day 4 - thin white angel of death vs. bing

Bing Crosby - Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy

Posted Nov 07, 2006

first of all, it's obvious that david bowie knows exactly who he's talking to when he mentions he "even has a go at white christmas." wink nudge. of course, this was all a planned number, but it completely loses the pretense of sponteneity when he says that. but, at the same time, i doubt the audience would particularly give a damn. i would really not be surprised if bing had no idea who he was talking to, though even that's unlikely - this was when bowie was particularly huge, both in the UK and the US. to assume that he wouldn't know bowie at all...

when bing asks bowie if he likes any of the old stuff, bowie replies he likes john lennon and harry nilsson. ha! wacky way to show the generational difference!

the song itself is my next point of contention. seriously, if "little drummer boy" is david bowie's son's "favorite," why does he end up singing an entirely different song? according to the washington post:

"The original plan had been for Bowie and Crosby to sing just "Little Drummer Boy." But "David came in and said: 'I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?' " Fraser said. "We didn't know quite what to do."

Fraser, Kohan and Grossman left the set and found a piano in the studios' basement. In about 75 minutes, they wrote "Peace on Earth," an original tune, and worked out an arrangement that weaved together the two songs. Bowie and Crosby nailed the performance with less than an hour of rehearsal."
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901260.html)

not that the "peace on earth" song is BAD. it just, again, makes no sense in the setup. (hell, the setup that "white christmas" is one of the "traditional" things is sort of silly too...)

i guess there's not much more to say about this. bing crosby died not too much later, giving a sort of creepy "angel of death" vibe to david bowie (they also aired a performanc/video of heroes on the special, as they had done for marc bolan. both crosby and bolan died before their respective specials aired).

years later, bob mould and craig kilbourne did a note for note, word for word, remake of this for the daily show before john stewart made it the awesomeness it is today (sadly, i can't find a video of this). thankfully, neither of them died before it aired...

25 days of x-mas day 3

i posted about this back when i first started my blog, but it being christmas i thought i'd revisit it and all it's "pre-crisis" cheesiness.


so first, the cover. a little misleading when it comes to the story, but really, a lot of cominc book covers are these days (seriously, who ever sees those comic book covers with two heroes "fighting" and thinks that, inside, you'll see a giant superhero battle royale? world war hulk and civil war aside), and were even more in those days. but no, nowhere in this issue is superman going down a chimney or toyman ambushing the big boy scout and the man in the big red suit from the rooftop with an army of toy soldiers.

the issue itself is the kind of story you really won't find anywhere in comics today, except maybe in some indie's homaging of this era. post crisis DC comics are, largely, too "serious" for this type of story (though apparently someone's bringing back bat-mite soon!).

a few things to remember: the fortress of solitude is in the north pole. santa's workshop is in the north pole. it only seems natural that these worlds would collide.

after superman stops timmy from robbing a charity worker, he finds that the kid is under the hypnotic spell of a toy made by the original toyman, so he takes him to the fortress to cure him. suddenly, a beam from the toy hits superman and he falls from the sky - the victim of toyman finding "meteorite laced with White Dwarf-Star matter on sale as a paperweight." (seriously, who writes this stuff?)

superman wakes to find himself surrounded by elves and santa himself. he wonders why he has never seen it, which is apparently the result of magic (superman can't beat magic) because only people who santa wants to see it... blah blah blah... they tour the workshop and superman sees a toy that reminds him of one he had when he was a baby that was destoyed when krypton went kerblooey - a thought projecting device.

superman still too weak to fight toyman, santa offers to help, even giving him a ride on the sleigh. they go down toyman's chimney and... well... santa unleashes his "good toys" to beat toyman's "bad toys" which were all carrying kryptonite making santa's help a necessity.

when all is said - all the evil hypnotic toys are rounded up and everything seems great - another "gravity beam" hits superman. he wakes up in the snow at the fortress with timmy hovering over him, and thinking his entire santa encounter was a dream. then, when he gets home, he finds.... a thought projector! which then projects an image of santa wishing him a happy christmas!

all in all, it's a fun comic. good clean american christmas fun. of course, i wouldn't be me without pointing out a glaring - to me at least - plot point. superman thought the entire santa encounter was a dream, shouldn't he have then immediately thought the entire toyman battle was fake, not return timmy home yet, and go after toyman? granted, it wasn't a dream but still... superman might not be as knee jerk as some superheroes, but he's not methodical or contemplating either.

i'm sure there are other great christmasy comics... i just might have to talk about them sometime.

day 2: holiday heap recap and joy

so the CCCM's second show, holiday heap, has now come and gone. and let's just say it was AWESOME! seriously, even with the sort of hectic feeling of the last week, it was seriously one of the coolest things i have ever been a part of.

