RIP Jim Nabors

Actor and singer Jim Nabors passed away, he was 87.

This time of year has always made me think of Jim Nabors.  Yes, my very early years were filled with memories of Gomer Pyle, either on Andy Griffith or his own show, a highlight of those shows for me and my family was those occasions when Jim Nabors would sing, and sometimes in the Christmas holiday season he would sing on various variety shows and specials as well.

One particular Christmas season I remember helping my big brother put up the outside Christmas lights and decorations after he had bought our Mom Jim Nabors’ Christmas album.  I can still remember his version of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” as we put up the lights.  It’s a good memory, and one I miss very much here in Florida where we barely get a chill in December. 

I have later memories of Jim Nabors, like his slapstick robot role with Ruth Buzzi on Sid and Marty Krofft’s “The Lost Saucer” and his coming out and finally marriage to his lover of many years.  Jim Nabors will be missed. 

George Michael 1963-2016

Wow, 2016, you suck. George Michael, the singer-songwriter-producer born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, has passed away peacefully on Christmas Day.

Wham!, or Wham! UK as they were known when I discovered them, was one of my favorite groups, their blue-eyed soul blended with white boy rap was something I hadn't seen before and I dug it. I remember the duo, Michael combined with Andrew Ridgeley, and at the time, Pepsi and Shirlie, as their back-up singers and dancers, were one of my favorite acts. Long before the hit with "Bad Boys" and the megahit album Make It Big, I was a fan.

When George started to become the dominant solo act of the duo, and then went officially solo, I was still there. Songs like "Faith," "I Want Your Sex," and one of my personal favorite songs (and videos) of all time, "Freedom! '90" continued to hurl his star higher. Even sex scandals couldn't keep the man down. His "Last Christmas" is a favorite every holiday season, this one being no exception.

George Michael will be missed, a loss to many, and another victim of an unforgiving year. Love you, man.

A Christmas Carol 1910

A Christmas Carol ~ This 1910 version of Charles Dickens' classic holiday story is part of the Thomas Edison collection. When Edison was pioneering the motion picture industry at the start of the 20th century, he made dozens of amateur films, among them the first versions of Frankenstein, and this, A Christmas Carol.

Scrooge is portrayed by Marc McDermott, a stage actor from Australia who was a featured player of Edison's. Even without sound, his Scrooge is very George C. Scott-like, and comes across well despite the audio handicap. The short features some of the first use of double exposure filming to create a 'ghost' as a motion picture special effect. As it's only ten minutes long, and in the public domain, you can see the whole thing below:



Merry Christmas!

Lost Hits of the New Wave #42

"2000 Miles" by The Pretenders

Back in the day, before A Very Special Christmas came out, followed by several sequel albums, there were virtually no holiday songs in the New Wave, maybe only a handful, including "Christmas Wrapping," "Do They Know It's Christmas," and this one.

Originally released for Christmas 1983 around the release of the Pretenders third album, the first with their new line-up after the deaths of band members Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott. As the years have gone by, it has become a new wave classic of the season.

Here's the music video that was made a few years after the song first came out.

RIP Patrick Macnee

We've lost another one of the legends of genre, one of the masterful actors of our time. Today, at the age of 93, we have lost Patrick Macnee.

Most of the time when folks read or hear me talking about the Avengers, it's the Marvel superhero comic, but Patrick Macnee was part of another Avengers team, the cool Avengers. In the 1960s spy series "The Avengers," Patrick Macnee played the quite dangerous gentleman in the bowler hat and the quick dry wit, and the always sexy female companion. Whether it was Honor Blackman, Julie Stevens, Linda Thorson, Joanna Lumley, or the dazzling mod minx Diana Rigg who accompanied him, John Steed was the epitome of quirky cool. "The Avengers" was smart fun television, the likes of which has rarely been seen since.

The series was by far his only claim to fame however. Macnee was an actor for decades, one of his first roles was in the Alistair Sim (the best) version of A Christmas Carol as young Marley. He's been in James Bond projects, played Sherlock Holmes, been in dozens of TV shows, and most memorably he was the demonic savior Count Iblis in the original "Battlestar Galactica." Macnee was also in This Is Spinal Tap, and he was even an invisible agent in the much-maligned theatrical version of The Avengers.

