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Remember Audio MixTapes? Think Video!

The folks at the Paley Center for Media in New York City have put together some of the best theme-program schedules that I've ever seen. This series ups their already impressive ante.

TV MixTapes

The Paley Center recalls the days when, if you liked someone, you made them a tape. We like you, so we're making mixtapes for you—compilation screenings of amazing things in our collection, curated to provide a unique viewing experience each month with a different theme. Plus it's all on a movie-size screen with great sound.

Every month the Paley Center will present special screenings culled from their massive collection, curated to provide a unique viewing experience … audiences can expect classic episodes from favorite series enhanced by exclusive Paley Center content, original compilations of the weird and wonderful created for this series, and selections from rare programs unavailable anywhere else. Plus there is the thrill of seeing it all on the big screen, with great sound.

Here's the package, the line-up:

Summer "Camp" - starts July 5th 2012
Welcome to a compilation of television’s most outrageous, campy, and head-scratching moments—a celebration of the weird, wild, and wacky side of the small screen, culling only the best moments in discrete chunks for the YouTube generation.

We excerpt the craziest scenes from afterschool specials, old network celebrity spectaculars, outdated training and educational films, camp classic television movies, bizarre music videos, and other outré ephemera. A surefire hit for the Gen-X audience and available exclusively at the Paley Center. 

Hotter than Hellmouth - August
Hell hath no fury like a demon scorned … or something like that. Join us as we celebrate the dog days of August in air-conditioned bliss with this really creepy compilation of television programming spotlighting emissaries from hell (both fictional and not), anchored by “Once More With Feeling,” the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which will be screened in its entirety. We don’t want to give too much away, but also look for clips from The Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, South Park,Thriller, plus a few gems from our collection of programs, commercials, and Paley Center panel discussions. To conclude the package, we’ll screen excerpts from Tom Snyder’s legendary 1981 interview with Charles Manson.  

Dueling Star Treks - September
Star Trek: The Next Generation celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary in September, and with this specially produced compilation the Paley Center boldly goes where thousands and thousands have gone before, tackling the red-hot-button question of whether The Next Generation was also the greatest generation, or whether that honor belongs instead to the original series. Was the first Star Trek too campy? Next Generation too earnest? Beverly Crusher or Bones McCoy? Spock or Data? Kirk’s bare chest or Picard’s bare head? We will shy away from no issue, illustrating our points through a deft selection of clips featuring moments from both shows and a few surprises as well, including excerpts from Paley Center events with the cast and the creative team of TNG and with Captain James T. Kirk himself, the great William Shatner.

Sweet TV Dreams (are made of these?) - October
For the month of chills and thrills, the Paley Center brings you a sixty-minute mixtape that shows the truly frightful—as well as the lighthearted—dreamscapes that have seeped out of our collective unconscious and into our daily TV viewing over the years.

The creepy/scary stuff will come from the usual suspects—Twilight Zone, Twin Peaks, The Outer Limits, Buffy the Vampire Slayer—joined with the more psychological hauntings of Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, and M*A*S*H. Then we'll look to Bewitched, My So Called Life, The Practice, and Absolutely Fabulous for the lighter side of our neuroses. 

James Bond: 50 Years on Film -  November
This mixtape will screen in November, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the first Bond film (Dr. No) and also the release of the new Bond film (Skyfall). Included are clips from the 1954 television version of Casino Royale (Bond’s screen debut); two Bond-themed TV specials in our collection; The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which Ian Fleming helped develop (plus a Paley Center panel with star Robert Vaughn); Get Smart (including clips from PaleyFest); Archer (including our David Cross–moderated seminar); The Avengers (starring Bond girl Diana Rigg); and appearances by Bond stars Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore in television programs and ads. 

Christmas Carols: A Scrooge Mash-up - December
Arguably the most famous and familiar holiday story ever written, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol continues to enchant generation after generation and inspire countless adaptations, with more, no doubt, yet to come. Since everyone has their particular favorite dramatization, the Paley Center presents its own “Scrooge mash-up,” so to speak.

The entire story will be told using clips from versions starring Mr. Magoo, Patrick Stewart, and Basil Rathbone among others, as well as the tale as interpreted by the casts of such shows as WKRP in Cincinnati, Northern Exposure, and The Honeymooners.

Ok now Baltimore, if you love classic film and television as much as I do, let's book some Bolt Buses and head to The Big Apple for a what will certainly be a monthly fun-fest. And bring your friends. There are new finds and real surprises in this collection of shows. I'm sure that you haven't seen some of these moments before. That's all I'm going to say.

The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52 Street • New York, NY 10019
212.621.6600

Free for Paley Center Members and included with general admission.

'Have a Very Merry Christmas' - from Stephen Brockelman & Jacob Bouknight

                          Our Holiday Greeting for 2011

After your packages have been opened, after your dinner has been devoured, and after your wrapping paper has been tossed...

Sit down and take a deep breath, take a quiet moment to remember one of the very best gifts on Earth: Your Friends.

Jacob and I do. We remember all of you. Every single year.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Spike Jones Sends a Christmas Greeting to Enoch Pratt Library's Roswell Encina

 

Here is one more All I Want for Christmas for your collection and listening marathon. Happy Holidays!

Please Support Baltimore Heritage This Christmas. Renew a Membership or Join.

A video note from Johns Hopkins on behalf of Baltimore Heritage:

 

I renewed my membership today. Please join me in supporting the good work and educational programs of Baltimore Heritage.

Baltimore Heritage is Baltimore’s only city-wide preservation organization. By becoming a member of Baltimore Heritage, you are helping to preserve our city’s charm and distinctive character for current and future generations.We invite you to join now and become involved in our important and fulfilling work,

• Defenders Circle / $500 Includes a special Behind the Scenes Baltimore Tour, 2 tickets to annual awards reception, and member discounts on all tours.
• Heritage Patron / $250 Includes 2 tickets to annual awards reception and member discounts on all tours.
• Heritage Sponsor / $100 Includes 1 ticket to annual awards reception and member discounts on all tours.
• Family Membership / $50 Includes member discount on all tours for all family members.
• Individual Membership / $35 Includes member discount on all tours.

                301 N Charles St - Vacant and Overgrown

Baltimore Heritage members participate in the following:

• Behind the Scenes Baltimore guided tours of historic places that are not generally open to the public.
• Guided walking tours each spring in Baltimore’s diverse neighborhoods, including Marble Hill, Roland Park, Bolton Hill, and others.
• Annual awards banquet and ceremony highlighting important preservation projects and those who help Baltimore retain its charm.
• Lectures and other events on Baltimore’s Heritage.
• Newsletters and updates on preservation problems and progress.

Visit their website, http://www.baltimoreheritage.org - learn, enjoy and join. By the way, you can now pay for your membership in monthly installments that begin at only $5-per-month.

Your Hit Parade, Christmas Eve Show - 1956

Another bit of vintage Christmas Joy for you.

Your Hit Parade. Guest Starring ice skater, Andra McLaughlin with the Your Hit Parade regulars - Gisele MacKenzie, Snooky Lanson, Russell Arms, Dorothy Collins, and band leader, Raymond Scott. This episode was directed by Norman Jewison. Dance numbers choreographed by Peter Gennaro. The production was filmed at the NBC Studios at Rockefeller Center and at the Ice Rink at Rockefeller Plaza. Check out the Rockefeller Christmas Tree at the end. Also notice that Prometheus hasn't aged one iota.

It's fascinating to see the beginnings of Norman Jewison's stellar directorial career on this early television show. (Jewison has directed 12 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Alan Arkin, Rod Steiger, Topol, Leonard Frey, Al Pacino, Adolph Caesar, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly, Cher, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, and Denzel Washington.)

The choreographer for the show was Peter Gennaro. Gennaro went on to become one of Broadway's most acclaimed choreographers. (West Side Story, Bells Are Ringing, Guys and Dolls, Annie...)

No less interesting is seeing a Christmas Special sponsored by Lucky Strike Cigarettes.

A final note: Enjoy the vintage television. Don't smoke. Ever!

Christmas Was So Simple in 1963

At least it was simple on TV.

Television audiences could vicariously spend Christmas in Mayberry, Beverly Hills, Virginia City, Dodge City, Bryant Park, Los Angeles, or Hilldale.

Some of the popular shows on television in 1963 were: Bonanza, The Donna Reed Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, Gunsmoke, Ben Casey, The Patty Duke Show, and  My Three Sons.

Number 1 in the Nielsen Ratings, as it entered its second season, was The Beverly Hillbillies. Here's the 1963 Christmas episode, Christmas with the Clampetts. It's now in public domain.

