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Sunday, December 27, 2015

2015: THE YEAR IN REVIEW - The Schedule

Okay, everyone!  This is just a little short message to tell you guys what to expect over the next few days as we close out 2015 and enter a brand new year.



I think it's safe to say that the year 2015 has been a bit of a rollercoaster year.  So many bad things happened all over the world from mass shootings and explosions, to fear of climate change and Donald Trump becoming President. 

But a lot of good stuff happened as well.  After all, it was a year in which Adele made her long awaited album, it was a year in which Star Wars once again became the hottest ticket in town.  And it was a year in which Steve Harvey will never forget the country of Colombia ever again!

(Yeah, I had to go there.)

So, for the next few days, I'm going to be taking a look at 2015 through the eyes of pop culture.  Consider it the annual retrospective portion of the blog.

From December 28, 2015 until January 4, 2016, I'll be taking a look at some of the biggest news stories, television events, films, music releases, and fads of the past year.  There will be highs, and there will be lows, but one thing you can say, it was not a dull year by any means.

So, here's the planned schedule of events for the next few days.  Be sure to check in every day from now until the 4th!

DEC. 28. 2015 - 2015:  MOVIES
DEC. 29. 2015 - TUESDAY TIMELINE
DEC. 30. 2015 - 2015:  FADS
DEC. 31. 2015 - 2015:  NEWS
JAN. 01. 2016 - NEW ARCHIES REVIEWED
JAN. 02. 2016 - 2015:  TELEVISION
JAN. 03. 2016 - 2015:  MUSIC
JAN. 04. 2016 - 2015:  PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

(Personal reflections being my own little summary of the events of 2015.)

After that, I'll go back to the sporadic postings.  But you have to admit, the month of December has been a fun month, and I am glad that I decided to recharge my batteries over the autumn so I could continue to make this blog a success. 

I'll try the blog a day month again in May when I celebrate the blog's fifth anniversary.  For now, enjoy this retrospective!



Happy Holidays, and Happy 2016!

Saturday, December 26, 2015

New Archies Reviewed - Episode 12A: Jughead's Millions

Greetings, and happy Boxing Day to you! 

I know some of you will be braving the crowds to do some Boxing Day shopping, but I don't believe in Day After Christmas sales.  So, that's why I'm spending today doing a New Archies Reviewed blog post instead to risking life and limb to get a deal on a new television.

Besides, the one I got a year ago is working awesome!

So, we've only got four 12-minute episodes to go, and I'll be honest with you.  This one's not my favourite.  It's probably the only one starring Jughead that I thought was just...meh.  But, I have to review it.  It's only fair.



Here's Episode 12A:  Jughead's Millions.  How he accumulated these millions...well, you'll see.



For now, we're treated to a bitching session among the students of MS. Grundy's class about how unfair it is to be a kid in the 1980s, and how parents and adults are so demanding and how they expect them to be perfect little angels, and well...basically they sound no different from the teens of 2015, except that in 2015, the kids use emojis and text messages to voice their displeasure.



Well, MS. Grundy is tired of hearing her students complaining (and tired of Jughead eating in her classroom), and so she assigns a project to her whole class dealing with adult responsibilities.



And just like that, she pronounces Archie and Betty husband and wife!  Pretty sure you need to be ordained before you marry people off, but whatever the case, it makes Reggie and Veronica giggle like mad, knowing that their partners in "Future Shock" will have to suffer with each other.



The laughter stops when MS. Grundy declares that Reggie and Veronica will be Archie and Betty's children.  Sheesh, what did Archie and Betty do to deserve such spoiled brats as kids? 



MS. Grundy hands Jughead the next assignment along with a five dollar bill.  His mission?  Invest the five dollars in the stock market.  Sounds simple enough.  I hope Jughead doesn't spend it all on cheeseburgers or something stupid like that.



As for Eugene, Moose, and blink and you'll miss her Amani, MS. Grundy makes them learn responsibility by taking care of a baby.  But instead of one of those baby dolls that you see in high school home economics classes, MS. Grundy opens up the closet and out pops a baby goat who proceeds to eat everyone's homework.  Because keeping livestock locked up in a coat closet is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL!  Seriously, Grundy.  You're better than this!

