Santa ponders Tiger Woods' Christmas list

How can Christmas be so close?  It was just the Fourth of July … or it seems like that.  Waitin’ for that next paycheck to roll around before we get out in the trenches for some combat shoppin’.  No time, no time.  But there’s always time for a few songs.

MP3: “Snoopy’s Christmas” by the Royal Guardsmen

MP3: “Monster’s Holiday” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett

MP3: “Santa’s Got A Muthaf**kin’ Uzi” by Mr. Lif

MP3: Ann Margret Holiday Greeting

MP3: “Step Into Christmas” by Elton John

MP3: “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” by Dean Martin

MP3: “Hey Santa Clause” by the Chesterfield Kings

MP3: “Zombies Eating My Brain” by Daddy Bone

MP3: “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” by the Chinese Kids’ Choir

MP3: Pee Wee Herman’s Christmas Medley

MP3: “Christmas Sucks!” by Tom Waits & Peter Murphy

MP3: “Run Rudolph Run” by Lemmy Kilmister, Dave Grohl and Billy Gibbons

ProactivSolution, Principal Secret, Get the Edge(Tony Robbins), Dean Martin Roasts, Winsor Pilates

www.guthyrenker.com

It is Friday and December is here with (at least for some) the white snow and Christmas carols so I dedicate this great song from Dean Martin to all (or few) my readers.

And because there is no where to go, just let it snow

…. and not for Godot this time. … at least I hope not.

Day 3 of this posting every day stuff and I’m already getting a bit bored with it.  I really don’t have that much to say. I’m waiting for the heating/cooling repairman.  Its cold in here today.  Its so cold its snowing!  Cool – look you can make the snow move around when you move your mouse over it.  Okay, so I’m easily amused…. It is cold but it is livable.  Its not like I’m in Minnesota (about 50 degrees outside and in).  But it kind of makes you not want to do anything other than leave the house which I can’t cause I’m waiting for the repairman.  It makes me realize just how lucky I am.  So many people don’t have shelter or heat or warm clothes or enough food not only in far off corners in the world but right where we live.  We take for granted so much and complain bitterly about our jobs, the traffic, the Christmas rush.  There are so many people in the U.S. and abroad who would be thrilled to have a job, be stuck in a car (not everyone has that luxury and it is a luxury) in traffic or have enough money to go out Christmas shopping and be rushing around to buy presents for loved ones.

Sorry for the sermon, its aimed more at me than you (whoever you may be).  I’ll make it up to you – here’s a video of Dean Martin singing Its a Marshmallow World.  I love the version of him and Frank singing this but this, well, this you can’t beat – Dean with a cigarette in his hand singing the song with less than heartfelt sentiments.  I can almost hear him thinking – is it over yet, roll commercial, oh geez more lyrics on that teleprompter ….

Sometimes when I am feeling nostalgic, I put in an old movie; the other day, I put in Road to Bali and Road to Rio. I love Hope and Crosby’s road movies; they take me back to a simpler time, or to a time that I wish to think was simpler.  Tonight, I watched Andy Williams’ Christmas Show at the Moon River Theater in Branson.  That’s what he did.  For two hours, Andy Williams whisked me back to the early 1960s, to a time before the Vietnam War grew hot, before the Beatles grew their hair, before Archie Bunker flushed a toilet on national TV.  For two hours, I was a child, sitting with my long-departed parents, watching our favorite Christmas Special.

Williams began his recording career in 1944 singing back-up to Bing Crosby.  In those days, Crosby was at the top of the charts, and anyone who wanted to get ahead in the music business became a crooner, like Crosby.  At one point, in the early 1930s, Frank Sinatra (according to a biography) had made up his mind to become the “next Bing Crosby.”  By the mid 50s, Williams was no longer in Crosby’s shadow, and had begun a successful recording career of his own.

At the same time that he began his recording career, Williams began to get small parts in film, usually playing a musician.  When he got national exposure by earning a regular spot on Steve Allen’s show, his recording career took off.  His first album was Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen, followed a little later by Andy Williams and Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein. Williams soon found himself in demand as a guest on television variety shows.  He made an appearance on the Dick Clark Show.   He appeared six times in the late 50s on Pat Boone’s television show, which played host to other big names, such as Shirley Jones, The McGuire Sisters, The Mills Brothers, and Joel Grey.  And, in 1957, he got a shot at his own summer TV show, a forerunner of his long-running variety show.

Andy Williams’ Variety Show took several forms over the next two decades; names changed as sponsors changed, and as the show changed networks.  In his first series, Andy partnered with singer June Valli.  The next summer, Andy partnered with Dick Van Dyke in the Chevy Showroom Starring Andy Williams.  And, in 1959, the Chevy name was dropped from the show.  In 1961, Williams first recorded the song that would become his theme song, Moon River. He performed it the next year at the Academy Awards ceremony, where it won an Oscar for the writers, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer (the song was sung by Audrey Hepburn in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s).  Williams’ performance led to a TV special that same spring, where Andy again teamed with Dick Van Dyke.  The special was produced by TV giants Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear (who would go on to produce All in the Family, Maude, and most of the great sitcoms that would  - in the next decade – spell the end of variety shows like The Andy Williams Show).  For this special, Andy also enlisted the help of Ann Margaret, Andy Griffith, and Henry Mancini. The special proved so popular that Williams was asked to again star in a TV series.  That fall, The Andy Williams Show that I grew up with premiered on NBC and ran for 115 episodes.

