West of Mars -- the Meet and Greet

Wylie tagged me for this one. Silly woman: What do Nice Jewish Girls know about Christmas?

The good news is that Eric* is the son of a minister. And since the Tour Manager was upset that Eric didn't get a say in the five nights meme, I thought we'd let Eric have the full go at this. Even though Eric got to narrate the entire Wall of Fame Thursday Thirteen.

What is your favorite Christmas gift? I used to buy my mom one of those monthly things. Every year would be different: fruit, cheese, flowers, wine. She really liked the beer. But she's getting up there in her years and she'd like more time to devote to her community service projects, so the past few years, I've paid for Michelle, Mitchell and Kerri's housekeeper, to keep house for Mom. And yes, that means all the daily stuff. My mom doesn't need to wash a single dish unless she wants to.

What is your best memory of Christmas? All of them. I don't have a single bad memory. Not even the time Fred jumped on my new GI Joe and broke him. That was bad, but what was better was being allowed to crawl on Mom's lap and cry. Fred wasn't allowed to touch the new GI Joe to replace the broken one, either.

Depending upon where you live, do you have a hot or cold Christmas? That is entirely dependent on where the band is. When we're at home, the climate is beautiful. Cool evenings, warm days. You just can't beat Riverview for great weather.

Would you prefer to try the opposite weather at least just once? I have. I've had snowy Christmases. I've had Christmases where it's been too cold to snow. I've had Christmases that I spent on the beach, getting a sunburn. I've had rainy Christmases and I've had days that were so beautiful, they take your breath away.

The weather doesn't matter, you know. What matters is the sacredness and the sanctity of the day. That is something that comes from within and makes even ugly weather simply beautiful.

What do you prefer in a tree? Fake or real? Our real trees are planted outside the house. Dad could never justify cutting down a living thing for a month's worth of decorations. It seems very callous to God, who created trees. Yes, they were created for our enjoyment, but Dad believes we get more enjoyment from trees that are allowed to continue living and growing. All the in-house decorations are fake, or are plants that will live past the season. Mom has this one poinsettia that she got when she and Dad were first married. She's called in experts to help her keep it alive. That's the sanctity of the living thing for you!

What is your favorite carol? All of them, but I have to admit a weakness for the carols built on a foundation of classical music. All those layers of sound and the way the music soars... reminds me a lot of ShapeShifter music. Except there's not a lot of classical in our heavy metal. Influences, yes. But no violins and cellos. And the layers are only what the four of us can make ourselves.


What is your favorite Christmas dinner? In terms of food? Anything. Members of the congregation invite us over for dinner with them each year. You'd think that having to feed five kids and two adults would be a burden for some families, but having us over for dinner has gotten so popular, Dad has to hold a lottery every year. Families now have to buy tickets for the lottery, and the money goes to the South Riverview Food Bank, who uses the money for a fantastic Christmas dinner for the families they service. The winner gets to feed us. I suspect now that we kids have grown up and moved out, there are more people buying lottery tickets. No one wants to leave the minister and his wife home alone on Christmas.

Do you wear a Santa hat at Christmas? We like to wear them for a song or two onstage. Once, we did an on-air interview with them on.

Have you ever seen Santa delivering gifts? Of course not! No one sees Santa! However, we've all pretended to be Santa. In addition to our Musical Hanukkah Celebration last year, we gave out presents to kids who were in a local hospital over the holiday. It was a lot more fun than your average photo opportunity; the kids really lit up when they saw us.


*For anyone new around here, Eric is a member of the fictional band ShapeShifter. Click on the band's name or his name where it first appears in the post to read their bios so you can bring yourself up to speed on the fictional fun we have around here.

Labels: Eric, meme, Wylie Kinson