The Jim Henson Company has partnered with iTheatrics to develop a musical stage version of its classic holiday television special "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.' The announcement was made today by the show's producers, Brian Henson, co-CEO of The Jim Henson Company and Tim McDonald, CEO of iTheatrics. The show will feature a mix of stage actors and puppet characters and a toe-tapping score of new and original music by Paul Williams, who wrote the music for the award-winning original special. - Muppet Central
I say this all too often (Thanks Mike Judge), but I'm there dude.
I was just looking over the comments on Reel Girl's post and saw someone mention Gremlins (The first one.). Damn, another one I hadn't thought about. Mental note to pick up the DVD soon to add the holiday collection.
Incomplete Top 10: Christmas Movies That Aren't It's a Wonderful Life
Found this link through imdb. Heard of E, never heard of Reel Girl. At any rate, her top ten...
1. Love Actually - Excellent choice. This movie works on so many levels it's not even funny. 2. The Family Stone - Another good one. Still, despite its holiday setting, I don't think of it as a "Christmas movie," in the same way I don't think of Home for the Holidays as a "Thanksgiving movie." 3. Trading Places - Another killer flick, another movie I've never thought of as a Christmas movie. 4. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas - Here's where she loses me. I'm a huge fan of Emmet Otter (And all Muppet movies/shows in general regardless of holiday theme.), but this was a TV (HBO?) special, not a "movie." If the definition of movie is on a sliding scale, where's Rudolph? Where's a Muppet Family Christmas for that matter? Besides, everyone knows the pinnacle of Muppet Christmas movies is The Muppet Christmas Carol. ;) 5. Home Alone - My 7-Up of Hollywood - never seen it, never will. 6. Die Hard - A couple days ago I was pondering why I hadn't included Die Hard in my yearly Christmas Movie ritual. Good choice Reel Girl - score two for Alan Rickman. 7. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation - Required holiday viewing. 8. A Christmas Story - I get the feeling she included this one on the list to save her ass from being rode out on a rail. Peer pressure's a bitch, but this should have rated much, much higher. 9. Funny Farm - Chevy Chase outside of a National Lampoon movie is a sad, sad thing. 10. You tell me! - She left this open for comments, which is a cop-out in itself. But since she asked...
Bad Santa - I list this one first because she mentioned it in the article. This is a movie that I never thought I would like despite being a huge Billy Bob Thornton fan. After one viewing I was hooked.
Elf - How she left Elf off the list is beyond me. Few movies become instant classics, Elf is one of them.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - If Emmet Otter makes the list, Rudolph does too. It's an hour and a half long - by Reel Girl's standards, that constitutes a movie.
The Polar Express - Close to, but not quite, an instant classic.
The Muppet Christmas Carol - I've already mentioned it earlier, but for my money, TMCC is the finest Muppet production A.H. (After Henson). Which is not to say that A Muppet Family Christmas, or A Very Muppet Christmas aren't awesome in their own right.
I've got a few more to add to this list, but I'm bored now so I'll stop.
Gather around the pixelated fire kids, Uncle m/a/z/e has a Christmas story to tell. The bulk of this post is cribbed from an e-mail to John, but, alas, the story needs to be shared.
Like good atheists, we picked up our Christmas tree last weekend - a week or two late for my tastes as I have something of a religious/OCD ritual of picking up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, but road trips and life intervened. The plan was to hit the grocery stores in Reno and grab a tree once we arrived home in Tahoe. That was the plan at least.
Turning onto the Tahoebahn (431 for the uninitiated) we spot a sign, "Oregon Trees." Sweet. A tree and a chance to represent 503? In the immortal words of Butthead, "We're there dude." A quick lane change and right hand turn, and we're browsing the homegrown Douglas Firs.
The farmer guys selling the trees brought the lot from somewhere around Eugene - two fully-loaded Fords and a horse trailer full (Which left us wondering how they got past the fruit/vegetable/plant check at the California border.)
At any rate, the selection is pretty good and we go about picking out a five-six foot tree. As we have to haul the tree up and over Mt. Rose, we ask about getting one that's already been twined up. By this point the farmer dudes have discovered that we are displaced Oregonians (Term stolen from John) and starts digging around for a, quote, "bushy one." Bushy is good, I can deal with bushy.
An appropriately bushy tree is found and the guys throw the tree on top of the car. For the next few minutes I entertain them in my pathetic attempt to bungee the tree to the car - luckily Molliwogg saves the day and tethers the tree on tight while I inquire if anyone is interested in a set of second-hand testicles.
The drive home was fine, Molliwogg's bungee job worked like a charm.
