Show Prep 194

Greetings and Salutations, People: And welcome to the first, non Mayan-scheduled day. Hope it’s going well for you. Merry Christmas to all, and more importantly, Happy Festivus Eve! This is Vertically Striped Radio, I am Craig Dodge, and let’s do this thing…

VSR is brought to you by the Amazon.com link on VerticallyStripedSocks.com.

Tweet of the Week:  

@ChaseMit
Sometimes I like to mix things up by going big and then also going home.

Things I liked this week:

Christmas Music

Getting a Christmas gift of tickets to the Broncos-Browns game tomorrow.

Today on VSR – It’s the Christmas show, and we’re doing Christmas right with a Magnificent Seven – 7 Worst Christmas Songs and we’re convening the He-Man Movie Watchers Club to discuss A Christmas Story.

If you’d like to join in the fun - (646) 716-7522 OR OHMS-1-MRLAB

(Bring on Face) –

Let’s get to the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)

Let’s get to the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03) 

Fort Worth, TEXAS – A handcuffed burglary suspect has escaped from police in Texas - by driving off in their squad car.

Officers from White Settlement near Fort Worth had arrested 41-year-old Darren Porter last Friday on suspicion of breaking into an antiques shop.

But when they left him alone for a few minutes in the back of their car, he managed to roll down a window, reach out and open the door.

Video from a dashboard camera in another squad car shows him then climbing into the driver's seat and taking off.

The second police car then shot off in pursuit, but to no avail.

The antique shop owner, Kenny Boone, said it was a comical scene.

"It kind of reminded me of the Keystone cops," he joked. "They were all running for their police car to chase this guy. I shouldn’t say it was funny but it was kind of comical."

The police car was found abandoned in Fort Worth soon afterwards, but Porter was still at large on Tuesday morning.

White Settlement Police Department said the window switches in the back of their squad cars are supposed to be disabled.

But apparently not in this case.

Officers are now checking their other vehicles to make sure the back windows do not open.

Santa Cruz, ARGENTINA - An Argentinian woman is planning to marry the man convicted of killing her twin sister - but her mother is determined to stop the wedding.

Victor Cingolani is serving a 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend Johana Casas. The 19-year-old model's body was found with two gunshot wounds in 2010. Victor also happens to be engaged to Johana’s twin sister Edith.

Edith and Victor are planning to hold the service in a prison in Santa Cruz and the nuptials are drawing intense media interest.

Edith, age 22, said her husband-to-be is innocent and described him as somebody "who would not hurt a fly". However, her mother, Marcelina Orellana, has vowed to do everything she can to prevent the marriage going ahead.

"We know this will be hard because she is an adult, but we will go to court to try to have her examined by a psychiatrist," she said.

"As far as we are concerned, she does not know what she is doing."

Edith has accused her mother of abandoning her and her sister, and said: "She cannot say I need a psychiatrist because I am fully aware of what I am doing."

Victor, who insists he is not guilty of the murder, added: "I loved Johana, but I love Edith. I have a beautiful bride and I am going to marry her."

I’m Craig, and that is the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)

Bring on the Whale

Band name of the week:

Lloyd Dobler’s Boombox

I am anti-Santa, but pro-Christmas.

I’ve explained my position many times, but it’s nice when someone you respect agrees with you.

Flula on Santa: (Clip 49)

Magnificent Seven - 7 Worst Christmas songs:

Honorable Mention:

Bar Side Rambling Christmas Song (Clip 41)

7. Hey Santa – Carnie and Wendy Wilson – Ugh. Just ugh.

6. Cherry Cherry Christmas – Neil Diamond – Neil channeling the spirit of Dr Suess

5. Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk this Christmas – John Denver – So ridiculous, you’d almost think it was from Saturday Night Live

4. Christmas Song – The Chimpmunks – So Squeaky

3. Santa Baby – Madonna – So whiny

2. Last Christmas – Wham – So cheeseball

1. Ay Ay Ay, It’s Christmas – Ricky Martin and Rosie O’Donnell – This song makes one question their belief in a loving God.

If you’re going to do a terrible Christmas song, do it RIGHT!

Steve Maudlin – O Holy Night (Clip 50)

He-Man Movie Watchers Club: (Into Clip 12)

A Christmas Story-

Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time.

