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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas Traditions With Hello Kitty


Hello, everybody! Welcome to December 26...also known as Boxing Day in some parts of the world.

In Canada, Boxing Day is widely considered to be one of the biggest shopping days of the whole year...some might even say that it ranks up there with the American Black Friday in terms of deals, savings, and claustrophobic crowds of people. Certainly not my idea of a fun experience.

While I won't be taking part in shopping during Boxing Day sales, I will be working them. So, because of my hectic schedule, this particular blog entry is going to be slightly shorter than normal. But, I'm sure that most of you will understand. It is the holidays, after all.

Besides, I don't really want to talk about Boxing Day. Instead, I want to talk about yesterday.

My Christmas celebrations were some of the best ones that I have ever experienced. I really had a lot of fun, and I certainly hope that all of you had just as much fun with your own holiday celebrations as well.

Part of the fun with regards to Christmas are the various holiday traditions and inside jokes that families share with each other at this time of year. And, as it so happens, I want to share a story with you in regards to one of these traditions, which links to the blog topic at hand.

The story begins when I was a toddler. Apparently when I was a little boy, there was a particular book that I really loved. Mind you, I don't really remember the book as I was way too young to even so much as picture what it even looked like, but according to my family, they would have to read the book to me on average...oh...fifty-three times a day! That's how much I loved that book.

Now, here's the thing. I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit what this book was because it wasn't exactly a book that was considered to be the most...shall we say, manly? Yet, it was a book that I really loved and probably would have continued to love had it not gotten lost during a move.

Would you like to know what the book was? I'll give you a hint. It starred this cute little feline below.




That's a creature by the name of “Hello Kitty”. And since I've brought it up, I may as well inform you that this is the topic of the Boxing Day blog entry!

Apparently, Hello Kitty will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2014. I actually had no idea that she was that old, to be completely honest. The first appearance of Hello Kitty was in 1974, created by a woman named Yuko Shimizu. The character was added into the line of characters created by the Japanese company, Sanrio (established in 1962), and she first made her appearance on a coin purse where she was seated between a goldfish bowl and a milk bottle.

It wouldn't be until 1976 that Hello Kitty would make her appearance in North America. And, although the Hello Kitty line was originally marketed towards young girls (which is precisely why I was a little bit embarrassed to admit that I owned a Hello Kitty book), now you can find Hello Kitty products for all ages and genders.




I think Hello Kitty is unique in the sense that it has actually increased in popularity with each passing year. It had a brief slump in sales in the late 1970s, but over the years, Hello Kitty could be found in a variety of places. There are Hello Kitty pencil cases, Hello Kitty notebooks, Hello Kitty pencils, Hello Kitty cosmetics, Hello Kitty clothing, and as of 2009, bank customers could even have an image of Hello Kitty imprinted on their charge cards!

It is reported that Hello Kitty generates a worldwide income of over five billion dollars each year! Not bad for a little white cat with a big pink bow on its head who is as tall as five apples and weighs as much as three apples!

Heh...apples as a measuring tool. Who would have thought?

I know this history of Hello Kitty seems a little bit brief, but the reason for that is because the history of Hello Kitty is not really the important part of the story.

As I explained before, my link with Hello Kitty dates back thirty years. When I was a year old, this was my favourite book.




The book was called “Hello Kitty Can Count”, and from what I can gather based on the one and only reference that I could find regarding the book, it was written in the style of “one, two, buckle my shoe”.

You know, now that I have just typed that out, I do vaguely remember hearing a story that had a lot of that “one, two, buckle my shoe” read to me constantly. So, maybe in some part of my brain, that story has stuck, even if it does sound a bit hazy.

But then one fateful day, my family moved from one house to another, and in the madness of it all, that “Hello Kitty Can Count” book disappeared. And, since the book seems to be out of print, my family never did find another copy of it.

So, here's where the fun family tradition comes into play.

For the last few years, my sister has consistently given me themed gifts for Christmas each year. She manages to give some really nice gifts to all of us each year, but she always manages to give me at least one gag gift each year.

Two years ago, for instance, she gave me a Hello Kitty pen that naturally wrote in hot pink ink. Because, one can never have enough pens that have cartoon characters on them.

And last year, I was given a bottle of Hello Kitty travel shampoo. And, before you ask, yes I did use it. And, no I don't feel that I am giving up my so-called “man card” by admitting it. When one runs out of shampoo, you do what you gotta do, right?

This year was no exception. Not only did I get Hello Kitty chocolates, but I also got this.




A Hello Kitty ceramic jellybean jar, complete with “Jelly Belly” jellybeans.

