**There are more songs if you click the Spotify icon! **

Thursday, December 4 ***My Birthday!!!***

7:00 Remember the Night (1940)

9:00 Meet John Doe (1941)

11:15 In the Good Old Summertime (1949)

1:15 Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

3:15 All Mine to Give (1957)

Thursday, December 11

7:00  The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

8:45 Holiday Affair (1949)

10:30 It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

12:30 Fitzwilly (1967)

2:30 Bachelor Mother (1939)

4:00 Susan Slept Here (1954)

Sunday, December 14

1:00 pm The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

3:00 In The Good Old Summertime (1949)

Thursday, December 18

7:00 A Christmas Carol (1938)

8:15 Scrooge (1970)

10:15 Scrooge (1935)

11:45 A Carol for Another Christmas (1964)

1:15 Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

2:45 Fanny and Alexander (1982)

Sunday, December 21

11:30 I'll Be Seeing You (1944)

1:00 Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

3:00 Holiday Affair (1949)

Wednesday, December 24

5:00 AM Scrooge (1935)

6:30 Bundle of Joy (1956)

8;30 The Great Rupert (1950)

10:00 Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas (2011)

11:15 It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

1:15 I'll Be Seeing You (1944)

3:00 The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

5:00 Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

7:00 The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)

9:00 Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

11:00 Cover Girl (1944)

1:00 Indiscreet (1958)

3:00 All Mine to Give (1957)

Thursday, December 25

7:00 AM Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)

8:30 Bachelor Mother (1948)

10:00 A Christmas Carol (1938)

11:15 Holiday Affair (1949)

1:00 In the Good Old Summertime (1949)

3:00 Little Women (1933)

5:00 Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

Yes, I know that drivers hate snow with a rough abandon; but if you live in Iowa, you have to expect that. At this very moment, the weather is saying -20 degrees and lower with 1 to 2 inches of snow and crazy wind chill until tomorrow noon. And you know what I say? Bring it. The idea of Christmas, to me, always involves snow and I'm depressed when we have snowless winters... what's the point? You may call me nuts for this, but as Icona Pop wisely sang, "I don't care... I love it."

This Girl's Birthday Presents to herself
(Yes, those are owls with scarves)

It's Guy Love 2.0

I literally have no words. I don't even have a backstory, just this general awesomeness.



     It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Christmas What?     Emile Zola on Screen?  

Yes yes, this little adapted author is finally getting some screen time through an adaptation of his "Therese Raquin" and Elizabeth Olsen, my homegirl, is playing the typical Zolan anti-heroine stuck in a loveless marriage (to Tom Felton of all people!). She starts cheating on her arranged cousin-husband with Oscar Isaac's Laurent LeClaire and although under the influence of a domineering mother in law (The immortal Jessica Lange), Therese tries to claim her independence. I have a feeling someone is going to die in this movie.... And Matt Lucas (Community, Little Britain, Les Miserables: the 25th Anniversary Concert) is in it toooo!!!!!!!! I definitely have to give Charlie Stratton credit for going with originality. Ten points to Griffyndor?

 

Slated to be released February 21st, 2014.

    The Music of the Night is Really a Baby Bat Doing This...
 Guess what Macaulay Culkin is Doing... It's Pretty Amazing....  

 
What would be the most epic thing everyone's favorite child actor could do with his reputed washed up stance as a celebrity? Besides his epic role in Party Monster...

You can't guess? Along with his pals, Matt Colbourn, Phoebe Kreutz, Deenah Vollmer, and Austin Kilham, they are calling themselves The Pizza Underground, spoofing our recently departed Glam God, Lou Reed's pride and joy, in the name of pizza. And I personally love every second from Cheese Days to Papa John Says. It's absolutely genius and you can download it all for free here at bandcamp. Don't say I didn't warn you of this awesomeness.

    My Favorite Christmas Song... Acoustic!          

[Click on the Spotify icon for more songs] [Click on the Spotify icon for more songs]

Yeah, so it's kind of snowing a little earlier than usual, so what? When I was a young 'un I had to wear my fairy godmother Halloween costume over a snowsuit, so things always can be worse. While I was hoping for that "Oh my God it's December and it's special Christmas snow" when I saw snow this year, you know, I think I can live.

