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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The 12 Days Of Christmas


Now that today is December 13, it's just dawned on me that there's only 12 days left until Christmas...the perfect day to bring up today's blog topic.

Have you ever heard of the holiday classic 'The 12 Days Of Christmas'?

I'm sure that you all have, considering that there have been so many recordings of the song over the number of years that it has existed.

But, do you know the story behind how it all began?

I did a little bit of research behind why this song was created, and what the possible meaning of the song could be.

I mean, let's face it. Listening to the lyrics of the song, it's a bit of a trainwreck in itself. By the twelfth day of Christmas, you have some of the most bizarre Christmas gifts ever. It'd be like even weirder than getting a Snuggie in every possible colour and pattern underneath the tree.

Let's see...on the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords-A-Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids-A-Milking
7 Swans-A-Swimming
6 Geese-A-Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling (or Colly) Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves



And a partridge in a pear tree.

(And yes, the photo was photoshopped by yours truly. A kind of an elementary job at that, but at least the thought was behind it.)

The point is, can you imagine having your significant other giving you all of these gifts? I mean, let's take a look at this. What kind of lover would appreciate getting a gift of twenty-three birds? Unless they work at a zoo or a bird sanctuary, I'm guessing not many.

And, with eight maids a milking and nine ladies dancing, what the hell kind of a relationship is this? Clearly one that's very open! I mean, what, if the man is busy with the maids and the dancing ladies, the woman goes after the lords, pipers, and drummers?

Heck, why not throw a whole bunch of long stemmed roses in the middle of it all and then we could have a Christmas themed version of The Bachelor! And with five golden rings to choose from, at least five will get some form of a proposal!

Yeah, I don't think that anybody will be giving gifts like these to their loved ones anytime soon, nor should they...unless their lover has a fetish for feathered friends. Though I did read an old Archie comic that had Archie giving Veronica all of these presents with help from Sabrina...and if I remember it correctly, I don't think it worked out all that great.

But apparently these Christmas gifts were in vogue circa the late-1700s. That's approximately the time in which this song was written. 1780, to be exact. Or at least that's what Wikipedia tells me. And we all know how 'reliable' Wikipedia is as a research aid. Alas, it's all I got, so I'm going to go with it.

If you're interested, a man by the name of Dennis Bratcher wrote this piece on the 12 Days Of Christmas, and a lot of the information that I've used for this piece comes from this page, so do take a look at it by clicking on here.

Although the actual origins of how the song came to be written are unknown (and will likely remain that way, since the song is over two hundred years old), but likely theories suggest that it was originally began as a 'memories and forfeits' game, where a leader recited a verse, and then the other people in the group would add verses to the original verse, and so on.

Even the country of origin is up for debate. While many seem to belief that the song was English in nature, there are some texts that suggest that the song might have originated in France. Whatever the case, the song was introduced in the United States around 1910, as a schoolteacher named Emily Brown brought it back to America for use in a school Christmas pageant.

The real meaning behind 'The 12 Days Of Christmas' is also debated. Some don't think that the song has any meaning whatsoever, while others have come up with conflicting theories.

The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes has said that there have been suggestions made that the gifts represent something significant, possibly representing the food or sport of one of the months of the year. Others state that the meanings of the lyrics are purely Christian themed, although this hasn't exactly been proven as right or wrong. In some versions, the lines after eight maids-a-milking have been flipped around and reordered.

Below though is a list of the items of the song as compared to Christian interpretations though, just in case you were wondering.



A partridge in a pear tree = Jesus
Two turtle doves = The Old and New Testaments
Three French hens = The Three Kings Of Orient
Four calling birds = The Four Gospels
Five golden rings = The Torah or the Pentateuch
Six geese-a-laying = The six days of Creation
Seven swans-a-swimming = Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
Eight maids-a-milking = The eight Beatitudes
Nine ladies dancing = Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
Ten lords-a-leaping = The Ten Commandments
Eleven pipers piping = The Eleven Faithful Apostles
Twelve drummers drumming = The twelve points of the Apostles' Creed

TRIVIA: If one were to purchase all of these items for Christmas 2011 for your true love, it'll set you back about $24,300!

Now, just because this blog post is titled the 12 Days Of Christmas, I'll post a traditional version for all of you to enjoy. Here's Burl Ives singing the classic from 1951.



But, I like the versions that are sort of non-traditional best, just because it makes the song more fun.



I mean, check out this 1979 version of the song by John Denver and some special friends.



Now, keep in mind that when the song was pressed onto album format from the holiday special, some of the Muppets sang different lines. For instance, Beeker doesn't even show up on the Muppets special, but has a line in the album version.

And then there's a few versions of the song that have sort of bastardized the classic carol into something humourous and comedy filled.

Artists after my own heart.



One example of this was released the same year I was born. In 1981, SCTV was quite a popular show in Canada, and cast members Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas decided to release a Christmas song singing as the characters that they were most known for on that series.

From November 1981, I present to you Bob and Doug McKenzie's 12 Days Of Christmas, courtesy of YouTube!



For the record, a beer in a tree sounds mighty good right about now.



About six years later, radio personality (and personal idol of mine) Bob Rivers released an album known by the title of 'Twisted Christmas', which parodied a whole bunch of Christmas carols from 'Deck The Halls' to 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'. And yes, he did a version of 12 Days Of Christmas...

...only his was called the 12 PAINS of Christmas. From the 1987/88 holiday season, here it is in all its glory.



I can't think of a better way to glamourize the materialistic hoopla the season seems to bring, can you?

One final example that I'll talk about was released in 1995 by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, who you may know from his 'you might be a redneck' comedy act. Well, he managed to take that one step further and released it in song format that year.



As you can see, there's many different interpretations of the song from the traditional to the just plain bizarre. I ask all of you, which ones are your favourite?

Monday, December 12, 2011

Monday Matinee - A Christmas Story

I'll be the first to admit that this particular year, I've been having a slightly difficult time embracing the magic and joy that the holiday season can bring.

