Gangsta Fail

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According to National Geographic, an old Yuletime demon is scaring kids into behaving once again in the alpine areas of Austria.

From National Geographic Blog Central

Krampus (the name means Claw) allegedly appears before Christmas, stealing naughty children away in his sack only to be defeated by the good St. Nicholas who could send the demon back to the infernal regions.

Wikipedia's Dutch St. Nick pic.

St. Nicholas, can put Krampus in his place.

The centuries old belief is making a comeback in Austria after being marginalized in the 1800’s by the church. Marc Silver writes:

Europe once had a roster of Christmas rascals like Krampus, many with pagan roots. And Yule was a lot like today’s Halloween, partly because farmers had time off from chores and could party with abandon. On December 5, the eve of St. Nick’s feast day, folks would bang on doors for food and drink.

Against Krampus, Frosty doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in, well, hell.

Apparently, his nightmarish reign is returning to Austria and there are scores of Krampus Clubs in Salzburg alone.

Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun! Darn churchy spoil sports! This is a tradition we need to import!

We really have excised almost all awareness of evil from kid’s experiences. I think older kids are treated to a lot of apocalyptic imagery  in movies and cartoons (probably mostly directed at boys, I suspect), but real meditations on fear, death, unpleasantness are rapidly being censored out. I wonder if it is really making a positive difference. It might be. Anyone with ideas? Of course, I don’t have any kids who will be kept up all night with nightmares…

Maybe its just me.  But it seems like things get crazier every year at this time.  With people fighting over the latest must have toy or gadget.  Lining up outside stores Wednesday mornings to take advantage of Black Friday sales.  The grinches who think its cool to destroy Christmas decorations people put up in their homes.  Or how about the people who go crazy with the lights on every conceivable, and some not so conceivable, surface of their house and yard.

I can remember a time when Christmas decorations didn’t even hit the store shelves until the first week of December.  Now, they are up in July.  Maybe thats why so much of the magic has left the season.  Its become way too commercialized.

I am not complaining so much, as wondering where the insanity will stop, if at all.  Next thing you know, you’ll be able to buy that inflatable Christmas Tree when you buy the cupid decorations for Valentines Day.

Regardless, here’s wishing you and yours a safe, happy, healthy, and SANE holiday season.

Christmas Vacation versus “Winter Break/Holiday”; Easter Vacation versus “Spring Break”…having homeschooled our children and, therefore, having little exposure to the public indoctrination system (aka public schools), we were unaware of the Left’s assault on the terms Christmas Vacation and Easter Vacation over the last 10 years.  Anti-theist crusaders have threatened milquetoast school board members across this nation that referring to Christmas and Easter Vacations as such violates the Constitution (written by men with Judeo-Christian beliefs) and is otherwise insensitive.

Historically, the only reason these two vacation periods have existed was to allow sufficient time off from school to celebrate the Birth and the Resurrection of Christ.  Now, the Left would have us believe that an en masse departure has suddenly occurred and these simple terms must replaced.  There’s no longer any need to recognize Christmas or Easter.  in its place, a universal desire to have a vacation in the middle of winter for no apparent reason (other than maybe to celebrate the winter solstice), followed by another vacation in spring so heathen college kids can take over resort destinations to get drunk and hold wet t-shirt contests.

The Petoskey News gives us an example of a successful return to sanity taken by the Petoskey Board of Education.  Board member Jack Waldvogel proposed, and the board voted unanimously, to rename the “winter holiday break” in the Charlevoix-Emmet Intermediate School District calendar to "Christmas break."

Daniel Dankoff wrote to the Petoskey News-Review to criticize Waldvogel saying,"We’re a nation of many faiths, and he’s jamming it down the throats of everyone who’s not a Christian."  Of course, it’s perfectly acceptable in Dankoff’s eyes for the 5% of the U.S. population that does not celebrate Christmas to jam their hatred of Christmas down everyone else’s throats.