Now, granted, these gifts from my sister are given to me in jest, and aren't meant to be taken seriously at all. But, they also symbolize a very fond childhood memory that I had, and it's cool that my family also holds those memories in such high regard. We can joke about it, but it's moments like those that help bring all of us closer together. And, that to me is what holidays are all about.

Of course, my sister claims to not rest until she can find a way to get a copy of that book back in my possession...and even if she does find it, I imagine that the Hello Kitty gag gifts will keep coming.

And, I'm perfectly fine with that.

So, I'm keeping the jellybean jar in a place of honour. After all, I do love jellybeans.

Well, maybe not all the flavours. Any of you like licorice jellybeans?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

December 25, 1954


Merry Christmas, everybody!

Today happens to be the final day of “The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar”, and I am sorry to see it end. I had a lot of fun this past month, and I hope that all of you had fun reading it as well. I love doing these sorts of events in my blog, and I am actively looking forward to doing the same thing again next Christmas.

But, I have a little bit of a confession to make here. I actually wrote this in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. The reason being that Christmas Day for me is jam-packed with events, family gatherings, and it's just going to be busy, busy, busy!

Today is Christmas Day, December 25...and what better day than to have a special Christmas themed Tuesday Timeline entry?

December 25 is traditionally known as being a happy day (unless you happen to be a character on EastEnders), but as you will see in this list of historical events for December 25, there are some instances of heartbreak and despair. Not much, thankfully, but some.

333 – Constantine the Great elevates his youngest son Constans to the rank of Caesar

800 – Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome

1000 – Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary

1066 – William the Conqueror is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey

1100 – Baldwin of Boulogne is crowned the first King of Jerusalem in the Church of the Nativity

1130 – Count Roger II of Sicily is crowned the first King of Sicily

1643 – Captain William Mynors of the East India Company discovers a new island, and names it Christmas Island, after the day in which he discovered it

1776 – George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at nightfall to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey

1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society gives its first performance

1826 – The Eggnog Riot concludes at the United States Military Academy (I don't make these up, people)

1868 – Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate Soldiers

1899 – Humphrey Bogart is born in New York, New York

1924 – Rod Serling, writer of “The Twilight Zone” is born in Syracuse, New York

1932 – 275 people are killed following a 7.6 earthquake in Gansu, China

1941 – The Battle of Hong Kong concludes

1947 – The Constitution of the Republic of China goes into effect

1950 – The Stone of Scone is stolen from Westminster Abbey by Scottish nationalist students, not to be seen again until April 1951

1968 – Apollo 8 performs the very first successful Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver

1974 – Cyclone Tracy destroys 80% of the city of Darwin, Australia when it made landfall

1977 – Silent film star Charlie Chaplin passes away in Switzerland at the age of 88

1989 – Former Communist Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife are condemned to death and executed following a summary trial

1990 – First successful trial of the World Wide Web

1991 – Resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev from presidential duties over the Soviet Union (which would break apart one day later)

1996 – The murder of 6-year-old beauty pageant contestant JonBenet Ramsey sets forth the beginning of the investigation into her death

2006 – American funk musician James Brown passes away in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 73

2008 – Singer/Actress Eartha Kitt passes away in Weston, Connecticut at the age of 81

2009 – A terrorist attack on Detroit Metro Airport Northwest Flight 253 is thwarted

2011 – Internet personality Ben Breedlove dies of cardiac arrest at just 18 years old

So, as you can see, we have a lot of people getting crowned, a few celebrity deaths, and a cyclone destroying an entire Australian town. Not exactly the best way to say Merry Christmas unfortunately. But the people involved who are survivors of that disaster became much stronger as a result of it, I'm sure.

We also have a lot of celebrity birthdays today. Obviously, the most famous of them all was Baby Jesus...but there are other famous faces that have a Christmas Day birthdate. They include Rene Girard, Ned Garver, Dick Miller, Al Jackson, Duane Armstrong, David Borden, Noel Picard, Gary Sandy, Jimmy Buffett, Larry Csonka, Gene Lamont, Twink Caplan, Barbara Mandrell, Sissy Spacek, Joe Louis Walker, Karl Rove, CCH Pounder, Steve Wariner, Alannah Myles, Cheryl Chase, Rickey Henderson, Dean Cameron, Darren Wharton, Helena Christensen, Jim Dowd, Dido, Justin Trudeau, Rob Mariano, Jessica and Lisa Origliasso (The Veronicas), and Jorgie Potter.

Today's blog subject also celebrates a birthday today. And, she happens to be born on...



December 25, 1954!

And, in keeping with the tradition of the day, why don't we listen to a holiday favourite performed by this artist?



ARTIST: Eurythmics
SONG: Winter Wonderland
ALBUM: A Very Special Christmas
DATE RELEASED: November 1987

The above song was part of the compilation “A Very Special Christmas”, which was released as a way to raise money towards the Special Olympics. And the track itself was recorded by the British synthpop group Eurythmics, which were formed by Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox.

