Is it my imagination or did James Brown actually die the day before Dreamgirls opens?

I wandered through several stores last evening and I think I heard the same song playing at some point in every one of them: "Linus and Lucy," as written and performed by Vince Guaraldi for A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's everywhere. In fact, it's the ringtone on my cellphone and when I heard it the other night while I was in a CVS Pharmacy, I thought at first I had a call.

It's a fine song, of course…and this jazz critic even thinks the soundtrack album from that much-loved Christmas special is "the most successful recording in the history of jazz." I'm sure, by some definition of "success," that's so.

What I find interesting is how popular "Linus and Lucy" is as a Christmas song since there are no lyrics to connect it with Christmas. I was thinking of that as I drove to and from that party this evening. I had on a local radio station that was playing holiday tunes, many of them instrumentals. When you hear a Christmas instrumental, there are only two things that causes it be about Christmas. One is if the arranger has called for a lot of bells, especially jingle bells. You hear bells, you think Christmas. The other is if the tune is sufficiently well known so that the listener does a kind of Mental Karaoke, filling in the unheard lyrics which are about Christmas. You hear "Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dum…" and you think, "Oh, you'd better watch out, you'd better not cry…"

And that makes it Christmas music. You have to make the connection yourself.

Neither of these applies to "Linus and Lucy." There are no bells in Guaraldi's recording and there are no lyrics about Christmas for you to mentally supply. What makes it a Christmas song is that it reminds you of a Christmas TV special you watched and loved as a kid. (Come to think of it, there might be one other way in which the tune denotes the holiday. It may remind some people of Christmas just because you always hear it around Christmas. But at some point, that couldn't have been the connection. At some point, someone had to start playing it at Christmas just because it evoked memories of the Peanuts Christmas cartoon.)

I guess this attests not only to Vince Guaraldi's talent but Charles Schulz's as well…and also, Lee Mendelson, Bill Melendez and the other gifted folks who made A Charlie Brown Christmas. I watched it again the other night and it still works for me, still hits all the proper chords. Lee told me once, in greater detail than he has in most interviews, how he had to fight to get the show on the air and to keep its quiet, non-gimmicky manner (and Guaraldi's score) intact from network tampering. I'm glad he won those battles because it really is a wonderful show.

We're coming to you live from the lovely home of my friends, Misty Lee and Paul Dini…via Paul's computer, no less. Some of their friends — not all their friends because all their friends couldn't fit into the Rose Bowl, let alone their house — are assembling for fried turkey, pot roast and an odd array of people, places and things made out of gingerbread.

The monkeys are here, too. (If you're not familiar with them, you need to check out what they've been up to…which mostly consists of adding omelets to local Christmas decorations. Go to this page and see what I mean.)

I have to get back to the party. I just wanted to see if I could post here from a Mac. If you can read this, I can.

This is just to remind/warn you: You still have a couple of chances to hear the episode of Stu's Show with Yours Truly as the guest, discussing the late, great Joe Barbera. Stuart Shostak invited me on to discuss Mr. B. and discuss we did…for the full two hours, along with phone calls, a few rare Hanna-Barbera records and two very easy H-B trivia questions. You can hear this on Shokus Internet Radio today (Sunday) at 1 PM Pacific Time, which is two hours from when I'm posting this. It repeats again tomorrow and Tuesday at 7 PM and…well, just consult the schedule to see when it's on. That's simpler.

Ah, but how do you listen to Shokus Internet Radio? That's what you want to know? Easy. Click on this link and select an audio browser. Then click on it and don't stop until you hear the sound of my voice.

