What Are They, Lit?

12 Dec

As Hanukkah comes to a close, I thought I’d mention this crazy story in the Jerusalem Post about a group calling itself Green Hanukkia that tried (I hope unsuccessfully) to get Jews around the world to light at least one less candle this year in support of the environment. According to the group, every candle that burns completely produces 15 grams of carbon dioxide. They estimate that if an estimated one million Israeli households light for eight days, it would do significant damage to the atmosphere. Given that the holiday ends tonight at sundown and there are no more candles left to light, I suppose this is a moot issue. But considering that the point of the holiday — one of them, anyway — is to celebrate eight days and nights of light, how do you really justify not lighting candles one night? Doesn’t that contradict the idea of the holiday? It’s not the same thing as using fewer lights on a Christmas tree. If he was Jewish, Bill O’Reilly would never stand for this ‘Attack on Hanukkah’ — especially in light of “the ham incident.” So, I found this idea kinda silly and I wanted to share the story with anyone who would be interested in reading about it. (Oh, and if you don’t know, Hanukkia is another word for menorah.)

It’s Just Not Write

11 Dec

If you ask me, the really sad thing about the fact that the writers’ strike is likely to last “well into next year” is that we’re being denied some great Christmas episodes of TV. This is the time of year when the writers seem to pull out all the stops and do their best work. Case in point: The Office, which would likely not be as popular as it is were it not for that utterly classic Christmas episode in 2005 (you know, the one with the secret Santa game). Last year’s holiday episode, with the dueling parties, was one of the better ones of the year as well. And of course, last year’s Christmas episode of Studio 60 was, I think, one of the finest episodes of any show all season. Most criminal of all is the fact that if the strike doesn’t end soon, then it’s unlikely Darlene Love will be making her annual appearance on Late Show with David Letterman to sing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” Oh, I’m sure Dave will show a rerun of an earlier appearance, but there’s something nice about holiday traditions and things you can look forward to. At least 30 Rock has what looks like a good holiday episode scheduled for Thursday. Still, I’m resigned to the fact that there’ll be a void in my holiday season this year, and I just wanted to say I think it sucks.

It’s Xmas All Over Again

10 Dec

Every year without fail, someone who receives my annual Very Marty Xmas mix says to me, “Hey, where’s [fill in the blank]?”

That blank can be filled by your choice of Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” or Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas” or the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” or any other favorite tune.

And the simple answer is always that all those classics had already appeared on my mix, back in 2000 or 2001.

In 2005, I toyed with the idea of creating a “best of the box” mix of my favorite tunes, ones that had previously appeared on my mixes, but this year I actually compiled one. Continue reading →

Sure Does Feel Like Xmas Time

10 Dec

As the great John Lennon once sang, “And so this is Christmas.” At long last — and ahead of schedule — here is the track listing for A Very Marty Xmas 2007. I spent a bit of time revisiting my older mixes this year, and after re-listening to last year’s mix, I decided to err on the side of festivity and jolly-tude when deciding what to include on the ’07 edition. As a result, some folks (like Harry Connick Jr.) had to take a year off. But I think this is a mix that will definitely stand the test of time, just like 2004 and 2005’s have. And I love some of the new stuff I discovered, like Mindy Smith’s “Santa Will Find You,” a hopeful tune that’ll appeal to kids of all ages. And of course, how great is this live version of Darlene Love doing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on The Late Show with David Letterman? So anyway, without further ado, here we go:

KT Tunstall — Sleigh Ride
Kay Starr — (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man with the Bag
Johnny Mercer with the Pied Pipers — Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Q-Burns Abstract Message Remix)
The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl — Fairytale of New York
Hello Saferide — iPod Xmas
Pearl Jam — Someday at Christmas
Peggy Lee — Happy Holiday
Darlene Love — Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (live on The Late Show with David Letterman)
Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters — White Christmas
Colbie Caillat — Mistletoe
Carnie and Wendy Wilson — Hey Santa
Mindy Smith — Santa Will Find You
Guster — Donde Esta Santa Claus?
Eels — Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
Bon Jovi — I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas
Heritage Hall Jazz Band with Gregg Stafford — Silver Bells
The Chipmunks (with David Seville) — We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The LeeVees — How Do You Spell Chunnukkahh?
James Taylor — Jingle Bells
Brian Wilson — Deck the Halls
Mighty Mighty Bosstones — Xmas Time (It Sure Doesn’t Feel Like It)
Teddy Geiger — All I Want for Christmas Is You
Fiona Apple — Frosty the Snowman
Rufus Wainwright — What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

Good stuff. Copies are still on their way to some of my readers, but if you’d like to compile your own copy of this mix, most of these tracks can be found by going to the Hype Machine. And don’t you fret: I still have hundreds more tracks in my collection that have yet to appear on a mix, so yes, Virginia, there will be a Very Marty Xmas 2008. Stay tuned. Until then, happy holidays everybody!

Back on the Market

9 Dec

It’s almost January 1, which means not just the beginning of the year, but also the month that I plan to resume my condo hunt. When I started the search over the summer, I was real excited about it, in the same way I get excited about most every other new thing in my life. But damn, this article in Sunday’s Boston Globe sure does make the process seem a lot less fun than it was over the summer.

