Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

I'm not a Faith Hill fan, but this rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" is so good, it brings tears to my eyes, thanks in large part to the Morgan State University Choir that's backing her...

October Round-Up

It's kind of hard to remember October when Christmas is breathing down my neck, but I will give it a shot...

Movies Seen: Twelve, with none in a theater. (Although I did watch four Marilyn Monroe movies in a class that was held in a theater. But I'd seen all the movies before, and the teacher's inability to un-squash the DVD image on the big ass movie screen made the entire "movie going experience" almost unbearable. So I'm not counting those.) I think my fave was probably "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains," which is hadn't seen since I was a kid. I had no idea Ray Winstone played the hottie punk rocker in the movie. In fact, I had no idea Ray Winstone was once a hottie! If you've never seen it, I highly recommend a rental.

I saw a lot of bad movies in October, so the least favorite prize is a tie between "Chapter 27," the movie starring Jared Leto's horrible southern accent as Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's assassin; "The Happening," in which Mark Wahlberg spends most of the movie trying to think; and "Last House on the Left," which despite my being a die-hard horror fan as a youth, I had never actually seen. Now I now why. It is a exceedingly unpleasant movie watching experience. I understand its historical importance when it comes to the horror movie genre, but that doesn't mean it's any fun.

Books Read: Once again, I only finished one, while starting and abandoning about three...Well, technically that's not true, as I read several volumes of the comic book "Y: The Last Man," which didn't leave a lot of time for real books. So that one "real" book was "Snow Angels," which I got from the library on a whim after watching the movie version. It was about as good as the movie, which is to say pretty good, but not great.

Fancy Dinners Out: None. I think my fears about money and the economy started to curb my frivolous spending in October, as there also weren't any...

Live Shows Seen: Nor...

Shoes Bought: Alas.

It's Romance!

This week's Tube Tops is now up on the SFGate Culture Blog!

Wow. I can't believe the Thanksgiving weekend is basically over. Christmas will be here before I know it....I think I need a nap.

I Guess I Was Just Too Blind To See

I can't believe I missed this. I sat through almost every minute of the two painful hours of the Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning, but I guess during the ten minutes I was washing my face and getting dressed, this happened.



There were at least 268 marching bands featured during the parade, and I chose this moment to leave the room. Epic FAIL.

Tom Turkey Ran Away, But He Just Came Home!

There aren't very many Thanksgiving songs out there, so I'm going to go ahead and name "Turkey Lurkey Time" the one and only official Thanksgiving song. Even though it's actually about Christmas.

It's from the 1968 musical "Promises, Promises," which was written by Neil Simon, with music and lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and is actually based on the movie "The Apartment." I think it's due for a revival. There are other memorable songs in it (including "I'll Never Fall In Love Again") but "Turkey Lurkey Time" is easily my fave, both because it's pretty dumb, and because the musical number in the play has some INSANE choreography. (I'm glad to know I'm not the only person obsessed with the song, as Brock over at SFist has linked to it more than once. This guy also has a funny take on the number.)

So, in honor of Thanksgiving and mini dresses, I present you with three versions of the song...

First up is a performance from the 1968 Tonys. Video quality is for crap, but you can still experience the insanity and potential whiplash inducing movements of the choreography.



Next is a TV performance, but I have no idea where from. Seems to be about the same time as the above, though.



And last is from "Camp," which was a good little indie movie about a performing arts summer camp. (That's why the number kind of blends into other stage performances at the end of the song).



Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! And if you want to burn off some of those unwanted calories, I suggest you learn the Turkey Lurkey dance. You'll be slim by Christmas.

Peanut Butter and Spherical Olives

This week's reality TV locals post is now up on SFist!

Come ooooonnnnn Thursday!

Elves...They're Just So Silly

I've mentioned David Sedaris's short story "Six To Eight Black Men" before, as it's one of my favorite things ever. (You can listen to it in three parts on YouTube.) I love it because it's hilarious, but also because my mother is Dutch, and she speaks of Sinterklaas and his helper "Zwarte Piet" (Black Pete) like it's no big deal.

American Christmas may be crass and overly commercialized, but at least it doesn't involve dressing our children in blackface, and forcing them to eat chocolate coins while singing Christmas songs about little boots and little stockings. To wit:

It's Broccoli!

This week's Tube Tops is now up on the SFGate Culture Blog!

You guys, next week is Thanksgiving. Next week! How did that happen? Remember when you were a kid and once Thanksgiving came around all you could do was think about Christmas and wish the days would go by faster so it would just happen already? Well, my Christmas excitement remains, but it is now coupled with anxiety about how quickly the days are going by because before I know it it will be Christmas already.

Just What ARE Those Extra Ingredients, Anyway?

Here's another hilarious vintage commercial that was featured on "The Bonnie Hunt Show" the other day.

30 Rocks

I'm thinking I should start watching "Sesame Street" again...In fact, why'd I ever stop?