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Thursday, December 26, 2013

A Comparison Between a Fictional Pigeon Lady and a Real Blogger

So, how many of you are suffering from post-holiday depression now that Christmas is over for yet another year?

I'll be the first to admit that I sometimes get that way within the first week after the holidays.  Once Christmas is over, everything and everyone goes back to normal, and it's somewhat sad to see.  How just a day before, everyone was happily singing Christmas carols, and laughing and telling jokes, and now we're right back to pushing people out of the way to grab items for those after-Christmas sales.

(And while we're on the subject, what is the deal with people who absolutely have to go shopping on the day after Christmas?  Did you not get enough on Christmas Day?  Sheesh.  Talk about commercialism run amok!)

Anyway, for this edition of the day after Christmas blog, I decided that I'm not quite ready to let go of the Christmas spirit just yet.  In fact, today's video blog essay deals with a character from a film that I admit that I've already covered in this blog before.

And, this is the character!



Now, here's the kicker.  What if I told you that the Pigeon Lady from "Home Alone 2" and I have a LOT in common?  You wouldn't believe it, would you?

Well, here...let me explain.




Okay, so maybe I didn't explain it as clearly as I had intended.  But perhaps this photo below best sums it up.



And therein lies the problem that I have had my entire life.

You see, I came to a bit of a conclusion yesterday.  Don't get me wrong, Christmas Day was fantastic - one of the best ever, actually.  And, I don't need to be told that I completely spoiled my niece and nephews...I know that I did!

But that's the thing...I spoil them because I really don't have anyone else to.  I have no children of my own because I am currently not in a relationship with anybody.  


And, I'm not in a relationship with anyone because I never trusted anybody enough to take that chance.

But, Kevin McCallister said a very wise thing.  If I don't ever trust anybody, then how will I know what true joy is.  And, while I admit that I love my moments of solitude...life would be a lot more fun if I had somebody to share it with.

So, maybe what I need to do for next year is put myself out there.  I mean, I don't see myself putting an ad on Match.com anytime soon...but I suppose that there are ways around that.

I suppose if the alternative is living in a park with birds swooping around me...what is there to lose?

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Concluding the Calendar - Video Style!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!



Well, here we are! The twenty-fifth and final day of THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR”! And, since this is the grand conclusion of the advent calendar, I thought that rather than use an ornament, I would go ahead and make the final day logo a Christmas angel that can be found on top of many Christmas trees all over the world!



I trust that most of you out there in the world are busy with Christmas celebrations and traditions. I know that my entire day is essentially booked up solid with Christmas dinner, Christmas gift exchanges, and Christmas traditions, so as a result, this particular entry is not going to be very long at all.

In fact, I'm actually kind of breathing a sigh of relief for today because in addition to it being Christmas Day, it is also time for a Whatever Wednesday entry. And, although some might not consider purple to be a colour that really represents Christmas (well, unless you happen to shun traditional Christmas decorations for a more modern look at the holiday), today's Clue character card happens to be Professor Plum!



Now, if you've been following along with the Whatever Wednesday feature, then you'll know exactly what that means. When I draw the Plum card, it means that I open up to all of you via a diary entry.

Or, in this case, a video blog entry.

Yeah, yeah...I know what you're saying. You're probably thinking that I'm a bit of a hypocrite doing a video blog entry for Christmas when just last week, I was wishing that people would actually put down the electronic devices so that they really could enjoy the holiday season with their loved ones.

Well, what if I told you that this video was actually filmed on Christmas Eve night at approximately 11:00pm? Technically, the video was not done on Christmas Day, so technically, I'm still holding true to my word!

(Though, I'm trying to figure out what to do for the Boxing Day video blog...I guess I'll have to wait until after midnight to film that one...or just write out an entry. And, I'm rambling when I really don't mean to. I blame it on an overdose of Terry's Chocolate Orange – the Mint edition.)

So, what's the subject of today's video blog entry? Well, a holiday greeting of course! Look! I even decided to wear my Christmas PJ's especially for the occasion!




Now, to end off this blog entry for today, I do once again want to wish all of you the very best for your holiday plans. I hope that you enjoy the blessings of the season, that you enjoy the company you're with, and that you stay safe on the roads as you make your way to your holiday destinations. And, I suppose that if you get some Christmas swag along the way, that's cool too, though it should never be the basis of a happy holiday.

I also want to continue showing support to those families who are still affected by the December 2013 ice storm which clobbered parts of Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes, and parts of the United States. As I understand, some of you still do not have any power at your homes at all, and I just want to extend my thoughts to all of you, hoping that the lights come back on sooner rather than later. Believe me, as someone who lived through the Ice Storm of 1998, I sympathize.




And, with that comes the finale of the advent calendar for 2013. But, don't worry. This next week of entries will act as a countdown of sorts. Because in the last week of 2013, every single entry (barring the Tuesday Timeline) will feature either a movie, television show, event, or song that I feel defined this past year. Consider it a flashback of the year gone by. And, it will run from December 27, 2013 until January 2, 2014!



Until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

December 24, 1955

Happy eve before Christmas, everybody! I can't believe that we're on the twenty-fourth day of December already! Just one more day to go before we open up presents, sing Christmas carols, and gather together with our families and enjoying their company...

