T-shirt #352 - Cub Fan - Bart Man

TODAY'S COUNT: 13 blog posts remaining in the T-shirt year!!

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T-shirt #352 - Cub Fan - Bart Man

Baseball season is upon us, and I am making my nefarious plans for my Fantasy Baseball Empire with my first draft tonight.

Actually, I am going to wing it. I don't have time to prepare my own stats log and analysis, so I am going with the work of Baseball Forecaster and my own reasonable intuition for this league, in which I placed eighth of twelve last year. I think I can beat that record.

I did not win any of my leagues last year. The best I finished was second out of eight. I finished fourth in the league I run (TIGER TOWNE), third of eight in a league run by my friend Craig, and sixth of twelve in a New England league. I was kicked out of a rotisserie league run by a crazy madman, so I decided to reboot his league with the other players who may well be disgruntled.

Today, I am renewing the "hiatus shirt" mandate in order to possibly catch up by Monday on the seven incomplete blog entries found elsewhere via my main address. They are now sufficiently buried so as not be so persistent to my psyche's wellness, and yet, I know they are there.

Several gravitational anomalies aligned in the galaxy to produce this blog, which originally had been schedule as not one other but two other shirts.

And then I saw this: 365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 66: The Finkatronic Ray, which reminded me of my Cub Fan Bart Man T-shirt as a herald (get it? If you're a comic geek given my picture of Homer-Galactus below, you will get it.) of SPRING and BASEBALL SEASON.

I have given shouts to both the BULLY SAYS COMICS OUGHTA BE FUN and the wonderful Pencil Ink blog, and this morning I decided to let those bloggers know of my appreciation for their efforts with comments on their sites.

Bully is doing a 365 Days of Kirby Tech series, which, yesterday, manifested as tech from the Simpsons comic. Wonderful stuff. Here's one of the pics he shared from Panels from "Captain Cupcake and Pieboy!" in Simpsons Super Spectacular #5 (July 2007), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils by James Lloyd, inks by Andrew Pepoy, colors by Rick Reese, letters by Karen Bates.

Meanwhile, I decided to post -- pretty much -- just pictures today. So here, we go (with a little text in between, D'oh!!) Okay, Don't have a cow, man.

There are 21 entries (including today's) in my Baseball category, which is a sport name that -- as you may or may not know -- I like to deify with a capital letter.

I featured the shirt that goes with this hat in T-shirt #182.

Here's some text from that blog:

T-shirt #80: Detroit Tigers est. 1901 may be my best  Baseball post so far, though T-shirt #115: Chicago Cubs est. 1876 also shares a great deal of good Baseball stuff. I love the sense of history. I love the stats. I love my teams.

But it's all best summed up by this quote from the great Ernie Harwell:

"Baseball is a ballet without music. Drama without words. A carnival without kewpie dolls. Baseball is continuity. Pitch to pitch. Inning to inning. Season to season."

When I saw this T-shirt, I had to have one. I like the Simpsons, but I would not characterize myself as a massive Simpsons fan like some folks.

"Don't Have a Cow, Harry!" refers to Harry Caray, former announcer for the Chicago Cubs, who always used to say "Holy Cow!" and since Bart Simpson often says "Don't Have a Cow, Man" then this is a great joke connection.

Harry Caray died in 1998. Here's a little weird irony: in the 2003 playoffs, one of the Cubs few post-season appearances in the last 20 years. In October of 2003, the Cubs were playing in the National League Championship series against the Florida Marlins (who won the World Series that year), there's one incident that is defined as the losing moment for that Cubs team, preventing them from advancing to the World Series. It has come to be known as the STEVE BARTMAN INCIDENT.

Lifelong Cubs fan Steve Bartman interfered with a catch by Cubs outfielder Moisés Alou. Had Alou caught that ball for the out, the Cubs would have been four outs from the National League title and the World Series. As it turned out, the Cubs lost the game and eventually the series.

Get it? The shirt is "Bart Man" and is from Cubs merchandise no later than 1998 and possibly earlier, and yet it foreshadows the infamous "villain" of the Cubs' 2003 loss. Really, it's a sad thing. Steve Bartman is a well meaning Cubs fan who got caught up in the excitement of a ball coming his way and made a mistake, like we all do (make mistakes that is). It just so happened to be a mistake that is believed to have cost the Cubs a National League title and a shot at winning the World Series.

Remember how in yesterday's blog I mentioned saving time for date night with my lovely wife? Well, here's our sashimi/sushi dinner from Friday the 7th of March using a gift certificate given to use for Christmas.

We love delicious sashimi/sushi at KUMO.

YUM.

