We're halfway through the festival, then we're flung out of the cozy harbour of the holidays into the grim open seas of the school year, with no sign of bus service anytime soon. The temperatures have plummeted and there's a thinnish cover of snow on the ground, just enough to brighten up the muddy berms and need shovelling from the front paths. For the first time since December began, younger daughter has selected a non-Christmas DVD for her daily viewing.
Actually, what's considered holiday viewing in North America baffles me. Even the so-called Christmas specials back-pedal so furiously from being about Christmas that you end up with odd kind of soulless stories with a vague moral. One of the few new offerings this year was a thing called Shrek the Halls in which Shrek apparently learns that spending time with your friends is the most important thing, no matter how annoying, destructive, overbearing, loud, etc. those friends happen to be. It wasn't quite clear what holiday these friends were supposed to be celebrating, but apparently, it was important to do it together...
Educational channels seem to think anything by Dickens is Christmassy so we got The Old Curiosity Shop and Oliver Twist. Channels aimed at female audiences think anything to do with Jane Austen is Christmas fare, and family channels think The Sound of Music is a Christmas movie. Summertime. Nazis. Sure sounds like Christmas to me.
While we're at it, when did "My Favourite Things" become a Christmas song? As far as I can tell, it's because of "brown paper packages tied up with string" "silv'ry white winters that melt into spring" and "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes". But "raindrops on roses"? "When the bees sting?" What is this? Christmas in Australia? And don't get me started on "Jingle Bells", "Winter Wonderland", or "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Sing them if you like, but please stop calling them Christmas carols. A) They're not carols. B) They've nothing to do with Christmas, even in a secular way. (Oh yeah, and Marilyn Monroe never recorded "Santa Baby"...)
If we're going to go for secular Christmas music, here's one that isn't played nearly enough: Oh, sing it, Chrissie Hynde. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go shove some more mince tarts in the oven. It's time to open the sixth day of Christmas present...
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Hey good call on the Chrissie Hynde!! (you will not of course know that in my teen years I aspired to be Chrissie despite my total lack of musical ability with a guitar. I was rather good at air guitar though. And head banging. And I had her haircut.)
Thankfully we have missed Shrek the Halls, but am totally with you on seasonal tv fair and what is considered Christmassy. I still haven't got round to watching Christmas Eve's offerings, but after Dr Who I'm not sure that there's even been much on to watch. My favourite festive TV this year were Mark Gatiss' trilogy of ghost stories, Crooked House. Not very Christmassy, but suitably spooky for the season.
Have been reading your postings and enjoying them very much. Just haven't been able to get much online time this week. Am totally with you on the calm cosiness of Christmas week harbour as opposed to the stormy seas of school term, which I'm trying not to think about...
Hope your bus strike ends in time for the kids to go back.
And many belated happies for the season.
PS my mother spent last Christmas in Indonesia, and went to mass on Christmas Day where they actually played White Christmas. But in a carolly kind of way. So I suppose that was allright then!
I think the strangest church music I ever heard was "Moon River", played at my husband's youngest godson's christening in an Anglican church in Victoria. My late in-laws, (fil being an archdeacon in both Victoria and Edmonton) would have flipped...
Best wishes for the new year. Goodness knows we need all the help we can get.
i am, at best, an orthodox agnostice (as your fellow canadian margaret atwood once described herself) but i love christmas television fare of old. what happened to The Waltons Christmas? that was a really good one... all the really good ones like Amal and the Night Visitors, and The Little Drummer Boy and--naturally--Charlie Brown's Christmas, all get shunted off to dvds and one long run on one day on some cable channel. and speaking of Dickens -- where did "A Christmas Carol" go? hidden on late night tv, and never the one with Alistair Simm (still my favorite). too bad. although, i must say, i am relieved we are no longer subjected to the variety holiday specials... we really don't need something like Cuba Gooding's Very Special Christmas Holiday Show with Special Kwanzaa Guests.
also, i am glad to see that i am not the only one who wants to celebrate all *twelve* days of christmas. we always have a Little Christmas dinner and it's one of my favorites. i start with the Lucia festival in early december and finish up jan. 6th -- that helps me make it through the winter and -- hey! come to think of it, i haven't had *any* egg nog yet! i'm going to remedy that tonight.
happy new year, good yule, welcome end of long nights -- whatever greeting suits you best -- it comes with fond affection across the internets to you and yours.
bonnie-ann black
I haven't seen The Homecoming (the title of the original Waltons' Christmas story which predated the series) this year, although it's usually on somewhere in Canada. The Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol (Scrooge) is always on in Canada. For one awful decade, it was only available in the Turner colourized version. We, of course, own the DVD, complete with Patrick McNee's smarmy intro, because it is the only worthwhile filmed version, is it not? I rather miss the variety specials --- they were so gloriously awful...except for the ones involving Julie Andrews. Or the Muppets. Or both.
Best wishes indeed for the rest of Christmas and beyond.
okay... i concede the Muppets with John Denver and A Very Muppet Christmas were terrific!
it's not that i don't enjoy the Patrick Stewart Christmas Carol, or even George C. Scott's but something about Alistair Simms' just gets to me... every time Jacob Marley unties that bandana and starts to howl, the hair goes up on the back of my arms!
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