The Andy Williams Show was reduced to three episodes a year through 1967 and 1968, but when it came back in 1969, the show was again broadcast weekly,  and was stronger than ever.  TV, however, was about to change.  In the early 1970s, the variety show was at its peak.  One could flip through the channels and watch The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour,  The Carol Burnett Show, The Flip Wilson Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, The Bobby Goldsboro Show, The Dean Martin Show, and This is Tom Jones, just to name a few.  But by 1976, few variety shows remained on the air.  The Lawrence Welk Show had retreated first to PBS, and then to syndication.  Donny and Marie rubbed against the grain when they introduced their variety show in 1976; it lasted one season.  Tony Orlando and Dawn outlasted most, running through 1977, and The Bobby Vinton Show ran through 1978.  The Andy Williams Show ran its natural course, ending in 1971.

When not in the studio, Andy ran a successful record company (Cadence Records – one of Williams’ discoveries is Ray Stevens, who also starred in his own variety show, which Williams produced), and continued to star on TV specials, including his remarkable Christmas specials.

It is in the spirit of those Christmas specials that Andy Williams presents his show in Branson.  His show is paced well, of high production quality, and entertaining as ever.  Backed up by a 10-piece band, a chorus of about a dozen, and a half-dozen special guests, Williams shines.  He is not above making fun of his age, and, in fact, has crafted an entire routine around “Cookie Bear” pestering Andy about his age.  Speaking of age, let’s just lay to rest any rumors: Andy still sings well – remarkably well – still does an occasional soft shoe, and is still able to carry a note higher and longer than most people half his age.  I was truly impressed.

Seeing Cookie Bear, by the way was just one of the joys of watching Andy Williams’ Christmas Show.  The guest stars for this season were astounding.  Classical dancers Pasha & Aliona presented an indescribable routine.  It is not fair to call them dancers, for their dance is magical, changing costumes in front of your eyes, quicker than you can comprehend.  Their routine will leave you wondering what you just saw.  Dean Church, arguably the best fiddler in the world, is a treat, and the Warnock girls may be the most talented sisters to perform in Branson since the Lennons Sisters.  The guest star that stands out in my mind, however, is Bob Anderson, a veteran of Las Vegas and a Branson favorite.

Williams played host to an innumerable list of guest stars on his TV show, from Roy Rogers to Kenny Rogers, from Charlie Callas to Mama Cass.  Andy gave the Osmond Brothers their big break, and gave a showcase to the last of the great Vaudevillians (people like Jimmy Durante, Phyllis Diller and Charlie Callas).  Watching Anderson interact with Williams on his Branson Christmas show is a close recreation of the old series.  Anderson does a spot on, if not perfect, impersonation of the Rat Pack, Robert Goulet, Tom Jones, and dozens of other voices, including Andy himself.

Andy has written his autobiography, Moon River and Me, which is on the Los Angeles Times best sellers list.  I look forward to reading it.  The season is almost over, but if you get a chance in the next week to get to Branson, be sure to catch Andy Williams’ show.

Hey, Pachuco!

The Kings of Gangster Bop are back.

Actually I’m not sure they were ever gone. It’s just that I haven’t seen or heard much about Royal Crown Revue since I saw them open for Chris Isaak at the Santa Barbara Bowl a few years ago.

When I noticed they were going to be playing the Mint in L.A., I instantly stopped what I was working on (okay, I’ll instantly stop what I’m working on for almost any excuse – it’s called procrastination with a capital “P”) and ordered tickets.

My dear ex once embarked on a futile effort to rejuvenate our marriage by suggesting all sorts of new couples activities which we might try. It got to the point where when I saw that look in her eyes and her mouth start to open I would just shout out “No swing dance lessons!”, which is sort of ironic because I do like swing music, and particularly many of the bands which came out of the early 90’s swing revival. Royal Crown Revue is often credited with having started that revival, and is probably the most successful and well known of those bands.

That they were playing the Mint was particularly enticing. Royal Crown Revue is a big band, literally and figuratively, and the Mint is such a small club I wasn’t even sure you could fit the whole band in it, let alone manage to get them all up on the tiny stage.

When I last saw them in Santa Barbara, I was somewhat disappointed. Maybe it was because of the larger venue but they seemed somewhat low key and subdued, like someone had slipped them a xanax mickey.

No such problem on November 18 at the Mint. The band came out smokin’, playing one old favorite after another with high style. In the tiny, dark Mint it was like taking a time machine back to the old band boxes on LA’s Central Avenue in the 40’s and 50’s. Or it least what I imagine those old clubs were like, given it was before my time.