 

Oh sure, it's silly and simple comedy. But here's what I find wonderfully refreshing: It's scripted entertainment, there's not a hint of reality TV, and there's not a Kardashian anywhere in sight.

When you get all crazy with your Holiday chores and guest lists, pour a glass of eggnog and take a look back at a simpler time. Merry Christmas, all.

The Best Christmas Gift Ever: Freedom and Security. Let's All Say, "Thanks."

Our troops give us the gift of freedom and security. It's important that we remember our troops every day. It's even more important that we remember them during the Holidays.

You won't see a photo of our troops celebrating Christmas captured on a Currier and Ives print. Christmas for soldiers serving in faraway places is not pretty, it's not an image to put on a greeting card.

I wasn't really aware of what Christmas might be like for our troops until a couple of years before I turned 18. Draft age.

Our family watched Bob Hope, on his 1967 USO tour, visiting the troops at Christmastime. During the broadcast my father, who had returned home from WWII with some massive scars and a Purple Heart, reminded us that what were seeing on television was the prettiest face that could ever be put on an ugly situation, a situation that he called "that tragic mess in Indochina." Watching the broadcast was an eye-opener for me.

1967 was a bloody year in Vietnam. Over 11,000 Americans died in the military conflict that year. Enjoyable moments for our troops serving in 1967 were few and far between. There may have been none at all.

Here's the show our family watched from our living room in Kansas.

 

Bob Hope was the first big star to entertain American troops under the USO banner. He entertained at March Field in May of 1941, just 3 months after the USO was founded.

Comedian Joe E Brown was the first top-shelf name to entertain our troops on frontline bases. Brown's USO tour began in March of 1942. (Brown's own son was killed in a military plane crash in California in 1942.)

There are dozens of ways to support and remember our service members and I hope that you'll find one that touches you. There is a perfect way to support our troops through the USO. Follow this link to the USO Wishbook, and take a look around, read, and please do what you can.

Our troops are doing everything they can possibly do—including giving their lives—every single day to help us have a safe Christmas. It's our turn to give a little something. It's the least we can do.

The USO's financials are online for you to review.

Everyman Theatre's Winter Concert Cast will Perform at George Washington Monument Lighting

 

Celebrate the season with a performance from the cast of On the Sunny Side of the Street at the Washington Monument Lighting this Thursday night at 6:30 PM!

About the Monument Lighting:

An Evening of Choir Performances, Strolling Entertainment, and More!
Mount Vernon Place celebrates the holiday season with the 40th annual lighting of the Washington Monument.

A Monumental Occasion takes place Thursday, December 1, 2011 with pre-event festivities hosted by MIX 106.5 at 5:30pm in Mount Vernon. The official ceremony begins at 7pm with the official lighting at approximately 7:45pm.

The evening includes musical performers by area choirs and refreshments for purchase by local vendors.  The event ends with a colorful fireworks and laser finale choreographed to music. 

Mount Vernon Place is located in the 600-700 block of North Charles Street.

A Monumental Occasion is coordinated by Downtown Partnership of Baltimore in conjunction with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts and the Department of Recreation and Parks.

For more information on A Monumental Occasion, call 1-877-BALTIMORE or visit http://www.godowntownbaltimore.com.

About Everyman's Winter Concert:

A Tribute to Dorothy Fields - Everyman’s winter concerts have become a staple of the holiday season in Baltimore.  Join Howard Breitbart and his dazzling lineup of top-notch singers in a concert you won’t want to miss. 

This year we celebrate the music of Dorothy Fields, the lyricist whose decades-long career included over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films.  Join us for this festive concert and celebrate the season with Everyman.

Some of Dorothy Fields’ most memorable hits include:

• The Way you Look Tonight
• On the Sunny Side of the Street
• I’m In The Mood For Love
• I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby
• Big Spender
• If My Friends Could See Me Now
• A Fine Romance

Visit the Everyman Theatre website for tickets.

Godly and Spiritual Songs at JHU's Peabody Institute December1st and 2nd, 2011

        Renaissance Ensemble Image courtesy, Peabody Institute

Mark Cudek will direct two performances by the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble of Godly and Spiritual Songs, a program of Christmas music from the British Isles, on Thursday, Dec. 1, and Friday, Dec. 2, in Peabody's Leith Symington Griswold Hall.

