What the Heck Does ‘Aud Lang Syne’ Mean, Anyhow?
I have a dim memory of a childhood kindergarten class just before winter break, in which a classmate planned to ring in the new year by saying “[sad face] Goodbye, 1975. [cheery face] Hello, 1976!”
Personally, I wound down the old year by doing the only halfway competent thing I can: making a commemorative mix CD. Tonight, we are doing our usual staying inside with junk food plus an old movie — and perhaps if I’m still awake at midnight, I’ll say “Goodbye, 2005. Hello, 2006!” With appropriate facial expressions, of course.
All A-Bored
Via Drawn!, an autobiographical Peter Bagge comic of a disastrous Amtrak train trip. I always wanted to ride the rails across the U.S. Correction: I’d like to go back to 1957 and ride ride the rails across the U.S. While we’re at it, look at what Time magazine chose as the best comix of 2005.
Four or Five Days Ago
How was the holiday for you? Ours was nice, but kind of chaotic and eventful. I’m used to having a restful and worry-free Xmas. What happened?
Dead parakeet. Our beloved pet parakeet, Toby, died on Christmas Eve. The following morning, we buried her in the backyard underneath a favored feeder for the neighborhood birds. She was swaddled in the sheet that served as her cage cover and her favorite bell was next to her body. We had her for a good five years, with many memories. I’ll miss her chirping. One time, we got her this blue rope toy (pictured at right), which turned her into a crazed, humping, horny little bird. That toy didn’t last long!
Tangelos out the wazoo. We have a young tangelo tree, planted as a sapling about five years ago. It tentatively produced a few seedy, tasteless fruits last year, but as Fall came it became apparent that this was the tree’s breakthrough year. So now we have joined the ranks of Arizonans who have lots and lots of citrus in December. Want some?
Waffles and conversation. We did our usual Christmas day tradition of being over at my parents’ house with the family. It was nice, with lots of good talk over a waffle, egg, ham, and orange juice brunch. My older brother and his longtime girlfriend made an appearance for the first time. This was great, but also somewhat awkward (since I didn’t get them any gifts this year).
Too much stuff.As usual we got many gifts from the family: a food dehydrator, a train trip in Northern Arizona, a pepper grinder, coffee, hand-embroidered tea towels from my grandmother. I gave Christopher the fourth season of I Love Lucy, since he’s always been a fan of the Hollywood trip episodes. He gave me a trio of vintage items: a Flair magazine from 1950, a Joyce Compton autographed letter from her loopy “born again Christian” period, and a Disneyland souvenir floaty pen very similar to one I cherished as a child. I also received a beach scene DVD, the King Kong special edition, and The Polar Express (which looks overly sentimental and creepy as hell, but I’ll give it a shot). Given all that, we’ll have plenty of entertainment for our New Years custom of settling in with a movie and lots of sparkling apple cider.
Merry and Bright
Scrubbles is taking a short break over the holiday weekend. Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to all and to all a good night.
Silver Hells II: The Wrath of Dion
From the CBC: a curmudgeon’s guide to the worst Christmas singles. Make sure to download the Mae West song, which is not so much bad as bizarre (Mae warbling arthritic come-ons over a Byrdsish dirge).
B-Movie Bonanza
You know I love it when Turner Classic Movies devotes its daytime programming to some obscure actor or director. This Friday, December 23, they’ll be playing ten films from Warner Brothers journeyman director Ray Enright (with one non-Enright film, Side Show, snuck in). Since he never directed anything that was even close to being “classic”, Enright is kind of an odd subject for a daylong movie fest. Still, the Warner pre-Codes have a certain jazzy verve, and even when they’re awful the short running times ensure minimal pain. Here’s what they’ll have (all times EST):
6:00 AM — Dancing Sweeties (1930) A hot-shot dancer marries in haste and repents in waltz time. How can anyone resist something called Dancing Sweeties? Besides, it’s only 63 minutes long.
