Month: December 2019 (Page 4 of 4)

Though intended for kids, our next entry in The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide is the perfect gift for anybody whose life would be brightened by the presence of a twerking Llama.

The inagural release in ZURU’s Pets Alive line, I’m talking about Boppi, ‘The Booty Shakin’ Llama.

The ZURU Pets Alive range features Boppi, alongside a Magical Unicorn, Cute Scootin’ Hamster, Adorable Angel Fish, Magical Mermaid, and Tiny Turtle. It’s a complete robotic menagerie, and you ought to start with Boppi. I mean, without a booty-shakin’ llama, how are you gonna get the party started?

Kids love robotic animals, and parents, as much as they try to hide it, love goofy robotic toys like “Tickle Me Elmo.” Boppi manages to put a new spin on this by dancing like a maniac in a hilarious way that kids will never get tired of.

You sort of have to see Boppi, ‘The Booty Shaking’ Llama steal the show with her unique ‘twerking’ and ‘head-spinning’ dance moves. Boppi dances to three catchy songs and is set to be a hit with kids and adults alike.

Check out this video…

And read the PR…

ZURU’s Pets Alive new robotics collection of fun and playful pets is led by Boppi the Booty Shakin’’ Llama! With countless ways to interact and play, these toys will capture hearts and be an instant best friend! Shake it like nobody is watching! Pets Alive Boppi the Booty Shakin’ Llama will get the entire family up dancing and laughing for hours!

Key features include three awesome songs to bop, spin and dance to, robotic booty shaking and head spinning motions, and cute and realistic features and coloring – both white and purple too!

Batteries are included (4xAlkaline AAA required). Boppi is intended for ages 3+, with a suggested price of $19.99. Available at Target, Amazon and Walmart!

This is the perfect gift for anybody who needs a twerking Llama in their lives. And who doesn’t? Seriously, this will put a smile on anyone’s face.

Once again we remind you that you can hear Mel Larch host Curtain Call, the musical theatre program, on The AIR, every Wednesday at 3 PM at The AIR website, or on this embedded radio player…

Once again we turn The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide over to Mrs. PopCulteer, Mel Larch, this time with book choices that make great gifts for very young budding theatre buffs.

These are books for the very young that may well inspire them to develop a life-long love of theatre.

A Is For Audra: Broadway’s Leading Ladies from A to Z
Written by John Robert Allman, Illustrated by Peter Emmerich
Doubleday Books for Young Readers
ISBN 978-0525645405
$16.99 at Amazon

From six time Tony Award winner, Audra McDonald (Ragtime) to Liza with a “Z,” this recently published alphabet book is a showstopper featuring a cavalcade of Broadway’s favorite leading ladies!

Step into the spotlight and celebrate legendary performers from across the decades starting with Audra McDonald, then sing and dance your way through the alphabet with beloved entertainers like Betty Buckley (CATS), Carol Burnett (Once Upon a Mattress), Patti LuPone (Evita), Bernadette Peters (Into The Woods), Chita Rivera (West Side Story), Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon), Kristin Chenoweth (You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown), Liza Minelli (Flora, The Red Menace) and many more!

While Allman and Emmerich’s book is aimed at readers aged 3 to 7 as a way of introducing them to iconic musicals and female performers, Broadway fans and theatre lovers of all ages will give a standing ovation to this one-of-a-kind tribute. Allman’s text is full of toe-tapping rhymes and Emmerich’s colorful, vibrant illustrations are as bright and beautiful as the shining lights on any theater marquee.

A Is For Audra is more than a fun introduction to the world of musical theatre for young readers–it’s also a gift that keeps on giving. A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA). BCEFA, one of our nation’s leading nonprofit AIDS fundraising organizations for over thirty years, has raised more than $300 million to provide essential services for people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC.

You can find A Is For Audra through bookstores, or at Amazon.

Me and the Sky: Captain Beverley Bass, Pioneering Pilot
Written by Beverley Bass, with Cynthia Williams, Illustrated by Joanie Stone
Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN 978-0525645498
$10.99 at Amazon

The Tony Award-winning musical Come From Away is based on the remarkable true story of a small town that welcomed the world. On September 11, 2001, 38 planes and 6,579 passengers were forced to land in the provincial town of Gander, Newfoundland due to the closure of US airspace.

