New Year's Daze

What a mellow holiday season it has been. Me, word weary, burnt out and gearing up for a new year - television, resting up for the second half of the season. I'll leave the television blogging to the capable and impressive hands of Televisionary, Give Me My Remote .  I've placed a self imposed vacation from blogging, bereft of ideas, sitting on the mid-season hiatus and routine fatigue. One thing that has kept me going is the fun I had at the amazing Aimee Mann Third Annual Christmas show back on December 18th at the Nokia theater in NYC. It was a cozy, tune filled evening, rocking with jokes and songs that included the melodic and humorous personalities of Mann, Nellie McKay, and Grant Lee Phillips. Comedian Paul K. Tompkins wove stand up and vaudevillian chuckles throughout this old timesy, radioshow-type show.

This isn't really television related; however, SNL's Fred Armisen performed some oddball characters on stage, and some familiar television faces, who could not attend in person, participated in a filmed version of the Aimee Mann version of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", all placed in installments throughout the evening. Those on film were Mann's husband, singer songwriter Michael Penn as Marley, previously mentioned Paul K. Thomkins, host of VH1's "Best Week Ever", as the ghost of Christmas past, "The Office's" John Krasinski as The Ghost of Christmas Present, and actor, now comedic actor John C. Reilly as The Ghost of Christmas future. "Arrested Development's" Michael Cera (also Apatow new found icon) reluctantly played Tiny Tim with all the hatred and bitterness of a young Hollywood actor pissed at predictable stereotype casting. He's hellaciously funny.

The Christmas road show hitched their wagon up to the Tarrytown Music Hall the next night, which I had the luck to have bagged some great seats to re-live the fun in a more intimate venue, only to be kept home by a horrible winter storm - part of a treacherous new winter season - promising to be a real doozy with spring far off in the hazy future. However, in the meantime, I will look forward to Mann's next Christmas tour, but not before the buttery heat of wonderful summer befalls our weary, cracked skin and winter bones.

The film used throughout the show is up on YouTube. Here it is for all who did not see the performance...

Aimee Mann's Christmas Carol - Part 1

Part 2

Part 2/12 - Casting Tiny Tim in Aimee's Christmas Carol

Part 3

Happy New Year...

Now, back to my champagne...