Mainly because it's December 12th today and as of right now, there's still no snow sticking to the ground in the town that I live in. Which wouldn't be so bad if I was living in a place that never got snow. Unfortunately, I live in Ontario, Canada, and seeing how mild the temperatures have been lately, I'm getting slightly a bit on the depressed side.

Granted, the countdown to Christmas is at thirteen days, so maybe Mother Nature will accidentally leave her refrigerator open for Christmas weekend, blanketing the ground with snow in between defrost cycles. At least I'm hoping so, or else maybe Al Gore really was onto something with this whole global warming thing.

Until then, why not talk about a Christmas themed movie in this spot? After all, it is the Monday Matinee today, and today's movie deals with Christmas traditions that almost all of us who celebrate the holiday experienced.

Also it deals with some of the feelings that we may have experienced as children ourselves, and all the hopes and excitement that we all had during those simpler times.

Oh, and it has a little kid standing up to and defeating a neighbourhood bully. What's not to like about that?

I think all of us can recall one Christmas in which we had written our letters to Santa Claus asking him for one gift that you really, really wanted, but somehow knew that there was only a glimmer of hope of actually getting it. I know in my case, some of these items involved an expensive computer, the entire library of Archie comics, and the computer book that Penny used on the cartoon Inspector Gadget. Today's Monday Matinee topic has this theme in mind. How one little boy had something on his Christmas list that he really wanted so badly, he could taste it.

Or, how about seeing someone get a gift that you know is incredibly ugly, tacky, and tasteless, and yet seeing the absolute joy they get in receiving the gift. And then seeing the person who hates the gift try everything to get rid of the gift because it is such an eyesore? This movie has it too!

Or, how about getting a present from a distant relative who clearly doesn't have any sort of idea what the person wants, and then you're forced to pretend to enjoy the gift in their presence? This movie has that as well.



And, of course, who hasn't known someone who has accidentally done this on a cold, frosty winter morn?

This picture looks mighty painful, doesn't it? And, yet, this was a scene from today's featured movie.

So, kick off your shoes, and pop a bowl of popcorn as we get ready for the Monday Matinee feature for December 12th...A Christmas Story!



A Christmas Story was made on a four million dollar budget, and was released in November 1983. It managed to make back its four million dollar investment, plus an additional fifteen million on top of that. The movie starred Peter Billingsley as the main character of Ralphie Parker, a character that was largely based on the life experiences of author Jean Shepherd (who did the adult narration for Ralphie). In fact, a lot of the scenes from 'A Christmas Story' can be found in Shepherd's books. The movie also starred Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, and Zack Ward, and filming was done in both the United States and Canada.



The movie's main plot deals with the first topic that I talked about. The one about wanting something for Christmas, and nothing else would do as a present. In Ralphie's case, that something was a Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass in the stock. He literally tells everybody he meets that he wants the BB gun and he gets the same response...that if he gets it, he'll shoot his eye out.

It didn't matter who he told. Whether it was his mother, who outrightly refused to give it to him, his teacher, in which he wrote an essay for school on why he wanted the gun (in which he received a final grade of a C+), or even Santa Claus himself...



...the response was always the same.

You really had to feel for Ralphie here. I mean, I know what it's like to ask for something so outrageous that I knew deep down that it couldn't have been made possible (especially since I had never seen any Inspector Gadget computer books in stores in any of the years that I've been alive). To have everyone basically pooh-pooh his wish and desire to have the one gift that would ultimately make it the best Christmas he's ever had is kind of a slap in the face to him.

But then again, Ralphie was only nine. When I was nine, I was only allowed to play with water pistols. But, I digress.



That was the main plot of the movie. Ralphie wanted a Red Ryder BB gun. I can't tell you whether he gets it or not though, as I don't reveal the endings to movies featured in the Monday Matinee section. But, considering that TBS once aired 24-hour marathons of the movie, and that it's aired on cable television on a regular basis during the month of December since the mid-80s, it's a safe bet to say that we all know how A Christmas Story ended.

But there were so many B-plots that were interspersed with the main plot. It's like the A-plot was the fancy, shiny silk ribbon that held the whole thing together, tied up neatly in a bright red bow.

And in a way, it sort of links to the other holiday examples of what I find to be events that I myself have experienced during the holidays.

The first B-plot that I wish to talk about? Standing up to a neighbourhood bully.

Having gone to a school which seemed to have at least one neighbourhood bully per classroom, I know how hard it can be to stick up for yourself and fight back against them when you never know when you would come face to face with them. Now that I'm a lot older and wiser, I can stand up to most bullies and not even break a sweat. When you're a child, it can be quite difficult.

In Ralphie's case, fear had a name. Scut Farkus.



The red headed boy with one of the most awkward, yet completely awesome names that I've ever heard for a character used to bully Ralphie something fierce. He would throw snowballs at Ralphie, make fun of Ralphie, and when tag teamed with his sidekick Grover Dill, it seemed as if Ralphie was unable to escape the barrage of insults and snowballs that he had to endure.

That is until Ralphie snapped, and decided to fight back.

Needless to say, I don't think Scut Farkus would ever try to hurt Ralphie any time soon (and while I'm usually not one to advocate violence towards bullies, in this case, the Scut had it coming). Although, Ralphie was so enraged and in the moment that he actually uttered a few choice words, including one rather vulgar four-letter word beginning with the letter F and rhyming with truck.

No, he didn't say fudge. He said the F-word.

And for Ralphie, this couldn't have come at a worse possible moment, as his mother (who came upon the scene after Ralphie's little brother Randy ran off to get her in an attempt to break up the fight) heard the whole thing. And having gotten in trouble by his father (who Ralphie referred to as the Old Man) for uttering 'The Queen Mother of Dirty Words' while he was helping his father change a flat tire, Ralphie thought that he would be in big trouble. Maybe he'd even get his mouth washed out with soap!