...or, at the very least, setting aside one day of the year where you promise that you will not kill them.



It also happens to be the second last day of the 2013 edition of “THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR”. Can you believe that we're almost finished wrapping up yet another Christmas season? I know that I am conflicted. I'm happy that we're celebrating Christmas...but sad to see it end. Christmas – despite the fact that I work a job in retail which can be quite frustrating during the holidays – is still one of my all-time favourite holidays, and I imagine that once December 26th rolls around, I'll be having a little dose of post-holiday blues. I'll likely be talking about that a little bit later this week.

But for now, I have a Christmas Eve blog to write. And, since Christmas Eve falls on a Tuesday this year, it's time for a holiday version of the Tuesday Timeline! So, let's go ahead with the events that took place throughout history on Christmas Eve.

640 – Pope John IV is elected

1777 – The island nation of Kiritimati (Christmas Island) is founded by James Cook

1814 – The War of 1812 officially ends with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent



1818 – The first performance of Silent Night takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria

1826 – The “Eggnog Riot” begins at the United States Naval Academy (I almost selected this topic to write about before I discovered another topic to cover instead!)

1851 – Fire destroys the Library of Congress

1906 – Reginald Fessenden transmits the very first radio broadcast

1914 – A “Christmas Truce” between Germany and Great Britain took place during World War I

1922 – Actress Ava Gardner (d. 1990) is born in Smithfield, North Carolina

1939 – A Christmas Eve appeal for peace is made by Pope Pius XII during the first year of combat for World War II

1968 – The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon – the first humans to achieve such a feat

1969 – Charles Manson is granted the right to act as his own lawyer at the Sharon Tate/Leno and Rosemary LaBianca murder trial

1974 – Darwin, Australia is nearly obliterated as Cyclone Tracy makes landfall

1992 – Peyo (b. 1928) – the creator of The Smurfs – dies at the age of 64

1994 – The hijacking of Air France Flight 8969 begins

2003 – Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate explosives inside Madrid, Spain's Chamartin Station during the afternoon hours of Christmas Eve

2012 – The world says goodbye to two American actors – Charles Durning and Jack Klugman

And, the following famous faces are celebrating a birthday this December 24th. So, on the slices of cake (or yule log, if you will), you can find candles being blown out by Mary Higgins Clark, Barry Chuckle, Lemmy Kilmister, Nicholas Meyer, Steve “Red Green” Smith, Warwick Brown, Timothy Carhart, Clarence Gilyard, Anil Kapoor, Kate Spade, Darren Wharton, Mary Ramsey, Mark Valley, Diedrich Bader, Ricky Martin, Stephenie Meyer, Ryan Seacrest, Louis Tomlinson (One Direction), and Melissa Suffield.

So, now that we have that all out of the way...which year will we be going back in time to visit?



Well, it happens to be December 24, 1955!

And, what was so special about this date in history some fifty-eight years in the past? Just an annual holiday tradition that children of all ages and generations have taken part in for years!

How many of you reading this remember trying to stay awake all night long on Christmas Eve, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus sliding down your chimney and laying presents underneath the Christmas tree?  I have to admit that when I was a little kid, I always seemed to have a very hard time staying asleep on Christmas Eve night.  I would always want to stay up as late as possible to see if I could catch Santa in the act.  I even staged a camp out right next to the cookies and carrots that I left for Santa and the reindeer for a snack one year, determined to catch a glimpse of him.  Somehow, I ended up falling asleep, and when I woke up, I was in my bedroom and the cookies and carrots were gone.  

He had to have carried me upstairs to bed without waking me.  Yep.  That was it.  Somehow, Santa sprinkled sleeping powder all over me and carried me upstairs to bed so that I wouldn't interrupt him in scattering more gifts underneath the tree.  That had to be it.

Okay, okay.  So when I was a kid, my attempts to chat with Santa fell flat.  And, believe me, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who tried to find out when Santa would come and visit our homes.  After all, I'm sure almost all of us tried to stay up late at some point hoping to see him.

And, on December 24, 1955, the method in which we could try and track Santa down was first established!



I'm sure most of you kids nowadays can find out exactly where Santa Claus is at any hour of the day with just a click of a mouse or the touch of a screen, thanks to the feature known as "NORAD Tracks Santa".  It's been an institution for nearly six decades, after all.  And, if you click HERE, then you can see exactly where Santa is flying right now!  Go on, click the link!  As of right now, Santa is apparently flying over Tokyo, Japan as I post this (circa 8:50 a.m. EST)!

But did you know that when the program first began, it originated in an ad for a department store?

These days, the department store chain known as "Sears" is somewhat struggling in a rather interesting economic period.  But for many decades, Sears was somewhat synonymous with the Christmas season.  How else can you explain why Sears' "Wish Book" catalogue is considered to be one of the first signs that the holidays are fast approaching.  Oh, the stories I could tell of flipping through that book, writing my initials beside every toy and game that my little heart desired.

Well, in 1955, the Sears location in Colorado Springs, Colorado put a full length advertisement in the newspaper which was specifically addressed to children.  And, as luck (and a quick Google search) would have it, I just so happen to have that very advertisement below!  Have a look!




So, according to the ad, kids could call the number up above (in this case, it would be 632-6681), which would allow them to speak with Santa himself!