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This is the shirt I am actually
wearing today

OFFICIAL BOILERPLATE TEXT OF THE LAST TWENTY POSTS COUNTDOWN: Hi. Thanks for reading. I am posting this "boilerplate" text everyday for the last TWENTY posts in the T-SHIRT blog year, which started on March 22, 2013. I will close out daily transmission on March 21st, day 365 of my T-shirt blog-tastic extravaganza spectacular. I will give myself a short hiatus of total non-transmission or  publication for an as yet undetermined period of time, though I am estimating about two weeks. After my blog vacation hiatus, I will resume T-shirt posts on a regular basis, also as yet to be determined (weekly? Twice monthly?) to finish blogging about all the T-shirts that were not featured in the blog year. At some point, once I feel I am rolling along nicely, I will begin regular posting through my main blog: SENSE OF DOUBT. T-shirt posts will direct to the T-shirt blog from SENSE OF DOUBT. I will continue to post THE WEEKLY COMIC LIST, the features of occasional T-SHIRTS I AM WEARING THIS WEEK, book reviews, comic book reviews, and other popular culture nonsense as I have been for a year now but all will go up at SENSE OF DOUBT and some will direct back here to 365 T-SHIRTS. Ultimately, I will begin Internet publication of my fiction, primarily the comic book satire episodic story called POP! among other projects. So, in summary, 365 T-SHIRTS will continue though intermittently. SENSE OF DOUBT will host my main blog presence and fiction writing as well as links to any T-shirt posts shared here. I hope you will continue to follow me in my journey as a writer and a content provider. Thank you for your kind attention and time you have spent with me on this and/or any other day this year. I am humbled and blessed by your readership. - chris tower, blogger, originated 1403.02
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HIATUS TEXT: REVISED 1402.18:  I have been trying to maintain a hiatus from large or over involved blog posts beginning with the start date of my hiatus on January 20th (almost a month ago) during which time I logged 21 posts, which I consider "Hiatus Shirts." By this term, Hiatus Shirt, I mean the shirt is not one that would cause me to write a great deal on the subject it features. These are shirts about which I can write anything, either a lot or a very little. The hiatus will continue, though as it has for the last few weeks, not consecutively as I will continue to mix Hiatus and Non-Hiatus shirts. The blog's year (365 shirts) draws close to a close. (I like the double word use in that previous sentence.) I hope to finish strong with some good entries with high quality content and imagery on some beloved subjects. To earn this time, I will need to intersperse shirts of little consequence, what I have come to call Hiatus Shirts.

My original goal of working ahead remains. I need time to write the enormously lengthy text to complete the extensive love letter to certain beloved popular culture icons featured on my many special shirts. Even with "Hiatus Shirts," I will try to share some worthy content as I have either an idea, a new suggestion of something to read/look at/listen to, or another installment of my various features, such as the WHY T-SHIRTS item, the WEEKLY COMIC BOOK LISTS, and the SHIRT I AM ACTUALLY WEARING TODAY among others. BTW, this is the standard HIATUS TEXT that I will include in every "hiatus shirt" entry.

Thanks for reading. I am always honored that people have taken some of their valuable time to look at my ongoing web writing project. Keep checking this address. I promise to make it worthwhile.
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COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 13 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1403.08 - 13:11

T-shirt #328 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

HIATUS TEXT: I am taking a short hiatus. A "hiatus" for the 365 T-shirts Blog does not mean that there will not be shirts or that I will skip posting on any forthcoming day. There will be shirts. But the shirts will not be exciting or the featured shirts will not require me to write a small novel to properly generate the content I feel is sufficient. I created a category for my hiatus so as to group together those "easy" shirts that I consider to be "hiatus shirts." The goal of the hiatus is to fill in many blog days with easy shirts in order to complete longer love letters to beloved popular culture icons on more special shirts and to write more complex entries AHEAD OF TIME. The daily grind is becoming too much and causing me to fall behind and to be forced to post incomplete entries. I am hoping that a series of hiatus shirts will allow me to catch up, get ahead, and stay ahead. Ideally, I would like to be writing the bulk of each entry three days ahead while always working on at least one other. I have a lot of great shirts to share before the end of my blog year (after all I was just given SIXTEEN shirts for my birthday). Stay tuned. I promise to post the more interesting and longer T-shirt entries as I finish them. Thanks for reading. BTW, this is the standard HIATUS TEXT that I will include in every "hiatus shirt" entry.

T-shirt #328 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I had to post this as incomplete last night. I am now writing to you from the future. It's Thursday for me though this blog shows it is Wednesday.

It's time for some comedy in the form of the greatest comedy of all time: MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. Since this is supposedly HIATUS time for me, I am presenting again text from T-shirt #271 - SPAMALOT and a short bit from T-shirt #187 as both that shirt and this one were gifted to me by the Lord of Chaos.

