Sure, you be all tired of all the holiday trappings. I am already. I’m typing this while wrapping repurposed books as gifts for the neighbor children…as for the theme, I’ll loosely stick to the above.

Where: https://youtu.be/x30-hrOSkf4

When: Monday Nite, December 28th 7:30PM EDT (“doors” open at 7 for community hang) -

Who gets 10%: https://www.jfcsboston.org/ For more than 150 years, Jewish Family & Children’s Service has been helping individuals and families build a strong foundation for resilience and well-being across the lifespan.
Through an integrated portfolio of more than 40 programs, JF&CS focuses on meeting the needs of new parents and their children, older adults and family caregivers, children and adults with disabilities, and people experiencing poverty, hunger, or domestic abuse.
And just so you get it it’s an organization that helps all kinds of people of all stripes but yeah they started by Jewish folks during the Civil War.

$$$: http://paypal.me/vancevancevance or
https://venmo.com/vancevancevance or
a check to VanceFunder P.O. Box 17, Arlington, MA 02476 for this web-groovery.
Pay or not. Up to you. Let’s stay connected.

This week’s pajamas: We’ll see

I coach voice, songwriting, performance. Contact me. I have some open spots

Good Good Man - the CD - streaming all platforms, even get it from me…
**All my CD’s for whatever you want to pay plus postage for the Holidays. Lemme know**

Plus a few other things I’m doing:

Sun Dec 27th 3pm- Dean Friedman’s Christmas/Chanuka Special https://dean-christmas-chanukah-holiday-zoom-special.eventbrite.com/?aff=VanceGilbert  Yeah. He wrote the hit “Ariel”. I do a pair of tunes here!!!

Sun Dec 27th 7pm- SusieOnSundays - Rerun of my show with Susan Werner, where we brutally comment on our performances. Found here https://fb.me/e/5W8oo87mH

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THE PLANE’S GAMBIT

Intimate friends know that I tend to not mix my vocation and avocation. Sure, I visit aviation friends, museums and bookstores when I tour the world. And sure, I’ll sing something at an aviation gathering if asked. Some natural crossover is unavoidable - note the large bunch of model airplane enthusiasts that come to Monday Nite PajamaParties. Thanks folks. And the occasional fan that finds themselves at the model airplane field to see us fly. Then there’s songs like "Old White Men" and "Icarus By Night” that speak to aspects of my addictio…uh, hobby...

Don’t get me wrong - I love what I do for a living. But the aviation research, design, building, flying, is MINE. And except for this year, there’s a week in July when I am unavailable for work no matter what. Except for the one evening I took off flying to play at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. 4 hours each way for my 40 min set.

So in light of the above, I’ll depart from said laws to post this rewrite of a famous Christmas poem I have posted to my aviation list and the 3 (count them) Civil Aviation History forums I moderate- one for 15 years. Yeah, Civil Aviation. I know the history pretty well and appreciate the mechanics of, but I don’t do much with warplanes. I was friends with Pete Seeger, that’s why. Plus olde civilian aircraft are woefully underrepresented in the aviation history pantheon, so I have a duty... Please pardon some of the poem’s seemingly insidey stuff - the actual colors of between wars civil aircraft are the most difficult things to divine, hence the wish...oh...here I go...you got me started. Congrats, you’re now on the inside.

To All,

Twaas the night before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
'Cept a modeler's spouse

Laying "Colors Of All Airliners
Nineteen-Ten to Today"
Beneath the lit tree
How we wish it that way!

Right next to a copy
Of "Three - Views Complete
Of All the World's Transports"
Wouldn't that be so neat?

In your stocking was plunked
A most wondrous tome
Called "We KNOW They Were Were Silver!"
By Stroud and Ord Hume

And wrapped in a ribbon
Behold, there it sits!
Is "Box Full 'O Engines"?
In all scales and sizes - they're all kits!

And styrene and resin
And basswood and wire
And pre-stretched out sprue
Antennas for hire!

And balsa and tissue
For the rubber scale guys
And a book of incantations
To make sure that it flies

And wheels of spoke
And laminated props
And pre-formed landing gear
And glue... this is tops!

Alas you awaken
Your dream has just died
For there lies your spouse
A'snore by your side

The best gift to give us
May we all be fulfilled
Is time, brothers, time
To research and build

Until we have that
We've got this group, that's right
Merry Christmas to all
And to all....a good night...

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happy holidays all...

xovg