Jabba the Hutt snow sculpture in Japan pic.twitter.com/6Yrhof2sh3
— 41 Strange (@41Strange) December 5, 2019
Started reading a Christmas Carol today w the kids. I’m hearing that Scrooge is living in his partner’s apt 7 years after Marley’s death and seeing his face in a doorknocker, my 11 year old: He’s depressed! He needs to see a therapist & start dating again!
— Dara Grumdahl (@DearDara) December 14, 2019
I mean, if they were indeed two old, greedy, cruel coots in love, it would do a lot to explain why Marley went so above & beyond for Scrooge.
— Dara Grumdahl (@DearDara) December 14, 2019
Xenomorph made out of Gingerbread by Norwegian cake designer Carolina Eriksson
(https://t.co/1G6gWelcLl) pic.twitter.com/nDDs0pnnUP— 41 Strange (@41Strange) December 5, 2019
germy
I remember A Christmas Carol on TV with Mr. Magoo in the lead role. I saw it as a child when it first came out, and I was enchanted by the art and animation.
I haven’t seen it since, because I fear I’d be disappointed. Not so much by the story or performances, but by the art direction. So I prefer to remember it through my childhood eyes.
JeanneT
@germy: I watch Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol every year. The animation is definitely basic, but I still love the songs.
Phylllis
Hubby and I just got home from seeing It’s a Wonderful Life at the indie theater in downtown Columbia. It was a pleasure to see the full cut of the movie with no commercials.
ThresherK
For football broadcasting I love that every network has an expert to interpret and predict the officiating. It was the job I always wanted someone to do.
Well, we have reached peak officialling: Mike Pereira, on Fox, for the Rams/Cowboys game, has informed us that the coin flip is not reviewable.
He said that because 1) it’s either written in the rules or 2) there is case “law” establishing this.
ThresherK
@Phylllis: B-b-b-but how can you enjoy it without various NBC stars telling you what it means to them?
Lapassionara
So, we have about an inch and a half of snow in the greater St. Louis area. Not too much, although the forecasts were dire.
I have realized that outdoor garden activities are no longer in my daily schedule, so I will need to find another way to get some exercise. I will see my garden again maybe in February, if we get some sunny days and a false spring, as we normally do.
joel hanes
@JeanneT:
With razzleberry dressing
———-
La la la la-la la-la
We’re just blankety-blank blank
All bad
mrmoshpotato
I hope the xenomorph doesn’t come with an acidic filling. That would really put a damper on biting its head off.
Ken
@ThresherK: Interesting. It’s at completely the opposite end of the spectrum from the “If they want to win this game they have to score more points than the other team” type of commenting, but (to me) seems about as useless.
Emerald
I listen to A Christmas Carol every Xmas, read by Tim Curry. Fantastic performance. I hear something new in it every time.
mrmoshpotato
@ThresherK: Well, how else would you recognize a ‘Holding’ call when someone grabs another guy’s arm, and the main ref announces “Holding on the defense?” It’s a very important announcing job from the booth for which I’m sure he’s paid lots of money.
CaseyL
The funniest version of A Christmas Carol I’ve ever seen was a theater production of “Inspecting Carol.”
It’s a mashup of A Christmas Carol and The Inspector General, where a not-very-talented actor who comes to a theater to try out for a role is mistaken for a representative from the National Endowment for the Arts who’s coming to audit the theater.
The theater company, desperate to curry favor, gives the guy a big role in its annual production of A Christmas Carol. All kinds of hilarity ensues.
prostratedragon
Went looking for Mr. Magoo on ytube and found only song clips (the one from Christmas future is quite something), but also found an animated short feature that was new or at least forgotten to me. Features the voices of Alistair Sim and Michael Hordern who were in the great 1950 movie version.
leeleeFL
@joel hanes: Still a Christmas Favorite- bought my copy a few years back. “I’m all alone in the world” still has me crying like a 2 yo. And the Razzleberry Dressing song will make me smile in July! It is fantastic!
