kestrell | Entries tagged with christmas

This looks pretty amazing, and the cost of 65 pounds sounds pretty reasonable for everything it covers--I guess it's time to break out the medieval Christmas music
https://www.medievalists.net/2020/11/online-course-medieval-christmas/

I want one of these as a tree ornament...

"Look on the branch above your head," said the Gnat, "and there you'll find a Snap-Dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head
is a raisin burning in brandy."
"And what does it live on?" Alice asked, as before.
"Frumenty and mince-pie," the Gnat replied, "and it makes its nest in a Christmas-box."
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

In collaboration with the Underground Railway Theatre
Performed through December 31, 2017
"Magic, Merriment, and Puppetry: Transformation in One Winter's Night"

https://www.centralsquaretheater.org/shows/a-christmas-carol/

Yesterday Teenybuffalo and I went to the Central Square Theatre's performance of "A Christmas Carol," and found it to be a very lively and, yes, merry time. Central Square Theatre has a tradition of performing extravagant holiday shows reminiscent of traditional pantomime, but this year they really outdid themselves.

The theatre is set up in the round and, as one is sitting there, waiting for the performance to begin, brightly-garbed street performers wanderin one by one, performing card tricks, playing percussion on found objects, and joking with the audience members. There is even a one-woman Punch and Judy show (tip: keep your eyes on Punch during the show, he is often doing something silly or sarcastic in the background).

It takes one a while to realize that one is in the midst of a London street fair. This continues for quite a while, and the audience is encouraged to get up and interact with the performers.

I loved this immersive aspect to the show, and it definitely set the tone for the rest of the performance.

Finally, one of the children announces the story, and the actress in Indian dress speaks what is possibly my favorite opening line ever,

"Marley was dead, to begin with..."

and then another of the performers picks up the next line, and the story continues to be narrated by the different performers.

Now, those of you who know me have probably heard me go on about how I have read "A Christmas Carol" every Christmas Eve since I was a child, and how in recent years Alexx reads it to me every year, so I believe I am no slouch to be easily impressed by some glib rendition of Christmas Carol. There are a dozen different ways to read the story: a traditional "winter's tale" ghost story, Victorian fantasy, sociopolitical commentary, and yes, disability story, among them.
Thanks to the New York Public Library, one can even experience
Neil Gaiman reading A Christmas Carol from Charles Dickens's own prompt copy
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/12/19/podcast-neil-gaiman-christmas
allowing the listener to hear the story just as Dickens himself would have read it aloud to his audience.

So when I say that the Central Square Theatre's production manages to make the story fresh and fun, please take my word for it and go see this production.

And they really did cast the most adorable Tiny Tim ever, and he has an exceptionally beautiful voice.

I don't want to ruin the many surprises the performers offer, but I do want to send a shoutout to one of my favorite ghosts ever, the Ghost of Christmas Present, who in this multicultural version had a Jamaican accent ("Come in and know me better, mon!").

I also wish to share one of my favorite moments.

Those of you who know Teenybuffalo know how she loves dancing, so when the story got to the part with the dancers at Fezziwig's office party, and an awkward Scrooge came over to ask Teenybuffalo if she would show him how to dance, it couldn't have been funnier if there was a blinking sign over Tb's head shouting "Ask me to dance, PLEASE!". (Come to think of it, perhaps there is, and no one ever told me.) And the group did actually perform an entire country dance, during which I heard Tb whirl by with a gleeful "Hi, Kes!".

Yesterday Alexx and his dad took me to the Music Emporium in Arlington to pick out a guitar, and the second one I tried turned out to be the most perfect guitar, for me, which I have ever held. It's a smaller scale folk and blues Seagull guitar (the brand did not influence my decision, but it did seem like a sign), and it even has a matte finish, instead of the highly varnished finish which I never liked. I've already forgotten which woods it is made from, but it has the bell-like tone I like. Alexx even found a blue guitar strap which has golden Wicker Man suns on it. I love my new guitar so much that last night I slept with it. Actually, it's that I need to find a space for it in the Closet of Mysteries (which stays somewhat cooler than the aerye). Anyway, I am short enough that I can have the guitar in its case at the foot of my bed and still have plenty of room for sleeping.

Then E. came to visit, and brought more Christmas presents: a nifty little lantern that burns tea light candles, a book titled _The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and Mary Shelley's Masterpiece_, and, my favorite, blue and gold socks embroidered with the word "bookworm."

Last, but not least, Alexx bought me a Kindle ebook:
_Selections from the Carmina Burana: A New Verse Translation (Penguin Classics)_.

A six-foot inflatable nativity scene with lights
http://www.amazon.com/Airblown-Inflatable-Light-Christmas-Nativity/dp/B0074BNFFK/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1354284654&sr=1-7&keywords=3+foot+christmas+stocking

If I was the sort of person who collected collectible things, I would have to have one of these
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/134995775/the-first-halloween-nativity-set-2-electric-boogal

You know what's better than listening to WWOZ from New Orleans streaming over the Internet?