Be sure to email Jack Waldvogel to express your support and encouragement to help him endure the assault of the Grinches.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Despite 23 years of unwavering love for the holidays (and yes, to set the record straight, I STILL believe in Santa), Mr. Grinch and I share a surprising similarity: seasonal nausea. Brought on by materialism and an infatuation for all things shiny, this feeling can bring down even my highest holiday high. The cure? Well, I’m glad you asked.

This Saturday my Auntie Stephanie took me to Vancouver’s Portobello West. Like many of the markets held at Christmas time, Portobello was the perfect dose of great company, local talent, and environmental goodness. I couldn’t be pulled away. Reused fabrics, homemade treats, fair trade lotion, and one-of-a-kind, beautifully-crafted, not-going-to-find-it-anywhere-near-a-mall, vintage fashion. What I thought was a rare gem, a hidden find, was in fact the complete opposite. Thousands of Vancouverites have been busy perusing these markets for years. They have been doing more to engage with each other, support their community, minimize their carbon footprint, and get closer to the true meaning of Christmas, than I ever have.

Spending the afternoon with my Aunt meant togetherness. Even if you don’t purchase your gifts from a local artisan, consider giving an “experience” instead: treat your best friend to a day at the spa, take that boy you like for an afternoon picnic, or spend the afternoon playing tourist with your sister. Nothing makes me smile wider than creating memories with the ones I love.

So, in the end, Dr. Seuss wrote it best:

I’m glad he took our presents. You can’t hurt Christmas… because it isn’t about the… the gifts or the contest or the fancy lights…  and me. I don’t need anything more for Christmas than this right here: my family.

This Christmas, whatever you give and receive, I hope that love and family are never far away.

Totally irreverent but a little lovable, the Grinch who tried unsuccessfully to steal Christmas is an annual tradition in our household. We’ve seen all versions of the movie but every year the old Dr. Seuss cartoon is dragged out as the favourite. Here’s a little “green” preview for you.

That holiday spirit I mean.

I thought I kicked things off pretty well yesterday, and I’m going to keep the energy flowing… or at least I’m going to try.

I thought it would be fun to document some of the more spectacular holiday light displays around town and decided to start at one of my very favorite places in Oakland, Mountain View Cemetery. Their display is a little kitschy, but that’s kind of what it’s all about isn’t it?

I saw them unpacking the lights and wrapping the trees last weekend when I was there for a jog… young men on step ladders stringing trees, and others placing Santa and his reindeer in their arc around the entrance fountain.

The sign says the “Circle of Lights” display will be up each evening in December from 5 – 9pm. There’s even accompanying holiday music if you tune into the FM station listed. All I can say is I was there at 5:05pm today, and while a few things were lit, the reverential circle was certainly not. Bah humbug. Here are a couple shots, but clearly I’ll have to go back…

Keep tuning in for more holiday cheer, unless you’re feeling Scroogey of course… because I’ve got lots of joy to spread around. I’m hoping to make it to:

• The official city tree lighting ceremony with the Mayor downtown tomorrow (5pm Thursday the 3rd at City Center Plaza)
• The Zoolights display at the Oakland Zoo (Starts Friday… it sounds pretty cool and I’ve never seen it)
• The lighted yacht parade on the Oakland/Alameda estuary this Saturday
• And much much more

Plus I’ve got snowflake how-to’s, cookie recipes, Santacon!!, and who knows what else. Let’s have some fun, eh?

Oh yeah… and Art Murmur is Friday! So I’ll cover some non-holiday stuff too for you Grinchy types.

Am I a full-on Christmas fanatic?  No.  But I’m no Christmas hater, either.  I probably should love the holiday more—the whole celebrating Jesus’ birth thing is kinda’ important, but I still feel that Easter is far more meaningful and significant—but there are some things I truly enjoy about the Christmas season.

10.  Tacky Christmas lights and ornaments. Perfectly coordinated trees belong in department stores.

9. Christmas specials. Namely (and in no particular order) A Charlie Brown Christmas (a must), Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (old school 1979 Sesame Street, no crappy Elmo here) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (even though ABC BUTCHERED it and shoved commercials in the worst possible places when they aired it the other night).