But first, I would like to explain Grading Robot's ordeal.

Grading Robot has completed another arduous test of his grading prowess, rendering grades at a record speed though not in a record time. Grades were submitted one hour before the deadline, which I should congratulate myself is at least not one minute before the deadline. The main problem with grades for this school is that every week two sets of assignments (about 120 in all if every student submits which never happens) are due by Friday at 9 a.m. I get one set on Sunday night and the other on Monday night prior to that Friday deadline. Usually this haul is not so bad, especially with later assignments, as many students fail to submit. One week, out of 30 students, I had NINE submit the paper on time. It's easy to give zeroes. It's also easy to give 100/100. It's the grades in between that take time and consideration.

FINAL GRADES, which are what I just finished, are always due one day before the usual Friday deadline, so THURSDAY at 9 a.m. Since I am often up at 5 a.m. and grading feverishly to meet the Friday at 9 a.m. deadline, one can imagine that a deadline 24 hours earlier would send me into a panic. This is further compounded by how many late assignments I have. As students submit late work, I let it pile up until I have time go through it all as the new assignments, the on time assignments, are tied to that deadline that I have to meet each week. This semester I was good, and I dispensed with a big set of late work after week three of the five week term. But more built up since then, despite my cut offs and in some cases refusal to accept late work. So, starting Monday, I had two sets of assignments to grade and LATE WORK plus other classes and responsibilities.

I knew things were not going well when I did not get much accomplished Monday because of class, family, and assorted other obligations. Tuesday was crunch time, but I could see I would need every minute to make that Thursday morning deadline. Wednesday morning I had my programming  class to attend, and then other daily work, and so it was nearly 3 p.m. Wednesday before I could start to crank up Grading Robot to full power. I had dismissed the first two sets of assignments on Tuesday as they were easy. This left final drafts of persuasive essays and all the late work, over a dozen papers, to finish by 9 a.m. Thursday, permitting myself a decent night's sleep. I do not care how much work I have to do, I am not being paid enough to work late into the night. 9 p.m. is the latest I have ever worked for this job and that was too late and due to extenuating circumstances (staying up with Liesel or waiting for Liesel, I forget).

I did two things to speed up. I re-used grade feedback. If the student did not make any changes to the fourth assignment and basically submitted it again for the final draft fifth assignment, then why rewrite all the same comments? The grades were different, but the comments remained the same. Furthermore, if the student submitted late, essentially the Week Three-Week Five assignments were probably all the same or nearly. Once again, the same comments were warranted but with different grades as the preliminary draft (#3) is not held to the same standard as the final draft (#5). This saved me a lot of time as I was able to re-use grade feedback and clear out two late assignments by looking at and grading just one draft. As a result, Grading Robot graded at must faster pace and managed to get to bed at a decent hour, even sleeping in a little rather than bounding out of bed at 5 a.m.

Thanks for reading. I know that these ruminations on my process are probably much more fascinating to me than to anyone else, though I do like the act of writing down what I have done, how, and why.

But today's entry is dedicated to the very great and quite stupendous comedy: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (As for the picture above, this book is a great item to enjoy the film as, sadly, I cannot locate my DVD.

This LINK takes you to a group of nine movies which may be the entire movie of Monty Python and the Holy Grail broken into parts that You Tube will not remove (with German subtitles).

There is a smart chap who made a modern styled preview with action parts and scary parts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail that sells it as an action film.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Modern "Trailer"

By the time I started college, I knew Monty Python well and found many, many people who loved it, too. In fact, loving Monty Python seemed to be almost a requirement for admission to Kalamazoo College along with knowing the air velocity of a laden swallow.

Emphasizing this like-mindedness, this shirt was a gift from my best friend and college buddy Tom Meyers, who may love Monty Python more than I do (which is saying something) as he memorized the entire Word Association Football sketch. Though it was not a recent gift, so it does not qualify as a New T-shirt acquired since the blog's inception.

There are many, many subjects worth exploring about Monty Python, and I am not devoting the time and text to all of them at this juncture. There's the brilliant three-sided LP record Matching Tie and Handkerchief; the most ingenious comedy movie ever made: Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Live concerts like Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl and Secret Policeman's Other Ball;and the TV show that started it all Monty Python's Flying Circus, which wisely burned very bright for 45 episodes and stopped production before they ran it into the ground.

In part, I presented these videos before but I present them all again (plus one) because they are, in my opinion, some of the best (though maybe not definitively the best) bits from this great film.

