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.
(Sorry once again for the delay - I'm very behind in my holiday shopping this year.)
Sometimes TV is your only friend, so why not have another marathon of Christmas themed episodes.
Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas The Golden Girls - . -
This is the last time Stan's third wife, Katherine, is mentioned on the show. We never find out when they divorce before Stan and Dorothy date, again, and almost re-marry in the sixth season.
Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid That Girl-
Christopher Shea, the child-actor playing Tommy, is best known as the voice of Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and several other Peanuts specials. At the time this episode was broadcast, Shea was also a regular cast member in the short-lived Western series Shane.
Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid II The Mary Tyler Moore Show -
James L. Brooks, the writer of the That Girl episode,Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid wrote a sequel (of sorts) for this The Mary Tyler Moore Showepisode, the sitcom's first Christmas special.
Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk Gilligan's Island -
This episode used footage from the original unaired pilot episode. The scene where the skipper awakens to find the ship beached shows several actors sleeping on deck that were not retained from the pilot.
Bob Has to Have His Tonsils Out, So He Spends Christmas ... The Bob Newhart Show -
When Bob returns to his room immediately following his surgery, you can see a gold chain around his neck under his hospital gown. This is an error in authenticity as patients are required to remove all jewelry before surgery.
Hope you finish you holiday shopping sooner than I apparently am going to
Demand Euphoria!
Through the mid-'60s, Phil Spector was focused on singles, with his definition of an album being "two hits and ten pieces of junk." He took a different approach, however, when he put together a Christmas album in 1963, where he put a great deal of effort into every track. So please join us at ACME while we listen to The Phil Spector Christmas Album.
The only original song on the album was Darlene Love'sChristmas (Baby Please Come Home), which he wrote with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Spector issued the song as a single when the album came out, but unfortunately this was the same day US president John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. This seriously dampened the holiday mood and the single, as well as the album, were withdrawn.
I know it's not Christmas in our home unless we hear Darlene Love sing, 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:
But fear not -
And she actually sings other holiday songs:
All Alone on Christmas -
Christmas Must Be Tonight
Christmastime for the Jews -
Our second holiday feature is Rockin' Christmas songs (female edition):
2000 MilesThe Pretenders -
First released in 1983 ahead of the album Learning To Crawl, ‘2000 Miles’ was written by Chrissie Hynde. The lyrics were written after the band’s original guitarist James Honeyman-Scott passed away in 1982. Although James Honeyman-Scott died when he was just 25, he made his mark on those early Pretenders records. Guitarist with The Smiths, Johnny Marr, counted Honeyman-Scott as a huge influence on his jangly playing style, and Chrissie Hynde [above] claimed that it was legacy that kept the Pretenders together: “We'd worked too hard to get it where it was… I had to finish what we'd started.”
Silent Night Stevie Nicks -
It is believed that the carol has been translated into over 300 languages around the world, and it is one of the most popular carols of all time.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Annie Lennox -
This is a traditional English carol dating back to the 16th or 17th century. It was first published in England in 1833, when it appeared in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys.
Joy Tracey Thorn -
This should be on your Christmas play list
Christmas Wrapping The Waitresses -
When Chris Butler wrote this song, he was not feeling very festive. The Waitresses were signed to ZE Records, whose boss, Michael Zilkha, asked the bands on his roster to each come up with a Christmas song that would go on a holiday compilation issued by the label. The Waitresses were in the middle of a grueling tour, and weren't happy about the task, especially since it was July and they weren't exactly in the Christmas spirit. He banged out the song very quickly, writing the last of the lyrics in a taxi from his apartment in New York to Electric Lady Studios, where they recorded it. The end result was a very uplifting Christmas song with a happy ending.
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.
There have been countless parody of this classic film -
(Another, more adult alternate ending of the film) -
This is truly a strange little film.
Our second holiday feature is Rockin' Christmas songs (male edition): Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town Bruce Springsteen -
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.
Run Rudolph Run Chuck Berry -
Chuck Berry based this tale on Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, giving Rudolph a bit of an attitude as he delivers the toys. Unlike Santa, however, Rudolph is copyrighted, and Berry had to give the publishing rights to Johnny Marks, who wrote the original Rudolph. Perhaps if Berry had used "Randolph" (another reindeer he mentions), he could have kept the publishing.