(Actually, come to think of it, I remember that there was a show that aired on YTV with the title "Santa Calls", which allowed kids to call into a television studio, in which Santa would be hosting a show.  Funny how silly things can jog silly memories, huh?)


It was a nice idea...but unfortunately, Sears goofed up in a HUGE way.  You see, when they printed off the ad, they inadvertently gave out the incorrect phone number!  My guess is that it was a minor error (two numbers got mixed up, for example).  But Sears was not getting any phone calls at any time on December 24.

Instead, the calls were being made to the Colorado Springs' Continental Air Defense Command (or CONAD, as it was referred to).  Manning the switchboard that night was Colonel Harry Shoup, who was at first confused as to why little boys and girls would be calling him, asking him about where Santa Claus was.

Now, most people whenever they get a phone call from someone who was intending to call someone else would hang up after telling them that they had dialed the wrong number.  But Shoup was not like most people.  In fact, he decided that he would give the kids what they wanted.  He actually got his operators to assist him in answering every single call that came in from a child by tracking down Santa's location and updating the child on where Santa was in the world.  It was a lovely gesture on all of their parts, and for years afterwards, Colonel Shoup was known as the "Santa Colonel".


Who knew that a mix up with phone numbers would spawn a yearly tradition that is observed just about anywhere where people celebrate Christmas?  By 1958, CONAD had been replaced with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (or NORAD), but the tradition of tracking down Santa Claus remained.

As time passed, more and more options for tracking Santa's journey across the world were added.  People could listen to the radio and hear up to date broadcasts, television meteorologist would interrupt the weather to talk about where Santa was, and as recently as 2011, had fan pages on Facebook and a Twitter account!  Talk about updating for the twenty-first century!

Now everybody knows that Santa has his helpers.  After all, his elves help him make all the toys for good little boys and girls, and he also has representatives all over the world pitching in at malls, holiday parties, and charity events to wish everybody a Merry Christmas.  Well, the NORAD Tracks Santa event is no exception!  The program is run entirely on volunteer basis, where thousands of people volunteer their time to answer calls and e-mail messages.  And, I imagine that they need those volunteers, considering that between the hours of 2:00 a.m. on December 24 and 3:00 a.m. on December 25, an estimated 70,000 calls and 12,000 e-mails are sent out!  



And, just who makes up this group of volunteers?  Well, military personnel, civilians, and even a few celebrities!  Did you know that Michelle Obama has volunteered for the program by answering telephone calls the last two years?  So, just imagine...when you call and ask where Santa is, the First Lady of America might just be the one taking your call!

The NORAD site also contains a lot of other cool features.  You can play games while you wait for Santa, you can watch Santa through the "SantaCam", and you can also track down the places that Santa has already visited (as well as just how many gifts Santa has delivered, which as of 8:50 a.m. has reached 828 MILLION!)


And to think that this annual tradition began with a misprint in a newspaper ad!  Talk about a mistake paying off in the long run!

And with that, I wish all of you a safe and merry Christmas Eve.  But, don't wait up for Santa TOO long.  You don't want to miss the final day of the advent calendar!  As far as the topic...well, I'm gonna surprise you!

Monday, December 23, 2013

A Mom For Christmas

Well, we're on the final few days of “THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR”, and I think that I have a great way to conclude the event. We have a television movie that is just plain weird, a Christmas Eve themed Tuesday Timeline, and a special surprise for Christmas Day itself.



But first things first, we have a Monday Matinee to talk about. This is the entry that is all about the made-for-TV movie that is a bit peculiar, but magical. It's a good entry to talk about for Day #23 of the calendar, because I get the feeling that not a lot of people know about it. And for those of you who might have seen it, it'll be a refresher to one of the strangest holiday movies ever made.

In case you haven't quite figured out the theme of the movie, it's all about strange magical happenings and how even the most bizarre things can bring forth Christmas miracles.

This movie originally aired on NBC on December 17, 1990, and its star was a woman who knew all about the joy of “magic”.



(Well, okay. The movie that we are discussing is not “Xanadu”. For one, that movie came out in 1980 in movie theatres and was a notorious box office bomb. However, since the theme of the movie was all about magic, I figured that it would fit the theme.)



The movie is called “A Mom For Christmas”, and in addition to Olivia Newton-John, the movie also starred Douglas Sheehan (of “Knots Landing”), Doris Roberts (of “Everybody Loves Raymond”), and Juliet Sorcey.

And, the movie's title reflects a wish that a little eleven-year-old girl made one Christmas season. A wish that by all accounts should never have come true...but did anyway, because of a little something known as Christmas magic.

But, you know...why don't I just begin this entry off by posting this LINK. Clicking here will take you to a link to the full movie.

So, the movie begins inside of a high-end department store, and right off the bat, you can tell that it was filmed in either the late 1980s or early 1990s just based on the décor of the store. With the big Cosby show style sweaters, neon lights on the walls, and bright colours, it almost appears as though the movie has been replaced with a Debbie Gibson music video.

Or, I suppose I should say, an Olivia Newton-John video. That is actually her singing in the opening song that plays in the department store.