Thursday night's concert will begin at approximately 8:00 pm, following the 40th Annual Lighting of the Washington Monument, which will feature a short performance by a Peabody brass group—the Bonehedz Trombone Quartet—around 7:15. Friday night's Renaissance Ensemble concert will begin at 7:30 pm.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students with ID. To purchase tickets, call the Peabody Box Office at 410-234-4800.

For Monument Lighting details, visit godowntownbaltimore.com.

About the Early Music Program at the Peabody Institute:
The Peabody Conservatory of Music continues to expand its offerings in the historical performance of music before 1800. The Early Music Program provides instruction and performance opportunities in Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music.

Students play on period instruments and develop vocal techniques compatible with early performance practices. Our accomplished faculty brings a wealth of performing and teaching experience to developing artists.

Graduates of Peabody's Early Music Program have gone on to win prizes at international competitions, earn Fulbright and Beebe scholarships, and graduate from European conservatories with high honors. Peabody graduates have performed with Apollo's Fire, the Baltimore Consort, Hesperus, Les Arts Florissants, the New York Collegium, and the Waverly Consort. 

WBAL TV Identifies Black Friday Shoppers as 'Black Shoppers'

In an unfortunate lower-third episode, Baltimore's WBAL TV tags Black Friday Shoppers as...

                                      WBAL TV Screenshot

The story was first reported by MEDIAITE and was also covered by the UK's Daily Mail and TVSPY.

 

Truman Capote's holiday gift to a kid in Kansas: the film, 'A Christmas Memory'

I lived in Kansas in 1966 and our family often watched TV together. Most of what we saw on television we watched on KTVH TV, a CBS station, or on KARD TV, the local NBC affiliate.

Wichita's ABC affiliate, KAKE TV, didn't broadcast much in color at the time—and when it did, KAKE's broadcasts looked a tad bit pea green on our 5-year-old "RCA TV, AM/FM, Stereo Turntable, Console with Record Storage."

On evenings in autumn and winter, my mother would assemble TV Trays in the living room. (It was the season for new TV shows, after all, and TV Guide was the go-to magazine in our house.)

On Sunday nights my father would light a fire in the fireplace and we would chow down on roast chicken, pot roast, or meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy while we watched Bonanza. Those Sunday nights were special. Dessert was always pie. After we ate, my dad, would remind us, Sunday after Sunday, "The Cartwrights aren't the only family to have a fireplace."

He'd then turn off the gas jet and our fake logs would slowly go black.

One Wednesday evening in December of 1966 we abandoned our CBS and NBC loyalty to watch ABC Studio 67's inaugural broadcast of Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory.

For the first time, watching a television show, I thought that I might actually cry.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Truman Capote in Paris, 1947

For the broadcast, Truman Capote narrated the story that he wrote in the mid-1950s, the story that was first published in Mademoiselle magazine. 

The Studio 67 broadcast of A Christmas Memory is here in multiple parts. I hope you enjoy it and share it this holiday season. The film, starring Geraldine Page, is a treasure. {Note below the video links.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The closing words of A Christmas Memory continue to haunt me.

Buddy (Capote doing the voiceover):
But gradually in her letters, she tends to confuse me with her other friend, the Buddy who died in the 1880s; more and more thirteenths are not the only days she stays in bed: a morning arrives in November, a leafless birdless coming of winter morning, when she cannot rouse herself to exclaim: "Oh my, it's fruitcake weather!"

Truman Capote voicing "A Christmas Memory"

And when that happens, I know it. A message saying so merely confirms a piece of news some secret vein had already received, severing from me an irreplaceable part of myself, letting it loose like a kite on a broken string.

That is why, walking across a school campus on this particular December morning, I keep searching the sky. As if I expected to see, rather like hearts, a lost pair of kites hurrying towards heaven.

Paley Center - Miracle on 52nd Street: Holiday Highlights from Variety Specials

 

Friday, November 25, 2011
to Saturday, December 31, 2011
12:30 pm ET
New York and Los Angeles

The Paley Center celebrates the holiday season with musical highlights from various specials and weekly variety shows encompassing a sixty-year period, with some of the top stars in the business chiming in on seasonal favorites. Rare clips include The Annie Christmas Show, with the cast of the 1977 Broadway hit; Dolly … A Down Home Country Christmas, from Dolly Parton’s short-lived series; Dinah Shore singing a Christmas song written by Judy Holliday; a tribute to Macy’s by Bob Hope; Leslie Uggams on Holiday Sing Along with Mitch; a number with Robert Morse and the cast of the 1960s musical sitcom That’s Life; and Gene Kelly hoofing with the Carpenters.

