The Nutcracker is a time honored Christmas tradition. I used to go with my family at the Pikes Peak Center and a few years back Jim and I attended the Lincoln Center spectacle but were reprehensibly tardy we and missed the first part. Tighter budgeting doesn't allows us to return this year to see all we missed, but that shouldn't stop you!

From the glittering costumes, grand sets, and all the little girls dressed in their absolute best with Grandmas in tow, there really is no comparable holiday event. Even greater is that the Tchaikovsky ballet is pretty much performed everywhere across this country; almost everyone has a story about themselves or a friend who played a mouse in their local production.

NYC Ballet's production at Lincoln Center runs until January 3rd, but if you can't get to the theater, check out the Ovation network which is currently airing “Battle of the Nutcrackers: Grudge Match”, an entire month devoted to the best performances including Bolshoi Ballet, Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!, and Mark Morris's Hard Nut. The Viewers' Choice will be aired on Christmas Eve at 8pm and a Christmas Day marathon featuring all six Nutcrackers back to back will kick off at 8 in the morning.

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Posted on December 22, 2008

When we first stepped into Louis 649 with its dark walls, velvety booths and dimly lit swingin' scene, Jim and I felt it was a bit too jazzy, if you know what I mean, and if not… well, it's hard to explain but it's like the feeling you get upon stepping into a bar hoping to find pleasant, intimate conversation then spotting a singer/songwriter in the corner setting up his/her mic – or like walking into a coffee shop filled with actors. Luckily, we let the initially unsettling feeling slide as our friends joined us and I found the place to be wonderfully charming, particularly after a couple of bourbon cocktails.

And let's talk about those cocktails. Not only does the place boast an impressive list every kind of booze you'd like to sip, the cocktail creations are amazing. I need to give particular praise to The Lion's Tail:

Buffalo Trace Bourbon,
St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram,
Sugar,
Lime juice,
Angostura Bitters

The heavily accented and kindly waiter (I believe he's the owner) handed it to me, I took a sip, clapped my hands and declared that it tasted like Christmas!! I don't think I've had a better cocktail in some time (despite having lots of great ones over the past couple of weeks). It was frothy, it was spiced, it was bourbony and it was perfect.

Don't be surprised that Buffalo Trace is unfamiliar, it's a botuique-y distillery that's hard to find outside of Kentucky. And that St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram? Turns out it's a hard to find rum based liqueur “prized for its complex flavor of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper that dazzles the palate”. Little wonder I was a bit lit after one of these darlings.

I'm used to paying a bit more for expertly made cocktails, but it's that much more special when you know you could never make it yourself at home – though I wish I could make Lion's Tales for the Holiday season because it tastes like sugar plum dreams and warm winter nights by the fire, and kitchens filled with spices for family gatherings all while making you pleasantly drunk for the evening.

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Posted on December 22, 2008

Panna II Indian Garden?/a> is the 6th street Indian spot upstairs on the right. The owner swore up and down that it's the “original” and the first to feature year round Christmas lights. He also dismissed the urban legend that all three restaurants share a kitchen and hinted at a rivalry among them that is reinforced by the aggressive barkers outside, each promising that theirs is a better place, even lying to the friends we were meeting there claiming we were waiting in all of them. While I can't confirm that the one we picked is actually the best among them, having not tried them all I can say we were all very happy with our meals.

Going to one of these places is a wild and requisite NYC experience so long as you are not an epileptic particularly if there's a birthday (there were two during the short time we were there) where the already overwhelming lights begin to flash as the waiter unplugs and plugs back in a frightening mess of wires. Adding to the sensory overload, the place will quickly and without warning fill with savory smells and billowing smoke.

You'll be seated promptly and briskly and it will become clear that as desperate as they were to get you inside, they expect you to get out just as quickly. It's not surprising and not unexpected, so it just becomes part of the experience and besides, a smoke filled room with flashing lights isn't the place you can spend hours relaxing anyways.

The food was actually much better than I had anticipated. My tikka masala was not creamy as I expected but did taste fresh and I walked away miraculously without an upset stomach. The naan was nice and fried tasting, like a slightly sinful version of traditional leven bread. It's not BYOB and if you order a Taj Mahal, a nice Indian brew with a meady honey after taste, be aware that the bottles are huge. The wine is according to my friend nothing to speak of.

It's a fun time, an energetic have to do it once in a while experience. It's like Christmas every day in there and the red light is actually quite flattering as well. Is that why the red light district began using red lights in the first place I wonder.

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Posted on December 22, 2008

While according to the website The Enchanted World of Rankin Bass, Warner Brothers is “hiding behind the statute of limitations” on hundreds of thousands of dollars that they owe the animating due of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, at least we can all give our appreciation for the joy their movies have brought us.

Their numerous contributions to Holiday television include the “animagic” classics: Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Rudolph, which still plays on CBS around the holidays has been a part of family's holidays for over forty years.

The team didn't stop with Christmas though. I was thrilled to learn about the lesser known Here Comes Peter Cottontail for Easter, and the awesome looking Mad Monster Party that I plan on viewing to get in the mood for Halloween.

And of course we can never forget Thundercats! My most favorite superhero morning animation show that I have mentioned more than once in these pages.

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Posted on December 22, 2008

It's nice to learn that James Brown loved Christmas so much as it was the day he died two years ago. I mean, he really, enthusiastically loved it as is made clear throughout James Brown's Funky Christmas, a compilation of his many holiday songs recorded in the sixties and seventies (from the albums James Brown & His Famous Flames Sing Christmas Songs and A Soulful Christmas among others).

Christmas albums can be dicey, especially from popular musicians who, if they are devoted the making the album any good, are usually schlocky, sentimental artists anyway, yet Brown really does bring the funk and the passion and it makes the album a whole lot of fun to listen to.

He uses words like “fantabulous”, he sweats,?grunts and screams, he tries to unite the entire world, and he begs Santa to “Go straight to the ghetto” in one of the most beloved songs on the album.

But when he's not expressing himself with the funky and energetic styling we all love him for, he's taking things slower and prettier with nice renditions of “The Christmas Song” and the heartfelt epic that features excellent backup female vocals “Let's Make this Christmas Mean Something this Year”. This album will help make your Christmas mean something this year by giving music to play with your family that is actually fun and funky indeed.

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Posted on December 22, 2008