Just don't play Christmas music in my direction. I will bite Bing Crosby, damn it!

And those Corona Christmas commercials need to die slowly and painfully.

Jamie Cullum: The Master of Covers

"Shakes it Off"

Jamie Cullum always nails every cover he does whether it's making a shoe-shuffling version of "Singin' in the Rain" to a magically epic "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" or my personal favorite "High and Dry". Essentially, this man cannot suck and I love every bit of that moppish hair and boyish grin of his. Especially with that grin of his is singing Taylor Swift. There's nothing more that I can other say other than watch this, you will not regret it.

Emmy the Great is Making Some Changes and Still is Clever and Ravishing

Speaking of people who simply cannot suck. The Great and Majestic Emma Lee Moss has new music thanks to her recent move to Los Angeles. The move seems almost reported on in her current single, "Swimming Pool" (which features Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts) "I want your sunshine, your tan lines, your blue swimming pool." What was once her quirky and smart anti-folk courtesy of the London scene is now, while still clever, dreamy electropop but then it's only the first single. January cannot come soon enough to hear more of this new sound!
You can read more and enjoy a playlist courtesy of Moss here.
The Prince of Darkness and his Brood are Back!

There was ham-throwing, dogs pooping, Ozzy screaming for Sharon, Kelly pouting, Jack moans lustfully that "the McRib is back" and getting shit for it. Madness is going to ensue on VH1 as of ... well, I hope very soon. While not as crazy as the original show and barely a season The Osbournes will highlight what rock's first reality TV stars have been up to lately, although that might be barely a stretch for people who are obsessed with them. (Kelly having been on "Fashion Police" and recently as a voice-over actress on the Disney show "7D", Sharon doing her thing on "The Talk" and "America's Got Channel" and Jack's documentary career on National Geographic and ITV.) Naturally, I am obsessed with Kelly Osbourne so I, of all people, would know these things. 
But what brought this on? "Ozzy's decided he wants to do another few episodes, about eight, of The Osbournes.... He's said for the three years we did it he was drunk the whole time and he'd like to be sober," said Sharon. Knowing that Kelly wasn't in the greatest state of mind either and now finally finding herself, hell, why not bring them back? Maybe 8 episodes will evolve into more. And who doesn't want to see Jack's adorable little girl, Pearl, being held by her legendary grandfather? I DO! 
And now, a scene where Ozzy yells at the dog. < br/>

So Daniel Radcliffe Did Something Amazing on Jimmy Fallon... . ..So amazing that it explains itself!


Lake Street Dive Takes a Trip to the  "Love Shack"
As a Halloween video to their fans, Lake Street Dive dressed up in nutty costumes and grooved out to the B52's guilty pleasure. What results is just plain goofiness complete with a little swim.


Horror Icons Help Out Animated Poe Adaptation

Guilermo del Toro, Christopher Lee. Bela Lugosi. Roger Corman. Those names alone alongside Edgar Allan Poe in one sentence would be enough to induce heart palpitations for the literary nerd. But Raul Garcia, master animator on such Disney classic as "Aladdin," "Pocahontas" and "The Lion King" has found a way to animate the immortal macabre tales in an episodic series using different animation styles, much in the spirit of Michel Ocelot. "The Masque of the Red Death" is influenced by Egon Schiele, "The Pit and the Pendulum" by mid 19th century photography etc etc.  You can find the trailer here.
Revived Ripper Street Comes Back Today!

After all of the petitions and begging the BBC to not cancel this amazing series, "Ripper Street" will be gracing computer screens everywhere sometime tonight and I cannot be more excited! In this new season, we should expect some pretty amazing things like Molly from Sherlock (Louise Brealey), Rose finally in a good place, new ventures for Long Susan (Myanna Buring), and hopefully more of Jackson's "lack of propriety." Bring it. I'm so excited, I'm doing a happy dance.  
On the inside. 
Because I'm sleepy. 