Our first indication something was wrong happened as we attempted to remove the tree from the roof. After sliding the tree off the roof, the whole thing slipped through our hands and crashed to the ground nearly taking a few toes with it. Hmmm. I'm used to trees that can more or less be moved with one hand, still, this tree has been sitting outside for a while, maybe it was just frozen.
It took about ten minutes to get the tree indoors - "carrying" in the traditional sense was impossible, instead we had to do this keeled-over shuffle while hugging the tree at either end. I swear I could feel various muscles in my back separating in the process.
We finally got the tree inside and laid it on its side in the entryway. Quick smoke break and we're ready to put the tree back into a vertical position. Erecting a tree isn't exactly a complicated process, but like the Energizer bunny, this tree just kept going, and going, and going...
If you haven't figured it out by now, our 5-6 foot tree is, in actuality, a 9-11 foot freaking Redwood. Apparently my fellow Oregonians have a different idea of what "bushy" means than I do. The plastic tree stand that served us faithfully for years lasted all of a second under the full weight of Treezilla. Crap.
A quick assessment of the situation and we run over to Ace Hardware and pick up one of the industrial-strength metal tree stands I spied on my last visit. We get back home, transfer the tree from stand to stand and, even with a new stand, Treezilla refuses to be restrained. We have beams running across out ceiling so we wedge the top of the tree against one and finally the leaning tree of Sodom is still.
After another smoke break - this time spent cursing our farmer friends - we return downstairs to cut the twine. No fewer than three people who have heard this story expected a repeat of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but it wasn't meant to be. Our tree was frozen solid and maintained it's shape. Over the course of a few hours the tree melted enough to "bloom," decreasing the size of our living room in the process.
Now, I'm not exactly the tallest guy in the world, I'm closer to average than short, but I now know what a hobbit feels like. It's a little intimidating having a tree in the house that you know every time you walk by it's thinking, "If I fall on you, you're dead." Bully.
It took us three days to decorate Treezilla, its murderous intent made all the more absurd with twinkling lights and ornaments - something akin to Hannibal Lecter in a Easter Bunny suit. Still, I have no idea how I'm going to get this monster out of our house once the new year arrives.
So that's my Christmas story. The moral being, don't trust that Oregonians know what the word "bushy" means unless they're talking about hippy armpits.
Over the years, various people have read various meanings into the oversized and ornately lit martini glass that beams down over Portland each holiday season.
To some, the West Hills fixture is a familiar symbol of Christmas cheer. To others, it's an homage to Portland's anti-establishment ethos. To a few, it's unfortunate encouragement to party too hard this time of year.
The real story behind the glass-and-metal display is simpler, and sweeter. - OregonLive
Sounds, the summer sun comes down. I can hardly see the window from here now. Here and now.
The snow, in waves you'll never know, through this ever-changing midnight. Just let it go.
Hey, on this sacred, sun-rinsed day. They'll sell our culture and they'll sell the ways, the blaming. Standing still, we'll fall. Burn this sadness from my soul, babe. I guess that's all.
Fear, and the sky begins to clear. Through this ever-changing midnight.
Haji was a punk just like any other boy And he never had no trouble till he started up his Oi band Safe in the garage or singing in the tub Till Haji went too far and he plugged in at the pub
'Twas a cold Christmas eve when Trevor and the skins Popped in for a pint and to nick a back of crisps Trevor liked the music but not the Unity He unwound Haji's turban and he knocked him to his knees
If God came down on Christmas Day I know exactly what He'd say He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins and Oi to the world and everybody wins!"
Haji was a bloody mess, he ran out through the crowd he said "we'll meet again we are bloody but not unbowed" Trevor called his bluff and told him where to meet Christmas day on the roof down at 20 Oxford street
If God came down on Christmas Day I know exactly what He'd say He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins and Oi to the world and everybody wins!"
On the roof with the nun chucks Trevor broke a lot of bones But Haji had a sword like the guy in Indiana Jones
Police sirens wailing, a bloody dying man Haji was alone and abandoned by his band Trevor was there fading and still so full of hate When the skins left him there and went down the fire escape Oi! Oi!
But then Haji saw the north star shining more then ever So he made a tourniquet from his turban saving Trevor They rappelled down the roof with the rest of the turban and went back to the pub where they bought each other bourbon
If God came down on Christmas Day I know exactly what He'd say He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins and Oi to the world and everybody wins!"
