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The Drunken Odyssey

~ A Podcast About the Writing Life

The Drunken Odyssey

Category Archives: Christmas literature

Episode 449: A Very German Christmas Discussion (with Vanessa Blakeslee)!

05 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Blog Post, Christmas, Christmas literature, Episode, Poetry

≈ 1 Comment

Episode 449 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about the excellent new anthology, A Very German Christmas, from New Vessel Press.

TEXT DISCUSSED

NOTESScribophile

  • TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.
  • Register with Miami Book Fair Online in order to stream its free events, including a debut poet panel moderated by yours truly.

  • Check out my literary adventure novel, Guy Psycho and the Ziggurat of Shame.

Episode 449 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on Apple podcasts, stitcher, spotify, or click here to stream (right click to download, if that’s your thing).

Episode 396: A Very Scandinavian Christmas!

07 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Christmas, Christmas literature, Episode

≈ Leave a comment

Episode 396 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about the new story anthology, A Very Scandinavian Christmas, from New Vessel Press.

A Very Scandinavian Christmas, now out with New Vessel Press.

In our discussion, we manage to talk about yuletide fellowship, hallucinogens, the possibility of St. Patrick’s Day cookies, and other perennial holiday topics.

TEXT DISCUSSED

This is not a paid advertisement. I just love New Vessel Press’s books.

NOTES

This episode is sponsored by the excellent people at Scribophile.

Scribophile

TDO Listeners can get 20% of a premium subscription to Scribophile. After using the above link to register for a basic account, go here while still logged in to upgrade the account with the discount.

Check out Vanessa and I talking about A Very Italian Christmas last year, or she and I talking about A Very French Christmas back in 2017.

Episode 291: A Very French Christmas!

09 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Blog Post, Christmas, Christmas literature, Craft of Fiction Writing, Episode

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Very French Christmas, New Vessel Press, Vanessa Blakeslee

Episode 291 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

In this week’s episode, I talk with Vanessa Blakeslee about the new fiction anthology, A Very French Christmas, from New Vessel Press.

VeryFrenchChristmas-FrontCover

NOTES

Some context for the dubious Dutch tradition of Black Pete.

David Sedaris discusses this in his essay, “6 to 8 Black Men.”

Be sure to check out the music of David Rego, whose song “Harp” appears on this episode.

Dave Rego

Dave Rego


Episode 291 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

The Curator of Schlock #70: The Muppet Christmas Carol (Redux)

26 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Christmas literature, The Curator of Schlock

≈ Leave a comment

The Curator of Schlock #70 by Jeff Shuster

The Muppet Christmas Carol (Redux)

Yeah, I’m revisiting the movie!

Okay. I’ll admit I can be a bit of an ogre when it comes to my own personal taste. We all have our Christmas Carols. I grew up with Scrooge the Musical, the one with Albert Finney. Other people swear by the 1951 adaptation starring Alastair Sim. I had a delayed reaction after viewing The Muppet Christmas Carol last week. That delayed reaction was revulsion. I had known about The Muppet Christmas Carol for several years, but had avoided it like the plague. Several friends suggested I review it for the blog, and I decided to give it a go.

MuppetC5I knew in the first five minutes that I would have nothing insightful to say about this chestnut so I decided to record my real time reactions. A few days later the film had finally sunk in, and I let it known over social media how terrible I thought the movie was by stating, “The Muppet Christmas Carol was terrible!” You’d think I had kicked someone’s dog by friends’ reaction. Still, I regret my word choice. It’s Christmas Day, and in the spirit of the season, I will give The Muppet Christmas Carol a fair shake. Oh wait. It’s Boxing Day. I think I’ll tear The Muppet Christmas Carol apart. I’m like Pinhead in that respect.

MuppetC1I want to make it clear that I don’t hate Muppets or Muppet movies. The Muppet Movie is childhood favorite of mine. I’m sure The Muppet Christmas Carol is a childhood favorite of other people, and that just makes me depressed. This isn’t a proper adaptation of A Christmas Carol. You can’t just slap a bunch of Muppets on a piece of classic literature and declare “Voila!”  This is like a bad community theatre production of A Christmas Carol starring Muppets. The Muppets slip in and out of character on a whim.

MuppetC2Gonzo states that he’s Charles Dickens only for Rizzo the Rat to blow his cover immediately. So for the rest of the movie I’m trying to figure out whether it’s Charles Dickens providing the narration or Gonzo. It’s never cleared up. Frankly, Gonzo interrupts the story too much.

My favorite Muppet, Animal, is on screen for all of five seconds. He probably read the script and negotiated his part down to a cameo.

Sam Eagle shows up as Scrooge’s headmaster ready to teach the young man the “American Way of Business” only to have Gonzo correct him into saying the British Way. Sam Eagle would never abandon an American tradition in favor of a British one.

Not even as a joke.