8. Christmas movies. Home Alone (quoted year-round by me and my sibs).  The Muppet Christmas Carol.  The Nativity Story (directed by Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke, no less).  White Christmas.  A Christmas Story.  Miracle on 34th Street (the remake, but I’d take the original, too).  And, of course, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

7. A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. This singular album instantly puts me in a Christmas mood.  Suck it, Manheim Steamroller.

6. Being with family. A cliche, for sure.  But dagnabbit, I really like them.

5. Being in a Church choir. For some reason I’m not too big on caroling door to door.  (It must be because I detest being in cold weather.  And a cappella singing.)  But being part of a Church Christmas program where I, quite literally, sing praises, reminds me of my ties to the sacred and holy.

4. Christmas Eve. It’s better than Christmas Day.  There’s an anticipation in the air.  And driving on quiet empty roads through a gentle snowstorm at night is borderline magic.

3. The food. We all have our own traditions, our favorites that we love so much; to partake of it more than once a year would be blatant gluttony.  I’m talking about you, crab dip.

2. I play the Grinch. Every year Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT hosts “Breakfast With Santa,” where kids (and their parents) get a catered breakfast and get to meet Santa.  But the real star of the show (if I do say so myself, heh heh) is the Grinch.  I’m decked out in so much green makeup and fur, you’d swear one of my parents was a Muppet.  I’m on my fourth year of doing it, and I love it.  Half the kids are excited to see me; the other half recoil in terror.  It’s great!  At the end of the breakfast I’m drenched in sweat and I can never seem to get all my makeup off, which kind of makes me look like a zombie hooker.

1. This isn’t something I love about Christmas—I’ve never enjoyed it before—but I look forward to it: Celebrating Christmas with my wife. I got married this past October, and the opportunity to start our own Christmas traditions is very exciting.  It also helps that she’s hot.  I’m just saying.

We’re used to toy manufacturers and the media creating a demand (echoes of Lorraine Kelly saying “and this year’s Top Ten Toys are…”) and then failing to supply so that they can charge extortionate prices for unimaginative pieces of plastic. But in recent years things have gotten a whole lot worse thanks to a new breed of secondary abusers muscling in to make things even harder for parents.

Thousands of unscrupulous Ebay traders make a small fortune by buying up this years favourite toys and then selling them for a tidy profit. For instance, a Star Wars Lego toy that retails at the already ridiculous price of £75 has been bought up by Ebay con-men (making it difficult for genuine customers to buy them legitimately) and is being sold for £115 + postage. And people are actually paying these bastards for the privilege!

We’re anti-capitalist, anti-CONsumerist, anarchists, but we’re also low paid working class parents. We know the immense social pressures that parents are under, but if people pay these Ebay parasites then the problem will only get worse.

We’d love to be the kind of parents who can say to their kids “Right, this year we’re going to make all our prezzies from bits of driftwood and we’re gonna dumpster dive for a turkey.”, but we’re not. What we can do though is explain to our kids why it is that certain nasty people are very, very greedy and how this means that other people don’t get their fair share of things. In the long run we’d be doing them a favour. We have to ask ourselves why it is that we’re prepared to give our children everything but the truth.

We have to fight back against the Ebay parasites – it’s easy, don’t give them your money. Then we need to start on the rip-off toy manufacturers!

*On a political note Ebay is the best illustration there is to the fact that free market libertarians and, so called, anarcho-capitalists are totally wrong. The myth of self-regulating market forces falls to pieces in this hideous micro-economic experiment  - the market, as usual, becomes manipulated by greedy little freaks who have no concept of ethics of fairness.

Hello everyone,
and now that the turkey and cranberry is off the Thanksgiving table let me be one of the first, if not the first, to wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Continuing on now with the YouTube Christmas series; I present to you a classic CBS Christmas special from creator Jim Davis and company.  ”Garfield Christmas Special” is both humorous and heartwarming.  Garfield’s owner, Jon, along with Odie the dog and the fat feline himself travel to the family farm to celebrate Christmas. Despite his rural upbringing, Jon and Garfield at first seem like a couple city slickers.  In Garfield’s case it perhaps were the rather large Christmas scraps of food that “Grandma” was feeding him under the table that made the feline feel finally at home; meanwhile Jon was reintroduced to chores.