I linked to a copy of this animation last Christmas and people loved it. That link's gone dead and several of you have written to ask if I had a new one. I didn't…but this morn, I did a little Googling and found you a new one. This link will take you directly to the animation in case you want to download it or in case the embedded version below doesn't work on your browser. Here are Santa and his Reindeer doing their imitation of Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters…

Here are some responses to my message earlier this morning about fast food and how I don't enjoy it as much as I once did. This first one's from Doug Cuff…

Thanks for asking "Is it me or have these places plunged in quality lately?" It hadn't occurred to me that the Colonel's chicken had declined in quality. I just assumed I wasn't enjoying it as much (nor the burgers from Burger King) because I was getting older. Maybe it's neither me nor my arteries. None of this will stop me from chowing down on In and Out french fries next time I get a chance. And I might as well have a burger and a milkshake after a journey like that…

A tip when you're at In and Out: Try asking for your fries "well done." That won't get you anything different in most places but they know what they're doing at In and Out, and it also makes for a big difference because they use fresh potatoes there. Won't help you at Arby's, though. This next message is from Gary Emenitove…

I used to be a big fan of Arby's, to the point where I'd drive the hour and a half from Dubuque to Madison just to indulge. (I am not kidding and was known for this foolishness.) Then I moved to Omaha where Arby's were plentiful and I could partake whenever I wanted, and did so fairly regularly. Until about a year or two ago, when apparently the company took some new direction in its food. Their standard fare was still there, but seemingly in smaller, less-flavorful portions. They pushed all sorts of new, apparently-more-healthful sandwiches, and frankly I didn't like any of them. Then the final straw — they changed their chicken. And had the audacity to proclaim the new chicken "better" in ads. Sorry, but the previous Arby's chicken was a big reason I visited often. Now, I don't go there at all. I suspect they're aiming for a younger crowd, but they've lost this consumer in the meantime.

When I worked for Sid and Marty Krofft, we were usually on the KTLA lot on Sunset in Hollywood…a facility with no commissary. There was a catering truck there occasionally but it was undependable and awful. The food from that truck destroyed more people in television than all the Tom Arnold sitcoms have since then. So when I needed a fast bite, the only answer was the nearby Arby's, and I recall it being quite acceptable. I mean, the roast beef sandwich is only a roast beef sandwich by a technicality but it was fine for what it was.

A few weeks ago, I was in a time crunch and I drove through that same Arby's for the first time in twenty years. Got a roast beef sandwich that I think had been prepared shortly after my previous visit…with "meat" (I'm being charitable) stamped out of plastic sheeting. It was literally two bites and into the dumpster. I didn't even leave their property with the putative food. As the following message from Ted Frank suggests, some of this could be about my changing taste buds but in the case of that Arby's meal, no. It was just really a decline from what the product used to be. Here's what Ted sent…

I can't speak to the Corn 'n' Cluck, but I know from personal experience of losing 60 pounds that one's tastes change and one becomes less tolerant of the fat+sodium formula that makes fast food so enjoyable if one goes a long time without it: that Burger King chicken sandwich or Papa John's pizza I craved just a few months ago becomes barely edible, and I don't think that the quality dropped so much over a few months.

That's kind of what I was thinking was true in part but I think it's also that these places are going for cheaper ingredients or, more likely, food that is largely prepared elsewhere and then just reheated (sort of) on the premises. I can't find it now but a few months ago, I read an article on the wondrous worldwide web about how Burger King was squeezing their new outlets into smaller and smaller retail spaces and that this had necessitated some changes in how it was prepared. I think in some cases, we're almost to the point where the kids in the fast food stands are just opening cans and dumping the stuff into glorified microwaves.

Anyway, I'm receiving a lot of interesting mail on this topic. I may post some more later today. Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts.

Since my surgery last May, I've generally been eating healthier…and I've found my tastes evolving in new, non-sugary directions. So I'm not sure how much of what I'm about to discuss here is to me changing and how much is because of the food. But three times since the operation, I've gone to fast food restaurants that I used to occasionally patronize…and all three times, what I got was so awful that I took two bites and chucked the meal into the trash.

The three visits were to an Arby's, where I ordered the basic roast beef sandwich and an order of their potato cakes…to a Jack-in-the-Box where I got a simple hamburger with a side of onion rings…and to a KFC for a small order of chicken strips. These are all things I'd eaten in the past, usually when I was in a desperate rush to get something to eat, and while they were never great, they were at least edible. Not now they aren't. I am not kidding when I say that I ate two bites of each and tossed my purchase. In all three cases, I went to the fast food place because I felt in need of some fast food…that is to say, I had to be somewhere in X minutes, felt I should eat something before I got there, and the Arby's (or whatever) seemed like the only viable option. In all three cases, I decided I'd just be better off not eating the item(s).