The bell rings, and Archie and Betty accompany Jughead to the Riverdale Stock Exchange to invest his money in the stock exchange, while Veronica and Reggie complain about being Archie and Betty's children.  But they plan on being totally miserable human beings so that Archie and Betty will ditch them and earn a failing grade on the assignment.

In short, Reggie and Veronica vow to be themselves.



Jughead meets with the financial advisor and while the advisor gives some suggestions about what stocks to invest in, Jughead has found the perfect stock.



Son of a batch of cookies.  Cheeseburger Enterprises?  You mean to tell me that Jughead DOES invest in cheeseburgers?  Sigh.  At least with the stock price being a dismal one cent a share, he can get 500 sheets of worthless paper - which is actually more than buying a 500 pack of lined paper at Walmart.  You know, I'm thinking too much into this cartoon.  Stop it, Matthew.  Stop it now.



Of course, Reggie and Veronica don't make it easy on Jughead.  Reggie sticks his gum on the keyboard of the computer which causes our financial advisor to get stuck.  Archie punishes them by making them stand in the corner.  Wow, way to get firm, Archie.



Reggie then pushes some sort of button that releases a sea of ticker tape across the whole office.  Seriously, it's like Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve '88 has exploded all over the office.



But amidst the sea of paper and chaos caused by the world's brattiest kids comes a revelation.  Cheeseburger Enterprises has become one of the world's most improved companies, and the stock prices have turned Jughead's five dollar investment into a million dollar windfall for our beanie-headed needlenosed slacker!



Reggie and Veronica soon realize that Unky Juggie is now worth more than they are, and they start celebrating good times.  But Archie says "Come on", and lets Reggie and Veronica know that Jughead would rather save the money.



To which Jughead responds by telling Archie to stuff it, and proceeds to spend, spend, spend...which Reggie and Veronica are only happy to oblige.  Betty pipes up by saying that Jughead might be overdoing it with the spending, which Archie agrees by saying "the little woman's right".  Wow, Archie...just wow.  Neanderthal, much?

Of course, Jughead - never knowing what it really is like to be rich - doesn't listen, and before you know it, he's opened up his own...



...WRESTLING ARENA?!?  The kids do realize that this is a school assignment, right?  I'm sure MS. Grundy wouldn't approve of this.  Hell, if anything, MS. Grundy should be the one with the fortune since it was her money that Jughead invested.  Then she can take off and leave her students behind for good until her students manipulate her into coming back.

I hate this show sometimes.



Okay, so at Jughead's arena, Jughead introduces his friends to his three new female wrestlers, who kind of look like Madonna, Valerie from "Josie and the Pussycats", and Lilo from "Lilo & Stitch".  The wrestlers look tough, but sexist Reggie has to make fun of them saying that he doesn't think they look so tough.



They respond by picking Reggie up, spinning him around the ring, and...



...tickling him with feathers?  Well, it's unusual, I'll grant you that.



Of course, Papa Archie catches Reggie before those mean girls tear out his spleen, and informs them that they will be going to Jughead's mansion for dinner.  Wait, Jughead has a new mansion?  Just how far is Jughead going to take this?



And, how bratty can Reggie and Veronica get?  It's bad enough that Jughead bought them ponies, but for them to ride them in the house?  Seriously, what point is this episode trying to make?  People who become rich also become stupid?

Oh, and because we can't forget about Eugene, Moose, and Imani Armani Anchovy Amani, we see that the goat has found its way to Jughead's mansion and starts to eat Jughead's lunch...



...as well as a lampshade and a 60 watt light bulb.  Yep, PETA's not going to like this one bit.



Meanwhile, Archie and Betty (who are seriously getting so screwed in this project), are finding that their cooking skills absolutely suck (though Betty's improves a lot when she goes into high school), and Archie slipping on a pot of bubbling over rice just shows just how standards for this episode are slipping.

Reggie and Veronica ride their ponies into the kitchen and their ponies throw them into the dining room table.  I'm so glad this is a cartoon series...otherwise that sentence wouldn't make sense.

But of course, Filet Mignon Reggie and Caviar Veronica think that Archie and Betty could stand to take cooking lessons put on their best Gordon Ramsey impersonations and tell them IT'S RAAAAAAAAW and that nobody would eat it.



Well, except for maybe the very hungry caterpillar goat.



