Every year around this time, there are articles about which recorded version of A Christmas Carol is "the best."  Usually it comes down to the films that starred either Alistair Sim or Reginald Owen.

But for me, as I explain every year (and did lthe last couple of years here), it's this one.  It's not a movie, though, or a TV production.  It's, of all things, an audio version that was done in 1960 for, I believe, the BBC.  It's quite wonderful and as good an adaptation of the story as I've come across.  It stars Sir Ralph Richardson as Scrooge, and Paul Scofield as Dickens, the narrator.  Casts don't get much better than that.

I first heard this on radio station WFMT in Chicago which has been playing this every Christmas Eve for many decades.  (And only couple few years ago finally moved on.)  Eventually, I found it on audio tape.  I've listened to it annually since I was a kidling.  Some years I think I won't listen to it this year, but put it on for a few minutes for tradition's sake -- but after the first sentence it sucks me in.

There are four reasons why, for me, this is far and away the best version. But one reason leaps out.

First, the acting is as good as it gets.  Scofield is crisp and emphatic as the narrator,and almost every creak of his voice draws you in to the world, and Richardson as Scrooge is a Christmas pudding joy.  Second, being radio, you aren't limited by budgets to create the Dickensian world.  Your imagination fills in every lush and poverty-stricken, nook and cranny -- and ghostly spirit, aided by moody sound effects and violins.  Third, the adaptation sticks  closely to the Dickens tale, and Scrooge comes across more a realistic, rounded-person than as a Mythic Icon.  

And fourth, and most of all by far, unlike any of the other version, this includes...Dickens.  While the story of A Christmas Carol is beloved, it's Dickens' writing that makes it even more vibrant than the story alone is.  And that's all lost in the movie versions, even down even to the legendary opening line, "Marley was dead, to begin with."  Or any of the other classic narrative lines.  Or the richness of Dickens setting the mood and tone and description of the gritty and ephemeral and emotional world.  All that's gone in movies, good as the productions may be.  But all of that is here in this radio adaptation, and Scofield's reading of it is joyously wonderful and memorable.  For many, this will be A Christmas Carol unlike any other you're aware of, giving it a meaning and richness you didn't realize was there.  The ending of the tale is so much more moving and joyful here, as we listen to Dickens' own words, that begin with "Scrooge was better than his word.  He did it all, and infinitely more," and it soars from there, to perhaps my favorite passage about the new Scrooge and how good he is in the "good old world. Or any other good old world."

If you have the time or inclination, do give it a listen.  Ideally tonight around the fireplace while roasting chestnuts and drinking a Smoking Bishop.  (Listen to the recording, it's from Dickens...)  Even if only for five minutes to at least get the flavor.  You might find yourself sticking around.  Or just let it play in the background during the day, if you have other things to do.  It runs about 55 minutes.

(Side note:  speaking of Dickens, if you know the original cast album of Oliver!, the actor here who plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, Willoughby Goddard, was Mr. Bumble on Broadway and in the original London production.)

This might not play immediately, since it's a large file and may have to buffer first.  But be patient, it's worth it.
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​I got a note yesterday from my friend Eric Boardman who sent me the unfortunate news that Dick Orkin passed away the other day, at the age of 84. 

Many of you may know of Dick Orkin without knowing it, but he was wildly popular in Chicago for decades.  It began in the late-60s/early-70s when he created (and did most of the voices for) the often-hilarious parody Chickenman for WCFL radio.  The radio series, with 3-4 minute episodes, later branched out on its own and was syndicated on 326 radio stations in six countries.  It told the misadventures of an oddball shoe salesman named Benton Harbor who lived with his mother, but freelanced when it was convenient as the Wonderful White-Winged Warrior to help Midland City, but usually screwed things up.

Later, Orkin and his partner Bert Berdis created wildly successful and wonderfully radio ads that were heard through the country, but Chicago was their centerpiece.  They were so fun (sort of in the Stan Freberg mode, but with their own unique twists) that my folks -- especially my mother -- who were generally annoyed at having to listen to ads would actually hope to hear one of their commercials, notable for Orkin's recognizable voice, when listening to the WBBM All News station, and would often tell me about the latest one.  My mother's favorites were for the First American Bank, but she loved them all.  (Eventually Orkin and Berdis went their separate ways, but Orkin had his own ad agency that continues to work today.  His daughter Lisa is carrying the company on, and Orkin was still working having recorded a new one only a couple weeks ago.)  Side note:  Eric Boardman worked with Orkin and Berdis for several years.

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Here's a nice obituary on Dick Orkin in the Chicago Tribune.

In case you've never heard the show, here's an episode of Chickenman.  No explanation is necessary, it should all be pretty clear.  The only thing to note is that the Commissioner's secretary was this world-weary the whole time.  She was voiced by Jane Roberts (later Runyon), and the show's narrator was her subsequent husband, Jim Runyon, both who worked at WCFL. 

