The Art of Michael Bedard

Santa Claus Brothers, which premiered last holiday season on YTV in Canada and Disney Channel in the U.S. demonstrates that the gifts under the tree aren't the only surprises for the holiday season. Santa Claus is feeling more old than jolly these days, and hopes that one of his sons will take over the reins of his famous sleigh. To see which son is fit for the job, Santa sends them off in the sleigh on a mission to "Santa?Monica to uncover the real meaning of Christmas. The brothers head to their destination, believing that any place named after their dad must be filled with the spirit of Christmas. They're in for a big surprise! Featuring the voices of BRYAN CRANSTON (Malcolm in the Middle) as Santa and CAROLINE RHEA (Sabrina The Teenage Witch) as Mrs. Claus, the special's original, contagiously fun soundtrack showcases jazz musicians from Great Big Music.Contact UsUrban CappuccinoTop 20 Anime | New Releases & Pre-Order | ClearanceAnaheim Mighty Ducks Replica Player Jersey HomeAuthentisches Anaheim Mighty Ducks Koho Replica Home Trikot mit Spielernummer unVerfügbarkeit: Im Shop überprüfen - Versand ab: Im Shop überprüfen 145.00Von The All American Sports StoreProfilesHamid KarzaiZahir ShahHomeAmericanaAnimalsArchitectureChildren's Room DecorCollegeComicsContemporary ArtEthnic / InternationalFaith & SpiritualityFantasyFigurativeFine Art ReproductionsFloral / BotanicalFood & BeveragesFramed ArtHumorMagnetsMotivationalMoviesMuseum ArtMusicNature / LandscapesPerforming ArtsPhotographyPlaque ArtScience / EducationSportsTelevisionTransportationTravelTrends / LifestylesVintage Art & StyleHome : Contemporary Art : Contemporary Artists : BedardSitting Ducks Print StudioPlatform: Windows, Publisher: focus multimedia ltdDelivery Cost: 3.23 - Department: Software 6.99From AmazonChristine LahtiBeast From 20000 FathomsBeg of HeartsPicture/Sound/Extras: B/C+/BWhile I don't think that 1974's The Year Without a Santa Claus is the best Christmas special ever made, I do believe it contains the greatest holiday song. You can keep your White Christmas , hold onto your Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , forget about Silent Night - I want my Mr. White/Green Christmas !No, these tunes aren't warm or sentimental, and they actually have nothing to do with the holiday. However, I don't care! Also known as the Miser songs, these companion ditties are the main reason anyone remembers Year. I'm sure it would have escaped me years ago without the wonderful production numbers that accompany the songs.As far as I'm concerned, the rest of Year either sets the table for the tunes or it lets us slowly ease out of our joy after they appear. Not that the other parts of the show are bad; actually, Year is a reasonably competent program, though the scenes that don't include the Miser Brothers can't compare with more famous broadcasts like Rudolph or Frosty or The Grinch.Nonetheless, its claim to fame remains the songs sung by the Misers. The main plot: Santa (Mickey Rooney) feels unappreciated and thinks the world no longer needs him. As such, he cancels Christmas. I wasn't aware that the holiday had become so commercialized that it no longer exists if Santa fails to distribute gifts- does Jesus know about this clause? - but anyway, Mrs. Claus (Shirley Booth) tries to spark his spirit. She sends a couple of elves named Jingle (Bob McFadden) and Jangle (Bradley Bolke) plus strangely-young reindeer Vixen - why she's portrayed as younger than the others makes no sense - to discover some signs of life.Frankly, the whole story makes little sense. We hear much discussion as to whether folks believe in Santa Claus, but every newspaper reports his existence as factual - his decision to skip Christmas makes the front page! If he doesn't exist, then how did the reporters get this information? Are denizens of the show's world so cynical that they believe absolutely nothing reported by newspapers? It seems to me that in the world portrayed by the program, the question of Santa's existence is moot; they know he's out there. So how is it possible for so many to lack belief?Because it works for the plot? Yup, that's literally the only reason for this. Anyway, one wee non-believer named Ignatius Thistlewhite (Colin Duffy) - a distant relative of Pete Postlethwaite? - states that if the elves can make it snow in steamy Southtown, they'll believe in Santa. Geez, what hard-edged tykes!The elves consult with Mrs. Claus, and she agrees to ask the Miser Brothers - Snow (Dick Shawn), who controls cold weather world-wide, and Heat (George S. Irving), who does the same with warmth - to allow some