If God came down on Christmas Day I know exactly what He'd say He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins and Oi to the world and everybody wins!" Oi! Oi! - The Vandals
Hi boys and girls! This is your old friend Sonic Youth And you know what? We just got back from the North Pole And you know what we were doing up there don't you That's right, we saw him alright And all his little dwarves Boy, did we get off on them And we learned some wonderful things about him And we'd like to sing you all a little song So why dontcha, you know, move on up And come up close, and we'll sing to you Come on, closer! Closer! Come on! I won't bite! Come on! Right down by my shoes Come on, move closer, that's it.. great Okay, huddle all around, and we'll sing you a song Alright, you too Johnny! Come on! Closer!
All year long he's busy making toys For all the little girls and little boys He puts them in his sled and gives his whip a crack On Donder, on Blitzen, but never on smack Cuz Santa doesn't cop out on dope! Has he ever even tried it? Well ya know The answer's no! So little kiddies, here's my point Just leave him cookies, and save your joint Cuz Santa Claus turns on it his own way Watching you and I turn on.. on Christmas day Merry Christmas Merry Christmas David Geffen
Merry Christmas everybody! - Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope by Sonic Youth
In lieu of an actual post, here's five articles that caught my attention recently.
Velvet Undergound Acetate on ebay.
At about 8:30 tonight, the eBay auction of an early, ultra-rare acetate record by the Velvet Underground rock band will conclude, and Isaacson, owner of Mississippi Records in Portland and the selling agent for the record, will know for sure how high the bidding reached. Its price tag of $151,000 at midday Thursday looked, shall we say, promising.
The object of so much online auction desire is unprepossessing. The record has little more than the band's name, the name N. Dolph and a few numbers written on it -- in addition to the date, 4-25-66. - Oregon Live (The final selling price was $155,401.)
A Christmas Story house opens in Cleveland.
Though originally panned by critics as a dark depiction of the holidays, "A Christmas Story" has earned status as a movie classic, rivaling long-time seasonal favorites like "It's a Wonderful Life." Now fans from as far away as LosAngeles and Phoenix are flocking to a gritty Cleveland street overlooking a steel factory to visit the Parker family house restored to its movie glory.
A San Diego entrepreneur, Brian Jones, bought the house sight unseen on e-Bay for $150,000 in December 2004. He grew up watching "A Christmas Story" every year with his family. After Mr. Jones failed the vision test required to become a Navy pilot, his father tried cheering him up by building him a lamp with a woman's leg as the base, similar to the one that enchanted Ralphie's father in the movie. - NY Times
An Interesting Article on Walt Disney.
The weather was kind to Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955. So kind, in fact, that the heels of women's shoes got stuck in the warm asphalt. Anything other than sunshine would have been an insult to the opening of America's latest Shangri-La: Disneyland, or, as its creator called it, "the happiest place on Earth." On that day, if you believe one estimate, as many as twenty-eight thousand people poured through the gates, with seventy million more, about half the population of the country, watching the event on television. Walt Disney had already conquered TV through "Disneyland," which was broadcast every week on ABC, and that day the Mouseketeers, Disney's troupe of performing children, danced live for the public, wearing their black skullcaps with rounded ears - the most recognizable corporate headgear after that of the Playboy Bunnies. The broadcast was hosted by three celebrities, who, just to double the delirium, played hopscotch through the crowds around the park. One of them was the movie star Ronald Reagan. - New Yorker
Again from the New Yorker, an interesting comparison of the BBC version of The Office and the hideous NBC version.
If Samuel Beckett were still around, his plays might begin on the late shift. "An office. An unattended PC glows under strong fluorescent light. Front left, a copying machine. Front right, a document shredder. Back, in near-darkness, a lounge with a disorderly refrigerator. A head peeps over a cubicle wall." - New Yorker
Finally, a history of MySpace from Valleywag.
On July 11th, 2006, Hitwise reported that MySpace had "surpassed Yahoo! Mail as the most visited domain on the Internet for US Internet users." Clearly, MySpace has become almost ubiquitous--everyone and their mom have a profile up, from the fourteen-year old girl next door to Madonna. Tom Anderson himself--one of the site's founders and every MySpace user's number one "friend"--has over 109 million pals with profiles, and that's just today; by next week that number could easily have increased by millions. What's interesting is that most users don't know that Tom Anderson is more of a PR scheme than anything else--the mascot designed to give a friendlier feel to a site created by a marketing company known for viral entertainment websites, pop-up advertising, spam, spyware, and adware.
