Happy New Year's Day From The Dino Lounge, Plus A Big Announcement

Happy New Year! I hope that everybody will have a fantastic time ringing in 2010. I do hope that all of you who celebrated Christmas had a wonderful time this year.

I'm still without a cable modem. I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately, plus I've been talking to my sister. We've decided to give up the internet at our house for the time being. Money is really tight right now. It doesn't seem to be getting any better any time soon. We are giving up both our high speed internet and our digital cable service. We are just going to keep basic cable. That will save us some money every month. We are always looking for way to cut expenses.

I am putting this and my other blog on hiatus for the time being. I had been mulling doing this anyway before the situation with the cable modem arose. The modem dying just sealed it for me.

I've got a lot of things I want to try to work on in 2010. The last few years of my life have been rather rocky. Plus I will turn 40 in 2010. That's one of those milestone birthdays. There are some goals I'm setting for myself that I want to accomplish in this year.

I really want to get back into shape. I've gained a lot of weight over the last few years. When I'm stressed out, I eat a lot. I've been stressed out so much due to work and other factors. I want to start eating better and working out again.

I also want to try to find another job this year. It's not getting any better at work. I'm thankful that I've got a job when so many others are still out of work. I still would like to figure out something else to do. I'm not getting the hours or the pay I was a few years back. It's been a real struggle.

I want to work on my spiritual life as well. I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older or what, but I've been thinking about spiritual matters a lot lately. I plan to start going to a house of worship in a few weeks. I want to work on my relationship with God. Plus it will give me a chance to be part of some community and something greater than myself.

I have so much enjoyed doing both my blogs. I've had a lot of fun. I've meet a lot of great people. I'm going to miss it. But I feel like I need to take this break for now so I can concentrate on some other areas of my life. Blogs tend to take so much time and energy. I need to focus that instead on improving my life. I'm not saying I'll never come back. I may be back in a month or it could be six months or more. I'm not sure. Thanks so much for all the support and friendship you've all given me since I starting blogging. It means the world to me. I care about you guys a lot.

I'll be able to get on the internet a few times a week at my grandmother's. I plan to keep my pages on Facebook and MySpace. For those that I'm friends with on either, we can keep in touch there. If you are on either of those and we are not friends yet, I hope that you will become my friend. I do want to stay in touch.

I hope all of you will understand what's going on. Please don't be upset with you. This is just something I need to do. My sister Stephanie is taking a break from her blog Chic Femme as well. I'm not sure how long her break will be. It could be shorter or longer than mine. She's working on getting into graduate school.

Take care. I wish you all the best in 2010. God bless you all. Cheers!

P.S. I wanted to leave you with a couple of videos. The first is of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra doing a skit on Dino's television show for New Year's. The other one is Frank Sinatra and Liza Minnelli singing New York, New York. I hope you will enjoy both.

Merry Christmas From The Dino Lounge

This photo of Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall celebrating the holidays with their kid comes from my pallie Bill.

I did want to say that I hope all of you have enjoyed these last two weeks of Christmas posts here at The Dino Lounge. I had so much fun putting these together. They definitely helped put me in the holiday spirit.

The blog The Shelf started a meme to name your top 10 Christmas music performances. I was tagged by my pallie over at Retro Hound to take part in this.

I remember that MTV would show a lot of Christmas videos during the holiday season when I was a teenager. These are ten of the videos from some of the songs that I enjoyed most back then. Do any of you guys remember these songs? Which ones do you like?

I'm not going to be back as soon as I thought. My cable modem has died. I'm going to have to get another one. I don't have the money for that yet. It will be at least Monday, January 4th before I'm back up here.

I hope that all of you will have a wonderful time with your loved ones. Take good care of yourselves. God bless you all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Paul McCartney: Wonderful Christmas Time



John Mellencamp: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus



David Bowie & Bing Crosby: Little Drummer Boy



Hall & Oates: Jingle Bell Rock



John Lennon: Happy Christmas



Band Aid: Do They Know It's Christmas



Wham!: Last Christmas



Run-DMC: Christmas In Hollis



U2: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)



Annie Lennox & Al Green: Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Sammy Davis Jr. Has Got The Ticket For Holiday Relief

It's Sammy Claus again! Here are some Christmas ads that Sammy Davis Jr. did for Alka-Seltzer. I love seeing all the ads out there featuring celebs promoting all sorts of products. Sammy not only did print ads, but also television commercials for Alka-Seltzer. I'm posting a Christmas one he did. I hope you like the ads and commercial. Take Sammy's advice this holiday season if you aren't feeling so well. :-)

Have A Very Merry Elvis Christmas

I can always remember listening to Christmas music by Elvis Presley at the home of my paternal grandparents when I was growing up. The iconic Christmas tune by Elvis has gotta be Blue Christmas. It's definitely one of my favorite songs to listen to during the holiday season. I hope you enjoy this video of the King performing this song. Plus I've included the covers of some of the Christmas albums by Elvis.

Vintage Christmas Ads For Your Viewing Pleasure

Here are some various vintage Christmas ads. I've always loved vintage ads. It's really cool to see those that celebrate the holiday season. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

The ad above comes courtesy of my pallie Belinda.

The rest of these ads all come courtesy of my pallie Mike.

P.S. I wanted to post a clip of one of my favorite Christmas songs. This is Little Saint Nick by the Beach Boys. I love this song so much. It's very catchy. I hope you enjoy it.

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas

White Christmas, penned by Irving Berlin, is one of my favorite Christmas songs. The most popular version by far is the classic version by Bing Crosby, which had sold millions and millions of copies throughout the years. This song always reminds me of Christmas as a child. I remember that I always wanted it to snow on Christmas back in those days. I'm posting Bing's rendition of the song, as well as several others for your enjoyment. Let me know which version you like the best.

