K.A.C. 2024 - T - 06 Days ...

 

     1994 - Get ready to go dark ... WAY dark as we present this award-winning stop-motion animated Christmas short, The Junky's Christmas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, narrated by and starring William S. Burroughs, based on his short story. It's very rough sledding, but surprisingly touching at the end. Not For Everybody - Discretion Advised:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-CCKaORM80 

     

 

     What the heck ... in for a penny, in for a pound. Our second holiday gift is ALSO a Burroughs production, this time pairing him with Tom Waits. Hop in the Wayback Machine as we go back four years to 1990 and their collaborative musical The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets - imagine The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as a musical and you BEGIN to come close to this weirdness. The Wikipedia article below goes into more description, but
why spoil it for yourself? Hit play first!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQkzAbCjio 

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Rider 

 

 

 

 

      Is there ANY way to salvage this day and shed SOME ray of happiness? NOPE! Instead, we're shedding TEARS here as we TRIPLE down with the 2024 John Lewis (UK) Christmas ad which has people up in arms - why? Watch it and read the article below:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4U8-km4pc8  

     https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/nov/14/john-lewis-christmas-advert-shopping 

     There, there, it's all done - that wasn't so bad, was it? I'm sure we'll have something happy tomorrow. Wellll, relatively sure ...     

       

     

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 07 Days ...

 

     1993 - The perfect Christmas/Halloween/Easter/Arbor Day (?) film comes out this year on October 9th and cements Tm Burton's reputation as one of the most innovative directors of this era. The Nightmare Before Christmas is 31 years old as of this writing and has become a perennial holiday favorite, with its charming stop-motion animation and its memorable tunes and score by Danny Elfman. The favorite song that all OUR friends like to sing? Yeah, you know it ... 

 

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QapSxz7QXs 

    

     Now HERE'S a Very Special Moment: Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl on 10/31/2015, Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara and Paul Reubens perform 'Kidnap The Sandy Claws' as their characters Lock, Shock and Barrel LIVE after a showing of the film. Needless to say, the audience loses their minds! A beautiful moment for all who love this film. Thank you, YouTube!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yHQBcUma8I 

     

     Think we've gone as dark as we can with Disney? Puh-leeese! Since we're already deeply entrenched in the weird today, we might as well let this ball roll all the way to the bottom. Check out this article from the UK Sun entitled 'Happy Ever After? From Cinderella to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty – The Hidden Health Risks Disney Princesses Face': 

      

 

     https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/32339890/cinderella-snow-white-sleeping-beauty-health-risks-disney-princesses/ 

     

     We end today with Shaun the Sheep and the Newbury Coat singers (just seeing which of you are paying attention) and their UK Christmas ad for Barbours ... or is it Baa-bours?

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtcVopAT7Pc 

     Our numbers are dwindling as we get closer to the Big Day - back tomorrow with more.

    

     

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 08 Days ...

 

     1992 - Before we get to today's tales, we must pause to welcome back in those rascally rapscallions Hardrock, Coco and Joe, as we do every year at this time. Longtime K.A.C. followers know all about the Three Little Dwarfs, but if you're new here, read on!

 

     "On December 18, 1956, WGN-TV's "Garfield Goose and Friends" introduced Chicago area children to Santa Claus' three favorite elves, Hardrock, Coco and Joe. At two-feet-high, Hardrock drove Santa's sleigh while Coco navigated and Joe tagged along for fun. To create the animated short or "song cartoonette", Hill & Range Songs hired Centaur Productions. The company was established in the early 1950s by Wah Ming Chang, a sculptor in Walt Disney's Effects and Model Department who created the model of Pinocchio; and George Pal, a producer and Academy Award nominee. The shorts were produced in black-and-white using stop-motion animation, a cinematic process that brings figures or puppets to life by minutely reposing and photographing them frame-by-frame, resulting as fluid movement on screen." (Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications) Once these three lads appear, all bets are off as it signals the OFFICIAL start of the Christmas season, with one week to go! Make sure your ears are nice and clean for the earwig that follows:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDM6Bbt9WDY  

     There, now that that's stuck in there nice and tight, let's see what else we have today:

      ITEM: What's the scariest line you'll hear from the K.A.C. this year? How about this? "Hi! My name's Noel and I have a happiness!" Sounds innocuous, right? Guess again, peeps! This little red guy from '92 will take your heart on a roller coaster ride in just 22 minutes - I don't know HOW I missed this back in the day, but I'm glad I did! Now that I've caught up to it, however, I'm not going down alone - it's YOUR turn. Do YOU want to have a happiness? SURE you do ... all it takes is one little click ...