Most users believe that MySpace started as some kind of fluke--a happy accident that began in Anderson's bedroom or garage--and many still don't wonder, know, or care about the site's real business history and model. Heralded as a haven of DIY self-expression, MySpace was actually created by executives whose backgrounds are anchored in spam and mass marketing, and who are tied to investment scandals. With his almost alternateen good looks, Tom Anderson has served as an exceptionally convincing distraction. The PR campaign is one of MySpace's two strokes of genius, brilliant, but not groundbreaking. - Valleywag
Knee deep in reindeer, snowmen and Santa's from unpacking Christmas decorations, my daughter made an interesting observation...
"There's too many eyes in here."
Normally after a comment like that I'd have her immediately tested for drugs, but in this case she had a point. There were a lot of eyes in the room.
In the two weeks that passed since that conversation, I've found myself noticing eyes everywhere. I used to have stuff, now I have stuff with eyes. I decided it was time to take inventory.
Computer Room/Spare Bedroom - 70 full-time eyes (Action figures, cat calendar, candles in the shape of Frankenstein, the Wolfman, etc.). 2 Christmas eyes (Snowman nightlight). Total: 72 eyes
Living Room - 24 full-time eyes (Tiki heads, masks, cow skull - for the sake of this survey, eye sockets count, various gargoyles and photographs). 136 Christmas eyes (Ornaments, snowmen and Santa candles, various nutcrackers.) Total: 160 eyes
Bathroom #2 - 8 full-time eyes. 0 Christmas eyes (Bathroom #2 is something of a Grinch). Total: 8 eyes
Kitchen - 74 full-time eyes (Magnets, Lola Falana cookie jar, pictures, various animal vinegar/vegetable concoction decorative bottles). 4 Christmas eyes (A couple of nutcrackers). Total: 78 eyes
Total full-time eyes: 214 Total Christmas eyes: 152 Total eyes: 366
Three hundred and sixty-six peepers. Two hundred and fourteen of which stare back at me twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Up until a couple weeks ago I never noticed, now it seems...excessive. And just a touch creepy.
Ironically, I have a framed WWII propaganda poster hanging in my living room. It's title?
The source that added eight individually-named reindeer to the then-nascent Santa Claus legend was the poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (now more commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas"), first published in 1823. A portion of the poem read as follows:
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of midday to objects below; When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name. "Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Dunder and Blixem! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now, dash away! dash away! dash away all!
Who are those last two reindeer? 'Dunder and Blixem'? Aren't they supposed to be 'Donner and Blitzen'? - Check out Snopes for more.
"Santas do tip well," said Goedert, a Reno tax attorney. "Probably because we're all over 30 and do other jobs."
The idea sounds pretty simple. A few friends, looking for something fun to do the weekend before Christmas, dress in Santa suits and hit bars, as many as they can from 7 p.m. Saturday until sunup Sunday, or until they've had enough, whichever comes first. - RGJ
"WASHINGTON (AFP) - One partridge in a pear tree: 104.99 dollars, up 12.9 percent.
Seven swans-a-swimming: 4,200 dollars, up 20 percent.
Overall, the cost of the items cited in the holiday song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is 18,348 dollars, up 6.1 percent over last year, according to the annual Christmas Price Index released Monday by PNC Bank. ... The Internet price index was much higher for the 12 items, due to shipping and handling costs -- 29,322.80 dollars, up 5.7 percent from a year ago. "- Yahoo
In other news, the biggest shopping day of the year isn't.
CLEVELAND - The home where the classic holiday movie "A Christmas Story" was filmed has been purchased on eBay by a California man for $150,000. Brian Jones could not resist when his wife told him eBay was offering the Cleveland home where the film family lived in the 1940s and the main character, a boy named Ralphie, daydreamed of shooting bad guys with a BB gun he hoped to get for Christmas. - Yahoo
I don't know what's cooler, the fact that you can get a four-bedroom house for $150k, or the fact that they guy is turning it into a museum.
Did you ever hear the story of the Christmas Tree who just didn't want to change the show He liked living in the woods and playing with squirrels He liked icicles and snow.
He liked wolves and eagles and grizzly bears and critters and creatures that crawled Why bugs were some of his very best friends Spiders and ants and all.
Now that's not to say that he ever looked down on the vision of twinkling lights Or on mirrored bubbles and peppermint canes And a thousand other delights.
And he often had dreams of tiny reindeer and a jolly old man and a sleigh full of toys and presents and wonderful things And the story of Christmas Day.
Oh, Alfie believed in Christmas all right He was full of Christmas cheer All of each and every day and all throughout the year.
To him it was more than a special time much more than a special day It was more than a beautiful story It was a special kind of way.
You see, some folks have never heard a jingle bell ring And they've never heard of Santa Claus They've never heard the story of the son of God And that made Alfie pause.
