All I Want For Christmas is a Real Good Tan (Yule Log Edition)

The annual Yule Log special on PBS is tied to some of my fondest memories of Christmas as a child. I remember the glow of my parents' tree and the excitement on Christmas Eve, and I got my cookies ready for Santa. Through all of this, Yule Log would be playing in the background, with its cozy scene of a log burning away and a medley of magical Christmas tunes. Whenever I see Yule Log today, all those warm feelings and nostalgia come right back to me. It's one of those little things that makes it really feel like Christmas to me. In recent years, I keep missing it in the TV listings and forgetting to tune in—last year, I wished to myself that they would show it more often. Yes, I think I'm probably the only person in the world who cares this much about Yule Log.

Naturally, when I heard that there was a new line of Yule Log DVDs, I knew I had to get my hands on one. I received Kenny Chesney's All I Want For Christmas Is a Real Good Tan (The Yule Edition) to review, and it's crackling away as I write this. The disc contains eleven Christmas songs—some standards, and some originals, such as the title track, “All I Want For Christmas is a Real Good Tan.” There seems to be a sunny theme here—besides the tanning, Chesney is pictured on the front cover in a Santa hat sitting under a palm tree. Many of the songs have a tropical flair to them, which I found somewhat disconcerting, but I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas carols. My favorites on here were “I'll Be Home For Christmas,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and “Silent Night,” featuring The Grigsby Twins. There are two other guest stars on here as well—“Christmas in Dixie” features Randy Owen, while “Pretty Paper” features Willie Nelson.

You have the option to choose between three scenes on here—the classic yule log, the “Cozy Cottage”, and “The Snowy Cabin”. My DVD player is secondhand and doesn't have a remote, so I had no way of changing the scenes, but I already mentioned that I'm a Christmas traditionalist so the classic yule log was fine by me. You also have the option of playing the yule log without the soundtrack—it's just a soothing loop of the scene with the crackles and pops of the fire. This way, I can play other Christmas music on CDs alongside it—meaning yule log on demand! If you have the same fond PBS Christmas memories that I do, then yule love this.

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