We Three Kings The Ventures -
This carol was written in 1857 by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins. He wrote both words and music as part of a Christmas pageant for the General Theological Seminary in New York City. As it proved popular within his circle of family and friends, Hopkins decided to publish the carol in 1862.
O Holy Night Brian Setzer Orchestra -
Written by French composer Adolphe Adam in 1847. Based on the work of French poet Placide Cappeau’s Minuit Chretiens. In 1855 Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight wrote English lyrics. Holds the distinction of being literally the second piece of music to play on the radio.
Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24 Trans-Siberian Orchestra -
This song originated on Savatage'sDead Winter Dead album in 1995 but became an important hit for the band's side project, Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Because Savatage had the well-earned reputation of being an '80s Heavy Metal band, many radio stations were reluctant to play the Christmas offering.
Father Christmas The Kinks -
Ray Davies frequently stole shows by performing the song live wearing a Santa costume. "When the record came out we were on tour with a very successful band at the time supporting them," he recalled during an interview with Southern California radio station KSWD. "I went on dressed as Santa at the end of the show to do 'Father Christmas.' And the other band found it hard to follow us. The following night with the same band I went to run on but there was a bunch of heavies preventing me from running on stage. And I was protesting. But the people said, 'The Kinks didn't do an encore but Santa Claus was there and they were stopping him from going on stage.'"
(Sorry for the unfortunate delay in posting this morning)
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with a 1947 Noveltoons cartoon, Santa's Surprise (featuring featuring the first appearance of Little Audrey), released by Paramount.
I don't know how this go past the censors but look for it: The little Hawaiian girl is topless throughout the cartoon!
Before the start of our feature presentation, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like to finish out Dave Grohl's Hanukkah offering with his final song of his set
It should be mandatory that we listen to Uncle Lou during the Hanukkah season.
We hope you are doing well with your self quarantines - the programming department of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour have been vigorously scrubbing themselves with ACME Eagle Hand Soap - If your eagle's hands are dirty, we'll wash them clean! and sanitizing themselves for your protection. We are also engaged in social distancing - we are communicating with each other via 11th Century Viking Secret Message and EasyJet Flight Attendant Signals.
Christmas will be shortly here. ACME wants you to join them in celebrating the holidays with your friends at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour - the official soap of our nation's bald eagles. Remember if your bald eagle's talons are filthy, do we have a soap for you! We're sure you're busy with all of your holiday plans. Take a break - why not put The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour on in the background and watch this double feature of holiday classics: the 1945 Barbara Stanwyck comedy Christmas In Connecticut and the 1954 Bing Crosby musical film, White Christmas. So let's watch our first feature, Christmas in Connecticut -
This was one of the first films to benefit from the "post-war euphoria" that gripped America in 1945. Despite being released in August (rather than a more logical holiday-time release) this grossed a then impressive $3 million, making it one of the year's most successful movies.
I'm guess we could all use a break, right about now. As you run into the kitchen and get a beverage refill or run into the bathroom and replenish the eco-system, we here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour want to watch the forgotten 1959 Joy Batchelor, John Halas holiday cartoon, The Christmas Visitor -
I'm guessing because this is a European cartoon that they seem to have left Santa a donut, a hard boiled egg, a cigar and a bottle of wine.
Welcome back my friends. Our second feature tonight is the 1954 Vistavision musical fantasy by Michael Curtiz, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, White Christmas. So please join us here at The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour and sit back, get comfortable and enjoy watching our second holiday feature this evening, White Christmas.
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye's Sisters performance was not originally in the script. They were clowning around on the set, and director Michael Curtiz thought it was so funny that he decided to film it. In the scene, Crosby's laughs are genuine and unscripted, as he was unable to hold a straight face due to Kaye's comedic dancing. Apparently, the producers had a better take where Crosby didn't laugh, but when they ran them both, people liked the laughing version better.
The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have.
No family is perfect - Even kids abused by their domineering father
Today's Christmas countdown - A Beach Boys Christmas
Toy Drive Public Service Announcement
The Man With All The Toys -
As a single in 1964, the song had limited success (No. 6 on the Billboard Christmas chart), but built sales over successive Christmases and is listed by Billboard in the Top 100 selling Christmas songs in history.
Blue Christmas -
Originally recorded by Western actor Doye O'Dell in 1948, the song found popularity two years later with a cover by Ernest Tubb. Elvis Presley recorded it in 1957 for his Elvis' Christmas Album.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town -
One of the most successful Christmas carols of all time, this was outsold only by Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and White Christmas.