Front man Eddie Nichols was in fine voice and form. Saucy Jennifer Keith, who featured Royal Crown Revue members Mando Dorame and Daniel Glass in her own High Society Boys Band, has now joined Royal Crown Revue as it’s female vocalist. Adding a female vocalist to the gangster boppers works well. It’s now guys and doll, rather than just guys. Part torch singer, part Andrews sister and a hundred percent eye candy (nothing wrong with a nice pair of gams in seemed stockings), Ms. Keith is a talented singer who integrates well with the band, soloing on some songs to give Nichols a break, and joining him on others in a throw back to the days when Steve and Eydie and Louie and Keely wowed them in Vegas.

Speaking of Vegas, why hasn’t some smart Steve Wynn type booked these guys a long term casino gig? Put these guys in a lounge and let them wail along with the tumbling dice and clanging slots and they’d pack them in. A lot of us were too late to swing with Frankie, Deano and Sammy but Royal Crown Revue can certainly carry the torch.

Royal Crown Revue has one more show at the Mint – December 2 -before taking off on an Australian tour. A guest “celebrity” hosts each show at the Mint. On the night I was there, Evan Seinfeld, late of HBO’s prison drama OZ and the bands Biohazard and Spyderz, served as MC and did a couple of songs – very well I might add.

For $15 bucks, this show has to be the best deal in town, and today it got even better. If you’re on the Mint email list you can get a free ticket (or one to several other shows coming up there) by contacting info@themintla.com. Put “Free Tix” in the subject line.

You’d be stupid to miss it, pal. You dig?

Photos copyright Steve Neimand

After offering a “Christmas mix, not for Mother” last year, I feel obliged to make amends to your Mom by creating a mix she might like. Yes, it’s all gloriously retro this year. The youngest of the songs, as far as I can tell, is Jim Nabor’s version of Sleigh Ride from 1968; the oldest, Eddie Duchin’s (Don’t Wait Till) The Night Before Christmas, is 30 years older. Most of the songs here come from the 1940s and ’50s. A hurriedly put-together front and back CD cover is included, and as always the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, which might sort out the Christmas prezzie for some relatives. If this mix is popular enough, I’ll do a second volume. Let me know what you think in the comments section (you do know that bloggers really like to receive comments, so don’t be shy).

Fans of The Originals series will appreciate the first version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by Jimmy Boyd, then 13, which was released in 1952. Boyd died in Mach this year at the age of 70.

TRACKLISTING
1. Sammy Davis, Jr - Christmas Time All Over The World
2. Burl Ives – A Holly Jolly Christmas
3. Billy May - Do You Believe In Santa Claus
4. Dean Martin - Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer
5. Lena Horne - Santa Claus Is Comin To Town
6. Nat ‘King’ Cole – Mrs. Santa Claus
7. Gene Autry – Here Comes Santa Claus
8. Andrews Sisters - Winter Wonderland
9. Connee Boswell - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
10. Dinah Washington – Ole Santa
11. Fontane Sisters – Nuttin’ For Christmas
12. Frank Sinatra – Jingle Bells
13. Brenda Lee - Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
14. Ernest Tubb – Blue Christmas
15. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys – Santa’s On His Way
16. Jogi Jorgensen – I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas
17. DeCastro Sisters - Snowbound For Christmas
18. Jim Nabors – Sleigh Ride
19. Perry Como – Silver Bells
20. Bing Crosby – Frosty The Snowman
21. Jimmy Boyd – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
22. Louis Armstrong – Zat You, Santa Claus?
23. Lionel Hampton & his Orchestra – Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
24. Judy Garland – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
25. Ella Fitzgerald – The Secret Of Christmas
26. Eddy Duchin Orchestra – (Don’t Wait Till) The Night Before Christmas
27. Gordon Jenkins Orchestra – White Christmas
28. Les Brown Orchestra feat Doris Day – The Christmas Song
29. Red Foley – Put Christ Back Into Christmas
30. Rosemary Clooney – Happy Christmas, Little Friend

DOWNLOAD

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Christmas Mix, Not For Mother
Any Major Christmas Mix Vol. 2 (2008)
More mixes

By: Växjö, Sverige

Et hyggeligt sted ikke langt fra Hovedbanegården.  Et gammelt træhus, minder lidt om Mormors Stue i Trondheim fra udsiden.  Man kommer ind og man er tilbage i tresserne, på den gode måde.  Der er vel 3-4 afdelinger. Vi sat inde til højre, hvor vi sat på gamle biografsæder.  Du har området rundt baren, samt en stue længere ind. Der en stor terrasse for udeservering om vinteren.

Stedet var i udgangspunktet en tobaksforretning, men har været forskellige beværtninger her de senere år.

Det er gennemført i interiøret, med tapet og hyggelig detaljer fra tresserne.  De har ikke så mange øl, men tappekranen er noget for sig selv, da det er en gammel støvsuger.

Stedet er populært. Vi var der en lørdag midt på dagen, hvor spiste en god frokost. Da var det mange unge, og en del ældre, det var faktisk de middelaldrene som manglet.  Fredag og Lørdag aften er det kø af unge for at komme ind.

