O Tannenbaum
Three French Hens
The Northern Exposure episode Seoul Mates is what made me embark on this foolish blog journey in the first place. If I didn’t read about it on the AV Club, I wouldn’t have tried this out.
This episode of one of my favorite television shows occurs in its third season, the peak of its story telling prowess. The main story involves Maurice finding out about his son born of the hostess he had a fling with during the Korean war. The second story is about Joel, the Jewish doctor, embracing his inner Christian. The third story has Maggie all clumsy because of her imminent homecoming with her parents. The fourth is about Holling freaking out about Shelley missing out on her Catholic Mass. All this in the middle of Christmas as the Raven comes along.
Ravens are what decorates the trees in the town of Cicely for Christmas. They are the Native American spirit of the holiday times. The Raven brought the light to the darkness. “A long time ago the Raven looked down from the sky and saw that the people of the world were living in darkness.”
The Christmas theme is community. Northern Exposure was always about community a place where you belong and where your quirks don’t bother anyone. You’ll always find community in Christmastime. Everyone sharing the same good cheer and good will towards all. It’s what brings us together.
I still haven’t taken up the task to watch the whole Northern Exposure run. I can’t wait to do that one.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is verbose. Lots of deductive reasoning going on. Turns out, it’s not bad, but it got to be annoying. It is what it is.
3 of 5 stars.
Two Turtle Doves
If it wasn’t for Fox Movie Channel, I would be writing this entry cold. As it were, FMC is trying to compete with TBS in a “movie marathon on Christmas Day.” Whereas TBS showcases the beloved, A Christmas Story, FMC comes at you with a more recent entry into the Holiday movie canon, Home Alone.
Yup. That’s today’s treat. Home Alone. The movie that gave us Macaulay Culkin. The movie that reminded us that John Hughes was still alive. The movie that gave us Chris Columbus.
Okay. Since it was a while that I had seen Home Alone, let’s recap. Kevin McCallister gets into a spat with his family on the eve of their holiday trip to France. His mother sends him to his bed, but not before he wishes that he had no family. In the morning in a rush, the rest of the family runs to the airport for their trip leaving Kevin behind. He wakes up finds himself home alone, rejoices, and proceeds to do the things he always wanted to do. Eventually, the Water Bandits come a calling, and Kevin must defend his home from these thieves. Meanwhile, his mom realizing the error is trying to make her way back. Hitching a ride with Gus Polinksi she makes it home in time to find that Kevin has reformed his ways and misses his family.
Today’s Christmas them: home. The place you live. The place where your family is. A place where you gather together and celebrate Christmas. But it doesn’t have to be the old family home. Home could be the place where your friends or with your buddies. Home is where you find yourself surrounded with love. It’s here. It’s there. It’s down the street. It’s physical. It’s metal. It’s the atmosphere of the place. Home is where you are.
I like that FMC has decided that Home Alone is the holiday movie that it wants to make a holiday classic. I doubt that they could make it as such, but they’ll keep trying. I will keep up with it because damn if it ain’t stupid when Jennifer Connelly miscounts children, or when Catherine O’Hara tries to haggle for an airplane seat, or when John Candy (!) shows up as the Polka King of the Midwest. It’s a stupid movie, but there are just as many stupid other holiday films.
A Partridge In A Pear Tree
So I had this brilliantly stupid idea which I cribbed from the AV Club. I will blog about some movie or television show that can relate to Yule time, and I will post an entry once each day for the Twelve Days of Christmas. I was hoping you would join me, if not writing a post, reading my posts and celebrating Christmas time with me.
I shall start with It’s A Wonderful Life, the beloved Frank Capra classic. It’s corny, but I love it. It’s one of my all time favorite movies not just at Christmas time. So bear with me as I lavish once more praises on this most clichéd of films.
The story if you’ve never seen it: George Bailey is on the verge of suicide on Christmas Eve, because he’s worth more dead than alive. His family and the town of Bedford Falls prays for him that night, and their prayers are answered in the form of Clarence, ASC. He shows George that life was worth living because he was beloved and cherished by all the people who came to know him. “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”
That’s the Christmas theme: camaraderie and friendship. No matter how sad you believe your life to be, the fact that you have friends makes all the difference in the world. It becomes apparent at Christmastime. As you visit with friends and family, you see as much. What a joy it is to be with everyone! You realize life is good because of all the people you know. Christmastime brings us together.
Anywhoo, this is my start of the twelve days of Christmas Blogathon. It’ an inauspicious start hopefully it gets better. Your turn.
Quote of the Day [12.25.11]
“God bless us, every one!”
Tiny Tim, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Link of the Day [12.24.11]
Gogo Yubari as a housewife, ex-spy, private investigator? Yes.
Sure. I’ll watch that.
Grievances
Hoy! I missed the airing of grievances last night. On my couch at 10; fast asleep by five after… zzz… zzz…
Hunh?
Festivus is over!?
Not yet!
Apple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, et al. … for the crap that is the patent wars in the mobile devices arena
Android… for being so lame
Android handset phone makers… for not doing software updates
Windows… for being Windows
Flash… for not dead yet
Senior leadership… for their ignorance
Program leadership… for their smoke up the ass blowing
Self… for sticking around for this shit
Hunh?
A little Megane-chan for you this morning. “Shinagawa-kun! Shinagawa-kun!” (Hee hee hee… she has me laughing even now.)
Hope you’ve got all your shopping done. Now time for the wrapping and the cooking. We’ll be having a wonderful time soon.