Macnee was a star of stage and screen, both silver and small, even appearing in music videos by the Pretenders and Oasis. We've lost a legend, and he will be missed.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #36

"Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid

The original "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was written by Bob Geldolf of the Boomtown Rats and the criminally underacknowledged Midge Ure of Ultravox in 1984 to bring awareness to the famine in Ethiopia. Later overshadowed by that summer's American "We Are the World," I still think the original is the better song, and with the better stars.

Geldolf brought together a supergroup he called Band Aid to sing the song, which included Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, The Boomtown Rats, Sting, U2, Bananarama, Kool and the Gang (a seeming oddity, there only because they shared a record label with the Rats), Ultravox, Status

Quo, Marilyn, Heaven 17, Paul Young, George Michael, Paul Weller, Jody Watley, and Phil Collins. Artists who could not be a part of the recording like Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson, Big Country, and David Bowie were included giving holiday messages on the B-side of the single, called "Feed the World," a cool groove all by itself.

I worked in a record store at the time of the release, and its re-release in 1985 and remember the flurry to get a copy. This was huge. I also remember the crowds at the mall's Heroes World that Christmas, because they had a poster of Band Aid out front with a number chart to show who was who - and everyone wanted to know who was who.



The song was re-recorded in 1989, 2004, and this year as well. Here's the new version for 2014 by Band Aid 30:

On The Interview

I wasn't going to pipe in on this one. I figured it was old news by the time I had the time to get to my blog, and no one would care any more, but this story has seemed to linger. That, and many friends, both online and in real life, have wanted me to say something, so here you go. Yeah, I'm talking about The Interview.

The Interview is not a film I would have paid to see. I might have caught it when it got to my pay cable channels, but not otherwise. As I've said here before, I'm not a big fan of stoner movies, and James Franco and Seth Rogan, the stars of the film, left a really bad taste in my mouth the last time they got together - so this one was definitely not on my watch list.

What bothers me the most about the situation is that now everyone wants to see this movie, and not for the right reasons. If it ever gets released, it will make a mint. The other major thing that gets in my crawl is that Sony backed down, they pulled the film, and in short - the terrorists won. I hate that.

What if this was an important film (yes, there are important films) rather than some silly stoner comedy, would Sony have knuckled under as well? Is our entertainment now at the mercy of foreign powers or terror groups? Rant over. It's Christmas, I'm going to try to be happy now.

Poor Devil

Poor Devil ~ This failed TV pilot/made for TV movie is one I have been trying to locate for a while. I saw it a couple times as a kid and then never again, until recently I discovered it on YouTube. From 1973, Poor Devil stars Sammy Davis Jr. as a devil named Sammy. Sentenced to the furnace room of Hell, he's just trying to catch a break and get promoted, you know, up to a good devil position like buying souls.

In this case, the client is Jack Klugman, in his "Odd Couple" prime, trying to get revenge on his boss. He plays a similarly never promoted junior accountant who's just been overlooked after spending twenty-five years working at a department store in San Francisco. Frustrated, he finally says he'd sell his soul to get even with his superior. Along comes Sammy.

Klugman is always good, even as the nebbishy wimp he plays here. Sammy fills his scenes with class and enthusiasm, and sharp duds. This is the early seventies after all and everyone is dressed to the nines, especially in Hell, which is run like a corporate office (all in Satanic reds) that would make Don Draper proud. Christopher Lee rounds out the cast as the mod young Lucifer. The real standout of this flick however is Adam West as Klugman's slimy boss. This anti-Batman role was probably the template for Gary Cole's Bill Lumbergh from Office Space. Yeah, he's that big of a jerk.

Klugman's plan for revenge is to empty the department store the night before the biggest shopping day of the year - December 23rd. Yeah, this is also one of those Christmas movies that happens at Christmas but it's not really a Christmas movie. Yeah, I know, a Christmas movie with devils. I can definitely understand why NBC didn't pick it up as a series.

While it's hopelessly dated, but in a good way, and unfortunately slow in some places... I found that it still holds up. It was simple, but I enjoyed the flick. Catch it on YouTube if you get a chance.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #32

"Rock Me Tonite" by Billy Squier

Here we have another example of a rocker trying to climb on board the New Wave sound and ride it to a top charting hit. Billy Squier was always a hard rocker, probably best known for his hit "The Stroke" with its unique use of certain synth drumbeats. In his day, he was a rock god, notably opening for both Queen and Pat Benatar for two of the greatest concerts of my high school days.

