Around the World in 80 Minutes

Yesterday, through Facebook, I watched as friends and relatives around the world started their New Year countdown.  Here in California, we were some of the last to usher in 2011.  And here in my household, it sneaked in like the mice trying to get out of the rain.  My 10-year-old son who declared his intention to stay up till midnight fell asleep on the sofa with his new plush toy, an okapi we got for donating to the World Wildlife Fund.  (Check these out at http://www.worldwildlife.org/.  They're AWESOME.)  The teen daughter holed up in her room watching romantic comedies.  The in-laws read desperately to finish their novels so they don't have to carry them home to New Zealand when they leave us this weekend.  The husband alternated between perusing motorbike and coin magazines.  Me?  I was surfing for new music online.  I had a loooooong list of new albums that I needed to check out.  At 12:00, those of us still alive shared sedate kisses and hugs, wished a blessed new year, and drank some sambuca or port according to our tastes.  It may have been quiet, but it was still a wonderful way to spend the evening, each in their private pursuits.  For all my peeps around the globe, Happy New Year!  Here is January's playlist.

1. "Bamboo Banga"- M.I.A.
2. "Nadas Por Free"- Ozomatli
3. "Gonna Take You There"- Jim Cummings, feat. Terrance Simien
4. "Amsterdam"- Crowded House
5. "Hydra Fancies"- Of Montreal 
6. "Ce N'est Pas Bon"- Amadou & Mariam
7. "Fields of Athenry"- Scythian
8. "How the West Was Won"- Katie Herzig
9. "Feel Good Music"- Dr. John & the Lower 911
10. "Shangri-La"- Ray Davies & the Crouch End Festival Chorus
11. "Night Castle"- Trans-Siberian Orchestra
12. "Pacific Coast Highway"- Hole
13. "Rio"- Duran Duran
14. "Chiquitita"- ABBA
15. "Mentiras"- Los Amigos Invisibles
16. "Mokhtar"- Rachid Taha
17. "Sisters of Avalon"- Cyndi Lauper with Ani DiFranco & Vivian Green