And inside said department store is a sad little girl named Jessica (Sorcey) who is wandering the girls' wear department, watching all the other little girls shopping with their mothers, and she is feeling very much left out. Her own mother passed away when Jessica was a toddler, so she essentially grew up without a mother. Sure, her father Jim (Sheehan) has tried to give her the best life possible as a single parent, but because he has been working so hard to give Jessica everything she needs, he doesn't really have a whole lot of time to spend with her. So, as a result, Jessica has become quite a bit of a loner, and quite often the target of bullies and mean girls who go out of their way to make her feel bad. Jessica does have a friend in Stephanie (Erica Mitchell), who tries to make her feel better, but since Stephanie still has her mother in her own life, it's very difficult for Stephanie to really understand what Jessica is going through.



In fact, it seems as though there's only one person in the entire world who can understand what Jessica is feeling. That person is a store employee named Philomena (Roberts), who happens to have a bit of magic inside herself as well. You see, inside the department store is a wishing well, which allows kids to pick out a small present. I guess you could call it a holiday promotion of sorts. And, Jessica and Stephanie decide to take part. Most of the boxes in the well have nothing inside of them, as Stephanie quickly figures out. But Jessica ends up getting a box that allows her to have one holiday wish granted by Philomena herself.

So, when Jessica finally meets up with Philomena to redeem her wish, Philomena tells her that she can wish for anything that she wanted for the holidays. As luck would have it, this conversation takes place right in front of a beautiful looking mannequin (who surprisingly enough looks like Olivia Newton-John), and Philomena listens intently as Jessica wishes for a mother during the holidays.

But, that was nearly impossible. Jessica's mother had passed away, and with Christmas just a few days away, it would take a Christmas miracle for Jessica's wish to come true.

However, what if I told you that the Christmas miracle would come in the form of that very mannequin that Jessica made the wish in front of? And, what if I told you that the mannequin (who apparently has the name of Amy) just dropped by the house after midnight the very night Jessica made that wish, announcing that she was here to spend Christmas vacation with her and Jim? Well, Jim was quite shocked, and didn't exactly know what was going on...but Jessica knew. And, right off the bat, Jessica and Amy became firm friends.



Of course, since Amy had spent most of her...well...life...as a store mannequin, she didn't exactly know how to act in the human world. Jessica did her best to try and teach her things, but there's really only so much life experience that an eleven-year-old girl has. Though, I have to admit that it was kind of funny seeing Amy toss litter inside of a mailbox, and I have to agree that it was hysterical to see Amy give fashion advice to what appeared to be a city socialite, who was not all that impressed by Amy's advice at all!

Oh, and there's also the fact that Amy seems to talk to the other mannequins inside of the department store, even calling them by name. She described all of the personality traits of each mannequin to an excited Jessica, explaining to her that when the lights go out at the department store each night, magic happens.

And one night after Jessica and Amy go touring around the neighbourhood to see all of the beautifully lit Christmas displays, they sneak into the department store after hours so that Amy can introduce her to all of her “friends”.

Perhaps the coolest friend that Amy has is the mannequin who is placed inside of a car dressed like a chauffeur. His name is Wilkins (Jim Piddock), and let's just say that he gives both Amy and Jessica the ride of their lives...inside the department store!



Of course, it takes a while for Jim to warm up to Amy. Amy certainly does try her best to make the holiday a happy one for both Jim and Jessica, but her idea of decorating for the holidays almost cost them everything. I suppose it was kind of cute idea to have the tree decorated with household objects like clothespins, small toys, and tea bags. But the idea of lighting the tree with freshly lit candles? Bad idea. In the 1800s, it was all the people had. In the 1990s, the option of electric strings of lights was much safer. Had Amy used those, she wouldn't have started a fire which completely burned down a corner of the living room – destroying all of the photos of Jim with his first wife in the process! It took some time for Jim to deal with that loss, but he eventually began to warm up to Amy by the time Christmas came.

And I'm sure that Jessica didn't really appreciate Amy revealing a crush that she had on a boy TO the boy in question...but Jessica quickly forgave Amy for that little mishap...and hey, it did kind of work out in the end for Jessica and her crush. Somewhat.

Whatever the case, Jessica was pleased as punch that Amy was fitting into the family quite nicely, and Jessica was so caught up in the excitement of having a mother to talk to, share secrets with, and love that she almost forgot that her wish was only available for a limited time offer. You see, Jessica soon realized that her wish was only good until midnight on December 26th. As soon as Christmas ended, Amy would turn back into a mannequin permanently. A really cruel joke, especially given how much Amy had bonded with both Jim and Jessica. Desperate for the magic to last beyond Christmas for years to come, Jessica begged Philomena to help her keep Amy in her and her father's lives. After all, Philomena did help assist Jessica in bringing Amy to life. Unfortunately, there is very little Philomena can do on her own. She is only capable of granting holiday miracles. However, she leaves Jessica with the message that if she and her father hold on to Amy tightly, then there could be a small chance that there would be enough love generated in hopes for her to stay in the world as a human being.

But with time running out and Amy seemingly resigned to her ultimate fate, can Jim and Jessica reach Amy before the Boxing Day sales take place?

Well...don't look at me! I provided you with the link to the movie. Watch it yourselves and tell me how it ends!