The citizens of Gander, in an amazing display of kindness, opened their arms to the displaced, exhausted, and distraught travelers. While there were rough moments in the ensuing days, the spirit of trust and goodwill prevailed and many enduring friendships were formed between the people of Gander and their unexpected visitors. It is that same spirit that has delighted and moved audiences since Come From Away debuted on Broadway in 2017.

One of the show’s main characters is Beverley Bass, a trailblazer for women in the field of commercial avaiation. Her stage incarnation performs a song near the end of the show titled “Me and the Sky,” in which she sings of her dream of being a pilot, breaking aviation’s glass ceiling–and ultimately the pain and loss of that fateful day in 2001.

Now the real Beverley Bass has collaborated with Cynthia Williams and Joanie Stone to tell her story for young readers. Me and the Sky: Captain Beverley Bass, Pioneering Pilot, is her recently released picture-book autobiography.

As a young girl in the late 1950’s, Beverley told her parents she wanted to fly planes. They told her that girls couldn’t be pilots. Still, they encouraged their daughter and brought her to a nearby airport to watch the planes take off and land.

After decades of refusing to take “no” for an answer, in 1986 Beverley became the first female pilot promoted to Captain by American Airlines. Shortly thereafter, she led the first all-female crewed flight. And in 1999, she became the first female captain of a Boeing 777, the world’s biggest twinjet, in an airline operation. But her revolutionary career became even more newsworthy after her unexpected journey to Gander. After several days there, she flew her crew and passengers safely home.

Bass and Williams have created an engaging book about persuing your dreams with persistence and determination. Stone’s lovely illustrations, which are drawn in a mid-century children’s books style, perfectly capture the high spirits and determination of the little girl who would climb up on her family’s washing machine & jump off of it, pretending to fly, to a confident young woman at the control panel of an American Airlines plane. Appropriate for ages 4 – 8, this would be an especially wonderful gift for the young girl on your holiday list who may be interested in a traditionally male-dominated career and is already hearing a lot of “you can’t do that because you’re a girl” from others in her life.

Jellicle Cats: Old Possum Picture Books
Written by T.S. Eliot, Illustrated by Arthur Robins
Faber & Faber Children’s
ISBN 9780571333417
$9.95 at Amazon

One of the widely anticipated holiday film releases this December is CATS, based on the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Directed by Tom Hooper, who brought Les Miserables to the big screen in 2012, it features an all star cast, including James Corden, Dame Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Sir Ian McKellan, Taylor Swift and Rebel Wilson.

But before the film and the musical, there was the book that started it all: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, the renowned poet, playwright, (The Waste Land, Murder in the Cathedral) and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. First published in 1939 by Faber & Faber, it is a collection of poems written by Eliot in the 1930’s under the assumed name of “Old Possum” for his two godchildren. There have been numerous editions re-published in the years since, illustrated by artists including Rebecca Ashdown, Axel Scheffler, and most notably, Edward Gorey, in an edition that was published in 1982 when CATS debuted on Broadway.

While any of the above editions of the Practical Cats would be an excellent addition to any family bookshelf, Faber & Faber Children’s have released a series of Old Possum Picture Books, which focus on some of the show’s popular characters, including the villainous Macavity, “magical Mister Mistoffelees,” the efficient railway cat, Skimbleshanks, and the mischevious duo of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. Jellicle Cats, the fourth book in the series, introduces us to the feline tribe at the heart of the musical, as they prepare to dance the night away at their annual Jellicle Ball.

This book is a pure delight from start to finish that will not only delight very young readers, but young at heart ones as well. Eliot’s whimsical verses, combined with Robins’ colorful and charming illustrations, beautifully capture these playful “dear little cats” as they prepare for their annual gathering. (Author’s note: Eliot’s definition in the poem aside, people still wonder just what exactly “Jellicle” means. Years ago, I attended a “Backstage on Broadway” seminar conducted by Timothy Scott, who originated the role of Mr. Mistoffelees on Broadway. According to him, the words “pollicles” and “jellicles,” which appear in both the original poems and the show’s lyrics, meant “poor little dog” and “dear little cat,” respectively. So there you have it, straight from the cat’s mouth.)