I first got into him with his early AOR hit "The Big Beat" (you might not know it, but trust me, if you're a hip hop fan, you've heard it sampled hundreds of times), and rode along happily when "The Stroke" carried through to two hit albums with a string of hits from each. He was even one of those artists savvy enough to record a holiday song so he'd get played at least once a year. Then came "Rock Me Tonite," and it was all over.

Previously Billy had done only performance videos, him and the band on stage rocking out, now he decided to make a more traditional -or as luck would have it- a more bizarre video, to go along with his more pop new wave sound. The video featured Billy dancing and prancing in a pink Flashdance shirt and sliding through silk sheets. His dance, his affectations, and his gestures could at best be described as 'flamboyant.'

Here, take a peek…

Yeah. You get the idea. And that was the end of Billy Squier's rock career. Surprisingly, the song was his biggest charting hit, but the video, directed by Kenny Ortega, the mastermind behind Disney's High School Musical, succeeded in crashing Squier's career and causing many to question his sexuality.

Billy Squier continues to record and to perform today, including a stint with Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band. He does a lot of blues, jazz, and charity work, and on occasion, he does still rock. Just don't rock him tonite…

Arrow S01 E09: "Three Ghosts"

This is it, the mid-season finale episode of "Arrow," and with a title like "Three Ghosts" so close to Christmas, it would seem that someone's life is going to change drastically. The pre-episode hype verifies that this one is definitely a game changer, and further speculation indicates that not everyone makes it through alive.

We begin moments after the end of our last episode as Central City CSI intern Barry Allen has been recruited by the Arrow team to save Oliver from an unknown drug he was injected with after getting his ass handed to him by the not-yet-Solomon-Grundy Cyrus Gold. Barry gets right to work. Rat poison sure has some interesting uses, doesn't it? Oliver is none too happy Barry knows his secret when he wakes up.

As anticipated, it's Christmas in the Queen mansion, but no party after Moira's disastrous 'coming out' event recently. Instead we have Roy, Thea, and Sin playing Scooby Gang (let's call them the Speedy Gang), and Oliver hallucinating Shado in the present. Well, there's one ghost perhaps. I have to wonder if Oliver actually woke up, or he's dreaming this while under the effects of the mystery drug.

Shado warns Oliver to put down the bow, take off her father's hood, and stop fighting - or everyone he loves will die. Even though Thea questions Oliver on who he's talking to, indicating there was no one there, we jump back to flashback island. Apparently, after obtaining the super-soldier serum, Ivo gave Oliver a choice - he could kill Shado or Sara or both. I think we know who he chose. Or do we? Ultimately he doesn't choose, and Shado dies at Ivo's hand.

This is just another example of what "Arrow" does best, the unexpected. One epic fail of "Smallville" is that while you had Easter eggs, you also knew essentially how the chips would fall. Here you don't. Does this mean Shado won't come back? No, not necessarily. Does it mean we'll never see Connor Hawke (in the comics, the grown son of Oliver and Shado, and the second Green Arrow)? Not necessarily either. Hell, we have both Speedies, yet haven't seen Speedy yet.

Speaking of the Speedy Gang, while watching, I finally remembered where I know Sin from. She's Bex Taylor-Klaus, the best thing about the last season of "The Killing," and pretty much the only reason to have watched. I like her, and hope we see a lot more of her.

In this episode there is a lot of naming names. For the first time on screen we hear that Oliver prefers the codename Arrow over The Hood or 'the vigilante.' Cyrus Gold's name as well as Solomon Grundy's are also checked. And even fanboy Barry gets to roll off a litany of Arrow's rogues gallery. Barry also indirectly references the potential Iris West by saying he has experience with someone who doesn't see him as he really is.

Brother Blood sics Cyrus Gold on the Starling City police. It's a trap set up by Blood and his plant in the department. In the middle of the episode as I watch Gold beating on Lance, I wonder if this might be the death rumored. As much as I would miss Paul Blackthorne, it would give Laurel a bit more angst, and almost seem fitting - after all, it would be a doomed Earth-Two character taken out by a major Earth-Two villain (Larry Lance and Solomon Grundy).

Oliver's second ghost is Slade Wilson, who shows up in the Arrowcave where the two fight, smashing everything except miraculously the blood test Barry is running. The results? Oliver is clean. If he's hallucinating, it's in his head, not in his blood. Hmmm... we did always know he was a sociopath, maybe Oliver is a psychopath too.