FREE for Paley Center Members 
Included with general admission 

Become a Member!  Join us online 
or contact Membership at 212.621.6780.

Programs include:

• The Andy Williams Christmas Special (1967)
• The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait (1978)
• The Frank Sinatra Show: Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank (1957)

 

• Perry Como: Christmas in England (1985)
• The Judy Garland Show (1963)
• Ford Motor Company Startime: Christmas Startime (1959)
• That’s Life: “’Twas the Week Before Christmas” (1968)
• Vanessa Williams & Friends: Christmas in New York (1996)
• Dolly . . . A Down Home Country Christmas (1987)     
• Desilu Playhouse: The Desilu Revue (1959)
• The Annie Christmas Show (1977)             
• Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You (2010)
• A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)     

  

• The John Davidson Christmas Show (1977)
• The Comedy Hour Starring Bob Hope (1950)
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1959
• Holiday Sing Along with Mitch (1961)                 
• The Neil Diamond Christmas Special (1993)    
• Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park (1968)
• Bell System Family Theatre: Bing Crosby’s Christmas Show (1970)
• Julie Andrews … The Sound of Christmas (1987)

 

About the Paley Center for Media:

The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public.

Alison Luterman’s 'Glitter & Spew' - a World Premiere at the Strand Theatre Company

Fresh from a workshop production in the Strand Theater Company’s Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011 in June, California-based playwright Alison Luterman’s three short plays full of Glitter and Spew form a three-ring-circus meditation on media exposure, shame, and personal responsibility.

In A Night in Jail, a newly incarcerated starlet is shocked to discover that her guard can’t be bribed and that her visitor is a dead French monarch. The bitter wife of a disgraced politician goes rogue—much to the dismay of her adult children—during an awkward satellite interview in The Toilet Stall. When the titular Freak tries some incognito pre-natal shopping, she can’t avoid the advice of a fellow shopper or the judgment of the sperm donor who made it possible for her to become “Dodecamom.”

This world premiere engagement opens Friday, December 2nd, and runs through Saturday, December 17th; a Pay-What-You-Can final dress rehearsal is open to the public on Thursday, December 1st.

Founding Artistic Director Jayme Kilburn chose Glitter and Spew as an edgy alternative to traditional—and too-often saccharine—holiday programming. “Strand audiences really love the combination of the ridiculous with the outrageous, and this hour-long triptych of plays about people behaving badly offers a hilarious judgment of our pop culture obsessions,” Kilburn said.

She continued, "Folks who’ve had enough of Scrooge, Nutcrackers, and impish elves should find Glitter and Spew an oasis of snark in December."

Actors Elise Edwards, Ryan Nicotra, and Melissa O’Brien pull triple duty, appearing in all three plays.

About the Playwright:

Alison Luterman’s first full-length play, Saying Kaddish With My Sister, was produced by the Jewish Ensemble Theatre of Michigan in 2008. Several of her works have been produced in New York and San Francisco, including at the No Nude Men Theatre Company.

                               Playwright, Alison Luterman

Luterman has published two collections of poetry as well as several personal essays. Currently she works as a poet-in-the-schools, as a playwright-mentor with Each One Reach One (EORO.org), and with the program Poetry Out Loud. She also performs improvisational movement, music, and spoken word with Wing It! ensemble in Oakland, California.

About the Director:

Natalia Chavez Leimkuhler has worked on and backstage for over thirty-five years, at such venues as Maryland Arts Festival, Cockpit in Court, Dundalk Community Theater, and Fells Point Corner Theater. She most recently appeared on stage as Miss Geneva Musgrave in Christmas Belles for The Vagabond Players. Leimkuhler has appeared in two Strand productions, The Mai and One Flea Spare, and directed Glitter and Spew’s workshop performance during the 2011 Friends and Neighbors Festival.

Performance Schedule:

Wednesdays at 7pm: December 7th
Thursdays at 8pm: December 1st (pay-what-you-can final dress) and 15th
Fridays at 8pm: December 2nd (opening night with reception and talk-back), 9th, and 16th
Saturdays at 8pm: December 3rd, 10th, and 17th
Sundays at 3pm: December 11th

Ticket Prices:

Adult: $20, Senior: $15, Student: $10, Opening Night: $25

Other discounts may be available; like the Strand on Facebook or follow the Strand on Twitter to learn more.

