If ever a Christmas called for some feel good love and wonder, it’s this one. Coming at the tail end of a year of pandemic, which shows no sign of bowing out gracefully for a 2021 unfettered by sickness and death, Christmas 2020 feels like it needs all the help Continue Reading
On 11th day of Christmas … I put 15 more pop culture ornaments on my tree incl. Toy Story, Back to the Future, The Muppet Show, Aquaman, The Golden Girls
Remember how I said I bought a LOT of ornaments this year? Well, here’s proof I wasn’t lying! All kinds of things contributed to my ornaments binge, among them the fact that if you see an ornament of a particular character on eBay then you must grab it or you’ll Continue Reading
This #Christmas I re-watched festive classic Home Alone
Time can play tricks on your mind. Not simply in the whole nostalgia-warping-everything-to-make-it-seem-better space but in over-emphasising certain parts of a something you love, such, oh say, a movie, over others to the point where your perceptions of what actually take place don’t actually represent the totality of what you Continue Reading
On 10th day of Christmas … I listened to My Gift by Carrie Underwood
In its calmer moments, and yes, Christmas does have them, there is a hush and reverence to proceedings that calls for music that speaks to that quiet place of contemplation, love and thoughtfulness. Carrie Underwood’s My Gift is the perfect soundtrack for those moments, offering up a largely traditional slate Continue Reading
Book review: The Book of Hidden Wonders by Polly Crosby
While there is a great deal to be said for the fact that the truth will set you free, what is often overlooked is now painful the embrace of that truth can be. It is necessary and far preferable to wrapping yourself in a suffocating blanket of lies and self-delusion Continue Reading
On 9th day of Christmas … I watched Christmas Chronicles 2
Christmas films, in common with just about every genre known to humanity, is rife with tropes and cliches. That’s not always a bad thing – used well, wisely and with creative originality, these standards of the genre can be a point of familiarity and access for audiences while allowing the Continue Reading
Back to the North Pole! My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Sleuth Christmas Movie (review)
If you’re a longtime fan of A. A. Milne’s delightful creation, Winnie the Pooh, and well outside of the intended demographic (by a considerable margin), you may initially look at My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Sleuth Christmas Movie and wonder where all the British wit and whimsy went. But Continue Reading
On 8th day of Christmas … I read In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
Life, it has oft been noted, does not come with do-overs. It would be nice if it did since, despite our best intentions, we seem to keep doing things poorly that require a better, more improved iteration and we are, quite simply stuck with the consequences of our annoyingly flawed Continue Reading
Christmas movie review: Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square
Among the many constants of Christmas storytelling is the undeniably appealing idea that transformation isn’t just possible, it is all but inevitable. Such is the power of a season that celebrates love, hope, dreams and starry-eyed possibility that even the darkest of developments can be triumphed over if you just Continue Reading
On 7th day of Christmas … I rewatched a retro TV episode – Warehouse 13’s “Secret Santa”
Described by scifi.com as “part The X-Files, part Raiders of the Lost Ark and part Moonlighting“, Warehouse 13 was a show that loved to have some fun, okay lots of fun, with its premise. Based on the idea that the world is full of artefacts of all kinds, from Studio 54’s Disco ball toLewis Carroll’s looking Continue Reading