Rudolph is a co-favorite. No longer PC, but I love it
ThresherK
@joel hanes: The one line I remember from the main theme is about having “a Christmas more glorious than grand”.
And this is UPA, so the animation is going to be basic. But Jim Backus always brought something extra to the table.
David ??Booooooo?? Koch
@germy: I recently had the same apprehension about some old tee vee shows I saw as a kid that I found on Me-TV.
I was always impressed by a famous episode of “Gilligan’s Island” were Gilligan is stalked by a big game hunter.
Episodes of “Mr. Ed’ and “The Munsters”, were both Ed and Herman try out for the Dodgers, featuring Sandy Koufax and Leo Durocher (photo).
A couple of episodes of “The Odd Couple” featuring Howard Cosell and Bobby Riggs.
A engrossing Vietnam parable “The Challenge” with the late-great Darren McGavin.
to my surprise, while they did have a few production flaws, they held up in form and substance, and lived up to my idyllic memories.
Phylllis
@ThresherK: The glass of Guinness helped a good bit.
raven
@David ??Booooooo?? Koch: Whitmore was a jarhead in the Pacific and played so very realistic roles as a soldier.
raven
@mrmoshpotato: I think those guys add a great deal to calls,
germy
Speaking of Mr. Magoo, has anyone here seen his first appearance in a cartoon? He was a totally different character… he looked different, and was mean as hell!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKZcwsM3RH0
Orange is the New Red
I am very excited to see my favorite holiday movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol, on the big screen this weekend.
NotMax
Speaking of holiday-related fare –
Worth watching the whole thing? Debatable. Worth clicking through just for the title? Yuppers.
:)
Miss Bianca
@Emerald: Tim Curry also does an audiobook of “Peter Pan”, which if you haven’t reviewed it since childhood, is a *deeply fucking creepy book*!!
Tinkerbell is a misogynistic little sociopath. Peter is not any better.
But Curry’s narration makes it bearable!
Also, I am laughing my ass off at the thought of Scrooge and Marley as lovers!
NotMax
@JeanneT
Clips from a benefit performance of the stage version of Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.
Miss Bianca
@prostratedragon: Oh, wow, I wonder if that’s the one I saw on TV that *scared the fucking crap* out of seven-year-old me! I couldn’t even eat my dinner, the ghosts scared me that badly! And dinner was *extremely* important to me, particularly around holiday time. Will have to watch it and see!
schrodingers_cat
OT but important
Eliminationist rhetoric coming from pro-BJP media personalities. She is calling for pest control against human beings
Please report the Tweet in the screenshot as targeted harassment if you are on Twitter. From a brief perusal of her timeline she also is an MRA.
Thanks.
report @trehan_barkha for targeted harassment. I have included a screenshot in the link, I didn’t want to give that vile Tweet a retweet.
P.S. Here is the link to the original offensive tweet.
https://twitter.com/trehan_barkha/status/1205838261555531776
John Revolta
I remember the Mr. Magoo Carol quite well although I haven’t seen it in 50 years maybe. The songwriting was really good.
A hand for each hand was planned for the world
Why don’t my fingers reach?
Millions of grains of sand in the world
Why such a lonely beach?
I was a maudlin little kid……………….
And yes “a Christmas far more glorious than grand” stuck with me too!
Miss Bianca
@John Revolta: It’s funny, I remember seeing the Mr. Magoo “Christmas Carol” as a tad, but I don’t remember a thing about it! Guess I’ll have to Youtube that one, right after I watch the Alastair Sim one. All this while babysitting my cider on the wood stove.
satby
Well, now I have to dig up Christmas in Connecticut and watch that tonight. And I admit it, I like the old version of Miracle on 24th Street, the Natalie Wood one. Maybe I’ll watch that one tomorrow night.
J R in WV
@ThresherK:
And then New York reviewed it anyway, and decided Dallas should have the ball to beat up the Rams some more, quicker.