And, do stay tuned for the penultimate day of the advent calendar. Because on the twenty-fourth day of the advent calendar, I will be sharing with you a holiday tradition that originated on Christmas Eve. A tradition that many boys and girls look forward to each year...

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Snoopy's Christmas



Here we are on Day #22 of “THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR”, and as of right now, we're still bathed in light. We've been getting some really wacky weather over the last couple of days (in the formation of freezing rain), and the last time we had a major freezing rain spell was “Ice Storm '98”, which knocked out power in my area for at least a week! All signs say that this storm will not be AS bad, but I don't want to take any chances. I suppose worst case scenario, I can use my iPad to post my blog for today.

So, we're on Day #22 and the final Sunday Jukebox entry before Christmas. And because it's the final holiday song of the season, I really wanted to go all out and choose a song that was well-loved and incredibly symbolic. But, what song would actually make people sit up and take notice? Which song would be universally well-liked enough to have everybody singing along to the chorus and getting into the spirit of things?

Maybe this one?



Hmmm...not bad. But I prefer Eartha Kitt or Kylie Minogue's versions over Madonna's. How about this one?



Um...yeah, no. Okay, maybe this one?



YIKES! That's just plain disturbing! Sorry Cheeky Girls!

Sigh...maybe if I put on a Christmas special, it'll help me think of a possible song to talk about in today's entry.  Hmmm...

What about the Charlie Brown Christmas Special?  Oh, sure, today's song was never really featured in the television favourite - which has remained a holiday staple since its debut in the 1960s.

But what if I told you that one of the biggest stars of the holiday special ended up being the star of a single that originally debuted in 1967?




Well, Snoopy - the lovable beagle whose best friend is a bird named Woodstock and whose worst enemy is the annoying Lucy Van Pelt - became so popular that a particular group from Ocala, Florida decided to record a series of songs about him...including this holiday themed favourite below!





ARTIST:  The Royal Guardsmen
SONG:  Snoopy's Christmas
ALBUM:  Snoopy and His Friends
DATE RELEASED:  October 1967
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:  N/A

(I should probably note that while circumstances prevented the single from charting on the Billboard Hot 100, the single did become a #1 hit on the "Best Bets for Christmas" chart!)

Anyway, would you like to know more about the band known as "The Royal Guardsmen", as well as the inspiration behind the song?

Okay, so the band was formed in Florida in the mid-1960s, and they adopted their name as kind of a spoof towards the British invasion that was taking place right around this time with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Dave Clark Five making their mark on the pop charts.  After all, what name sounded more British than the Royal Guardsmen, right?

The band's original line-up consisted of Bill Balough, John Burdett, Chris Nunley, Tom Richards, Billy Taylor, and Barry Winslow.  And, they had a bit of a tough time trying to get their name out there without the assistance of a familiar cartoon beagle.

It's not as though they didn't try.  But when their first single failed to make a dent on the pop and rock charts, the group decided that they would make their second single one in which they inserted Snoopy into the lyrics...and ended up getting into a small battle with the Peanuts creator in the process.

That song was "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron", which actually became a #2 hit on the Billboard charts during the first week of 1967!  And, just as the song lyrics said, the single was inspired by the Peanuts cartoon strip in which Snoopy imagines himself as a fighter pilot locked in combat with the Red Baron.  You know the comics I mean?  Where he pretends his doghouse is a plane and he puts on his helmet and shoots the enemy before the enemy can shoot him?  I used to love those comics!

But here's the shocking twist.  Around the same time that the song was gaining speed on the charts, Charles M. Schulz and United Features Syndicate threatened the band with a copyright infringement lawsuit, claiming that the Royal Guardsmen had used the name Snoopy without permission or an advertising license.  Of course, the band did lose their case, and the punishment was quite swift - all publishing revenues for the song would go to United Features Syndicates.  

But here's the funny part about the whole thing.  Charles M. Schulz actually liked the song, and not only allowed the band to record more Snoopy songs, but he even did the illustrations on the album covers!  Have a look!



And, this lead to the Christmas follow-up for the song, "Snoopy's Christmas".  And, here's an interesting bit of trivia about this song.  It's loosely based on a true story that took place during the first World War!  Or, at the very least, it makes reference to the event that took place during the first year of combat in 1914.

You see, on Christmas Day, 1914, German and British soldiers initiated "The Christmas Truce".  Soldiers exchanged small gifts with each other, bodies were cleared from "No Man's Land", and some soldiers even engaged in friendly football matches.  It was a rare moment of cease-fire during the war that would eventually span a four year period.

Interestingly enough, the "Christmas Truce" were the German soldiers...and in the song, it was the Red Baron himself that extended the olive branch to Snoopy.  

So, with that, I close the chapter on another Sunday Jukebox entry.  And, provided that the ice doesn't knock out my power, stay tuned for Day #23 in the advent calendar.  And in this edition, we'll be looking at what I consider to be one of the weirdest made for television movies I've ever seen...

Stay safe, Ontario!  And, don't go out unless you absolutely have to.  This freezing rain can be quite nasty.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

A Garfield Christmas



Welcome to the twenty-first day of “THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR”, and I hope that you're in a nice cozy place for today. As I type this entry out, we are experiencing bad weather conditions which include freezing rain, which means that the roads are going to be extremely difficult to navigate.

