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.
A perennial Christmas video theme - Female Performers:
My Favorite Things The Supremes–
Rock This Christmas Down Lita Ford & Cherie Currie -
Oh Christmas Tree Aretha Franklin -
Joy Tracey Thorn -
Merry Christmas, Darling The Carpenters -
Coventry Carol Christine McVie -
This Christmas Christina Aguilera –
And of course the holiday favorite - Christmas Wrapping The Waitresses -
Demand Euphoria!
Before you go - I want to share with you a new favorite in our household: the Mariah Carey and My Chemical RomanceMash-Up Welcome to the Christmas Parade -
SOS and Godzilla, particularly seem to enjoy this tune immensely.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit for the first time this holiday season tonight. Remember to bring a polo
mallet with you, if you, unfortunately, find yourself in midtown.
Thousands of poor souls will gather for the 86th annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting. Remember to bring a polo
mallet with you, if you unfortunately, find yourself in midtown
Do you really want to be stuck in the middle of potential Darwin Award winners and their children who should be forced
to play in traffic? So once again, I'm giving native New Yorkers a gentle reminder - watch last year's lighting here.
This year, Leslie Odom Jr., Pentatonix, Gwen Stefani, and a superabundance of others, as well as, the refugees from
overbooked ancient hotels in the holy land are involved this year.
Exert extreme caution!
Today's theme - our first guest programmer, the birthday girl. Carol of the Bells - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Although Carol of the Bells has become a popular tune during the holidays, the original lyrics had nothing to do with
Christmas. Written in 1916 by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovich and titled Shchedryk, the song tells the tale of a
swallow flying into a household to proclaim the plentiful year that the family will have. The song’s title is derived from the Ukrainian word “shchedryj,” which means “bountiful.”
Alleluiah chorus from Handel's Messiah-
Handel composed Messiah without getting much sleep or even eating much food. When his assistants brought him his
meals, they were often left uneaten. His servants would often find him in tears as he composed.
Over The River and Through the Woods -
According to our guest programmer, 'I chose the song not because it's a good song but it reminds me of sitting in the car when I was a kid and we went on family visits.'
O Holy Night Ellie Goulding -
Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, the author of the lyrics of the song, was not only a poet but a wine merchant and a
professed atheist. The French title of the poem, Cantique de Noël is also the French title for the Dickens story A
Christmas Carol.
In 2015, the U.S. used 31 million megawatts of electricity just on Christmas lights, costing the country $3,780,000,000 per
day and $170,103,150,000 for the whole 45-day holiday season. This means that the United States has the capacity to
use more than double the amount of electricity that Ecuador and Cuba use together in a single year.
An average American home can use 42,690 watts (43 kW) of electricity per hour in order to power their home Christmas
lights, or 301 kWh per day, with the lights only being on seven hours a night. This comes to 13,545 kW or 13.5 MW per
home over the holiday season, costing a typical household about $11 extra a month to light their household Christmas
decorations. Some extreme household decorators can spend an extra $2,000 to light their displays!
It's nice to see that the public is helping support the public utilities. You know that they are barely eking out a living.
The holiday season is upon us once again; we are gearing up for the long haul. ACME is proud to once again sponsor the
Dr. Caligari's Tenth Annual Holiday Video Festival.
As has been our want, we usually start our holiday festivities contemplating the holidays during wartime. As mentioned last year, I was highly suspicious of the follow statistic - the US has been involved in some form of 'armed military' conflicts 224 out of the 241 years of it's existence. But I've tracked it across a number of different sources, for example 1, 2 & 3, and a consensus seems to be that we are a very war-like nation. So it is very easy to see how the true reason for the holidays is lost in the fog of war -
The Christmas Truce on the Western Front of 1914 -
I'll be Home for Christmas Bing Crosby -
Christmas in Korea: Edward R. Murrow and See It Now -
Christmas in Viet Nam Soul Searchers -
Bob Hope USO Christmas Special from the Persian Gulf -
Before our feature presentation, ACMEwould like to start the evening with a Porky Pig/ Charlie Dog Looney Tunes
cartoon, the 1949 Chuck Jones directed, Awful Orphan:
The dog's greeting "How do you do?" is a parody of a radio and movie character called The Mad Russian, played by character actor Bert Gordon.