But, this entry is not about Dave Stewart. His birthday was three months ago.



Yes, we're going to be talking about Annie Lennox, born on Christmas Day 58 years ago.

It seems really hard to believe that Annie Lennox is 58 years old today! To me, she doesn't even look remotely that old. Maybe it's the androgynous look that she has pulled off all these years that keeps her looking young, and good on her for it!

Born on December 25, 1954, Ann Lennox was born in Aberdeen, Scotland at Summerfield Maternity Hospital. The only child of a shipyard labourer and a cook, Lennox's early childhood was inside of a cramped two-room apartment in a tenement with shared laundry facilities. Despite these hardships, Lennox took piano lessons, and developed a love of music at a very young age. When she was growing up, she began to develop a love for singing, and often sang along to songs by The Beatles, amongst others.

Annie's teenage years were filled with a lot of angst, unhappiness, and loneliness – largely attributed to the overprotective nature of her father, and her struggle to find her own independence. However, Annie continued to develop her talents in music, and when she was nine years old, she came in second place in a talent contest singing “Mairi's Wedding”, and won at London's Royal Academy of Music in the 1970s, studying classical music for three years. In order to pay her way through school, she lived on a student grant and worked several part-time jobs. Still, she wasn't as enamored with life at the Royal Academy of Music as she could have been because she felt lonely, and was extremely shy.



Over time, she grew out of that shell, and by the time she joined her first band, “Dragon's Playground”, she was beginning to emerge as a real force in London's music scene. She left the band after less than a year to go and join “The Tourists” as their lead singer before crossing paths with Dave Stewart. During her time with the band, she and Stewart had gotten involved in a romantic relationship, but by 1980, the spark had fizzled, and they broke up. Despite this, they remained close friends, and the same year that their relationship ended was the year that they formed Eurythmics.

I don't suppose that you really need me to talk about how successful Eurythmics were in both the United Kingdom and the United States. They started off slow, as their 1981 debut, “In The Garden” failed to make much of an imprint on the charts. By 1983, they were topping the charts with songs such as the one below.



ARTIST: Eurythmics
SONG: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
ALBUM: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
DATE RELEASED: January 8, 1983
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 1 week

The above song is widely considered to be the signature song for Eurythmics, and it topped the charts in both Canada and the United States, peaked at #2 in Britain, Ireland, and New Zealand, and was a Top 10 hit in Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. Part of the reason for the song's success was the music video which featured Annie Lennox in a man's suit with bright red closely cropped hair. The image she portrayed was so striking, you couldn't help but take notice. The fact that she had a killer voice to accompany her strong stage presence only served to improve her public persona, and she quickly became one of the most talked about female performers of the 1980s.



More hits from the group followed between 1983 and 1989, including “Here Comes The Rain Again”, “Would I Lie To You?”, “Who's That Girl?”, “Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves”, “It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)”, “Missionary Man”, and “I Need A Man”. Each song featured Lennox front and center in bold costumes and an even bolder stage persona. By the time the 1980s ended, the band had recorded eight albums in eight years, and released a grand total of twenty-eight singles.

However, as the 1980s turned into the 1990s, Eurythmics had been on tour constantly, and both Stewart and Lennox were becoming exhausted with the hectic pace. A rift had developed between Stewart and Lennox, and both felt that it was time to move on from each other. And so, in 1990, Eurythmics disbanded.

TRIVIA: Although Eurythmics didn't stay disbanded for long. Stewart and Lennox have reunited with each other on several occasions, the most recent being in 2005.

But if you thought that this was the end of Annie Lennox's time on the charts, you would be mistaken. After all, the dissolution of Eurythmics was the perfect opportunity for Annie to embark on a solo career.



In April 1992, that solo album, “Diva” was released, its first single being “Why”. That song reached the Top 10 in several countries, and helped her win the award for Best Female Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. In all honesty, the whole album was a huge success. It ended up selling over a million copies in the UK, and in the United States, the record was certified double platinum. The album ended up winning the BRIT Award for Best Album in 1993, and also earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Album that same year (but lost to Eric Clapton).

Needless to say, Ms. Lennox definitely showed that she had what it took as a solo artist.



Her 1995 follow-up album, “Medusa” also did very well on the charts, with Lennox scoring another smash single with “No More I Love You's”. Once again, “Medusa” was nominated for a Grammy Award, and once more, she ended up losing (this time to veteran singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell). But even though she didn't win the Grammy, her solo efforts did something else extraordinary for her. They helped open her up to a new fanbase, and kept her relevant well into the 2000s.

TRIVIA: Annie Lennox did end up winning four Grammy Awards total in her career, and in 2004, she even won an Academy Award for the song “Into The West”.

These days, Annie is still recording music and performing at concerts. She was one of the performers at the closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics, in which I hear was a phenomenal performance. And she also balances her music career with the many causes she supports, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, The SING Campaign, and Burma Campaign UK. And, in June 2011, Lennox earned the honour of becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in response to the humanitarian work she had done over the years.

Not bad, eh?

And, that concludes our look back on December 25, 1954, as well as the first edition of “The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar”.



Merry Christmas to everybody who celebrates it today...and for everybody else, I hope that you have a very joyous holiday season. May next year bring you much love, joy, peace, and happiness.



I think 2013 is going to be a very interesting year. And, please, stay tuned to this blog, as there are some surprises coming up!

To conclude this entry, I thought I would conclude this entry by posting one of my favourite Annie Lennox songs.



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!


Monday, December 24, 2012

Miracle on 34th Street


I can't believe we're on the second last day of “The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar” already. That must mean that the calendar reads December 24th, which means that it happens to be Christmas Eve!

On one hand, I am so excited to see that it is Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is probably one of the most magical days of the whole year (well, right next to Christmas Day, that is). Christmas Eve is a day that is filled with loads of anticipation over what is to come...especially when you're a child. I mean, think about it. One more day to go before Santa Claus slides down the chimney! One more day to go before you find out what goodies and treasures Santa Claus left behind for you. One more day before you get to spend well-deserved time off with your friends and family members.

(Well, okay...those friends and family members that you can stand to be in the same room with, at least.)

At the same time, Christmas Eve is sort of a bittersweet day for me. I've had a lot of fun with this advent calendar idea. It's really the first time in the blog's history that I have ever done a feature that has lasted nearly an entire month, and from what I can tell, it has been positively received by a lot of you. So, for it to be almost over...well, it kind of makes me feel sad. I guess it's the same way that a lot of us feel after the big day is over. I guess you could call it a minor case of post-holiday depression.

But, I don't dwell on it for too long. After all, a new year is coming, and I have got some really neat ideas for 2013. I've actually got a new idea for a theme month on deck for February 2013, so definitely be on the lookout for that.

But since we're still in December 2012, I have at least two more holiday themed entries left to talk about on the last two days of the advent calendar. And, why not celebrate the last Monday Matinee of the advent calendar with a holiday movie that many deem a film classic?

The question is...which version of the movie do I talk about?

You see, today's blog subject has no less than FIVE different adaptations made of it. The earliest was made in 1947...the most recent version came out in 1994. And, depending on the version of the movie that you end up watching, you'll see quite a few famous faces appearing in each one.

For instance, in the 1955 made for television version of the film, veteran “Days of our Lives” star Macdonald Carey played the main character. In the 1959 version, Ed Wynn and Orson Bean had starring roles. The 1973 film featured Roddy McDowall, Sebastian Cabot, and Tom Bosley. And Dylan McDermott, Elizabeth Perkins, Mara Wilson, and Richard Attenborough took on roles in the 1994 version.

I have not yet seen the 1955 or 1959 versions of the film yet, so I have no commentary on them. I did not really care for the 1973 version at all, as the character names were changed, and you could clearly tell that the movie, despite being depicted as being set during the holiday season was filmed in the summer because of the greener than normal trees in the background scenes. Oops! As for the 1994 version, I'll readily admit to liking it a lot. It's not quite as good as the version that I have chosen to spotlight in this blog, but I'll sit down and watch it a couple of times at least. What can I say, that little Mara Wilson was charming back then. It's too bad she's given up acting.

(And, it really makes me feel old knowing that Mara Wilson is now 25 years old!!!)

But while all of these remakes of a classic film were good and brought the classic story by Valentine Davies to a different generation every two decades, none of them would have even been possible without the original template to base a remake on.



So, for today's blog entry, I thought we would look at the classic 1947 original motion picture, Miracle on 34th Street! The original film was released sixty-five years ago on (weirdly enough) May 2, 1947! I know it seems bizarre for a Christmas film to be released four and a half months after Christmas, but I suppose back in those days, people didn't really mind all that much. At least in the country of Australia, the release was held off until December 18, 1947, which actually made more sense.

At any rate, the odd timing for release aside, the movie has ended up winning several accolades over its 65 year history. Just listen to some of the honours that the film has to its credit.

  • Won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edmund Gwenn) Academy Award
  • Won the Academy Award for Best Writing
  • Won the Academy Award for Best Original Story (Valentine Davies)
  • Won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay
  • Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
  • Was named as the fifth best Fantasy Film by AFI in June 2008
  • Was selected for preservation in the United States Film Registry in 2005

That's not bad for a movie that was made on a budget of less than $700,000. Mind you, $700,000 in 1947 was worth a lot more than it is now, but still...it's mighty impressive. It's easy to see why so many seem to feel that “Miracle on 34th Street” is one of the best, if not the best, films of 1947.

Now, let's get onto the casting for the movie, which has some very interesting nuggets of trivia included within.



For instance, did you know that Maureen O'Hara (who played the role of Doris Walker) almost didn't take the role? She had just moved to Ireland and was reluctant to come back to America just for a film role. Although she did an about face once she read the script. It's probably a good thing that she did too, because I really couldn't picture anyone else in the role.



Another casting tidbit involves Natalie Wood (cast as Susan Walker, Doris' daughter). Did you know that this film was Natalie Wood's first major role in a motion picture? It's true. What's also true is that Natalie Wood was initially considered to play a role in the 1973 remake...the same role that Maureen O'Hara played in the original film (albeit renamed Karen Walker). But when it was suggested that Natalie's daughter play her daughter in the film, Wood declined the offer, stating that her daughter was way too young to begin acting.

My guess is that the daughter in question is Natasha Gregson Wagner...but I don't have absolute confirmation on this, so just keep in mind that this is only speculation.



And, of course, Edmund Gwenn won an Academy Award playing the role of Kris Kringle...and it is his story that forms the basic plotline for “Miracle on 34th Street”.



The story begins at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and Kringle seems to believe that the Santa Claus that has been hired for the parade is drunk as a skunk, and insists to Doris Walker (the event director) that he be replaced immediately. Doris agrees, and she gives Kringle the job. To everyone's surprise, Kringle does a fantastic job. He does such a convincing job that Macy's immediately hires him on as the store Santa Claus at their flagship New York location on the busy 34th Street.

Now, one would think that if one is hired to play a Santa within a retail space that they would act as a sort of ambassador to the space. I imagine that the Santa Claus that visits our local mall every December will likely try to coerce shoppers to visit the several stores inside the mall itself.

Kris Kringle seems to take on a different approach, actually telling people to shop at other stores instead of Macy's! One shopper (Thelma Ritter) is actually taken aback at the suggestion that Kris Kringle gives her, but eventually comes to realize that Kris was actually trying to help her make the right choice when it comes to buying gifts, and she promptly tells the toy manager at Macy's that she has now become a loyal customer.

DISCLAIMER: If you work in retail, don't try this at your job. You might not get that pleasant of a reaction!

The children all seem to love Kris as Santa, as he seems to connect with them better than most other people. There's just one notable exception.

Susan Walker.



The precocious six-year-old daughter of Doris doesn't believe in Santa...a belief that was instilled into her by Doris herself, who raised her not to believe in fairy tales. So when Fred Gailey (John Payne), a neighbour of Doris' who also happens to practice law takes her to see Santa, Susan is only pretending to go along with the charade.

Until she overhears Santa speaking Dutch to a young girl who cannot speak English, and she begins to wonder if Santa Claus really does exist after all. Doris seems to pick up on this and she tells Kris to tell Susan that he isn't the 'real' Santa. But, Doris is stunned when Kris insists that he truly is the real Santa Claus. She isn't exactly sure how to respond to that.

Her first instinct is to terminate his employment, but rethinks that option after seeing just how good he is with the children who come to visit him. Plus, his presence at Macy's has generated a lot of positive publicity for the store, which has netted Doris a nice Christmas bonus. Still, Doris has doubts about the man, and arranges for Granville Sawyer (Porter Hall) to give him a psychological evaluation. Kris passes...but by the end of the evaluation, Granville ended up being the one who may have needed it more!

Now, this is where the story takes an interesting turn. Kris continues to do very well in his job, even going as far as being the catalyst in a sort of peace treaty between the owner of Macy's and the owner of rival department store chain, Gimbel's! At the same time, while Doris is constantly reassured that Kris is safe to be around children, Kris and Fred end up making a deal with each other. Kris will work on getting rid of Susan's cynical attitude towards Christmas and Santa if Fred will do the same with helping Doris overcome the bitterness she has towards the failure of her marriage.

(Keeping in mind that divorce was considered to be a somewhat taboo subject in the late 1940s.)

Of course, Susan doesn't make Kris' job easy. What Susan wants for Christmas more than anything else in the world is a house for her and her mother to live in...a rather large request for anyone to honour...even Santa Claus. But, Kris makes a promise to her that he will do his best.



Unfortunately, Kris discovers a rather shocking truth about Mr. Sawyer. It turns out that for whatever reason, Sawyer is threatened by a young employee of Macy's, and he somehow convinced him that he was mentally ill. The only thing that the employee was guilty of was perhaps being a little too kind and generous. And, there was no way that Kris was going to stand for it.