7:15 AM — Golden Dawn (1930) An adventurer falls for a woman destined to be the virgin priestess for an African tribe. A notorious flop in its day; this non-p.c. early musical might be worth a watch out of morbid curiosity’s sake.
8:45 AM — Scarlet Pages (1930) A female attorney makes a startling discovery about the woman she’s defending from murder charges. Courtroom drama with no-name cast. I’ll skip.
10:00 AM — Side Show (1931) A carnival dancer fills in for the show’s high diver. Starring the brassy and forgotten Winnie Lightner as a circus performer. I am so there.
11:15 AM — Play Girl (1932) A young innocent falls for a compulsive gambler. Lightner again, with a young Loretta Young. I’ll catch this when it repeats next month.
12:30 PM — The Silk Express (1933) A young silk importer fights off threats to his cargo during a perilous train ride. Warners got a lot of mileage out of that “workingmen under siege” motif. The busy Guy Kibbee lends support.
1:45 PM — Miss Pacific Fleet (1935) Two stranded showgirls enter a beauty contest to win the fare back home. The only film that I’ve already seen, a breezy comedy starring Glenda Farrell and Joan Blondell. Don’t remember anything about it, but Glenda and Joan are always fun.
3:00 PM — The Traveling Saleslady (1935) A toothpaste tycoon’s daughter joins his rival to teach him a lesson. More Glenda and Joan.
4:15 PM — We’re In The Money (1935) Gold-digging process servers set their sights on a breach of promise defendant. Still more Glenda and Joan.
5:30 PM — While The Patient Slept (1935) A nurse investigates murder at a mysterious mansion. This one got some good reviews at the IMDB, plus it stars Warners’ stalwart comedienne Aline MacMahon.
6:45 PM — Man Alive (1946) A man thought dead returns as a ghost to scare off his wife’s suitors. A later effort starring the improbable trio of Pat O’Brien, Adolph Menjou and Rudy Vallee. I’ll pass.
Don’t forget Christmas Eve as well — Christmas In Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck and Joyce Compton is on at 10 PM EST!
Savant Knows All
Glenn Erickson of DVD Savant is back with his 2005 Favored Disc Roundup. Not only does he spotlight his favorite reissues of the year, he gives a lot of insight into the often shoddy ways that film studios market their older films on DVD. A similar plea is made in Al Lutz’s open letter to Leonard Maltin imploring Maltin and Disney to better handle the material on the Disney Treasures DVDs.
Gruesome Twosome: Nick and Val, Sittin’ in a Tree Edition
Diana Ross: “I Can’t Give Back The Love I Feel For You”
LP: Surrender, 1971
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: “Won’t It Be So Wonderful”
LP: Natural Resources, 1970 | BUY
On the menu today, a couple of later Motown efforts written and produced by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Nick and Val made for Diana Ross’ most sympathetic collaborators. The dramatic “Can’t Give Back The Love” (previously a failed single for Syreeta Wright) gave the DUI Diva one of her best performances, with Diana’s seductive speaking voice and shrieks matching the thrilling ebb and flow of the production. Martha Reeves’ joyous vocal on “Won’t It Be So Wonderful” is an undiscovered gem which was buried on one of the last Vandellas albums. Ashford and Simpson’s perky melodies were all about the optimism of love, even when the lyrics conveyed the opposite. Solid, solid as a rock, you might say.
Silver Hells
Something occurred to me at the mall today, sometime between “Winter Wonderland” and “Frosty the Snowman” — enduring crappy Christmas music is one of the few communal experiences we have left. Now I’m fully aware that some people actually like that stuff (the same types who lovingly collect Precious Moments figurines, no doubt), and I suppose hearing those familiar chestnuts for the millionth time isn’t so bad if the perfomer has the skills (yes to Nat “King”, no to Natalie). Relatively speaking, at least.
