It's the final Fanny Friday!

(Well, the final one for '23! She'll be back with more in '24!)

Getting everything ready...

 Tempus Fugit.

The Spirit of Christmas...

... is roaming the land, spreading light in the darkness.

We wish that all visitors to Shades of Gray have a joyous Christmas!

It's Fanny Friday!

 

Christmas is coming...

 ... and Cassie was surprised when we told her that she may have taken our conversations about celebrating Christmas with just the bare essentials the wrong way.

Musical Monday with the Pogues

Guest performer on "A Fairytale of New York" Kristy McColl has described it as " a Christmas song for those who hate Christmas songs". Others (unknown if they hate Christmas songs or love Christmas songs) stumble toward the fainting couch or wet themselves, because the lyrics are outrageous (OUTRAGEOUS!) and offensive because they include one character in the song insulting another as they fight by calling him a "faggot" (right after he calls her a "slut").

We like the song and we think it's clear that those who are pitching fits over that word need to get over themselves and haven't actually listened to the lyrics or are too stupid to understand a thing called "context". 

And we hope they never come upon a whole host of rap songs. Or even some nursery rhymes.

Hell, if someone with a brain was looking for a reason to take offense at this song, there's a MUCH more serious reason to do so, if you choose to interpert the story of the song in a particular way. But requires listening and thinking... something most people don't do these days. (Now, we still think anyone who's wailing and gnashing their teeth are behaving like idiots and haven't put enough thought into their reaction, but at least they would have put SOME thought into it.)

But take a look at this great video and listen to this fine song. Or not.

A Fairytale of New York (1987)
Starring: The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, Kristy McColl, and Matt Dillon
Director: Peter Dougherty

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

An example of why creators need assistants...

 

It's a Fanny Friday

 Back in 1921, the first Miss America was crowned in Atlantic City, hailed as the most beautiful of bathing beauties. She was Margaret Gorman, and we imagine that she was a lot like a real-life Flapper Fanny!

Happy Birthday, Vanessa Hudgens!

Singer and actress Vanessa Hudgens turns 35 years old today. She began performing in musical theater at the age of 8, and by the time she was in her mid-teens, she'd gained worldwide fame for her role in the "High School Musical" film series and a number of other projects for the Walt Disney Company.

At 18, her career took a minor hit when nude photos of her were stolen and leaked online, but she soon recovered and her fame has only grown as the years have gone by. Today, we celebrate her birthday with a small gallery of photos.

 

 
 

 

 

Christmas is Coming...

 ... and Vera-Ellen is here to let you know that the Big Day will be here before you know it!

Christmas is Coming!

She sees you when you're sleeping. She knows when you're awake.

She knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake.

Norma Shearer is coming to town!

Important Announcement from Slaughter Valley

 If you plan on visiting us here in Slaughter Valley soon, or if you're a neighbor who may have missed this important weather-related PSA, you should watch this so you aren't taken by surprise.

Musical Monday with Bing Crosby

 Straight from 1942, we have Bing and a babe looking forward to Christmas!

It's time for the Sunday Funnies!

(Click any panel to see a larger, more easily read version of the page.)

It's a Fanny Friday!

 And Christmas is coming... and our favorite flapper truth-teller has a thought about the matter!

Christmas is coming...

... and Myrna Dell is out hunting for our Christmas tree!

Are YOU getting ready?

Musical Monday with Matt Wheeler

Matt Wheeler is a Pennsylvania-based musician and singer who amuses himself (and entertains us) by posting videos of him performing aucoustic cover songs. He's here to help get the Christmas Season off to a good start with a medley of Christmas songs which includes one of my favorites, "We Three Kings".

Untold Tales of Jesus Christ

Since Jesus Christ's birthday celebration coming up later this month, we're going to bring you some lesser-known tales from his life. We hope you find them moving and inspiring. (Click on any panel to see a larger, more easily read version.)

It's Fanny Friday!

An Important Message

The time has come for Milla Jovovich to make her quarterly appearance here at Shades of Gray... and she's addressing a pretty black-and-white issue.

What's up with Upton?

Model and actress Kate Upton recently caused offense and outrage (OUTRAGE!) by wearing a t-shirt with a corporate logo on it. She has taken steps to cure this crime against humanity, so we here at Shades of Gray want to lend a hand in her efforts to atone for that great and terrible sin.

Here are a couple photos of her wearing no top at all. We hope they will help everyone out there get over their spiritual pain over seeing her all covered up.

 

We were saving these for the next International Nude Day, but it seems like they can be put to better use in facilitating an end the emotional suffering that's going on out there.

It's a post-Thanksgiving Fanny Friday!

 

A Helpful Hint from Flapper Fanny!

Here's something to keep in mind when gathering with family and friends for Thanksgiving today:

Happy birthday, Jamie Lee Curtis!

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis--best known for playing Laurie Strode in the original "Halloween" films and the most recent reboot of the series as well--turns 75 years old today. Join us in celebrating with this gallery of photos of her from her 50+ years in front of the camera!

Happy birthday, Mie Hama

Japanese actress, writer, and radio talk show host Mie Hama turns 80 years old today. She is best known internationally for her roles in "King Kong vs. Godzilla" (1963), "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" (1966), and "You Only Live Twice" (1967), but she appeared in over 80 films and television series before retiring from the screen in the late 1960s to start a family and enjoy what she describes as a "normal life".

Today, we celebrate Hama and her milestone birthday with some publicity photos from her time in front of the cameras!

It's National Adoption Day...

... and we apologize to anyone who finds Fanny's response to our request for a statement to be offbase.

If you've adopted someone, is the someone who was adopted, or know someone who was adopted into their current family, there might be something of interest to you on the National Adoption Day website; you might even want to share a story or two of your own.

It's Fanny Friday!

 

Today is World Philosophy Day

We should all follow Wonder Woman's example when it comes to observing this very important day!

Flapper Fanny is also offering up some Deep Thoughts.

NUELOW to bring More Sex and Violence

Among the items produced by NUELOW Games (the little publishing outfit headed by yours truly) is a series of clip art/stock art collections that's cleverly named the NUELOW Stock Art Collection. It consists of themed collections of public domain art reworked from comics and pulp magazines in a way that make them easily used in just about any sort of book or online project that buyers can think of.

A few years back, we released a set featuring "mature" action- and horror-oriented illustrations that was titled "NUELOW Stock Art Collection #18: Sex and Violence". It did quite well... and now we're releasing a follow-up that's titled "NUELOW Stock Art Collection #28: MORE Sex and Violence". (Clever titles is one of our specialities, as you can see.)

"MORE Sex and Violence" will be available this Friday at the usual places. Among the featured artists are Hannes Bok, H.L. Parkhurst, and Max Plaisted... and today we bring you a few of the included Plaisted illustrations, in order to preview the set.

 

To see more drawings by Plaisted and a host of other artists--and perhaps even find some low-cost art that's what you need to illustrate a project you are putting together--check out "NUELOW Stock Art Collection #28: MORE Sex and Violence" later this week at DriveThruRPG and DriveThruFiction!