Merry Christmas

This is a picture of our Christmas Tree this year. It was taken Christmas night.
We had a wonderful Christmas, especially when our very good friends came over to help us celebrate.
I have to admit that I personally had the best Christmas that I can remember - I have done so much this season, from the Holly Dickens Festival every weekend, to the Crocker House Wallow and Wassail, to watching Simply Dickens perform on Fox 2 News, to visiting Greenfield Village twice for their Holiday Nights event, to cutting down our Christmas Tree...just a fabulous Christmas Season.
And it continues...

This photo was taken at the Adam's House in Greenfield Village

The following letter is one I wrote that was printed in today's Detroit News in response to an article about Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays.

It's a neat little early Christmas gift:

How should holidays be celebrated?

Be specific about Christmas

For the most part, I agree with John O'Neill in his assessment of "Happy Holidays" versus "Merry Christmas" ("Happy holidays remains true to the actual spirit of Christmas," Nov. 28). However, what angers many people is not the voluntary use of those terms. It's when, for example, The News wishes its readers a "Happy Holidays" on Christmas Day instead of wishing them a "Merry Christmas." I would expect the papers to also wish their Jewish and Muslim readers a proper acknowledgment on their major holidays as well.

Calling a Christmas tree a "holiday tree" or (in the case of a national retailer) a "family tree" is also wrong. You don't call a Menorah a "holiday candle holder," right? In this age of all-inclusive, feel-good political correctness, it is OK to be an individual, too.

Ken ---------

I am a traditionalist so I will say to anyone of my two or three readers "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

This is a picture of the fireplace in our 'Gathering Room' that I took last night. I won the original 19th century frames hanging on each side on eBay at a very good price, and, yes, they have Currier & Ives prints.


We had nearly 8 inches of snow fall where I live in Michigan and, although you may hear plenty of grumbling from many folks, you won't hear it from me. I like snow, especially this time of year. Now, come the end of January and into February I will be very tired of it!. But, at this festive time of year, I am enjoying the Christmas-y look it gives. I even a drove a very hazardous drive out to Holly to participate in the Dickens Festival, as did a good many of us who are part of the festival. Not surprisingly, there were very few patrons about and we called it off by mid-afternoon. However, a few of our Dickensian characters were able to go for an actual sleigh ride through the streets of town!
I am a man in the wrong time...

Creationism vs Evolution

Why do evolutionists fear the teaching of creationism so much? Why do they fear the idea of free thought and expression from both sides of the story? Why are evolutionists and scientists so against the creationist museum in Kentucky? One scientist even went so far as to state that the museum was so well done he feared that people would actually believe it was true! So? Can he prove that it's not? Of course he can't. First of all, science has many faults of its own - scientists change their mind more than the Clinton's do. Second, scientists get government funding - need I go any further (can anyone say "Global warming?").
One needs to remember one thing: evolution is a theory - just that...a theory. It has never been proven. Of course, to many, creationism is also a theory. So, if that's the case, then why not teach both?
Have you noticed that an evolutionist has this attitude that they are some how so far above creationists? That all creationists are academically lower than a slug's belly? Why? Because they believe in God, who created everything?
Again, I ask, what are they so afraid of? That quite possibly creationists might be (gasp!) right? That maybe their children may have the opportunity to see another side of the story rather than being brainwashed by a secular society? Isn't a public school supposed to teach all theories rather than just what a few supposed know-it-alls feel should be taught? Shouldn't I have the right for my child to have a full, well-rounded public education due instead of what the secularists and the commie ACLU organization (who continuously push the myth of Separation of Church and State) feel my child should have?
What are they so afraid of?
I'd like to know if the evolutionists believe in God and Jesus. I've been told that some do. Well, then, do they only believe certain parts of the bible, the parts that don't affect them directly? You know what I mean by this, I'm sure.
Do they pray?
Do they feel God had a hand in the creation of the earth and everything else? Or, as they seem to project, do they only believe in evolution. Or maybe they believe that God "planted the seed," so to speak, in which case He did have a hand in creating the heavens and earth, right?
If you happen to be an evolutionist and these questions make you feel uncomfortable, then maybe you ought to set yourself down and truly think about your life, as well as the afterlife. Think about what you believe, and why do you believe the way you do.