Really what makes this cartoon a special one is how well it depicts the interaction between family.  True its mostly an animated Hallmark card but there is a moment or two where the cartoon goes beyond mere sentiment of the season and generic family togetherness.  One such example is where “Grandma” seems at peace when rocking in her chair, stroking Garfield, and reminiscing of past Christmases spent with her late husband.  Not really certain why but I find that scene to be more endearing now having seen it for the first time since my grandparents passed away several years ago. There are of course, as well, plenty of funny cartoon gags and light hearted moments.

Garfield Christmas is one of the better Christmas specials out there.  In my book it ranks right up there with Charlie Brown and the Grinch.  Please enjoy the entire show featured in the embedded players below and once again… Merry Christmas.  (You can never say it enough.)

-Matt Thompson  (Also be sure to checkout the first YouTube Christmas installment, “Christmas Comes to Pac-Land“)

Garfield Christmas Part 1

Garfield Christmas Part 2

Garfield Christmas Part 3

Jolly-T’s Christmas Tshirts available at  jolly-tshirts.com or thompsonstshirts.com

Here’s Monday’s “TV Tonight” report.  The 8:00 hour on ABC has some Christmas Specials lined up.  On ESPN, check out the Patriots as they take on the Saints in the Louisiana SuperDome.  All times are EST.

CBS: How I Met Your Mother, 8pm; Accidentally on Purpose, 8:30pm; Two and a Half Men, 9pm; The Big Bang Theory, 9:30pm.

FOX: House, 8pm; Lie to Me, 9:01pm.

THE CW: One Tree Hill, 8pm; Gossip Girl, 9pm.

NBC: Heroes, 8pm; Trauma, 9pm.

ABC: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 8pm; Shrek the Halls, 8:30pm; Find My Family, 9pm.

I MUST stop this Christmas from coming! …But HOW?

dis muss be frend off urs

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After the weekend TV drought…Monday ushers in a new week of TV watching!

But alas! What to do now that Donny(a little bit rock n roll…)Osmond has won DWTS heralding the conclusion of the dancing season, and the end of a Monday night staple? I fear the worst… Reruns, Holiday Specials and the hope (prayer) that a Sporting event will take place.

I’m here with you, never fret…I will always be able to find something for us to watch tonight…So here are my suggestions for this Monday TV Night:

Hoarders: I will warn you right now…if you have any emotionally destructive or psycho-compulsive  tendancies, this is a scary scary show. Frightning….to think that having a slight compulsion, OCD, or “daddy” issues may lead to this disease. This show exposes that creey house at the end of your street…you know the one— Where you hardly ever see the people who live there, and when you happen to be downwind, a strange smell eminates the walls. Inside this house, there may be 7 ft high piles of garbage, 25-year old canned goods and every birthday card ever received by the owner…taking up the entire floorspace of the house. It is an unbelievable show…in that you cannot believe that human beings could ever have the capacity to live this way. It’s definitly worth a watch… but kids, careful. Your mom WILL make you clean your room if you watch this show together…guaranteed. Tune in Tonight on A/E 10pm

Leafs vs Buffalo- The Maple Leafs are coming off a two-game win streak (start the parade), and Buffalo has been one of the hottest teams this season. Will the Leafs win a season-first 3 games in a row? The keys to this game will be the continued hot-streaks of Hagman (the sudden standout) , Kessel (the pricey saviour) and Gunnarsson (the newest baby Leaf). A win tonight would propel the Leafs into (the elite club) position to overtake some of the struggling Southeast division teams like Florida and Tampa Bay, and would put some pressure on the uncharacteristic low-acheiving Eastern teams like Montreal and Ottawa (boooo). Toronto is getting more confident, and stars are beginning to emerge…and in this city, thats as good as contending… Game tonight RSO 7pm

Other Options:

House:  (one of the only NEW episodes on TV) Fox/Global 8pm
Find my Family: (another invasive personal tragedy show…) ABC 9pm
The Grinch: (the original…the classic…I still have it on VHS)  CBC 8pm

Whatever you decide to watch, have a great TV Night!