Best movie ever without an actual plot. The only other true example I can find is Forrest Gump. Clearly A Christmas Story is a superior film…even if The Academy gave Forrest Gump a Best Picture Oscar.

What makes it one of my Christmas favorites is that it doesn’t idealize Christmas. The characters in the story are all very flawed and the world they live in is dark. There is a complete kid vs. adult aura about the entire world.

Memorable Visuals:

Randy so bundled up he can’t put his arms down

Flick gets his tongue stuck to the flagpole

Ralphie with soap in his mouth

Ralphie in the pink bunny suit

Leg lamp in the front window

Bumpus Hounds steal the turkey

Chinese waiters singing “Fa ra ra ra ra”

Best Secondary Character:

Christmas Tree Salesman

Mrs. Shields

Scut Farkus - When the character of Scut Farkas first appears, the "Wolf" music from Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" plays in the background. The name "Farkas" is derived from the Hungarian word for "wolf".

Grover Dill – the toadie

Flick - For the scene in which Flick's tongue sticks to the flagpole, a hidden suction tube was used to safely create the illusion that his tongue had frozen to the metal.

Department Store Santa Claus

Kid with Goggles in the Santa line

Trivia and Notes:

Movie is set in Hammond, Indiana in the 1940s. Filmed in Cleveland, Ohio with the school scenes filmed at Victoria School in St. Catharine's, Ontario, Canada.

The Orphan Annie radio decoder pin that Ralphie receives is the 1940 "Speedomatic" model, indicating that the movie takes place in December, 1940. Different decoder badges were made each year from 1935-1940. By 1941, the decoders were made of paper.

Jean Shepherd's book "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash", which the film is partly based on, is a collection of short stories that Jean Shepherd wrote for "Playboy" magazine during the 1960s, including the stories about the tongue sticking to the flagpole, and eating Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

Ralphie says that he wanted the "Red Ryder BB Gun" 28 times.

Radio Announcer for Little Orphan Annie sounds like Marv Albert

There is a debate about when the film takes place. Evidence seems to point to 1939 because of The Wizard of Oz references. The decoder ring points to 1940. However, if you look at the calendar on the wall (during the first dinner sequence), you can clearly see the first of December falls on a Friday. December 1st fell on a Friday in 1939, not 1940 as was previously accepted.

The Chinese restaurant is named 'Bo Ling's'. There is a neon sign across the top of the storefront that reads 'Bowling', except the 'W' is not lit.

In 2005, the original home used for the exterior shots of the family home was put up for auction on eBay and avid fan of the movie Brian Jones managed to purchase the home directly from the seller for $150,000.00 USD. Jones then spent the following year restoring the home to the way it looked on screen. The exterior of the home was completely restored and the interior was renovated to match the interior of the home shown in the movie. (Parts of the interior was actually filmed in a Toronto studio) On November 25th, 2006, the famous home finally opened its doors as a tourist attraction. Jones spent close to $500,000.00 USD in preparation for this grand opening. In addition, Jones also purchased the house next door and converted it to a gift shop and museum dedicated to the film and the house. The real house used during filming can be found at 3159 W 11th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Pictures and a "Street View" of the house can be seen on Google Maps. A nearby street that intersects with W. 11th St is Clark Avenue.

To contact VSR via email:
Email address: radio@verticallystripedsocks.com

Voice Mail – 720-CUB-1-ACE (720-282-1223)

Twitter: @socnorb777

Vertically Striped Music Recommendation:

Colorado Christmas – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Show Prep 190

Greetings and Salutations, People:

VSR is brought to you by the Amazon.com link on VerticallyStripedSocks.com.

Sadness bearing down this week:

Sonia with cancer

Colleen’s nephew with Trisomy 13

Javon Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs committing a Murder-Suicide this morning

Tweet of the Week:  

@KenJennings
"Why can't anything be easy?!?" I moaned as my real-time handheld connection to all the world's information briefly ran slower than usual.

Things I liked this week:

Life of Pi

My wife being WRONG about tomorrow’s weather for the Broncos-Buccaneers game (According to forecasts)

Today on VSR – I try to work out some of my inner demons as I present a Magnificent Seven list of things that make me act in a way I shouldn’t and a story about one of the weirdest lawsuits I’ve ever heard that actually WON.