THE VIDEOS

I am sure that every single person reading my blog has seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail at least once. If you have not seen it, this is something to dedicate yourself to IMMEDIATELY. If you do not have time to go get and watch the movie, then check out these favorite scenes of mine. If you have seen the movie, you will surely enjoy seeing these scenes again. I will try to keep my set of videos here to a minimum, but I would rather post the ENTIRE MOVIE, obviously. heh. "Obviously." Guard scene. But first, the full French Taunting sequence.

French Taunting - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

There's no reason that this scene should have been left out of Spamalot. Very silly. It's one of my very favorite bits in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Classic John Cleese: "She turned me into a newt" following the longest pause in comedy film: "I got better."


She's a witch!

Surely, no collection of videos for my favorite scenes Monty Python and the Holy Grail could leave out this completely hilarious and often quoted scene. LOVE IT!!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Guards Scene

Monty Python Holy Grail Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

Monty Python And The Holy Grail - Help Help I'm Being Repressed

I know, I know. I am leaving out MANY great scenes. Though the KILLER RABBIT never did much for me, so not that one.

Hey, I said I would keep it to a minimum. Four is rather a lot, really. THREE. "Five sir." Five!
Sorry. I get carried away thinking about this movie. :-)

If you want to see more, go SEE THE MOVIE. Again, this LINK may help with that viewing option.

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 37 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1402.12 - 19:27

T-shirt #304 - Abbott's Magic Company

UPDATE 1401.28: So far this entry holds the record for longest incomplete. I posted it originally on the 19th of January and now it's the 28th of January. Despite declaring a hiatus from really long blog entries, I have not saved enough time to finish it yet. I am working on it now. I will update this note once I am complete. One problem is that there is so much I can put in this one. But I have to remember that you, dear reader, probably don't know what's missing. And I do not need to pack in ALL OF MY magic-related content in this one blog entry.

OFFICIAL INCOMPLETE BOILERPLATE TEXT: Thank you for coming to my blog. If you have been here before, you know why I post unfinished blog entries. If you are new to the blog, and came here by an Internet search or some other nefarious means, you may be wondering why someone would post something incomplete to the Internet. The shirt (ha ha.... leaving in that typo: I meant "short") answer is that I must post something every day because of the goal I set for myself when I began 365 T-shirts in March of 2013. And though there is a way to post backwards in time thanks to Blogger's scheduler utility, I would rather post an incomplete entry when the daily chaos of work, family, and the universe prohibits me from completing the blog entry for that day. Sometimes, I need a few days to complete the entry, and readers who check may see a work in progress slowly bloom.

In other words, more tomorrow. Thanks for checking.



T-shirt #304 - Abbott's Magic Company

The picture above comes from Christmas 1975. I can be seen in the photo (in my Captain America PJs) experimenting with a magic trick that I had received as a gift. I do not remember the gift very well, and I am not sure where the trick has got to. It did not become one of my regulars as seen in the pictures below.

Today is my birthday.

I was planning to catch up today as the last blog entry I completed was Thursday January 16th, which I finalized last night (Saturday the 18th). But since it's my birthday, I am giving myself permission to only work on the blog for a while and leave it incomplete once it's time for me to officially celebrate my birthday, which I will do by lounging on the couch with my puppy while reading comic books and watching football.

Today's shirt features The Abbott's Magic Company of Colon, Michigan, which I wrote about here:

T-shirt #134 - Secrets of Balloon Anatomy

T-shirt #135 - KUDL 2007 Yellow

T-shirt #136 - KUDL 2013 Pink

I used to perform magic as a semi-part-time professional. I re-connected with the magic world this past summer as I fulfilled a "bucket list" item shortly before my prostate surgery, in which I attended a day of a magic convention (with my step-son Ivan) and took a ride up the Kal- Haven trail (with my pal Chris Dilley) as explained in those three T-shirt posts linked above (134-136).

I have many plans for topics I want to explore in regards to magic, but I cannot get them all in one blog entry.

The next picture, directly left, shows me with my magic table, which serves as both a storage cabinet and a performance space. More on that in the text below.

In this first picture, I can be seen holding a top hat, which you would think I could have found easily and purchased at some magic shoppe. But in the mid-to-late 1970s when I did the majority of my performing, there were none to be found. Eventually I located a hat in a theatre costume shop and begged the costumer to let me buy it.

Many of my favorite magical "illusions" (dogs do tricks; magicians do illusions) sit on the table. From left to right, there's a standard Abbott's die box, a lotus jar, the Blarney Die, Dissecto is the big one with the yellow blade in the handle, a crystal box in front of that with a chick pan on top, a Genii Tube in red and yellow, and the Cube in a Tube, which I am about to describe. Though I will describe the genesis of the magic table in forthcoming text, I do want to point out the table cover with the gold fringe, classic magician fare that my aunt made for me, a special order organized and supervised by my mother. My parents were extremely supportive of my magic endeavors.
This illusion is known as the Cube in a Tube.

