YouTube - Top 10 Christmas TV Specials of All Time
The Freditor
Sunday, November 30, 2008
10 Best TV Christmas Specials of All Time
I recorded a video version of my Annual List and hope you enjoy it.
Craig Shoemaker - The Lovemaster--One of Fred's favorite comedians
Barb and I saw this guy, Craig Shoemaker, several times in the late '80s and early '90s live at Jimmy's Comedy Alley in Bayside, Queens and he always brought the house down. Rediscovered him on video a few months ago. Still doing the Lovemaster with updated references.
I stole his "erase, erase" line and have used it many times over the years.
The Freditor
I stole his "erase, erase" line and have used it many times over the years.
The Freditor
Friday, November 28, 2008
Itchykoo Park, sung by The Freditor
It's All Too Beautiful as we look back to a time when songs about hallucinigins could make great bubblegum pop. A favorite of mine. And with Thanksgiving being Jimi Hendrix's birthday, it seems kind of cool to remember that era.
Itchykoo Park, By an English band called The Small Faces.
YouTube - The Freditor Gets Psychedelic with Itchykoo Park
The Freditor
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The Shield: One of TV's Best Shows Ever, Turns the Lights Off
* * * * * (out of 5)(L-R) Claudette, Julien, Shane, Vic, Danny, Dutch, Lem, Acevedo.
Spoiler Alert!!
My favorite show went off the air Tuesday night and I give it a final wrap up. Watch it if you get the chance.One error--in the piece, the captain's name is David Acevedo not Michael.
YouTube - The Shield: One of the Best TV Shows Ever Turns Out the Lights
The Freditor
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Freditor Raps Ol' Skool with Roxanne Roxanne, sung
A special Thanksgiving Treat for all of you. Fred rapping!!
YouTube - sprnstn84's Channel
Enjoy,
The Freditor
Monday, November 24, 2008
Food Pantries and Soup Kitchens need your help more than ever
As the Holidays approach and the economy sputters, more people than ever are going to need help. Please be there for them.
YouTube - Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens Need Food due to economy--Please help
Happy Thanksgiving, from The Freditor
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Slumdog Millionaire is one of the Best Movies of 2008
* * * * 1/2 (out of 5)
A brilliant, exciting, fun and harrowing journey to modern India through an orphan boy's eyes.
The Freditor
(Text of video available upon request.)
Meeting Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner not a $6 Million Moment
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You have one chance to make a good first impression. Make the most of it.YouTube - Bionic Woman--Meeting Lindsay Wagner was not a $6 Million Moment
The Freditor
Friday, November 21, 2008
Funniest video in a while
YouTube - Polish Winter Olympic Swim Team - Raatsy
Two numbskulls try to become the Polish version of the Polar Bear Club we have here at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY.
Enjoy!!
The Freditor
Two numbskulls try to become the Polish version of the Polar Bear Club we have here at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY.
Enjoy!!
The Freditor
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Chiller Conventions of the Past--Part One
This is just the first in a series of photos from Chiller Conventions over the years. I've been going since 1997 and just discovered a treasure trove of photos from these past 11 years. (I've probably been to about 15 shows since I go twice a year for a while now.) As in the past, you can see some stars, some great costumes and as always Mark, Bob and I hamming it up. --The Freditor
Bob and Fred taken hostage by Caesar.
Bob and Fred taken hostage by Caesar..jpg)
Monday, November 17, 2008
Black Dog--The Definitive Led Zeppelin Tribute Band at BB King's Sat.
APPEARING SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22
at B.B. KINGS
237 West 42nd Street, New York, NY
With Robert Plant refusing to get back together with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, this is the closest thing you're going to find to a Led Zep show. And these guys are younger and more energetic and the singer hits Plant's notes better than Plant at this point. So check them out.
Here is my review from their show last December 30. --The Freditor
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Barbara Streisand classic, sung by The Freditor
It's almost Christmas time which means it's time for me to start singing and this is one of Fred's favorites. Though not a Christmas song it is about a kind of Christmas tree, Evergreen.It was written for A Star is Born by Virgil from Battle for the Planet of the Apes, aka Paul Williams.