(Trivia note: their daughter Jennifer has had a fairly successful career as an actress, mainly on television, such as the soap opera Another World for a few years, but also some film work, including a small role in Ghostbusters.  In fact, has a film credit as recently as last year.)

​And though I couldn't find a radio spot for First American Bank (yet -- I'll keep looking), this is a typical Orkin-Berdis radio ad for K-Mart.  Orkin plays the manager.

You may recall two weeks ago when I had my "Taking the Class Out of Classical" rant here about the generally very-good KUSC classical music station, and how they are dumbing down aspects of their broadcasting.

I also went off onto a side-tangent, bringing up their similarly-annoying "Off to School" Requests in the morning -- and how after six weeks it became clear that these had virtually nothing to do with kids making classical request.  Or kids.  Or even classical (but rather movie themes).  Yet they've continued this way, as "Off to School" Requests for the past year.  And I noted how twisted the station's effort have become to justify calling these "Off to School" Requests, rather than just simply Morning Requests.

I explained what their convoluted introduction now was when time for their "Off to School" requests -- but I did it from memory, and knew that I didn't do it justice, only mentioning a small portion of how bizarre the introduction had become.  Besides which, I suspected most people probably thought I was joking that it not only was this stupid, but actually even worse.  So, to be fair, I carefully listened to the introduction and took notes and marked it all down.  I've corrected and updated the original post, and this is now how it reads --

Peter Sagal's guest contestant on Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! is Hannah Kearney, Olympic Gold Medalist in hot dog skiing, officially referred to as "freestyle."  One of the leading mogul skiers in the event, she's won two Olympic medals in addition to her 43 World Cup medals.  Because her sport is so...well, offbeat, the panelists jump in with far more bewildered questions than usual -- and because she's so self-effacing and charming, the interview is especially funny.  In particular, keep an ear open for their discussion about the Olympic Village.  Also, when they get to the answer to the first question, for the first time that I can recall, the two incorrect answers are actually real quotes and host Sagal gives their gobsmacking attribution.  All in all, this is a hoot.
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I was going to post a Media Alert here today about a town hall meeting that Sen. Al Franken was doing on Sirius/XM radio, for those of you who subscribed to the service.  Unfortunately, I screwed up the day (and even time), and it was actually broadcast on Wednesday.

This is a bad news / good news tale.

That's the bad news.  The good news is that it turns out that the entire event was recorded on video, and here it is below!  So not only can everyone hear it, but you can all watch it.  (If you choose to, of course...)  I believe that the correct response is -- O huzzah!

It runs about 51 minutes and is hosted by Julie Mason, host of “The Press Pool” on SiriusXM’s POTUS Politics channel, and Bob Cusack, editor in chief of The Hill.  The event is all quite enjoyable, and often pretty funny.  It is largely serious, but even at that Franken is an engaging conversationalist -- however, there are also some light questions.

(As he notes, because he only won his first election by just 312 votes, he felt it important to show the people of Minnesota that he was a "work horse, not a show horse," and stuck to being a very serious during his first term.  Having won his re-election by a much more comfortable margin, he says here that while he remains a hard worker, it's allowed him to let his humorous side out more.)

Again, this isn't a comedy monologue, it's a serious discussion.  It's just a very enjoyable one.  And it's at its best, for my taste, when the floor is opened up to questions from the audience around what seemed to be the 25-minute mark.

Since I've been posting a audio segments of Peter Sagal's radio show, Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! regularly for a while, I thought this was appropriate.  Plus it will likely make Nell Minow happy.  So, it's a twofer.  And it's an especially good day when you can make Nell Minow happy.

This is, apparently, the very first "video" that OK GO -- the most-favorite group of Ms. Minow -- ever made.  It's not a stand-alone video per so, but was taped on a local public access music TV show in Chicago in 1999.  What's additionally fun about it is that the aforementioned Peter Sagal is playing "fake bass" in the video.  And if you're a fan of the NPR show, This American Life, its host Ira Glass is playing "fake drums."  In fact, all the fake musicians are NPR hosts.

Unfortunately, I can't embed it here, but if click this link, you can read an article by Peter Sagal about the whole, and the video is embedded there.

​This week, host Peter Sagal's guest contestant for the "Not My Job" segment of the NPR comedy-quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! is the great singer-songwriter John Prine.  There's a nice bit of connection here, since the show is done is Chicago, and Chicago is where John Prine came to fame -- and even started as a mailman.  (He talks about that here, although leaves out the story about how he occasionally would lock himself in a mailbox for the privacy so that he could write there.)  There's no discussion of his close friend Steve Goodman, but he does talk about folk singer Ed Holstein, who's still performing, and with his brother Fred -- a folksinger, as well -- owned the prominent club Holsteins, which was the center of the folk scene in Chicago.  And Prine also tells the story about how he got his start thanks to, of all people, Roger Ebert.  It's a very affectionate and funny chat.