CUBE IN A TUBE.

Though Abbott's still sells it (see link), it is about five times more expensive than when I bought it. I remember mine selling for $45 in the late 1970s.

I like the Cube in a Tube illusion because of it's visual impact and how it ends with something that can be held and examined by an audience member.

The magician begins by showing the square die cube, a wooden piece painted black with white dots. This die is placed in a red square box. A metal tube is pounded into the box with a wooden hammer. The magician lifts away the box to reveal just the tube. When the tube is lifted (as in the picture), the cube has been "tubed," the die is now a wooden cylinder that an audience member can examine.

Awesome, right?

It's quick and can be performed silently because the visual impact is so clear and dramatic. This is one of my favorites.


I became interested in magic around 1973 or 1974. I am not sure what started it. There were magic sets advertised on television. There were ads for magic shops in my comic books. But probably the thing that closed the deal was the annual Christmas catalogues. My sister and I always started our Christmas lists by scouring the annual catalogues from Sears, JC Penney, and Montgomery Ward. I know I started my magical interests with a magic set sold by one of these companies. The magic advertisements and TV commercials probably only stoked the fires of my passion for magic.

There was also a magician (as there often is), but I am not sure if I had the magic set before or after I met the magician. I think I already had the magic set when we were staying at the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island for a convention my father needed to attend, and I met Robert Downey (no relation to the actor), who was performing magic at the hotel.

After these two influences inspired me, I discovered that the "Magic Capitol of the World" was about an hour's drive (not even) from my house. The great Abbott's Magic Company called Colon, Michigan its home and annually hosted the Abbott's Magic Get-Together as magicians from all over the world flocked to the little town of Colon for many events, the best of which were the nightly performances in the Colon high school.

Abbott's published a HUGE book sized catalogue that became my new shopping spree and holiday list making enterprise.



I do not perform magic so much anymore. It's very stressful. If an actor flubs his or her lines in a live show, it's often no big deal. Sometimes the audience does not even notice. The actor can cover or someone else covers for the actor if needed.

With magic, if a magician makes an error, flubs the prestidigitation part of the magical illusion, the mistake ruins the effect, the "magic" is lost, and the performer may as well quit because the willing suspension of disbelief that kept the audience engaged has left the building.

Audiences of senior citizens tend to be very forgiving, especially those in nursing homes, anything to break up the monotony, and some of them are not fully "home" anyway. But children and drunk people are especially vicious. Blow an illusion around them, and you're goose is cooked.



Other stuff

Dissecto

Blarney Die

My magic table

........... still under construction.

to be finished SOON.

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 61 shirts remaining

- chris tower - first published - 1401.19 - 15:38
final publication - date - time

T-shirt #282 - The Grinch

T-shirt #282 - The Grinch

What do I really need to write about The Grinch that has not been written already?

This shirt is a gift from my in-laws, Mike and Sue Creager. How they knew I did not own a Grinch shirt is a mystery to me.

It goes without saying that like most of America I adore Dr. Seuss and the Grinch. I have read and seen How the Grinch Stole Christmas at least 50 times but probably more.

I could clutter today's entry with additional content, but I want to have a short and sweet one.

In two days, I have seen two movies -- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and American Hustle -- at the new Alamo Draft House. I finished two books -- Dune Messiah and East of West. I spent quality time with the wife and our Satchel boo-boo puppy.

I am not feeling grinchy, though, because I am blessed. I feel luckier than anyone on the planet for such riches of love and happiness (and a cancer free body). I am sending vibes of love to those in need.

I am not done with the Christmas season. Work prevents too much preliminary enjoyment and anticipation, so I linger with it. I am pleased that my wife put up our tree on Thanksgiving weekend. But one year, it stayed up until late March (that's on me not her). The season gets busy, you know?

So, not so much extraneous content. Just enjoy the season. And what's more enjoyable than the Grinch (and a couple other related items that come up in the search). And so, three Grinchy videos as well as one by Aimee Mann and a fifth that Aimme Mann covered but here is done by a great children's choir plus, finally, a sixth: "Christmas Time is Here"

The Grinch Song

Aimee Mann & Grant-Lee Phillips - You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

The Grinch Ending (Original 1966)

"Whatever Happened to Christmas?"

Foundations of the Future Charter Academy SouthWest Campus 

Grade Two students song - "Whatever Happened to Christmas?"

Calgary AB. 2009

A Charlie Brown Christmas - Christmas Time is Here Song

Confession time: I have never seen the Jim Carrey How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 83 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1312.28 - 18:09

T-shirt #278 - Three Wise Men? Be Serious

T-shirt #278 - Three Wise Men? Be Serious.

