Let’s hear it for Second Christmas! What, you say? You have barely recovered, lo these few hours hence, from the first one? (I have no idea why I have gone vaguely medieval English but just run with it, and any galloping reindeer you may see). Well, suck it up and Continue Reading
Christmas 2018
What’s the best way to react to a bad Christmas gift? Let Benedict Cumberbatch show you how
Ah the joy of getting just the right present at Christmas! But what if, pray tell, you are given a less than stellar gift, and being the lovely, sweet, caring person that you are, don’t want offend the giver of said gift? This is where British actor, and all-around acting Continue Reading
Happy pop culture Christmas everyone!
Let’s get festively real! Elf gets an Honest Trailer
What’s your preference when it comes to Christmas movies – sweet, funny or weird? Or do you like all three? If you answered as affirmative “Yes, yes, yes” to the question – it sounded like a cute take on “Ho ho ho” in my blog post-writing but now sounds Continue Reading
On 12th day of Christmas … I watched The Christmas Chronicles
Good lord but the spirit of Christmas is a fragile and easily-derailed thing. Judging by the sheer exuberantly-colourful preponderance of Christmasness everywhere, you would be reasonably safe to assume that the festive season is a robust and unalterable thing. Not so, counsel endless numbers of Christmas films, with one of Continue Reading
Christmas retro movie review: Die Hard
Merry Christmas, John McClane! In the classic late ’80s blockbuster Die Hard, which is indisputably a Christmas movie – exhibit A is “Let it Snow!” sung not simply by Al (Reginald VelJohnson) but beautifully soundtracked at the end of the film as Argyle (De’voreaux White) the limo driver drives everyone Continue Reading
Now this is music festive fun: 5 Christmas tunes to put a smile on your face
Christmas is supposed to be a happy time, the most wonderful time of the year in fact if you are to believe the song’s creators, Edward Pola and George Wyle. But even times as wonderful as this can become harried and busy and your mood may take a dive as people Continue Reading
On 11th day of Christmas… I listened to Christmas Party by The Monkees
For a band formed in 1965 for a TV series that ran from 1966 to 1968, The Monkees, comprised of Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and the late Davy Jones, have certainly proved they have some pretty serious musical endurance. Just how enduring their appeal and success is was affirmed Continue Reading
On 10th day of Christmas … I read Terry Pratchett’s Father Christmas’s Fake Beard
Among the may things I love about the work of much-missed late Discworld author Terry Pratchett is the sense of playful irreverence that fills each and every word. A master storyteller who has a deserved legion of fans including myself to his enduring credit, Pratchett’s sense of the quirkily absurd and his Continue Reading
The 12 Days of Christmas – A Tale of Avian Misery
This is the smartest, funniest deconstruction of the song “The 12 Days of Christmas” that I have ever seen. Narrated by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who possesses a voice so mellifluous and wry with inflection that she must be mandated by law, to narrate everything, and I mean everything, the short film Continue Reading