Not on a Thursday night, at least

Yessiree, it's gonna be a bumper crop of nightmares this year.

Shonen Knife Sweet Christmas

Yeah, I'm late to this party.

Thank goodness that's done with

And a Happy New Year.....

Leftover Christmas Tripe!

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When someone thought The Little Rascals needed a yuletide turd of a special!



One bad special deserves another!



This one wasn't that bad I thought (though a pal I know would think otherwise since he worked on it)...



And who could forget this classic annual event in the annuls of television...


Fifteen years back, the only way to ever see this was if you knew someone with a nth-gen copy thereof which will still look like crap on your end, or a 15 meg Quicktime file you'd have to wait a good half-hour or more to download on a slow modem connection, but it was worth ever second!




It's a shame I grew up in a different town not picked for an unsuspecting yet overblown classic as this movie.

And because Cleveland history intrigues me at the moment...









Too bad it's not enough to save Higbee's.












Here's what they forget!






And now for something completely different...








I don't have anything else, wait, here's something...

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and looking forward to another dreaded year.


Wait, I forgot him!

Jesus would have gotten Hannukah gifs

Considering the events celebrated in Hanukkah happened about 165 years before Jesus was born, I think it's safe to assume the kid lit candles.

BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Work is very...slow... today, so I'm watching documentaries and I want to share this one with you. It's an hour long and worth your time.

Wikipedia sez:

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware Road, London, growing outwards from the then-legendary Room 13. The innovative music and techniques used by the Workshop made it one of the most significant influences on electronic music today.

And I would argue that is just the straight up truth. Bill Bailey got it wrong; it's not that the BBC News theme sounds like an apocalyptic rave, it's that rave music sounded like the BBC News (He was right about the 60s Belgian Jazz, however).

It's a fascinating story that helped shape an entire generation of sound.

Squeezebox!

Oh man, look at that squeezebox go! What a great instrument.

I will admit now, I am a sucker for squeezebox. You put a piano keyboard on some bellows and I am THERE.

That said....

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It's only one of the reasons I don't shop there.



That is so French it hurts.



OH YEAH. There was this group that used to play the accordion....



Back to Nortec Collective. NEVER ACT THIS WAY AT A WEDDING.

Honestly, I could spend a lot of time with Nortec Collective, because they respect the squeezebox.

Oh, children...

I would like to say mad props to the cameraman, the father, and especially the younger brother for maintaining calm.

Grickle

You should go and check out Grickle.com RIGHT NOW. We'll still be here. It's cool.

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Happy holidays for this year.



This is how I usually feel during the season.



Although, after a bit, I wonder how many ways the audio from the first parts of 2001 can be used.

Honika

Last year, I had posted a mere link to this video, but not the video itself. I should have done this one instead, as it has those wonderful electronic beats.

Klezmer and a Cat

Well, Hanukkah is starting tonight and I'm NOT going to be playing a bunch of songs about matzoh. Yet. I think. Matzoh is kind of a thing.

But I am going to tell you about a wonderful wonderful movie that's coming out:



And the Amsterdam Klezmer Band is doing the soundtrack! I admit I squee'd when I saw this. I loved this book (although it looks like the film is going to draw heavily from the second in the series). Yes, there are Jews who aren't Ashkenazi and there was a thriving population in Algiers. If you like history and well thought-out religious arguments, you'll love it. And all starring a cat who first used his power of speech to tell a lie. ("I did NOT eat that parrot.")

Check it out: Tintin's dog.

Tom & Jerry Sell Crap!

Profile of a cat and mouse outside their usual routines.

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Kim Jong-Il's Pulgasari

This is how I will remember Kim Jong-Il. For this movie.

Hope your Monday isn't being _______

I had a very tough time finding anything about this in English. I am not making this up.

Here's a giant one in a mall.

Here's one that winds up and jumps.

Here's where you can buy one, if you must.

Adios, mo-fo

Can't say he'll be particularly missed. It's always sad when the butt of a joke goes away, though.

A weekend of Guitar (part 2)

It's not cigar-box, but they are guitars.

This one comes courtesy the Right Reverend Bishop Seraphim (Sigrist) of Sendai. As he puts it:

...the great ancient hymn "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" entwined
with O Come O Come Emmanuel from the Christian band Frost From Ashes. This hymn
is used liturgically in the east at the offertory and in the west in John Mason
Neale's work as a hymn. This will not be suitable for liturgical use to be sure
and will not be everyone's cup of tea. Be ready for the drum attack after the
opening...and for the singers. if sing is the word. It is certainly seriously
intended..

These may be more appropriate.

The 1970's

We interrupt this string of festive posts for a documentary presentation!

A weekend of Guitar (part 1)

Long ago, I was looking for a section from the Beatles' movie "HELP!" (specifically this scene), and I found everything but what I was looking for. This, sadly, is how I find some of the more wonderful or fantastic things I've uncovered over the years (as well as some of the weirdest).

Hairy Larry up there is a good guitarist and I thought this was an interesting arrangement of the tune. I can't tell if he's smiling.

Here are some other arrangements of carols, played on cigar-box guitars. More tomorrow.