Happy Christmas Eve.

Today is the day I celebrate Christmas with my wife and kids.

If you have landed here before my update, you will see just one picture. I plan to update this after our Christmas celebration with pictures of me and of my family on our special day.

Merry Christmas! (If that's your thing, that is... I never assume that everyone celebrates Christmas, so I usually say "Happy Holidays" but even that seems off for some people because of the use of the word "holy" with days.)

The joke of this shirt should be self-evident. It was a gift from a former T.A. though I am not sure which one. It's a "feminist" joke. Get it? Huh? Do you?

Liesel, the kids, and I must celebrate on Christmas Eve because Liesel works on Christmas and the kids spend Christmas with their Dad, step-mother, little brother, and paternal grand-parents.

Our Christmas Eve was a bit unusual this year as Chris (the kids' Dad is also Chris), his wife Lisi, their son Fiver, dogs Jethro and Cofi, and three cats all spent the night because they had no power as explained in Liesel's status below. We all managed happy Christmas cheer as they packed up this morning, leaving us to our Christmas holiday gift fest. I have posted pictured below to our grand fun.

Love to all and to all a good night.

"God bless us everyone."

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE CELEBRATING!

Liesel with stocking stuffers
especially her eau de toilette
from Chanel No. 5

Me with my stocking, starting
with a special Kentucky bourbon.

Ivan with a Magic the Gathering deck.

Liesel super excited to receive her
gift card for laser skin care!
The blurry photo emphasizes the excited flurry.

Piper with a new sweater.
She may not look excited, but
she does love it. She's wearing it
as I type.

Piper cradling with love her
new iPad!

Liesel cherishes her Chanel No. 5 lotion.

Ivan received a big desktop, so
he can play League of Legends
as often as he wants (and we allow).

Ivan continues to open the computer
and monitor.

I am posing with a CD for the Jam.
A special edition of The Gift.

Ivan is still opening
his desktop and all its parts.

Piper receives make up.
Piper loves makeup.

A smidge blurry
but I am happy to receive
the Captain Action re-issue figure!

DR. EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Evil - Captain Action re-issue

DOCTOR WHISKY!!!
Before the end of the day
a prescription will be in order.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 87 shirts remaining

chris tower - original creation - 1312.22
first published - 1312.24 - 08:00
Final publication - 1312.24 - 11:40

T-shirt #271 - Spamalot

T-shirt #271 - Spamalot

Hello again and welcome to another post that has to do with comic books. Okay, just kidding. This one is supposed to be about theatre. The adaptation to the stage as musical of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Never fear. I plan to share a few videos. But that will have to wait until after the blog recap.

Though I plan to pack in quite a bit more than just comic book content here as I have been slowly assembling this entry for a few days. Do you like to know that I am working that far in advance?

Sunday morning when I logged on and looked at my statistics, I had another big surprise. After the last peak of 103 page views on Sunday Dec. 8th, the count climbed to 150 on Dec. 12th (the day I unveiled the Serenity post) and then to one of the all-time daily highs of 261 page views on Friday the 13th, which I suspect is still in large part due to the previous day's Serenity and Firefly post as the Friday post on Daredevil had been posted as incomplete and finished on Saturday the 14th.

Looking into the stats, I see the post for Firefly claiming large numbers of views, along with the post on Feist, Winter is Coming, and the Daredevil shirt.

But the post that keeps showing up at the top of the list both for the day, the week, and now atop the all-time top viewed page list is T-shirt #241: Advice from a Volcano. On the all time list, this post has claimed the top spot with 288 page views and rising (more every day). I cannot figure out why this post is so popular. Someone help me out. Click the link. Take a look. Leave me a comment.

If you look at the post, it features the kind of content that I figure is only interesting to me. I start out explaining my day off (Nov. 17th) and my intention to watch the Lions game. I can't imagine that the sole mention of the Detroit Lions is causing all the page views. I go on to describe "The Blog Journey." I believe that this is my first post in "The Blog Journey" category. I write about my surgery, the Veronica Mars Kickstarter, and the Rules of Chris, none of which would spike the count. Next, I perform a blog recap, explaining the statistics much as I am doing here except that I copied the grids and links from the Blogger statistics pages, which I suspect may be the reason that the page is getting so many views. This is my working theory at least. I close with the text from the shirt and then some random facts, including a fantssy sports recap and a kimchi update. I also include a link that Doris Lessing has died, which may be a partial reason for the number of views. After all, the number of views may be due to multiple reasons. After all, I mention The clash, The Fantastic Four, Darth Vader, and provide links for all. I also have links to all the most popular posts on my page. If the hits are doing double-duty, this would account for the increased views on this page.