Bing Crosby:



Dean Martin:



Dolly Parton:



Robbie Williams: This is a more comical version of the song



Celtic Woman:



IL Divo:



Rick Astley:



Andrea Bocelli:



Perry Como:

Frank & Nancy Sinatra Celebrate Christmas Together

I love this photo of Frank and Nancy Sinatra together. These two make such a great looking father and daughter. Christmas is a wonderful time to spend with our families. I'd love to have these two show up at my home during the holiday season. I'd just have to figure out the perfect gift for each of them.



Here's a video somebody made featuring Nancy Sinatra singing an Italian folk carol called O Bambino.



P.S. Frank's birthday was on December 12th. He would be 94 if he was still living. Happy Belated Birthday to the Chairman of the Board. I raise a toast in his honor. Cheers!

Sean Connery Brings Jim Beam For The Holidays

Sean Connery doesn't really have anywhere to spend Christmas at. He's looking for an invitation. He'll bring the Jim Bean with him. I'm sure he would be quite the guest at the holidays. Any takers?

Nothing Says Merry Christmas Like Chesterfield

Chesterfield was a popular brand of cigarettes back in the 1950's/1960's. It was actually the favorite cigarette brand of Lucille Ball. There are so many really cool vintage ads for their cigarettes. Many celebrities actually did advertising for them. Whether you're a smoker or not, it is neat to see this slice of another time period. I've got a bunch of ads from them that I plan to post in the future. Here are some of the Christmas ads Chesterfield did in the past. I hope you like them.











The ad above comes courtesy of my pallie Mike.







P.S. I hadn't originally put this in the post, but I'm adding it in now. I watched an Andy Williams Christmas special on PBS yesterday, so I wanted to share a clip from it with you guys. Here's Andy singing Silent Night.

Sammy Davis Jr. Comes Bearing Gifts For Dean Martin

I love these photos. Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin look to be having such a wonderful time. These two really always seemed to love being around one another. They were definitely great pallies.

It would be so cool to open the door to find Sammy as Santa Claus standing there. I wonder what sort of gifts he would be bringing. What would you like Sammy Claus to bring you?







Here are some Christmas songs by Dean Martin. These are videos that people created featuring clips of Dean Martin. I hope you enjoy the songs. I love hearing Dean Martin croon Christmas tunes.

Baby It's Cold Outside: featuring Martina McBride



Let It Snow:



Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:



Jingle Bells:



I'll Be Home For Christmas:

Some Of My Favorite Christmas Album Covers

These are some Christmas album covers throughout the years that I like. Many of them I posted last year at this time, but I thought I would share them again. So which do you like the best?





























I thought I would end this post with a video of Nat King Cole's Christmas classic The Christmas Song.



P.S. I have some affiliate programs which are in the upper right side of my blog. If you haven't finished all your Christmas shopping, consider buying some items from any of these affiliates. I'm sure you can find something great for your loved ones and even for yourself. I get a small commission on any sales. It would be well appreciated. You can check out the affiliate programs on my other blog Sugar & Spice. Some of them are different than these. Thanks.

It's A Marshmallow World With Dean Martin & Friends

One of my favorite tunes to listen to as the Christmas season rolls around each year is Marshmallow World by Dean Martin. It was recorded by Dino for his 1966 Christmas album. I really love this song. It really puts me in the holiday spirit. Here are several different video versions of the song. I hope you will watch all of them. The first one is of Dino singing solo. The second one is a duet with Frank Sinatra. The last one is a duet with Beverly Sills. Let me know which version you like the best.







P.S. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to promote my blog? I was talking to somebody about this the other day. They seemed surprised that I was curious about this subject. I guess they figured I had enough people visiting my blog and commenting. I know I get a lot of comments. I've also got a lot of people who follow my blog, plus there are a lot who are subscribed to the feed. I'm still interested to learn more about how to get more traffic to my blog. I want to build up my readership even more. Any advice at all would be well appreciated? Thanks so much.

Also, I did want to mention this. I know some other bloggers are having the same trouble. I'm having some problems with comments on my blog. It's actually on both my blogs. They are very slow to show up. I also know some people have had trouble leaving comments. Some comments never seem to appear at all. It is very irritating. I'm getting really sick of Blogger right now. I do hope you will bear with me Please continue to leave your comments. They are always well appreciated. I love hearing from you guys. Thanks so much. I did want you all to know what's been happening. Take care.

The Holiday Season Starts Now At The Dino Lounge

The holiday season has arrived here at The Dino Lounge. I will be doing Christmas posts from now until Wednesday, December 23rd. That day will be my last post until Monday, December 28th. I will taking off to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends during my holiday break. I plan to post videos, photos, etc. during the next two weeks. I hope you will continue to come back to see what I'm posting next. This is a photo of Joey Heatherton and Perry Como. I assume this was on one of his Christmas specials. I'm not sure of the year though. I hope you like it. Put on some Rat Pack Christmas music, make yourself some hot chocolate, cozy up by the fire & get ready to enjoy the holidays with your pallie here at The Dino Lounge. We are going to have a very merry time together. Cheers!



This photo come courtesy of my pallie Bill.

This video is not from that special, but this is Perry Como singing It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas. This song was a big hit for Perry. I thought I would share it with you guys.



If you haven't already done so, please make sure to enter my Perricone Giveaway. You can win a free jar of Cold Plasma, which is valued at $150. You must be a resident of the United States to enter though.



Click on the above graphic to be taken to the giveaway post. Just leave a comment there if you haven't done so already to be entered. The giveaway will close on Friday, December 18th. I will soon after announce the winner. Don't delay getting your entry in. Thank you. Good luck.