So, he confronts Granville Sawyer and after a verbal scuffle he grabs his cane and lightly taps him on the head! This persuades Granville to fake the seriousness of the injuries that he received, and as a result, Kris gets committed into a hospital for the mentally ill!

So, what will happen to Kris? Will Fred manage to find a way to get him out? Will Doris ever get over her divorce and start to see things in a brighter light? Will Susan ever believe in Santa Claus? Will Sawyer get his comeuppance?

You expect me to tell you? Like a wrapped up Christmas present, you're going to have to unwrap the ending yourself. But take it from me, it's a beautiful way to wrap up a classic movie!



And, that wraps up our Christmas Eve entry.



Tomorrow marks the final day of the advent calendar...and all I will say is that it is a Tuesday Timeline. That's coming up on Christmas Day.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Wonderful Christmastime


I can't believe that it's only two more days until Christmas! Where the heck did the month of December disappear to? Before you know it, 2012 will be another year in history!

But, at least we'll always have The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar as a visual record of the entire month of December 2012 to look back upon.



It's Day #23, and the last Sunday Jukebox entry of the advent calendar. Before I continue on with this, I just wanted to thank all of you for following this blog for not only the month of December, but since this blog began back in May 2011. I always have said that I would not have continued on with this blog if it weren't for all of you showing interest in it. The comments (even those that offer constructive criticism) are very much welcomed, and I really do appreciate the support that you have given me.

I think part of the reason behind the advent calendar is a way to thank all of you for that support.

Now, let's get on with today's subject.



If you remember back a couple of weeks ago, I did a little bit of a tribute to John Lennon, who was killed outside of his apartment building on December 8, 1980. As a part of that tribute, I did a feature on John Lennon's 1971 Christmas classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”.

But, did you know that John Lennon wasn't the only Beatle to release holiday themed songs? At some point, all four Beatles released a holiday song.



Let's take a look at Ringo Starr, for example. In October 1999, Starr released a Christmas album entitled “I Wanna Be Santa Claus”. Although the album was critically praised, and featured such classics as “Winter Wonderland”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, and “White Christmas”, commercially, it didn't do so hot, and none of the album's twelve tracks ended up making a dent on the charts.



The late George Harrison also had a holiday release, the 1974 single “Ding Dong, Ding Dong”. The song also wasn't a huge success on the charts, though it did peak at #36 on the Billboard Charts.



And then there's the offering that was released by Paul McCartney. And Sir Paul's song is one that can be quite polarizing. For every person who claims that the holiday song is one of their most favourite Christmas songs ever, there are others who find it cheesy, annoying, and classify it as one of the worst Christmas songs ever recorded.

I will tell you that I definitely fall in one of these camps. But, before I share my opinion, we need to listen to this song and watch the video for said song.



ARTIST: Paul McCartney
SONG: Wonderful Christmastime
ALBUM: N/A (was a single release)
DATE RELEASED: November 16, 1979
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: N/A
PEAK POSITION ON THE UNITED KINGDOM CHARTS: #6

There's a couple of things that I think that I should make clear before I go ahead with the history behind this release. First, although the song never did crack the Billboard Hot 100, it DID manage to reach the Top 10 for the designated Christmas Singles chart in December 1984 – five years after it was originally released.

And, secondly...I know that the video has Paul and Linda McCartney in it, but man, oh, man is that video ever bad...in a bad way. I mean, I know it was 1979 and that the video pre-dated MTV, but wow...I don't think that I can ever un-see that.



This single was recorded right around the same time that Paul McCartney was working on tracks for his 1980 album “McCartney II” (the same album that included the #1 song “Coming Up”). It was also one of the last singles that featured the members of the band, Wings – the band that Paul and Linda McCartney began in 1971.

And, when I say “featured”, I mean that the band members appeared in the music video. The members of Wings did not sing on the recording of “Wonderful Christmastime”.

Well, aside from Paul McCartney, that is.

The single was recorded during the summer of 1979, and the music video was filmed at the Fountain Inn in Ashurst, West Sussex.

This single proved to be a huge success for McCartney. Not only did it perform well on the UK Charts, but financially, it's a little bit of a gold mine for McCartney. The song has consistently played on radio stations every Christmas season since 1979, and ranks near the top of the most requested Christmas songs of all time. So, as far as actual airplay goes, McCartney nets millions of pretty pennies alone.

And, then there are all the cover versions of this song. Did you know that there are no less than twenty-six different versions of “Wonderful Christmastime” that have been released since 1979? Some of the artists who have re-recorded the song include Amy Grant, Hilary Duff, Demi Lovato, Jars of Clay, Kelly Rowland, and believe it or not, the trio of Martin Sheen, John Spencer, and Stockard Channing from “The West Wing”!

