Here’s an absolutely wonderful film that can truly be called a Christmas classic.

It’s Scrooge, the musical version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

I first saw this movie on television when I was just a teenager. The movie was made in 1970 but, as I recall, the 3M company sponsored a special television presentation of the film sometime in the middle 70s.  I happened to turn on the channel just as the film started.  I was hooked from the very beginning. The film is an absolute delight from start to finish!

Albert Finney plays the title role and his is, by far, the best Scrooge I’ve ever seen. His performance is stellar! The costumes, sets, and scenery transport you back to the period.  It has a very authentic look and feel.

But it’s the musical numbers that win you over (December the 25th, Thank you very much!). They’re woven into the movie so well and really help to propel the story forward.  After viewing this movie, you can’t help but find yourself singing some of the signature tunes. They are delightful, joyous, and infectious.

I was so happy to find this DVD! I immediately added it to my collection. It seems that after that first 3M presentation, Scrooge was shown each Christmas, but key scenes and musical numbers were edited and trimmed for time.  I was always disappointed when the film wasn’t shown in it entirety.

Now, with this DVD, you don’t have to worry about an edited version.  The complete film is here!  The DVD transfer is good.  However,  I’d like to see a restored, and possibly, Blu-Ray version. If this film were released on Blu-Ray, it would serve as the final push for me to finally get a Blu-Ray player and HDTV.

It’s Cyber Monday! If you’re looking for a stocking stuffer, Scrooge is the perfect item!

Ad while you’re at it, pick up a mug or shirt at the Georgetoon.com store!

Merry Christmas!

Click on the image to download the PDF.

Here’s an early Christmas gift for all my blog readers.  The George 2010 Christmas ornament! Simply download and print out!  It’ll dress up your Christmas tree and remind you of this Christmas for years to come.

It’s a PDF file.  You can get it by clicking on the image at left of simply click here.

You can left click and open the file in a browser window or, right click and select “Save as” to download and save to your computer’s hard drive.

Once saved to your own computer, you can open it in the PDF viewer of choice (Acrobat, Evince, Okular) and print out.

Many blog readers know I run Linux on my studio computer. Linux offers a very powerful desktop publishing program called Scribus. I used Scribus to design the ornament art and page, lay in all the text, and output as a PDF.

So, really, you get two gifts!  A George Christmas ornament and a free desktop publishing program that runs on Linux, Windows and Mac!

Merry Christmas!

(And don’t forget that you can get this design on shirts and mugs in the Georgetoon store!)

What you’re watching is a digital character projected on stage as a 3D hologram.

Pretty amazing stuff!  How soon before Disney ditches the skaters in character costumes and does a fully animated “Disney on Ice ”  with digital characters skating all over the rink doing amazing, impossible stunts?

Plus, Disney would have the added benefit of skaters/characters that never get tired, don’t need rehearsals, and never miss a move or jump.  And these performers will be the actual characters!

No need to move performers from city to city.  No hotel costs and no airline travel costs.  Just send musicians for the live performance element and workers to set up technical equipment and stages.

But skaters dressed up like Cinderella, Goofy, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck will no longer be needed.  The actual cartoon  digital version will now take center stage!

And just think, since it’s all digital, no need for ice, either!

That's me and, you guessed it, I'm taking a picture…with my cell phone.

I’ve seen it reported that watch manufactures’ days may be numbered. Time is running out for the wristwatch! It seems that all of us now get our time from our cell phones.  And cell phones have become so compact, that it’s rather redundant to wear a wristwatch.

I’m predicting that the next electronic item to go the way of the wristwatch will be cameras.  Cell phones have cameras built in!  And when the cell phone is tied to the internet, a snapshot can be posted on a blog, or shared on Facebook, or sent directly to a family member or friend.

So why the heck buy a camera?  Cell phone cameras are becoming more sophisticated with resolutions at 3.2, 5, and even 8 megapixels!

Check out the Sony Ericsson C905i Unlocked Cell Phone with 8 MP Camera, Wi-Fi, International 3G, GPS, and M2 Memory Slot. It has an 8 megapixel camera! 10 megapixels is just down the road.

The days of buying a camera for family snapshots and vacation photos are quickly coming to a close. Our cell phones tell our time, take our pictures, and soon will fully replace our laptop computers, as well.

Want a stock tip?  Buy stock in any company that makes cell phones.

I’m very big into radio. I really love radio. I’ve had a radio of one sort of the other in my studio for years. Radio broadcasts keep me current on news and events and fills in some of the silence with talk and music.

I’ve dabbled with shortwave and AM DXing (grabbing distant signals late at night when conditions are right). And, as I already mentioned, listen to a lot of talk radio. I also have XM radio in the car. (The music station on XM are really nice!)

But, when I heard about internet radio a couple of years ago, I had to investigate further.

If you’ve ever played with Shortwave radio and picked up signals from London or other distant shores, you’ll immediately fall in love with internet radio. Put simply, internet radio is shortwave radio on steroids!

Imagine crystal clear sound from London, Paris, Rome, and every city and town from coast to coast across the United States! That’s exactly what you get with Internet radio! Over 15,000 radio stations from around the world! Plus, thousands of podcasts and access to music services like Live365 and Pandora.

In addition, you can stream music from your computer to your radio. Listen to your entire MP3 collection with your computer in one room and the radio in another.

All you need for intent radio is a broadband connection and a wireless router. I recommend a Netgear router. The NETGEAR WNR2000 Wireless-N Router is a good selection.

After hooking up the router to your cable modem and configuring it, the only remaining thing you need to do is register your radio on a database service. Grace and Sangean radios both use the Reciva database service. Create an account, register your radio, and start adding stations via Reciva’s web site.

That’s it! The radios are wireless so you can place them anywhere in your home (within range of your wireless router). Once you have your radio configured, you’ll no longer need your computer. you can turn it off. you will, however, from time to time, visit the Reciva site to add new stations, podcasts or other programming.

The Grace Digital Wireless Internet Radio featuring Pandora and NPR (GDI-IR2000), pictured above, is a good entry level internet radio. It has nice sound, a lot of tuning/programming features, and hooks to the internet via a wireless connection only. It comes with a remote which comes in quite handy if the radio is across the room.

The Sangean WFR-20 WiFi Internet Radio & Media Player, pictured below, has stereo sound, a remote, terrific tuning features, and a much better display than the Grace. The Sangean is wireless but can also be connected to the internet via a wired connection (something the Grace does not offer.  The Grace GDI-IR2000 is wireless only).

The Sangean is a bit more expensive than the Grace. But prices on both are falling. Either one makes a great Christmas gift for the talk radio/news junkie in your family.

And with over 15,000 stations to chose from, you may never watch cable T.V. again.