The Christmas theme seemed a bit forced at times, almost shoehorned in to coincide with the time the episode would air, and the three ghost vibe. I was pulled out of the story when Barry asks Felicity her plans for Christmas and she answers "Lighting my menorah." Any other year this would have been fine, and might give the episode a timeless quality in rerun syndication, but this year Hanukkah came at Thanksgiving. Tiny nit, and maybe time moves differently in the "Arrow" universe, but it knocked me off kilter.

Oliver's third ghost is Tommy, telling him he's not going to die, that he's going to fight. He's telling him what he's going to do. The tumblers click into place. If Tommy is the ghost of the future, and Shado perhaps represents sins of the past, does that put Slade in the present? Does that mean Deathstroke is alive in the present?

Tommy's appearance occurs after Roy is kidnapped and injected with serum by Brother Blood. When Arrow arrives there's a rematch with Gold, in which the villain gets doused with chemicals in derivative Two-Face style. Props to the "Arrow" folks for being unpredictable, but come on, I think we all wanted to see him thrown in a swamp not turned into yet another Batman reference.

The end of the episode is one of beginnings. It seems I was right on target (sorry, Arrow pun) with Slade Wilson. He's alive, and looking much more like his comics counterpart. And he's running Brother Blood. Looks like these Teen Titans villains stick together. And Barry left Oliver a present, finally a mask.

And Barry? He went home to Central City just in time (so unlike him) to see the particle accelerator blow up. Seconds afterward he's struck by lightning in his lab with a plethora of chemicals splashing on him. Sound familiar? Yeah, we've just seen the origin of the Flash. And was that Linda Park on the TV reporting the particle accelerator story?

There's no solid date for when the Flash pilot airs or when the series begins as of yet. They are apparently still casting for Iris West and someone referred to as Detective West, so it's a ways off. "Arrow" however returns on January 15th. See you in the New Year.

An Adventure in Space and Time

An Adventure in Space and Time ~ Written by one of the current stable of writers for "Doctor Who" (which I cover for Biff Bam Pop!), Mark Gatiss, this is a docudrama about the creation of that series back in the early 1960s. These types of shows are done all the time, but what better time to do this one than during The Doctor's fiftieth anniversary, right?

Not just a novelty piece for the Who fans, this is also a British "Mad Men" nostalgia time capsule piece, full of semi-harmless cigarette smoking, sexism, and racism. Ironically, this is like the lighthearted good sister to "The Hour," a recent show about the same era, which coincidentally starred Peter Capaldi, the next Doctor Who come Christmas.

The cast is just full of fun and great characters. I loved Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert, Brian Cox as Sydney Newman, and David Bradley (Filch from Harry Potter) as the First Doctor William Hartnell. And Sacha Dhawan, who I loved as Manmeet in the short lived American "Outsourced," is great as first director Warris Hussein. All terrific actors bringing this fun production, and nostalgic reproduction, to life.

The movie is also a bittersweet journal of the early years of the TV series, through Dalekmania and William Hartnell's deterioration. You'll laugh and you'll cry. I think I liked this timely tale almost as much as I liked the 50th anniversary special itself. Great fun.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #30

Donnie Iris may be a name solidly from the past, but it's one that is back in the news recently.

Dominic Ierace, better known by his stage name of Donnie Iris climbed to fame as a member of The Jaggerz and the writer of "The Rapper." That was in 1970.

Later he floated into Wild Cherry, that 1970s band known for playing that funky music, white boy.

After that he became a solo act, sometimes backed up by The Cruisers and produced vintage FM classics in the early 1980s like "Ah! Leah!" and "Love Is Like a Rock."





As the decade continued, Iris continued to try to compete with low charting singles like "Tough World," "The High and the Mighty," and "Do You Compute?" He even released a pseudo-rock Christmas album called Ah! Leluiah! but he would never again see the success he had with the rock new wave crossover hit "Love Is Like a Rock." Now, he is suing Sony for royalties owed when "The Rapper" was sampled by The Game for their 2008 song, "Letter to the King." Iris still tours the Pittsburgh and Ohio region with The Cruisers.

A Christmas Story 2

A Christmas Story 2 ~ This review should have been timely to the season, but Netflix never delivered the disc until we reported it undelivered. Not their fault, and I'm really not complaining. They've given our household superior service for at least a decade. One would just think with their delivery technique becoming obsolete, their technology outdated, and their selection diminished - they might just try a but harder is all.

On to the movie, and the review. I was very wary of this flick when I first heard about it. I am a huge fan of Jean Shepherd, both his numerous TV series and movies, and his books and stories. The original A Christmas Story was brilliant, as was its underrated and largely forgotten first sequel My Summer Story, also known as It Runs in the Family. From all indications, only the characters are the same in A Christmas Story 2, and it does not include any of Shepherd's work, or charm.

From the opening of the film, I was ill. The narration, the voice of the adult Ralphie, formerly that of the late Jean Shepherd, was now taken by screenwriter Nat Mauldin, doing a shamefully bad and consistently out of breath Shepherd imitation. So bad is this almost never-ending narration that it completely distracts from, rather than holding together the film. I found myself wanting to tell him to take a break, catch his breath, we would wait. Yeah, it's that bad. And the narration sets the tone, as everyone is doing a cheap imitation of the original movie.

The story is set six years after the first A Christmas Story, and has much the same plot. Ralphie wants a car instead of a BB gun. The catch is he wrecks the car and has to pay for it before his old man finds out about it. The acting is painful, and the actors should be ashamed for raping the corpse of Jean Shepherd. On the good side, the film does present a reasonably good facsimile of 1940s middle America. I guess that's where the money went.

Steer as far from this shameful rip-off as possible. You will get a million times more enjoyment watching the original for the hundredth time than you will trying to watch this crap just once. Seek out the real Jean Shepherd in print, audio, and video - and forget this garbage.

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast for the Week of 12-19-12

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast features co-hosts Ed (Hank Hall Smash) Evans, Allison (Dr. Mrs. The Monarch) Eckel, and Glenn (What Is Wrong with My Hair??) Walker, as they discuss the new comics out this week! You can see the show here, or check it out below.

Discussion featured in this week's Special Ninja Please Transition Hell episode includes: The Last Minute Midnight Madness Sale and Holiday Celebration, the Wheel of Fish, Hank Hall smash, Masks #2, pulp comics, Mars Attacks #6, Bionic Woman #6, Star Treks, MacGyver #3, Bad Transition Theater, Freelancers #2, Fables #124, The Bat Cave, Sword of Sorcery #3, Wonder Woman #15, Green Lantern #15, Blue Beetle #15, Avengery goodness, X-Men action, Hawkeye #6, Spider-Man Spoiler Warning, Indestructible Hulk #2, Captain Marvel #8, Allison's kids comics, secret gift for The Bride, and Ed's trades and toys.

Be sure to check out the rockin' All Things Fun! website, and the All Things Fun! Blogs, written by Allison and Glenn, featuring The Vidcast Drinking Game so you can play along at home, and watch ATF! on YouTube (don't forget to subscribe to the channel while you're there, and leave a comment or two on the Vidcast as well!).

And be back here every Wednesday (or Tuesdays at midnight) to watch the new broadcast, and thereafter throughout the week!

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast is shot live every week at All Things Fun! - the South Jersey/Philadelphia area's best comics, toys and gaming store, located in West Berlin, NJ. Don't forget to visit us at Facebook!

The Tacky 80s Kitschmas Showdown

The Dumpsta Players are back! Tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 19th, at Bob and Barbara's Lounge in Philly!

Pia Zahora Vs. Debbie Getsome! Frosty Jacks Vs. Hot Tamale! Amanda Playwithe gets sleazy! Plus The 2012 Dumpsta Awards and Highlights Show!

Bob and Barbara's Lounge, 1509 South Street, Philadelphia, PA

Doors open at 10:00 PM, Showtime is 11:00 PM Sharp!

Up from the depths of the bedraggled decade of The 80s come dagloo ditties of the Holiday Season! Lost between pastels and swatches of gaudy glare, Pia Zahora throws down her exhaustive almost hits! Yoko Ono wipes out while walking on thin ice and Aldo Nova rocks the Kitschmas metal! Debbie Getsome takes us on a slipshod Sleigh Ride, and Amanda Playwithe shoots us with her sexxxy mess! But what happens when chintzy non-chums Frosty Jacks and Hot Tamale make a play for Pia? And what advice does Father Queeno Santucci have for the Hypercolor dressed set?