Listening to it on a set of really amazing speakers where I actually hear *all* the notes!

Alexx gave me a set of awesome speakers, and even set them up for me, and there is a nifty remote so I can sit in Ektor and turn up the volume when the folks at the Salvation Army house begin to sing Christian songs loudly (and off-key).

(Another thing I love about WWOZ: it never plays "The Christmas Shoes"--this is my test for what radio stations I listen to in late December.)

Best tactile present: M. gave me a gorgeous silk robe with a Chinese print on it. Other people gave me books (they know me so well!).

Oh, wow--WWOZ is playing Steeley Spam and I can even hear the harmony.

Happy hollydaze to everyone!

Just because it's the season of lights doesn't mean you can't look on the dark side.

Aside from such party games as flinging small twigs of mistletoe at people who are all sunshine and light--oh, wait, that's just me--there are other fine seasonal traditions, like, um, oh yes, the subgenre of murder mysteries set at hollyday time!

Thanks to my new reading chair (it's name is Ektor and yes, it is an Ikea chair) along with many cups of Earl Grey tea and many clementines, I have been snuggling up to a number of seasonal mysteries. Two of my favorites have been _Envious Casca_ by Georgette Heyer (1941) and _Corpus Christmas_ by Margaret Maron (1989).

A pile of Heyer mysteries recently showed up on Bookshare and, sad to say, her mysteries have not aged nearly as well as those of her contemporary, Dorothy Sayers (although Sayers seems to be one of the few detective fiction writers since Christie who didn't write any mysteries set during Christmas).

Heyer's mysteries follow a very narrow pattern: a female protagonist, not wealthy but not in a situation where she has to do anything as tedious as rub shoulders with the working class, finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery, often at an English country house and typically featuring the murder of a rich old curmudgeonly male relative. The rest of the cast are types, including the saturnine smarter-than-everyone-else male lead, who often treats the female protagonist like an annoying and intellectually inferior younger sister. Heyer's mysteries show particularly poorly if you read a series of them close together, as the sexism and classism becomes difficult to ignore. I would recommend _Envious Casca_ as one of the best, however, along with _Death in the Stocks_.

_Corpus Christmas_ features a murder set in a historical Victorian house, and the protagonist is a female New York City detective. I really enjoyed this unique female character. There is also a mentally disabled character who features prominently in the story and does not ultimately prove to be an evil gimp.

[Dear Mystery Writers of the World, pay attention! Novels such as Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood (2001) and _Larceny and Lace_ by Annette Blair (2009), which both end with the twaddle that the gimp did it because being disabled makes you psychologically twisted and feeling that the world owes you, is both blatant stereotyping and poor writing.]

Back to seasonal murder mysteries, the next on my list is the anthology _Murder is No Mitzvah_. _A Puzzle in a Pear Tree_ was skipped over because, although I understand that people do say things like "Whatcha" and "gonna" etc., reading these words in every other sentence really irks me. Also, just for fun, I'm reading _Norse Code_ by Greg van Ekout (2009)--valkyries, Ragnorak, and Loki's kids running amok, how cool is that??

Lastly, Here is a nice bit of dark tradition which I hadn't known about: Krampus
http://www.mindonfire.com/2010/12/07/krampusnacht/

Now I'm off to play Christmas carols and scan a book on serial killers and philosophy which I need to read for review. It's amazing how ominous many holiday songs sound when you really listen tot he words...

National Federation of the Blind
Partners with Santa to Promote Braille Literacy

Baltimore, Maryland (November 15, 2010): Once again, Santa has enlisted the help of the elves at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan Institute to get Braille letters out to hundreds of blind boys and girls this Christmas season.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Santa approached the National Federation of the Blind a couple of years ago and asked us to be his helpers. I’m quite fond of the fellow and was delighted that we could assist him in his work. Braille literacy is the key to success and opportunity for the blind, but unfortunately too few blind children are learning it today. This program will not only spread holiday cheer but will also serve an important educational purpose, as blind children will be able to practice reading Braille as they enjoy their letter from merry Saint Nicholas.”

Between November 15 and December 20, parents can go online at
http://www.nfb.org
and fill out a Santa Braille Letter request form. The form can also be printed and faxed to (410) 685-2340. Beginning December 1, the Braille letters from Santa will start going out to boys and girls around the country. The Braille letter will also be accompanied by a print copy (for mom and dad to read), and parents can choose the contracted or uncontracted form of Braille for the letter. Requests for letters must include the writer’s name, the child’s name, birthday, gender, mailing address, and a telephone number or e-mail address in case Santa’s helpers at the National Federation of the Blind have questions.

The deadline for letter requests is December 20, to ensure that a return letter in Braille is received before Christmas. For more information about this and other programs of the National Federation of the Blind, please visit our Web site at http://www.nfb.org.