Dr. Caligari's cabinet is now so crammed that he had to stow stuff in the Cupboard. Time may wound all heels but once in a while you need a cup of tea.
You've probably run out of gifts at this point, wrap your family's fresh laundry as the gift that shows you've done the
laundry. At this point, look up a local oil recycler - it will do better for everyone as a biofuel.
And here, I promise, is the last set of songs celebrating Hanukkah -
Hanukkah With Veronica Monica -
Hanukkah in Santa Monica SFGMC -
Rugrats Chanukah -
x
Frozen Rabbis: Chanukah On Ice -
Santa Gey Gezunderheit The Klezmonauts -
Hey, somebody has to clean up all of that wax on the break front. And somebody's got to call the guys who pick up used cooking oil for bio-fuel.
In case this comes up in conversation:
More than six swans constitutes a lamentation of swans. They are usually known as a flock or bevy (A wedge when you see them flying in their usual V formation.)
At this point you may want to skip the unnecessary calories and just drink the oil - but not too much. Mussolini used to
use this as a torture for his political enemies.
SHALOM Adele Hello Parody -
Hanu-calypso Kenny Ellis -
A Hanukkah Mitzvah CBS Cares LL Cool J -
Pass the Candle West Point Holiday Show 2016 -
Dreidl-Bells DJ Flack -
Hanukkah Blessings Barenaked Ladies -
Remember, so far there has been no barking dog version of I had a Little Dreidel. You might begin thinking about
where you are going to store your Hanukkah decorations? (I don't mean to insinuate that you aren't normally observant.
Perhaps you proudly display your heirloom menorah in your living room. I can't be everywhere.)
Impress your friends: The fifth night of Hanukkah is called 'the darkest night', not because it falls on one of the last days
of the Hebrew month of Kislev (meaning there is no moon), but because it is the only night of Hanukkah that can
NEVER fall on Shabbat
Boogie Woogie Hannukah -
Hanukkah Dance Woody Guthrie -
A Musical Channukah Quiz by Gladys Gewirtz -
Chanukah Lewis Black -
Top 5 Facts about HanukkahWatchMojo -
I believe that oil fatigue may have already set in. Hold on, you will get through this.
It's the second night of Hanukkah. The fried food is still appetizing.
Gather your family around and listen to some more Hanukkah songs -
The Chanukah Song Part 2 Adam Sandler -
Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah Song Boys Town Jerusalem -
Lighting the Hanukkah Candles Faster Technion Rube Goldberg Machine -
The Hanukkah Story The Nanny -
I Have a Little Dreidel - Listen Up! Jewish Vocal Band -
Merry Christmas everyone!
For some of you - This is the Christmas miracle
If not, then it's just another holiday song
As today is the first night of Christmas, here are some more unusual gifts to type about giving -
Remember, the more you drink, the easier it is to understand their accents
Also, did you buy anyone a gift as inappropriate as a weasel in a bikini this holiday season?
If you run out of topics around the table this evening, feel free to choose any one of these facts about things that you may not know about the Star War films from the folks at Mental Floss -
Please have a good thought this holiday for Carrie Fisher. Let's all send good wishes her way.
Getting back into the annual tradition, we here at ACME once again want to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday by sharing this Christmas poem:
Keeping Christmas by Henry Van Dyke
There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day,
and that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing…
to forget what you have done for other people,
and to remember what other people have done for you;
to ignore what the world owes you,
and to think what you owe the world;
to put your rights in the background,
and your duties in the middle distance,
and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see that men and women are just as real as you are,
and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own up to the fact that probably the only good reason
for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life,
but what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe,
and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds
of happiness -
Are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and consider
the needs and desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you,
and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you
really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings
with the gate open -
Are you willing to do these things, even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world -
stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death -
and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago
is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
You add the candles from right to left but light them left to right. So, let the serious eating commence
Remember: Hanukkah means "dedication".
Original Hanukkah Song Adam Sandler -
A Hamilton Chanukah Six13 -
Hasmonean - A Hamilton Hanukkah The Maccabeats -
Hanukkah oh Hanukkah Shir Soul -
The Dreidel SongSouth Park -
Please pace yourself - Eight days is a long time. And kids, know when a simple game becomes an addiction - please no
actual gambling while playing with your dreidels. Gamblers Anonymous (718) 352-1671
Here's some fun facts about Christmas
Well, maybe you knew some of these facts (especially if you've been playing the home version.)