Crank up your boombox, cut your hair into a mullet but don't miss the tawdry conclusion of… "TACKY 80S KITSCHMAS SHOWDOWN"!

A portion of the proceeds from the performance of "Tacky 80s Kitschmas Showdown" will go to MANNA.

Check out the Dumpsta Players on Facebook, YouTube, and on their own website.

RIP Andy Williams

We lost singer Andy Williams last week. Besides his masterful vocals, he was also a songwriter, actor, producer and hosted his own variety show on TV throughout the 1960s, which notably introduced the Osmonds to the world.

In recent years Williams had settled in Branson, MO with his own theatre there, named after one of his biggest hits, "Moon River." Among many others, he was also known for "Born Free," "Where Do I Begin" and we'll think of him every holiday season with his classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." He will be missed.

Jacqui Naylor - Lucky Girl

Lucky Girl ~ Sometimes the cosmos drops opportunities and coincidences in your lap. This is one of those times. Just a few days after discovering the work of Jacqui Naylor on my own, the producers of a documentary about the San Francisco-based jazz singer/songwriter approached me about reviewing that new film. I jumped at the chance.

Lucky Girl, subtitled A Portrait of Jacqui Naylor, follows "Naylor and her band for two years on the road and in the studio while they prepared new music for her eighth album, also titled Lucky Girl. The documentary chronicles Naylor on tour to several jazz clubs including Seattle’s Jazz Alley, San Francisco’s Rrazz Room, and the Istanbul Jazz Center in Turkey. Replete with performances, songwriting sessions, and behind- the-scene moments, the film transports the viewer through a series of musical montages and local flavors. Interviews with long-time band members and others close to Naylor give an intimate look at the life of this respected jazz artist who is also a practicing Buddhist and long-time San Francisco resident." That's the official press release talking there, and it pretty much tells the tale, but now it's my turn.

As I said, I came across Ms. Naylor on my own, before I ever heard of Lucky Girl. My musical tastes are very eclectic. I'm crazy all over the board, from eighties metal to seventies story songs to old school rap to funk to new wave to punk to soundtracks to nerdcore - I love it all, but what I really love most are covers. I am a sucker for a good cover tune. That's how I found Jacqui Naylor, through her covers. She does wonderful jazzy covers of, among others, the Stones, Talking Heads, the Kinks and even Rod Stewart. I absolutely love her mash up of "My Funny Valentine" with AC/DC's "Back in Black" behind it. And then there's her version of REM's "Losing My Religion."



Killer, isn't it? That's why I immediately agreed to review the documentary. I already knew Jacqui Naylor was something special. And almost like a gateway drug, the doc opens with the song in all its quiet thunder. Welcome to her world.

In Lucky Girl, we have the usual musical origin stories here, the how it happeneds, and the behind the scenes workings of artistic collaboration - all presented as an experience rather than just a documentary. But there is also Jacqui putting her own spin on things as well. She does what she calls 'acoustic smashing,' the technique referenced above with "My Funny Valentine" that has become her trademark. She feels if she has to do the jazz standards, she should make them her own. I love it. The effect is especially fierce on Jacqui's Christmas album, Smashed for the Holidays.

The doc is unlike most music documentaries. I mean, the structure is the same. There are interviews interspersed with the music and performances, but there seems to be a more heartfelt and almost celebratory atmosphere. The musicians and crew Jacqui works with are her family. Her husband Art Khu is also a musician and collaborator and 'real' family. There is much love here. We see Jacqui in her home, in the studio, on the road, and there is always love and passion.

This really is a must see documentary. If you don't know Jacqui Naylor, you will. If you don't like jazz, you will. It will sneak by and hug you lovingly. I guarantee you'll end up doing what I did as I watched Lucky Girl - hitting pause, and going to iTunes to purchase the great music you're hearing. This is sooo recommended. The DVD drops on Tuesday, and if you get the chance, go see her on tour.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #8

"Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses



Yeah, I'm being seasonal, so what? It's Christmas, deal with it.

When folks think of The Waitresses, they think of three things - "I Know What Boys Like," the TV series "Square Pegs," and this song, and for many, it's just not Christmas until they hear this song on the radio. Yeah, it's that special.

For me, it has an extra special meaning. "Christmas Wrapping," a now-classic tune about a couple who keep missing each other throughout the year and finally get together for Christmas, reminds me of The Bride. We were very good friends for five years before ever going out, and that's not to say we didn't try. There were so many times we tried to get together and move the relationship forward and didn't - but we eventually did - sorta like the song.

