tag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-24:3157981luckykaaluckykaaluckykaa2023-12-24T10:46:22Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-24:3157981:667984Santa Claus is coming2023-12-24T10:46:22Z2023-12-24T10:46:22Zpublic0T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house...<br /><br />So begins the1823 Clement Clarke Moore's Poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas", more popularly referred to by its iconic first line. And from this we get a alot of the traditional depiction of Santa Claus - while the reindeer pulled sleigh was a concept, the poem really cemented the idea, and named the reindeer - although originally the first two reinder had the Dutch names Dunder and Blixem, leading some to speculate that the author was in fact Henry Livingstone Jr - an author with Scottish and Dutch roots. <br /><br />The character goes back a long time, originating in stories is St. Nicholas/Sinterklaas. A Bishop in Turkey , of Greek Descent, who gave away his parents fortune to the poor and needy. Sinterklaas traditionally wears a bishop's hat, and rides a white horse. His feast day is the 6th December and that was once the day of gift exchange. <br /><br />In this country, we call the character Father Christmas, of course, except he originates from a very different tradition.<br /><br /> Father Christmas is a traditional folklore character more about the feasting than the exchange of gifts - the most recognisable representation would be the Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol. As with a lot of depictions at the time, Father Christmas wore green rather than red. Rather than a hood, or a long pointed hat, he wore a crown, usually of holly but sometimes of yew and ivy. It wasn't until the 20th century that American Santa depictions were merged with the British character, and red became common.<br /><br />So, how did Red become the colour? Was it really all because of Coca Cola? Well, no. Coca Cola may have popularised the red outfit as the standard, but that campaign wasn't until the 1930s. There are many depcitions of Santa in red from long before then.<br /><br />As an aside, a Christmas tradition that was commercially produced, is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. A poem created for Montgomery Ward (A US mail order company) by Robert May. Unusually, Robert May was allowed to keep the copyright on the work, and it was adapted into the popular song several years later. This is why Rudolph so rarely appears as a character in movie depictions of Santa Claus. <br /><br />Thrown into the mix is Kristkind - German for Kristkindl (I think this essentially means Christ Child but perhaps German scholars will be able to clarify here) that later became Kris Kringle, and according to some, a tradition where Odin would leave presents in childrens' boots. <br /><br />Of course, it's worth mentioning one other, much more recent tradition- <a href="https://www.noradsanta.org/en/">NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) Santa tracking</a>. Every year NORAD rund a website keeping track of where Santa is.<br /><br />Sears printed a Christmas ad with a telephone number to talk to Santa. The stroy has varied inthe retelling nd there are claims it was a misprint but it was more likely a misdial that connected one child to CONAD (NORAD's predecessor). The base commander assured the child that they were tracking Santa and told staff that any further calls from children they should make up a location for where Santa is. He then decided to mention this to the base's public relations officer who sent a press release assuring that the US will contuinue to track and defend Santa from those who don't believe in Christmas. In the 1980s NORAD added a dedicated hotline number, and a website.<br /><br />And so ends our brief history of Christmas gift bringers. A mishmash of Dutch, German, and Turkish folklore adopted by America and merged with English traditions.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=luckykaa&ditemid=667984" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-24:3157981:659535The two Christmas Romcoms2022-12-06T11:49:10Z2022-12-06T11:52:37Zpublic0I've been watching a lot of corny Christmas Romcoms recently. There's something extremely comforting about how predictable and corny they are.<br /><br />I have also decided that The Princess Switch wins the award for "World's Most Christmas Romcom".<br /><br />There's are two solid formulas. <br /><br />The "Prince" formula" - The lead is typically some well known actress with a relatable but aspirational middle class job. They've recently ended a long term relationship and do have a very good looking male best friend who is, out of necessity unavailable, so the plot can happen. A possible alternative is that they're in a relationship but the significant other is absolutely awful.<br /><br />They travel somewhere exotic over Christmas. Usually somewhere with snow and castles. Often some vaguely European monarchy where everyone speaks with an English accent. Britain itself is also an option here. It's exotic to Americans, and it does have some very nice castles and country houses. <br /><br />The lead will then encounter the romantic interest in an awkward way but neither is really paying attention. Typically this involves almost being run over. Here we learn that the romantic interest is either. A high ranking member of the aristocracy. It's essential that the Prince has no idea who the person really is. The Prince is well meaning but a little bit aloof. The lead has to show him the importance of charity and to get to know the common people. Meanwhile there's a villain out to find out who this person really is.<br /><br />The film ends with them going their separate ways, the prince learning who she really is (can happen in either order), realising that he loves her and they get together at the end.<br /><br />Then there's the "Princess" formula - The lead is not a literal princess, but a very well off, highly sheltered woman engaged to someone that's completely unsuitable. They're a little disillusioned with their life but don't know how to fix it.<br /><br />They end up, for extremely contrived reasons, in the company of a very good looking single father, typically a widower of 2-3 years. The daughter (it's nearly always a daughter) immediately takes a shine to the woman. As in the "Prince" plot, he has no idea who she really is. The daughter might or might not. <br /><br />She tries to help out but is completely inept at anything resembling household chores. Over time she learns these essential life skills realises she prefers this life and falls for the romantic lead. <br /><br />In either plot there has to be some sort of "Cinderella" scene where we learn how well they all scrub up.<br /><br />The Princess Switch is a particularly impressive one because it pulls a twofer! It's a prince and the Pauper plot, so Vanessa Hudgens plays both a wealthy sheltered duchess, who falls for a single father, <em>and</em> a middle class career woman lying about her identity to a prince. It has the Cinderella scene, and it has the exotic location. Clearly then this manages to tick all the boxes!<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=luckykaa&ditemid=659535" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-24:3157981:651429Flickmas time!2021-12-27T10:28:28Z2021-12-27T10:28:28Zpublic0When we last left our intrepid hero, he was having a nap! Wearing new Batman PJs!!!<br /><br />So, woke up. An extra 3 hours sleep is enough to function. <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://flickums.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://flickums.dreamwidth.org/'><b>flickums</b></a></span> was still sleeping off the previous night's insomnia, which gave me time to wrap presents, help Santa sort out flickums stocking and stuff.<br /><br />Had bacon sammiches for beakfast at about 3pm. Timelag timezones make no sense - and we attacked the presents. Received many things from Flickums, but the Lego train set was particularly nice. Received a wok from my parents. It has a lid!!! Had a Christmas cocktail. Watched Superworm. Watched Strictly Christmas special while drinking Prosecco. Watched The Queen because it's traditional. <br /><br />Also around this time, PCR test came back negative. Yay!<br /><br />Decided not to do Turkey dinner yet. Way too tired. Instead slow cooked the gammon. Very nice <a href="https://www.tamingtwins.com/slow-cooker-ham/">honey-roast slow-cooked-then-roasted ham</a>. <br /><br />Went to bed. Best sleep for ages!!!<br /><br />So, I arose. Flickums arose. I produced a Full English Brunch - Flickums had been an excellent house-goblin and acquired hash browns and black pudding - watched Shawn the Sheep Christmas episode. Had a nice lazy day. Did roast Turkey and spuds and braised red cabbage. Except I had no raisins. Went on a tour of Manchester trying to find raisins. There were none to be found! Most upsetting. <br /><br />Still, roast worked well. Turkey took longer to cook than guides suggested. I sort of expected that to happen. Flick's Yorkshire puddings were masterpieces of Yorkshire puddingry. Spuds were perfectly fluffy and crispy. <br /><br />Watched Rudolph - the classic Rankin-Bass animated version. Santa is kind of a jerk in this.<br /><br />So Christmas day started late and was spread over 2 days. Didn't go exactly as planned but it involved relaxing with Flickums. All said, I'd say it was the perfect Christmas.<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=luckykaa&ditemid=651429" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2017-04-24:3157981:651247Flying home for Christmas2021-12-26T18:16:40Z2021-12-26T18:29:44Zpublic0This will possibly be a long post. Just recounting my last day in New York and flight home.<br /><br />I didn't get much sleep on the night before my flight. I don't know why. Maybe too anxious. This meant the last day was spent trying to make time go by as quickly as possible.<br /><br />But I had Christmas Eve in NYC. <br /><br />Went to Barnes and Noble hoping to get another one of those hot spiced ciders. Sadly they'd stopped doing them. Decided to head to the hipster bar we went to before because it was the sort of place where it would be fine to spend an hour. Had Avacado toast because I already own a house so I can justify it.<br /><br />Ambled back to hotel. Figured I might as well head to the airport. Last time I went from Manhattan to JFK I took a taxi, it was expensive, and we spent an extra hour getting there because of traffic. Decided to try public transport this time. I had a lot of time after all, and Interstate 678 seems to get traffic issues a lot. All the advice was to take the E-train (subway), then change to the JFK skytrain. I guess it was fine but I think I'dhave found the mainline (Long Island Railroad of LIRR for short) nicer. Subways aren't really designed for people with large cases and they're dark.<br /><br />Skytrain was excellent though. Airport transit systems are usually pretty good. This was a large spacious train, driverless; and powered by linear induction motors.<br /><br />Arrived at the airport with almost 5 hours to spare. Not a lot to do airside so joined the queue and sat and waited for check-in desks to open. Waited in the Premium line. The regular line had served a handful of people while the Premium line was still faffing about with label printers so decided to switch queues. This was the right choice.<br /><br />Straight through security. This time the Premium ticket queue skip was worthwhile. Airport concourse was pretty darn quiet. Not surprising given I was flying internationally on Christmas Eve during a pandemic.<br /><br />For once they didn't think I was a suspected terrorist so was through there in no time. Went to the Wingtip lounge. Not a patch on the Escape lounge at Manchester Terminal 2. Central area feels like a break room in a company with plastic chairs. There isn't a buffet area, except for some soup. I could order a wrap and that was nice enough and they did have lots of comfy seats, complementary drinks, and wi-fi, so I was happy sitting the for the next 3 hours. Downloaded some essential viewing material. I rather like my Kindle Fire although I feel I could do with a newer tablet at some time. <br /><br />Got to plane. Premium section was half empty, and there was nobody sitting next to me! I am really pleased I splashed out on the upgrade. Had food. Watched a bit of Muppets Christmas Carol. Tried to get some sleep. I think I napped for a bit. I can't really sleep on planes but I was really really tired! Finished off Muppets. I did keep an eye out for Father Christmas but didn't see him. <br /><br />Landed. Messaged Flickums. Went to passport control. Probably the quickest I'd ever got through. Must have been 5 minutes. Message to Flickums had not been read, so I called. Flickums was very apologetic and promised to head to the airport immediately. Poor thing had hardly slept. But I had a long wait for luggage.<br /><br />Then there was the queue for PCR tests. For some reason the person at the front of the queue seemed to have a complicated issue. So did the person behind them.The family immediately in front of me were dealt with very quickly and so was I. In and out in a couple of minutes.<br /><br />Flickums had managed to park at this point so I went to intercept her. Met up and hugged. And hugged more.<br /><br />Went home. <br /><br />Had tea.<br /><br />Went to bed. <br /><br />Decided Christmas could wait a few hours.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=luckykaa&ditemid=651247" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments