Christmas is coming...

 ... and it will be here before you know it! So be like Bessie Love and get your gift-shopping and decorating finished early!

Happy birthday, Jane Birkin!

Born on December 14, 1946, English actress and model Jane Birkin was at the height of her fame during the 1960s and 1970s while she was living and working in Paris. Between the years of 1965 and 2016 (when she retired from show business), Birken appeared in 92 movies and television series, with side-trips into directing, producing, and singing.

Jane Birkin turns 75 years old today. Here are some photos in celebration.

Musical Monday with Made in KZ

When the nation of Kazakhstan is mentioned, the first thing that springs to most people's mind is probably Borat, the goofy reporter character played by comedian and hidden camera prankster Sasha Baron Cohen. As a friend of Shades of Gray who hails from Kzakhstan was quick to point out back around 2006 when the "Borat" movie was taking the world by storm, it was a funny character but overall insulting to her country.

It would be so much better if the trio Made in KZ came to mind rather than Borat when Kazakhstan is mentioned, I think. 

They don't capture the creepy nature of the song--in fact, they excise it completely by just featuring the first verse and the refrain in their cover--but the arrangement is so entertaining that it hardly matters. Just imagine that you're listening to the music from an ad for the Hotel California.

Bones Coffee's Eggnog

The Christmas Season is upon us! There are just a handful of things that are more Christmas-y than eggnog, and I love eggnog, so sampling and reviewing an eggnog-flavored coffee for this Sunday's post was an easy decision! (I was also extra curious about the Eggnog blend, because I have my own homemade holiday standard that consists of mixing eggnog and coffee.)


BONES COFFEE COMPANY: EGGNOG

This is one of those Bones flavored coffees that amused me even before I opened the package; it's got a cartoon of the company mascot doing an iconic scene and character from the movie "Christmas Vacation."

The joy continued as I opened the package and I could smell eggnog, and it got greater as the coffee brewed. A strong aroma wafted from the kitchen and into my office and made me eager for the coffeemaker to finish it's work so I could start drinking.

I was not disappointed. The eggnog flavor is unmistakable, but not so strong that it overwhelms the coffee flavor as with some of Bones' offerings (like the Peaches and Screams blend, for example). It wasn't quite as strong as the mixtures I usually make myself, but it was close enough that I almost didn't feel the need to immediately add the usual unsweetened almond milk. The eggnog flavor blended perfectly with the smoothness of the Bones' medium-roast that is the typically foundation for their flavored coffees, and I count this among my favorites from the company so far. I don't know if the Bones Eggnog blend will replace my own coffee-with-eggnog mixture, but it might. I will have to order another set of sample packs so I can compare the two, side by side. I'll be sure to provide an update. (Oh, the sacrifices I make for you, my loyal readers...)

All in all, the Eggnog blend was flavorful enough that I could have consumed it without adding any of the unsweetened almond milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, but I found that I liked it even more once the almond milk had been added; the eggnog flavoring seemed like it became stronger. I didn't think the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer did much for this blend--it seems to wash out the eggnog flavor rather than enhance it.

The same is true when this blend was consumed cold, over ice. It tasted just as good as when it was consumed hot, and adding the almond milk also seemed to once again bring out the eggnog flavor. That said, it the eggnogginess of this blend seemed to grow weaker as the coffee grew colder, and it was very subtle when the coffee was iced. It was almost as if I was drinking straight, high-quality coffee with a touch of cream and sugar added.

I highly recommend Bones' Eggnog as a coffee that will bring some cheery Christmas warmth to your gatherings ... or even if you're just enjoying a quiet evening alone. It should be enjoyed hot, though. 

All Diane wants for Christmas is a pair of pants, because hot coffee is only so effective.
(Still, we think if she was drinking Bones' Eggnog-flavored coffee, she'd be happier!)

POSTSCRIPT (wait... isn't everything here a postscript? Eh, never mind...)

As for my above-mentioned homemade eggnog/coffee eggnog blend, I recently purchased a bag of Seatttle's Best medium-roast House Blend, one of the three or four varieties I have used to make it over the years, so I was able to compare it to the Bones variety sooner than anticipated. (I'll be posting about that House Blend in the not-too-distant-future. But I digress.)

I think it's a tie between my home-made version and the Bones' version, taste-wise. Bones' Eggnog blend scores some bonus points for having fewer calories and being convenient--I am more likely to run out of eggnog than I am almond milk. My own blend, however, gets points for me being able to adjust the eggnogginess at will.

Sadly, neither is available year-round...

An important announcement from our sponsor

We at Shades of Gray want to extend a big Thank You to the Slaughter Valley Cultural Development Office for inviting us to relocate our offices to this most scenic part of the world. We have been very happy here. We hope that you come visit us soon.

In the meantime, we have an important announcement from our sponsor, the Slaughter Valley's Slaughterfield Experimental Geometry Services; click on the video below to see it, especially if you're one of our neighbors here in Slaughter Valley. They are doing exciting work, and hopefully everyone everywhere will soon get to experience the fruits of their labor!

Jussie got the justice he deserves.

Happy birthday, Emmanuelle Chriqui!

Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui had her first professional acting jobs as a teenager on horror-themed television series such as "Who's Afraid of the Dark?", "Forever Knight", and "Psi-Force: Tales of the Paranormal".

As the 2000s dawned, Chriqui began appearing in the big screen, with roles in comedies, dramas, and more horror films such as "100 Women" (2000), "Wrong Turn" (2002), and "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (2008).

With the arrival of the 2010s, Chriqui's career shifted back to television, with leading roles in "Cleaners" (2013-2014) and "The Passage" (2019); and supporting or recurring roles in several other series, such as "The Mentalist" (during the 2012 and 2013 seasons) and Shut Eye (during the first season). Her most recent television role was as Lana Lang on "Superman and Lois", the first 16-episode season aired during 2021. In 2022, she will be seen in a starring role in "Cosmic Dawn", a sci-fi thriller about cults and alien abductions.

Chriqui turns 46 years old today. Here are some photos in celebration!

The Avengers: Honey for the Prince

Honey for the Prince (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Ron Moody, Zia Mohyeddin, George Pastall, Bruno Barnabe, Roland Curry, and Peter Diamond

Director: James Hill

Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

The Avengers (Macnee and Rigg) are called into action to find out who murdered two British and agents and to stop the assassination of the crown prince of an oil rich nation who is visiting England with his 320 wives.

This episode deals with the intersection of modernity, Western culture, and conservative Middle Eastern culture, as well as class struggle and the right and wrong ways to work toward social change. These are all topics that I suspect would be near and dear to many potential viewers of this episode... if they could get past the obvious sexist bits, very-much-intentional racist bits ("intentional" because they are there to shed negative light on those holding the attitudes, despite the comedic presentation), and the cartoonish portrayal of the Saudi Arabian prince. And for those who don't care about social commentary, the episode has Emma Peel dancing around dressed as a harem girl, lots of funny lines, some of the best action/fight scenes of any episode so far in the series, and a great performance by Ron Moody. In fact, I think Ron Moody's presence and character puts this among the best episodes of "The Avengers", and the action scenes pushes it into Very Best territory.

The aspect of this episode I found the most enjoyable was the eccentric owner of a very strange business--and how the episode's villains made use of it. Ron Moody portrays Hopkirk, a writer and organizer of live-action roleplaying game scenarios that lets people live out action and adventure in the safety of his "danger rooms." Since roleplaying games and writing has been a vocation and avocation of mine for the majority of my life, I loved this angle to the show. Given how popular RPGs have become in recent years, I think it's an aspect that might appeal to a whole host of viewers.

"Honey for the Prince" was the final episode of "The Avengers" that was made in black-and-white, so this is where we part ways with the very entertaining team of Mr. John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel. They remained partnered for one more patch of episodes... and maybe we'll have to revive the Watching the Detectives blog for a second Year of the Avengers in 2022. Time will tell. (Stick around here for the time being... there are a couple more posts to come for the 2021 Year of the Avengers here at Shades of Gray!)

Picture Perfect Wednesday with Ralphie

 Yep. They will put your eye out...

The Electric Boogaloo of the Gods

Jupiter's Thunderballs (1903)
Starring: Anonymous Actors and Dancers

Director: Georges Méliès

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Zeus's thunderbolts begin to fizzle, so he summons Hephaestus to repair them. While the upgraded bolts intially are able to call all nine Muses into Zeus' presence, it soon becomes clear that they work a too well!

Although not a very good example of how fantastic Georges Méliès' special effects could be--what we have here is rather clumsy and badly executed when compared to the perfection in some of his other films--this is one of my all-time favorite modern usages of the Greek gods. I don't think I will ever not feel like this is among the most fun three-and-a-half minutes of film that was ever made. Likewise, I don't think I'll ever have to supress the urge to make a Beavis and Buttlike like snicker and say, "He said balls" whenever I see its title. (I also think I'll never understand why both the French and English title reference Jupiter when the sets and costumes all reference the Greek names and versions of the featured gods rather than the Roman ones. Maybe it's a fourth-wall joke that's going over my head?)

Click below and watch "Jupiter's Thunderballs". If you end up not considering it among the best moments you had today, you may take me to task in the comments!)