Merry Christmas, everyone, hope you get what you want for Christmas. I did - The Bride.

The Last Minute Midnight Madness Sale!

Join us Friday, December 23rd that's tonight from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM as the gang at All Things Fun! hosts our Annual Last Minute Madness Sale & Signing Event. We’ll have huge savings on those last minute gifts or get something fun for yourself. Everything in the store will be on sale. Most items will be at least 30%* off and we’ll have some great Doorbuster Specials and the new Wheel of Prizes!

We’ll also have artists on hand selling sketches and original artwork. Not to mention the holiday cookies and hot chocolate. Be sure to join us for our last chance to celebrate the season with your friends at All Things Fun!

Spin the ATF Wheel of Prizes!

For every $75 spent (before tax) you get one free spin on the All Things Fun! Wheel of Prizes. What will you win from the Wheel of Prizes? Maybe nothing, but you might also win free All Things Fun! Gift Certificates or Gift Certificates to some of our favorite Independently Owned Retailers including Tunes, Cool Dog Café Gift Cards or wrapped gifts from under our tree!

Join us for the Sales, Signings and Holiday Fellowship!

Friday Night (12/23) from 11pm to 1am ONLY!

Doorbuster Specials Include*:

Lupus In Tabula
(Werewolf Party Game)
Reg. $19.99

Just $2.99
That’s 85% off!

Nightfall & Nightfall Martial Law
(Horror themed Deck Building Games)
Reg. $79.98

Just $19.99**
That’s 75% off

All Specials are While Supplies Last. Sorry, No reserves, rain checks, reservations or subscriptions, special orders, discounts or promotions apply. All items must be in-stock. Some exclusions apply.

** Must purchase both games to get the sale price. Single price for each game $39.99.

Artists & Creators scheduled to appear:

Neil Vokes
Bryan J.L. Glass
Mark Poulton
Tony DiGerolamo
Bob Petrecca
Tom Schloendorn
Chris Moreno

And if you're not in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, and still want to get in on the fun, ATF! Vidcasters Allison Eckel and Glenn Walker will be chatting with the above comics creators LIVE from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM at the regular Vidcast website: http://www.allthingsfun.net/LIVE!

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast for 12-21-2011

The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast is shot live in a real comics and gaming store in West Berlin, NJ - All Things Fun! - co-hosts Ed (Santa) Evans, Allison ("Holy Codpiece, Batman!") Eckel and Glenn (The Grinch) Walker discuss the new comics out this week in two fun video segments, now in high definition, and also available on YouTube. See it here!

The first segment includes discussion of the following topics: A little something something for the holidays, the Last Minute Midnight Madness Sale at All Things Fun!, Justice League #4 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, Scott Snyder's Batman #4, Judd Winick's Catwoman #4, the rest of the Bat-books, Batman Inc.: Leviathan Strikes, DC Comics Presents #4 featuring Deadman, Blue Beetle #4, and Nick Spencer's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2.



The discussion continues in segment two including: Pop Heroes, Han Solo and X-23, the X-titles, Ed's Marvels, Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man #676, Deadpool and the Hydra muu-muu, how to use a comics index, Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers #20, more Marvels, Ed's indies including G.I. Joe, Invincible and the death of Optimus Prime, Allison's kids comics, Ed's trades, and the Last Minute Midnight Madness Sale.



Be sure to check out the crazy new All Things Fun! website, and the All Things Fun! Blogs, by Allison and Glenn, and ATF! on YouTube.

And be back here every Wednesday morning at 11:30 AM EST to watch the new broadcast, and thereafter throughout the week!

And don't forget The Last Minute Midnight Madness Sale at All Things Fun! in West Berlin NJ - 30% off almost everything in the store! It starts at 11:00 PM Friday, December 23rd and goes to 1:00 AM!

Meet and talk with comic creators Neil Vokes (Flesh & Blood, Eagle), Harvey Award winning Bryan J.L. Glass (Thor, Mice Templar), Tony DiGerolamo (Super Frat, Jersey Devil), Mark Poulton (Avengelyne, Koni Waves), inker Tom Schloendorn, and inker, artist and writer Bob Petrecca!

If you're in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, come on down, and if not, join us here to watch the live interviews and vidcast with Allison and Glenn!