We're all having our Christmas Eve dinner of the seven fishes, we keep losing track of how many fishes we've
consumed, (it might have something to do with the number of bottles of white wine that we've consumed.)
Why not watch these cartoons for your family while we try to sober up -
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936) -
The Night Before Christmas -
Somewhere in Dreamland (1936) -
Olive, the Other Reindeer -
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don’t clean it up
too quickly.
Christmas and the Hard Luck KidThe Mary Tyler Moore Show -
Now that you're in the proper mood for the holidays - I'll leave you with these thoughts from Ogden Nash and his
poem: The Boy Who Laughed At Santa Claus.
I've told my kids and maybe you'll tell yours - Dammit kids, get to bed! The sooner you go to sleep, the quicker
Christmas will be here.
December 20, 1946 -
The Frank Capra film It's A Wonderful Life had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, (a day before its official premiere) on this date.
The film is regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world, although, due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office, financially, it was considered a flop.
(Another, more adult alternate ending of the film) -
This is truly a strange little film.
Our Second Christmas video countdown – Happy Holiday from Prisoner 1073015
The Phil Spector Christmas Album
I know it's not Christmas in our home unless we hear Darlene Love sing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), so please enjoy Darlene Love's very first Christmas appearance on the David Letterman Show
And here's her 2014 (and final) appearance on the David Letterman Show:
Today's holiday special – celebrating A Christmas Carol brought to you by:
Marley's Ghost (1901) -
Scrooge (1935) -
Scrooge (1951) -
(It isn't really Christmas in our home unless we are watching this at about 2 am Christmas morning 'assisting Santa' with
the gifts.)
This could be the greatest mash-up ever, or at least the most labor intensive. Heath Waterman has spent 18 months
putting together this labor of love, retelling the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in his video Twelve Hundred Ghosts - A
Christmas Carol in Supercut. Mr. Waterman uses clips from over over 400 versions of the holiday classic.
The Odd Couple Scrooge Gets An Oscar -
And there is no better way to get into the holiday spirit than drinking spirits -
Eggnog is usually thought of as a Christmas beverage and to tell the truth I am not a huge fan of Eggnog. So I find it
amusing that the recipe that I'm posting is for Eggnog (Above is a copy of my family recipe - my father sent it to his
sister in 1962.)
Coquito, a Puerto Rican twist on the classic, is a family favorite and I thought I’d share it with you and perhaps you can
try it out on your family.
Please note: these drinks go down quite smoothly and are very potent – they could be administered as a calmative for
frayed nerves during the holiday season.
Ingredients:
* 4 large egg yolks * 1/4 cup of sugar * 1/2 can of (14-ounces) condensed milk * 1 14-ounce cans evaporated milk * 1 1/2 cans of 15-ounce cans cream of coconut * 1/2 of a Fifth of white rum (or more) * 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon * 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg * 1 teaspoon coconut (or vanilla) extract
Tools:
* Drink Blender * Can opener * Glass
Directions:
Add the egg yolks, sugar, spices and vanilla into the blender. Mix until well blended.
Add the evaporated & condensed milk to the blender and briefly mix. (Condensed milk is very thick - you may want to
open the can up all the way and scrap out all of the milk with a spatula.)
Vigorously shack the can of cream of coconut (it tends to separate.) Pour the cream of coconut into the blender and mix
well. Scrap out any remaining coconut stuff from the can.
Add the rum and mix. Taste. If you think you need more rum, add it.
Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve cold.
Today's Christmas countdown - Those gentlemen from Bensonhurst were so moved by our themes concerning Frank and Dino that after much grappa and threatened 'kisses of death', I have be persuaded (forced at gunpoint) to have yet another Mobbed Up Christmas this year. This is not to say that any of these singers are in anyway associated with organized crime.
It's just that Frankie Lupini, Molluschi Vincenzo, Joey Carrozza, etc, 'requested' these songs.