And, just for no reason at all, Veronica throws rice all over Jughead, who has come into the kitchen to inform everyone that he will be interviewed for a television show that is based off of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with a host that is like Robin Leach, but isn't.  Okay, is this episode over yet?  I don't know what's happening anymore.



What is happening is that Jughead is standing by the pool with the host of the show, telling him that cheeseburgers got him his fame and fortune, and I roll my eyes just a little bit more.



But wait.  A telegram comes for Jughead, because it's the 1980s and telegrams were in vogue back then.  Seems like Cheeseburger Enterprises has gone bankrupt, and all of Jughead's fortune has been wiped out.



The repo men come and take all of Jughead's possessions.  The bank comes and changes the lock on the house.  The wrestlers knock down Jughead's Wrestling Arena.  The animal handler takes back the ponies, which cause Reggie and Veronica to whine even more. 



And to add insult to injury, the goat knocks everyone into the pool, leaving Jughead a literal washed-up has been.

I guess this means that Jughead gets an F on the school project, huh?



But, all the kids did learn one thing.  They learned that being adults is hard work, which is why they make a vow to never age beyond seventeen for the rest of their existence.  I'd say that's a reasonable goal, considering the subjects.

But Reggie and Veronica are still upset that Archie and Betty treated them so badly, and how they lost their ponies, and they want to finish the assignment by letting them be the parents, and having Betty and Archie be their kids. 



Of course, MS. Grundy is wise to their scheme, and announces that she has two concert tickets for a rock show and since the parents are too busy to do household chores, Archie and Betty get the tickets instead!  Sure, way to stiff the rest of the class there, Grundy.



Reggie then decides that he wants to go back to being a kid and swipes the tickets from Archie's grasp...



...only for the goat to eat the tickets instead.



And everyone laughs closing out the episode.  Never mind that nobody gets to go to the concert, and that MS. Grundy just lost a hundred bucks.  The goat made everyone miserable, so let's laugh instead.

You know what, I'm not even going to comment on this episode any longer.  The whole thing made no sense from beginning to end.  It almost felt like they stitched together all of the deleted scenes from other episodes to make this one.  It's not the worst New Archies episode made, but it's really, really bad.

Next week, it's 1988 2016.  Let's celebrate it with another doppelganger story.  But unlike "The Prince of Riverdale", this one is much better of a tale.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Mustard for Christmas?!?



Merry Christmas, everybody!

While I'm sure that today will be a happy day for most of you able to read this blog post today, it also marks the final day of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR for another year. 



And because I'm sure most of you have plans today (I know I certainly do), I'll keep Day #25 on the short side.  Consider that my Christmas gift to you.

(NOTE:  I'm postponing the New Archies Reviewed post that would normally be posted today to Saturday, December 26.  All the other episode reviews will be posted on the next few Fridays after that.)

So, to conclude this advent calendar, I thought that I would share one final personal story about the holidays, and how sometimes the weirdest gifts are generally the ones that you remember the most.



I still remember the year.  It was Christmas 1996, and it was the first time that I attempted to wrap my own gifts by myself.  I have always been more of a fan of giving rather than receiving anyway, and I really love giving gifts to the people I care about the most in this world.  But prior to 1996, I always either had someone else wrap the gifts for me (be it a family member, a department store, or those teenagers who wrap gifts at the mall for charity), or I would cheat and use gift bags because let's face it...it's very hard to screw up a gift bag.

That year, I made it an effort to wrap my own gifts...and, well...it ended up being a complete disaster.  I used wrapping paper that hadn't been used in years and it basically disintegrated when people picked up the gifts.  I even had gifts sliding right out of the packages because I didn't put enough tape on them!  I'm telling you, the only saving grace during the Christmas season of 1996 was that I didn't buy anything breakable!

But that said, I do think everybody loved their presents, and I certainly loved the gifts that I got.  I don't quite remember what all of them were, but I know that my big gift that year was "Super Mario RPG:  Legend of the Seven Stars", which I played a lot more than I probably should admit to!  I couldn't help it!  The game was so addictive.

The only other gift that I remember that I got that year came from my eldest sister, and I remember having to wait to open it up.  You see, by the time Christmas 1996 rolled around, both of my sibs had moved out of the house and I was essentially an only child at home from the age of eleven onward.  And at that time, my sister worked as a registered nurse, meaning that it wasn't uncommon for her to have to go into work on Christmas morning.

