Growing up, Richard Pryor was my favorite comedian. Sneaking a listen to his records was always a treat. He was brutally honest. There was nothing he wouldn't talk about:sex, race, drug use, and a whole myriad of social issues. He was the link between Redd Foxx and Eddie Murphy in the lineage of hard black comedians that continue today with Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle(check out Harlem Nights with Foxx, Pryor and Murphy). It's hard to understate his influence. He literally invented the mock "white man voice" that most black comedians have adopted. His early records are fairly shocking even now. He was also a huge donator and supporter of organizations for abandoned and abused animals. If you go to his site you will see all kinds of links about this.

In 1998, he was awarded the first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Humor Prize. This was his acceptance speech:

"Two things people throughout history have had in common are hatred and humor. I am proud, that like Mark Twain, I've been able to use humor to lessen people's hatred. I feel great about accepting this prize. It is nice to be regarded on par with a great white man. Now that's funny."

Anyway, R.I.P.

25 years ago...

Cheers Mr. Lennon.

Laura's birthday bowling party was a success despite hideous weather conditions. Thanks to all who made the trek. Here's a really funny picture that I couldn't have set up if I had tried. Angles and perspective are everything:


















What makes this even funnier is the look/expression on Fred's face(guy in the background with striped shirt). Brilliant!

Tis' the Season

So, we put up a Christmas tree for the first time in three years...our cat(Stella) was just too much of a beast. Now that she's a little over two years old, we figured we would give it a shot (of course not until I screwed the base down to a wooden platform and tied the top of the tree to our drapery rod with 10lb fishing line...we'll see).

Here's the Beast within:













Anyway, as we were doing this, I went through most of my Holiday music collection. In addition to the traditional choral stuff and the classic favourites (Nat King Cole, Bing etc...) a few selections always stand out.
A couple of thoughts:

-Elvis really was a badass...I grew up listening to his Xmas record and as many times as I've heard it, I still find it tremendously unique and entertaining. His Elvis'ims are astounding: "A, h'al huh, ha-ve' a-a blue, Cha' ristmas a' wi'--thout you.....awesome! I'll take his version of White Christmas over Bing's any day...really nice backing vocal arrangement. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" really makes me nostalgic of all of the trips to Altoona, Pa. for Christmas when I was a kid...very nice piano playing on this track. My favourite by far though is "Santa Claus is Back in Town", a rousing blues shuffle. Elvis always had a killer backup band and this tune really sounds great. What I really like about this tune though, are the lyrics. Sung in first-person, it tells of the triumphant return of "Santa" to his long-awaited lover. Check out these lyrics:

"Got no sleigh or with reindeer,
No sack on my back,
You'll see me comin'....in a big, black cadillac"

Awesome.

I'll admit, when I was a kid I sort of misunderstood the meaning of this verse:

"Hang up your pretty stockins',
Turn out your lights,
Santa Claus is comin', down your chimney tonight..."

I wonder what kind of toys he had in that bag....

----------------------------------------
The Grinch.
I still can't believe someone allowed Jim Carey to come anywhere near the made-for-Hollywood movie of this beautiful tale.
The song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is still one of the funniest, most creative Xmas tunes I know of. I usually judge how good things are by whether or not I wish that I wrote them...well, I wish I had written that tune...In addition to the brilliant orchestration and catchy tune...the words....my God:

"Your heart's a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch.

"Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable...mangled up in....tangled up knots.

On that sentiment, enjoy the Holiday season...whatever Holiday you celebrate.