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoSRUeYchMU 

    

     ITEM: Also from '92 (thank the Gods) is another Christmas special to take your mind off of the tragic horror of Noel. Let's turn instead to someone who is MUCH more in touch with our brand of lunacy here, Mr. Bean. Relive his holiday antics in 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean' below!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2UCRNldC3s 

     More tomorrow!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 09 Days ...

 

     1991 - "Well, Philip, what do you think of today's K.A.C. story, 'A Sheep's Coat at Sunrise, A Man's Coat at Sunset', or The Tale Of the Newbury Coat'?" "BAAAAH!" "Hmmm, yes, in retrospect, that's what I thought you might say." Since you're already here, why don't YOU read about this perennial challenge:

     https://www.berkshirehistory.com/articles/newburycoat.html 

     

 

 

 

 

     We'll leave him to chew on that for awhile as we play catch up with another of the contemporary UK Christmas ads for this year. 'Sweet Suspicion: A Waitrose Mystery' is a cheeky ad done in two parts: the crime and the interrogation (Part 1) and the reveal of the criminal (Part 2):

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Ll30xiwAU 

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO6hDK5GGww 

    

     Finally, looking for a NEW Video Fireplace Yule Log for your Christmas party this year? Ramp up your party (and the SOUND!) with the NASA Rocket Engine Fireplace! This glow will keep you toasty all night long - the links below include the 8-hour loop - Blast Off!

     https://plus.nasa.gov/video/nasa-rocket-engine-fireplace/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHNSZFleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHdNPIZSi2gJcaxDJjecIfrWrZDrEbSTnPaB0_LuzZUiwXM1yhmdckAqqOg_aem_0cZl5BaAm05NCrAAtpDhnA

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cgTVTwu4nw 

     There's also the NASA RS-25 Yule Log embedded in the link.  Back tomorrow (after splashdown) with more.

    

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 10 Days ...

 

     1990 - "Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animals!" Another decade down and already there are rumblings in the air as technology continues to advance in leaps and bounds. Uneasiness in tech circles is starting to surface over what happens to computers worldwide in ten years, with a face on the problem, named Y2K building to intensity from 1995 on. As the world held its collective breath, what happened? A big snoozefest of a nothing, by and large! 

    

     While it was all playing out, it made a whole lot of people wish they were living in simpler times, when computers were non-existent and you got from Place A to Place B thanks to snowrollers. Never heard of them? Educate yourself thanks to the good folks over at Tamarack Hill Farm:

  

 

 

     https://www.facebook.com/photo/fbid=985579476933744&set=a.472320848259612 

    

     Our entries end this year at the year 1999, so on this Sunday edition let's give you a sneak peak at next year's entries, which will cover the years 2000 - 2024. Here's a look back at SNL's TV Funhouse from 2001 entitled 'The Narrator That Ruined Christmas'. Keep in mind this aired only a few months after 9/11:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UihZm6T2T5g 

     Back tomorrow with more!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 11 Days ...

      1989 -  Christmas, you say? Hold your horses, kid. Better yet, hop in to this car while I tell you about a superstar from this year: Toonces the Driving Cat. One of the funniest and stupidest skits Saturday Night Live ever came up with premieres this year, with Robert Smigel 'obsessed' with it, crediting Toonces with his own goofball follow-up, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog. Read the article and re-live Toonces's driving skills below:

     https://latenighter.com/news/robert-smigel-obsessed-snl-toonces-the-cat-sketch/ 

     

     '89 also brings us, fresh from silly shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the Simpsons in their own long-running series on Fox, beginning with the December 17th episode 'Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire'. The Simpsons Wiki below gives you a breakdown of the plot and while the whole episode isn't online, a truncated highlights version can be found there, too:

     https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Simpsons_Roasting_on_an_Open_Fire

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A0ZA1QyuQk&t=395s  

    

     We'll close out today with a classic piece of animation gone WAY wrong: 1937's Gifts From The Air, a Columbia cartoon in the style of another K.A.C. psyche-scarrer, 'The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives'. Make sure you have the volume for this one W A Y up as the Naughty Elves from RIFFTRAX provide their OWN narration to the action!

