When Is My Favorite Holiday Special or Film on TV?

Get ready for all of your favorite holiday specials. USA Today recently listed the TV schedule for upcoming shows for the 2012 season, some of which are listed below:

– National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Dec. 3, 10:03 p.m. and Dec. 12, 9 p.m., ABC Family.

– Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Dec. 4, 8 p.m., CBS.

– Home Alone, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. and Dec. 10, 9 p.m., ABC Family.

– Frosty the Snowman, Dec. 8, 8 p.m., CBS.

– Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, Dec. 11, 8 p.m., ABC.

– Elf, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m., CBS.

– A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dec. 18, 9 p.m., ABC.

– How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dec. 18 and Christmas Day, 8 p.m., ABC.

– A Christmas Story marathon, Dec. 24 at 8 p.m., TBS.

– It’s a Wonderful Life, Dec. 24, 8 p.m., NBC.

How well do you know these films and holiday specials? Take our quiz on songs from holiday specials and our quiz on holiday films.

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What is your favorite holiday special? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    New Video from Marty Brown: “Put Your Love Right Here”

    Marty Brown

    As regular readers know, Chimesfreedom has been rooting for a successful comeback from authentic country singer Marty Brown whose last major label release was in 1998. One of the recent good signs is that he has put together a homemade video for a catchy new song, “Put Your Love Right Here.” “Put Your Love Right Here” was written by Marty Brown and Even Stevens. [Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available online.]

    Chimesfreedom will have a review of some “new” Marty Brown music later this week.

    What do you think of “Put Your Love Right Here”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Napoleon Rules! Sweet!

    Napoleon On this date of December 2 in 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The 35-year-old Napoleon put the crown on his own head after receiving the crown from Pope Pius VII.

    Napoleon I ruled a vast empire for a number of years before he began to encounter military defeats in 1812. Currently, one of his coded letters of an order against the Russians that year is up for auction. Anyway, after a major defeat in 1814, he returned from exile the following year but his army fell to the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon lived out the rest of his life under house arrest on Saint Helena off the coast of Africa, where he died in 1821 at the age of 51, probably of stomach cancer.

    Almost 200 years later in 2004, another Napoleon was king of the oddball comedies on screen, Napoleon Dynamite (2004). Although the film initially received mixed reviews and was given a limited release, it went on to become one of the iconic films with some of the most memorable quotes of the last decade. The Idaho legislature even passed a resolution praising the film. The odd story of the outcast teenager created a memorable character played by Jon Heder, who revived his portrayal of the character to deliver a humorous Top Ten list of “Signs You’re Not the Most Popular Guy in Your High School” on the Late Show with David Letterman.

    Bonus Trivia: The name “Napoleon Dynamite” was first used as a pseudonym by Elvis Costello as early as 1982, but the movie’s co-writer and directer Jared Hess states that he came up with the name independently.

    What is your favorite part of Napoleon Dynamite? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    WTF?: Janis Joplin With Tom Jones?

    raise your hand tom jones janis joplin A biography of Bruce Springsteen reports that Janis Joplin once unsuccessfully pursued a romance with Springsteen. One can only dream about the talented children they would have had. Although Springsteen and Joplin never performed together, Joplin was known for her performance of the show-stopper “Raise Your Hand” and Springsteen often highlights the song too.

    We never got a Springsteen-Joplin pairing on “Raise Your Hand,” but in 1969, Joplin sang the song with an interesting choice. That year, Tom Jones and Janis Joplin sang “Raise Your Hand” together on the This is Tom Jones TV show. I must say, it is pretty awesome. Not Springsteen-Joplin-baby awesome, but awesome nonetheless.

    This is Tom Jones ran on TV from 1969 to 1971. Jones featured a lot of big stars from the day, including Dusty Springfield and Stevie Wonder.

    Can you think of an odder pairing than Tom Jones and Janis Joplin? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buy from Amazon

    The Sound of “Lincoln”

    Lincoln's Watch

    In this interesting video, sound designer Ben Burtt discusses how he added special authentic sound touches to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012). Although there are no known recordings of Abraham Lincoln’s voice, Burtt was able to capture some other sounds from the 1860s.

    For example, they sought out the sounds from clocks and doors in the White House from Lincoln’s time. As part of Burtt’s research, he also was able to track down two pocket watches owned by Abraham Lincoln. For the watch that was in Lincoln’s pocket when he was killed, the Kentucky Historical Society allowed the filmmakers to wind the watch so they could capture its sound for the movie. Check out “The Sound of Lincoln” below.

    What do you think of the lengths Burtt went to capture authentic sounds? Was it worth it? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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