Interactive X-mas Cartoon Thingy

Santa hat tip to Dangerous Minds.

Keep Drawing

keep drawing from studio shelter on Vimeo.

CGI is cute and all...but....

Duke Ellington

The video mistakenly ascribes this little ditty to Louis Armstrong; it's actually Duke Ellington. The orchestration is pretty distinctive. Here's Duke's Nutcracker suite and you give that a listen. You'll hear similar flourishes.

Switched on Santa

I loves me some synthesizer. Hey! have you sent out your Christmas cards? You should do that now. Here's some music for addressing cards.

Tijuana Christmas

Oh yeah. That's present wrapping music right there. Hope you got all your presents wrapped.

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is currently out with all their kettles and bells. If you're the kind of person who sends them a certain amount of money in the mail, they send a CD as a little "thank you". The CD is pretty slick. "We Three Kings" is just delightful. Both "I Wonder as I Wander" and "Away in a Manger" have a very Studio Ghibli sound to them.

Just a thing

If you know more about where this came from, please let me know.

Do not try this at home.

OK, here's the deal: don't do this. It's a really great way to get infected with all kinds of nasty things.

Also, it's kinda gross. Also, I doubt any of you are in the sheep-raising business, so there's really no need for you to go using your teeth to castrate anything, unless you're just one of those people who likes to do sick and sickness-inducing things.

So, what could possibly be so awful that I put it behind a cut while this is visible? And what could this possibly have to do with Christmas?

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Reindeer, my friends. Reindeer are all about Christmas. You see, male reindeer loose their antlers in winter. HOWEVER, female reindeer (or castrated males) keep theirs. You'll notice all your pictures of Santa and his sleigh feature reindeer with antlers.

Don't think about it too much.

Christmas on Mars

2008 Christmas On Mars - Trailer from George Salisbury on Vimeo.

I saw this film in the theaters and they had the volume way too high. Still, fun movie.

There's a colony on Mars that looks a lot like an abandoned grain silo, and it's starting to break down. Everything is looking grim until the alien shows up (who keeps his spaceship in his mouth--I am NOT making this up) and lets everyone believe in miracles again.

The movie is campy and fun and has some wonderfully stiff performances by people who aren't actors and some scene-chewing by people who are. Adam Goldberg has a defiantly NSFW dream and Fred Armisen sings creepy songs.

It's a romp. Here's a song that kinda sums it all up.

We have time for me to get sappy

It's not about all that other crap. Don't let anyone try to tell you it is.

Will you be ready?

The gift you give may be SURVIVAL.

My family called it a crèche

If you have some time, here's a list of the 27 worst nativity sets. The above shown is my favorite, but I'm sure there will be many others to come.

Although, with some of these, it's hard to tell if they actually meant to make a nativity scene or if it's some sculptural Bulwer-Lytton contest.

Keeeeeripes! Last night was Krampusnicht and I missed it!

No. No, I didn't miss anything.

Yeah, that's pretty chilling

Well, no, ABBA isn't very Christmasy. They are from Sweden, however, so you can imagine snow and ice and all that great stuff.

And, under the cut, is something that should give you the shivers.

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It's Erasure covering ABBA.

Oh lord. They are covering it.

It is covered.

With Erasure.

This is your only warning. Danno found a tape full of Erasure covering ABBA videos. He's converted it to DVD. I know he's going to show some of it eventually.

RUN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

(Also, you now have that song in your head. Congratulations.)

Spider!

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but I recently caught it on Netflix and thought I'd share.

Oh, and that part where you thought it should end? Stick with it; it won't betray you.

The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot

"The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" is a 1937 song written by Michael Carr, Tommie Connor and Jimmy Leach; most notably performed by Vera Lynn. Other people who have recorded it include Johnny Adams, Billy Mackenzie, Elsie Carlisle, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Billy Cotton, John Farnham, and Alex Harvey.

What a sad song! How appropriate for war-time.

In the street he envied all those lucky boys
Then wandered home to last year's broken toys
I'm so sorry for that laddie
He hasn't got a daddy
The little boy that Santa Claus forgot

I guess that's why they used it at the beginning of Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

Here's a way you can help military families in need. Winter is on us and it's going to be a cold one.

Oh hell, Christmas!

I had some kind of plan to do the same Christmas count-down as last year, and I'm starting late. Derp.

Here is a musical version of "A Christmas Carol" called "Scrooge". What I like most about this production is the opening credits by Ronald Searle and Alec Guinness as Marley.

There's also a great sequence near the end when Scrooge goes to hell. Nightmarish stuff.

Anyway, here's the whole movie, songs and all, in ten-minutes bits. I'm sure you've heard some of these tunes before and never knew where they came from.

The Marketing Adventures of Tintin

When it wasn't getting out of one thing and into another, Tintin was not spared the potential for product endorsement and promotional considerations as we see over the years in the following ads!

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Is there be any end in sight..?


...guess not!

[NSFW] AIDS-Prevention PSA's

Apparently yesterday was World AIDS Day, and while not knowing that before, I'm reminded of some helpful animated ads that bring home the point clearly of importance to expose to an unaware public

So, please watch at your discretion!

Enter at your own risk...

art by Mike Kazaleh