YouTube - sprnstn84's Channel
Enjoy
The Freditor
Very Funny One-Liners from Fred
Wink wink, Nudge nudge say no more.
Photo left--Fred The Thinker, Rodin is jealous.
Watch my first stand up routine from a sitting position.
The Freditor
Thursday, November 13, 2008
This is a better drawing of the T-shirt I wanted to produce
I think it should be in Brooklyn Dodger colors as a tribute to the team that broke the color barrier.
The Freditor
Fred's Design for a New Obama shirt
Copyright Fred & NoMoreStinkyMonkeys.Com
How cool is it that Obama is the 44th president. #44 is the coolest number to wear in baseball. Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey and Reggie Jackson wore #44.
Now you too can have an Obama 44 Shirt.
The Freditor
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Barack Obama Victory was like a 2nd American Revolution
The Freditor gives his thoughts on the overall meaning of the Obama election. 2nd American Revolution was won without a single shot fired. 2nd American Revolution--Text & Links to the 4 Great Documents
Click here: The I Have a Dream Speech - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
Featured Document: The Emancipation Proclamation
The Declaration of Independence
The first thing I wondered was Would I cry? I don't cry often and I never cry at happy moments, but this was so momentous, a thrilling, defining moment in our nation's history. But it didn't happen. Election Day, November 4th, 2008 came and went and while I was excited, there were no tears had.
But then again, I watched very little coverage of the event. The returns were coming in too excruciatingly slow, and at one point McCain and Obama were virtually neck and neck. I stopped watching and switched my TV over to Tivo to catch up on old episodes of Sons of Anarchy and The Shield. When my programs ended at around 11:40, I switched back to live TV to hear Katie Couric announce that Barack Obama was going to be the first black president in our nation's history. The dream had come true.
All my adult life, from the time I was in college, I had hoped that a day would come when America could rise from the ashes of genocide and oppression and be one nation, indivisible. Voting a black person into the White House is about as defining a moment as you could ever wish for. And to have a person that shares your passion and views for this country is even more remarkable. I didn't campaign for or vote for Obama because he was black, several black people have run for president before, but I never took them seriously. No, Obama was my man because he was the best candidate out there. And my second favorite, Joe Biden was going to be his vice president, which is historical in its own way, since Biden is the first Catholic vice president in our nation's history.
So after hearing the expected but still thrilling announcement, I turned the TV off and went into my den. I wanted to see what was being said among real people in the online community, but I wasn't getting much feedback, so I decided to do something else. At the age of 42, I felt inspired to read for the first time four of the greatest documents in our nation's history: the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and text of the I Have a Dream Speech. I'm glad I waited, because my reading skills would be no match for these documents even 10 years ago. Other than their simple brilliance I could not believe how short they were. In an era where even instruction on using a cell phone are 45 pages long, I could not believe that statements that defined a nation could be put together in a few paragraphs. Shakespeare said in Hamlet, "Brevity is the soul of wit," which means intelligent speech and writing should aim at using few words. Jefferson, Lincoln and King followed these sentiments.
Reading them, I felt closer to the authors than I ever had before. Reading them on this night made the words come alive for me in a way a 7th grade classroom never could. As an American reading them at such a late date, it reminded me of my fellow New Yorkers who never think to visit the tops of the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and yes even the World Trade Center. As a tourist in my own city I have reached the top of all those buildings and feel proud to have read all the freedom documents, as well.
Of the four, I have to say that Martin Luther King's speech is the most accessible and heartfelt. He's not just talking about freeing the unfree, but being freed. As they say in action movies, "This time it's personal." If he was alive, what would he have thought on this 11/4/08? If he had lived, would we have seen 40 years go by before a black person was even seriously considered for the presidency? We'll never know, but his widow, Coretta Scott King, did tell their daughter that Obama might be that person after she heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention.
Like a cheerleader pyramid at a basketball game, so many great black people had laid the foundation for Obama to achieve this goal. From Frederick Douglass to boxer Jack Johnson to Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Dr. King, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and Denzel Washington. All these people used their strength and dignity, their intelligence and self respect to uplift the race and clear the way through American minds and hearts for a black man to rise to the most powerful position in the land, indeed even the world.
