The Virtual Pew Daily: Christmas in a New Way with Trans Siberian Orchestra

I have to say, if there is any single thing I would really like to do in a selfish way this Christmas, it would be to take my wife to Kansas City or Oklahoma City to see this years production of A Trans Siberian Orchestra's Christmas. I love this group.

The Trans Siberian Orchestra reminds me a great deal of one of my favorite bands of all time, The Electric Light Orchestra, or ELO as many came to know them by. They have also been compared to Pink Floyd but I personally believe the ELO association is more accurate. They do an wonderful job of mixing rock guitar alongside of orchestration to bring about a wonderful blend of music and emotion. Their extravagant stage productions makes one think of the ELO days when they would do concerts on a stage that resembled a UFO. TSO likely also has the most elaborate lighting show in music today.

One of the things that impress me about Trans Siberian Orchestra is their refusal to compromise on all aspects of the music they perform. As a result, they are booked pretty much solid, everyday, from the first of November to the first of January with the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On several of those days they do 2 or more concerts. The lavish stage production shows the understanding of pleasing the eye. The wonderful production show an understanding of pleasing the ear, and the wonderful recognition of the old hymns and modern adaptations show an understanding of the true meaning of Christmas.

While there is much that can be appreciated by their uncompromising Christmas Spirit, there is also much that can be learned for our own life lessons. Neither should we be willing to compromise the integrity of the message of what Christmas is all about. We need to recognize the liberty we have in finding new ways, to celebrate old themes. The themes and messages of Christmas still have relevancy, although, sometimes, we have to put old wine into new wine skins to get people to have an appreciation of what some of those old things say. I do not think I will ever forget the guy who told me he had heard this great new song called The First Noel. While hearing a new rendition of the old song, he did not realize the song was old. Trans Siberian Orchestra has shown us we as well can find new ways to let others know about old messages.

Like I said earlier, if I could have one selfish gift this year, attending their concert with my wife in Kansas City or Oklahoma City would be it. Since that isn’t likely going to happen because I don't have the $125 for tickets I have had to settle for some of the wonderful videos and songs on YouTube. I also got to tape on the DVR the Christmas Special being featured on PBS this month. My wife hadn't heard of the band, so I will assume some of you have not either. Watch the videos that follow The Virtual Pew giving and posting information and see for yourself what I am talking about. I don't think you will be disappointed. You may have heard them and did not realize it.

On a side note, be patient for the Ultimate Christmas Blog with videos. There are many videos available in the archives here and I encourage you to visit them and take a look. There are many more to go, and I am still working on the ultimate blog. I am going to take a little time off today, enjoy a little break, and do some work at the house. So they won't be up today, but I think I will have the ultimate blog up by the weekend. Right now I have over a hundred videos up linked and ready to go, and another 100+ to get ready.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can see various topics and see about the ultimate video blog that will be posted later in the week, certainly prior to the first of next week. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options.

Now for those that don't know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew they will be on the left hand side of the page. If visiting MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there.

Now we also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you don't see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (don't put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
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To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you can visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.