If you’d like to join in the fun - (646) 716-7522 OR OHMS-1-MRLAB

(Bring on Face) –

Let’s get to the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)

Let’s get to the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03) 

Portales, NEW MEXICO - A university graduate, apparently feeling guilty over a student prank years ago, has sent a box of toilet paper to repay his alma mater for loot taken from a dormitory.

Eastern New Mexico University received the yuletide gift box this week along with a Christmas card and written apology.

The box contained five packages of 16 rolls of two-ply, septic-safe tissue - a total of 80 rolls.

The anonymous writer apologized for stealing bathroom tissue years ago and said a new dedication to Christian faith led to the deed.

The handwritten message read: "Years ago when I was a young immature college student I took toilet paper from your dormitory as a prank.

"I apologize for that and offer this case.”

"Jesus Christ has made such a difference in my life and has prompted me to repay for any sins I've done even from so long ago.”

"God Bless and Merry Christmas."

It was unclear whether the gift itself was a prank. But university officials say "all is forgiven".

"We express our admiration to the anonymous donor for their integrity and character," Wendel Sloan, director of the school's media relations said.

"We never even knew that the toilet tissue was missing, but thank our graduate for doing what they thought was right."

The university said it is donating the TP to a Christian children's home, since the rolls did not fit their bathroom dispensers.

Staten Island – NEW YORK - Shop and office workers in New York's Staten Island spotted a strange sight as they glanced out of their windows.

Outside, in a shopping centre car park, a zebra was seen trotting down the road accompanied on the jaunt by a pony pal.

Video of the runaway equines was captured by shop owner Zachary Osher.

"I was sitting at my desk at about 9.20am when I saw a zebra and pony run back and forth across the street, almost getting hit by a car," he told SILive.com.

"About 30 seconds later, I saw two men in dark black suits carrying lassoes running across the street."

He added: "I have no idea how it (the zebra) got there ... I figured (the men with lassoes) knew what to do."

A police spokesman said the zebra and miniature horse were corralled and returned to a petting zoo.

NORTHERN CHINA - So, here’s the scenario: A man from northern China meets attractive woman and they marry. All is well until attractive woman gives birth to a baby girl. A baby so ugly that her husband finds the child so repulsive to look at he’s convinced his wife’s genes are responsible for the ugly baby. So, he files for divorce on the grounds of “false pretences” and wins a six-figure fine from her, the result of his lawsuit.

Sounds impossible, right? Strangely, it’s the true story of Jian Feng and his now ex-wife who remains unnamed. After their baby girl was born, the baby was so ugly that Feng was certain his wife had cheated on him with another man.

He demanded a DNA test thinking it would prove his wife had become impregnated by some other man and the baby wasn’t his. But, when the test results came back it proved Feng was in fact the biological father, he made the choice every father makes—to apologize and accept his daughter as is.

Oh, wait. That’s not what he did. He decided to sue his wife to prove his ugly child was all her fault genetically. You would think any judge would have laughed this case right out of court, but again, not what happened.

                               

Feng’s wife admitted that before she met her husband-to-be she had $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery performed in South Korea. This backed up Feng’s claim of “false pretenses” that by not revealing her plastic surgery to him before the marriage, she tricked him. The judge sided with Feng and ordered the wife to pay him $120,000.

I’m Craig, and that is the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)

Bring on the Whale

Band name of the week:

Headline: Kung fu nuns teach cosmic energy to CERN scientists – Band name of the week: Kung Fu Nuns

Lottery Fever Grips America:

Lebron bought some tickets

Simpson’s Game –

Homer’s Task: Walk around feeling superior – Mocking Hipsters.

I can’t help but feeling superior. I don’t like that about me.

Magnificent Seven – 7 things people do that make me feel superior. (Even though I’m not.)

7. Listen to Country Music.

6. Drive slow in the left lane.

5. Be fat

4. Buy Lotto Tickets

3. Wear Flat Billed Hats

2. Watch Reality TV

1. Be Stupid

To contact VSR via email:
Email address: radio@verticallystripedsocks.com

Voice Mail – 720-CUB-1-ACE (720-282-1223)

Twitter: @socnorb777

Vertically Striped Music Recommendation:

Dear and the Headlights – I’m not crying, You’re not crying, Are you?

Shalom and Good Evening to you all!