Shake Hands With Santa Claus Louis Prima -
Merry Christmas Baby Dion -
Do You Hear What I Hear? Bobby Vinton -
What Child Is This Al Martino -
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) Jerry Vale -
After many shots (of scotch) and plates of scungilli, baccalà alla vicentina and fried calamari, the boys want to wish
everyone Buon Natale.
I once shook hands with Pat Boone and my whole right side sobered up.
today's theme is A Dean Martin's Christmas (Dean died on Christmas day in 1995.)
Silver Bell -
This Christmas classic was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 Bob Hope movie The Lemon Drop
Kid.
A Winter Romance -
The Christmas Blues -
A Marshmallow World -
Written by the Brill Building songwriters Carl Sigman and Peter DeRose, this is a popular Christmas song, although it
doesn't specifically mention the holiday
What the hell, let's have Dean and Frank sing a song for Christmas -
Ahhh, you can practically taste the Bourbon in the air.
Demand Euphoria.
Before you go, remember to get your Christmas cards out soon. You've got to hurry to avoid the rush - December 19th
is the busiest day of the year at the post office.
The more cards you send, the more solvent the USPS remains.
I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, fine family - and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.
Silent Night -
The song is based on a poem written by Father Joseph Mohr, written in 1816; music was added two years later by Franz Xaver Gruber.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town -
The song was written by J. Frederick Coots (music) and Haven Gillespie (lyrics) in 1934. Coots brought it to his publisher, who didn’t think much of the song but thought it might sell to kids.
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear -
This song could be considered to be the first Christmas song to be composed in the United States, and today it is considered a standard. In the mid 1850s the Americans were only beginning to celebrate the Christmas traditions of their English forebearers.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! -
Although this song is associated with Christmas, there is no mention of the holiday in the lyrics. It's about making the most of a snowy day by spending it with a loved one by the fire.
There are things about organized religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in His name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion, and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions.
Happy Holidays With Bing and Frank -
And so it goes.
There are 12 days until the start of Hanukkah. There are 13 days until Christmas.
We have a surprise guest programmer with her favorite Christmas jingles (it doesn't involve nepotism - it's a real guest from a sleepover. Decorating the house is a big deal here, we have extra people come over)
Christmas, (Baby Please Come Home) U2 -
This was used in the movies Gremlins, Goodfellas, Bad Santa,Christmas with the Kranks, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Christmas Wrapping The Waitresses -
The title does not appear in the lyrics, which made it difficult to request on radio stations. Listeners would often describe the song or sing parts of it to identify it for the DJ.
Santa Claus is Coming To Town Bruce Springsteen -
This was written in 1932 by Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots. They had trouble convincing anyone to produce it because it was seen as a kids' song, which would have been very hard to sell. The big break came when Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio show in 1934, and the song became an instant hit.
Felix Navidad Jose Feliciano -
The song is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the USA, and features in the performance rights organization ASCAP's December 2014 list of the top 30 most performed holiday songs of all time, coming in at #21.
Snoopy's Christmas Royal Guardsmen -
The Royal Guardsmen were a six-piece from Ocala, Florida, signed to Laurie Records.
Here's my second guest programmer with her favorite Christmas jingles (there is no truth to the rumor that I had to chase her around the house to get her to give me this list.)
Olivia, you're up!
Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer The Crystals -
Rudolph's story was made into a song when Robert L. May, a copywriter for the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward department stores who wrote the story, brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for it. Marks' musical version was first recorded by Gene Autry in 1949, selling 2 million copies that year.
Winter Wonderland Johnny Mathis -
The song was written by Felix Bernard (music) and Richard Smith (lyric) in 1934. Smith’s inspiration arrived while looking out his hospital window and saw the field near his tuberculosis ward covered in snow.
Let it Snow Frank Sinatra -
Written by Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cohn (lyrics) in 1945 during a California heat wave.
Santa Baby Eartha Kitt -
Along with I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, this was one of the first Christmas novelty songs.
All I Want For Christmas Is You Mariah Carey - (One of the kids had to chose it.)
In terms of airplay (at least in America), this is by far the most successful Christmas song written after 1963.
December 7, 1969 -
Another Rankin/Bass production, Frosty the Snowman, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.
This was Jimmy Durante's final film (not counting documentaries and one short film appearance).
The original recording of Frosty The Snowman by Gene Autry was his seasonal follow-up to his successful recording of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1949.
This time he peaked at #7 in December 1950.
The Snowman in July (1944)
Frosty The Snowman (1953)
Snowman's Dilemma (1960)
The Snowman (1982)
When this program first aired on PBS stations in the United States, the introduction featured a newly filmed introduction by David Bowie instead of Raymond Briggs on the grounds that the animation needed a star.
I will not play the songs featuring Olaf from Frozen (the earworms they cause has led to a UN report being issued concerning possible war crime being committed by yours truly.) Really, don't bother to look for them if you can help yourself.
December 6 -
It's the Feast of Saint Nicholas (yes, that St. Nick.)
Amongst other things, he is the patron saint of children and was known for his generosity. He's also known as the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, merchants, the falsely accused, prostitutes (Huh), repentant thieves, pharmacists and broadcasters.
Let's check out some other ways St. Nick has been portrayed:
Evolution of Santa Claus -
Santa School -
Santa Claus and His Helpers (1964)
Santa Claus They Might Be Giants -
Santa Stole My Lady Fitz and The Tantrums -
Today is the 52nd anniversary of the original broadcast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, we have another Christmas video countdown today - Rudolph!
Rudolph was born 77 years ago this Christmas season, at the Montgomery Ward department store headquarters in Chicago. He was the star of a humble coloring book, written by a copywriter, Robert May, who almost named the protagonist “Reginald.” May, who’d been lonely as a child, based the character on himself. Store executives fretted that shoppers might think Rudolph’s nose was red because he was drunk, but something about Rudolph’s story spoke to people. He was an outcast, down on his luck. When Santa gave him a job (it was the Great Depression, after all)—well, something clicked.
That Christmas, the company passed out two and a half million copies of the book
Original Rankin/BassRudolph The Red-Nosed ReindeerGE Commercials
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1944) -
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Gene Autry -
Honest Trailers - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer -
various commercials feature Rudolph and his friends -
We asked back one of our guest programmers (I actually had no choice, I was stuck for a theme and she'll always hanging around here.) to give us a few of her favorite holiday songs. Take it away Julietta -
The song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was first published in 1943 and is one of the saddest Christmas songs of the season
Baby, It's Cold Outside Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer -
Yeah, I didn't have the heart to tell her about the very creepy undertones of this song and the fact the Johnny Mercer was Margaret Whiting's godfather only adds to the general unease with the song.
The kids love this song; it appears on either of their list every year. (We hate it and continue to try to steer them to other choices. Once again, we lost.)
The Twelve Days Of Christmas Ray Conniff Singers -
(Once again, here's a great bar bet winner - not that SOS is in the habit of making bar bets - the five gold rings probably do not refer to jewelry. Given that the first seven days, except the five, refer to birds - the gold rings refer either to the five golden rings of the ringed pheasant or refer to "five goldspinks" - a goldspink being an old name for a Goldfinch.)
Here's a bonus track - An inspired mash-up of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is Youand My Chemical Romance's Welcome To The Black Parade -
This is so perfectly matched that it seems it was written this way.
Our holiday theme today is one of our favorite holiday games, "Guess the theme?"
Winter Wonderland Annie Lennox -
Due to its seasonal theme, Winter Wonderland is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere, although the holiday itself is never mentioned in the lyrics.
Santa Baby Kylie Minogue -
It adapts the conventions of Christmas songs to become a kind of love and seduction song.
Sleigh Ride Fun -
This song does not make any specific reference to Christmas, but the seasonal imagery has made it very much associated with the holiday. It's hard to think of a sleigh in winter without thinking of Santa.
I’ll Be Home for Christmas Frank Sinatra -
This was originally recorded by Bing Crosby in 1943, and it quickly became one of America's most popular holiday songs along with White Christmas, which Bing had recorded the previous year.
I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm Billie Holiday -
Another song that is not strictly a Christmas song as the lyrics make no mention of the holiday, the tune has been recorded for many artists' Christmas albums
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow Dean Martin -
This song was first recorded by Vaughn Monroe and released in 1946. The song became a huge hit, so much so that it inspired other artists to record it.
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