Moved by images of young children in Africa dying of starvation, Bob Geldof organized with Midge UreBand Aid, a
"supergroup" of British musicians and singers which recorded the single Do They Know It’s Christmas in a London studio
on November 25, 1984. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to join us in watching the 2004
documentary Band Aid: The Song that Rocked the World in which Midge Ure and director Melissa FitzGerald look back at the story of the Band Aid famine relief single that Midge and Bob Geldorf co-wrote and produced, featuring contributions from the pop stars who took part. -
It became the fastest selling single in UK history and initial raised over 14 million dollars worldwide in funds for emergency aid to Ethiopia.
The video was directed by Nigel Dick, who had done some videos for The Boomtown Rats. He got the request to make the video on short notice, and had no idea what the song was going to be. He didn't have a budget either, so he simply set up two cameras - one outside and one inside - to capture the action. As the artists trickled in to record their parts, the director filmed them entering the building and then recording.
Here is a brief history of the holiday you may wish to share with your loved ones:
In the winter of 1620-1621, a group of immigrants in Massachusetts experienced a devastating winter. The weather was fierce. Food was scarce. Many died. At last spring came, then summer, and by the time of the autumn harvest things were looking about as rosy as they ever look in Massachusetts.
At a fundraising dinner that fall, Governor Bradford stood up and gave a speech:
"Thank God we survived last winter," he said. "Thank God this harvest gives us a fighting chance to survive the coming winter. And thank you for your support in the last election, please make checks payable to the Committee to Re-Elect the Governor, God bless America, amen. Let's eat."
The ensuing winter didn't turn out too badly, so the superstitious immigrants concluded that Governor Bradford's magic spell of "Thanksgiving" had done the trick.
The holiday was intermittently celebrated for years, with an enthusiasm scaled to the previous winter's weather, until November 26, 1789, when President Washington issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide day of thanksgiving for the establishment of the Constitution.
Washington's proclamation wasn't much different from Bradford's:
"Thank God we survived last winter," he said. "Thank God we've got a fighting chance to survive the coming winter. Thank God we've got our own damn country now and don't have to put up with a bunch of meddling European bastards. And thank you for your support in the last election, please make checks payable to Federalists for Washington, God bless America, amen. Let's eat."
Washington, the Constitution, and many of the immigrants (who were now Americans) survived the winter, so this new spell was also deemed effective.
President Lincoln later proclaimed the last Thursday of November Thanksgiving Day in 1863 (although he did not survive to see the next Thanksgiving),
but President Roosevelt moved it back to the fourth Thursday of the month in 1939 to extend the time available for holiday shopping.
President Ford proposed making it the third Wednesday in September, in order to really extend the time available for holiday shopping, but he only made the proposal to his golden retriever, Liberty, so the suggestion never reached congress.
And so we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year, in honor of having survived last winter, having got rid of those meddling European bastards, having invented our own rules and having plenty of time to shop before the holidays.
I know it sounds trite but please, take a moment to remember all of the people around our country who are homeless and out in the cold this evening.
More alcohol is consumed today, the day before Thanksgiving, than on New Year's Eve or St. Patrick's Day.
Why, (you may ask?) Many college students return home and reunite with their high school buddies. And the crippling anxiety of being surrounded by family drives some to drink.
It's time to consider the main course - Turkey. I am reminded of the W. Somerset Maugham quote: At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.
Since Mr. Teeny can't be your sou-chef tomorrow, I've posted a few notes on cooking the bird in question:
... there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh - Will Rogers
It's time to think about the vegetables -
You probably don't like them (maybe you do, what do I know.) You probably had a bad experience in elementary school (not with vegetables - just in school.) Well, you have to eat vegetables sometimes and Thanksgiving is as good a time as any.
Here are a couple more Thanksgiving themes episodes to watch while your thinking about your choices
Just Shoot Me - The First Thanksgiving.
Both David Spade (Dennis Finch) and Wendie Malick (Nina Van Horn) had roles in the Disney movie The Emperor's New Groove which was released while Just Shoot Me! was on the air. Spade played Emperor Kuzco and Malick played Pacha's Wife.
Malcolm in the Middle - Thanksgiving
The episode once again showcases Reese's amazing ability to cook.
Your friend at ACME are proud to share our annual Thanksgiving recipe postings:
Thanksgiving is just around the corner; if you have to host this year, you need to consider your turkey choice this year - frozen or fresh. I believe this is a more heated debate that Kurdish independence. Look, frozen is cheaper and if you buy it by today you will have enough time to defrost it safely in your refrigerator by Thursday.
If you want to buy a fresh one (or forget to buy a frozen one today,) you have until Wednesday night to go shopping. You can buy a frozen one later this week but defrosting it properly is between you and your god. While you are having that religious debate with yourself, here are a couple of fun Thanksgiving related sitcoms.