Du kan læse mere på deres hjemmesider

Dagens Beer Quote:

“You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.”

-Dean Martin

Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin. And Sinatra was the Chairman of the Board. Uploaded by writeonnewjersey.com.

They called themselves “The Summit” or “The Clan.” Everyone else called them something else – The Rat Pack.

While those five were the heart of the Pack, membership was somewhat fluid. Lawford was the brother-in-law of President John Kennedy, and Sinatra thought he’d have some influence on the administration as a result. The Government was wary of his perceived mafia connections, however, and never allowed him the access he desired. As a result, Lawford was never part of the group again after 1962.

Uploaded to Flickr by popartdks.

A still developing Las Vegas was their headquarters, and their popularity was a significant factor in the city’s growth. When one member had a concert, the others would often show up for an impromptu group show. The Sands Hotel even put on their sign “DEAN MARTIN – MAYBE FRANK – MAYBE SAMMY.”

The five appeared together in two films, the original Oceans Eleven (1960) and Sergeants 3 (1962). At least two of the group appeared together in six other movies.

Of course, women were a major part of the Rat Pack as well. Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, Angie Dickinson, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland all had their times hanging out with the guys. They didn’t perform with the Pack, but definitely partied with them. As they might have said, “They were broads and they were barn burners, baby, but they were always the end.”

Various artists. The Best of Christmas. Capitol STBB 2979, 1968(?). (on vinyl, from a thrift store)

I couldn’t resist the boldness of the title. The best of Christmas? And I thought Christmas as I knew it was already wonderful! … Heavy sigh. This album is probably the worst Christmas music I have ever heard outside of a department store. It’s an impressive slew of famous musicians, sucking. It’s not all crap – two or three out of the twenty tracks are listenable, and there’s a Nat King Cole track – but most of it is. Just bad, half-assed musicianship. 3/10 (Bad).

What better gift for the Holidays than to introduce a friend or your whole family to the music of Jonny Blu!

Get 30% Off Now through the Holidays on your order of 2 CDs or more from CDBaby.com!  Click the banner below and order your Jonny Blu music now!

You can also visit my Official Website to listen to music and check out my shows! (click below)

Cheers!

Jonny

I just recently added a Natural Maui aStore to my Natural Maui site/blog because I wanted to offer my viewers books, movies, and other things they can use to further their research on any of the products I have to offer at Natural Maui.

An astore is a store hosted by Amazon.com and is free to use after you sign up. It’s awesome because if you have a niche, such as I have, you can do this, offer your viewers books, movies, audio cd’s, apparel, the list is endless as to what you can offer your viewers. Then, on top of that…Amazon.com will pay you a commission and that’s really another main reason I joined. It is another way to make some extra money for all of us stay at home, work at home moms.

There are loads and loads of items you can add to your aStore with different categories and sub-categories you can add to your pages.

I’ve added these categories:

Sea Glass

Hawaiian Print Aloha Shirts

and

Hawaii
with the islands as subcategories.

Of particular interest to me is the movie “Blue Hawaii” filmed in 1961 starring the King!…Elvis Presley. I remember watching this movie when I was little and being so in Love with Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret and Annette Funicello.

This among many other factors, but this is one I’m sure was a major factor in helping along the popularity of the Hawaiian print Aloha shirt. His popularity was unsurpassed in those days. I don’t only give him the credit, there were many many more before him, good looking guys, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, all those heavy hitters that gave the Hawaiian print Aloha shirt it’s popularity so enjoyed today by many of the artists who create prints for material and many of the many makers of Hawaiian print Aloha shirts.

The offshoots of all of this popularity are us little guys, the stay at home moms and work at home moms that take these specialty items and resell, used or new condition, on places like eBay or on places like a wordpress.com site/blog using PayPal as the only way to pay.

For this I am very grateful and am sure to express this gratefulness in humble prayer to Ke Akua for allowing me many different ways to make a living while staying home to raise my children instead of working my butt off for a company making just enough to pay for child care anyway!

I just recently added a Natural Maui aStore to my Natural Maui site/blog because I wanted to offer my viewers books, movies, and other things they can use to further their research on any of the products I have to offer at Natural Maui.

An astore is a store hosted by Amazon.com and is free to use after you sign up. It’s awesome because if you have a niche, such as I have, you can do this, offer your viewers books, movies, audio cd’s, apparel, the list is endless as to what you can offer your viewers. Then, on top of that…Amazon.com will pay you a commission and that’s really another main reason I joined. It is another way to make some extra money for all of us stay at home, work at home moms.

There are loads and loads of items you can add to your aStore with different categories and sub-categories you can add to your pages.

I’ve added these categories:

Sea Glass

Hawaiian Print Aloha Shirts

and

Hawaii
with the islands as subcategories.

Of particular interest to me is the movie “Blue Hawaii” filmed in 1961 starring the King!…Elvis Presley. I remember watching this movie when I was little and being so in Love with Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret and Annette Funicello.