About the Strand:

The Strand Theater Company is a community theater dedicated to providing opportunities for women artists, writers, designers, and directors. With a focus on producing works new to Baltimore, the Strand hopes to foster a love of theater for a new generation of patrons. Since launching in 2008, the Strand has presented 13 full-length plays, including five world premieres; offered 75% of the artistic positions on its productions—as playwrights, directors, designers, stage managers, and actors—to women; provided affordable theater space to many organizations and independent artists; and played an integral role in the revitalization of the Station North Arts & Entertainment District.

In August 2011, the Strand was honored as one of Baltimore magazine’s “Top 5 Baltimore Theaters,” along with CENTERSTAGE, Everyman, the Hippodrome, and Single Carrot. To learn more about the Strand Theater Company, visit strand-theater.org.

Watch the 2011 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in a Private Room with 19 Friends

Is this an off-topic post? Naw, Marching Bands and Street Singers are performing artists, too.

Here's the deal, and it's a pretty darn good one.

                         Photo courtesy CharityBuzz Auctions

From CharityBuzz:

Watch the 2011 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in a private party room for 19 of your best friends!

This absolutely stellar location is on the 6th floor of a NY building, overlooking both 6th avenue AND 34th street. Light breakfast, coffee, and orange juice will be served, including an option for heavier catering as well!

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit.

The three-hour event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. EST on Thanksgiving Day.

Visit CharityBuzz for terms and conditions.

The projected price for this auction is $5,000 for 20 people. Do the math, $250. per person is not a bad deal. And, don't forget that the package comes with a light breakfast. In New York a glass of orange juice can cost 5-bucks, 7.50 from room service.

Grab your friends and act early. Grab a Bolt Bus and make it a day-trip.

And, the auction sale supports Mercy College.

About Mercy:

Mercy College is dedicated to making a high-quality education attainable offering more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs within its five schools: Business, Education, Health and Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The New York metropolitan area college of nearly 10,000 students has five campus locations including: Dobbs Ferry, Bronx, Manhattan, White Plains, and Yorktown Heights and offers more than 25 degree programs online.

Baltimore 21201. The Blog, The Swan Song

That's it for this blog. To quote my favorite broadcast journalist, Edward R Murrow, "Good night and good luck.

To my friends, Keep On Truckin'.

"Fusilli, you crazy bastard! How are you?"

There's a big clearance sale going on at The New Yorker Store! Up to 50% Off.

                     Fusilli Tee Shirt, New Yorker Store

Just so you know: The New Yorker Store isn't a client of mine, but I'm certainly a client of theirs.

I'm thinking that I can take care of quite a few holiday gifts for my friends -- of the literary sort -- with this sale. Tee shirts, Books, even New Yorker Watches, and DVD's are deeply discounted.

I may even grab a Eustace Watch for myself because every day is a whole lot brighter with a little bit of whimsy.

                        New Yorker Store, Eustace Watch

Here's the product description from the New Yorker:

In an age when the iPhone is quickly becoming the dominant mobile timepiece, buck the trend by sporting a classic piece of New Yorker imagery on your wrist.

As The New Yorker’s first art editor, Rea Irvin (1881-1972) created a witty, urbane, and culturally aware style that continues to define the publication to this day, and illustrated 169 covers for the magazine besides. Featured on the face of this watch is Eustace Tilley, the smartly attired dandy created by Irvin for the cover of the very first New Yorker issue (February 21, 1925) and reappearing on the anniversary issue every year since. The watchband is of colorful vinyl, printed with miniature covers from the magazine’s history.

Happy shopping!

BTW, as a copywriter the Complete New Yorker on hard drive is one of my most valuable resources. It contains every single page of every single New Yorker Magazine ever published and it gives me access to over 80-years of advertising history. It's completely indexed and searchable. It's a treasure.

A Christmas Gift from the Kennedy Center

It's the All-Star Christmas Day Jazz Jam from the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

You can enjoy -- and you will enjoy -- this festive Millennium Stage tradition courtesy of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Now in its 12th year, this free program, with host and vibraphonist Chuck Redd, pianist Robert Redd, drummer Lenny Robinson, trumpeter Tom Williams, bassist James King, and vocalist Delores Williams will be available online.

Photo courtesy of the Kennedy Center: Delores Williams

Not are the tickets to the actual performance free, the concert is available online. So, Baltimore people, if you get a bit over-dosed on the traditional Christmas standards, check out the show.