Luckily, Ralphie's mother does a pretty convincing job of changing the subject at dinner, making the Old Man forget about the whole thing in a matter of minutes.

The next thing that I want to bring up is the part about the person getting an incredibly tacky gift that they adore, but everyone else hates. At some time before the film begins, the Old Man enters a sweepstakes contest, sponsored by the Nehi bottling company, and ends up winning a prize.

Naturally when the prize comes in the mail in a gigantic crate marked 'fragile' (which leads to some rather interesting methods of pronouncing the word), everyone is excited to see what the Old Man won. What he got was...well...unique.



The prize was a gigantic lamp in the shape of a fairly nice looking female leg, a symbol that was associated with the Nehi company.

And the Old Man loved it. To him, it was a symbol that he had finally won something in his life. He cherished it, loved it, kept it in a prominent place in the family living room. It didn't matter that to the average person, it looked as if it were more of an eyesore than a must-have item for a foyer or parlour. To him, it might as well have been made out of the finest gold with diamond dust sprinkled liberally all over the base. It was a thing of beauty.

So, why did his wife end up doing THIS to it?



Turns out that Mrs. Parker hated that lamp right from the get-go. She wanted desperately to get rid of it, and ended up resorting to drastic measures to make that lamp go away. You could almost see the Old Man's heart break right in two pieces when his gaze met upon the shattered limb.

Let's have a moment of silence for the lamp.

For the record, I can't say that I've ever been in a situation where I've despised someone else's gift so much to the point where I've wanted to destroy it. Granted, I've seen some of my family members give each other some really gross gifts over the years, but never would I develop enough rage to want it gone.

Though I can definitely sympathize with Ralphie when he was forced to enjoy a gift that he absolutely hated. Don't get me wrong...I loved my grandmother and late grandfather on my father's side very dearly, but they weren't known for giving me presents that I could actually use. I remember one Christmas, they ended up giving me a box of jellied fruit that I would never have eaten. Part of me wondered back then what the heck they were thinking. Of course, it took me a while to realize that they tried their best with the limited amount of money they did have. Besides, it really was the thought that counted, and their hearts truly were in the right place. 



Though, if they had given me an outfit like the one Ralphie had to wear in the photo above, I probably would have maybe thought about disowning them, or at the very least pretended not to know them. The outfit Ralphie wears was one that was probably better designed for a four year old girl...pink bunny pajamas that his Aunt Clara made for him to wear on Christmas morning. Ralphie hated the pajamas...even his father compared him to looking like a deranged Easter bunny. But, at least his mother told Ralphie that he only had to wear them whenever Clara came to visit.

There's other aspects to the movie that are present in the film that I could spend hours talking about (and I literally could, as it's one of my favourites), but I really want all of you to check out this movie to watch it for yourselves. It really is a great film.

One last video clip before I end this entry off...



...you saw where the neighbourhood dogs ended up stealing the turkey? I guess that could be symbolic to the life lesson that I wanted to bring up that is tied to this movie.

That lesson? There's no such thing as a perfect Christmas, so we should enjoy it for whatever it brings, good or bad.

You see it all the time. People stressing out over planning the perfect dinner, and buying the perfect gifts, and decorating their perfect trees with perfect strings of lights and perfect ornaments while addressing their perfect cards in perfect handwriting with perfect utensils, sticking perfect stamps on the perfect envelopes so they can go inside the perfect mailboxes to show everyone how perfect their Christmas is.

Who are we kidding here? Not one holiday season goes off without a hitch. Sometimes the gifts we buy people end up being duds. Sometimes the Christmas cards get lost in the mail. Sometimes the lights short out, and the ornaments get broken.

And sometimes dogs can barge into your home and eat your Christmas dinner, forcing the whole family to go to a Chinese restaurant spur of the moment.

But, so what? Sometimes it's those moments that people fondly remember the most about holiday functions. I mean, we wouldn't even have A Christmas Story had Jean Shepherd not experienced these moments first hand!

It's true that in a lot of cases, we remember the disasters more than the success stories. But if the disaster leads to a a family happily spending a holiday together and making the best of a bad situation, then it really isn't a disaster...is it?


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Sunday Jukebox - Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg

I always loved songs that told a story.

It didn't have to be one that was a true story either. Just a simple song where the lyrics illustrate a tale with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Some of these story songs can have a happy ending. Others can be more melancholic.

Whatever the case, I always get fascinated by story songs, and am a bit jaded in the fact that the music industry seems to be ignoring them now more than ever in favour of songs that look like they were written by a sixteen-year-old text messaging to her boyfriend. It's kind of depressing to see the state of music the way it is now. Sure, some of the songs out there nowadays have a steady beat, and could get you on the dance floor about a couple of shots of alcohol or Jell-O shooters, but that's all they're good for. They lack the warmth, and the intelligence, and thought-provoking discussion that the songs of yesteryear seemed to embrace.

I don't know...maybe I tend to look back at things rather than ahead. Maybe I've always been one to dwell on the past than focusing on the future. I realize that this might not be the healthiest thing to do, but in the world of music, and losing my interest in the Grammy Awards year after year, sometimes it's good to go back to the way things were. When things were much simpler.

And when songs actually had a powerful meaning behind them and had lyrics that made sense as opposed to having every third word bleeped out in radio edits. That's not to say that the whole idea of telling stories through music is a lost art. Country music still accounts for quite a few story songs out there, as well as some independent label artists. But in the world of Top 40 music, these songs are few and far between these days.

Heck, if it wasn't for the fact that my singing voice sounded like William Hung's on a good day and if it wasn't for the fact that I can't play most musical instruments, I reckon that I would have gone into a career as a songwriter.

Today's song happens to be by an artist who sadly lost a battle with prostate cancer on December 16, 2007 at the age of 56. He spent years perfecting his craft, and managed to have his biggest selling album thirty years ago.



That artist was Dan Fogelberg.