November 4 was like another independence day. A day we could finally be free of bigotry and hate. A day we could show the world that we are indeed worthy of the ideals that we started, but never truly attained before. While 232 years have gone by since we announced our freedom and proclaimed that all men are created equal, much of the rest of the industrialized world has rushed past us in attaining these ideals. In Western Europe a poll of their citizenry showed that in many countries Obama would have won 80% of the vote, while in America he only won 52%. There is still work to do or maybe just time to pass. Young America, especially young white America voted overwhelmingly for Obama while older white Americans voted for McCain.
Between McCain's unsteady candidacy and his choice of Palin, the vote should not have been this close, but some people are stuck in their ways and maybe in the future an overwhelming majority will not judge the color of the skin but the content of the character.
Finally, Thursday night, while my wife took her evening bath, I switched from live TV to Tivo and finished watching Katie Couric's coverage of the election. Within a couple of minutes the cameras turned to Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama would be making his acceptance speech. I called out, "Barb, you remember the hotel we stayed in when we visited Warner in Chicago?" Yeah she said. "Remember the park across the street from the hotel? Yeah. That's where Obama is making his speech from. A beautiful park, sort of like Central Park but with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.
A senator from the state where Abraham Lincoln was born, was going to give his acceptance speech in a park named after the man who won the Civil War and freed the slaves. How perfect a setting.
I sat and watched his speech and saw the huge, emotional crowd and having been to things like the Pope's mass in Central Park, I know that even if you can't see the stage as well as you can on TV, it is way more exciting to just be there. His speech was very good as they always are and he hit all the right points, but then he said this was election was about you. About people who love this great country and want it to live up to its high values. How we should be leading the world again in all areas, but most of all in hope for the future. He said, And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright --tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
And at that point I started having tears run down my face. A few at first but they started coming down faster and heavier as the speech went on. Crying over a political speech? I rarely even watch these things, maybe the last time was 1984 when Reagan gave his. But for 20 years we have suffered through mediocre leadership and the country has run aground because of it. There are no more Clintons and Bushes to deal with. Thank God. The country is not just getting a fresh coat of paint and new rugs, we're going to have rebuild its infrastructure and go in a whole new direction.
There is so much work to do to regain our greatness and it will certainly take way more than 4 years to complete it, but at least a new generation sees the problems at hand and was not too cynical to say we can't try and fix them. Industry, energy independence, the environment, education and yes even national security are all going to have to be revamped and we will need to perform national service and sacrifice in a way probably not seen since World War II, but people who put their faith in Obama feel he is the man for the job and trust him enough to work with him.
Let's hope that November 4th was not just a pyrrhic victory but a beginning of a whole new era in American politics. Not just for black people but for all people and that we too can become a new Greatest generation.
The Freditor
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
Featured Document: The Emancipation Proclamation
The Declaration of Independence
The first thing I wondered was Would I cry? I don't cry often and I never cry at happy moments, but this was so momentous, a thrilling, defining moment in our nation's history. But it didn't happen. Election Day, November 4th, 2008 came and went and while I was excited, there were no tears had.
But then again, I watched very little coverage of the event. The returns were coming in too excruciatingly slow, and at one point McCain and Obama were virtually neck and neck. I stopped watching and switched my TV over to Tivo to catch up on old episodes of Sons of Anarchy and The Shield. When my programs ended at around 11:40, I switched back to live TV to hear Katie Couric announce that Barack Obama was going to be the first black president in our nation's history. The dream had come true.
All my adult life, from the time I was in college, I had hoped that a day would come when America could rise from the ashes of genocide and oppression and be one nation, indivisible. Voting a black person into the White House is about as defining a moment as you could ever wish for. And to have a person that shares your passion and views for this country is even more remarkable. I didn't campaign for or vote for Obama because he was black, several black people have run for president before, but I never took them seriously. No, Obama was my man because he was the best candidate out there. And my second favorite, Joe Biden was going to be his vice president, which is historical in its own way, since Biden is the first Catholic vice president in our nation's history.