Is it me or have these places plunged in quality lately? I'm not suggesting they were ever places that could set a gourmet's taste buds a-tingle, and I never thought Jack-in-the Box was very good…although come to think of it, there was a time when Kentucky Fried Chicken was pretty darned tasty. It was never particularly healthy cuisine but before Colonel Sanders sold out his interest in the chain, the chicken was — as advertised — finger-lickin' good. In the last few years of his life, the Colonel used to bitch about how the new owners had changed his recipe and cooking methods, and say that he was ashamed of the contents of all those buckets his face adorned. He was right…but even then, the chicken wasn't as bad as it is now.

Back in the sixties, my friends and I loved the Corn 'n' Cluck special at Colonel Sanders'. The advertising slogan was "Corn 'n' Cluck for under a buck and what it meant was that for 99 cents, you got two pieces of chicken and a piece of corn. You could chart the rise of inflation by how the make-up of the KFC Corn 'n' Cluck special devolved. At first, you got a breast and a drumstick plus half a cob of corn. I'm guessing that as their costs went up, they decided to lower the content, rather than raise the price and lose that great rhyming slogan. So every time I bought one, it would contain less corn and less cluck. I think the last Corn 'n' Cluck I ever bought consisted of two small wings and a third of an ear of corn. After that, I gave up. I figured that the next one would include a beak and a couple of niblets.

Still, it was good chicken then, what there was of it. It isn't now; not judging by those chicken strips I had a couple weeks ago. They were all breading…and not even particularly good or fresh breading. When you can't even make fat fried in oil taste good, you're really doing something wrong. KFC is reportedly planning to change the look of the Colonel, younging him up and going for a hipper mascot. If they want to get my business back, they ought to try making the chicken the way it was made when the chain originally became successful. There was a reason for that success and it wasn't because ol' Harland Sanders looked like a happening dude.

For now, I'm giving up on all those places — every one except In and Out Burger, which is in a class by itself. And I'm writing this message to remind myself that I'm giving up on Arby's, KFC and Jack-in-the-Box and, while I'm at it, Burger King, Wendy's, Carls Jr and all the rest, up to and including the place with the Golden Arches. I know the food isn't healthy at any of them but I need to remember that's not the reason I'm crossing them all off my list. I'm doing it because what they serve doesn't taste good to me any more. I'm sorry these places have ruined their products…and sorrier still that they didn't do it twenty years earlier. If they had, I might not have needed Weight Reduction Surgery,

I'm not sure I have this story 100% right but here goes: When they made the James Bond film Thunderball in 1965, the opening song was originally going to be a tune called "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" that was written by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse, and sung by Dionne Warwick. Its title was a popular nickname for Mr. Bond, especially in the foreign press.

The main titles were filmed and edited to that track and then the producers, Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, got to worrying that it was the wrong song. Reportedly, they felt that a vital part of their films' promotion involved having a hit song out there that endlessly repeated the name of the movie…and of course, "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" didn't reference the title, didn't yell at people to go out and see Thunderball. So Mr. Barry got together with lyricist Don Black and they came up with a song called "Thunderball," which was recorded for them by Tom Jones and it was substituted for the Warwick track. (Also reportedly, Johnny Cash took a crack at writing and recording a song called "Thunderball" but his submission wasn't used, either. It was probably all about 007 riding trains, drinking coffee and being in prison.)

This clip consists of the opening titles of Thunderball with the original track reinstated. I don't think it's a better song but I think it fits better with the visuals. I guess that's only to be expected since they were calibrated to this tune instead of the one recorded by Mr. Jones.

Simon Maloy owns up to the plot to destroy Christmas.

A funny Christmas video. Except that those of you who do voiceovers for a living may not find it all that funny.