This among many other factors, but this is one I’m sure was a major factor in helping along the popularity of the Hawaiian print Aloha shirt. His popularity was unsurpassed in those days. I don’t only give him the credit, there were many many more before him, good looking guys, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, all those heavy hitters that gave the Hawaiian print Aloha shirt it’s popularity so enjoyed today by many of the artists who create prints for material and many of the many makers of Hawaiian print Aloha shirts.

The offshoots of all of this popularity are us little guys, the stay at home moms and work at home moms that take these specialty items and resell, used or new condition, on places like eBay or on places like a wordpress.com site/blog using PayPal as the only way to pay.

For this I am very grateful and am sure to express this gratefulness in humble prayer to Ke Akua for allowing me many different ways to make a living while staying home to raise my children instead of working my butt off for a company making just enough to pay for child care anyway!

Before Dean Martin was a Rat Pack star, he and his partner Jerry Lewis had the most successful comedy team of all time.  Martin and Lewis started out breaking attendance records at nightclubs, where people would be lined up around the block to get in, and they went on to be a huge success on TV and in the movies.

Dean and Jerry’s popularity even inspired a comic book, issued from 1952 all the way till 1958.  Many are for sale today as collectibles, with the one below available on eBay for $175, which is not a bad return on an original price of 10 cents.

From the Rat Pack Impersonators  Blog and Rat Pack Impersonators Website.

00346.0000 THE NIGHT IS YOUNG AND YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL

Music: Dana Suesse
Words: Billy Rose and Irving Kahal
Link to Sheet Music
Link to Dean Martin’s performance

The night is young and you’re so beautiful,
Here among the shadows, beautiful lady, open your heart.
The scene is set, the breezes sing of it,
Can’t you get into the swing of it, lady, when do we start?
When the lady is kissable and the evening is cool,
Any dream is permissible in the heart of a fool.
The moon is high and you’re so glamorous,
And if I seem over amorous, lady, what can I do?
The night is young and I’m in love with you.

"My Soul: A Self-Portrait"

Don’t the trees look like crucified thieves?
–Warren Zevon, “Desperadoes Under the Eaves”

Hey, guess what? The Daily Wrazz is a year old! Hey, guess whatter? This is my hunnert post! Even with dismal math skills, you’ll quickly deduce that my blog hardly qualifies as “daily.” But with a considerable graveyard of ditched verbiage in my digital past (I bore so easily — myself and others), the fact this sucker still exists is a monumental achievement.

Especially when you consider that every year at this time I sit and calmly await the onset of my annual melancholy. Well, that’s what I call it, but to be honest I’ve never been able to differentiate between melancholy and sloth. But it hits like clockwork every winter. Back when your roving scrivener was ankle-high to an AP History textbook, this would usually be the time my grades started slipping. I’d lose interest in scholastic regimen and let my homework fester like a PBJ forgotten atop a radiator. My responses to test questions — even the essay portions at which I excelled (flush am I with B.S.) — may as well have been glum variations on “What’s the use?” Compounding that was a heart heavy with pant and pine as I’d gaze into the living-room fireplace, wondering what it’d be like to unfasten a brassiere in its erotic crackle.

I don’t know what causes it. Perhaps it’s the trees, stripped of their loveliness, dead to me, dead to us all. Perhaps it’s the puffy winter garments that turn me into a bloated potato, or the harrowing conditions I face as a lowly pedestrian when God spits ice down my block, coating every surface — even candidates for necessary balance — in embarrassment and pain. Also, I’m not a big fan of white everything, or the threat of white everything. Give me a gush of visual variety besides the numbed crimson of misery-laden cheeks (what an optimist calls “rosy”).

The sad thing is that I’ve no real reason to be sad. I’ve a steady job with a reasonable income, something I enjoy doing. Plus, I received two additional potentials today that please me greatly as an unrepentant capitalist. God, did I wanna blow some cash at the news. I compromised by dropping ten on a used copy 0f the late Robert Palmer’s (no, not this one) Deep Blues, which joins other tomes on my shelf of inspiration. Best of all, I have clean clothes for tomorrow, which is nice, considering I’ve slipped into the same dress shirt and high-school athletic tee two days straight. (That, I think, is the lazy part. Perhaps a shave’s in order too.)

The First Thanksgiving: So the Indians sat at the kids' table?

Even better: Thanksgiving lands next week. A most welcome respite of family interaction, wooly sweaters, acres of gravy bleeding through dark-meat dams, banter swimming through the pumpkin-cinnamon air, and, most importantly, leftovers, so’s I don’t gotta visit the 7-Eleven to fuel nocturnal scribbles. (NOTE TO SELF: Pitch to the empire a Cranberry Sauce Big Bite, drowned in gravy and stuffing chunks ’stead o’ gross, goopy chili [Stove Top squirts 'stead o' starchy bleats].)

Then, with the gobble growing rear-view faint, I can bust out the Christmas music proper: Dean Martin, Twisted Sister, Bootsy Collins. In the holiday spirit I could ask my father to loose the Cory Frye Archives, particularly my long-lost Screaming Santas EP, with its ever-so-festive rendition of Big Star’s “Jesus Christ.” Maybe I’ll excavate enough space in my apartment rubble — now that I’m finally making enough to afford it without my savings account giving me the finger — to park a Douglas fir, along with presents and flocking and sprinkles of glittery white shit I’ll be vacuuming up and blasting off socks ’til June.

Better yet, to make a little coin on the side, I’ll install a bad-ass speaker system and transform the whole of my lair into an exclusive club. Nothing snuffs wintry sadness like the Hustle, a VIP room and a humidor. But, then, what kind of cover should I charge? Should I make exceptions for acquaintances? Will crashers exploit my natural sympathy, tug at my conscience with pleas of “But it’s Christmas!”? What kind of world do we live in when your fellow man and even your closest friends are willing to take advantage of your hospitality like that? And since department stores hail the coming yuletide as far back as August 16, does that mean I’m up to my eyeteeth in freeloaders five, six months out of the year? Whatever happened to peace on earth, good will to men? Those fucks! Those evil pricks! You know what? Shit on Christmas, piss on winter, and butt-jack that fat, jolly consumerist propoganda icon with the fossilized remnants of our moribund American economy! Aw, hell, I’m gloomy again.

George: Carol, you’re a delight to work with because you are a great artist.

Carol Channing: Thank you, George. And it’s a thrill to work with you because you’ve always been my idol. I’ve watched you work for years, and you’ve really got it.

George: I’ve got it?

Carol: Oh, yes.

George: I hope that’s a compliment.

Carol: Oh, it is. You know, to be a star some people have to be great singers, or great dancers, or great comedians, or great actors, but you made it without any of that.

George: But I got it.

Carol: Oh, yes.

George: Well, Carol, what is this thing that I’ve got? Is it sort of a hidden talent?

Carol: Oh, George, what you’ve got isn’t hidden. Anybody can see it, it’s right out in the open.

George: So before it catches cold?what would you say it is?

Carol: Well, George, it’s a certain something, and you’ve got it. You’ve not only got it, but you’ve always had it.

George: Let me see?it’s something that I’ve got. Has Sinatra got it?

Carol: Yes, but you’ve got twice as much.

George: Well, maybe it’s because I’m older.

Carol: Sure, so yours is developed more.

George: Now I’m really confused. How about Dean Martin, has he got it?

Carol: Of course he’s got it. But alongside of you, you can’t even notice it.

George: Now this thing that I’ve got?and I’ve got twice as much as Sinatra?and when I’m with Dean Martin you don’t notice his?has?has?has Richard Burton got it?

Carol: Of course he’s got it. And I know because Elizabeth Taylor happens to be a very close friend of mine.

George: This is something that I’ve got, and I’m glad I got it?and I certainly wouldn’t like to lose it?but I’d like to know what it is?can you describe it? Is it square? Is it round? Is it?is it as big as a breadbox?

Carol: George, there’s no way to measure it. You can’t buy it, you can’t sell it, you’re born with it. You can’t put your finger on it.

George: That maybe I’ve got?. Now, when did you find out I had it?

Carol: The first time I ever saw you. You were playing the Palace Theater and I was in the audience. The moment you walked out on the stage I said to the woman next to me, “He’s got it.”

George: What did the woman say?

Carol: She said, “he must be hiding it, because I can’t see it.”

George: She couldn’t see it, but you could?

Carol: Well, that’s because I’m in show business. I recognized it right away because I’ve seen it before.

George: Anyway, this something that I’ve got?at my age have I got enough of it left to last until the show is sover?

Carol: Why not? It’s lasted all these years.

George: Well, whatever it is, it must be pretty tired by now?. One more question and I’ll quit. Is there anybody else who’s got as much of it as I have?

Carol: Shirley MacLaine.

George: That I didn’t expect. Georgie Jessel maybe, but Shirley MacLaine, never.

Carol: Oh, George, everybody in show business has got it.

George: Well, if I’ve still got it, I hope I don’t lose it at the blackjack table.

Atores da Disney

Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears e Justin Timberlake vieram do clube do Mickey, onde faziam participações artisticas e onde a carreira deles teve início. High School Musical (Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens e Ashley Tisdale), Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez entre outros, encontraram na música o sucesso que alcançaram atuando.

Johnny Depp

Ele começou pela Guitarra: “Eu tinha 13 anos quando formei minha primeira banda com uns amigos da vizinhança. Tinha um cara que tinha um baixo e sabíamos de outro que tinha um PA. Fizemos nossas própias luzes e saímos tocando em festinhas particulares músicas dos Beatles e do Led Zeppelin.

Johnny Depp não sabe se comprou ou ganhou, mas lembra de que o primeiro disco a que deu atenção foi “Everybody loves somebody”, do Dean Martin. As primeiras canções que tocou foi “Smoke on the water” (Deep Purple), “25 or 6 to 4″ (Chicago) e “Stairway to heaven”.

Robert Pattinson

O ator, que interpreta o Edward de “Crepúsculo”, toca piano, violão e ainda tem uma voz linda demais. Quando morava em Londres, o gato conciliava a carreira no teatro com a de músico (ele se apresentava em barzinhos). Aliás, duas de suas canções estão na trilha sonora oficial do primeiro filme da saga de vampiros, “Never Think” (vídeo) e “Let me Sign”.

