Regeneration

All good things must come to an end, so the proverb goes.

The time has come to move away from the Positively Ellinwood Street blog -- home to so many of our online recommendations and musings for the past six years. This is the final post.

If you wish to wax nostalgic you can always revisit your favorite posts. The 5 most popular articles were:

• Navy SEALS in Fiction 
• Awake and Alive
• Edith Wharton vs. Henry James 
• Reuniting with Lost Loves at the Jewel and in the CD Section
• If Mitch Rapp and Jack Reacher got into a fistfight, who'd win? 

Another moment befitting the proverb happened on Christmas Day, 2013. The eleventh Doctor Who, played by Matt Smith, breathed his last in The Time of the Doctor. But of course, the Doctor did not die. He regenerated, changing from one form to another. And change is good; change is life.

The last words of the eleventh doctor reinforce that sense of continuity, rather than ending:

I will not forget one line of this. Not one day, I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me.

If you are feeling wistful, you can enjoy the exploits of the eleventh doctor with a visit to your local library. My personal top 5 episodes are:

• The Eleventh Hour
• The Doctor's Wife
• The Lodger
• Vincent and the Doctor
• The Day of the Doctor

This year series 8 will charge ahead with Peter Capaldi as the twelfth doctor. There will be new adventures and new companions, perhaps -- with the same Doctor underneath it all. I am looking forward to it.

Come see us at our new blog. It'll have a new look and a few new contributors, with the same great library at its heart. You won't be disappointed.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2014

Check out some music CDs featuring the 2014 inductees.

• Greatest Hits
  The E Street Band
• Beatles Anthology 1
  Brian Epstein
• New Blood
• Private Eyes
• Kiss
• Bleach
• Through the Past, Darkly
  Andrew Loog Oldham
• The Best of Linda Ronstadt
• The Very Best of Cat Stevens

Photo credit: http://www.amongmen.com/entertainment/music-books-games/nirvana-kiss-and-peter-gabriel-among-2014-rock-and-roll-hall-fame

Not Your Typical Holiday Movies

My favorite part of the holiday season is the return of special family traditions, year after year. And one of my family's annual traditions is to cozy up on the couch with some classic holiday movies.

But by now, I have had my fill of Claymation reindeer. Like a glut of eggnog and pumpkin pie, too many caroling elves and feel-good, black-and-white Christmas miracles on Main Street can leave me a bit queasy.

Sometimes I feel the need for a change of scene. I'd like a Christmas flick with some irreverence, with maybe a peek around the dark side of the tree. And throw in a few explosions too, please.

If the sugarplums have gotten too sweet for you and you're looking for a holiday movie served with a side of bah humbug, this is the list for you.

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  Bad Santa
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  Batman Returns
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  Brazil
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  Die Hard Collection
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  Go
• 
  

  Gremlins
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  The Ice Harvest
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  Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
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  Lethal Weapon
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  The Long Kiss Goodnight
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  Reindeer Games
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  Trading Places

What's your favorite offbeat holiday movie?