Jean Shepherd

Jean Shepherd

Awesome! I grew up on Jean Shepherd!
3
20%
Who?
11
73%
He was pretty good, but doesn't really deserve a thread.
0
No votes
Meh. I've heard of him, but not much else.
1
7%
He was kinda bad, and was overrated.
0
No votes
Sucks.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 15

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:35 pm

He wrote a sequel to Boy Named Sue called The Father of A Boy Named Sue, written from the father's perspective. It's quite politically incorrect. LOL.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/father-of-a- ... stein.html

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:03 pm

So, Bella! I'm curious -- have you listened to any of Sheps old stories and/or broadcasts? Whaddya think?

For the last few days, I've been exclusively listening to Shep's old WOR broadcasts from the 60s and 70s. I get a kick out of some of the old news broadcasts that get caught up in the recordings of Shep's shows. I just listened this morning to something from 1972, referring to the number of B-52s that were shot down over North Vietnam recently, and referring to Nixon's attempts to Vietnamize the war and all that. It's quite interesting to listen to news reports being read live at the time. Oh, and sometimes there's a commercial or two -- I heard one this morning where a 21 day European vacation cost under $700. I was like....man! Advertisements for shoes -- $6, on sale for $3.49! :-)

User avatar
Animavore
Nasty Hombre
Posts: 39234
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:26 am
Location: Ire Land.
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Animavore » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:06 pm

Coito ergo sum wrote:
Animavore wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote: He's the narrator (and writer of...) the movie A Christmas Story (the movie about little Ralphie and his quest to obtain the Red Ryder BB gun, with compass in the stock). The story was based on his book called "In God We Trust. All Others Pay Cash."
:dunno:
In the States, "A Christmas Story" has become an icon. There is a television channel called "TNT" which for the last couple of decades has played the movie "A Christmas Story" from like 7pm Christmas Eve to 7pm Christmas Day, repeatedly, start to finish, over and over again.
Ah! So it's America's Willy Wonka?
Libertarianism: The belief that out of all the terrible things governments can do, helping people is the absolute worst.

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:14 pm

Animavore wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote:
Animavore wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote: He's the narrator (and writer of...) the movie A Christmas Story (the movie about little Ralphie and his quest to obtain the Red Ryder BB gun, with compass in the stock). The story was based on his book called "In God We Trust. All Others Pay Cash."
:dunno:
In the States, "A Christmas Story" has become an icon. There is a television channel called "TNT" which for the last couple of decades has played the movie "A Christmas Story" from like 7pm Christmas Eve to 7pm Christmas Day, repeatedly, start to finish, over and over again.
Ah! So it's America's Willy Wonka?
Maybe -- we have the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka here too, which was always popular with the kiddlins. Do they play Wonka 24-7 in the Land of the Angles?

Christmas Story is an Everyman tale where little Ralphie (supposedly the narrator as a child, but Jean Shepherd himself said that it was all made up) is a 10 year old boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas. People seem to identify with it, because something like what happens in the movie seems to be common occurrences in people's lives. The childrens' attitudes toward Christmas, the strategies they play to get their wishes across to their parents, the shenanigans at dinner tables, and everybody's gruff (but ultimately loving) dad who is always fighting with the furnace and plugging too many things into the same outlets, etc. It's all very mundane stuff, but every scene makes you almost go "...that's exactly like what happened when I was a kid!" LOL -- even though it is set in the 1930s or 40s.

User avatar
Bella Fortuna
Sister Golden Hair
Posts: 79685
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:45 am
About me: Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Location: Scotlifornia
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Bella Fortuna » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:15 pm

I'm listening to a book at the mo so haven't delved in yet!
Sent from my Bollocksberry using Crapatalk.
Image
Food, cooking, and disreputable nonsense: http://miscreantsdiner.blogspot.com/

User avatar
Azathoth
blind idiot god
blind idiot god
Posts: 9418
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Azathoth » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:16 pm

Animavore wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote: He's the narrator (and writer of...) the movie A Christmas Story (the movie about little Ralphie and his quest to obtain the Red Ryder BB gun, with compass in the stock). The story was based on his book called "In God We Trust. All Others Pay Cash."
:dunno:
:this:
Outside the ordered universe is that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.

Code: Select all

// Replaces with spaces the braces in cases where braces in places cause stasis 
   $str = str_replace(array("\{","\}")," ",$str);

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:21 pm

Elif air ab dinikh wrote:
Animavore wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote: He's the narrator (and writer of...) the movie A Christmas Story (the movie about little Ralphie and his quest to obtain the Red Ryder BB gun, with compass in the stock). The story was based on his book called "In God We Trust. All Others Pay Cash."
:dunno:
:this:
It's a 'merkin thing, I guess...

Image

"Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. Though my personal preference was for Lux, I found that Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand... YECCHH!"

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:24 pm

Bella Fortuna wrote:I'm listening to a book at the mo so haven't delved in yet!
I've been playing them in place of the radio when I'm in the car.