(Although it makes sense when you consider that the last one was released as part of a celebrity Christmas album released by NBC twelve years ago.)

The point is that with the airplay that McCartney's original song receives, plus the royalties that he gets when someone else records the song, it is estimated that McCartney makes an additional $400,000 from the song's royalties alone! This adds up to approximately $15 million generated income for McCartney since this song's 1979 release! Now, that is absolutely impressive.

Not bad, considering that these days McCartney seems a little bit embarrassed by the song and its success. Of course, McCartney also seemed to realize not to look a gift horse in the mouth, as “Wonderful Christmastime” is literally his gift that kept on giving! And over the years, that initial embarrassment seems to have melted away, as he performed the song on Saturday Night Live on December 15, 2012.

So, that's all that I have to say about “Wonderful Christmastime”.

It's fascinating though...whenever the song “Wonderful Christmastime” comes on the radio, people seem to have very strong opinions. Some people love it, others can't stand it.

My take? Unfortunately, I'm not all that wowed by it. To me, “Wonderful Christmastime” isn't all that wonderful.

But the reason why has nothing to do with who sings it. I think that had McCartney taken on a different arrangement with different musical instruments, and performed it more softly, it could have been a beautiful song, well deserving of its wonderful description.

And, I get that when the song was released, synthesizer music was huge. After all, late 1979 was the time when the music scene was shifting from disco to New Wave, and McCartney was just following suit. I suppose I can't fault him for that.

But listening to “Wonderful Christmastime” now, I can't help but grimace over how incredibly dated it sounds. Even some of the synthesizer heavy tracks from the middle of the 1980s don't sound as old-fashioned as “Wonderful Christmastime”.

I suppose that my final opinion about “Wonderful Christmastime” is that it was an okay song with good lyrics...but its presentation sounds extremely dated. It was good, but not nearly as wonderful as it could have been.

But, hey...at least I tried to be diplomatic about it. There are some people who hate this song with the fire of an erupting volcano. But they're entitled to their opinions.

After all, McCartney has sung his way to the bank with this song. What does he care anyway?

And, that wraps up Day #23.



Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and for our twenty-fourth day of the advent calendar, I've selected a holiday classic for your viewing pleasure...a holiday classic that has spawned at least four remakes. Which version will we feature? You'll see on Christmas Eve!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

The Year Without A Santa Claus


Sometimes, I get inspiration from some of the strangest places. And in the case of today's edition of The Pop Culture Addict's Advent Calendar, I ended up getting the inspiration from several people on my Facebook friends list.

Occasionally, I will come across some rather interesting photos that are posted on my News Feed right around this time of year. There are lots of photos that wish people a Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, and there are also some photos that are rather sarcastic, with a biting wit to them.

And, then I saw photos of these two charming characters.




Do you recognize these two? It's okay if you haven't. I must admit that I was completely confused myself. As it turns out, these two are named Heat Miser and Snow Miser. The two men are stepbrothers, and both of them were literally polar opposites of each other. Their mother? Mother Nature, of course!




Anyway, as their names describe, Heat and Snow basically live up to their descriptions. Heat Miser has his base around the Southern United States, and he has the power to make hot summer days and perfect beach weather any day you want it.




On the opposite side of the world, Snow lives near the North Pole, making sure that every place he goes is covered with tons of snow, ice, and frost. The temperatures are always biting cold...just the way he liked it.

Now, you'd think that with two bi-polar personalities as Heat and Snow had that they would not exactly find common ground. And, well...you're right. Both of the Miser brothers seemed to have an extreme case of jealous sibling rivalry. Heat Miser would try to melt Snow Miser with heat rays, while Snow Miser constantly kept giving Heat the cold shoulder...and then some.

Why, it would take a Christmas miracle for the two brothers to reconcile with each other. Like, say...if one of the key figures at the North Pole decided to take a vacation and the children of the world lost their faith in him. If there was only one way to convince this person to come back to work, and that one way for that to happen was for two sworn enemies to work together. Will Christmas be saved?




That's the question that has to be answered in the 1974 Rankin-Bass television special “The Year Without A Santa Claus”.

Now, part of the reason why I have never heard of the Miser brothers is the fact that I have never seen this television special until now. It initially debuted on ABC on December 10, 1974, and aired annually on that network until Christmas 1980.

Problem was...I wasn't born until 1981.

Now, reportedly it airs on the television cable channel known as ABC Family...but I don't get that channel on my TV, so I went years not even realizing that this television special even existed.

Thank goodness for YouTube!

Now, I imagine that a lot of you are like me, and have never seen this television special before. So, I'll post the links to the whole show HERE, HERE, HERE, and...oh yeah, HERE. I figure that we can watch it together while I talk a little bit about the storyline.




