Tis the Season of Joy - AND HUMOR!

Ciao a tutti,

Do I have to remind everyone that it is the Season of Joy and of Humor? Well, I am the one that is throwing in the Humor, I don't know if I have ever heard it said that way. But if you think about it there are all kinds of humor, there are "good humored" people, humorous people, etc. But no matter how you slice it, I think HUMOR is key, especially in this time.

To me, we need to celebrate with humor and also keep our humor in this time, especially if you are in the stores shopping or spending money you shouldn't spend or don't have. But that is another story.

So, the reason for my post today is somewhat humorous. I am blessed with family, friends and fans that are as much into humor as I am and I just had to laugh when I received the above card from an artist fan in New York, Anthony Mancino wishing me the best for the Holidays from him and his wife.

I had to laugh. I wish he would have used a different picture of me, and I don't know where he got this one, but it is funny just the same. And maybe the smug look on my face is perfect considering the funny look on Santa's.

Anthony has made a few of these over the years and I have posted them here, but I don't think I posted this one, which was the very first one he did. He addressed it to my Mother and I since he had just met her at a concert I did in New York the month before. I just ran across it and thought since I was posting the new one, I should post the one that started it all.

Actually, that did not start it. What started it all was when at a concert in New York, I was asked backstage if it was alright with me that a local artist presents me with an art piece that he made which had me as the subject, after the show in front of the whole audience, as a surprise. Well, it wasn't a surprise, because they had to ask my permission, but the art piece was, and meeting Anthony was too since I had never met him.

So that is how it started and I have been enjoying his art "of me," ever since. Grazie, Anthony and Grace.

And will I am thanking fans, I have to mention one of my biggest fans, Mary Lou Consolo. I can't remember where I first met her, but I know that she has been to so many of my shows, I couldn't count. From Connecticut to New York, to Chicago, to Massachusetts to Milwaukee to Florida. Come to think of it, on one of the carribean cruises I did also. I didn't know how she did it.

But one Holiday I received my first annual Christmas Newsletter from her and I saw that Mary Lou got around. This lady was more busy touring than I was at the time. There are pictures of her and I on this blog and on my site and all over, but I just had to post her latest Newsletter which arrived today. In it she mentions how she saw me in one of my appearances.

I wrote her and asked her for permission to post the Newsletter so you know what I mean. Sorry Mary Lou for the oil stain on it. When I opened it and read it, I was enjoying a great plate of pasta with olive oil and garlic, and I wasn't thinking that I was going to post it.

But hey, it's authentic, it's Italian.

Buon Natale to both Mary Lou, Anthony, Grace and all my family, friends and fans.

Filippo

P.S. Speaking of good humor and finding joy in the Season, here is a classic song by John Lennon, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," only sung in Italian. In fact, the protagonist of the show in this video I found on Youtube.com says that he wonders if the composer new that it would become such a meaningful song at Christmas so many years later.

Here is it. (In Italian).