If you are in one of those areas which is seeing freezing rain right now, please stay safe if you have to venture outdoors. I know that Christmas is just days away now, but I'd rather you stay safe and go shopping another day instead of risking your life for a PlayStation 4. Really, a video game system is not worth losing your life over, especially so close to the holidays.

Of course, if you live in a place where the climate is always sunny and 75 degrees, well, you may as well just ignore that previous statement.

At any rate, today's Saturday Smorgasbord is supposed to have a theme of Saturday Morning cartoons, and of course I plan on having a cartoon featured in this very space.  It'll just be a cartoon that has a lot of Christmas references.

Exactly twenty-six years ago, on December 21, 1987, this television special debuted on CBS (the same day that Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas special first aired).  And it happens to star a cat who at first appears to have absolutely zero Christmas spirit whatsoever.  He's notorious for despising Mondays, stealing his owner's food whenever possible, kicking his canine pal off of every possible countertop, and sending the world's cutest kitty cat on a first class trip to Abu Dhabi - well, with the right amount of postage stamps, that is.

It comes as no surprise that the Jim Davis created comic strip Garfield has been a huge hit since its debut in 1978.  With Garfield celebrating his thirty-fifth anniversary earlier this year, this lasagna-loving, diet-hating fat cat shows no sign of slowing down, even if he could give a sloth a run for its money in a laziness contest.




But when I first saw "A Garfield Christmas" air on television, I came to exactly three conclusions about the show.  Firstly, it proves that you can have a merry Christmas no matter where you are in the world.  Secondly, the people who you spend the holidays with can absolutely make all the difference in the world.  And lastly, even the most jaded of pussycats can have a large heart (which surprisingly doesn't have blocked arteries from the colossal amounts of food that Garfield eats).

Now, when the Garfield Christmas special first begins, Garfield is in one of his most favourite places in the whole world...his beloved cat bed snuggled up under the covers with his beloved teddy bear, Pooky.  And in typical Garfield fashion, he dreams about a magical gift-giving machine that Jon has installed that will give out presents just by thinking about them.  And, of course in Garfield's dream, he refuses to let anybody else use the machine and he hoards all of the goodies he thinks about for himself.  Typical Garfield behaviour.  Think of himself first, and all others come second.

But not even Garfield is prepared for the news he hears when he finally wakes up.  You see, Jon has decided that rather than spend another Christmas in suburbia, he would pack up Garfield and Odie and spend Christmas at the old farmhouse where he grew up.  Jon's whole family would be there.  His mother, his father, his grandmother, and his younger brother...who hated to be called Doc Boy.

And Garfield was NOT looking forward to it at all.  Half the time, he couldn't even stand living in the same house as Jon.  How in the world would he handle the rest of the Arbuckle crew?

More importantly...how would Santa know just where to deliver the presents?




Of course, Jon was really looking forward to coming home for the holidays.  After all, he hadn't seen his family in a long time.  In fact, he's so happy about it, he decided to sing a song about it (and Garfield interjects with his own sarcasm).

When the trio of Jon, Garfield, and Odie arrive at the Arbuckle farmhouse, we quickly get introduced to the family.  Jon's father is a typical farmer type with the stereotypical southern accent.  Jon's mother is a typical housewife who has a lot of charm and can prepare potatoes at least half a dozen ways.  And Doc Boy (voiced by "Laverne and Shirley" actor David L. Lander) is repeatedly picked on by Jon, who absolutely loves calling him Doc Boy.  But under the right circumstances, Jon and Doc can get along with each other...particularly when they team up to poke fun at their own father!

And then there's Jon's grandmother.  And, well...she's not like your typical grandmother.  She's got a sharp tongue, she's got spunk, and she appears to act the same way that a typical teenager would.




In short, she is the world's coolest grandmother ever!

And, let's just say that Jon's grandmother is very vocal about who she likes and who she doesn't.  She loves Jon and Doc Boy with all her heart, but she won't hesitate to add a little bit (or a ton) of spice to Jon's mother's recipe for sausage gravy.

In short, Grandma Arbuckle is basically the one member of the family who could probably understand Garfield better than anybody.  And as it turns out, Garfield hears a lot of stories from Grandma in between the tree trimming and the annual reading of "Binky, The Clown Who Saves Christmas", Grandma tells Garfield a story so touching that you would have to have a heart of stone not to be affected by it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uJeyEV6ifE

(By the way...most of the music here in this special was composed and performed by Lou Rawls and Desiree Goyette...both of whom did an absolute fantastic job.)

Meanwhile, there's something about Odie that has Garfield feeling quite suspicious.  Ever since they arrived at the farmhouse, Odie's been sneaking around the house, gathering random objects.  At first, it might appear as though Odie has turned into a compulsive hoarder, but there is a reason behind his strange behaviour, which Garfield is determined to find out.

Garfield's quest takes him to the barn, in which he spies Odie trying to build something out of the materials that he has found.  But before Garfield can investigate more, he ends up having an accident which nearly knocks him out.  However, there is a silver lining to all of this, as Garfield ends up discovering a stack of old letters.  Letters from fifty years ago that Grandpa Arbuckle wrote to Grandma Arbuckle when they were courting each other.