Bewitched - Samantha’s Thanksgiving To Remember:
Many fans remember this episode because Aunt Clara's spell takes Gladys Kravitz along for the ride.
The Bob Newhart Show - Over the River and Through the Woods:
This episode's considered by fans (and series actors, including Bob Newhart, himself), as one of funniest of the series.
You don't need to stress out about the appetizer course of your Thanksgiving feast. Please feel free to run to your local deli and get the following items:
If you need to work off a past sin or earn your way into heaven, here's a somewhat simple recipe for a Shrimp Dip. Trust me, if you make it, you will impress you friends and family.
Since Thanksgiving is mostly about ritual and tradition, here is the annual posting of my family's traditional holiday dip. This is literally a blast from the 60s but then again, so am I.
We are going to my mother's house for Thanksgiving this year; so I have to endure all the scornful mocking reproaches from my mother about my cooking this year that I didn't get last year when we stayed home. But most, if not all, of you are not partaking in our holiday feast this year, I give you my moms recipe for Shrimp Dip (I have forbidden my mother from reading any of the holiday posts this year). For the rest of you, it's perfect and perhaps you have a slight clue as to the high alcohol content of my recipes.
Ingredients 1 - 10 oz. can condensed tomato soup (you know that kind - Andy Warhol painted it and until they pay me, I'm not mentioning the brand name.) 1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese 1 - 8 oz. jar of mayonnaise 1 package of Knox Gelatin (I mentioned the brand name, sue me, I don't know any other gelatin company.) 1 cup diced onions 1 cup diced celery 3 - 5 ounces cans of medium shrimp* 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Tools * Sharp utility knife * Dinner size folk (not the salad folk) * Cutting board * Small saucepan * Medium sized mixing bowl * Can opener * Medium sized sieve * 1.5 quart Tupperware bowl (with bumpable lid)** * 1 large wooden spoon * Several shots of the best vodka you have (in your freezer) * 1 Beach Boys CD (preferably Pet Sounds)
Directions:
Turn on the CD. It had better be Pet Sounds.
Don't argue with me - If Sgt Pepper didn't exist, this would have been the greatest album ever made. Brian Wilson went crazy because of it. A character in Doonesbury died while listening to it - I'll come to your house and hurt you.
Cut your onion and celery into small dice like pieces. I usually don't care about these sort of things but since you aren't going to cook them, cut them fairly evenly and small (those of you suffering from OCD - 6/16 squares.) Take you're first shot of vodka. Put the onions and celery aside. Contemplate the obsessive nature of musical geniuses (think about how many different drugs Brian must have been doing at the time to name an album Pet Sounds.)
Add the cream cheese, mayo, onions and celery into the bowl and mix thoroughly. (Take a shot or not - your choice.) Heat the soup in small saucepan over a medium flame until just simmering and take off flame. Add the Worcestershire and the gelatin package into the heated soup and stir vigorously (to avoid clumping.) This is called 'blooming the gelatin'. Stir for about five minutes. Let 100 flowers bloom (my mother proof read this and specifically wanted me to mention that she is not encouraging the advancement of Communism by the making of her shrimp dip. Duly noted mom.)
Add the tomato soup into the cream cheese mixture and combine thoroughly. Congratulate yourself that you've come this far with the recipe and have another shot. Open the cans of shrimp and drain and briefly rinse shrimp. Add to the cheese mixture and fold shrimp in until just combined, trying not to mash the shrimps up (if you do - so what, your mother isn't going to yell at you.) You should be up to the really sad part of the CD - try not to cry into the bowl. If you can't stop crying - cut your alcohol intake immediately.
Transfer to Tupperware bowl. Smooth the top and seal. Remember to 'burp' the bowl. Giggle to yourself - it's ok, you burped the bowl. Refrigerate several hours (overnight is preferable.)
To serve, remove from refrigerator and warm outside of bowl to loosen dip from side and turn out onto a serving plate. Serve with crackers (My mother prefers Ritz crackers - I like Carr's; it's your choice, she's not your mother.)
* 3 cans of the medium size shrimp equal about a pound of cooked shrimp. If you can't bring yourself to use canned shrimp - by all means use cooked shrimp. You'll need to chop the shrimp into small pieces (maybe even squirt them with a slice of lemon - again, your mother isn't looking over your shoulder.)
** You can use whatever resealable container you'd like, Tupperware didn't pay me a dime.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with a Bugs Bunny/ Elmer FuddLooney Tunes
cartoon, the 1953 Friz Freleng directed, Robot Rabbit:
The sequence where the robot sifts the ground on a large sieve to catch Bugs is recycled animation from Rabbit Every Monday.