Some of you younger readers might not know who Dan Fogelberg is, so I'll give a brief summary of who he was. He was born in 1951 in the city of Peoria, Illinois.    Having a mother who was a classically trained pianist and a father who worked at a high school as a band director, Fogelberg had always been around music. It became natural for him to want to pursue it as a career. In his teen years, he learned how to play a Hawaiian slide guitar that his grandfather had given him as a gift, and by 1967, he had been a part of two bands. Not bad for a sixteen year old boy, don't you think?

Fogelberg graduated from high school in 1969, and studied theater arts and painting at the University of Illinois, and started singing at coffeehouses in his spare time. Some of Fogelberg's first recording stemmed from this period, and in 1971, when Fogelberg was just entering his twenties, he was discovered by agent Irving Azoff. Azoff liked what he had heard, and he and Fogelberg moved to California together to seek out their fame, along with another band that Azoff was promoting at the time...REO Speedwagon.

It wasn't until Dan did some training in Nashville that he developed the skills needed to record and release his debut album, a 1972 offering called 'Home Free'. The album didn't do as well as he had hoped, but at least it did put him on the music map, and lead to him opening up for Van Morrison.

But then in 1974, Fogelberg released his second album 'Souvenirs', and it sold much better, as did the next four albums that he released during the remainder of the 1970s.



But it wasn't until 1981 that he would end up hitting his commercial peak, as well as his personal best. The album was called 'The Innocent Age', and although it didn't hit stores until October 1981, many of the singles from that album were released months beforehand. The album spawned four singles, each of them becoming some of his biggest hits in his career; 'Hard To Say', 'Run For The Roses', and 'Leader Of The Band' (a song that Fogelberg wrote based on his father) all hit the charts in some manner, with the latter hitting the top of the adult contemporary charts in early 1982.

What about the fourth hit single? Well, that's the subject for today's blog. It also happened to be the first single released from 'The Innocent Age'.

And it's a story song that was based off of a real life event!

But first, let's hear the song in question.



ARTIST: Dan Fogelberg
SONG: Same Old Lang Syne
ALBUM: The Innocent Age
DATE RELEASED: December 13, 1980
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #9

The first thing that I should talk about is that this is one of those songs that tends to only get played during the holidays. No other time of year do you hear it. I suppose this makes sense, given all the references to Christmas Eve and the New Years Eve song Auld Lang Syne, but it was still a good enough song to hear at any given time of year.



The song takes place on a snowy Christmas Eve at a mini-mart near the frozen food section. The subject of the song happens to be inside the store when he bumps into a girl that he used to date from years ago. At first she doesn't recognize him, but eventually she does, and when she tries to greet him, the klutz drops her purse, spilling its contents all over the floor of the frozen foods section.

They then laugh until they cry. Strange things they did back in the late 1970s/early 1980s, huh?

The two of them decide to go out for a drink to catch up on old times, but seeing as how it was Christmas Eve, finding an open bar was a bit of an impossible dream. Their plan B? Buying a six-pack of beer from the store, and drinking them inside her car.

They propose a toast to the innocence of the past, as well as their lives now, and they talk about what they've been up to since high school graduation. The lover is apparently married to an architect, and she gives off the facade that everything is hunky-dory in domestic bliss, yet gives off hints that she married for security and not for love. She also brings up the fact that she saw his album in a record store, and was happy that he was doing well. The man confirms that he loves to perform for crowds, but finds touring to be something he doesn't enjoy.

The two decide to toast again, and soon after, the conversation dries up as quickly as the beer in their cans, and the woman has to go back home to her family. They exchange pleasantries as well as a kiss before the man leaves the car. Watching her drive off down the road, the snow changes to rain, and the man is left feeling the same way he felt when the relationship between the two ended all those years ago.

Same Old Lang Syne. And, we cue the saxophone solo by Michael Brecker.

It's a wonderful example of these story songs that I was talking about earlier in this blog entry though. It's a song that had a beginning, middle, and an end. And sadly for the man, it started off happily, but ended up concluding in a melancholic manner.

For years though, nobody knew who the song was about. Some people even wondered if the song was based on a real event, or if it was fictional. Dan eventually conceded on his website that the song 'Same Old Lang Syne' was based on a real encounter that he experienced, but never named names, and it was a secret that Dan himself took with him to the grave.



Shortly after Dan passed away in December 2007, a woman named Jill Greulich (she's the woman on the far right) came forward, saying that she was the woman who was featured in 'Same Old Lang Syne'. Just one week after Dan passed away, she revealed that she had dated Dan when they were both in high school together, only back then, she was known as Jill Anderson. They graduated together, but broke up when they attended different colleges. By the time both were done with school, Jill had gotten married, and Dan had moved to Colorado.

They had stayed apart for several years until one fateful Christmas Eve.

The Christmas Eve that was described in 'Same Old Lang Syne'.

It was December 24, 1976. The location was a convenience store, which at the time was the only store open on the street. It was located at 1302 East Frye Avenue, and as of 2011, the store still exists, only under a different name. Jill was at the store buying eggnog, and it was here that she ran into Fogelberg, who was also at the store buying a carton of whipping cream. Everything that happened in the song happened as the song said it had, from the buying of the beer, to the toast, to the rain switching to snow, and everything in between.

Despite the accuracies between the song and the events of Christmas Eve 1976 through the eyes of Jill and Dan, Jill did reveal that there were a couple of things where the truth got blurred. For one, when Dan sings about her having eyes of blue, Jill's eyes were really green. Also, her husband at the time wasn't an architect. Instead, he was a physical education teacher. But Jill also revealed that it was highly unlikely that Dan knew what her husband did for a living as it had not come up during their conversation. Jill would reveal that as Dan had wrote about in his song, the marriage wasn't exactly Brady Bunch like. She wouldn't reveal just how bad it was, but she had said that by the time the song was released in December 1980, the marriage had dissolved.