Oddly enough, I seem to have a stonger stomach when it comes to familiar novelty Xmas tunes. For instance, I can’t get enough of those adorable dogs barking out “Jingle Bells”, and their feline counterparts The Jingle Cats never fail to bring a smile. I also never get tired of (gulp) Elmo & Patsy’s “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”. However, the version I remember best isn’t the one constantly played on the radio nowadays. According to the book Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, “Grandma” was originally recorded in 1979 by husband and wife Elmo Shropshire and Patsy Trigg. This was the unpretentious, folksy little song about an unlucky old lady that I grew up listening to on Dr. Demento. Following that success, E&P remade the song in the early ’80s and made an accompanying music video popular on MTV. The results came across like someone re-telling a once funny joke: the delivery was more forced, slicker but not nearly as nuanced. Unfortunately, this inferior rerecording is what we’re stuck with today. Elmo’s website fills in lots more info about the song, but with no mention of Patsy (the couple divorced in 1985). Apparently he now makes a living as a veterinarian — cool!
Nepotism Alert
Just a note to say that my s.o. Christopher has launched his own weblog, Just Ask Christopher. Christopher is my own personal “Mr. Know It All”, so it’s no surprise that he decided to focus his weblog on sharing knowledge and giving advice. Make sure to go there and ask him lots of questions — so that he’ll never do a post about our cat again!
Mushrooms and Bugs
Wonderful Christopher sent along two artsy-links today that I’d like to share. The first is this L.A. Times story on a unique photography project which was a collaboration between film location scouts and disadvantaged high school students. The resulting shots of the abandoned Ambassador Hotel are eerie, especially a lovely pic of mushrooms growing out of carpeting. The other is a New York Times article on a museum exhibit of models, drawings and other pieces from — synergy alert — Pixar films. Oh, how I would love to be in NYC to catch that one.
Swankola Superhome
Recently we rewatched The Incredibles and marveled at the retro-style details used in the settings — especially the Incredible family homestead. The exterior design is inspired by Bob Alexander’s tract homes in Palm Springs. Interiors seemed to come straight off the pages of House and Garden magazine, circa 1960, with textures so lovingly rendered that you feel like you can reach out and touch them. Right then and there, we decided we had to have the charming “school of fish” wall hanging in their living room. If it existed outside a computer mainframe, that is.
When Hollywood Went Black and Tan
Next month, vintage musicals Hallelujah, Green Pastures and Cabin In The Sky will debut on DVD as a Black History Month tie-in. Truthfully, all three suffer in varying degrees from their very dated portrayals of African-American spirituality, so it should be interesting to hear the commentaries on each film. I’ve never seen the early talkie Hallelujah, but that one piques my interest since it dates from the time when Irving Thalberg was greenlighting gutsy, non-traditional projects for MGM. Green Pastures is a bizarre 1936 opus from Warners with cast members speaking in stereotypical Southern dialect. Cabin In The Sky holds up well due to the dynamite starring trio of Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Ethel Waters and Lena Horne with direction by Vincente Minnelli. All three come out January 10!
Mister Manners
You might remember Bill Barol from his witty weblog Blather, or for speaking with The New York Times on the daily strain of weblog keeping (only to drop said weblog soon thereafter), or for his fine articles for the likes of Slate and Fast Company. Now he’s resurfaced as the “typist” of a new book, Mr. Irresponsible’s Bad Advice: How to Rip the Lip Off Your Id and Live Happily Ever After. Mr. Irresponsible is a crusty and oblivious old coot who once wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper advice column, sort of a combination of Ann Landers and Grampa Simpson. In this slim volume, he dispenses advice that is caustically funny but also, strangely enough, useful. I mean, correcting unruly children in restaurants by turning them into projectiles is sound advice — don’t you think?
We’re #14! (Out of 15)
Not to toot my own horn, but scrubbles.net is currently ranked #14 in votes for the Weblog Award of Best Blog Design. That’s 14th place out of 15 nominees. C’mon people, throw me a little bone here and vote. Polls close on the 15th and you can vote once every 24 hours.