So, here's an experiment. If my theory is right that the Blogger statistics grid is what is driving up the page counts, then if I paste in another Blogger page grid to this post, it should rise in the page views stats as well. So here goes.

More » Posts Entry Pageviews T-shirt #241- Advice from a Volcano - Blog Recap Nov 17, 2013,  288 T-shirt #176 - Isher Artifacts Sep 13, 2013,  216 T-shirt#171 - The Neahtawanta Inn - Goodbye Bob Ru... Sep 8, 2013,  174 T-shirt #28: Batgirl (spoiler alerts) Apr 18, 2013,  146 T-shirt #62: Nightwing May 22, 2013,  129

This is the all time list for my blog. When I posted this grid T-shirt #241: Advice from a Volcano, Isher Artifacts had the top spot with 218 views. HOLD ON. How can the page views go down over a month's time? If you look back that the Volcano post and compare to this grid, you will find that other number are off. The Batgirl post lost one view. ODD.

In any case, we shall see if my pasting of the grid is what's driving the page views or if there's lots of people on the Internet searching for blogs about volcanoes.

The Blog Journey continues. The process of self-discovery is very much tied to the popularity of some posts over others. Saturday's post with pictures of the puppy was immediately, wildly popular.

On to other subjects.
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL and SPAMALOT

I do not have that many shirts that are specifically dedicated to theatre (which I prefer to spell the European way). I discussed one of my most beloved musicals in T-shirt #91: Jesus Christ Superstar. In that post, I made a list of favorite musicals and quite forgot Spamalot.

I next visited the subject of theatre in one of my most popular posts, one that for some time held a place in the top five all time posts: T-shirt #125: Hair and the Barn Theatre. Spamalot earned a mention in this post, though I did not create a new ranked list of favorite musicals. I should revise the list and include Spamalot.
The only reason I had Scrooge in the top ten is because I played Scrooge in my high school's production of it in 1979.

CHRIS TOWER'S TOP FIVE FAVORITE STAGE MUSICALS

1. Jesus Christ Superstar
2. A Chorus Line 
3. Godspell
4. Hair
5. Rent

Second five (to round out the top ten)

6. Sweeney Todd
7. Forever Plaid
8. Spamalot
9. The Rocky Horror Show

10. The Who's Tommy

Spamalot beats out The Rocky Horror Show because honestly, I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail more. In the least years when I participated in the floor show at local midnight showing of Rocky, my friend Steve and had started doing bits from Holy Grail because we were both quite sick of Rocky Horror by then.

I am including my review from the Barn's production of Spaamlot in 2012 on the page today.

I saw Spamalot in 2004 during the previews in Chicago with the stellar cast described below. I was surprised that one of the best scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the witch scene, was omitted from Spamalot. Other than that bizarre omission, I rather like Spamalot A LOT.

In closing, after my review from last year, I will post some of my favorite scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the one Spamalot song that I think is very clever (assuming I can find it on YouTube).

Thanks for reading today, especially if you returned after I posted an incomplete blog entry yesterday (which is today according to the date of this blog).

Spamalot
a production of the Barn Theatre
at the Barn Theatre, Augusta, MI
Attended Date: August 14, 2012
reviewed by Christopher Tower