The first time Jill had heard the song, she was on her way to work when the song came on her car radio. Upon listening to the song, Jill knew that the couple being referenced in 'Same Old Lang Syne' were her and Dan. But she didn't come forward for a couple of reasons. One, she knew that Dan had wanted to keep her identity a secret as whenever Dan was asked in interviews about it, he'd change the subject. Mainly, Jill didn't come forward because at the time, Dan was married himself, and the last thing she wanted to do was disrupt his marriage.

So there you have it...the story behind the story song 'Same Old Lang Syne'. And what a fascinating story it is, don't you think?

I think that's why I have a bit of a soft spot for songs that tell a story. As someone who wants to make a dent in the world of writing himself, I appreciate someone who can tell a great story. I especially give a lot of accolades to anyone who can take that story and set it to music.

That's why I wanted to feature this song for today's blog. It's a great song, made even more memorable by the fact that it was a true tale.



Dan Fogelberg really knew how to write 'em, didn't he?

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Saturday Special Edition - Frosty The Snowman

One of the best things that I always liked about the month of December is the child-like innocence that people experience. It doesn't really matter whether you're five or ninety-five. I believe that the holidays tend to bring out the need to find joy in simple things.

But while it is true that people can find the joy and magic of Christmas at all ages, I think that when we're children, it just seems as though that magic is most concentated.

But why is that?

I think it's because when we're kids, we don't see Christmas traditions as being work. We only see it as being fun.

One of the many activities that I used to partake in when I was younger was building a snowman out in the middle of our backyard. Growing up in Canada, there was usually a lot of snow to be found on the ground (well...usually, as this winter's been depressingly mild), so building a snowman came easy.

All you had to do was make three gigantic snowballs of varying sizes (keeping in mind that the wetter the snow, the better it worked), and stack them one on top of the other. Then you could decorate the snowman with various household items. We'd grab an old hat and scarf, and drape them on the snowmen, grab a carrot for his nose. Find a couple of rocks for the eyes, pebbles for the mouth. If we could find some under the snow, we'd stick branches in the side of the snowman for his arms. And it looked really great.

Though as a kid, I didn't know that building a snowman was such hard work. When I was a kid, my parents did the more difficult parts, which included stacking the snowballs on top of each other. All I did was dress the snowman. Of course, I think they enjoyed helping me build the snowman because they saw how happy I was when the snowman was finally completed.

And I think that's a great thing for us all to learn. That sometimes Christmas and the holiday season can be fun for people at any age as long as we're able to give our time towards people who need it. Because as we know, the Christmas season is for giving. And, as much as my family can sometimes drive me crazy, I know that they were true givers.

Today's blog topic deals with a famous snowman. A snowman that was first immortalized in song, first recorded by singer Gene Autry in 1950.

A snowman that would end up getting his own holiday special almost two decades later.



Frosty The Snowman debuted on December 7, 1969 on CBS. Produced by Rankin-Bass (a name synonymous with holiday specials), the holiday special remains a holiday staple for children all over the world. It is one of the most beloved Christmas specials still screened today, and was recently ranked #4 on TV Guide's Top 10 Holiday Specials list.

For Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, Frosty the Snowman was a first for them. Prior to Frosty, their previous efforts utilized stop-motion animation. This special used the more traditional cel animation. The reason? The creators of the show wanted the overall feel to resemble a Christmas card. Paul Coker Jr., who worked as a greeting card designer and did artwork for MAD Magazine, was hired to design Frosty and all the other characters in the show. The show was animated by Japanese company Mushi Production, spearheaded by Osamu Dezaki, and writer Romeo Muller (who also had worked on Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer) worked on the storyboard for the half hour program.

The voice cast of the special was filled with quite a few heavyweights at the time it was produced. Jackie Vernon was cast as the role of Frosty, and I might add that he did such a good job with the role that I can't imagine anyone else even attempting to play Frosty. I know John Goodman and Bill Fagerbakke both played Frosty in future Christmas specials, but to me, Jackie is THE Frosty. Jimmy Durante was cast as the narrator of the show.

Here's some trivia for you all though. Initially when the show was first broadcast in 1969, the voice of Karen was done by veteran voice actress June Foray (who you probably know best from Bugs Bunny cartoons where she played Granny). The following year, however, most of Foray's dialogue was replaced by an uncredited actor. It's still unknown as to why Foray's work was removed from the special just one year later, but one common theory is that there was a controversy over royalties and/or copyrights. It could also be because Foray was under contract with Warner Brothers, and by working for Rankin-Bass, it could have been a breach of contract. At this point, it's hard to say why this was the case.



Most of you know how the story goes. Frosty comes to life after putting on a magic hat, and he laughs and plays with the neighbourhood children every Christmas season. In this special, we learn just how Frosty ended up getting that magic hat.

It all started off when a magician named Professor Hinkle visits an elementary school. It's the school where Karen and her friends attend, and their teacher has a special surprise for her class. What she had hoped was for her class to be entertained by a little Christmas magic performed by Professor Hinkle and his sidekick bunny, Hocus Pocus. But, needless to say, the magician bombed, and the performance was a disaster.



Shortly after that, school let out for the day, and Karen and her friends decide to build a snowman. Once the snowman was completed, the group of kids struggle to come up with a name. Rejected suggestions? Christopher Columbus and Oatmeal.

Karen ends up deciding the name. Frosty.

The snowman is almost completed, but they notice that the snowman is lacking a hat. Fate intercedes as the group finds a discarded hat lying around. Turns out that the hat belonged to Professor Hinkle, and that it was the same one he used to perform his magic tricks. The kids welcome their good fortune and put the hat on Frosty's head...and well...this happens.



Of course, before that scene aired, Professor Hinkle attempted to take the hat back from the snowman, but Hocus Pocus, in what was probably an act of rebellion against his master, puts the hat back on Frosty, which lead to the scene above.



For a few moments anyway, Frosty seemed to have fun with his new found friends, and all was well. Until the temperature started to rise, and Frosty began to feel uncomfortable. He realizes that if he doesn't get to somewhere colder, he would melt away completely, and nobody wanted to see that happen.  The children decide that the best place for him to be is at the North Pole, and this leads to a parade through the downtown streets where he gets into his famous confrontation with the traffic cop.

Of course, once the kids get to the train station, they come across a dilemma. How can they get Frosty on a train when they don't have enough money to buy a model train, let alone a train ticket? A solution presents itself in the form of a train car carrying frozen desserts. Frosty could chill out in the car, and make it to the North Pole without shedding an ounce.

It's here that Karen and former magician assistant Hocus Pocus decide for whatever reason to hop on the train along with Frosty to keep him company. Nevermind that Karen is hopping on a train essentially by herself. Nevermind that she seems to have the outlandish belief that she'll make it back home before dinner despite not having a way to get back home once she makes it to the North Pole.

Then again, maybe the story is set in the Yukon territory in Canada. Who knows, really?



What Frosty, Karen, and Hocus don't realize is that Hinkle has stowed away on the same train. Hinkle wanted his hat back. He didn't care whether Frosty came to life or not. Knowing that his hat really was magical, and knowing that his career as a magician was on the line, he knew that he had to get that hat back at all costs.

What Hinkle didn't count on was the fact that sitting in a frozen box car for an extended period of time with nothing more than a red jacket on can make young girls freeze. Poor Karen just couldn't take the cold, and Frosty was forced to take Karen and Hocus off the train in an effort to get her body temperature back up to normal.

It's here that Frosty's congenial nature seems to work to his advantage. Knowing that Karen could very well freeze if she wasn't kept warm, he convinces a group of forest animals to build a fire for her. This seems to work temporarily, but Frosty knows that he can't leave Karen in the cold weather for long. With a suggestion from Hocus, Frosty gets it into his head that maybe they could ask Santa for help (while at the same time taking credit for the idea, annoying the poor bunny).

Hocus volunteers to hop down the path towards Santa's residence, but as soon as Hocus leaves, Hinkle pops out of hiding and immediately puts out Karen's campfire. Frosty and Karen are forced to flee the scene, and somehow end up near a greenhouse filled with Christmas plants. Frosty decides to put Karen inside the greenhouse to keep her warm, even going inside the house in hopes of keeping her warm. Karen didn't think it was such a good idea, but Frosty insisted.

Sadly, Frosty should have listened to his friend, for Hinkle arrives on the scene and locks the greenhouse door, trapping Frosty and Karen inside the hothouse. By the time Hocus finds Santa and arrives at the greenhouse, it seems as though it is already too late.



I'll tell you...I'm now in my thirties, and that scene with Karen crying over her melted friend still gets to me even now. Truly one of the saddest moments I've ever witnessed in a Christmas special. And this is even after I watched Nestor: The Christmas Donkey!

It seems as though Frosty is gone forever...or is he? Turns out Santa has something to tell Karen. When Frosty was 'born', he was made with Christmas snow, and everyone knows that when something is made with Christmas snow, it never truly melts away. Not completely. For when a gust of cold wind blows inside the greenhouse, it magically freezes the puddle and the puddle turns into a snowman again! All that was needed now was the hat that brought Frosty back to life!



Of course, Hinkle makes one last-ditch effort to get the hat back once more, but one thing that people should realize is that you should NEVER attempt to do naughty things right in front of Santa...because Santa will tear you a new one! In fact, Santa makes a promise that if Hinkle lay one finger on that hat that he would be permanently removed from Santa's Christmas list for the rest of his life...well, unless he writes out how sorry he is to Frosty a hundred-zillion times.  That's the last we see of Hinkle for a while, it would seem. Meanwhile, Frosty is brought back to life again, and Santa takes Karen back home on his sleigh. Karen is sad to say goodbye to Frosty, but Frosty makes her a promise that he will return again on Christmas Day.

And I'm sure that Frosty has kept his word every Christmas since.



Frosty has had a few sequels come out since then. In 1976, the special Frosty's Winter Wonderland was released, once again with Vernon playing the voice of Frosty. I wish I could have more to tell you about this one, but I've never actually seen it myself. Same deal goes with the crossover special Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, released in 1979.



Then in 1992, Frosty Returns debuted on CBS, this time with John Goodman as the voice of Frosty (as Vernon had passed away in 1987). It was an okay special, but nothing really worth writing more than a paragraph about. Frosty was also resurrected by actor Bill Fagerbakke in The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, which was a straight-to-DVD release back in 2005.

Still though, with all the Frosty specials that have aired over the years, the original one is the best. Where else can you find a special that has friendship, love, Christmas magic, and happy, smiling faces?



For Frosty the snowman, was a jolly, happy soul. With a corn-cob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made out of coal.

Friday, December 09, 2011

TGIF: Dr. Sheldon Cooper From The Big Bang Theory

Have you ever had the feeling that when you watch a certain character on television, you're absolutely surprised at how much they have in common with you?

I mean, seriously, think about it. Imagine you're tuning into your favourite television program, and suddenly a character pops up, and you go 'hey, that's ME!'

Has this ever happened to you?

Well, it happened to me. Only I didn't realize it. In all actuality, I find that I'm probably more like another character from this show as far as where I am in my life right now...but looking at the subject of today's blog, I'm finding that I have a lot more in common with this guy than I originally thought.

And today's show is one that I didn't get into until recently.

Unless you work in a place where taking breaks and lunches are absolutely frowned upon (and if you currently are at that place, might I suggest you quit your job and find somewhere else to work that will allow you to actually eat), most workplaces have some sort of employee lounge inside of it. My workplace is no exception.

Approximately six months ago, a television set was installed in the lounge as well as a DVD player. The store I work at provided us with a variety of television show box-sets for us to watch while we ate our lunches or took our 15-minute breaks. It was a really nice thing to have, and it provided some form of entertainment for us on long work days.

For the most part, a lot of the DVD packages were shows that I had seen a few episodes of. The first season of Glee, season one of Happy Days, season five of Friends...all shows I was familiar with, and at least for the final two, shows I really liked.

But there was also one box set that was there that was for a show that I had never seen before. I knew it was wildly popular and that people really got into the show, but for whatever reason, I kept missing the show. Maybe it was because I worked most nights that it was on.



That set was the first season of The Big Bang Theory.

And once I started watching the show, I absolutely fell in love with it. The writing is intelligent, the chemistry between the actors and actresses on the show is nothing short of perfection, and the character development for all the characters is among some of the best I've seen in recent sitcom history.

Eventually, the fourth season set was added to our DVD collection at work, and over time, The Big Bang Theory soon became one of my favourite TV shows.

And why did I end up becoming a fan of this program? Well, it's because of this guy.



Dr. Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons.



Now Jim Parsons wasn't originally producer Chuck Lorre's first choice to play Sheldon. Surprisingly enough, Lorre wanted Johnny Galecki to play the role instead. But when Galecki had doubts about playing the role, and expressed interest in playing the role of Dr. Leonard Hofstadter instead, Parsons got the role after auditioning twice for the role (Lorre did this as a sort of insurance policy to make sure that Parsons' first audition wasn't a fluke performance).

And to say that Jim Parsons has had great success in playing Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory is a bit of an understatement. With one Golden Globe Award and two back-to-back Emmy Awards in 2010 and 2011, it's likely that Parsons will continue his success well into 2012.

But this blog entry isn't about Jim Parsons. It's about the wonderful character that he plays. This is a character sketch on Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

It's also sort of a character sketch on myself in a weird way, because after watching several episodes of the show at work, I'm finding that I am a lot more like Sheldon than I initially thought.



Not one hundred per cent mind you. Sheldon's a rather quirky, unique individual, and I doubt that ANYONE could be just like him. If anything, as I said before, I'm more like another character from the Big Bang Theory, and if I were to point out a character that I'm most like in my current status, I'd be more like Howard (Simon Helberg), with maybe a smidgen of Raj (Kunal Nayyal). Hell, maybe there's even a bit of Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) inside of me somewhere.

But, Sheldon and I share a lot in common.

Before we get into that though, let's talk about obvious differences. Sheldon's got an IQ of approximately 187. Mine is about 50-60 points LOWER. Sheldon likes to dress in superhero T-shirts all the time, while I own maybe one shirt with some sort of logo on it. Sheldon seems unable to use and/or detect sarcasm, while sarcasm can be one of the many languages that I'm fluent in (along with gibberish, poppycock, and English). Sheldon has a Southern accent. I don't. Sheldon's family is extremely religious. I don't think any of my relatives have set foot inside a church in at least a decade. Sheldon graduated from college at fourteen and received his first Ph.D when he was sixteen. Looking back on it, I wish I could have done the same, for I could have skipped high school altogether!

So yeah, clearly, Sheldon and I aren't COMPLETELY alike. But there's lots of things that make us the same. Let's dissect Dr. Cooper, and in the process we'll dissect this pop culture addict at the same time.



  1. WE BOTH SUCK AT RELATIONSHIPS

Though there's a bit of a difference in between the both of us. Yes, I'm openly admitting that my love life is pretty much non-existent as of now. In Sheldon's case, this much is true as well. In fact, many fans of the show have stated that they have thought Sheldon to be asexual. To this day, nobody really knows what Sheldon's sexual preferences are. Sheldon's sex life probably has more questions than a standard Jeopardy quiz show board. Though during season four, Sheldon has been seeing a young woman named Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik), who ends up being his exact double in personality.



But here's where Sheldon and I seem to have a bit of difference. Sheldon's a bit...shall we say...lacking in his desire to physically touch someone. I'm not quite as bad as he is, I'll tell you that much. It's true that I have struggled with the idea of love and affection, but in my case, I strike that to being extremely guarded. I'm slowly working towards letting that guard down, but it's been a challenge. In Sheldon's case, he genuinely doesn't know how to act in a relationship at all. And, in that sense, it sort of brings me to my second comparison.

  1. WE'RE BOTH SOCIALLY AWKWARD

Well, okay, maybe that's not a fair description, but it's sort of similar. I'll admit to being the wallflower in most social situations. It takes me a long time to size up someone and openly interact with them in social settings. I've always been that way as far back as I can remember. Again, maybe that stems from me being guarded towards people as I talked about in bullet point number one, but whatever the case, I am working at trying to come out of my shell.



Sheldon on the other hand is socially inept. He almost seems incapable of behaving normally in social situations, as he has little quirks that he has to exhibit. He has his own spot reserved on a sofa in the apartment that he shares with Leonard, and if anyone other than Sheldon sits down, his agitation levels go through the roof. He has trouble displaying emotional empathy towards people, he has a difficult time showing his emotions, and he sometimes almost always comes across as a know-it-all who takes great pride in pointing out everyone else's mistakes and blunders in the most obnoxious way possible. But, I guess we can't expect any other reaction, as Sheldon seems incapable of sparing someone else's feelings.

I guess we'll sort of call that a similar circumstance, though I did stretch it a bit.

Ah, here's number 3...

  1. WE BOTH HATE GIVING UP CONTROL

This is a big one, for both myself and for Sheldon.

We'll start with myself. I like to know what I am doing at all times, and I like to have control over what I want to do. That's not to say that I'm completely against changing my plans at the last minute provided that there's a good reason for it. Not at all. But when I come up with a decision that I feel is best for me, and then have someone else try to make another decision behind my back when I have things planned out, it really does frustrate me. As someone who has wanted to assert himself for a long time, it really bothers me when people take it upon themselves to make decisions for me rather than letting me do it myself. I'm getting a little better at developing my backbone though, so at least I have that going for me.



Sheldon seems to have too MUCH backbone in that regard. In many ways, although he's unaware of it, he seems to pitch fits whenever he doesn't get his own way. His abrasive nature in getting challenged by his friends and co-workers has made him a rather difficult person to get along with. His belief that he knows everything about everything has gotten Sheldon in quite a few mishaps, even getting fired from his job as a result of it.

