papasboxes.com

1. Make a video of yourself playing a song on a banjo. Any song from any genre or era will be accepted, can be a cover or an original.

2. A Banjo must be one of the instruments used

3. A Banjo must be seen in the video

4.The video must be made specifically for this contest

5. Introduce yourself, and the name of the song in the beginning of the video and say “This is my entry for Papa’s Boxes Banjo Video Contest”

6. NO Profanity, please…This is a family show.

7. In the “Tags” section of your YouTube video put “Papa’s Boxes Banjo Contest”

8. Email a link to your video to papa@papasboxes.com

9. The contest will be judged on entertainment value only. Technical expertise may help, but will not be given the highest priority.

10. Any PERSON, living anywhere in the world may enter the contest

11. You may enter up to three (3) videos for this conest

12. Contest starts: November 13, 2009 and ends 11:59pm, on December 13, 2009

13. Judging will begin December 14, 2009, and a winner will be announced on or by December 19, 2009

14. The Prize: The Papa’s Boxes 5 string banjo as shown in our video

15. All shipping and handeling charges will be covered by Papa’s Boxes.

16. Most importantly, Have Fun….

Don’t you hate it when stores release Christmas stuff way before the Christmas season, even before Thanksgiving? If you do, you’re a lot like my wife Angie. If someone sends me an ad or a sales pitch about some special Christmas gift, I respect what they are doing, and, especially with today’s economy, their need to get a jump on Christmas sales when those sales are likely to be the largest percent of their annual volume. That doesn’t mean I like it, it just means that I understand it. Nevertheless when my wife Angie gets one of those, her usual response is to post the ad with one of those little rubberized magnets on the refrigerator as a reminder not to buy a Christmas gift from them. That may sound a little harsh, but here’s what she said to me.

“Shopping is a big part of what Christmas is all about, or at least what it has become—nothing really wrong with that. It’s a big part, but it shouldn’t be the only part. And the biggest part of Christmas gift shopping should be motivated by the giving. When retailers pull out all the stops, displaying most of their Christmas goodies, playing all the hymns and songs in each and every store, all of them with a long line of children waiting to sit on Santa’s lap (and tell him what they want for Christmas), and all of this long before the ‘official’ start of the holidays, it’s nothing more than the start of the shopping season.

“Names are drawn and Christmas gifts are bought, not just for the kids, but for everyone, presents are wrapped, stockings are hung, all this hustle and bustle and commercialization of the season seem a far cry from the simple idea of being together as a family or with friends just to count our blessings. All this flim-flam about trees, and presents, and Santa Claus tends to obscure the marvelous truth about what each person has in his or her own heart and expresses as the gifts of spirit, sharing and warmth. Instead, it’s nothing but beggars beg and spenders spend, drinkers drink and vendors vend, or something like that—however that ancient rhyme goes.

“Then as soon as the 26th rolls around the stores are open with slashed prices to attract more shopping they hope will last until the next season. Then those Christmas gifts are exchanged or returned, gift certificates are redeemed, yadda yadda yadda. The truth about Christmas would come out if you took away all the gifts,” she says. “Stuff the stockings and that would be it. Then we could get a fresh start. Then we could add gifts as a way to show real feeling, or benevolence or as a symbol of God’s gift.” Then she concludes with the question, “Don’t you agree with me, Walker?”

I sidestepped answering her. I can sympathize with my wife Angie’s point of view, and I’ve learned not to argue much with her about a point she feels so strongly about, or any other point come to think of it. Having said that, I see nothing wrong with offering advice to folks who tend to forget that they’ve got to go out and get some Christmas gifts at least by the day before Christmas. It’s just a reminder, it’s not like they’re being sold something, at least not at that time. We all know that stores are going to be selling Christmas trees, lights, ornaments and other Christmas stuff—if they would just not start selling it before Thanksgiving dinner is served.

But these same places sell all kinds of stuff throughout the year that people will be buying daily, not just as Christmas gifts, whether it’s before, during or in some cases after the Christmas season. And I don’t see anything wrong with them telling people not to forget that Christmas is only two or three months away so don’t forget. I don’t mind getting those reminders at all, but not my wife Angie. She’ll grab one up, and on the frig it goes, faster than a mantis can bite off the head of her mate.

I know my wife Angie will likely be reading this at some time or another, and, just as I’ve learned not to argue a point with her, I’ve learned just as well to apologize in advance when I take another view that is different from hers. So here I am, kind of disagreeing and sort of apologizing all in one whack, and I’m not sure I can get by with either, much less both.

I’m guessing you’re looking for some kind of a banjo or you wouldn’t have found this post. And chances are good that you have in some way connected your banjo need with Christmas. Put those two together and you have Christmas banjo. Isn’t that clever. Well, consider this. Rearrange Christmas banjo and what do you have? Banjo Christmas. I wanted to write a post about a Banjo Christmas. See how this works?

My only hope is that you are reading this well before Christmas. Uh oh. Maybe not. Does the phrase, stuck at Christmas without a gift, mean anything to you? Could be. But either way, whether you’re here early or late, read on and you may get an idea about how to become a Christmas gift hero. To get to that point, let me begin by asking a simple question. Any idea about what kind of banjo? Or what price you can pay? Okay, that’s two questions, sorry. Again, one question, any idea about what kind or what price of banjo?

To really answer that question may require a brief encounter with Virginia Woolf or James Joyce. Say what? These two authors wrote in a unique style that often amounted to no style at all. It’s officially referred to as stream of consciousness writing, that is to say they would come up with a subject and write for hours on end recording whatever came into their minds, forgetting about order, grammar, spelling, or sense. Oh, they did some rewriting, but, even with that, a lot of what they wrote is difficult to comprehend. And that’s the key. Each of them understood fully what they were saying, even if the common reader could make no sense of it at all. If that sounds like gobbledygook to you, please don’t click away yet, just bear with me for a moment.

This is supposed to be your very own stream of consciousness. Well, it may be a tainted stream, at least in my case, but let’s give it a try. The idea is to let your imagination take hold, to listen for and then write down things you might overhear in your mind—come to think of it, that’s a good definition of “stream of consciousness”. Here’s an example from my own polluted stream on our subject of banjo Christmas:

Christmas, don’t know, what can I get, better, brother in law, never, tide that binds, banjo, banjo Christmas, Christmas banjo, Xmas banjo, never, not me, same thing, no, late wrapping, good gift, who cares, makes no sense, well playing, tie a yellow ribbon, red ribbon, rags to riches, yellow and black, good gift, great gift, guitar, banjo, what am I doing, who cares, late working, belated, same thing, always, never, metal, metal drummer, drummer boy, little, wood, wooden, little drummer, fife and guitar, drum, banjo, how to play, who plays, too late, he already played, hate the sound of, no, make my own, economy, downturn, family, family project, yes, no, staycation, lost our way, some trip, we’re together, diy, me, do it, don’t do it, do it all, my way, I did it my way, again for my in law, brother, sister, yourself, do it yourself, late working, working late, hero, come unto me.

Of course this makes no sense, just as intended—not really intended, but just as expected. Sorry, I must not forget that the above nonsensical paragraph is just an illustration. It’s time to make some sense again. Try this yourself on the subject of banjo Christmas (or any subject for that matter), and you may get some real insight into your inner mind. You may be surprised at the revealing messages that may be just below your surface self. You could be blessed with an ah-ha moment, a way to determine the perfect, unique Christmas gift whether you’re shopping early or are somewhat stuck at Christmas without a gift. Good luck to you.