Photo courtesy of the Kennedy Center: Chuck Redd

If you like jazz as much as I do you'll be pleased to know that previous years' All-Star Christmas Day Jazz Jams are online for your pleasure at anytime, and at no charge.

Merry Christmas, all. Enjoy. These presentations are just the best. 

Christmas Gifts That Will Make a Difference in Baltimore - Part 5

Regardless of the city you live in, there are two constants that will make your city better: increased parental interaction with their children, family education, and shared family entertainment. In Baltimore we are fortunate to have several extraordinary venues that offer just that. One of my favorites is the Maryland Science Center. I've written about MSC several times right here.

Since its opening in 1976, the MSC has been an educational and entertaining cornerstone of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. With its IMAX Theatre and ever-evolving exhibits, the MSC is a favorite of Baltimore residents and visitors from all over the world. MSC was named one of the Top 10 Science Centers for Families by Parent's Magazine.

The Maryland Science Center traces its roots back to 1797 and the Maryland Academy of Sciences. The Maryland Academy of Sciences is Maryland's oldest scientific institution and one of the oldest such institutions in the United States.

The MSC's Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory and the Davis Planetarium are Baltimore treasures. Stargazing Fridays and Sungazing Saturdays are outstanding events. A up-close and personal view of the stars and planets through their historic -- and now computer controlled -- Alvan Clark & Sons 8" refracting telescope creates oohs and ahs from visitors of all ages.

A day or two ago I wrote about the total lunar eclipse that will be visible in Baltimore on December 21, 2010. Here's an invitation from MSC for that special night:

Families, Members, Adults -
Join us for a viewing of the Total Lunar Eclipse
Tuesday, December 21: 1:30am-5:00am,
Weather Permitting
Come to our roof-top Observatory to view this year's only total Lunar Eclipse. Our Observatory staff will be here beginning at 1:30am with telescopes ready to view this night sky event. Phone 410-545-2999 after 9:00pm on December 20 to verify if the Observatory will be open as this event is weather permitting.

Make a family's 2011 a full year of wonder and learning. The Gift of Science via the Maryland Science Center is an extraordinary and affordable gift that will promote the work of MSC and entertain and educate an entire family for a year.

Another gift option is Camp MSC - Sensational Summer Science! For those very special children in your life, choose from week-long full day and half day summer camp programs.

There's another gift that will help families, Baltimore, the Maryland Science Center, and you. It's simpler, easier, and won't cost you a dime. Give the gift of a few hours of your time. Volunteer at MSC.

MSC:
Volunteers help in every area of the Maryland Science Center whether it's on the floor or behind the scenes. In exchange, we offer an opportunity to be a part of one of Maryland's premier destinations for children and families, as well as adults interested in the sciences. You'll quickly learn that every day is completely different when you volunteer at the Maryland Science Center.

Maryland Science Center
601 Light Street
Inner Harbor
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
410-685-5225

The Ultimate Guide to Yule Log Videos

A wonderful, local tradition began in 1966 with a Yule Log film that was broadcast at Christmastime by New York City television station WPIX, Channel 11.

WPIX TV, Yule Log Print Ad

WPIX President, Fred M. Thrower created the film as a gift to NYC residents. Few had fireplaces. And of the few that did, even fewer had functional fireplaces.  The original WPIX Yule Log was filmed at Gracie Mansion, home—at the time—to NYC's 103rd Mayor, John V. Lindsey.

The station's 16mm film crew removed the protective fireplace grate to get a clear shot of the logs and a spark jumped out of the fire. It burned a hole in a $4,000 rug. (That's $27,000 in todays' money.) The original print of the film, as broadcast, was a 17 second loop and was not visually stable. It looked terribly wobbly about four times per minute. (Still, it was a wonder and loved by all then and it has fans today.) The original Yule Log film was first broadcast on WPIX December 24th, 1966 at 9:30PM.

By 1970 the original 16mm print was becoming worn and WPIX decided to re-shoot their Yule Log presentation in 35mm to match their newer broadcast capabilities. The folks at Gracie Mansion were less than enthusiastic when the station asked to return with a film crew. The new 35mm version (Yule Log 2.0?) was filmed on a hot August day at a private home in California.

From the new 35mm footage, the WPIX crew developed a seamless 6 minute loop and created—what was at the time—the perfect never-ending holiday fire.