Did that mean that they'd never know of peace on earth or the brotherhood of man Or know how to love, or know how to give If they can't...no one can.
You see, life is a very special kind of thing not just for a chosen few But for each and every living breathing thing Not just me and you.
So in your Christmas prayers this year Alfie asked me if I'd ask you Say a prayer for the wind, and the water, and the wood And those who live there, too. - From John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together.
An atheist who loves Christmas music. Who'd of thunk? Happy Holidays everybody, try and be good to each other.
If I cannot bring you comfort then at least I bring you hope for nothing is more precious than the time we have and so we all must learn from small misfortune count the blessings that are real let the bells ring out for Christmas at the closing of the year - From The Closing of the Year by Wendy & Lisa
Rudolph came to life in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (operators of a chain of department stores) asked one of their copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. (The Montgomery Ward stores had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year, and May's department head saw creating a giveaway booklet of their own as a way to save money.) May, who had a penchant for writing children's stories and limericks, was tapped to create the booklet.
May, drawing in part on the tale of The Ugly Duckling and his own background (he was a often taunted as a child for being shy, small, and slight), settled on the idea of an underdog ostracized by the reindeer community because of his physical abnormality: a glowing red nose. Looking for an alliterative name, May considered and rejected Rollo (too cheerful and carefree a name for the story of a misfit) and Reginald (too British) before deciding on Rudolph. He then proceeded to write Rudolph's story in verse, as a series of rhyming couplets, testing it out on his 4-year-old daughter Barbara as he went along. Although Barbara was thrilled with Rudolph's story, May's boss was worried that a story featuring a red nose — an image associated with drinking and drunkards — was unsuitable for a Christmas tale. May responded by taking Denver Gillen, a friend from Montgomery Ward's art department, to the Lincoln Park Zoo to sketch some deer. Gillen's illustrations of a red-nosed reindeer overcame the hesitancy of May's bosses, and the Rudolph story was approved. Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booket in 1939, and although wartime paper shortages curtailed printing for the next several years, a total of 6 million copies had been given by the end of 1946. (More)
Lee Marvin - Lee Marvin Sings Your Favorite Christmas Classics (Tell me you wouldn't give a kidney to hear Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood dueting I'll Be Home For Christmas.)
Art of Noise - Christmas Remixes (How cool would that be?)
Darth Vader - T'was The Night Before Christmas (Spoken Word)
N.W.A. - Christmas In Compton (Eazy-E's Merry Motherfuckin' Christmas comes as close to this as we'll ever see.)
Glenn Danzig & The Mormon Tabernacle Choir - Silent Night And More!
It was December 24th on Hollis Ave in the dark When I see a man chilling with his dog in the park I approached very slowly with my heart full of fear Looked at his dog oh my God an ill reindeer But then I was illin because the man had a beard And a bag full of goodies 12 o'clock had neared So I turned my head a second and the man had gone But he left his driver's wallet smack dead on the lawn I picket the wallet up then I took a pause Took out the license and it cold said "Santa Claus" A million dollars in it, cold hundreds of G's Enough to buy a boat and matching car with ease But I'd never steal from Santa, cause that ain't right So I'm going home to mail it back to him that night But when I got home I bugged, cause under the tree Was a letter from Santa and all the dough was for me
It's Christmas time in Hollis Queens Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese And Santa put gifts under Christmas trees Decorate the house with lights at night Snow's on the ground, snow white so bright In the fireplace is the yule log Beneath the mistle toe as we drink egg nog The rhymes you hear are the rhymes of Darryl's But each and every year we bust Chrsitmas carrols
Rhymes so loud and prod you hear it It's Christmas time and we got the spirit Jack Frost chillin, the ???? out And that's what Christmas is all about The time is now, the place is here And the whole wide world is filled with cheer
My name's D.M.C. with the mic in my hand And I'm chilling and coolin just like a snowman So open your eyes, lend us an ear We want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! - Christmas in Hollis by Run D.M.C.
There's magic in the air this evening Magic in the air The world is at her best, you know When people love and care The promise of excitement is one the night will keep After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas The world has got a smile today The world has got a glow There's no such thing as strangers When a stranger says "Hello" And everyone is family, we're havin' so much fun After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas 'Tis the season to be jolly and joyous With a burst of pleasure we feel it all right It's a season when the saints can employ us To spread the news about peace and to keep love alive There's somethin' in the wind today that's good for everyone Yes, faith is our hearts today, we're shinin' like the sun And everyone can feel it, the feelin's runnin' deep After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas After all there's only one more sleep till Christmas day
One More Sleep 'till Christmas as sung by Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