That particular year, she didn't get off work until something like four o'clock in the afternoon, so I had to wait until she dropped by the house to open up the gift that she had got me.  Naturally, being 15, I was quite curious and tried to guess what was inside.  I knew that it felt very heavy, and I had a hard time picking it up.  For all I knew, she could have wrapped up a couple of cinder blocks. 

I'll tell you, I was quite naughty back in the day when it came to trying to guess what I got for Christmas.  I tried to look in hiding spots, I would shake the gifts underneath the tree...I would even go so far as to actually try biting off corners of the wrapped gifts and trying to cover the holes with bows and stickers!  No dice, though.  Mom and Dad ALWAYS caught me.

By 15, I had grown out of those childish ways, though I still wanted my sister's shift to end so I could tear apart that paper and see what was inside.  When she got home, I literally ran to the Christmas tree and opened up the gift thinking that it was something really special...



...and it was a gigantic jar of mustard.

You know the ones I mean, right?  Fast food places, restaurants, and food trucks would buy the economy sized Costco jar to keep the mini bottles of mustard filled up?  Yeah, I got one of those.  And let me tell you, I was so confused about it.

Of course, that confusion quickly turned into understanding, and later on laughter. 

You see...in my family, I easily use the most mustard.  Like that little old lady puts Frank's Red Hot on everything, I used to put mustard on everything.

(Well, okay, almost everything.  To this day, I can't see mustard being an acceptable topping for a banana split or a hot fudge sundae.)

But I did eat it on most cuts of meat.  I did eat it on sandwiches and pitas.  Heck, I used to dip mashed potatoes in mustard (which some of you might find disgusting, but I liked it).  So, in a sense, it was the perfect gift to get a mustard lover like me.  And, I think that gift lasted me well into the Spring of 1997 anyway, so it was economical too!

After all, that gift showed me one thing that year...my family did understand me as a person...even if they didn't always show it all the time.

But you know, it's memories like Mustardgate 1996 that make me feel so loved during the holiday season.  Cherished memories that I will never forget.  And I hope that this Christmas allows you all to make some new memories to add to your own personal holiday collections.



Have yourselves a merry little Christmas now.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Happy Day Before Christmas, Everybody!



Yes, we have reached Day #24 in A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR on this incredibly unseasonably warm Christmas Eve.  



I mean, seriously, I've never experienced a Christmas Eve where you can go outside in a T-shirt and shorts and not feel the slightest bit cold.  After all, I live in Ontario, Canada, where green Christmases are very rare.

I guess those people who asked for snowshoes, skis, and parkas are probably wanting Santa Claus to change their lists, huh?

Well, no matter.  Whatever the weather is like outside, I certainly hope that you all have a happy and enjoyable Christmas Eve, and that you spend it doing the things you like to do.

I know that I plan on spending mine watching Christmas movies all day long - well, after I finish this blog, that is. 

So, in the spirit of Christmas Eve, as well as throwing a nod towards my Christmas Eve plans, I'll be doing a blog entry on a television special that I remember watching on television years ago.

It's a television special that also seems to divide the general public.  Some people absolutely loved it, while others wish that it was never created.  I'm not quite that hateful about this show, but I do admit that it probably wasn't one of Rankin-Bass' finest moments.  After all, Rankin-Bass brought us such classics as "Frosty The Snowman", "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and "The Year Without A Santa Claus".  But, maybe by the time this show was released in the mid-1970s, people started to lose interest.

Even so, I do remember liking it at the time, and it happens to take place on Christmas Eve, so it fits.



The show is called "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and it first aired on CBS on December 8, 1974.  The television special aired every Christmas season on CBS until 1994, when ABC Family bought the rights to air it.  And the star of the show was Broadway singer and actor Joel Grey of "Cabaret" fame.

(And whose daughter Jennifer played the female lead in "Dirty Dancing".)

So, we know when the story takes place.  Christmas Eve.  But what is the story about?

Well, it's about Santa Claus getting very annoyed with the people of a small little town in the middle of Upstate New York, that's what. 

Set in the fictional town of Junctionville around the early 20th century, it seems as though the citizens of Junctionville have become quite cynical around Christmas, and many of them have seemingly decided that Santa Claus simply does not exist.  The town newspaper even sends out an anonymous letter to Santa, stating that nobody believes in him any more, and it is signed "All Of Us".