When I was a kid, I only caught the very tail end of his WOR radio career -- and I remember him from Shepherd's Pie which was in the late 70s and/or early 80s, and I only heard him sporadically. I just always loved the way he spun yarns. The main thing he's known for, and what made me remember him was A Christmas Story, and a few weeks ago I was just like, hmm...let me search for Shep on these podcasts on my iphone. And, there it was...The Brass Figlagee....it was like I had hit the jackpot at the casino!

User avatar
Bella Fortuna
Sister Golden Hair
Posts: 79685
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:45 am
About me: Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Location: Scotlifornia
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Bella Fortuna » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:26 pm

Coito ergo sum wrote:
Bella Fortuna wrote:I'm listening to a book at the mo so haven't delved in yet!
I've been playing them in place of the radio when I'm in the car.

When I was a kid, I only caught the very tail end of his WOR radio career -- and I remember him from Shepherd's Pie which was in the late 70s and/or early 80s, and I only heard him sporadically. I just always loved the way he spun yarns. The main thing he's known for, and what made me remember him was A Christmas Story, and a few weeks ago I was just like, hmm...let me search for Shep on these podcasts on my iphone. And, there it was...The Brass Figlagee....it was like I had hit the jackpot at the casino!
He makes me think of Daniel Pinkwater. Or vice versa, I can't figure which.
Sent from my Bollocksberry using Crapatalk.
Image
Food, cooking, and disreputable nonsense: http://miscreantsdiner.blogspot.com/

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:54 pm

Bella Fortuna wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote:
Bella Fortuna wrote:I'm listening to a book at the mo so haven't delved in yet!
I've been playing them in place of the radio when I'm in the car.

When I was a kid, I only caught the very tail end of his WOR radio career -- and I remember him from Shepherd's Pie which was in the late 70s and/or early 80s, and I only heard him sporadically. I just always loved the way he spun yarns. The main thing he's known for, and what made me remember him was A Christmas Story, and a few weeks ago I was just like, hmm...let me search for Shep on these podcasts on my iphone. And, there it was...The Brass Figlagee....it was like I had hit the jackpot at the casino!
He makes me think of Daniel Pinkwater. Or vice versa, I can't figure which.
Huh -- I never heard of him. From wiki, he seems like he's mostly for children. Shep definitely wasn't for kids -- his stuff was suitable for kids, but most of the real humor of Shep was too cerebral or complex for kids (Christmas Story being a notable exception).

Shep was from a generation where the humor was not overtly profane, not by any means. But, he makes sneaky allusions and veiled references here and there, always with class. I notice that with the celebrity roasts. The old Dean Martin celebrity roasts were uproariously funny, but not vulgar or profane. However, the comedy central roasts are pretty un-funny. It's more like "and now let's talk about Pamela Anderson. How much dick did you suck today, Pam?" Not nearly the inventiveness of the old Dean Martin shows.

User avatar
Animavore
Nasty Hombre
Posts: 39234
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:26 am
Location: Ire Land.
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Animavore » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:28 pm

Coito ergo sum wrote: Maybe -- we have the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka here too, which was always popular with the kiddlins. Do they play Wonka 24-7 in the Land of the Angles?
For the millionth time I'm not English! :cry:


But yeah, it's a big Christmas thing over here. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Willy Wonka.
Libertarianism: The belief that out of all the terrible things governments can do, helping people is the absolute worst.

User avatar
Animavore
Nasty Hombre
Posts: 39234
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:26 am
Location: Ire Land.
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Animavore » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:33 pm

Coito ergo sum wrote:Shep was from a generation where the humor was not overtly profane, not by any means. But, he makes sneaky allusions and veiled references here and there, always with class. I notice that with the celebrity roasts. The old Dean Martin celebrity roasts were uproariously funny, but not vulgar or profane. However, the comedy central roasts are pretty un-funny. It's more like "and now let's talk about Pamela Anderson. How much dick did you suck today, Pam?" Not nearly the inventiveness of the old Dean Martin shows.
:this:

I thought they were complete shite, those latest ones. Compared to this (which incidentally I found while searching for the Charlie Sheen roast which everyone told me was so so funny):



:funny:
Libertarianism: The belief that out of all the terrible things governments can do, helping people is the absolute worst.

Coito ergo sum
Posts: 32040
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 2:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Coito ergo sum » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:40 pm

Animavore wrote:
Coito ergo sum wrote: Maybe -- we have the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka here too, which was always popular with the kiddlins. Do they play Wonka 24-7 in the Land of the Angles?
For the millionth time I'm not English! :cry:
No need to respond with so much Ire. :awesanta:

User avatar
Animavore
Nasty Hombre
Posts: 39234
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:26 am
Location: Ire Land.
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Animavore » Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:48 pm

:hehe:
Libertarianism: The belief that out of all the terrible things governments can do, helping people is the absolute worst.

User avatar
Jason
Destroyer of words
Posts: 17782
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:46 pm
Contact:

Re: Jean Shepherd

Post by Jason » Sat Dec 22, 2012 12:02 am

Who?

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests