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What is the sound of five accordions playing A-Ha?
OK, time to change up from the seasonal music: That would be A-Ha’s “Take on Me” by five young accordionists from the KUM SONG School, filmed in Pyongyang, North Korea a year ago. (h/t Dan Lewis’s “Now I Know” newsletter, which has more fascinating back story on North Korea’s fondness for accordions) Related posts: No…
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Merry Christmas and Happy Reading from MinnesotaBrown.com
Our boys met Santa Claus at Bentleyville earlier this month. Happy Christmas Eve! I’m not really here blogging on Christmas Eve. God willing, I’m on a sled somewhere, skidding down an unsafe hill with one, two or all three of my offspring. I’m eating pickles wrapped in salami bound with cream cheese, pouring coffee down…
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Hear Great Northern Radio Show holiday special now
If you can’t get to a radio Monday at noon to hear the rebroadcast of last Saturday night’s Great Northern Radio Show originally broadcast live from the Edge Center in Bigfork, try this. Below is the embedded sound file available at PRX, where independent public radio stations in Minnesota can pick up the program for…
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Newsweek previews final print edition cover
Newsweek has previewed the final cover of its print edition. It now becomes an entirely online publication called Newsweek Global, published by parent company The Daily Beast. I went to college for print journalism, graduating just a couple years before my college ended its print journalism program. The media has changed so much in such…
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Another yule blog on the fire
You may have noticed that I’ve been feeling Christmasy. So, for those celebrating, enjoy Porky Pig singing “Blue Christmas,” Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa,” and a DMX impromptu rap of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” You might also enjoy my nostalgia-laden series on “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration” from earlier in the week. We talk about…
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COLUMN: So this is Christmas
This is my Sunday column for the Dec. 23, 2012 edition of the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Merry Christmas and/or Happy New Year to all! So this is ChristmasBy Aaron J. Brown You know that Christmas can be all kinds of trouble when you get an e-mail from the Human Resources department at work telling you…
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Hear the Great Northern Radio Show tonight
William Kessler as the 400-year-old elf who gives us our orders You can hear last week’s live recording of the Great Northern Radio Show from the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork, Minnesota, tonight at 9 p.m. on Northern Community Radio (91.7 in Grand Rapids/Iron Range, 89.9 Brainerd, 90.5 Bemidji, or streaming). They will…
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Come on, come on, RUDOLPH … Uh. Uh-huh.
Rapper DMX drops a killer version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” during a stop at a radio station. Safe for work. Safe for everywhere. Related posts: No related posts.
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Tired of holiday music? Try some Back Door Santa
Another alternative to traditional Christmas music, an R&B throwback with Mr. Clarence Carter: Related posts: No related posts.
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Cravaack may just leave; Nolan comeback turns heads
Outgoing U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) gave an interview to the Star Tribune, essentially saying that he is likely leaving politics and Minnesota to rejoin his family in New Hampshire. It’s interesting reading for those who followed one of the most closely-watched congressional races in the country. Cravaack did not close the door on a…
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Great Northern Radio Show is your holiday soundtrack
Aerial view of the stage as Earl the Cowboy saves Christmas in Bigfork Another edition of the Great Northern Radio Show hit the airwaves last Saturday, broadcast live from the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork. This one was titled “Christmas on Edge” and strove to combine the trappings of a holiday special with…
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The funniest Christmas song you will hear
Yes, this is a bit recorded for a yuck-yuck commercial radio morning show. It makes me laugh every single time I’ve heard it for however many years now. Porky Pig reprises “Blue Christmas.” Related posts: No related posts.
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Claymation Christmas, Part 4: Carol of the Bells
I conclude my series of posts about the 1987 Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration special with my favorite segment in the program: “The Carol of the Bells.” The humor in “Carol of the Bells” is the Claymation Christmas special’s tightest and most sophisticated, to the extent that it almost seems designed to lead children in…
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Christmas miracle: Bentleyville agrees to remain in Duluth
In breaking news, Duluth, Minn., Mayor Don Ness just announced via Facebook that the city has reached a three year agreement with Bentleyville to keep the holiday attraction in Bayfront Park for the next three years. Founder Nathan Bentley had reportedly been considering other options, including ending Bentleyville, because of fatigue over the massive project…
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Claymation Christmas, Part 3: Walruses and Penguins
Now we move on through Will Vinton’s 1987 “Claymation Christmas Celebration” to a significant moment in the Emmy Award-winning stop-motion animation special, the Walruses and the Penguins. This is the most blatant comic relief in the half-hour Claymation Christmas special, relying heavily on the physical comedy of amorous walruses attempting to figure skate to “Angels…