flakes to fall in Southtown. Snow's all for it, but Heat - who feels no one likes him - refuses. Mrs. Claus takes the issue to their mom, Mother Nature (Rhoda Mann), who sets matters straight and the cold sets in among the southerners.Ironically, all of these machinations end up moot. Santa changes his mind after he receives a pathetic letter from some little girl who whines about how sad she'll be if she doesn't get her new Second Nose-Job Barbie. As such, the fat man decides to rustle up the old sleigh and all's well once again.Yeah, the show has plenty of flaws, but who cares as long as we get to hear the Miser songs? In case you haven't seen the program, we experience these show-stopping numbers when we're introduced to the boys. Snow comes first, as he and his little Snowettes put on a killer version of Mr. White Christmas ; how can you top lyrics like He's Mr. White Christmas/He's Mr. Snow/He's Mr. Icicle/He's Mr. 20-Below ?Answer: you can't, unless you factor in the variation from his brother. Really, the two tunes are identical except for temperature-related words. Both feature similar choreography as well, with the Big Boys accompanied by their singing and dancing helpers.It's all simply wonderful. If you haven't seen the show, you can't understand how much fun it is. Perhaps nostalgia accounts for some of it's appeal, but by that token, I - and others - should be equally charmed by other goofy holiday tunes. We're not, and make no mistake - for once, I'm not alone on this issue; check out the reader reviews on IMDB and Amazon and you'll see rave after rave for the Misers.Year came from Rankin/Bass productions in 1974 and was part of their line of Animagic shows. These programs used stop-motion animation plus a little traditional work as well - most significantly for some lip-synch issues - and though the work seems pretty primitive - especially in comparison with lovely movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach - it still appears effective and watchable. For folks in my generation, these shows were our first experiences with stop-motion, and it's fun to re-watch them.The DVD:The Year Without a Santa Claus appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.33:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; due to those dimensions, the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Although it displayed some flaws, the show looked surprisingly good and I thought the disc offered a generally very positive picture.Sharpness looked terrifically clear and crisp throughout the show. At no time did I witness any significant examples of soft or fuzzy images; the program seemed very well-defined. Moiré effects and jagged edges appeared absent, but print flaws caused some concerns. Actually, these defects caused the only serious problems with the picture. Throughout the show, I detected light grain, some speckles and black grit, plus various examples of scratches and blotches. The flaws weren't terribly heavy, but they marred the presentation. I also saw a little jitter in the image, but I think that resulted from the animation; the jumpiness occurred mainly when the camera moved.Colors looked great, with some wonderfully bright and bold hues on display. The show tended toward solid primary colors, and the results show excellent blues and reds throughout the program. Black levels also seemed deep and dark, and shadow detail was appropriately heavy but not excessively thick. Frankly, if the picture lost the various flaws, it would have entered A territory. As it stands, it presents a solid B .The monaural audio of The Year Without a Santa Claus seemed adequate but unspectacular. Dialogue usually sounded fairly natural and distinct; though it occasionally displayed some edginess, it always remained easily intelligible. Music also showed lightly brittle and harsh qualities at times, and it lacked any significant dynamic range, but the songs were fairly clear and smooth. Effects came across as clean and accurate without much depth but also without any concerns related to distortion. It's a bland but decent soundtrack that seems appropriate for programs of the era.Although this DVD includes no supplements directly related to Year itself, it does toss in a couple of extra programs. We find two additional Rankin/Bass animagic shows from the Seventies.First up is 1975's Rudolph's Shiny New Year, a program that may well be the only special devoted to that holiday. The plot relates to the start of the New Year; Happy, the baby New Year, has run away because everyone laughs at his huge ears. Since he's had similar experiences, Rudolph (Billie Mae Richards, the original voice of the character) is dispatched to find the wayward tyke and bring him to his senses. As the show progresses, Rudy travels through the Archipelago of Last Years to find Happy, and he meets a series of wacky partners along the way.Narrated by Red Skelton, this special has a few moments but it generally seems slow and forced. There's not a lot of magic on display, and the songs are lackluster as well. It's a watchable but bland follow-up to the 1964 original.I also found the show's message to make little sense. In Rudolph, we learn not to mock others who look different, especially because they might save your bacon someday; the same tone occurs during this DVD's third special, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. Shiny features a character with a physical deformity - Happy's giant ears - but instead of showing the virtues of his unusual situation, the baby's taught to laugh about it.Actually, he's told that he should enjoy the fact so many people laugh at him because this means his freaky appendages bring joy to others. Unfortunately, it's clear everyone laughs at him and not with him; even when little Happy's eyes well with tears, the cruel guffaws continue. It's a frightfully muddled message that makes little sense in this context.By the way, if you watch carefully, you'll notice some recycled puppets. In one crowd scene, I detected Mrs. Thistlewhite from Year - with a different man! That hussy!Overall, the picture and sound quality of Shiny seem pretty similar to those found on Year, though the later special displayed a higher number of flaws. Shiny appeared grainier, and I also saw a fair number of speckles and streaks. The monaural sound was about the same; it appeared clear and crisp without any significant concerns other than the restrictions imposed by one-channel audio.The final program on this DVD is 1977's Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. Unlike almost all of the other Rankin/Bass specials, this one actually involves Jesus and that whole Bethlehem side of things - no signs of reindeer, elves or snowmen here! I believe the only other R/B shows that go this way are the two with the Little Drummer Boy.Despite that twist, Nestor really is nothing more than a retelling of Rudolph combined with Dumbo. Nestor is hounded because of his long ears and gets the boot from his home when the owner loses money because of him. His mother runs to help him, but she buys the farm when she tries to protect him from a storm. All alone, Nestor ekes out a living and eventually is chosen to help out a needy couple who expect a baby. And with his heroic efforts, he becomes to toast of the town and everyone loves him, freakishly enormous ears or not!Although it's not original, Nestor seems fairly entertaining. It helps that the show runs only 25 minutes opposed to the 50 minutes of most R/B animagic offerings; the derivative nature of the project might have been more problematic had the program run longer. As it stands, Nestor is a cute and endearing little special.More recycled puppets: in an early scene, both Jingle and Jangle can be viewed, and we also see the same Mrs. Claus from Year. However, we find a different Santa for reasons unknown, other than possibly the thought that Year's St. Nick too strongly resembled Mickey Rooney. (Actually, given Rooney's diminutive size, it's possible that wasn't a puppet in Year - it might have been the real thing!)Once again, the picture and sound quality of Nestor closely resembles that of the other two shows, though it probably is the highest-quality of the bunch. Nestor featured fewer print flaws, and the audio also appeared slightly cleaner and clearer. It's not significantly improved, but it was a very solid presentation nonetheless.Ultimately, I have to say the same about the whole DVD: it's a nice little package. In The Year Without a Santa Claus, we get a generally-decent Christmas special that rises to a higher level due to the inclusion of two fantastic production numbers. The show looks surprisingly good, and the sound seems appropriately clear and accurate. The DVD also presents two additional moderately-enjoyable Christmas programs. With a list price of only 19.98, this set is a nice bargain and should make a fine addition to your collection, especially since you can easily set up your DVD player to run the Miser Brothers' scenes again and again and again.Stockard Channing#98/279THE CHRISTMAS STARFor Additional Retired : (NALED/Parkwest Exclusives) & (Open-edition) Dean Griff Charming Tails Page, Please Click Here.Pat-A-Cake Creations offers a 30-day money back guarantee (minus return