{"id":1268,"date":"2018-12-17T01:32:36","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T19:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=1268"},"modified":"2024-12-06T20:16:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T14:16:45","slug":"some-christmas-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=1268","title":{"rendered":"SOME CHRISTMAS STORIES"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, it’s about nine days until Christmas and I’m going to try and toss in a quick blahg. \"SantaToday is December 16th and my daughter Abbie’s 20th Birthday so Happy Birthday to Abbie!\u00a0 I will mention her later on in this blahg but\u00a0 I really want to dash this off while I’m still in my pyjamas and to post some of my Christmas stories…both real and fictional.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First up is my 2018 Christmas Light Display.\u00a0 Last year, my wife Jeanette gave me a new inflatable Santa which is good because my giant inflatable Christmas Tree started smoking after being plugged in and then the motor died.\u00a0 Every year it’s the same thing:\u00a0 some of the things from last year don’t work this year.\u00a0 Click on any of the pictures below to get a larger close up in a new tab.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The sad thing about the above Light Display is that all the snow in those pictures was from about 4 days ago and now the snow\u00a0 is all melted.\u00a0 Also, the large stump visible in the front yard is all that’s left of our 125 year old maple tree that had to be cut down.\u00a0 It developed a large split down the trunk earlier this year and Ontario Hydro had to cut it down before it took down the power lines.\u00a0 Fun fact, a limb from the tree did snap off in a wind storm over my Birthday weekend in September and took down the hydro line…twice that night.\u00a0 I think the Hydro crew were cursing me or cursing the tree that night.\u00a0 Below, is a picture of the front of my house in 2016 showing my light display and where the tree once proudly stood:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"2016<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So what about those Christmas Stories?\u00a0 First, I have to give a prelude or prologue to my first story in the form of a list.\u00a0 The following list of movies are some lesser known Christmas movies that I like to watch around this time of year:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    “Remember The Night”<\/strong> (Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray) 1940<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n

    “Beyond Tomorrow”” (aka Beyond Christmas) 1940<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n

    It Happened On Fifth Avenue” 1947<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n

    “Miracle of the Bells” (Fred MacMurray, Valli, & Frank Sinatra) 1948<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n

    “Holiday Affair” (Robert Mitchum & Janet Leigh) 1949<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  6. \n

    “The Great Rupert” (Jimmy Durante) 1950 aka The Christmas Wish<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  7. \n

    “The Holly and the Ivy” (Ralph Richardson) 1952<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  8. \n

    “Room For One More” (Cary Grant & Betsy Drake) 1952<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  9. \n

    “Young At Heart” (Frank Sinatra & Doris Day) 1954<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  10. \n

    “Fitzwilly” (Dick Van Dyke & Barbara Feldon) 1967<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  11. \n

    “The Christmas Tree” (William Holden) 1969<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  12. \n

    “The Gathering” (Ed Asner & Maureen Stapleton) 1977<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  13. \n

    “An American Christmas Carol” (Henry Winkler) 1979<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  14. \n

    “The Man In The Santa Claus Suit” (Fred Astaire) 1979<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  15. \n

    “Ebenezer” (Jack Palance & Ricky Shcroder) 1998<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  16. \n

    “Nativity” (Martin Freeman) 2009<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
  17. \n

    “Arthur Christmas” 2011<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Of the above list, only “The Christmas Tree” 1969, and “The Man In The Santa Claus Suit” 1979 have yet to have DVD releases.\u00a0 \"The<\/a>“The Holly and the Ivy” 1952 has only had a DVD release in the UK but if you have a region free DVD player or a DVD player or Blu-Ray player that you have hacked to make region free, like I have, then you can order it and watch it.\u00a0 Great film about a family gathering and happy dysfunction.\u00a0 I’ve held onto my copies of The Christmas Tree” 1969, and “The Man In The Santa Claus Suit” 1979 because I still have a VCR and it’s the only way to watch these movies.\u00a0 I have a bin of old Christmas Cartoon specials that were issued on VHS and never issued on DVD but some I have converted to digital format unless there was some copyright protection that prevented me from converting them.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now, my copy of “The Christmas Tree” \"The<\/a>is one that I picked up at a Library yard sale some years ago.\u00a0 You can see from the image at the right that it’s a library discard.\u00a0 The thing about this movie is that it’s not a happy movie.\u00a0 Here’s a quote from the back jacket:\u00a0 “Learning that his son has only six months left to live after being exposed to a nuclear explosion, William Holden \"The<\/a>is determined to make them the happiest of his life.\u00a0 He meets his son’s every wish including buying him a blue tractor and stealing a pair of wolves from the zoo.\u00a0 The boy’s gentleness tames the savage wolves and they become his pets.”<\/em>\u00a0 Spoiler:\u00a0 The Kid Dies In The End!\u00a0 I told you it wasn’t a happy Christmas movie.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I like this movie.\u00a0 I think William Holden does some phenomenal acting in this film and Brook Fuller who plays his son, Pascal, does a decent job.\u00a0 But remember, this is not a happy film.\u00a0 I showed it to my two oldest children, Emily and Noah, probably more than ten years ago and they hated it.\u00a0 In fact, every year they are adamant that I never show it to them again.\u00a0 I either have to watch it myself or find a new viewing partner.\u00a0 This year, my daughter Abbie, who turned 20 today, had heard all the previous lamenting from her siblings but committed to watching it with me.\u00a0 It took me several days to find the VHS because it wasn’t in the normal bin and I had practically given up when I finally found it hidden behind some other old VHS tapes at the bottom of a cabinet.\u00a0 Abbie and I stayed up until 1:30am last night watching it.\u00a0 It still holds up but now I have to add Abbie to the list of people who won’t watch it again with me.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

    \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “The Christmas Tree” is not available for viewing anywhere online but I did find this ten minute video on YouTube that summarizes pretty well with scenes from the movie:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

    <\/h4>\n