first things first, sleepy records (ie annie and me) DJ set lists:
hour 1:
The Godfather Waltz
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
No Action - Elvis Costello
Kings Of The Wild Frontier - Adam & The Ants
Johnny 99 - Los Lobos
Comic Strip - Serge Gainsbourg
The Gash - The Flaming Lips
Let Me Go Home - Camera Obscura
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) [Single Version] -The
Ramones
No. 5 (Boogie Woogie No. 5) - Puffy AmiYumi
A Little Respect - Erasure
Like a Virgin - Madonna
Kiss - Prince
If She Knew What She Wants - The Bangles

hour 2:
Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Christmas Time is Here-Ivy
City Morning Song-Sarah Shannon
Postcards From Italy-Beirut
anthems for a seventeen year old girl - Broken Social Scene
The Start of Something-Voxtrot
christmas time is here-capsela
Silver Lining-Beulah
New York Snow-Looper
Frankly, Mr. Shankly-The Smiths
Try A Little Tenderness-Otis Redding
When the curious girl realizes she is under glass - Bright Eyes
Puttin' On The Ritz-Shiny Toy Guns
The Best Days - Softies
Everything And More - Dolly Mixture
Call Me - I Am The World Trade Center
Thanks for Christmas - XTC
The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing - The Magnetic Fields

hour 3:
Let's Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
Party Time (a Womyn's Luv)- Lesbians On Ecstasy
She Bop - Cyndi Lauper
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
Friendship Station - Le Tigre
Bust a Move -Young MC
Don't You Want Me -The Human League
The Sound Of The Crowd - superheroes
Major Tom (Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
Electric Renaissance - Belle & Sebastian
Ultraviolence - New Order
24 Hour Party People - Happy MondaysM
Do You Want to - Franz Ferdinand
Riot Radio -The Dead 60s

hour 4:
The Christmas song The Raveonettes
Credit In The Straight World Young Marble Giants
Temptation (Original 7-inch) New Order
Dancefloor The Brunettes
St. James Infirmary Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
First Of The Gang To Die Morrissey
Another Girl, Another Planet The Only Ones
Feed The World Richard Davies
Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 7" Mix) Blur
The Fox in the Snow Rasputina
Motorcrash Sugarcubes
Three Girl Rhumba Wire
Tales of Brave Aphrodite Velocity Girl
New England Kirsty MacColl
Christmas In Hollis Run DMC
All The Right Reasons Dressy Bessy
Let's Pretend We're Married Prince

hour 5:
Squance - Plaid
Xtal - Aphex Twin
As Serious As Your Life - FourTet
Risingson - Massive Attack
Death Goes To The Disco - Pulp
Halo - Depeche Mode
Discotraxx - Ladytron
Computer Blue - Prince & The Revolution
Dance 1- Kiss Me Deadly
Sing Songs Along - Tilly & The Wall
Fire In Cairo - The Cure
The Day That Thatcher Dies - Hefner
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
Dreaming - Blondie

hour 6:
In the Bleak Midwinter - The Pipettes
Round - Lou Barlow
Y Control [ The Faint Remix ]- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pocket Calculator - Kraftwerk
Crazy Rhythms - The Feelies
Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me - Belle & Sebastian
Killing - The Rapture
Rock_Me_Amadeus - Falco
Broadway (So Many People) - Low
I Was Born On Christmas Day - Saint Etienne
Chick Habit - April March
Fools Rush In - Bow Wow Wow
Everythings Just Wonderful - Lily Allen
Victoria - The Fall
White Lines - Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
White Christmas - Bright Eyes
Sally MacLennane - The Pogues

hour 7:
Creepy Santa
Just Like Christmas - Low
Knee Deep At the National Pop League - Camera Obscura
Sweeping The Nation - Spearmint
The Model - Belle & Sebastian
Talulah Gosh - Talulah Gosh
Waterfall - The Stone Roses
Ask - The Smiths
Tracy and I - Little Name
Spotlight on Christmas - Rufus Wainwright
Silver and Gold - Calla
The Only Moment We Were Alone - Explosions In The Sky
Sea-Microphone - Cake On Cake
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra

we got a lot of great compliments for our sets, which is always nice we're talking of a) getting some real DJing equipment, so we don't run into the issues we had at 2640 with the sound equipment (i mean, it worked but... yikes. plugging a portable cd player into a mixer and then doing some neat wiring and cabling tricks to get sound into the second room just doesn't work so well... i mean, it does, but seriously could have been better managed...)

the sleepy records table was a success as well, though i guess since we were basically giving things away, it really couldn't do anything but. we also got a good bit of donation money for the baltimore sandwhich project and other sleepy records projects, though i think the adorable bear helped:



next time, i think, we'll actually sell stuff (6 months to make product for little mouse vintage and maybe have some cd's/tshirts/etc. for sale from sleepy... yeah... we can do it....). but other vendors who were selling things were also phenominally successful! lots of people! lots of money!

