which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
Two  turtledoves were the Old and New Testaments
Three French hens stood  for faith, hope and love.
The four calling birds were the four  gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
The five golden  rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of
the Old  Testament.
The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of  creation.
Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and
Mercy.
The eight maids  a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
Nine ladies dancing were the  nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy,
Peace, Patience,  Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self
Control.
The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.
The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The
Apostles’ Creed.”

Here’s  another link I found as well.

Merry Christmas and wishes for a peaceful new year.

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Last night, I had the opportunity to “perform” with the Oakland Ballet in their production of the Nutcracker at the Paramount Theater.   I can not tell you how much fun it was.    8 of us local radio and TV “All Stars” played toy soldiers.    We rehearsed for a few hours Friday afternoon and again Saturday before the show.  Then we got into costume and makeup and waited for our moment.   What a thrill.   I didn’t have to wear the tights afterall!

I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone behind the scenes for making us feel so welcome and part of the family.   Director Ronn Guidi is a gem of a man and came out of retirement to bring the Oakland Ballet back to life.  He was gracious and kind and loves his dancers.   Speaking of the dancers, they were all top notch but a special thanks to those who worked with us and cheered us on including Jacob Kreamer, Omar Shabazz and Frederick Gaudette.    You guys rock!

There were many KDFC listeners in the audience Saturday night and I had the chance to speak to a few during intermission.  Thanks to all of you for coming and supporting the Oakland Ballet.   They are a talented, dedicated group and I feel honored to have worked with them, albeit for just one show.

I will share some pictures when I get them.
Merry Christmas.

I’ll be taking Monday off (thanks Hoyt) so I’ll say Merry Christmas to all of you now.  Christmas Eve is at my sister’s in Lafayette.  She gets to host  because she has the youngest kids in the family with little Evan not yet two.  It’s so nice to have a baby around for Christmas. The Nicolini tradition is to have soup and salad on Christmas Eve and a big turkey dinner on Christmas night at my Mom’s in San Leandro.  I’ve been assigned salad and bread.  (Obviously not a lot of faith in my culinary skills)  Tommy came home from Tempe (ASU) last night and immediately bolted out for a night on the town with his friends.  Monica’s also ready to relax after some grueling high school finals,  (eek physics!)  All I want for Christmas is a quiet dinner for the four of us sometime during the holidays.  Too much to ask?

I want to thank you for all the Christmas wishes and to take this opportunity to say how much I appreciate knowing you’re out there listening to KDFC everyday.  You are the reason I come to work each day.  And I will be back at it December 26.

The best to you and yours.

Dianne

This week we gave away our new baseball cap.  It’s a really comfortable…all black with a silver and black logo.  Pretty hip.  We also gave away some recently-discovered CDs that sold out last year.  The KDFC Classical Christmas 3 was our charity disc in ‘06.  Kudos to our promotions guru Val.  He found some extra CDs hiding in a closet.

MONDAY
Have you ever “blanked” yourself?  A new survey finds that 47% of us have.
GOOGLED (Winner-Norm Petker, Livermore)

TUESDAY
Half of all Americans will be doing this on Christmas Eve.   75% will be doing it the day after Christmas.
WORKING (laptops on airlines..etc) (Winner-John Craig, San Jose)

WEDNESDAY
It was about this time in 1879 that Thomas Edison privately demonstrated one his inventions (perfections).   In a few years, it could become obsolete, even illegal.
INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULB (Winner-Bob Marshall, Alamo)

THURSDAY
Bartender Magazine says the best tippers are restaurant workers and regular customers.  Name one of the worst tippers from the Top-7 list.
DOCTORS, LAWYERS, BANKERS, 21-25 YEAR OLDS, TEACHERS, COMPUTER NERDS, PIPE SMOKERS
(Winner-Mark Miller, El Cerrito)

FRIDAY
(Rik Malone is filling in for me Friday.  I’ll add his question next week sometime)

I haven’t blogged” all this week.  I have been preoccupied with projects at home.  We’ve been installing lighting in our backyard and watching and re-watching the season finale of Dexter.   Oh, and The Biggest Loser.  Plus I’ve been keeping an eye on a neighbor’s house.   I did want to say thanks for all of your emails.  I am re-printing a few of my favorites of the past couple days.

John,
Hi — I just heard you say that you like to hear from internet listeners.  I am an astronomer (from the Univ of Michigan) and have been listening to KDFC the past few nights while observing.  It’s been very nice hearing the great music coming out of my laptop as I work on brand new astronomical observations.  Keep up the nice music.
Mario

What Barbara and Tony are referring to is my appearance this Saturday night in the Oakland Ballet’s Nutcracker at the Paramount.  I’ve been invited as an All Star guest dancer.   I should point out that I am not and have never been a ballet dancer so this will be a first.   I won’t be on the air tomorrow, Friday, December 21st, as I will be in rehearsal all afternoon.   I did extra lunges, squats and crunches this week.  I hope it helps    <g>   I know that a few dozen KDFC listeners will be in the audience Saturday night.   For the rest of you, I will share my experiences and maybe even a few photos (yikes) sometime next week.

If you celebrate Christmas, have the best ever!    And a “Great Eight” (new year).
Ciao for now…  

 The Times put it best with the headline “Homo erectus extinctus”. According to recent research by Oxford Univeristy professor Bryan Sykes, author of the book Adam’s Curse, defects in the Y chromosome can cause it to disintigrate over many generations which will eventually result in male infertility. Women will have to reproduce by themselves. “The core sex is female,” he says. “Male infertility is high because genes on the Y chromosome are packing up all the time. Many species become extinct because their Y chromosomes apparently disintegrate. In the end, the same thing will probably lead to the extinction of the male gender.” My guess is we’ll be missed and I’ll let you pick your own reasons why. You can read the Times article here.

Our Whiz Kid Wednesday question concerned what has been described as mankind’s largest construction project ever in terms of time, materials and human labor. The first few answers were for the Pyramids of Egypt and the Panama Canal. Both are spectacular structures that did take time, material and human lives. David from Fremont won with his correct answer…The Great Wall of China (1700 years in the making, so I’ve read). More chances Thursday and Friday mornings at 6:30 in the Commuter Quiz.

The Soviet Union started jamming broadcasts from the Voice of America the same year that Leroy Anderson wrote the holiday favorite “Sleigh Ride”. I’m sure their music critics hated it (“pointless, overly sentimental capitalist mush”). Our 8:30 am Blind Date music and events happened in 1948.

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Betsy and I had a laugh over the story I came across of an English farmer and her over-the-top holiday main course. Some how she has stuffed 48 birds, twelve different species into one another. It’s kind of a Russian doll affair. As you cut through it the is layer after layer of different formerly flying things. This is all inspired by recipes from Tudor times and seems like a serious amount of work. Oh, it will feed you and 124 of your closest friends and/or relatives. See more here.

We lose a million every 40 minutes or so. Thankfully not dollars, but…skin cells (eeeeyuuuu! Time to change the sheets). Don of Walnut Creek had the answer, and as caller 12 picks up the very comfortable, stylish and cool KDFC baseball cap and a copy of last years Classical Christmas 3 sampler (out of print). Your chance to win three times a day all week during the 6:30 am Commuter Quiz, the noontime Lunch Box with Dianne and the Prize @ 5 with John Evans.

World leaders generally don’t lead their troops into battle anymore. The last English king, George II, was the last to lead his troops into the fray during the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria during our Blind Date year 1743, the year the world first heard the carol O come all ye faithful.

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Here they are. Kate and Jake.  Possibly my cutest and smallest listeners.