  1. JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A LEARNER'S PERMIT DOESN'T MEAN WE CAN DRIVE

I have a learner's permit to drive, but I don't have a full license because of the fact that I have a fear of driving that I am trying to get over. Sheldon has a learner's permit to drive, but he doesn't have a full license, because when he tried driving on a similator, he failed miserably. Of course, Sheldon has said that he doesn't need to drive because he's simply 'too evolved' to drive.

At least I'M honest with myself on that one.

  1. WE BOTH OPEN UP AFTER WE'VE HAD A FEW

Which I suppose leads to number six, which is...

  1. SHELDON AND I RARELY DRINK

As far as I'm concerned, I've seen enough people drink themselves to death in my lifetime to want to partake in binge drinking. I got it out of my system by the time I was 22. That's not to say that I don't enjoy going out for a beer every now and again, I just have left those binge drinking days behind. Of course, I did attend a friend's wedding about three months ago, and the only way that I got my booty on that dance floor was after downing a couple of glasses of liquid courage, so to speak.

Surprisingly enough, Sheldon very rarely drinks alcohol at all, so when Penny (Kaley Cuoco) decided to spike his virgin drink with alcohol, this is what happens.



  1. WE BOTH HAVE NO INTEREST IN RELIGION

I'm far from being the most religious person myself. I actually identify myself as being an agnostic. Of course, as I said before, my family's not much into attending church on Sundays. Sheldon's the same way as me in that he doesn't see religion as being a big part of his life. In his case though, his family WAS religious, and in Sheldon's case, his scientific beliefs often clash with his mother's spiritual beliefs. Still, he does attempt to satisfy his mother by attending church at least once a year.

And finally...here's the big one. The main thing that links Sheldon Cooper to myself.

  1. WE REALLY DO CARE...WE JUST MAY NOT SHOW IT RIGHT AWAY

First, we'll talk about Sheldon in this case. This statement probably describes the interaction that he has with Penny, the neighbour who lives across the hall.  When the show first began, it became pretty obvious that Sheldon and Penny would have sort of a love-hate relationship. Penny seems annoyed by Sheldon's idiosyncrasies, and she's usually the first one to make insulting remarks towards Sheldon, or is the first one who tunes out. But then again, Sheldon has a rather unusual way of getting Penny's attention.



But as much as they seem to get off on annoying each other...the truth is, Sheldon really does care a lot for Penny, even if it doesn't show up. And I think a part of it is the fact that Penny has sort of stepped in as a sort of motherly figure to him. As odd as it may sound, Penny and Sheldon do share a rather unique bond.



When Sheldon got sick one episode, and Penny offered to take care of him, Sheldon practically forced her to sing the lullaby type song that Sheldon's mother used to sing to him.



'Soft Kitty' has since appeared in at least one episode for the first four seasons.

Sheldon's also been helpful towards Penny right back. When Penny was low on cash, Sheldon let Penny borrow some money from his personal savings stash. Even better for Penny, Sheldon seemed as if he didn't care if he ever got the money back...a move Leonard described as 'one of the few idiosyncrasies that doesn't make you want to, you know, kill him.'

Perhaps the best example I can come up with to fully exhibit the bond between Sheldon and Penny is during the Christmas themed season two episode called 'The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis'. Sheldon wants to get Penny a gift that is exactly the same price as the one that she's getting him. He ends up purchasing about a dozen baskets, and when he gets her gift, he'll decide what one he feels matches the value of Penny's gift best.

And then a Christmas miracle happened. Watch this.


Wow...so you see, even someone as socially awkward as Sheldon can be moved to going out of his comfort zone to show how much he cares.

Now what if I told you that I sometimes feel like Sheldon in that case? What if I admitted that I find it hard to show affection at times?

Granted, I'm very good at saying please and thank you. That's nothing new. And, of course, I'm very sympathetic and willing to lend an ear to anyone who needs it, so I'm not nearly as bad as Sheldon. And I certainly don't need anyone singing 'Soft Kitty' inside my ear.

But I've always had a hard time expressing to people how I really feel about them...especially in person. If I can write my feelings down on paper and have them read it, then that's perfect for me...but trying to come out and say that I really like people...well, I don't know, I find it difficult.

I guess maybe it all has to do with something that I've mentioned a couple of times up above. I'm quite a guarded person in my daily life, and I've been betrayed by people who I deemed very close friends before. It's a bit hard for me to open up to people as a result. When I first started my job, it took me about three months before I even started opening up to people. I didn't even say hello. Yesterday, I celebrated my seventh year of service with the company I work for, and I'm finding that I'm a lot more open and chatty. I guess in my case, time healing those wounds, allowing me to tear down those walls did help...as well as a lot of patient co-workers on their part. When I had to undergo emergency surgery earlier in the year, I was amazed at the amount of support that I got from all of my co-workers.

I'll never forget the time that I received a get well soon card from my workplace signed by at least 125 people from the store. Some of the people who signed it were people I had only bumped into maybe once or twice. Even a few of the overnight workers signed the card, and I know that a few of them I didn't even know! It was really a touching gesture on their part, and I really can't thank them enough for their love and support.

In a way, it was that love and support that helped me recover, and really allowed me to pierce some holes in that stupid wall that I built around myself. There's still some bricks that I have to smash into dust yet, but I am on the right track. Looking back, I could see how my personality (or lack thereof when I first began my job) could have turned people off...but it's to the credit of my co-workers who demonstrated extreme patience.

And you know, Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard, Bernadette, and Amy...they're kind of like those co-workers. They may not understand Sheldon very much, and they may not quite understand who he is...but in the end, they're still his friends...well, most of the time, anyway. And all of them (Penny especially) have contributed to helping Sheldon open up and become a less cartoonish and more realistic person.



And that's worth every BAZINGA in the world to him...and to me, for that matter.

On that final note...