Taylor Momsen

A Jenny, de “Gossip Girl”, se jogou de vez na carreira paralela com a sua banda, a “The Pretty Reckless”.

Will Smith

O ator mais bem pago do mundo também aposta na carreira como cantor. Ele arrasa no rap e hip hop e, por isso, até teve uma de suas músicas no filme “Homens de Preto” (vídeo), em 1997. Will já ganhou 4 Grammys e tem 11 álbuns lançados. Ouça também “The Two Of Us”.

Hilary Duff

A moça começou na carreira de atriz em 1998, mas só em 2002 é que começou a fazer aulas de canto e se dedicar mais a música (já aí ela gravou a música “I Can’t Wait”, para a trilha sonora de “Lizzie McGuire”). Seu primeiro álbum, “Metamorphosis”, saiu em 2003, chegou ao topo das paradas e fez todo mundo cantar “So Yesterday” (vídeo). Desde lá, ela já lançou mais 3 álbuns, incluindo “Dignity”, de 2007.

Adam Brody

A banda “Big Japan” nem é tão conhecida, mas só por ter como baterista o ator Adam Brody (o Seth, de “The O.C.”), a gente já ama demais. Por causa das gravações do nosso nerd mais fofo do mundo, os caras só tocam de vez enquando.

Marjorie Estiano

Lembram da “Vagabanda”, bandinha da novela “Malhação” em 2005? A gente amava demais as músicas “Por mais que eu tente” (vídeo) e “Você sempre será”. Mas a Marjorie, que era a vocal da banda ficticia, não caiu nessa do nada. a moça já havia cursado faculdade de música e tudo mais. Depois da novela, a atriz estourou nas rádios e vendeu mais de 150 mil cópias de seu CD.

Leighton Meester

A gente ama músicas pra dançar. E é por isso que a gente ama a atriz, que faz a patricinha Blair. Ela também apostou na carreira como cantora e lançou a música “Birthday”, superanimada e incrível.

Jackson Rathbone

Quanta gente que ama rock! O ator Jackson Rathbone, que faz o personagem Jasper Hale, em “Crepúsculo”, também tem uma banda, na qual toca guitarra e canta. vejam o que acham da banda “100 Monkeys”.

Paris Hilton

A nossa patricinha bafo não se contentou em ser rica, famosa e ter todos os gatos aos seus pés. Ela virou atriz e mais… cantora! A música “Stars are blind” fez o maior sucesso na internet, mas a que bombou mesmo foi “Nothing in This World, que tem um clipe super fofo que condena o bullying na escola de uma forma super engraçadinha.

Ed Westwick

Mas esses atores de “Gossip Girl” gostam mesmo de soltar a voz, hein? E todos são super descoladinhos na música. O Ed, que faz o “Chuck” no seriado, tem uma banda mega indie chamada “The Filthy Youth”. O ator é o vocalista e também só toca quando não está gravando.

Lindsay Lohan

A atriz começou a se dedicar a música em 1999, mas lançou seu primeiro single só em 2004. “Rumors”, que atingiu o topo das paradas também ganhou muuuito espaço na MTV. O segundo álbum, “A Little More Personal” foi um fracasso e desde então Lindsay não divulga nada.

Scarlett Johansson

A gente já conhece a atriz pelo papel de Charlotte em “Encontros e Desencontros” e por Anna em “Ele Não Está Tão a Fim de Você”, mas sabemos que ela tem uma quedinha muuuito grande por música. É por isso que Scarlett já tem até um álbum pop inteiro gravado, chamado “Anywhere I Lay My Head”.

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga já se vê atuando – depois de ter feito uma participação em um capítulo da série Gossip Girl a cantora agora quer participar de um musical. Uma fonte próxima da cantora afirma que ela gostaria de mesclar ópera e rock nas telonas e talvez em um futuro próximo atuar em um filme do gênero drama.

Fontes: O Globo, Capricho e Telenoticias

In light of the recent arrest of  a United Airlines pilot for being drunk before a flight…check out this vintage bit with Dean Martin and Foster Brooks.

The hundred or so gathered outside the Arizona state capitol today were subdued by Tea Bagger standards. Most of them, holding signs decrying socialism or paying tribute to the Founding Fathers in ways that betrayed a very loose understanding of history, leaned against trees or lazed in the grass, as others perused the right-wing populist paraphernalia at the merchant tents behind the stage. Polite applause and murmurs of agreement greeted speakers, where raucous chants or inflammatory outbursts might have otherwise been heard.

When State Treasurer Dean Martin, a possible Republican primary challenger to Governor Jan Brewer in 2010, mounted the stage and took the microphone, his soft-spoken address was in keeping with the general tenor of the event. His words, however, were more appropriate being shouted to a howling throng where Obama’s image is burned in effigy.

“Envision a world Nancy Pelosi wants,” Martin said. “Grandma wants a hip replacement. Do you want to show up at an event where Nancy Pelosi is and make her mad?”

If he meant it to be funny, nobody was laughing. In fact, the crowd nodded gravely. That under Obamacare, if one of them were to accidentally spill wine on the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives she would not only have the inclination but the ability to make sure your grandmother is denied hip surgery, was clearly a possibility they had considered and decided likely. 

“How many people,” continued Martin, “are already afraid to speak out because they’re afraid they’ll get audited?”

Treasurer Dean Martin - if fear were money this state would be running a surplus

Judging from the reaction of the crowd, who recognized themselves as the brave souls standing alone against the Obama socialist juggernaut, though certain doom or denial of coverage awaited them, the only explanation for their ranks not being larger on this day was because of what Martin went on to term “a very quiet fear.” The population, it would seem, is too paralyzed in terror of Obama’s godlike wrath to give him a negative rating – he is approved of by well over half of the nation’s voters right now according to polls.

“This is not just about health care,” Martin said, wrapping up, “but whether or not we are in control of our own destiny.” He then went on to praise our veterans, remembering at last that it was ostensibly Veteran’s Day that had brought everyone out, and not the opportunity to get their fear injection from the state treasurer.

We are in control of our own destiny, Treasurer Martin might be reminded, and the lever of our control is the ballot. The votes cast last year for the president and his party were votes in favor of overhauling health care in this country, and for a new way to approach war and diplomacy, and a new focus on education and the environment, and smart fiscal policy, and so forth.  

It is not easy to tell people that they put their chips on the wrong roullette spin, that the program they followed loyally and wholeheartedly led us to this state of national affairs; that they were complicit in our degradation as a country.  It is much easier to tell people to be afraid.

This fear is a frightful thing. The patriots in the park today did not gather when it was revealed that the communications of U.S. citizens were being monitored by the government without warrants, or when a CIA operative was outed in retribution for what her husband did – to wit, telling the truth about the trumped-up reasons for the Iraq War. Somehow these Sons of Liberty failed to rally around the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag when journalists were bullied into dropping certain lines of inquiry the Republicans didn’t want to see pursued, or government officials fired because their ideology did not align with the administration’s political orthodoxy. When the vice president established a “shadow government,” formed the nation’s energy policy in conjunction with people who would later be convicted of fraud, directed no-bid contracts to the company he had headed until he ran for office, oversaw the obstruction of a federal inquiry and claimed to be part of no branch of government, the Tea Baggers were silent.

Yet now, they are outraged. And they are afraid. This fear is not supported by any evidence, and cannot be assuaged by any logic. It is the outgrowth of a mindset that embraces complete duality at the expense of nuance, and asserts any means as justified that lead to a desired outcome. When Bush was in office, Democrats were obstructionist for demanding a role in decision-making, and unpatriotic for questioning the administration’s goals and methods. Now that Obama is president and backed by large majorities in the House and Senate, it is autocratic to spend the political capital gained by the people’s unequivocal decision to put the nation in the Democrats’ hands. Even though the will of the electorate was clearly exercised last November, these Tea Baggers yet maintain that these election results should be overturned, and the minority given an equal or superior voice to the majority.

Why are they mutually exclusive?

It is hard not to see where the fear comes from. It is clear to these protestors who “us” and who “them” is. Perhaps not even a majority are racists to any appreciable degree. Obama’s otherness, his “them”-ness, is not limited to the color of his skin or his name. He comes from strange places, like Hawaii and Indonesia and Cambridge, Mass. He is a Christian with a Muslim name, and an elite from modest circumstances. He is an intellectual, a great speaker, a man of reason and deliberation. His understanding of the world, like his parentage, is neither black nor white, but a balance of both.

This is something the Tea Baggers either cannot or refuse to comprehend, and that which they cannot comprehend they fear. It is easier for them to accept the demise of Medicare (a government-run health insurance program which would probably be paying for grandma’s hip surgery as outlined by Treasurer Martin), which is predicted to happen before the year 2020, than attempt a new course to change it. Having inexorably cast their lot with the Right-Wing Jacobin crowd, there is nothing for them to do but ride it out and ramp up their level of self-delusion if they fail.

Dean Martin recognizes how useful this fear is, and how willing people such as these are to be told whatever justifies their senses of self and place, no matter how nonsensical it is. Nobody should believe Treasurer Martin actually subscribes to a vision of the president as the boogeyman he is painting for Republican voters. He simply understands the dynamic of Republican primaries these days, which is that the candidate who controls the right flank wins the battle.  

However, Martin’s ability and desire to use the vague phantoms that terrify this slice of the electorate should be taken as very sincere. He has the resume and ambition to become the consensus candidate of the right wing of the GOP, and if he can lock

Fortunately, this crowd is small. Today, it was 100 people, and all of them could have fit on the massive bus Dean Martin brought along, which announces his gubernatorial primary bid even if he thus far does not. But as history has taught time and again, a small group of very fearful, very self-assured and very ignorant people can cause a lot of trouble for everyone else. 

As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In this case, though, it is the fear shared by those in a certain radical faction that we should be afraid of.