Hopefully Faber & Faber Children’s will add some new titles devoted some of the other characters to the series, as this film adaptation introduces CATS to a new generation.

If you have a little one on your gift list who loves kitties, this book–or any of the others in the Old Possum Picture Books series–would be a “purrfect” way to give them a great “Memory” of this timeless musical.

Check back during The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide for one more post featuring gifts for the theatre lover in your life.

The AIR is in reruns this week as we prepare for our holiday programming, which starts next week.  But you can hear tracks from our next gift suggestion in The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide at 3 PM on The Swing Shift.

You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

If you have someone your shopping list who loves great Swing Music, then you need to introduce them to Jack’s Cats.

Swing clarinetist and saxman Jack Malmstrom and his Cats recently stepped out of the late 1940s and arrived in present day Los Angeles to the delight and occasional bewilderment of vintage jazz fans and swing dancers. The Cats are grateful to maintain a very active schedule holding forth for audiences amused to discover their performances overflowing with hand-picked standards, forgotten gems and Jack’s Cats original tunes. The show’s not all on the bandstand though — The Cats always attract a friendly, enthusiastic dance crowd.

Earlier this year Jack’s Cats released their album, The State of Swing, and it’s a real treat for anyone who likes great Swing music. You can order a hard copy, which makes it much easier to wrap, from CD Baby.You get fourteen all new original swing tunes by Jack’s Cats, plus a bonus track if you download it from Bandcamp. At 3 PM Wednesday, you can hear the title track open The Swing Shift.

“The State of Swing” is just one of the new original Swing compositions on the album, which you can download HERE. Listen to The Swing Shift for a special offer if you’re going to be in the Southern California area. Meanwhile, see what Jack says about the new album:

What is the state of this music we call swing? Seeking new expression, art constantly evolves, expanding outward, exploding into countless new styles. But are fresh ideas only to be discovered in uncharted territory? What might result when the creative search for The New is focused within a past genre? Our ongoing exploration of a style we call “Pre-Bop” — when jazz was popular music — led to this collection. These all new, original compositions are performed in a more-or-less mid-century style, but be prepared for a surprise or two.

We hope you’ll discover what we have: The state of swing is alive, exciting, intelligent, danceable — and fun!

You can order The State of Swing by Jack’s Cats from the links above.

Next up in The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide we go back to a book I reviewed very favorably earlier this year. This is the perfect gift for the Tiki aficianado on your holiday shopping list.

Kahiki Supper Club: A Polynesian Paradise in Columbus
by David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker with Jeff Chenault and Doug Motz
The History Press
ISBN-13: 978-1626195943
$19.99 (discounted at Amazon)

It was pretty wild to discover that one of the greatest Tiki establishments ever was in nearby Columbus, but that it had been demolished nineteen years ago. This book tells the story of the famed Kahiki Supper Club.

As the book blurb explains, “Inspired by Florida’s famed Mai-Kai restaurant, Bill Sapp and Lee Henry opened the Kahiki Supper Club in 1961. They set out simply to build a nice Polynesian restaurant and ended up establishing the most magnificent one of them all. Patrons lined up for hours to see the celebrities who dined there–everyone from Betty White to Raymond Burr. Outside, two giant Easter Island heads with flames spouting from their topknots stood guard while customers dined in a faux tribal village with thatched huts, palm trees and a towering fireplace moai. One wall featured aquariums of exotic fish and another had windows overlooking a tropical rainforest with periodic thunderstorms. For nearly forty years, the Kahiki was the undisputed center of tiki culture.”

The Ohio-based father-daughter team of Meyers and Meyers Walker were looking for a subject for their next book of local history when both Chenault and Motz urged them to tackle the Kahiki. They opted to include them as co-authors, and the result is a lovely work of history as entertainment.