I'll be home for Christmas -
This was written by Walter Kent (music) and James Kimball "Kim" Gannon (words). Though Kent and Gannon collaborated on other songs, none reached the same level of popularity as this song.
Another Christmas song they got around to sing in between the verbal abuse from their father
Santa's Beard -
The album, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, from which the song is from, was devised as a response to Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift for You, an album Brian had attended recording sessions for. He played piano on the song Santa Claus Is Coming to Town but was dismissed by Spector due to his substandard piano playing.
There is no place like home for the holiday.
Genes, do not a family make (part 2)
Don't fear the enemy that attacks you, bad the bad family that hugs you.
Some of the most poisonous people come disguised as friends and family - (the Motown edition)
Our second Christmas countdown - A Jackson Five Christmas
Up on the Housetop -
Up on the Housetop is a Christmas song written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864. This song is the second-oldest secular Christmas song, outdone only by Jingle Bells, which was written in 1857.
Give Love on Christmas -
Give Love on Christmas Day was written by Berry Gordy, Deke Richards, Fonce Mizell, and Freddie Perren for the Jackson 5 in 1970.
This is one of the first Christmas songs with a social and political message. This was written by Motown songwriters Ron Miller and Bryan Wells, the team that also wrote Stevie Wonder's songs A Place in the Sun and Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday.
Little Drummer Boy -
We here at ACME are wishing you time to enjoy the simple pleasures of this holiday season.
And if don't enjoy yourself, Joe will be coming by to give you the beating of your life.
Before you go - Kurstin X Grohl: The Hanukkah Sessions: Night Seven
A final reason Hanukkah feels better than Christmas -
Naked spin-the-dreidel games!
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 -
Chanukah in Santa Monica GMCLA -
Kurstin X Grohl: The Hanukkah Sessions: Night Six -
I bet you haven't thought about Elastica in years. Even though Hanukkah is over, I'll post the final two nights once they're posted.)
In The Market For A Miracle A Christmas Story -
Kids, this is the essential 11 o'clock number.
Gal Gadot makes Jimmy Fallon eat holiday foods -
Jimmy would have eaten crap on a shingle for her.
SNL Celebrates Hanukkah -
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.
Our next holiday celebration - My time with you is at an end, Ebenezer Scrooge. Will you profit from what I've shown you of the good in most men's hearts?
I don't know, how can I promise!
There are literally dozens of adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Let's take a look at a few of them:
A Christmas Carol (1910) -
This is one of the earliest film adaptations of the story. It featured Marc McDermott as Ebenezer Scrooge and Charles S. Ogle as Bob Cratchit.
Scrooge (1935) -
Seymour Hicks first played Scrooge onstage in 1901 and it became his most popular role. Throughout his career he played it over a thousand times, often at fund-raising benefits.
The Christmas Carol (1949 TV special) -
This is a very rare example of a 1940s television broadcast still surviving in entirety. In the infancy of television, programs were always broadcast live because videotape recording technology did not yet exist.Although crude (a film camera was pointed at a television monitor filming the broadcast,) it was the only available method to record a live broadcast during the earliest days of television.
Scrooge (1951) -
Changes to the screenplay from the Charles Dickens book were made, mostly in the Christmas Past sequence. Among these changes are: Reversing the birth order of Scrooge and his sister, so as to add that Scrooge's mother died giving birth to him. Creating a character named Mr. Jorkin, who does not appear in the book. Flashbacks of several incidents in Scrooge's past (his sister's death, meeting Jacob Marley, taking over Fezziwig's warehouse, and Marley's death) which do not appear in the book.
Scrooge (1970) -
Alec Guinness did not enjoy doing this movie. It required much more time than he expected, with the need of wires, and a harness for his floating character. He suffered a double-hernia that required surgery to repair.
Blackadders Christmas Carol (1988) -
Ebenezer Blackadder is the only incarnation of Blackadder who is not named Edmund.
A Christmas Carol (1999) -
This is one of the very few movies to include a certain short scene when Scrooge is with the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come: Bob Cratchit visiting Tiny Tim's body lying in repose in an upper bedroom. In the book, this takes up only one paragraph.
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. (Make it your business to watch this!)
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.