So after hearing the expected but still thrilling announcement, I turned the TV off and went into my den. I wanted to see what was being said among real people in the online community, but I wasn't getting much feedback, so I decided to do something else. At the age of 42, I felt inspired to read for the first time four of the greatest documents in our nation's history: the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and text of the I Have a Dream Speech. I'm glad I waited, because my reading skills would be no match for these documents even 10 years ago. Other than their simple brilliance I could not believe how short they were. In an era where even instruction on using a cell phone are 45 pages long, I could not believe that statements that defined a nation could be put together in a few paragraphs. Shakespeare said in Hamlet, "Brevity is the soul of wit," which means intelligent speech and writing should aim at using few words. Jefferson, Lincoln and King followed these sentiments.
Reading them, I felt closer to the authors than I ever had before. Reading them on this night made the words come alive for me in a way a 7th grade classroom never could. As an American reading them at such a late date, it reminded me of my fellow New Yorkers who never think to visit the tops of the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and yes even the World Trade Center. As a tourist in my own city I have reached the top of all those buildings and feel proud to have read all the freedom documents, as well.
Of the four, I have to say that Martin Luther King's speech is the most accessible and heartfelt. He's not just talking about freeing the unfree, but being freed. As they say in action movies, "This time it's personal." If he was alive, what would he have thought on this 11/4/08? If he had lived, would we have seen 40 years go by before a black person was even seriously considered for the presidency? We'll never know, but his widow, Coretta Scott King, did tell their daughter that Obama might be that person after she heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention.
Like a cheerleader pyramid at a basketball game, so many great black people had laid the foundation for Obama to achieve this goal. From Frederick Douglass to boxer Jack Johnson to Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Dr. King, Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and Denzel Washington. All these people used their strength and dignity, their intelligence and self respect to uplift the race and clear the way through American minds and hearts for a black man to rise to the most powerful position in the land, indeed even the world.
November 4 was like another independence day. A day we could finally be free of bigotry and hate. A day we could show the world that we are indeed worthy of the ideals that we started, but never truly attained before. While 232 years have gone by since we announced our freedom and proclaimed that all men are created equal, much of the rest of the industrialized world has rushed past us in attaining these ideals. In Western Europe a poll of their citizenry showed that in many countries Obama would have won 80% of the vote, while in America he only won 52%. There is still work to do or maybe just time to pass. Young America, especially young white America voted overwhelmingly for Obama while older white Americans voted for McCain.
Between McCain's unsteady candidacy and his choice of Palin, the vote should not have been this close, but some people are stuck in their ways and maybe in the future an overwhelming majority will not judge the color of the skin but the content of the character.
Finally, Thursday night, while my wife took her evening bath, I switched from live TV to Tivo and finished watching Katie Couric's coverage of the election. Within a couple of minutes the cameras turned to Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama would be making his acceptance speech. I called out, "Barb, you remember the hotel we stayed in when we visited Warner in Chicago?" Yeah she said. "Remember the park across the street from the hotel? Yeah. That's where Obama is making his speech from. A beautiful park, sort of like Central Park but with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.
A senator from the state where Abraham Lincoln was born, was going to give his acceptance speech in a park named after the man who won the Civil War and freed the slaves. How perfect a setting.
I sat and watched his speech and saw the huge, emotional crowd and having been to things like the Pope's mass in Central Park, I know that even if you can't see the stage as well as you can on TV, it is way more exciting to just be there. His speech was very good as they always are and he hit all the right points, but then he said this was election was about you. About people who love this great country and want it to live up to its high values. How we should be leading the world again in all areas, but most of all in hope for the future. He said, And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright --tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
And at that point I started having tears run down my face. A few at first but they started coming down faster and heavier as the speech went on. Crying over a political speech? I rarely even watch these things, maybe the last time was 1984 when Reagan gave his. But for 20 years we have suffered through mediocre leadership and the country has run aground because of it. There are no more Clintons and Bushes to deal with. Thank God. The country is not just getting a fresh coat of paint and new rugs, we're going to have rebuild its infrastructure and go in a whole new direction.
There is so much work to do to regain our greatness and it will certainly take way more than 4 years to complete it, but at least a new generation sees the problems at hand and was not too cynical to say we can't try and fix them. Industry, energy independence, the environment, education and yes even national security are all going to have to be revamped and we will need to perform national service and sacrifice in a way probably not seen since World War II, but people who put their faith in Obama feel he is the man for the job and trust him enough to work with him.
