Beat Of Her Own Drum

A. Tyrone Ford — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:27:04 +0000

With over ten years of riotous comedy and song parodies that are not to be compared, drag phenomenon Jackie Beat has been serving it to audiences across the U.S. and Europe to rave reviews. Jackie’s stand-up has been heavily featured across the country with spots on Comedy Central, VH-1 and MTV.

Jackie is no stranger to taking on your favorite Divas either, be it Cher, Mariah, Britney, Madonna and the list goes on each performed flawlessly. Jackie’s repertoire include Broadway productions, cruise ships and lead singer of the electroclash band Dirty Sanchez. Her one-woman show “Jackie Beat Is A Whole Lotta’ Love” ran a record 18 months at NYC’s premiere cabaret, Fez.

For your holiday viewing pleasure Jackie Beat sings her scandalous parody of Santa Baby, in a video by Austin Young!

Christmas Pipes

A. Tyrone Ford — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:22:03 +0000

I can’t say that I know exactly what a “Christmas Pipe” is but I can say this is my newest favorite Christmas song. Performed by the Celtic Woman live from the Helix Center in Dublin, Ireland and from their Christmas album “A Christmas Celebration” please enjoy “Christmas Pipes”

As Seen With Child’s Eyes

A. Tyrone Ford — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:23:51 +0000

Published in 1971, Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas is a children’s storybook by Russell Hoban that was adapted in 1977 into a television special by Jim Henson with songs by Paul Williams. What is essentially a twist on The Gift of the Magi, Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas has been the only enduring Christmas tradition I have had since I was a child. It still has such great depth of meaning to this day, perhaps the older I get the more I can understand the lessons that are being taught. That is, I suppose, the most amusing part…that as we grow older we discount children’s literature but it’s these gems that hold such powerful meaning that more adults would (no doubt) benefit from were they to revisit their childhood favorites.

For those not familiar, Wikipedia provides an excellent synopsis:

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas was written by Russell Hoban and illustrated by his then-wife, Lillian Hoban, in 1969. The book was published in 1971 by Parents’ Press Magazine. The story tells of Emmet Otter and his Ma, a widow who scrapes by on the small amount of money she gets from doing laundry and that Emmet gets from doing odd jobs around their home of Frogtown Hollow, despite both of them often being cheated, notably by Old Lady Possum and Gretchen Fox, the mayor’s wife. As Christmas approaches, they hear of a talent contest in the nearby town of Waterville, and separately decide to enter to buy nice presents for each other — a nice guitar for Emmet, or a piano for Ma. However, in a twist on The Gift of the Magi, they must sacrifice each other’s livelihood for the talent contest — Ma hocks Emmet’s tools for dress fabric, while Emmet turns Ma’s washtub into a washtub bass for a jug band.

Emmet and Ma each do an excellent job (despite Emmet’s jug band having to frantically change songs after another contestant performs their song, Bar-b-que), only to be defeated at the last minute by a rock and roll band called The Nightmare(most likely due to the nasty Gretchen Fox on the judging committee), which comprises a hoodlum gang from the fairly distant town of River Bottom. However, as Ma and Emmet’s jug band sing a song together on the way home (more accurately, both of their talent show songs together after Ma realized they fit together), they are overheard by Doc Bullfrog, owner of a local restaurant, who hires them to sing for his customers, thus granting them the bigger prize.

Better Call Tyrone.... » Christmas

Beat Of Her Own Drum

Christmas Pipes

As Seen With Child’s Eyes