Master-Cellist Unwoman Welcomes Us to The Muppet Show

This woman can do anything. Covers of Tori Amos, The White Stripes, Ladytron, 4 Non Blondes, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper. Girl can do everything and anything. So how about "The Muppet Show" theme? Sure! Why not? 

Essie has always had a few rather hokey line names, but this one definitely takes the hokey award of all awards. But despite the name, some of these colors have a pretty great chance in my book. So CVS, stock this in another week because I need to do the scotch tape test on "Jiggle hi, Jiggle low" and "Back in the Limo" because pink and red colors, to me, are just so generic! What tickles your pleasure?

Between coffee-tasting and tea-tasting days (there's a difference!), I have been putting my creative writing on a higher priority so between the new playlist and that Hocus Pocus piece, the blog juices are a-flowing and the V-Spot folder in my bookmarks is full of things that are pretty amazing. I repeat, amazing.

"Penny Dreadful" is Bleeding 

to Come Back!

And honestly, I can't wait! "Penny Dreadful" is a feast for the Victorian-loving senses (and you can quote me on that!). While I can honestly say that the first season's storyline being all knitted and tied up too quickly is the possible downfall of John Logan's series despite the amazing acting from Eva Green, Harry Treadway and Josh Hartnett. But one season is one season, a way for Showtime to know what they have. But let's just hope that Logan will be able to embellish and, like a good Victorian novel, spend pages and pages describing this beautiful sense of longing with these Gothic characters. For now, let's enjoy a promo because "the past [might] return." Bring it! I'm ready!

(Josh Hartnett making out with Reeve Carney again! Josh Hartnett making out with Reeve Carney again! I mean, ahem....)

Penny Dreadful Season 1 is AVAILABLE NOW ON DVD! So you know what to get me for my birthday or Christmas, right? Right???


Say Goodbye to Mr. Mickey Rooney  in the latest adaptation of "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

With two well accolighted veteran actors in Margaret O'Brien and the late Mickey Rooney, B. Luciano Barsuglia's adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story looks pretty good to me. Add the 12th Doctor's distant cousin, actor Gianni Capaldi playing Mr. Hyde and we certainly have a strange production coming our way. Toss into the weird salad two actors playing the normally dual role, Mickey Rooney not dressed in Victorian attire, and the trailer still feeling somewhat ambiguous, damn it, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THIS IS! Tell me what magical insanity this is! Please? Let's Take a Moment to Remind Ourselves Sean Lennon is Awesome-r Than the Rest of Us I literally have no words to explain how awesome this is. So let us take these magical four minutes to take in this man's brilliant words. Amen. Blessed Be. And Another Reason Why Donkeyboy  is My "Hero" ... and not in a Bette Midler Kind of Way ...

There is absolutely no lie when I say that Donkeyboy is amazing and have the inability to suck, because Cato Sundberg is amazing with everything he composes. While he can't take the whole credit for this new song "Hero" as this was the first 100 % Donkeyboy-produced and written song with the exception of a few lyrics thrown in by Canadian songstress Kiesza (who also helped out on "Triggerfinger"). But damn it, this is just good and Scandipop is right that you start singing along midway through. I'm starting to lose the words of how good these guys are. Just, damn it! Check out the boys performing the new hit on NRK TV!
Ages and Ages NEW VIDEO!

Remember that band that I mentioned once that their music could help change the world? Yeah, they took that opening song from the album and made it into a beautiful video. Despite the fact they dumped the driving introduction that absolutely rocks my socks off, the video is full of the intricate work of instruments and voices shot-by-shot. And that's amazing. So I must share this because every time someone plays Ages and Ages, humanity receives more hope. I really hope I'm right about that. Oh, and Tim Perry talks to his cat.

Conan O'Brien Holds George Harrison Week and It Was...