Let's hope that November 4th was not just a pyrrhic victory but a beginning of a whole new era in American politics. Not just for black people but for all people and that we too can become a new Greatest generation.
The Freditor
Monday, November 10, 2008
Chiller Convention photos--Oct. 25, 2008
Since Halloween 1997, my friends Bob, Mark and I have made our semi-annual journeys to New Jersey for the Chiller Conventions. A combination Sci-Fi, Horror and all-around pop culture celebration, along the way we meet some cool celebrities (Jimmy Superfly Snuka) and some not so cool ones (Bionic Woman's Lindsey Wagner). But the three of us always have fun. Here are some photos from this Fall's edition. Taken by Mark, you get a good idea what the convention and the evening's costume party is like. Enjoy--The Freditor
Photos:
1-Slave Girl Princess Leia with freaky Burger King.
2-Bob with Fred (wearing the limited edition NoMoreStinkyMonkeys.Com t-shirt).
3-The Thing with Two Heads, one of the best worst movies ever made.
4-Danger! Bob and the Robot from Lost in Space.
5-A great Kid Rock impersonator.
6-Creighton from the Ghoul a GoGo Show.
7-Fred as Evel Knievel.
8-Warning Warning !!! Fred getting attacked by the Robot. Call Dr. Smith.
9-Lifesize mannequins of some original monsters--Dracula, The Fly and Frankenstein.
10-Our favorite Scream Queen, Tiffany Shepis (star of Abominable) telling us how she thinks we're Number 1.
11-Just a Good Ol' Boy, Bo Duke's John Schneider was very busy signing for fans.
Photos:
1-Slave Girl Princess Leia with freaky Burger King.
2-Bob with Fred (wearing the limited edition NoMoreStinkyMonkeys.Com t-shirt).
3-The Thing with Two Heads, one of the best worst movies ever made.
4-Danger! Bob and the Robot from Lost in Space.
5-A great Kid Rock impersonator.
6-Creighton from the Ghoul a GoGo Show.
7-Fred as Evel Knievel.
8-Warning Warning !!! Fred getting attacked by the Robot. Call Dr. Smith.
9-Lifesize mannequins of some original monsters--Dracula, The Fly and Frankenstein.
10-Our favorite Scream Queen, Tiffany Shepis (star of Abominable) telling us how she thinks we're Number 1.
11-Just a Good Ol' Boy, Bo Duke's John Schneider was very busy signing for fans.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Want a free Obama sticker?
Hey,
Want a free Obama sticker to celebrate our victory?
It's designed by Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the iconic HOPE poster. And MoveOn's giving them away totally free--even the shipping's free.
I just got mine.
Click this link to get your free Obama sticker:
Thanks!
The Freditor
The Freditor
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
November 4, 2008---One of the Greatest Dates in American History
Where were you when?
Finally a question about a moment that recalls something great and not tragic.
At 11:40PM on 11/4/08, I was sitting in my living room and heard Katie Couric announce that "Barack Obama would be the first black president in the history of the United States."
11:40, 11/4
I love numbers. That's a great number.
I'll write more on this tomorrow.
Tonight I celebrate history.
7/4 Birth of a Nation
11/4 Birth of a United Nation
The Freditor
Finally a question about a moment that recalls something great and not tragic.
At 11:40PM on 11/4/08, I was sitting in my living room and heard Katie Couric announce that "Barack Obama would be the first black president in the history of the United States."
11:40, 11/4
I love numbers. That's a great number.
I'll write more on this tomorrow.
Tonight I celebrate history.
7/4 Birth of a Nation
11/4 Birth of a United Nation
The Freditor
Sunday, November 2, 2008
So sad, Last panel of Opus and Bloom County, one of my favorite comic strips
When a favorite comic strip ends (Peanuts, Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes), it's like a piece of me is ending with it. Much like a favorite TV show, only more personal. The country has to love a TV show for it to be on long and successful, but a comic strip is yours and only you have to enjoy it.
Plus, what else are Sunday mornings for?
The Freditor
Plus, what else are Sunday mornings for?
The Freditor
The Leadup--Opus free online library at comics.com. - Comics.com
The Finale--Click here: The Opus $10,000 Paradise Contest
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