So, you can imagine how moved Grandma was when Garfield gave her the letters as a Christmas present.  It turned out that they were the best present that she had ever received.  And for Garfield, he too felt great joy in knowing that he had gotten the perfect gift for someone.

But as it would turn out, Garfield himself would get a gift of his own that was made with just as much love.  You see, Odie was busy making him his own personal scratching post, which turned out to be a fantastic gift for the fussy, finicky cat.  And in one of the kindest, yet rarest shows of affection Garfield ever gave, he gave Odie a thank you hug!



Isn't that sweet?

So, that wraps up the look back on "A Garfield Christmas".  Do tune in tomorrow to Day #22, where we take a look at a song that actually mentions another cartoon character!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean!

It's just five days to go until Christmas arrives, and with that, “THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR” is already in full swing!



With this being Day #20, I thought that I would give today's entry a little bit of British flavour, by doing a festive look at one holiday favourite! Or, at least, it happens to be a holiday favourite in my house.

Seriously, I have to watch this television special at least once during the holiday season.



Now, I have to admit that I do love British television. From “Are You Being Served?” to “Doctor Who”, some of the best television that I have ever seen has come from the United Kingdom. “EastEnders” and “Coronation Street” have entertained fans of soap operas for years, “Grange Hill” was certainly a hit with the kids, and my sister just happens to be a huge fan of the television series “Keeping Up Appearances”.

(That's that show that has that character named Hyacinthe Bucket, though she likes to pronounce it like Bouquet.)

On a personal level though, one of my all-time British made television programs happens to have been a show that ran for six years, but only produced fifteen episodes. I know, it seems almost unheard of, right?

Well, there's a reason for that. The show was entirely made up of prime time and holiday specials that when compiled together made up practically a whole season of episodes.

A season that stretched six years, mind you.

As it so happens, I can watch all the episodes of this particular show whenever I want because I own the DVD compilation of the series that was brought out by A&E a decade ago. I grew up watching the series when it aired on both PBS and CBC. How could I resist?

From the very first episode in which he takes an exam to the final episode where he reminisces about the time he watched a baby at the amusement park, had his car squashed by a tank, and ended up naked in the middle of a hotel, this man has done it all...and had the most absolute worst luck doing it!

Though that is to the genius of comedic genius Rowan Atkinson for creating a character who is a bit of a simple-minded oaf, yet is innocent enough that you can't help but love him.



Yes, between 1989 and 1995, Mr. Bean entertained audiences all over the world with his successful television program. Two Mr. Bean feature films would later follow.


And, I have to say that I absolutely love every single episode of Mr. Bean. I literally could watch them over and over again. And, given that we're experiencing ice rain conditions, I think that might be a great way to spend today!

Now, because we're at the tail end of the advent calendar, I think you know what episode of Mr. Bean we'll be watching this time around. We're going to be viewing the classic “Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean”. It is the seventh episode of the series, and appropriately enough it aired for the first time on December 24, 1992.

And, before we discuss it, you might as well watch it! So, sit down, grab a drink and a portion of figgy pudding, and click HERE for the full 23-minute episode. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. Enjoy!

Did you like it? I hope you did! Now, let's talk about it!

Now, every single city in the world has that one special department store in which most people love to do their shopping. New York City has Macy's, Toronto has the Eaton Centre, my hometown has...well...Walmart.

In London though, the real hot spot is the famous Harrods Department Store. And, for Mr. Bean's Christmas special, it happens to be the setting for Act 1. And, well...let's just say that Mr. Bean's maturity levels clearly rival that of a four year old on the naughty chair. He yanks the beard off of Santa and ends up plunging the entire exterior of the store into darkness! But you know, I do have to admit that I like his idea of testing Christmas ornaments by dropping them from a significant height! Why would anybody buy Christmas ornaments that smash on the ground so easily?

And, I think that I was one of the ones who was laughing out loud when Mr. Bean came face to face with a nativity scene! I'm not exactly sure how the Jurassic Park/Doctor Who references tied into the birth of Baby Jesus, but it was such a hoot to watch! Let's watch that scene again!



Though I will say this. Christmas may be a time of sharing, joy, and giving. Well, Mr. Bean doesn't exactly do any of this. He's pretty much celebrating the spirit of Christmas by being a complete Scrooge...and he isn't even aware of the fact that he is coming across this way! I guess in some manner, that sort of makes it funnier to watch because right around this time of year, you very rarely see anybody who has so little self-awareness that even they can't see why people are so annoyed by them.

Well, unless you work retail and you see someone pitching a fit on Christmas Eve because they are surprised to learn that the items they want on their lists are not there. Trust me, this time of year, I see that sort of thing a lot!

Now, that's not to say that Mr. Bean does not completely ignore the spirit of Christmas. He does stop a pickpocket and donates the items that he stole to charity, and he gets into the Christmas spirit by leading an orchestra in a rousing chorus of carols.

But then he steals the town square Christmas tree and cheats in order to win a fourteen kilogram turkey. I suppose even the people who lack self-awareness knows exactly what goes into what makes a traditional Christmas.

TRIVIA: The scene where Mr. Bean calculates the turkey's weight by using a household scale and a calculator is left off the A&E DVD version...but is curiously shown in the repeat airings of the broadcast on television. Weird.