     

 

 

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NhqdqHmYnI&list=PLL_S- sMSTL3Ys3wiIh336Fv0WeN3rJr9m&index=13 

      Back tomorrow as we begin our last ten days!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 12 Days ...

 

     1988 - The unexpected Christmas film of the year that no one saw coming was DIE HARD, with Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. It still is a fountain of holiday memes, 36 years later.

    

 

 

 

 

 

      Not to take anything away from that tear-jerking, bullet-spewing, heart-warming (and bleeding) tale, but we here at the K.A.C. have one OTHER Christmas tale that we prefer from this year - one of our all-time favorite versions of A Christmas Carol, where EVERY trope gets stood on its head. We're referring of course to the Blackadder Christmas Carol. While we can't provide you with a free link to it (it's been taken down from YouTube and as of this writing is on the Vudu streaming service), we can do the next best thing. Below is the trailer for the show and the Complete Script, which given the brilliance of the writing, is a welcome Christmas gift indeed. True fans will hear Rowan Atkinson and crew's voices perfectly as they read along:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al4dn_oIM6o 

     https://blackadderquotes.com/blackadders-christmas-carol-full-script 

      And speaking of holiday memes, we're WAY behind in showing you this year's UK contenders for Best Christmas ad. We left off with the 'Bubbles' ad a few days ago, so we're going to play catch up with some of the others.

     First up is ASDA's ad showing us how THEY do last minute decorations. HINT: They get a lot of help from GNOMES, such as Indiana Gnome to our left. Link below:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6HITAAtPEI 

     

     Next up, Sainsbury's teams up with Roald Dahl's BFG (and helpful employee Sophie!) for a very tasty treat of an ad, with just a touch of his magic:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8dczAGg-Qg 

     

 

     Finally, we'll close our trifecta of ads with that champion of champions, Kevin The Carrot, star of ALDI's ads (and improbable UK cult figure) - and this year, seemingly competing for Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible job. As Kevin himself says: "Cheeky!"

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ1vQesB9hk

     Back tomorrow with more!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 13 Days ...

1987 - Yesterday we showed you the Max Headroom Christmas Carol. You thought that was the end of it, heck, WE thought that was the end of it until further research uncovered THIS: The 'Max Headroom Incident', as it is now known, one of the most successful pirate broadcasts of all time. It happened to two Chicago TV stations on November 22nd, 1987. Before it was over, a bewildered Doctor Who audience got a LOT more than they bargained for! Read (and see) the whole story of the broadcasts below:

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_signal_hijacking 

     https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/468926/november-22-needs-to-be-found-footage-day-max-headroom-incident/ 

     

     Staying warm in the cathode ray glow a little longer, '87 is also the year The Simpsons begins as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, including Bart's version of 'The Night Before Christmas':

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvVznAJ4X98 

      

 

 

 

     We'll wrap up the day going even FURTHER back, to 1956 to be exact and a look at a version of A Christmas Carol that we've never covered in our 16 years of running this blog. It was in a completely different medium: not films, TV or radio ... behold the ViewMaster version! A crash course for viewers who have no idea what we're talking about: 

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View-Master 

      Here's a complete look at the slides:

     http://lancecardinal.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-christmas-carol-vintage-view-master.html 

     Last but not least, here's all three reels restored to 3-D! Search your home, if you have any leftover anaglyphic 3D glasses (the cheap cardboard ones such as seen here, either red/green or red/blue), you can get the ViewMaster 3D effect via the YouTube link below. I actually have these reels and it's surprisingly spooky and rather hair-raising (especially the last Ghost):

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb_CX351krY 

     More tomorrow!

 

    

     

     

    

     

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 14 Days ...

     1986 - two weeks to go! Nothing says, nay, SCREAMS mid-'80s better than Max Headroom. For those of you who need a primer on the show, here you go (read them in order):

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom:_20_Minutes_into_the_Future  

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Max_Headroom_Show 

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series) 

     Got it? OK, NOW go watch Max's decidedly weird (and rarely viewed today) carol, 'Merry Christmas, Santa Claus' - it's a total earwig, so consider yourself duly warned:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uqBb1IjBUc 

     And if you are still wondering what the Hell you just watched, read below!

     https://recommendedstations.com/2023/12/11/have-a-strange-christmas-merry-christmas-santa-claus/ 

     There's not much to write about, Christmas-wise this year, as it was harsher than most, with both the Challenger explosion and the Chernobyl meltdown happening (and if you want to get truly Nostradamus about it, the return of Halley's comet), so this may be a good time to open the doors to some miscellaneous Peppermint Potpourri instead and see what shakes out.

     ITEM: Who was 'A Meal Man' and why is he so popular they made a teapot out of him? Learn the answer to this and other facts about one of our oft-talked about Christmas stories below:

     https://www.learn4yourlife.com/christmas-carol-facts.html 

     

 

 

 

 

     ITEM: From The Sun (UK) - see the REAL face of Santa Claus, through scientific skull reconstruction! If THAT sentence didn't wake you up, nothing's going to ... NO, no the one in the picture, the one in the link here:

     https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/32097015/real-face-father-christmas-saint-nicholas/ 

     Back tomorrow with more!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 15 Days ...

 

     1985 - The Rankin-Bass production company, who brought you such timeless holiday specials such as Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, using their 'Animagic' stop-motion animation, returns this year with their final Christmas special, and boy, did they go out on a limb with this one.

      Described as "the most Pagan Christmas special you'll ever see", The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is based on L. Frank Baum's 1902 book. The plot lets you know this is NOT going to be your typical Christmas tale: "In this story, the Great Ak (voiced by Alfred Drake) summons a council of the Immortals to bestow upon a dying Claus (voiced by Earl Hammond, with J.D. Roth voicing the young Claus) the Mantle of Immortality. To make his case, the Great Ak tells Claus's life story, from his discovery as a foundling in the magical forest and his raising by Immortals, through his education by the Great Ak in the harsh realities of the human world, and his acceptance of his destiny to struggle to bring joy to children." (Wikipedia)

     It's a fascinating tale and a beautifully done production, but audiences of the '80s were having none of it, as it scored very low when it was originally broadcast and, unlike its more traditional holiday brethren, it did not go into heavy viewing rotation year after year. You can still see it, though, on various streaming services and DVD. Below are two articles on it - if you're looking for something new to view this holiday season, I highly recommend it!

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Adventures_of_Santa_Claus_(1985_film)

     https://fitfordragoncon.com/2013/11/13/the-most-pagan-christmas-special-you-will-ever-see/ 

    

     Here's a last-minute photo I just found, too late for our Khristmas Kuties Kwiz. You don't have to do any heavy lifting for this one. Those of you who attended our Conjure Cinema showing of The Bacchantes remember Taina Elg as Queen Dirce, who fell in love with Pierre Brice's Dionysus and abandoned her throne to become a Maenad, leading the women of Thebes in revolt against her husband, King Pentheus. Here she is celebrating a different kind of ecstasy for the upcoming holiday. How about a new thyrsus, Santa? Her old one's all worn out ... 

     Last and ABSOLUTELY least, repeat after me ... 'Meat Clown'! If you're still stuck on what to provide your guests at your holiday shindig, look no further - there's happiness in every slice (or not). 'The sandwich that smiles back! Billy Roll (aka meat clown or Billy the smiling sausage) is a processed meat like mortadella that is steamed and sliced. It is typically served like bologna in sandwiches. Originally produced in Germany but was sold mainly in Ireland.' (June Cleavers Vintage Closet)

     And that's a wrap (in a bulkie roll) for another day at the K.A.C. We'll be back tomorrow, just as soon as we find the Pepto.

    

     

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 16 Days ...

 

     1984 - That about says it all for today's entry (and this year, come to think of it)! Should you want one of these beauties for your own, the link can be found here: 

     https://wildfoxtee.com/product/make-orwell-fiction-again-star-ornament/ 

     What about the year itself? Well, those who survived the Cabbage Patch Massacre of '83 were older, wiser and sadder ... two out of three, anyway.

    

     This year premieres my favorite filmic version of A Christmas Carol, with an all-star cast including George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge and one of my favorite actors, Edward Woodward as The Ghost Of Christmas Present, brimming with intensity as only he can do. As of this writing, it's streaming on Hulu, if you have that service.

     An article of note regarding this version is worth reading, particularly now, which sheds a new light on Scrooge and the story as social commentary:

     http://jadedskeptic.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-horror-ofchristmastime-christmas.html 

      Sadly, this version is in the news again, for an unfortunate and ironic reason. If you know the story, then you know at the end (spoilers!) when Scrooge is taken on a journey with The Ghost Of Christmas Yet to Come, he is shown his own gravestone, which is the final tipping piece to his redemption. As the Daily Mail (UK) reported on November 25th, 'Vandals destroy grave of 'Ebenezer Scrooge' made famous in film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol' - link here: 

     https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14123603/vandals-grave-ebenezer-scrooge-charles-dickens-film-adaptation-christmas-carol.html 

     

     Still staying with Dickens, we'll close today with his surprising link to the most famous purveyor of early pantomime, Grimaldi the Clown. Want to know where all that disturbing clown imagery started? Sure you do! Step right up and read the articles below:

     https://daily.jstor.org/here-we-are-again-how-joseph-grimaldi-invented-the-creepy-clown/ 

     https://friendsofim.com/2021/02/01/the-clerkenwell-king-of-clowns-joseph-grimaldi-1778-1837/ 

     There you go ... now whatever you do, DON'T think about clowns under your bed as you go to sleep ... and my work here is done. I'll let myself out ... see you (maybe) tomorrow!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 17 Days ...

     1983, the Year of the Locusts, when Hell descended on Earth in the form of crazed parents for the 'MUST HAVE' Christmas toy of the year, the Cabbage Patch Doll.

     This doll and the rabid riots, fights and price gouging resellers are at the base of the ugly precursor to Black Friday, with footage of a store owner on a counter with a baseball bat screaming at rioters lunging for these dolls. The whole sordid tale is shown in both the video below and a few different takes on when Christmas civility began its downward spiral to outright hostility:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzfuo94KCe8 

     https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/how-cabbage-patch-kids-craze-of-1983-helped-create-black-friday-as-we-know-it-120050842.html 

     https://www.museumofplay.org/blog/cabbage-patch-kids-a-1983-phenomenon/ 

     

     '83 was also the year a classic holiday film premiered, A Christmas Story, based on the story by Jean Shepherd. I'm SURE you've seen it by now, right? RIGHT? If so, here's two articles of interest - first up, from Vanity Fair, 'How A Christmas Story Went from Low-Budget Fluke to an American Tradition':

     https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/11/how-a-christmas-story-became-an-american-tradition 

     Next, if you think the film exists in its own little bubble, think again, as F5 bring you the tale of 'A Christmas Story (1983) …and the Ralphie Parker Cinematic Universe'.

https://www.forcefivepodcast.com/blog/a-christmas-story-and-the-ralphie-parker-cinematic-universe 

We'll leave you today with our next 2024 Christmas ad, this time from  Deutsche Telekom. Entitled 'Bubbles', it's a massively poignant commercial that we ALL need to see repeatedly right about now. Link below:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS4mUhMqgGE 

      Back tomorrow!

       

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 18 Days ...

 

     1982 - Santa's looking a little different this year - I just can't place what it is about him. Oh, yeah, the beard! Whoa, he REALLY needs to grow the beard back. He looks kinda sick without it ... almost 'ay-lee-in' *snerk*

      This is the year of E.T., another massive film hit for director Steven Spielberg. 

     https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-released

     And speaking of E.T., after the debacle of STAR WARS toys not being ready in time, Spielberg wasn't going to be caught with HIS pants down! Nice idea, but HORRIBLE execution, as Ranker relates:

     "Atari president Steve Ross paid $21 million for the rights to the E.T. game, which meant he would need to sell 4 million copies to break even. In order to pull this off, Atari needed to have the game ready for the Christmas sales season. The problem was that Spielberg and Atari made their deal in July of that year. Raiders had taken 10 months to develop, but game designer Howard Scott Warshaw only had five weeks to make a viable product. Miraculously, Warshaw finished the game and Spielberg signed off on it, but the designer later called it the toughest five weeks he ever endured. 

 The story of the Atari E.T. debacle is a classic tale of corporate mismanagement. In the early 1980s, Atari controlled 80% of the $2 billion video game market on the strength of hits like Pong, Centipede, and Missile Command. The company had also produced a successful adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark, one of the first video game adaptations of a movie. So, in 1982, Steven Spielberg approached the company about making an E.T. video game.

    
The game hit stores with much fanfare, but gamers soon began complaining about its confusing gameplay system and E.T.'s tendency to fall into holes and get stuck. The game still regularly makes lists of the worst video games ever made. In the end, it only sold 2.5 million copies.

With literally tons of unsold copies of E.T. on its hands, Atari opted to bury them all in the desert in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Although Atari tried to keep the dumping quiet, it got reported in The New York Times. However, without the internet to keep it alive, the story faded into memory and eventually became little more than a rumor.

That is, until 2014, when a documentary crew led by filmmaker Zak Penn found the dumping site and excavated it. The photo here depicts actual unsold Atari cartridges retrieved from the dump!"

     

     Playing that E.T. Atari game is going to give you an appetite, especially after you've gone dumpster diving to FIND it (or pay a dealer a highway robbery price for a truly awful game ... remember what I said earlier about bragging rights?) - not to worry. Here's a look at 30 MORE awful food choices for the holidays. Believe it or not, # 2 on the list, pictured here (Salmon in Bladder of Pork) is NOT the worst! Dive on in:

     https://www.boredpanda.com/weird-old-food-pics/ 

     We'll wrap up our entry with some light reading. You know the 12 Days Of Christmas by heart, but are you aware of the '12 Bizarre Laws Of Christmas'? Click below to make sure you're an abiding citizen!

     https://home.heinonline.org/blog/2023/12/the-12-bizarre-laws-of-christmas/ 

     More tomorrow!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 19 Days ...

 

     1981 - Welcome back! That large, slowly sinking edifice to your left leads us into a holiday favorite around here each year - Christmas Food Fails! Beating the Christmas rush, read below about 'The Australian Jell-O Fiasco'. The things people do to get in the Guinness Book of World Records, to wit: "Pool Fab organized the creation of the world's largest jelly (also known as jello), a 35,000litre 7,700gal pink water-melon flavoured jelly, made by Paul Squires and Geoff Ross, at Roma Street Forum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on February 5, 1981."

     https://todayinheritagehistory.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/february-5-1981-the-australian-jell-o-fiasco/ 

     

     But let's not stop with Jell-O. Below is a link to even more Christmas Food Fails, including the EXTREMELY unfortunate 'Christmas Spoons' *ahem* - some of these have surfaced in these pages before, while other, newer 'nom nom no-no's' appear here for the first (and hopefully LAST) time:

     https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/christmas/g3150/holiday-food-fails/ 

     

     Now that you've gotten some 'thing' to eat, why not enjoy your go-to gaming system from 1981? Boops and beeps abound from around the world in this vintage holiday Atari commercial:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZbZc0qYkEE 

     

 

 

 

      Back to food and our next fun 2024 UK advert, this one featuring Dawn French and what happens when unexpected guests descend on you at this time of year. M & S pulls a corker
and plays off her personality perfectly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTTzlhq82tE 

     Back tomorrow with more!

      

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 20 Days ...

 

     1980 - A new decade, a new time. For those of you born around then, hop on the Memory Express with this quick Buzzfeed article, '35 Nostalgic Pictures The Perfectly Capture What Christmas Was Like In The 1980s For Elder Millenials And Young Gen X-er's':

     https://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/christmas-was-like-in-80s-for-gen-xers-old-millennials 

      These rockin' elves look ready to party, so let's not hold them up any longer. Here's the answers to yesterday's Kringle's Khristmas Kuties Kwiz (the Musical Edition):

     1). David Bowie

     2). Kiss

     3). Dolly Parton

     4). WHAM! (Don't worry - even if 'the song' is going on in your head right now, you're still not disqualified from the 2024 edition of WHAMAGEDDON. Consider it our Christmas gift to you ... of course, if you DO hear it now live and are taken out of the running, feel free to blame us!) :P  Breaking News: This Just In - my friend KC sent me the new and improved/updated rules for this Christmas Culling - take a look! And in the spirit of True Confessions, I was out of the running as of 10AM on DECEMBER 1st! :(

    

     5). Rod Stewart

     6). Billy Joel

     Aside from listening to the latest cool tunes, in 1980 you were also racking your brains trying to figure out the puzzle sensation (and precursor to many damaged walls, broken windows/mirrors/innumerable meltdowns, etc.), the Rubik's Cube. As Stacker.com relates: "The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by a professor in his mother’s Budapest apartment. The twisty-turny puzzle cube became really popular in 1980 when it debuted at the New York toy fair. The toy was immediately popular, and about 100 million cubes were sold in the next three years."

     Never tried it, never will. I was there on the ground floor of the whole craze and had ZERO interest in it. Mileage varies - I also had friends who went crazy for the thing. How about you?

    

     Moving back up to the present, we begin our look at the best Christmas ads of the year, with the Lidl International extended advert being a very strong contender for Best In Show right out of the gate. Entitled 'A Magical Christmas', it's worth repeated viewings. Take a look below:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkvgYVkt_I 

    

     Finally, let us never forget this is the Big Night for our mascot Krampus. He's all 'Mr. Hollywood' this year, starring oppposite that tiny guy, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (and a switch to 'The Rock' for not making the Doc Savage movie! Mr. K., would you kindly see to that, please? Thanks!) More traditionally, the K-man/beast can be found at this year's Krampus Parade in Austria, set to ... appropriate music! 

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl6nI_lKjEI 

     https://www.travelandleisure.com/holiday-travel/christmas-travel/krampus-parade-tradition-austria-alpine-villages 

     https://www.facebook.com/reel/1794012838007000

     https://www.facebook.com/reel/1130088365498514

     For those of you of a more literary bent (and something to leave around to house to shock your visiting family/friends this year), look no further than Kidnapped By The Krampus, a 'Holiday Monster Romantasy' - DEFINITELY not for everybody, but if it is your cup of tea, have at it! Perhaps a read of the reviews in the Amazon link is in order before you reach for that credit card ... or you could just throw caution to the wind, order it sight unseen and put in under the tree (or a particular Yankee Yule Swap - there, I've already said too much!) and let the pieces fall where they may. Thanks to Gi for the heads (and horns) up for this! Again, take a moment and click on the link below:

     

 

 

 

 

 

     https://www.amazon.com/Kidnapped-Krampus-Holiday-Romantasy-Romances-ebook/dp/B0CJFCM68N/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3ERPJ6PD0TJV9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._9NMB3wjyAdZ0ve67a4_SD4fE4Z4_PuBw0bzdR4QLG798jnz0BGnB2JUQeELsvRMbCSIVlUEq8SvE0fK0eibLZ6qSJAkxi_ATJkhe3VRzgqBwP61pbWOkvs6HIbOlryUoH2F_qFzKOpCNd1LxGTsM8WDJOV-bhX8Cj4LahcD5xjtlYNJrzFAgR6GatFtSULRd-uVKAXc7SpMHpRPFd8Fw9UTJ0zw4kvcrA5Wy9OIxVY.vZExqTny1fcj0RdljaSyDM-397jIo68ikHPTehepMDw&dib_tag=se&keywords=kidnapped+by+krampus&qid=1732733642&sprefix=kidnapped+by+krampus%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-1
 

     Can't top that! Back tomorrow with more.