NYC fell in love with the crackling fire that, some years, was broadcast without commercial interruption for 4 1/2 hours at a time. The crackling fire was backed with music picked from the easy listening library of WPIX FM and featured artists like Nat King Cole, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, Mantovani, and the Ray Conniff Singers. The broadcast began and ended with Percy Faith's Joy to the World from his album, Music of Christmas.

1970 held two firsts for me: Watching the WPIX Yule Log and watching it from my first NYC apartment at 304 W. 75th Street, in 1970. The video looked spectacular on my brand new Magnavox TV from Macy's Herald Square. That year, I had a little Christmas open house—I couldn't afford cash tips—for the elevator operators, doormen, custodians, delivery guys, and the building super. I scheduled my open house for them so the Yule Log would be playing when they came up for a couple of adult drinks and a bite of turkey and dressing.

In 2006, to commemorate the Yule Log program's 40th anniversary, WPIX produced a one-hour television special about its history entitled "A Log's Life." (The title is a play on an early Jackie Gleason Honeymooners episode titled "A Dog's Life." The Honeymooner's film was in the same archive box as the Yule Log footage.) Here's a preview of that special featuring Fred M. Thrower's son, Mitch...

  

Today there are some pretty wonderful Yule Log and fireplace videos on YouTube but none are quite as quaint, charming, and kitschy as the original. The original Yule Log films take me back to an era of shiny-silver-foil Christmas Trees, color wheels, bubble lights, and giant Santas and Sleighs painted on plywood and planted in snowy front lawns across the mid-west. It was all an illusion and I enjoyed it.

This Christmas Season in Baltimore you can watch a variety of Yule Log videos on Comcast if you have On Demand. (Go to On Demand, to Top Picks and look for Yule Log.)

The Comcast 3D Yule Log Cam

They have Yule Log HD, Yule Log 3D, Psychedelic Yule Log, and some of the more traditional ones. Last week we had a party and I had the HD version looping on the big screen in my office. It was a universal memory maker and great conversation starter.

And, on Amazon.Com Yule logs come in nearly 80 different flavors. I've cataloged them all for you, from Yule Log Christmas in Blu-Ray to the Elvis Christmas Yule Log. If it available it's right here: Yule Log Videos for 21201 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

By the way, I'll be adding additional Yule Log video links shortly. Check back. And if you know of any that should be on the list, send them my direction. And tell your friends...

You must know someone that would be thrilled to find John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas Yule Log DVD in their Christmas Stocking. It's here: Rocky Mountain Christmas (The Yule Log DVD)

The WPIX Yule Log even has it's own listing on IMDB.

 
          Clever Parody from Almost Entertainment

 
                    The WPIX open from 1986 

Christmas Gifts That Will Make a Difference in Baltimore - Part 4

Can you imagine a Holiday in Baltimore without oysters on the table? I certainly can't.

Fact is, I can't imagine any special meal without oysters of one kind or another. I could eat oysters on the half shell every day of the year, I enjoy them just that much. I've written about them many times on this blog. Here's one of my favorite posts.

I love oysters on the half-shell, oyster stew, oysters Rockefeller, oyster fritters,  but an absolute favorite oyster prep of mine is John Shields' single-fry oysters at Gertrude's. Shields' single-fry beauties make me moan with satisfaction. (Once, I actually moaned out-loud in the restaurant. Jacob pointed at me and laughed. Out-loud.)

This Holiday Season I suggest, while you enjoy your oysters, you make a gift that well help them thrive.

Can you think of a more far-reaching holiday gift to Baltimore, the mid-Atlantic, and the world than helping to plant and repopulate the Chesapeake Bay's oyster population?

I've been a huge fan of the Oyster Recovery Partnership for years. 

Here's a little video to help start you thinking about their good work and how you can help.

Just a few dollars will raise and plant a thousand oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. Please consider leaving your personal legacy on our bay and make a donation to the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

The ORP has a small staff doing large-scale work. They are proud that more than 90 percent of all donations go directly into restoring a healthy population of the native oyster to the Chesapeake Bay.

And, if you can't make a cash donation this year consider volunteering. ORP has some pretty special opportunities. You can work hands-on helping repopulate the bay, you can work in their office, or you can offer your services pro-bono.

A gift to the Oyster Recovery Partnership is a gift that will grow year-after-year.

Oyster Recovery Partnership
1805A Virginia Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-990-4970