one of my favorite non-mafia vendors - other than karma's cafe which was tres awesome with her cider and deliciousa cookies - was noosed kitty (ok, her work has a morbid end to it, but it's also brilliant - i got a print and some badges). but there were so many good vendors (including the cigar box guitar guy... go here for the complete list of vendors.)

we also had some fun with decorating with dinoboy,





who strangely here is sideways because my camera did something funny when it loaded the picture, and whose santa hat and beard you can't get the full effect of...







as well as with one of the coolest, most exciting movie homages ever:

which got zero outraged comments, despite the presence of children (ann apparently was even warned, while wearing her antlers, that "they're beheading reindeer in the other room").

all in all, exhausting - especially after trying to lug boxes and bags of canned good to my car and then back because we realized the impossibility of carrying and storing them until friday and then found out the the shelter at the church where the even was could take the canned goods - but absolutely bloody brilliant.

now starts the planning for the next show... pile of craft 2!

25 days of X-mas day one

so what better way to stay a christmasy countdown then with the ultimate in christmasy countdowns, the 12 days of christmas.

on the first...

first, this statement: According to the 23rd annual survey, the cost of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is $19,507 in 2007 (from pnc bank's website on the subject http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com) .

so, really, who actually calculates this stuff? ok, the website TELLS you that, but has christmas become - as charlie brown so memorably lamented - so commercial?

this song has itself had many versions. bob and doug mackinzies version, replacing the partridge with "a beer... in a tree" is canadian humor at its best. yay canadian jokes!

"Bob: Ok, on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
beer.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
2 turtlenecks,
and beer.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer.
There should be more there, eh?

Where?

On the 4th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.

Oh. See? ya need more.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
6 packs of two-four.
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.

Ok.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
7 packs of smokes,
6 packs of two-four,
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.

oh, i keep forgettin'.

whew, this should be just the 2 days of xmas, this is too hard for us!

On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
8 comic books,
7 packs of smokes,
6 packs of two-four,
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tree.

Wow,That beers empty

Day 12.

G'day and welcome to day 12.

Yeah.

5 GOLDEN TOQUES!
4lbs of backbacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and beer in a tre-e.

Where did you learn to do that?

Uh, Albums.

Boy, so thats our song merry Christmas, and g'day.

G'day everybody. Happy new years.

Ok, ya know what ya left out?

What?

Donuts. I told you to get me donuts.

Oh no!

Either on the 9th day, or the 10th day or the 11th day. I wanted donuts.

The song is over merry Christmas everybody, or the 12th you coulda gotten me a dozen donuts.

Go to the stores and get some presents. You coulda gone down to the donut shop where you buy a dozen donuts, you get another donut free. Then it coulda been 13 for the 13 days of Christmas.

Next Christmas, get me a chainsaw.

Take off!

Boy that song was a beauty.. it moved me.

Yah , it ranks up there with stairway to heaven."

so there's that...

i dunno. i happen to really like the song, maybe because i grew up with the muppets/john denver version - something which rightfully deserves it's own geekdom post - which is probably the first version that enters my head whenever someone brings up the song.

but back to the price index stuff...

so christmas would have the true love spending almost 20000 dollars, meaning it's more than a years salary of a growing portion of people in this country. the price of gold and the minimum wage hike (milkmaids, also probably pipers and drummers, because i would assume that their musicians unions would ask for a hike to coincide with the min wage hike) have apparently caused this...

but really, who wants these things. a partridge in a pear tree? when i was little we had a pear tree. i think if a partridge had shown up in it it would have freaked us out a bit. it was tiny anyway and probably wouldn't support the partridge's weight. and who gives someone a fruit tree for christmas anyway, with or without a bird already living in it? hell, all the bird gifts seem just a bit ridiculous, unless they're meant for eating, but who eats swan? hell, who eats a turtle dove?

really, the only good "gift" in the bunch is probably the gold rings. but who needs five? are they in love with liz taylor? miss piggy loves them, certainly, but then again, where does she wear them, her tail? (ok, she;'s a muppet and therefore is a pig with fingers... but honestly...). otherwise, all the singer is getting is a ton of birds, and a musical troupe that, really, should all arrive at the same time anyway if they expect to have a cohesive musical performance...

i'd imagine the mackinzie brothers version is far cheaper, even now. hell, in canadian dollars it's even better!

anyway, here's the chart to show what shallow money counters/lenders - like scrooge mcduck! - have been observing about christmas for the last several years:

holiday happenings

so, i know i said this about halloween, but i think i'm going to do somethinc christmasy here. i think i might even take the stupid abc family channel idea of "25 days" of christmas and run with it.... christmas music, movies, books, etc.

suggestions?

holiday heapster

so, if yr in baltimore, and need something to do this saturday...
(for more info, see www.charmcitycraftmafia.com)

it's karen black's fault

yeah.

so i completely dropped the ball on the entire week of horror movie related posts.

anyway.

more. later. or something.