Just Some Random Christmas Stuff

We start with the classic-but-mostly-forgotten Allan Sherman* version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas":



Which, of course, brings to mind "The Twelve Pains of Christmas" by the Bob Rivers Comedy Group. There're a slew of YouTube versions available, but I particularly like the World of Warcraft variant:



And then there's the Futurama episode, "A Tale of Two Santas":



And should you be a follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, well, here's how to make your own Xmasified/Winter Solstice version (see a big one here).

But as my late father would often say, it's just not Xmas without "Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla, Washington and Kalamazoo..."


Lyrics


*Incidently, Sherman's complete works are available in a set called My Son, The Box. I really should do a post about my adolescent obsession with Allan Sherman songs someday, but for the time being let's just say it was all my friend Steve's fault. Well, him, and his two wonky brothers. And his four attractive sisters. And his flirty mom with her near-chef-like kitchen abilities.

Some of my non-seasonal Allan Sherman favorites:
"The Ballad of Harry Lewis"
"Eight Foot Two"
"Shake Hands With Your Uncle Max"

"Good News, Everyone!"

First, a confession: I'm a Futurama fan. A BIG Futurama fan (you, in the back row--shut the hell up!) and why shouldn't I be? What's not to like about an animated show for adults by Matt Groening (The Simpsons, Life In Hell) that takes place at the beginning of a 31st century chock-full of suicide booths, soap operas for androids, celebrity heads in jars, hideously addictive soft drinks and features an "alcoholic, whore-mongering, chain-smoking" robot, an undeniably hot one-eyed mutant, an increasingly senile mad scientist who runs a delivery service to fund his experiments, a decapodian M. D. with a woefully inadequate knowledge of human anatomy, and a not-so-bright, cryogenically-preserved pizza delivery boy from the year 2000?

Even better, as Groening himself said, "it was full of catnip for geeks" what with "allusions to classic videogames, programming languages, Schrodinger's cat, and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle." Oh, yeah, and an occasional appearance by Lucy Liu.

Fox canceled the show in 2003 whereupon Cartoon Network began airing reruns to the wild acclaim and near-orgasmic excitement of die-hard fans while garnering a new generation of viewers. Soon thereafter began...The Rumors. Teasing rumors. Exciting rumors. Rumors of new episodes of Futurama. Oh, my, yes!

Well, as it turns out, the rumors were true--Futurama Is Back! Grab A Can of Slurm and Settle In as Bender's Big Score (spoilers galore) hits the DVD shelves TODAY, ultimately (meaning next year) being aired as half-hour episodes on Comedy Central. Get it fer cheap at Amazon.com.

Naturally, the big question is whether my favorite character, the Robot Devil, will make an appearance.

FUTURAMA - Robot Hell

Anyone besides me notice how much the Robot Devil sounds like deceased voice actor Hans Conried?