Thursday night, they ran the episode of Identity with Stan Lee as one of the "strangers" whose identity a contestant had to guess. It wasn't a toughie. By the time they'd gotten around to him, they'd eliminated Break Dancer, Opera Singer and Sushi Chef as options, and somehow, I can't see Stan doing any of those things. Well, maybe the break dancing. The other choices were that he was the Youngest person up there (nope), an Alligator Wrestler (also nope), a Bouncer (ha), a Fitness Model (double ha), a CSI Investigator (slight maybe), a Kidney Donor (possible), a Vegas Showgirl (well, he does have great legs) or the World's Fastest Man (likewise).

And…oh, yeah: Created Spider-Man. I think I'd go with that. None of the other strangers looked anything like Steve Ditko.

Stan's appearance got me to thinking: The late Harvey Kurtzman used to speak of his "reward" and how the financial and employment situation in comics, back when he launched MAD, did not allow him to claim it. He had created something of enormous value…but in a system that compensated him as if he hadn't. In books, movies, television or practically any other entertainment medium, if you created something lucrative — or even if someone else created it but you were a major contributor — you could share in the gold mine. But not then in comics. Not for most of the great creative talents of comics' first forty years.

Now, in some cases — and Kurtzman was arguably one — the creators may have mishandled the business/contractual side of their working arrangements and made it easier or even quite legal for the publishers to stiff them. And there were folks like Bob Kane who did a lot better than others.

Still, the general dynamic was just what Harvey lamented; that you could create something worth millions…and the next day, they could pay you the same as someone who'd created zip, or even fire you and take your name off your creation. There are some pretty ugly stories of this kind of thing occurring and they're a source of great discomfort and sadness for so many of us who follow the history of the business. There are also, happily, stories of some who got their "rewards" in other ways. These include doing cover re-creations (if they're artists), signing collectors' prints or editions, and getting other, better-paying projects due to the reputations they achieved from their poor-paying comic book creations.

Stan Lee did not do badly at Marvel. He worked his way up to a salary of a million dollars a year from them plus a nice percentage of current film revenues. He is also receiving other "rewards" via other means because he is famous as the creator (or more correctly, co-creator) of Spider-Man, The Hulk, The X-Men and so many more.

It's fascinating how far-famed Stan has become. Last week, GSN ran a 1970 episode of To Tell the Truth. Marvel Comics were pretty popular in '70 but Stan himself was still "unknown" enough that he could appear on that show, along with two impostors, under the presumption that none of the four panelists would know which one was the real Stan Lee. As the kids of that era have become the adults of today, that anonymity has gone away. A few years ago, he appeared in the same capacity on a revival of To Tell the Truth. This time, Stan and the two impostors had to all wear masks or there wouldn't have been any game.

And now, here he was the other night on Identity…and when the live audience realized who he was (a bit ahead of the contestant), there was a decided "ooh" and a murmur of excitement. He's a superstar, as famous as any of his second-string characters. The other day, I had an electrician in here and when he found out I did comic books, he immediately asked me, "Have you ever met Stan Lee?"

There are a number of reasons he's receiving all this when others haven't and one, of course, is that others made the mistake of dying. Someone said to me the other day that if Jack Kirby had lived to see how wealthy and celebrated Stan has become, it would have killed him. I think not…because if Jack were alive today, he'd be getting his share in both categories. Or at least, he'd have the chance to exploit his credits the way Stan has wisely exploited his stature as the co-creator of those properties. (This is another way of saying Jack would not have done what Ditko has done, becoming a near-hermit, refusing all offers and opportunities.)

Stan will be (mumble, mumble) years of age next Thursday. I'll post some more thoughts on this topic then when we wish him a Happy Stan Lee Day. I just think it's interesting that the comic book industry has so rarely made its giants rich or famous…and that the fans have had to assume that responsibility.

Cartoonist Bob Foster is living and working up in Portland for I-don't-know-how-long. He's taken the opportunity to take a lot of great photos which you might enjoy.

Here's a short video with a long explanation. In 1982, Joe Barbera asked me to write a prime-time Yogi Bear Christmas special for CBS. One of these days, I'll have to publish the whole, amazing story of how this one came to be but basically, it was an impossible job for All Concerned. The show had to be written in about four days, storyboarded in about a third of the time these things usually take and animated in less than half the time the animators needed. To further complicate an impossible task, there was (1) a huge negotiation battle with the agent representing Daws Butler, the voice of Yogi and nine other characters, (2) a storyboard artist whose work had to be tossed and redone, thereby wasting three of the four weeks allotted on the schedule for that task…and (3) a strike by the Animation Union.

But somehow, they got it on the air. It was delivered to CBS two days before the broadcast date and the guys at the network found (correctly) all sorts of mistakes in it…animation errors, missing footage, etc. The animation folks in Australia actually did a pretty good job under the circumstances. A couple of editors did a last minute patch job and the show was telecast to all of America with the errors reduced (but not totally eliminated) and with two key scenes absent. I like parts of it, cringe at other sections…and am not unhappy it hasn't been rerun anywhere lately or put out on DVD.

I mentioned it the other day when I appeared on Shokus Internet Radio. In particular, I mentioned that Snagglepuss had been bleeped when he mentioned Chanukah. I was not kidding. I wrote a line where the lion said, "Merry Christmas! Seasons Greetings! Happy Chanukah even!" Everyone who had to approve the script — which was a whole lot of people — approved it and it was recorded that way and the animation was done accordingly.

In December, when the last minute edits were being done, someone at CBS decided that the reference to Chanukah had to go. I do not know precisely why. At the time, and later when I wrote one article about this, I didn't know even if it had been done at CBS or if someone at Hanna-Barbera had been responsible…but then a friend at the network showed me a memo he'd dug out of the files. It merely said that CBS was insisting on the deletion, no explanation given.

In all my years of cartoon watching, this is the only time I've ever heard of a cartoon getting bleeped. Dialogue is often edited out or redone for reasons of taste or "standards" but in every other case, it's done in an undetectable manner. They redub the words or chop out a whole line or something. In this case, presumably because the show was edited (literally) the day before it aired, they just cut the word out and there was an obvious jump where "Chanukah" should have been. The edit was apparently made on the one-inch master tape because it was that way when the show came out a few years ago on VHS.

As I said, I mentioned this on the radio show. Some listener took it upon him- or herself to locate the video, edit a ten-second clip and to upload it to an online video site. So here it is as today's link…and I remain as stunned and mystified as you will probably be as to why this was done. I thought my people were supposed to run Hollywood but I guess I was wrong.

Is this new? My e-mailbox this morning is filled with advertising from almost every merchant with whom I've done business in the last year or two…messages with Subject Lines like "It's not too late" or "Still time to shop." Some say that if I order from them by Noon and pay some huge Saturday FedEx delivery fee, they'll get my last-minute gift to someone tomorrow so the person will have it before Christmas.

Okay, I think I remember a lot of similar e-mails last year. What I don't remember is this offer that a number of them are also making…

Place your order by Midnight on Saturday night and we'll e-mail your recipient and tell them your gift is on the way and that it will arrive shortly after Christmas.

Years ago, Saturday Night Live had a bogus commercial for a FedEx-type company that would take the blame for late packages. If you were two weeks late sending someone something, they'd deliver it and — presumably for a hefty price — swear you'd sent it three weeks earlier. We may be only one Christmas from such a service becoming available to us. You'll be able to order on December 26 and they'll deliver it on December 28 with their apology for delaying an order placed on December 18. Watch for it.

Do you know what Rifftrax are? Well, this page will explain what they are and also give you a chance to get a free one. But basically, what they are are "alternative commentary tracks" for your favorite DVDs. A team of expert riffers record silly comments in the manner of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a classic series for which the same riffers riffed.

So you got the concept? The guys from MST3000 record new commentary tracks…you buy and download them…then you watch the DVD but you listen to their comments. Only in this case, you don't have to buy your first one since they're making one — for Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey — available for free. Give it a try. Nothing to lose.