Towards the end of 1970, Elton John was touring the United States in support of his third LP, Tumbleweed Connection.
The night before a scheduled concert at the Fillmore East in New York, Elton John did the first ever stereo radio
broadcasts live at A&R Recording Studios in New York City on November 17, 1970. It was his 29th performance in the
United States, and only his second in New York City. The resulting live album, cleverly entitled 11-17-70, was never
meant to be released: so many fans kept trading 'bootleg' copies of the broadcast, that Elton's label, at the time, MCA
Records felt the need to release a version of the broadcast. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like you to
join them in listening to a 'bootleg' version of the original radio broadcast from that evening -
Although the album sold OK, it was his worst selling album of the early 70s. It reached No. 11 on the Billboard charts, but that was nothing for an artist who had seven number one albums.
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with a Sylvester and Tweety Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1954 Friz Freleng directed, Satan's Waiting:
The cartoon's plot was later reworked nine years later as the Bugs Bunny cartoon Devil's Feud Cake, although unlike this cartoon Devil's Feud Cake re-uses footage from previous cartoons.
Wading through the backwaters of the intraweb, your friends at ACME came upon the an Annie Lennox concert we hadn't seen before, her BBC One Sessions - a special concert at the home of the London Symphony Orchestra at St Luke’s Church in London. The special was originally broadcast on March 31, 2009. The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour would like to invite you to join us in watching this special tonight.
(Don't forget to pop over to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame website and vote for the Eurythmics to be inducted into the 2018 Hall of Fame.)
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with a Claude Cat Looney Tunes cartoon, the 1952 Chuck Jones directed, Mouse Warming:
This cartoon occasionally has had the scene cut of Alice Mouse's father shoots Claude in the face
On Thanksgiving Day 41 years ago, November 26, 1976, The Band gave their final concert with their original lineup, a massive swan song that the group turned into an all-star spectacle. Martin Scorsese was neck-deep in finishing New York, New York, his ill-fated attempt in remaking the classic Hollywood musical. Behind his producers backs, Scorsese accepted The Band's request to film the event. Along the way, Scorsese captured the whole thing and later released it as a movie. Several sources site that today, November 4, 1977, Martin Scoresese arranged to have the finished film shown in New York City. ACME would like to celebrate the film and commemorate the anniversary of it's showing by asking you in joining us in watching The Last Waltz today. Remember to 'Play it really loud!'
Before the concert filming, audience members at the Berkley Orchestra venue were served Thanksgiving dinner and treated to dancing - - appropriately set to music suitable for a waltz. Robbie Robertson recalled in his memoir Testimony that one of the shows organizers said it took two hundred turkeys to feed the crowd of at least a thousand patrons.
Gojira premiered in Japan on this date 63 years ago (Godzilla: King of the Monsters debuted in America on April 26, 1956) :
With the ashes of World War II only recently cooled, Japan is plagued by a sudden wave of maritime disasters: Without warning, ships are exploding into flame and sinking beneath the waves. The few survivors are able to shed little light on the situation, as they quickly die from radiation and strange burns. (Hmmm, sound familiar) A group of investigators, including prominent paleontologist Dr. Yamane are sent to Odo Island to investigate. The natives warn that the ships are being destroyed by Gojira (Godzilla), a legendary monster. These claims are verified when a gigantic, dinosaur-like creature comes ashore and demolishes the native village. Dr. Yamane concludes that Godzilla is a prehistoric creature that has been awakened and mutated by atomic bomb tests. It's just the same conclusion you'd come to having just seen the ruins of a Japanese fishing village.
The military decides to use depth charges on the monster. However, the attack is unsuccessful, and Godzilla follows the ships back to Tokyo Bay. (Again, probably just what you would do - annoy a giant radioactive monster.) Coming ashore at night, Godzilla razes Tokyo. The destruction left in his wake is comparable to an atomic bomb. Military firepower proves useless against the monster. It is feared that Godzilla will continue to lay waste to the cities of Japan, and perhaps the entire world.
It is up to Emiko Yamane (Dr. Yamane’s daughter) to convince her former fiancé, Dr. Serizawa, to use his Oxygen Destroyer against Godzilla. Serizawa is skeptical; he fears that this terrible device might be more dangerous than the monster. However, he finally decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to rid the world of Godzilla.
So here in a nutshell, you have the greatest fever dream movie and a warning about nuclear proliferation.