By the way, this Rankin-Bass special differs from previous ones, as the narration is entirely done by a female. In this case, the narration is performed by Mrs. Claus herself, voiced by the late Shirley Booth. To round out the voice cast is Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus, George S. Irving as Heat Miser, the late Dick Shawn as Snow Miser, the late Bob McFadden and Bradley Bolke as Jingle and Jangle Bells, and Colin Duffy as Ignatius Thistlewhite.




Ignatius Thistlewhite. What a mouthful. Better call him Iggy from now on.

So, our story begins at a time before any of us on Earth were born (well, I suppose in my case, this was definitely the truth). It was Christmas Eve in the North Pole, and all the little elves were busy working away on toys for every boy and girl, and all was going well.

Until Santa got sick.




You know that nasty winter bug that is going around that is causing some people to develop a serious cold that can turn into pneumonia (the only reason I know about this bug is because everyone else in my family seems to have gotten it except myself)? Apparently Santa ended up coming down with it, and the end result forced him into bed. Mrs. Claus called in the doctor to give him a check-up, and the doctor forces him to make some changes in his Christmas Eve activities. Apparently all of that riding around in an open sleigh through heavy snow and sleet has done a number on Santa's body.

Is Santa upset about this? Of course...just not for the reasons you might have expected. Santa doesn't seem to think that the people of Earth care about him anymore, nor do they believe in Christmas anymore. Mrs. Claus tells him that he's being foolish, but Santa is set in his ways, and feels that maybe a holiday will do him some good.




Enter the elves known as Jingle and Jangle, and their baby reindeer, Vixen.

Mrs. Claus seems to believe that if Santa Claus was confronted with the truth that the people do love him, and that they do care about Christmas, it may snap him out of his depression. So, she sends Jingle, Jangle, and Vixen out to find people who truly do believe in Christmas.

It was all supposed to go flawlessly...well, until poor Vixen got distracted by the fighting between Heat and Snow, and ended up getting zapped by one of the Heat Miser's rays. The impact sent all three of them crashing down towards the village of South Town, USA, a place where it feels like summer vacation all year long.




To make matters worse, Jingle and Jangle end up getting ticketed by a police officer for riding a Vixen down the wrong way of a one-way street, crossing the White Line, and wearing strange clothes on a Sunday! Even worse, Vixen's temperature seems to be spiking up, and she is getting a bad fever. And, on top of all that, when Jingle and Jangle try to disguise Vixen as a dog, the local dog catcher takes her to the pound!

With help from a young boy named Iggy, Jingle and Jangle make an appeal to the mayor of South Town, begging him to release Vixen so that she can get better. But the skeptical mayor laughs in their faces when they claim that they are Santa's elves. Nevertheless, he agrees to free Vixen on one condition...that they make it snow in South Town on Christmas Eve.

A challenge, considering that South Town hadn't had a single snowflake appear in the town in well over a century.

Still, the elves did have one chance. Mrs. Claus was sort of a figure of neutrality between Heat and Snow, and both Heat and Snow held her in high regard. All they would have to do is recruit Mrs. Claus's help to get Snow Miser to make it snow in South Town. Problem solved.

Or not. Apparently, South Town is out of jurisdiction for Snow Miser. South Town is a community Heat Miser has had under his watch for a hundred years, and there was no way that he would allow Snow to bring a frosty chill over the community, even for one day. Although, he did wish them luck in trying to convince Heat to let Snow play in South Town for one day.

Needless to say, when Mrs. Claus asked Heat to let snow fall in South Town for Christmas Eve, the reception that she got wasn't the warmest. The only way that Heat Miser would agree to let it snow in South Town would be if Snow Miser would allow Heat Miser to create a lovely Spring day in the North Pole. Since neither brother would allow the other one to do what they wished, they found themselves in a stalemate, and it seemed like there was nothing that could be done.




But, Mrs. Claus still had one more ace up her sleeve. The question is, would her plan work?

Meanwhile, Santa is getting restless, and decides to disguise himself as an average resident of South Town, and he ends up getting a bit of an epiphany over the impact that he has on the people in town...particularly from one little girl who likes to use blue crayons...

I suppose that I could tell you how this special ends...but then what would the point be of posting a link to the television special within this blog? Click on it, and watch it for yourselves! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.  And, believe it or not, there was a sequel made that starred the Miser brothers that was released 34 years after the original!  Even better?  Mickey Rooney and George S. Irving reprised the original roles they played in the original television special!  Definitely be on the lookout for that one!




Coming up on Day #23 of the advent calendar...two weeks ago, we looked at a Christmas song by the late John Lennon. This time around, another Beatle will be featured.