MuppetC3Have you seen Sam Eagle? He doesn’t exist in this world to make you laugh!

I think the only one who stays in character throughout the whole movie is Michael Caine’s Scrooge. Since the movie spends so much time on canned Muppet jokes, we get a kind of abridged version of A Christmas Carol. We see a young Scrooge making googly eyes at Belle at Fozziwig’s annual Christmas party only to them break up in the very next scene. There’s no courtship. We don’t get to see Scrooge, the hard man, falling in love only to see him eventually prioritizing money above all else. There’s no tragedy in this movie. All we get are Michael Caine’s crocodile tears to a creepy puppet of an English girl.

There are songs in this movie, but I’d be hard pressed to remember any of them. We see the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, but there’s no Grim Reaper reveal. Scrooge’s redemption comes from the doling out of plastic cheese to some Muppet mice. I’m not seeing a changed man here. If the movie can’t make believe that a miser can turn into a philanthropist, the battle is lost.

MuppetC4I know. I know. That’s just my opinion. Well, you know what? I’m a curator.

Here’s a clip of a missing song between Belle and Scrooge that didn’t make it into the final movie.

Perhaps this song could have made all the difference…Nah!

_______

Photo by Leslie Salas

Photo by Leslie Salas

Jeffrey Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, and episode 131) is an MFA candidate at the University of Central Florida.

The Curator of Schlock #69: The Muppet Christmas Carol

19 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Christmas literature, Film, The Curator of Schlock

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Michael Caine, The Muppets

The Curator of Schlock #69 by Jeffrey Shuster

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Michael Caine Returns to The Museum of Schlock

Muppet Christmas CarolWe’ve gone a whole year without a Michael Caine movie present in The Museum of Schlock. He plays Ebenezer Scrooge in 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol from director Brian Henson. So yeah, it’s Muppets and Michael Caine this week on The Curator of Schlock. Now, I had never seen this movie before so I decided to do something a bit different. Instead of a review, here are 22 live observations of The Muppet Christmas Carol as I watched it.

Kermit as Cratchet 1.     Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat are talking to me through my TV screen. Gonzo insists that he’s Charles Dickens.

2.     Michael Caine is playing an extra evil Ebenezer Scrooge. Random Muppets and vegetables start singing about how mean he is.

3.     Muppets fall behind on their mortgages just like the rest of us.

4.     Kermit is Bob Cratchit. Big surprise there.

5.     Same Christmas Carol crap! His nephew is too nice! Steven Seagal would have lit Michael Kane on fire by now!

6.     Kermit was able to get Christmas Day off. Which is more than I can say for myself all those years toiling at the paper! Claude Thornhill’s Snowfall plays in my head.

7.     There are way too many rats in this motion picture.

8.     Are these Muppets playing human characters or is this an alternate Victorian London where humans and Muppets coexist peacefully?

9.     Scrooge is eating moldy cheese. Ewwwwwwww!!!

10. Jacob and Robert Marley? There was no Robert Marley in the novel!

11. The Muppet of the Ghost of Christmas Past is creeping me out big time!

12. Young Scrooge says, “Who cares about stupid old Christmas?” I care!

13. The Muppet of the Ghost of Christmas Past is still creeping me out big time!

14. Animal!

15. If the Ghost of Christmas Present welcomes Scrooge to Christmas morning then he’s the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, not the Ghost of Christmas Present!

16. Michael Caine is dancing with a giant Muppet!

17. I used to have a crush on Miss Piggy. On second thought, don’t print that.

18. Tiny Tim needs to hurry up and die already!

19. No more singing! Please!

20. Ghost of Christmas Future is scary even in Muppet form!

21. Money-grubbing pigs!

22. Please! Please! No more singing!

_______

Jeffrey Shuster 3

Jeffrey Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, and episode 124) is an MFA candidate at the University of Central Florida.

Episode 29: The Drunken Odyssey Xmas Party

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by thedrunkenodyssey in Christmas literature, Drinking, Episode

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Anna King, Ashley Inguanta, Christmas literature, David Sedaris, Episode, Jamie Poissant, John King, Lisa Claire Roney, Olivia Kate Cerrone, Shakespeare, Steph Jurusz

Episode 29 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.

On this week’s show, I present The Drunken Odyssey Xmas Party, featuring fabulous readings of original work from

Ashley Inguanta

Ashley Inguanta by Olivia Kate Cerrone

Jamie Poissant

Jamie Poissant by Ashley Inguanta

Lisa Claire Roney

Lisa Claire Roney by Ashley Inguanta

Steph Jurusz

Steph Jurusz by Ashley Inguanta

Anna King

Olivia Kate Cerrone

Olivia Kate Cerrone by Ashley Inguanta

and John King

John King by Ashley Inguanta

Special Thanks to Pat Green and Ryan Rivas!

Episode 29 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing, literature, and drinking, is available on iTunes, or right click here to download.
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