Once he gets home, he sets up three stockings – one for himself, one for his beloved teddy bear, and one for a mouse that lives in the corner (which seems like a lovely gesture, I must admit). He also comes up with the idea to create a Christmas cracker with twelve times the fuses that make that popping sound when they are pulled. Hope he doesn't regret that decision! But then the old Bean comes out when a group of Christmas carolers come singing at the door and he slams the door in their faces without giving them a single piece of delicious chocolate.

Hell, if I were one of the carollers, I probably would have beaned him one.

Alas, Christmas morning finally arrives, and Mr. Bean is excited to open up his gifts. Mr. Bean gets a pair of socks, Teddy gets brand new button eyes, and the mouse even gets a piece of cheese...

...attached to a mousetrap.

And, for Christmas lunch, Mr. Bean is setting up the table for two as his girlfriend, Irma Gobb (Matilda Ziegler) is planning on spending the holiday with him.

Now, how Mr. Bean even ended up having a girlfriend is beyond me. He certainly never treated her with much respect...or even much love for that matter. But silly Irma Gobb never gives up. After all, Mr. Bean did promise her that when she was looking in a store window, he would buy her exactly what she wanted in the window. And, well, since the window display was for a jewelry store, she has made it clear that if he likes her then he should put a ring on it.

Of course, Irma seems to have the absolute worst timing. She arrives as Mr. Bean is preparing the Christmas turkey, and...oh dear.



Let it be known that they did the same gag on an episode of “Friends” as well, but Mr. Bean did it first...and did it better, as far as I'm concerned.

So, anyway, after the turkey is pried off of his head (which causes a nasty knock on Irma's head), the duo sit down to a dinner of...cranberry sandwiches...which sounds nasty, but might not be as bad as it sounds. Irma tries to trick Bean into kissing her under the mistletoe, but Mr. Bean seems more interested in the present she gave him and snatches it without kissing Irma at all.

Now, I will say that Irma is a master of gift giving. She gave him a model kit – the perfect gift for a five year old trapped in the body of a 37-year-old. But Irma feels that it is worth it if it means that she gets her ring.

Unfortunately...Mr. Bean completely misunderstood. Horribly.


And as a dejected, hurt, and angry Irma storms off in a huff (which really should have happened earlier in the episode), the episode ends in a rather explosive manner.

So, that's what happens when Mr. Bean celebrates Christmas. Now, I ask this question...would you want to celebrate Christmas with Bean? Absolutely not. But does Mr. Bean's Christmas make you feel a lot better about how you celebrate Christmas? I know it does for me! My Christmas celebrations could NEVER be as much of a train wreck as Mr. Bean's clearly was!

So, that ends day #20. Coming up on Day #21, a holiday cartoon special starring a cat, a dog, a guy named Doc Boy, and the world's coolest grandmother!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Dear Santa...



Hello, everybody!  This is Day #19 of "THE POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR", and before I go ahead with today's video blog, I thought that I would post an introductory video that will set the tone for today's blog.  It's actually a song by my friends (well, okay, they aren't really my "friends" as I've never met either one) Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson and two-thirds of the 1990's all-girl group Wilson Phillips.




Now, while Carnie and Wendy are singing about going on a sleigh ride with their one true love, you notice that they're addressing Santa Claus in the music video.  And, really, that is exactly what this blog is all about.  Letters to Santa Claus.

I know that most every single one of you that celebrate Christmas must have written letters to Santa Claus at least once in your lives.  For me, it was an annual tradition for me to do up a Christmas list and send it away to Santa Claus in hopes that he would make at least one of my wishes come true!  

I know that when I was really young, I dropped off a letter to Santa Claus in the mailbox and sent it off to the North Pole.  Even after all these years, I still remember the postal code that you had to send it to.  H0H 0H0.  Get it?  HO HO HO?

(And, yes...I'm quite aware that Canada has some really wacky postal codes.  We use both letters and numbers!)

And for what it was worth, I always got a response back, along with the promise that I would get at least one of the things that I asked for on my list.  And you know what?  He always delivered on his promises.

And, sometimes I would write a letter, and it would be printed in the pages of the local newspaper.  It was a lot of fun trying to look through all the pages of the newspaper in hopes of finding your letter inside!  



Of course, nowadays, letter writing really does seem to be a dying art.  I mean, why write a letter when you can just link to all the items you want to have for Christmas by clicking on them with a computer mouse?

(Though I do have to admit that I did chuckle when I first saw the above letter making the rounds on Google.  It's creative, and at least the kid did actually write the stuff down!  I honestly don't even know if this letter is legitimate, but regardless, I did enjoy it.)


But with the cost of stamps rising (in particular within my home country of Canada where stamps are being raised to a ridiculous price), and more and more people sending e-mail and text messages to each other, I am feeling a bit sad that handwritten letters and cards are being phased out.

I mean, I know that technology does mean progress, but I also think that technology is sort of sucking all the fun out of simple pleasures such as writing Christmas cards.  Many people I know hate doing them, but I absolutely love sending them.

And, because I feel so strongly about keeping the tradition of mailing letters to Santa alive, for this edition of the Thursday Video Blog, I decided that I would write my own letter to Santa.

And, no I have not lost my mind.  I really did write a letter to Santa.


And to close this blog off...here's visual proof!  Tah-dah!