The Barn Theatre continues piloting the rocket of its successful 2012 season with one of the best musical comedies of the last decade: Monty Python’s “Spamalot.” Riding the jet-fueled power of a fantastic company, a strong direction team, and tight orchestra, the Barn Theatre once again proves to local audiences that professional theater is a live and soaring to ever greater heights in the Augusta twilight.
Audiences roared with delightful laughter from the first lines of “Spamalot” during Tuesday’s opening night performance, and once the show concluded, the loyal patrons leapt to their feet in enthusiastic appreciation rather than the usual standing, “we’re ready to leave”-type ovations often delivered for the curtain calls.
The Barn more than proves its mettle with a production of
“Spamalot” that has already garnered many accolades. “Spamalot” is the brainchild of Python comedian Eric Idle who teamed with John Du Prez and Neil Innes to “lovingly rip off” the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” as a Broadway musical. The show started in previews in Chicago in 2004 and soon traveled to Broadway in 2005 with an all-star cast, including Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Hank Azaria, and Sara Ramirez. Helmed by Mike Nichols, the show won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Since then, it has toured nationally twice, and productions have been launched in nine different countries. Though some Pythons have criticized it as “Python-lite,” the show played over 1500 performances in its initial Broadway run and reaped nearly two hundred million dollars, placing it among the all-time highest grossing box office gems.
With few exceptions, the story follows the flimsy though well-loved plot of the 1975 film. King Arthur (Fee Waybill) “rides” through England circa 923 A.D. with the help of his faithful servant Patsy (Roy Brown), who bangs two coconut shells together to simulate horse’s hooves. The musical better integrates the sketch-comedy mind-set of Monty Python into a cohesive plot; thus, the peasants who engage Arthur in political debate become Galahad (Lance Fletke) and Bedevere (Nick Pearson),
and the two soldiers who discuss how swallows might bring tropical coconuts to England become Sir Robin (Kevin Robert White) and Lancelot (Patrick Hunter).
Some of the songs featured in the film, such as “Knights of the Round Table” and “Brave Sir Robin” are converted and expanded for the musical while other classic film scenes evolve into songs, such as “He Is Not Dead Yet” sung by the plague victims and Not Dead Fred (Matthew D. Wiggin) from the “Bring Out Your Dead” sketch and a trio of songs sung by Prince Herbert (Ethan Eichenbaum). The show also borrows from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” with Eric Idle’s signature tune “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Other songs are added for comic effect and parody Broadway musicals, such as “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway (If You Don’t Have Any Jews),” “The Song That Goes Like This,” and “The Diva’s Lament,” in which the Lady of the Lake (Amy Harpenau) complains about the show’s plot and her role: “whatever happened to my part?”
Though the famous witch burning scene was cut during the original Chicago preview, most of the other famous “Holy Grail” sketches remain, including the taunting French soldiers, performed brilliantly and principally by Jamey Grisham. Other great sketches include The Knights Who Say Ni (Charlie King), Tim the Enchanter (Steven Lee Burright) and the killer rabbit, and the father of Prince Herbert (Ricky Philippi) marrying off his son Herbert for “huge tracts of land” featuring the ingenious confusion with his guards (Nic Balario and Matthew D. Wiggin).
The Barn’s production is masterfully overseen by Hans Friedrichs, who is proving to be one of the summer theater’s best directors. Jamey Grisham provides hilarious choreography, especially during the Laker Girls sequence and the “You’re Gay” sketch with Lancelot. John Jay Espino guides the five-piece, veteran orchestra masterfully as he has done all season.
The cast also proves its professional pedigree yet again with stellar performances, most notably Roy Brown’s rendition of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” and Kevin Robert White’s hilarious “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway (If You Don’t Have Any Jews).” Ethan Eichenbaum’s Prince Herbert is a standout of hilarity as is the work of Grisham, Burright, and Charlie King.
Amy Harpenau sings her guts out, quite literally, with a devilishly campy and wonderfully over-acted performance in songs that run crazy scales up and down the register and mix styles in goofy ways. Fee Waybill joins Harpenau well with a bluesy segment of the show’s power number: “Find Your Grail,” and his straight-man “I’m All Alone” song works very well as Patsy (Brown) reacts comically around him.
The evening finishes with a musical revue bar show so much in demand that seats were sold out on opening night. The Barn’s production of “Spamalot” is top rate from start to finish, and the audience eats it up like “a lot” of yummy spam. Don’t miss it!!

THE VIDEOS

I am sure that every single person reading my blog has seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail at least once. If you have not seen it, this is something to dedicate yourself to IMMEDIATELY. If you do not have time to go get and watch the movie, then check out these favorite scenes of mine. If you have seen the movie, you will surely enjoy seeing these scenes again. I will try to keep my set of videos here to a minimum, but I would rather post the ENTIRE MOVIE, obviously. heh. "Obviously." Guard scene.

There's no reason that this scene should have been left out of Spamalot. Very silly. It's one of my very favorite bits in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Classic John Cleese: "She turned me into a newt" following the longest pause in comedy film: "I got better."

She's a witch!

Surely, no collection of videos for my favorite scenes Monty Python and the Holy Grail could leave out this completely hilarious and often quoted scene. LOVE IT!!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Guards Scene

Monty Python Holy Grail Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

Monty Python And The Holy Grail - Help Help I'm Being Repressed

I know, I know. I am leaving out MANY great scenes. Though the KILLER RABBIT never did much for me, so not that one.

Hey, I said I would keep it to a minimum. Four is rather a lot, really. THREE. "Five sir." Five!
Sorry. I get carried away thinking about this movie. :-)

If you want to see more, go SEE THE MOVIE.

And now one from Spamalot.

Several of the songs written for Spamalot (IE. not originally included in Monty Python and the Holy Grail) are well done. I especially like "Find Your Grail" and "Whatever Happened to My Part." But the song that struck me as most clever is this one. It's a great satire on musicals. Very funny.

Spamalot - Song that Goes Like This

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- chris tower - 1312.17 - first published - 20:07

Completed - 1312.18 - 9:41