A Christmas Carol

"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is, perhaps, my all-time favorite story. I have multiple copies of the book and, so far, every available copy of the movie versions. And, as stated in a previous blog, I participate every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Holly Dickens Festival in Holly, Michigan. This year, much to my delight and surprise, I am Charles Dickens himself, and I speak on how "I" came to write this most famous of Christmas stories.
Anyhow, today I would like to write of my favorite filmed versions of "A Christmas Carol" and why they are good, fair, or poor.
First off, my favorite movie version is the George C. Scott version from 1984. Why? Well, Mr. Scott makes a very human and realistic Scrooge - his believability factor is a 10 out of 10. He's not evil...just mean. I also think this has the best Tiny Tim, Ghost of Christmases Past and Present, and a very good Jacob Marley. It really helps that this was filmed in an actual 18th and 19th century village in England, lending the authenticity lacking in some of the other versions.
My second favorite is the Alistair Simm version from 1951. Simm also makes a wonderful Scrooge, and a very comedic one as well. It's this version that has my favorite Jacob Marley - truly a haunting and torturous creature. And 'Old Joe' at the hock shop is excellent (during the 'future' portion of the movie). This is the only version that gives Mrs. Dilber such a prominent role. It's because of these other factors that this movie shines.
Now we hit the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart. In my opinion (sorry Stewart fans) he is one of the worst Scrooges. He is beyond mean - he can be downright evil. And, I really don't care for a totally bald Scrooge. But the worst part to me is the obviously fake choking out a laugh when he has been reformed. Embarrassing.
But, this version has, hands down, the best Cratchit family, bar none. They not only look as ragged as they are supposed to, with poor teeth, well-worn clothes, and obviously without many means, but their speech is of a lower class London family as well. This is also only one of two versions to show the dead Tiny Tim lying in state in his home, as he would have been at the time.
But, to whoever wrote the script - please, Scrooge's sister's name was FAN - not Fran!
Oh, one more thing: the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come is really awful here. I would have expected more for such a recent filming.
The 1933 version with Seymour Hicks is very well done considering its age. The buildings look authentic, the Cratchit's are very realistic, and Hicks plays a wonderfully authentic Scrooge.
Unfortunately, the spirits in this version are awful: a light, a voice, and...well...nothing but Scrooge's replies to unheard questions. Now, I know in 1933 the ability to super-impose was already a common practice. Why they went this route is beyond me.
A very big plus is showing Mrs. Cratchit taking the pudding out of the laundry tub, as the book states. One of the funnier moments was seeing Scrooge's old love, Belle, having 14 (!) children!! And, in a bit of an unusual twist, we see Queen Victoria celebrating Christmas. Hmmm...
My least favorite is the Reginald Owen version from 1938. I feel there was no soul put into it. And Owen himself is far too young to play such an old miser as Scrooge - it's obvious he has a fake head piece on. He also changes much too quickly for my taste - he has become reformed clearly by the first spirit. The over acting (watch Mrs. Cratchit as she brings in the pudding) is sickening. There is no "life", so to speak, in the spirits, especially in Jacob Marley. Again, they call Scrooge's sister Fran (it's FAN!), an obvious pet-peeve of mine.
But, on the plus side, this is the only version showing the Cratchit children going to the baker's to get the goose.
So there you have it - my personal reviews and opinions of the movie versions of "A Christmas Carol."
If you want to get a great book version, search out "The Annotated Christmas Carol" by Dickens and Michael Patrick Hearn. The explanations of 19th century life are clearly defined.
"Dickens Christmas" by Simon Callow is also an excellent book version. Both include the complete text as Mr. Dickens originally wrote it. Both also include many historical notes to accompany the words.

My Daughter

My daughter's 7th birthday was yesterday, and I am willing to bet that she is the only child in Michigan who received a chamber pot as a birthday gift. Yes, a chamber pot.
You see, this past summer, while at Greenfield Village, we were in the Sarah Jordan Boarding House when she noticed the ceramic pots under the beds. She asked me what they were and I explained that most folks during the 19th century and before did not have bathrooms (or "necessaries" as they were known then) in their homes, so they either had to go outside in the dark, wooden structure that eventually became known as an outhouse, or they did their duty in the chamber pot under their bed. Well she loved the idea of not having to walk the ten feet from her bed to the bathroom in our house so, naturally, she really wanted to get one for herself. I explained that it was the youngest family member's job to empty and wash out the chamber pot every morning - she didn't care. She wanted one, and that was all she spoke of for weeks.
Well, off to the eBay site I went and found an authentic 19th century pot at a remarkably low price. I went after it and won. This was in August - we've been hiding it ever since. So, last night, when she opened her birthday gifts (which included a quilt, an easel, and a Hannah Montana doll), she literally screamed for joy upon seeing she also received a chamber pot.
Only my daughter!

The News

OK, here's one of my biggest pet peeves: the local and national news broadcasts. The reason is I am sick and tired of over-blown stories. For instance, the very unfortunate instance of the young jerk that killed eight people in an Omaha mall yesterday. The news should report it and leave it at that. But, no, they have to keep harping on it and give other imbeciles ideas of becoming famous in such an awful way. In fact, the idiot that caused yesterday's turmoil even wrote in his suicide note that he was doing it to become famous. But, there you go, the news stations giving this fool the notoriety exactly what he wanted. Then, to top it off, the local stations are asking people on the street if they will continue to shop at malls because of what happened in Omaha. They even spoke with a psychologist to help folks who may be concerned about shopping at a mall.
What fools these mortals be.
And how about when the weatherman predicts an inch or two of snow and calls it "Winter Survival!" We live in Michigan, for Pete's sake! It snows here. And it can snow quite a bit. Under 6 inches is nothing. In fact, it's expected! Please, do not make something out of nothing.
Thank you for letting me air my frustrations.
Happy Birthday to my wife.