Superhero stories by their very nature often dwell in the big and the expansive, their appeal often lying in the epically macro, not the intimately micro. They are the very epitome of escapist massiveness, good fighting back against evil on canvases so large and all encompassing, that we can lose Continue Reading
Merry pop culture Christmas to all … and to all a goodnight!
Well, hello and goodbye to 2021, thank you very much! As I sat writing my brief thoughts for 2020 on last year’s Christmas Eve post, I thought we were free and clear of COVID; well, not completely obviously since an outbreak and partial city lockdown in Sydney meant we couldn’t Continue Reading
Up, up and festively away! Shaun the Sheep – the Flight Before Christmas
Who’s going to save Christmas? It’s a pretty big question at the moment with COVID once again laying waste to the best laid festive plans of elves and men, and one that can be answered quite simply, and for some, unexpectedly – Shaun the Sheep (Justin Fletcher). Yes, that Shaun Continue Reading
Hope sustains the season: The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy (illustrated by Emily Sutton)
Hope is such a powerful thing. Even in the very worst of circumstances, it empowers us to expect, no, believe, that terrible things can get better, that the irredeembale can find positive change and that the dispossessed and alone can find somewhere to belong. Just how transcendentally powerful it can Continue Reading
On 12th day of Christmas … I listened to I Dream of Christmas by Norah Jones
While it’s not necessarily the case for everyone, Christmas usually has the aura of an up close-and-personal holiday in which friends and family draw cheerily near, chestnuts roast on an open fire (Northern Hemisphere, at least; in the Southern, think a turkey on the Weber BBQ) and we can finally Continue Reading
Book review: A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh
Who doesn’t love a second chance? They’re what we live for, crave, want and need, and we endlessly romanticise them in countless ways and by numerous means, hoping against hope that the mistakes of our past can be fixed in some way by wise choices and some grace and forgiveness Continue Reading
On 11th day of Christmas … I watched 3 retro festive sitcom eps: Newhart, RHODA, Mad About You
I love sitcoms. I love retro sitcoms. And I especially love sitcom episodes set at Christmas when the whole world seems to take a break from being a great big, burning dumpster fire and acts like all those gorgeous, wonderful, fabulous things you always thought life could be, might just Continue Reading
Winnie the Pooh gets festive in A Very Merry Pooh New Year (incl. Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too)
If you had the choice of all kinds of fictional characters to spend Christmas with, and yes, there are an awful lot of them – although, to be fair, avoiding the xenomorphs from Alien or Pennywise from IT may keep a lot more festive – picking the residents of the Continue Reading
Do opposites festively attract? We find out in Christmas Flow (TV series)
Do opposites ever really attract? Not as often as you might think in real life, but often enough it seems for many a romantic comedy to hang its divergent storytelling upon the premise and see where competing life views may take it. It certainly works Christmas Flow, a French limited Continue Reading
On 10th day of Christmas … I read Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber (book review)
What does Merry Smith want for Christmas? Well, she’ll take time with her gorgeous, close-knit family including quality time baking cookies with her 18-year-old brother Patrick (who has Down syndrome) and looking after Mum Robin who has multiple sclerosis, shopping for delicious treats in amongst the normal weekly grocery shop Continue Reading