The Dom-Post must think its readers are stupid. Its editors might be, but Alf – for one – knows better than to believe that…

The grinch – in the guise of the recession – has stolen the capital’s free Christmas Day bus services.

Free bus travel stolen by a grinch? Bollocks.

Worse, stolen by a grinch disguised as a recession?

That bullshit is the Dom-Post’s pathetic substitute for hard facts.

The reality is that a highly-paid executive – or a team of the buggers – would have made the decision resulting in the news that:

Christmas revellers have been able to travel free on Wellington’s buses for close to a decade, but that gift will not be offered this year.

The policy change will affect NZ Bus services in Wellington and Auckland.

Zane Fulljames, general manager of operations for Go Wellington, said the company could no longer afford to offer free travel for a day.

“We have offered free fares on Christmas Day, despite not being required to do so, for as long as we have operated bus services,” he said.

“Providing travel for free is a significant cost to the business that we find we cannot continue to absorb.”

Newlands Coach Services spokesman Geoff Norman said his company had also decided to charge full fares on Christmas Day after hearing of the NZ Bus policy.

Alf loves it. The spokesman didn’t make a decision. Nor did his boss. His company did…blah, blah, blah.

But it’s better than attributing responsibility to a bloody grinch.

is it wrong that I don’t want to celebrate Christmas?

my friends just got back from cutting down there tree and I am usually like a little kid so excited to help decorate ANY tree.. but I don’t want to even look at it!

♥ ~Jill

This is one of my favorite questions.  In my house there is only one answer “Of course there is!  I named Nicholas after him!”  And in our home the children have delighted in knowing that the spirit of Santa Claus lives on in each one of us.  I never spent time trying to convince them that one Santa in the mall is the real one nor did I leave “tracks in the snow” to drive home the point.

Instead, we demonstrated in our house the infectious joy of Santa and what it means to give.  Without taking away from Jesus and his birth as the true meaning for Christmas we were able to also share the happiness and laughter that comes from celebrating a visit from Santa.

And yes, it is true.  I named my oldest son after St. Nicholas.  I love this time of year.  I celebrate Christmas every day of the year, but for the next 28 days I go all out with the children to allow them to enjoy everything there is when you focus on giving and peace versus the day-to-day drama they are bombarded with.

For the first time this year, Alexis and Emily will be a part of our Christmas.  Last year when we learned they were at my father in law’s (who does not believe in Santa) we raced over with gift bags and presents to add to their holiday.  It was Christmas eve and we knew that nothing would be new or available for them to open on Christmas morning.

We have learned from the girls that they have never had Santa visit.  Their parents did not believe and their grandparents told them Santa was not real.  Can you even imagine?  I am sure there are more children than I care to know who also have no Santa in their life but when I think of the importance of the spirit of Santa I am crushed to know of the sadness that these children must feel.

What if you believed Santa was for some and not for you?  And how do you bring Santa to life for those who have never had the opportunity to share in the joy?  I can tell you what we did.  As a family we explained that if no one in the house believes it is hard for Santa to visit.  We also shared that Santa has never missed this house.  There is a catch though – Santa is watching to see what we give throughout this season and all year.  We explained giving is more than just a once a year cleaning out of toys we no longer want.  Giving is helping others who need us when they do not ask for it.  Giving is remembering that everyone should have a warm meal and a place to sleep.  Giving is reaching out on the phone to remember someone, or sending a card to just say hello.

It has made my heart grow at least three sizes to big (a nod to Dr. Seuss) to watch the girls look for new ways to give and to new ways to get involved in giving.  They are also all about participating in the decorating of the house, the baking (and the eating) and for the first time on Sunday they will participate in Advent.   I also have  a spirit warmed by the many actions my own children have taken to bring these two girls into the season and to share with them the fun and traditions we cherish.

Yes, there is a Santa Claus.  His spirit is amazing and is driven by the love and joy of those who pass it on!