ETA:
And LGM has the most depressing accurate take on current politics ever. I couldn’t keep reading the comments, just too horrible and dead on accurate!
ETA 2, see The Crisis by Paul Campos if you’re interested in Impeachment and Republican treason.
germy
The Simpsons did a parody of Magoo’s Christmas Carol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUmL0SOPUG8
NotMax
@satby
If you’re jonesing for Barbara Stanwyck Xmastime films, Remember the Night is coming up at 10 p.m. Eastern time on TCM.
prostratedragon
@Miss Bianca:
!:)!
I can well imagine it scaring the daylights out of a child! Some of the art work is really horrifying, to make a big impact in just 25 minutes I guess, and to make it clear that something has really shaken Scrooge to his crusty core.
My favorite part is when Christmas Present takes Scrooge around to see workmen at their humble homes or at work, all singing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” which I always thought of as the Gravedigger’s Carol.
Comfort and Joy!
Sister Golden Bear
So the tree roots have finally damaged my sewer line to the point it needs to be replaced.
And because I live an unincorporated area, I’m responsible for replacing the line all the way to the main sewer — which is all the way across the street.
And because my sewer district doesn’t allow the “pipe bursting” method of replacement, they’re gonna have to do a trench — which is a third more expensive.
*sigh*
At least I can use the shower and toilet again for the time being.
Just thankful I had the foresight to get a home equity line of credit when I did a refi, since I knew this and other major old-house repairs were on the horizon.
Emerald
@Miss Bianca: Oh yes, I have that! I’m a fan of Mr. Curry’s audiobook performances. So sad there won’t be any more (he had a massive stroke about five years ago that affected his speech). But yeah, that Peter Pan is one of his best!
O. Felix Culpa
I remember watching Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, but I don’t remember anything about it. My boys (now young men) and I watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every year after finishing our traditional Christmas brunch of bagels and lox, just like they had in Bethlehem.
debbie
@Emerald:
His Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist is unforgettable.
John Revolta
@Miss Bianca: I won’t say anything more about it then but tell us what you thought about it after you watch it!
NotMax
@NotMax
Also might note Holiday Affair airs today at 8 p.m. Eastern, starring a kinder, gentler Robert Mitchum (pitching woo with Janet Leigh).
debbie
@schrodingers_cat:
Reported. She fights gender discrimination, yet calls for pest control for vermin like Rohingya? Appalling.
ETA: I hope you’re heartened by the comments.
raven
Magoo Meets Gerald McMcboingBoing
raven
@NotMax: He was kind in Heaven Knows Mr Allison. . .
schrodingers_cat
@debbie: She is an MRA.
NotMax
@
Holiday Affair was a deliberate effort by the studio to ‘rehabilitate’ his image with the public after his arrest for possession of marijuana.
;)
NotMax
Oopsie. That was supposed to be Raven.
Miss Bianca
@prostratedragon: That’s one of the things I remember most vividly besides the ghosts, is the singing of that carol. Funny that it became one of my favorites, despite (or perhaps because of) being in that cartoon.
debbie
@schrodingers_cat:
I had to Google that, but my god, that’s kind of frightening.
raven
@NotMax: And he would have. . .
Miss Bianca
@Emerald: Oh, I didn’t know that about Tim, how sad! Because he does have (did have, I guess I have to say) such a lovely, expressive voice.
His Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island remains a big favorite in this household (speaking of Muppet movies, and yes – Muppet Christmas Carol is absolutely one of my favorite takes on the tale, as well!)
Patricia Kayden
Belafon
It looks like the Healthcare.gov site is flaking out. I figure since this site is one with a big-name health coverage guy, This was important:
“If you try the website and can’t get through, call 800-318-2596 and they will save your place.”
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1206340861631614977
Belafon
Never mind.
JeanneT
@joel hanes: I always thought I was the only one who remembers those lyrics. Thank you!!
artem1s
It would explain a lot of Scrooge’s motivations too. His entire story revolves around losing love and loved ones. His father, his sister, his friends, his jolly employer, friends and fiancé. Imagine if after all his sacrifices over the pursuit of money, he then loses his life partner. That really puts an interesting spin on why he was so bitter and bent on rejecting emotional attachments.
It would be interesting to hear Sir Patrick Stewart’s take on the possibility of Scrooge and Marley’s relationship being a little more intimate than we realize at first glance.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Love the new vision for Scrooge and his partner!
JeanneT
@NotMax: Now I’m wondering why no one has performed this in our local community theaters – the music (in my opinion) really stands up.
Jay
Or Newsweek, now owned by a Fundi Org, giving Andy Ngo, etc a megaphone,….
zhena gogolia
@satby:
I’m pissed at TCM — they’re not showing Christmas in Connecticut this year!!!!!
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
That one is great too. But much more depressing than CinC.
Jay
JPL
My neighborhood of 25 houses tonight lit luminaries in honor of a neighbor’s 100th birthday. It was pretty special. His next door neighbor took him out for a special dinner and folks gathered outside as they exited the neighborhood and everyone was able to give special wishes.
Amazing that life can be good and the gop can still suck at the same time.
The Pale Scot
I am deeply disappointed to find that no one is making a radio controlled Dalek. I so wanted to spend Xmas terrorizing my sisters scottie… for a couple of minutes anyway.
Possible market niche.
Baud
Obviously, they were into BDSM too.
ThresherK
@zhena gogolia: What?
Blasphemy! It’s full of fun and Warner Bros. stock players. Hell, even my wife remember it, and I’m the Studio Era fanatic in our home.
And the 1992 TV movie remake is not an acceptable substitute.
Amir Khalid
@JPL:
You live among wonderful, caring people.
NotMax
@satby
Available free on the TV Time channel on Roku (can’t recall whether you have a Roku). Prime also has it, but at $1.99 rental.
NotMax
@NotMax
Le sigh. That was meant to be @zhena gogolia. Typing fingers apparently off their feed today.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Oh, I’ve seen it a thousand times. I’m old-school — I like to find out it’s being broadcast and then tune in.
dogs inc.
@zhena gogolia: Sorry, too many think it’s about Vermont still.
Mnemosyne
@mrmoshpotato:
Unless you did a citrusy filling like grapefruit or orange to get some “acid” into it. That might be kind of cool. ?
mrmoshpotato
@Mnemosyne: Hmm…..orange-custard-filled gingerbread.
J R in WV
I’m giving up political news in exchange for GoComics, starting with Pearls before Swine and Pibgorne, two of my favorite comics. Pibgorne is kind of a fairy, for those not familiar with her.
At least for a little while.
Happy Holiday season, all you Jackals~!~
JPL
@NotMax: Thank you. I just added that.
JPL
@Amir Khalid: I really do.
Viva BrisVegas
Anybody want to make my Christmas?
Mail me a snowman.
It’s 102 outside and I need something to cuddle up to.
John Revolta
@J R in WV: I’m a Pibgorn fan too. I would recommend though that anybody who wants to try it out should try some of the earlier stuff first. The author is off on a strange tangent lately that isn’t really representative of the strip throughout the years.
NotMax
@Viva BrisVegas
Maybe this trailer will serve as a cooling medium for a bit.
;)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
@JeanneT:
Well, it was produced by Hanna-Barbera. The only shows they made that had any high degree of quality that I can remember off the top of my head were The Pirates of Dark Water, the SWAT Kats, and maybe the Jetsons and Flintstones movies from the 80s. The first two were from the early 90s. This was when they were forced to compete with stiff competition from Disney and Japan
Boris, Rasputin's Evil Twin
My alter ego is doing the Public Reading Version of the “Carol” tonight. We may never think of the story the same way ever again
I’d always figured Marley did this good deed for Scrooge because there was no way he wanted to spend eternity chained to Scrooge. Everlasting torment is one thing, but with Scrooge? Ugh.