Merry Christmas Even If You're So Vain!
2020
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Who Needs Christ in Christmas?
I don't know anything about these guys or what this is all about, other than what you see before you in this video. Just some guy on the street asking people about a billboard in Times Square which asks (during the holiday season) "Who needs Christ in Christmas? Nobody." I think this video is well-done from a technical perspective.
It's an intriguing premise. Stirring the pot amongst jaded New Yorkers, who are probably the most difficult people on earth to stir any pots with, is not easy. I wouldn't put it past whoever the people who made this video to have put the advertisement up themselves for who knows what purpose, giving them the chance to create this video and who knows what other projects they have in mind. That ad in Times Square didn't come cheap, that's for sure. I agree with the guy who says, "Don't waste your money."
You know the old game: if you artificially go to some extreme that obviously is way over the top, you naturally will get a counter-reaction that may confirm what you really want confirmed, i.e., perhaps whoever put up the billboard really wanted to draw a pro-Christian reaction by putting up something that is clearly obnoxious to anyone who has any feeling about Christmas beyond money and Santa. Sort of a bank shot.
In New York City, though, it's an interesting question how many such people there are, who actually give a hoot about Christianity in the first place. To be sure, there are an awful lot who don't, and I knew quite a few of them. Beyond that, getting anyone to respond to you who is randomly walking by is not easy in the Big Apple, especially in the cold and damp, when every day you have to walk past panhandlers and guys lying comatose on the sidewalk and people pushing for donations for this and that and drug dealers trying to sell you "sensimilla" and crazy cults trying to convince you that their way is the only way and barkers trying to draw you into their stores and streetwalkers and so on and so forth ad infinitum.
It's also "not cool" for christians in New York City to be defensive about their faith. Instead, it is the fashion to find fault with whatever faults there may be with the church and its practices and so on and so forth. So, if you are looking for some kind of defensiveness about it, you really have to provoke folks in the other direction.
But all that is kind of besides the point. This is just a fun series of random street encounters that ring very true to life for New Yorkers, so perhaps you will find it fun.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Christmas at Ground Zero
Weird Al Lets Loose with a Holiday... Classic?
"Weird Al" Yankovic put out this video, "Christmas at Ground Zero," deep into the Ronald Reagan Presidency (1986, a year of actual nuclear disasters), so naturally the Gipper makes a genial cameo appearance. That now seems like a lost, wonderful time, which no doubt was not the impression Yankovic was striving for at the time. But the video is fun as a look at a bygone era and its peculiar preoccupations.
President Reagan gets the very rare honor of spoken dialog in an Al Yankovic video. Don't think he didn't appreciate it!
There are quick scenes from some long-forgotten classics. Did you notice the quick look at "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"? Whoever strung these clips together was an expert on cult films of the 1950s and 1960s.
My local college radio station has this on heavy rotation during the run-up to Christmas. Cynical? Nah, just a little Christmas cheer.
As a special bonus, here is "Weird Al" with "The Night Santa Went Crazy," complete with special guest appearances by Sculley and Mulder.
Now, you're ready for Christmas! Happy Holidays!
2018
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
"Monster Mash" By Bobby "Boris" Pickett
Come and See the Monster Mash!
"Monster Mash" is a 1962 novelty song and the best-known song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. The song was released as a single on Gary S. Paxton's Garpax Records label in August 1962. Also released was a full-length LP called "The Original Monster Mash," which contained several other monster-themed tunes. The "Monster Mash" single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on October 20 of that year, just in time for Halloween. It was a fabulous kick-off for the 1962 holiday season, back in the days before all the animated holiday specials were around and this song was a rare seasonal treat.
The video above was done much later, and includes corny scenes from a score of old "B" monster movies, such as Vincent Price (Pickett does a pretty good imitation of him in the song), "Creature From the Black Lagoon," and the original "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman." A great video to watch around Halloween! A timeless Halloween classic, perhaps the greatest of them all.
Below is another version which features a sort of performance of the tune, if you can call it that. Sort of a trip back into the dawn of the age of music videos, which is interesting in its own right.
In 1965, Boris Karloff was enjoying something of a career Renaissance. In addition, one of the popular shows on television was sort of Halloweeny "The Addams Family." The music show "Shindig" decided to capitalize on these facts and put together a version of "Monsters Mash" narrated by Mr. Karloff, with Lurch doing a little dance. Come on, Lurch is dancing, this is classic stuff! The original clip is missing, but it probably will turn up eventually. Below is a recreation of this truly classic version of "Monster Mash," a sort of rock and roll version that wanders all over the yard.
Finally, a metal remake came along to spice up the song. Horror punk band (never knew that category existed) the Misfits recorded a cover version of "Monster Mash" in 1997 as part of a promotion surrounding a DVD release of the 1967 stop-motion film "Mad Monster Party." The Misfits' version was released as a single in 1999, and a new version was recorded for their 2003 album Project 1950. The Misfits recorded their version of "Monster Mash" in 1997 in a recording studio in Newark, New Jersey and apparently greatly enjoyed the experience, as for a horror punk band this song must be like "The Odyssey" or something in terms of its cultural significance.
2018
Friday, July 26, 2013
Christmas at War
Sometimes, Even Wars Stop for Christmas
War is Hell, as General Sherman famously put it. Even in Hell, then, there are moments to celebrate Christmas. There's something important about it. So here, we show how ordinary soldiers at the front celebrate Christmas during Wartime. |
| Christmas in the Battle of the Bulge, 1944 |
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| Praying at a roadside shrine, France, Christmas 1944 |
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| Christmas in Italy, 1944 |
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| Christmas in the Barracks, World War II |
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| Christmas in the medical ward, University of Pennsylvania, World War II |
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| Christmas in a civilian garden bunker, England, World War II |
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| Christmas service for bomber crews in England, 1944 |
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| Christmas at the front, North Africa, 1942 |
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| The Christmas truce, December 1914. The fellows in the middle are wearing German helmets, the rest are English |
The Generals on both sides didn't like the Christmas truce of 1914. They knew it undermined the willingness of the men to be treated as mere pawns in the great European war.
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| American GI sharing his Christmas package goodies with Italian children |
Christmas on Guadalcanal
This is a series of pictures of Christmas on Guadalcanal, 1942. The Japanese were still on the island and far from defeated. However, the men found a way to celebrate anyway because, well, it was Christmas.
2018
Monday, July 22, 2013
Katy Perry Celebrates July 4th
The Right Way to Celebrate July 4th, with Katy Perry
Celebrate July 4th with Katy Perry!
Katy Perry has done some very patriotic 4th of July shows. Naturally, Katy Perry being Katy Perry, they've involved a lot of fireworks. Katy Seems to have a thing for fireworks. Anyway, lots of images of Katy Perry on the 4th of July here.
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| Katy in NYC. |
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| Katy Perry celebrating with John Mayer. |
2018
Katy Perry Celebrates Christmas
Katy Perry Celebrates Christmas with Style
It wouldn't be Christmas without beautiful singer Katy Perry celebrating it in style! Katy always finds a way to celebrate the big day in style, so here are a few glimpses at what Katy Perry does to mark the biggest day of the year.
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| Katy with the jolly old fellow himself |
2018
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