Lavishly-researched and annotated, with a wealth of color and black-and-white images, Kahiki Supper Club: A Polynesian Paradise in Columbus, covers its subject in a brilliant fashion. This book explores the origins of the restaurant, it’s design and construction, the operation during its heyday, celebrity patrons and the eventual sale of the business and demolition of the building. You know dining at the Kahiki had to be a remarkable experience because folks had to cross a moat and enter between two flaming moai (seen left)

The authors create a narrative that moves smoothly from third-person presentation to an oral history given by the employees, customers and family members of the owners. This is a fascinating story, told very well and it’s a hard book to put down. This is the type of book that makes history so entertaining as a subject.

In addition to telling the story of the Kahiki, the book also presents a few recipes for meals and drinks, and follows the story beyond the closing of the restaurant, to the dispersal of some of the artifacts and architecture of the five-story-high building shaped like a giant outrigger.

The book is a must-read for any fan of Tiki culture, or anybody who was ever lucky enough to experience the Kahiki Supper Club before it was demolished to make way for a Walgreens.

Kahiki lives on as a line of frozen Asian cuisine, which was a project started by the second owner of the club.

It’s a fascinating story, and will make a great gift for anyone with an interest in Tiki, the restaurant business or Columbus. Order it with the ISBN number above, or go to Amazon.

Last July when I went to Chicago to see True West, we stayed at The Wit, a hotel right on the Northern edge of The Loop.  This week’s art is yet another pencil drawing using the Blackwing Palamino pencil that has been my weapon of choice of late. I took several photos from the lobby, and used elements of those as reference for this pencil rendition of a street scene, looking out at North State Street, just outside of the fabled Loop.

That sculpture in the center of the drawing is Loop Da Loop, by John Adduci, which was installed in 2017 and which is often misidentified as “Gateway” on some maps. I’m looking your way, Google maps.

I worked on this one at a more leisurely pace over the last couple of weeks s that I didn’t cramp up my hands. Going for photorealism is a challenge and a great exercise in regaining pencil control and hand-eye coordination, but it’s really just an exercise. I’m hoping to get my chops back so that I can go off in some more surrealistic directions and inject a bit more creativity into my work.

If you wish, you can click this image to see it bigger.

Meanwhile, over in radio-land, Monday on The AIR, our Monday Marathon presents eight hours of holiday music starting at 7 AM. You can expect to hear more blooks of holiday tunes over the coming weeks as we use the shortened Christmas season as an excuse to slack off and bring you special programming. At 3 PM we are expecting to bring you am encore episode of Prognosis from a couple of months ago with Herman Linte presenting quality progressive rock music.

You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

Also, some time after noon today you can expect one more entry in The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide. With our new plan for the gift guide, the plan is to continue to offer up a gift idea or three every day until December 13.

Gift Guide/Sunday Evening Videos: Disney+

At the bottom of this post you,ll see a trailer and a video puff piece promoting Disney+. the new streaming service that is the next pick in The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide.

Disney+ is the perfect gift for the whole family, particularly if that family includes people who enjoy Disney, Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, The Muppets, The Simpsons or any other iconic family of television properties that’s been sucked into the corporate black hole of Disney.

Of course, being a streaming service, it’s going to be a pain to wrap. Disney+ is a subscription video on-demand streaming service owned and operated by the Direct-to-Consumer & International division of The Walt Disney Company.

This streaming app/channel offers films and television series produced by The Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Television, with the service advertising content from Disney’s Marvel, National Geographic, Pixar, and Star Wars brands.

Original films and television series are also distributed on Disney+, with ten films and seven series deburing when the service debuted last month. Disney+ focuses on “family-oriented entertainment”, and does not feature R-rated films or TV-MA-rated programming.

So far, the big breakout hit on Disney+ seems to the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. Word of mouth on the service, after a shaky technical start on thei first day, has been overwhelmingly positive.

You can sign up for Disney+ for $6.99 a month, or get a whole year for $69.99. If you enjoy any of the Disney family of entertainment properties, it’s a bargain. You can also bundle Disney+ with Hulu, for more adult content, and ESPN+ for sports content. Unfortunately, you have to bundle with both of those additional services, which sucks for people who hate sports and resent paying inflated cable or satellite prices because they can’t just dump ESPN.

Disney+ is a great gift idea, even if you’re just getting it for yourself.