Putting the ‘Dys’ in Dysfunctional

9 Dec

When I see a movie like Margot at the Wedding, I can’t help but be thankful that my own sister isn’t a blunt, insensitive, unsupportive, bitchy, insulting, manipulative woman like the title character here is. As played by Nicole Kidman, she may be more of a villain than, say, Darth Vader or The Devil Wears Prada‘s Miranda Priestley. Her weapons are words, and when she arrives for her estranged sister’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding, she gets under everyone’s skin. Margot isn’t in town for the wedding; she’s there for a bookstore appearance with a man she’s cheating on her husband with. She hates the groom (Jack Black). She doesn’t keep secrets. She says all the wrong things and leaves emotional distruction in her wake. Noah Baumbach (who also wrote and directed the excellent The Squid and the Whale) has made a film that will ring true with anyone who has family (i.e.: everyone). It makes you laugh and cringe, sometimes simultaneously, and at 92 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome — though it does end sort of abruptly. This character piece is light on plot (not a bad thing in this case) and features some great performances. I’m giving it a B+.

Bright Guy, Big City

9 Dec

So yeah, I took a couple days off from work last week and spent them down in New York.

And for the first time in a long while, most of the time was spent in the city, playing tourist.

Here are some snapshots from the weekend.

O Christmas Tree: Bean, meet the Christmas tree at 30 Rock. Decided to get my Christmas on, so I spent a bit of time at Rockefeller Center trying to take the perfect picture of the big tree (after all, it’s never too early to start working on next year’s A Very Marty Xmas CD). But as I kept learning, it’s hard to take a picture of a lit-up tree at night. My damned camera didn’t seem to want to focus. This one here is probably the best one I took.

Number one or number two, it’s completely up to you: Best thing ever was Charmin’s second annual, temporary, free public restroom next door to the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. That’s all it is. You go up a tall escalator, wait on line, and you get to use one of the 20 or so toilets. They were spotless (cleaned after each use), colorful, and the attendants were having such a good time helping out that it was hard not to smile. As marketing gimmicks go, this one was pretty fun. And it was really convenient, because at the time, I really had to go.

People watching: Mitzi, Fetus, and I had a very very very minor celeb sighting Thursday night when we spotted Danny, from the New Orleans cast of The Real World, in the Times Square Toys ‘R’ Us just wandering around. And it occured to me how none of the current viewers of that show must know who he is. I think I also saw Andre 3000 from OutKast there. Oh, and Sean Dugan, an old college roommate, was on the same train into the city on Friday, but we didn’t get a chance to talk. And though she’s also on Broadway these days, in Cyrano de Bergerac, you’ll be happy to know I did not stalk wait for Jennifer Garner outside the stage door.

Flame on: Turned a corner at 9th and 44th on Friday and saw this taxi on fire. No one seemed to know how or why it happened. And while I knew the thing could have exploded at any second, for a change I did the stupid thing and got out my camera to take a picture, instead of running for cover. (What?! It’s not like the other people doing the same thing were any smarter than me.) Thankfully, the NYFD showed up just in time and put the fire out.

Show time: As I’ve previously mentioned, seeing Spring Awakening was unexpected. Here’s why. After lunch with Anna on Friday, I decided to hang out in Times Square and go to a couple places, then head back to meet up with Mitzi, Jason, and Fetus for dinner. Long story short, a couple guys on the corner of Broadway and 44th were selling discounted tix to a few shows, including Spring Awakening. Of course I was skeptical, and I did some background checks, even asking a cop a few feet away if he knew if the guys on the corner were scalpers. As it turned out, they were totally legit. So I took the chance, changed my plans, and saved $40 on top seats (12th row center) for what ended up being an awesome show. Money well-spent, even if at the time I felt like I was a total sucker buying Broadway show tickets from a random guy on the street.

Hmmmmm…:Believe it or not, I so enjoyed the day and a half that I spent in New York City that for maybe 15–30 minutes I actually thought about moving there. The cold winds snapped that thought out of me quickly enough, but I suppose that only goes to show you how good a time I had in the Big Apple. I need to do stuff like this more often.

I’ve Got Spring Fever

8 Dec

Unexpectedly, I also got the chance to see Spring Awakening this weekend. And what a great, great show it was.

Is.

No wonder this won the Tony Award back in June for Best Musical — and Best Direction, Score, and five others.

Spring Awakening is so full of energy, so full of passion, so full of life that it’s hard not to be moved or shaken to the core while watching it. I haven’t liked a new show this much in, oh, I don’t know how long. Continue reading →

Bart and Martin

8 Dec

Mitzi, Fetus, and I went to see Young Frankenstein on Broadway Thursday night. The show’s been so heavily hyped and it has such a great pedigree and it’s based on such a classic movie … so how could it not be a disappointment?

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I’ll say the conventional line that while YF is entertaining, it’s no The Producers: it’s not as funny and none of the songs are as memorable.

That said, the sets are huge and impressive, as are the special effects, and Andrea Martin, who plays Frau Blücher, and Christopher Fitzgerald, who plays Igor (pronounced “eye-gor,” of course), are both really good. And Roger Bart … Continue reading →

Xmas Is Coming

8 Dec

On Monday you’ll find out what’s on this year’s A Very Marty Xmas CD. Ooooh, I can’t wait to share it with y’all. But until then, I’m still trying to figure out if it’s possible to copy a CD on a Mac without using iTunes. But that’s my problem, not yours (unless, of course, you have a solution for me and then I’d be more than happy to hear it). Thanks!

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