shipping costs). We will gladly refund, exchange or credit your order (minus return shipping charges) for any reason within 30 days of purchase with prior approval. Please contact us for return authorization. Merchandise must be returned in original condition.Pay by credit card, check, money order, or cashier's checkOrder online using our secure serverOrder direct at (660)665-1446Order by mailPrivacy Statement 2000 Pat-A-Cake Creations. All Rights Reserved.Barbara Carrera8807 Garlic Braid - hardneck, 14.95A lovely, decorative and edible braid for your kitchen. Plump, organically grown, pink-tinged hardneck garlic bulbs from Mexico are braided together and retain their shape for years if you allow them to dry out. But in a garlic lover's kitchen it may be gone in a short while. Grown without pesticides or herbicides. Fresh spring 2004 harvest.Sorry, sold out until summer of 2005316 Muriel NE, Albuquerque, NM USA 87123 2002 The Poster GalleryWhat's new:Software spending is flat, making it harder for small companies to survive, and making the big players restless.Bottom line:Analysts foresee an increase in consolidation in the enterprise software arena, as the giants aim to become one-stop shops for more customers.Sun Microsystems' chief operating officer and president, Jonathan Schwartz, created a stir earlier this month when he disclosed that Sun has considered buying Novell. Although the notion of a Sun-Novell merger was dismissed as unlikely by many industry analysts, the hint of the discussions in Sun's executive suite demonstrates the dramatic moves that technology suppliers are considering.Sun is not alone. Two straight quarters of declining license revenue, along with a string of executive departures and a reorganization at BEA Systems have rekindled questions about the company's long-term viability as a standalone software maker.Indeed, during trial testimony involving Oracle's unsolicited offer to buy business application maker Peoplesoft, Oracle disclosed that BEA was a potential takeover target. At the same time, Microsoft and SAP dropped a bombshell by announcing that they had held exploratory merger talks in the wake of Oracle's pursuit of PeopleSoft. When you can't grow organically, you look to grow or better position yourself through consolidation, said Paul Crisci, managing director of Broadview, a division of Jeffries, which advises companies on mergers and acquisitions. The worst job in the world right now is a software salesman--there are too many software companies fighting for too few dollars in the marketplace. Swallowing up the minnowsSmaller companies continue to be prey for larger technology suppliers. Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun and Veritas have each purchased several smaller companies to fill out their utility computing product portfolios. With limited opportunities to go public on the stock market, the great majority of new start-up companies need to consider an exit strategy that involves a close partnership or merger with a larger company, according to market observers. We argue that in a couple years, most of the names you're familiar with will no longer be around. --Martin Wolfinvestment adviserMany smaller companies are already doing just that, building close alliances with the industry behemoths through partnerships and technical integration. Similarly, large corporate customers are choosing to do business with a few suppliers and technology platforms on which they build and run applications, analysts note. New technology solutions have become narrower and narrower because there are fewer big problems that need to be solved, said Paul Maeder, managing general partner at venture capital firm Highland Capital.Maeder suggests that new companies should apply technology to underserved industries, such as health care and transportation. Customers are likely to rely on their tried-and-tested suppliers for the technology in their data centers, which may ultimately mean that the big will get bigger. Whatever piece of software you provide in the IT-intensive part of the economy, like the data center, is by definition going to be part of another solution, Maeder said.These conditions--in which providers fight over dollars in flat or slow-growing IT budgets--will lead to a quicker pace of mergers and acquisitions, even compared with the software industry's rich history of deals, some experts predict. If the enterprise software market does see more weeding out, it could change the makeup of the industry.Great White Hypeby Michael Bedard31 x 27 inches US 29.99Enlarge | Framed | Mounted

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