If you're anticipating a visit from Kris Kringle, what are you hoping to find
under your tree?

A pony?
A toy train?
An Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle?

I hope you don't find a lump of coal!

(Leave a comment with your wishlist ... you never know when Santa might peruse the AADL blogs!)

What album should mark the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death? Plastic Ono Band, a critical favorite from Lennon's uneven solo career? Nah, I vote for A Hard Day's Night, which includes some of Lennon's best Beatles-era songs. As for individual songs, I suppose most fans would pick "Imagine", but my vote goes to his definitive cover of "Twist and Shout" which is one of the best, infectious rock vocal performances of all time. And this time of year there's always "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". (I wonder what Lennon would have said about McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time").

Starting in January, the United States Postal Service will be honoring some of children's literature's most beloved characters. Eight different animals will be featured on the 16-stamp sheets.

Appearing on the stamps will be Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar, Lucy Cousin's Maisy from Maisy's ABC, the Wild Things from Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George from Margret and H.A. Rey's Curious George Flies a Kite, the pig Wilbur from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, Leo Lionni's mouse Frederick, Ian Falconer's Olivia and Dr. Seuss's tongue-twisting Fox in Socks.

Just in time to help you find that perfect gift for the sports fan on your list (and to support Cinderella Man, #22, as a contender when Oscar time rolls around), Entertainment Weekly has published its list of the 30 best sports movies on DVD. Numbers 1-5 are: Raging Bull, Caddyshack, Hoosiers, Rocky, and Bull Durham. See the complete list.

Alan Alda was inteviewed on the Diane Rehm show on 11-29-05 about his new book "Never have your dog stuffed... Alda, star of stage and screen, looks back on his life in show business and how a life threatening illness atop a Chilean mountain changed his life.

Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce for 11 years on the TV series M*A*S*H. Last year he was nominated for: an Oscar for his role in "The Aviator;" an Emmy for his role on "The West Wing"; and, a Tony for his performance in "Glengarry Glen Ross."

Tis the Season....for the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Bah humbug, it has never been one of The Play Ground's favorites. Well, the Performance Network is featuring Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol by Tom Mula. It is well done, inventive and an interesting new take on this old standard. Through December 24. Fans of the original Christmas Carol may wish to check out the 1951 classic starring Alastair Sim and Kathleen Harrison.

Most of the hotly anticipated movies due to be released next month are based on a book: Memoirs of a Geisha, Brokeback Mountain (from Annie Proulx's Close Range and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Even The New World, Terrence Malick's drama about the 17th century English settlement at Jamestown--a tale that promises a good deal of bloodshed, greed, conquest, starvation, and love--is based on Love and Hate in Jamestown: James Smith, Pocahontas and the Start of a New Nation, left, by James Price, a "sparkling book [that] retells a beloved tale in modern terms...." (Publisher's Weekly)

Although it's not scheduled for release until December 13 in New Zealand (December 14 in the United Sates), the first review of Peter Jackson's $207 million epic King Kong is in. In the upcoming December 5 issue, Newsweek's senior writer, Devin Gordon, who was flown to New Zealand for an exclusive screening, gushes over the "surprisingly tender, even heartbreaking, film" and claims Jackson has "proved once again that he might be the only guy whose films are worth getting on a plane and flying halfway around the planet to see." Click here for the full review and a trailer.

If you're looking for family entertainment, you could do a lot worse than Herbie Fully Loaded, the latest remake of the '60s movie The Love Bug. The new film is a lot like the old ones, as a fiesty VW comes alive and wins races against all odds. Ridiculous and fun.

Actor Pat Morita, best known for his role as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid series of movies, and as Arnold in the television series "Happy Days" died of natural causes yesterday in his home. He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in 1984 for his role in the first Karate Kid movie, and then went on to star in three sequels.

Morita originally wanted to become a comedian, but in the 1950's in California, he did not feel there was very much hope for a Japanese-American stand-up comedian. At the age of 30 he finally was able to enter show-business full time.