Well, if you thought that made Santa chuckle and laugh, you'd be dead wrong.  In fact, Santa is so hurt by it that he decides that he will NOT be making a stop in Junctionville after all, and sends back every letter written to him to all of the townspeople...unopened.

Talk about killing the Christmas cheer, huh? 

But just who is responsible for this?  Who could hate Christmas that much that they would cause Santa to go to war against an entire town?



Well, a little mouse by the name of Albert, that's who.  Though Albert certainly didn't intend to cause so much trouble with his letter, it certainly didn't make Father Mouse very impressed.  After all, Father Mouse was the assistant of clockmaker Joshua Trundle, and if the human population of Junctionville missed out on Santa's visit, knowing that his son was responsible for the whole thing...why it would break a father's heart.

Fortunately, there was time to rectify the situation.  Because the Trundle family knew the clock business, their solution is to get Santa's attention by building a Christmas clock right in the middle of the town square.  The crown jewel of the clock?  A pre-recorded message begging Santa's forgiveness and coaxing him to give Junctionville another chance.  It was a great idea, and had it worked, I'm sure that everything would have gone smoothly.

That is until the bratty Albert Mouse - who caused this situation in the first place - got a little bit too curious and investigated the clock tower without permission.  His meddling causes some damage inside the clock, and when the town comes together to watch the clock start up, it becomes a complete disaster with the clock not functioning at all.

The townspeople are disappointed, Father Mouse is shocked, Joshua Trumble looks defeated, and the town mayor is so furious that he refuses to let Trumble go inside to fix the clock before Christmas Day. 

It seems as though Albert has once again ruined Christmas for the people of Junctionville...or has he?

You see, although Father Mouse was the assistant of Joshua, it seems as though Albert has learned a thing or two about how to fix things through osmosis.  And being incredibly remorseful about his actions leading up to the clock breaking down, he takes it upon himself to put the clock back together.  But with Christmas Eve almost over, and Santa Claus due to make his trip around the world to everybody except Junctionville, can Albert fix the clock before it's too late?

Well, here's a little bit of a Christmas gift from me.  Clicking HERE will let you watch the whole show uninterrupted!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Making Holiday Shopping Fun Again

I can't believe that we're almost finished A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR for another year!  It's crunch time now, as Christmas Day gets closer and closer.  Any minute now, I expect Santa to finish his last minute errands before setting out in his sleigh to deliver toys to every girl and boy in the world.

Well, every girl and boy who happens to be on the nice list, that is.



Today is Day #23 in the advent calendar, and I've been trying to come up with a suitable topic that is holiday themed that I have never talked about before in this space.  You'd think that would be easy, but I've also been doing this blog for almost five years now.  I'm starting to run out of ideas.

So, you know something?  I think I'm going to talk about another personal memory.  A memory that actually takes place at a store chain that essentially doesn't exist any longer.

And, I'll warn you ahead of time, Canadians will likely have a better memory of this store than some others who may be reading this.



I still can't believe that it has been almost three years since Zellers shut its doors.  The Canadian retailer - which began operations in 1931 - closed up shop in March 2013 (save for two stores which run as liquidation centres).  The stores were mostly bought up by Target in 2013, only for the Canadian portion of the business to collapse just two years later in April 2015.

It's really too bad that Zellers is no more.  I remember when I was a kid, I used to really love going to Zellers.  The Zellers store in my hometown back in the 1980s was a great place to shop, and it was hard not to love the loveable bear mascot that Zellers had representing the store.



It was a mascot known as the Zeddy Bear.  Cute, huh?

Anyway, right around the holiday season, I remember that Zellers would have these special sales that would happen every weekend before Christmas.  And the special thing about these sales were that they always happened during the night hours.

They were known as Moonlight Madness sales...and I do believe that I went to a couple of them when I was really young.  Mind you, I don't think I remember buying anything - I think if anything, my parents would often put me in the care of my siblings while they went Christmas shopping for deals.

But the Moonlight Madness sales at Zellers were quite fun.  It was rather unusual to have sales start at night - and if I remember correctly, Zellers used to close their store for two or three hours in between the daylight hours and the nighttime hours so that the staff could have time to set up the displays for the sale.  That wasn't a whole lot of time for the staff, and now that I work retail, I have huge appreciation for people in retail who had to set up store displays on such short notice.

But once the doors opened up for the sale, there were definitely a lot of things that were available that were quite nice.  I seem to remember wanting to go to the toy department to see what they had, hoping that Santa Claus would think I was good enough to have him bring them to me!

Truth be told, I really do appreciate businesses that think outside the box when it comes to selling items.  Especially since we now live in a world where the almighty dollar seems to take precedence over fun and enjoyment.

And it's not right.  It's just not right.

There's no reason why Christmas shopping shouldn't be filled with fun and creativity, right?  Case in point, I have examples of this - once again from my own childhood.

Everyone knows that part of the fun of shopping is finding and buying that perfect gift that will make the person getting the gift squeal in delight - kind of like what I did the year I got Super Mario 3 for Christmas.  But what if you didn't have to pay for the gift?

And, by that I DON'T MEAN FIVE FINGER DISCOUNTS EITHER.  Stealing is wrong.  Santa doesn't like thieves.

No, I mean entering your name into various raffles and silent auctions that were held inside of the local shopping mall.  It was fun to enter all of these contests, trying to see what prizes you could win.  Whether it was a nice chunk of cash, a video game console, or a Cabbage Patch Kid during the shortage of '83, every prize guaranteed that someone would have a Merry Christmas.

I also want to praise the church craft sales and the bake sales held at community venues.  I went to one of these last year, and it was definitely one of the greatest places to get homemade gift ideas for people.  They had everything from chocolate covered pretzels to hand made jams and jellies, to hand crafted fountain pens, and even whole pieces of furniture!  And in many cases, you can pay a lot less for these items than you would at say, IKEA, Michael's, or the Real Canadian Superstore!  Seriously, check out these craft fairs when they come to town.  You won't regret it, you'll be helping local artisans continue to do business within the community, and in some cases, the money you spend is donated to various fundraising organizations throughout the community.  And really, isn't giving back to the community a fine way of saying Merry Christmas?



I also like to see businesses take part in the Angel Tree program as well.  That's where they set up a tree filled with the wish lists of kids who may be having a tough time during the Christmas season.  If a person wants to help out, they take an ornament off the tree that has the child's age as well as what they want for Christmas, and then they buy the item and place it underneath the Angel Tree so that it is delivered to them on Christmas morning.  I've even seen trees that have wishes from senior citizens who may be forced to spend Christmas in a nursing home or hospital, which I think is equally a nice idea.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in this...the last final stretch before Christmas...is that Christmas shopping doesn't have to be the headache most seem to think it is.  There are lots of ways to make the experience more fun.  Come visit Santa Claus at his village.  Stroll the streets of the town with hot chocolate in hand gazing at the Christmas lights twinkling in the streets.  Do your shopping when the sun sets so that it will be easier (and besides, the stores will be less crowded).

Most importantly, know that it's not the gifts that matter...but the thought that goes behind each one.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

December 22, 1990

I can't believe that it's only three more days until Christmas.  Where does the time flow?



Well, in today's case, we'll be taking another trip through time in the Tuesday Timeline entry, which coincidentally also falls on Day #22 of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR!

You know, I have to say this though.  You would think that because today is December 22, I would have no problem finding a Christmas themed entry for today, but this was really the hardest day yet.  It is of good fortune that I opened up my heart and mind to a genre of music that I am typically not a fan of, or else I'd have nothing to talk about!

That is your one and only clue as we go ahead with today's historical events and celebrity birthdays!

1807 - At the urging of President Thomas Jefferson, the Embargo Act is passed by U.S. Congress

1808 - Ludwig von Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto, and "Choral Fantasy" at Theater an der Wien, in Vienna

1864 - Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman

1891 - Asteroid 323 Brucia is discovered - the first one using photography

1912 - Former First Lady of the United States, Lady Bird Johnson (d. 2007) is born

1915 - Actress Barbara Billingsley (d. 2010) is born in Los Angeles, California

1917 - Game show host Gene Rayburn (d. 1999) is born in Christopher, Illinois

1937 - The Lincoln Tunnel - stretching between New York and New Jersey - opens to traffic

1942 - Hitler signs the order to develop a new weapon - the V-2 rocket

1944 - German troops demand the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium during the "Battle of the Bulge"

1948 - Actress Lynne Thigpen (d. 2003) is born in Joliet, Illinois

1949 - Bee Gees twins Robin (d. 2012) and Maurice (d. 2003) are born in England

1956 - At the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Colo the gorilla is born - the first gorilla to be bred in captivity

1984 - Bernard Goetz shoots four people on a train in Manhattan, New York after they tried to mug him

1988 - Environmental activist and unionist Chico Mendes is assassinated in Xapuri, Brazil

1992 - The "Archives of Terror" are unearthed

1995 - Actress Butterfly McQueen dies at the age of 84

2001 - The "Shoe Bomber" incident - a man attempts to blow up a passenger plane by igniting hidden explosives in his shoes - but the plan fails and he is arrested

2002 - Musician Joe Strummer passes away at the age of 50

2010 - The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is repealed and signed into law by President Obama

2014 - Singer Joe Cocker and voice actress Christine Cavanaugh both die on this date at the ages of 70 and 51 respectively

And for celebrity birthdays, we have the following people turning one year older; Elizabeth Hubbard, David Pearson, Hector Elizondo, Ken Whitmore, Lucien Bouchard, Barry Jenkins, Diane Sawyer, Noel Edmonds, Rick Nielsen, Martin Yan, Dan Martin, Bern Nadette Stanis, Susan Powter, Luther Campbell, Ralph Fiennes, Lauralee Bell, Dina Meyer, Pat Mastroianni, Vanessa Paradis, Heather Donahue, Joanne Kelly, Brooke Nevin, Ali Lohan, Meghan Trainor, and G. Hannelius.

So, lots happened on this date, but nothing really very Christmas like.



That is until I discovered a very interesting fact about December 22, 1990...a fact that is very much country music flavoured.



And, I suppose you could say that Dolly Parton's name is written all over this one.

You know, anyone who has ever heard of Dolly Parton knows that she is a complete enigma in the world of country music.  Whereas most entertainers seem to fade away after five albums or so, Dolly has been recording music since 1967 - that's almost five decades of music!  And did you know that her most recent album - 2014's "Blue Smoke" is her - get this - 42nd studio album?  That's not even counting all of the collaborations that she's done with other artists over the years.



And nearing the age of 70, Parton shows no sign of slowing down.  In fact, she's been all the talk of the television world with her very successful made-for-television movie.  The movie, "Coat of Many Colors" was based off of the successful single of the same name (which peaked at #4 in late 1971/early 1972) first aired on NBC on December 10, 2015, and it was such a runaway hit for the network that a second showing of the film has been added this Christmas Day at 9pm EST. 

And, since I brought up the topic of Christmas, did you know that it was twenty-five years ago today that Dolly Parton released her very first solo Christmas album?

It may seem a bit odd that an artist would release a Christmas album just three days before Christmas.  When it comes down to holiday albums, usually they are released a lot earlier.  I've seen holiday albums released as early as September!  



But there was a reason for the late release of "Home for Christmas", and it has to do with a very special television presentation of the album.

ABC aired a television special featuring all ten songs from the album either on or very close to the date when the album came out.  And, in a way, it was a brilliant marketing strategy.  After all, I know many people who have watched television specials on PBS or cable television who have wanted to purchase the soundtrack the day after they air.

And you know, for what it's worth, the television special is quite nice.  And you can watch it HERE in its entirety!  Yes, someone actually made a copy of this special and posted it on YouTube for all to see.  But you better watch it now while there's still time!  You never know how long things will stay up on YouTube!

Now, for the album itself...well, it's essentially a whole lot of classics all tied together in one shiny silver bow.  Although this wasn't Dolly's first Christmas album (she teamed up with Kenny Rogers in 1984 for "Once Upon A Christmas"), this would be the first one in which she performed all the songs herself.



Songs such as "We Three Kings".



Or, "Go Tell It On The Mountain".



Or, even "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"!

The album didn't do so well on the country album charts though.  It only peaked at #74.  But, I suppose that isn't too bad, given that her biggest competition came from non-holiday albums.

That being said, it did sell enough copies for it to be certified gold, so it was a success.

And 25 years after that album was released...it's still being sold at retailers and is still enjoyed by people today who want to add a little bit of Southern hospitality and comfort to their holiday celebrations.