Gloomy conditions of late. Overcast and windy so much. Is the persistent wind an example of "extreme weather" that the climate change theorists talk about? The wind is the worst of what we have experienced. My strings of Christmas lights get blown from side to side. I have them strung up along tree branches. It's an improvised arrangement, does not reflect any sort of science. Use LED lights and the expense shouldn't be any hassle. Well, "you can't take it with you."
The Christmas season is supposed to be about being selfless. What a genius Charles Dickens was, to give us his story "A Christmas Carol." Seemingly countless interpretations of that story done through the years.
Sometimes I wonder about creative people: can they really foresee the impact a particular work will have? I really don't think they can. Creating a work of timeless popularity is what it's all about. "A Christmas Carol" is the epitome. I learned the story through the "Mr. Magoo" cartoon version on TV when I was young. So I learned the term "razzleberry dressing."
The entertainment community has never been satisfied to sit back and accept one definitive version of "A Christmas Carol." The top creative minds seem always at work wanting to outdo each other again - yet another testament to the spark of creativity that Dickens felt. The 1951 version holds up very well. The Jim Carrey Disney version is top-notch.
In my mind, though, Ebeneezer Scrooge will always equate with "Mr. Magoo." Alas, the character seems to poke fun at older people with vision problems. But of course in an earlier time we were less sensitive on such matters. We laughed at the Johnny Carson "Aunt Blabby" character.
Now I have to address misogyny. Man, it is true that misogyny on a certain level was once accepted, could be fodder for entertainment. Top entertainers like Bob Hope and Dean Martin rode the wave of this norm. But who knows what their own personal thoughts were?
You young people, you really ought to acquaint yourselves with the talent of Dean Martin. He was a natural as a singer and movie actor. He was a stylist as a vocalist. He has receded into the past but should never be forgotten. He did a fair amount of Christmas music. He and Frank Sinatra have a slam-bang version of "It's a Marshmallow World" on YouTube. That's a must to watch each Christmas for yours truly.
When I was growing up, you had to make sure to catch the annual Christmas "specials" when they were first broadcast. There would be no repeats.
Andy Williams was a staple for holidaytime TV entertainment. Up through 1963 he'd sing some Chrsistmas songs on his regular variety show. Then in 1964 he unveiled his bona fide "Christmas special" and had a dependable cast accompany him like the Osmonds. Andy's parents would make an early appearance on the show. His star-crossed wife "Claudine" could do a little stylistic singing. I always have to describe her as a stylist because my mom always described her as not really a singer!
Andy was resilient with his Christmas specials over the years. The most popular holiday specials didn't seem just like TV shows, they seemed like "events." Each one pushed the holiday spirit up a notch.
The grim side of reflecting on this is that the Vietnam war years were building up. How supremely ironic that we had such wonderful innocent entertainment on "the tube" simultaneous to the Vietnam tragedy that was horrific beyond words. Today nobody disputes the fact that the U.S. lost the war.
In Korea we were at least able to accomplish the country being split in two. The U.S. must have been puzzled at how we could not re-create our WWII glory.
We may be missing a big part of the WWII story. Oliver Stone the moviemaker has worked hard to impress this on us. I am surprised he has not gotten more blowback. His point which I fully appreciate is that Russia played a huge part in crushing the Nazis. The U.S. sought not to emphasize this in post-war years because the Soviet Union of course became such an adversary.
"D-Day" was so horrific for the young men called upon to make their charge onto the beaches. I do not think of "glory" as I reflect on this. And why did we undertake such a bloody venture? The reason was that a western front needed to be opened up, to take some pressure off the Russians and spread out the Germans. I guess it worked. But oh what a cost.
I did not need to see the movie "Saving Private Ryan" because I was fully aware, as all of us should have been, of what happened with our young men. Did you know that "The Battle of the Bulge" was controversial in the U.S. when it happened? Germany was supposed to be fading at the time. But they surprised us. Was our war effort mismanaged? In contemporary times we do not wish to ponder such questions.
WWII in our memories becomes this big haze of glory, and the danger with that is that we have succumbed to the temptation of further military misadventure. Once the call for such a thing arises as with Iraq and Afghanistan, it seems a fool's errand to try to encourage restraint. I have observed all of this through the years.
To the present
Here we go with Christmas in 2024 and I guess it's "the Christmas of the drones." What to make of them? After doing a deep dive, I have come away with the suspicion that they are being operated by the government and they are searching for a lost nuclear warhead. Boy, if this doesn't follow the plot of "Sum of All Fears," the movie with Morgan Freeman.
We can pray that the worst does not happen. Really, just thank the Lord for each standard day in our lives that we can be blessed with. Your day-to-day problems must be viewed as very insignificant. Your money? Just start taking an attitude of Scrooge on the morning after he was visited by the ghosts.
And wouldn't it be wonderful for Donald Trump to be visited by the ghosts. Imagine his demeanor on the morning after. People would faint.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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