...Lukewarm. I'm sorry, it was totally lukewarm with some pretty dynamic moments. I have always loved Mr. O'Brien and everything he associates himself with (that epic throw-down three-way between him, John Stewart and Stephen Colbert? Uh, yeah.). With the advent of Harrison's reissued "The Apple Years: 1968-1975," the O'Brien bandwagon leapt to showcase many artists throughout the week playing in the former Beatle's honor. And it was... yeah, it was very lukewarm. Beck kicked off the week with a classic from "All Things Must Pass" which came across well-played but with not much vocal strength. Tuesday was blessed by Paul Simon covering "Here Comes the Sun" and once more, there was something lacking I just wasn't feeling. The Bob Dylan-esque vocals, perhaps? Harrison's own son came on Wednesday night to serve the world the best night covering not only a rocking yet simultaneously soulful "Let it Down" but also a web exclusive featuring Jon Bates of Big Black Delta giving a folky rendition of "Ballad of Frankie Crisp (Let it Roll)." Norah Jones finished off the week with a pretty not incredibly exciting "Behind the Locked Door".  But that was only the tip of a very cool iceberg as Sunday night was George Fest at the Los Angeles' Fonda Theater, which was just a huge explosion of music, including Brian Wilson, "Weird Al" Yankovic, The Killers, Dhani Harrison, Spoon, Velvet Revolver, "that guy" from The Eurythmics Dave Stewart, Ringo Starr, Kara DioGuardi, Ann Wilson, The Flaming Lips, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club among many others. This magical night was not only a George Harrison "church service," so to speak, but also a benefit for the Jameson Neighborhood Fund which 100 percent of the tickets went to. You can watch a lot of the magic here. But Mr. O'Brien proved his Beatle nerdiness as he covered "Old Black Shoe" both vocally and on guitar. I immediately gave infinity points to Gryffindor. 
And the Honorary V-Spot Award of Life  Goes to... ME GETTING A PICTURE WITH SHARON VAN ETTEN LAST MONDAY! You can see it all on my face, "Dear Goddess, her arm is around me and WHAT THE HELL her head is on my cheek. Keep it together B! *internally screaming*"

We all know the classic lines, the dance moves (what? I can't be the only one!) and the majesty that is Bette Midler, but after awhile you have to wonder a few things, that is, if not the anachronistic stuff. You know, like when Winifred Sanderson jokes "Pull over, I want to see your driver's permit" or that the Sanderson sisters were burned in October 31, 1692 when the witchcraft hysteria literally just ended a few days before (as well as resulting in the death of my ancestor, Susannah North). Despite my feelings about what "Hocus Pocus" is based on, you have to appreciate Kathy Najmiy's underrated-ness, Sarah Jessica Parker's over the top yet strangely enigmatic seductiveness, and Bette Midler being, simply, Bette Midler. 

• It's very apparent there are no pictures of the Sanderson sisters in the museum/home yet somehow those three little girls who stole their brooms dressed up as the witches are strangely accurate to their outfits. 

• The end of "Hocus Pocus" is very indicative of how old you are. If you're younger, the brother-sister dynamic kind of flies over your head. When you're older, you're just a huge sobbing mess wanting to hug your siblings... or a cat... BINX!! :(

• If Thackeray Binx in cat-form can talk then why didn't he try to get his Dad's attention versus just meowing and brushing his leg? (I understand why plot-wise, but in the moment, come on!)

• What is it with that scene between Mary and Winifred when Midler's character is distraught losing her book and getting fanned that's just so perfect? Even with the paper-thin plot, the witchs' characterization is just fantastic and shows off how Winifred prefers Mary over Sarah considering the Billy Butcherson incident.

• Is it really necessary for Sarah to hike up her dress when dancing with "Satan" (Garry Marshall <3)? Her dress really isn't that long! Sexual innuendo, anyone?

• Allison reads from the info cards in the Sanderson museum/house that Winifred sold her soul to the devil, so why is it that Mary and Sarah also call the fake Satan, "Master"? Nurtured behavior from their older sister? 

• Can someone please explain to me how Jay and Ice get dragged miles from that neighborhood out to the Sanderson house? (It's kind of presumed the house is out of the way.) It's impossible to be done by magic otherwise the sisters would have used magical transport when they lost their brooms. There is no way three female witches can lug two teenage boys (especially a hefty one) all the way to their house unless they put them under some kind of spell. #foodforthought