Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Today is the Feast of Saint Nicholas, and a great feast it is indeed! A joyful day in Advent when we wake to find our stockings full of goodies. We have celebrated this day by hanging our stockings on St. Nicholas Eve ever since the kids were babies.

The picture above is a detail from the Perugia triptych by Fra Angelico. This section illustrates the story of Saint Nicholas providing financial means for 3 girls without dowries.

The relics of Saint Nicholas are located in the basilica in Bari.

Books for Saint Nicholas Day:

St. Nicholas and the Tub, written by Brian Burland, a Bermudan novelist, illustrated by Joseph Low, begins with "A Note to the Reader". It includes these words:

Exactly what Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, did, wrote or said, we do not know. But we do know that some poignant essence of the man and the life inspired, among other things, the happy tradition of giving in secret. We know also that the earliest paintings of St. Nicholas, some of which date back to the ninth century, depict him sstanding in a tub with three children at his side. We do not know why they are in the tub, although there have been various interpretations.

This story, which is meant to be read aloud, is a flight of fancy that relates a way St. Nicholas and the children may have got into that tub.

A Gift From Saint Nicholas, adapted by Carole Kismaric and illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak, has this description on the front dust jacket flap:

When Cecile sees the wonderful chocolate ship in Trinchen Mutser's candy shop, she dreams that it will be hers on Saint Nicholas Eve. Maybe, she thinks, if she can stay awake, she'll catch the ship as it sails down her chimney.

Alas, the chocolate Congo does not come to Cecile so easily. When Saint Nicholas and his assisant Ruprecht reach her house, they discover they have run out of presents...

The Baker's Dozen, A Saint Nicholas Tale, retold by Aaron Shepard and illustrated by Wendy Edelson, tells how Saint Nicholas teaches a baker to count. from the dust jacket:

The honest baker Van Amsterdam gives his customers exactly what they pay for -not more and not less. He is noted for the delicious Saint Nicholas gingerbread cookies he makes for the saint's feast day in December. Van Amsterdam carefully counts out twelve cookies for each customer who orders a dozen -until the day when a strange old woman asks for a dozen cookies and insists that a dozen is thirteen. But the baker will not agree. "Your heart is small, and your fist is tight," she tells the ungenerous Van Amsterdam as she leaves the cookies behind. "Fall again, mount again, learn how to count again!" From that moment everything goes wrong in Van Amsterdam's shop -until Saint Nicholas himself sets things straight. The Dutch colonial tale of Saint Nicholas and the baker's dozen is one of America's oldest and most beloved legends.

There is a short life of St. Nicholas told in narration and pictures here:

Everything You Want for Christmas

The Husband likes Bing Crosby; I like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Go figure. I've had their Christmas cd Everything You Want for Christmas for several years and thoroughly enjoy it, especially Is Zat You Santa Claus? which you can listed to here.

A Christmas Story

Though The Husband loves this movie, laughing out loud during a lot of it, none of the kids like it at all. When The Younger Son opted out of a second feature tonight in favor of working on a paper, The Husband picked A Christmas Story to watch.

A Christmas Story is a 1983 movie starring Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin.

trailer:


The New York Times doesn't like it. Roger Ebert includes it in his section of "great movies" and has a glowing article that says, "The movie is not only about Christmas and BB guns, but also about childhood, and one detail after another rings true.".

The Shop Around the Corner

I saw this film for the first time last year and knew then that I had to get the DVD for The Husband. I thought it'd be perfect for him. I found it on DVD in a local store sometime during the year, put it with the Christmas movies, and The Younger Son picked it to watch tonight. They both liked it.

The Shop Around the Corner is a 1940 Ernst Lubitsch film starring Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan.

See why you want to have the DVD by previewing the film online:


Senses of Cinema says:

As William Paul [in Ernst Lubitsch’s American Comedy] observes, “No previous Lubitsch film is so thoroughly interested in the dynamic of a group: where society in the past might have functioned as a restriction on individual desire, this is the first film to posit personality itself as a function of society”

Time has it as one of their best 100 films. EW says it "may be the wisest romance ever put on celluloid". Variety praises it. TCM has an overview. The New York Times says,

So there it is, and a pretty kettle of bubbling brew it makes under Mr. Lubitsch's deft and tender management and with a genial company to play it gently, well this side of farce and well that side of utter seriousness. Possibly the most surprising part of it is the adaptability of the players to Mr. Lubitsch's Continental milieu whose splendid evocation is one of the nicest things of the picture. But they all have become natural figures against a natural background

Christmas With Bing

Christmas With Bing is what's on now, and The Husband isn't even home. Of the 3 Bing Crosby Christmas Cds we have, I think this is my least favorite. I can't find anywhere that lets you listen to samples from this one, but here's my least favorite of the songs on this CD:


hmmm...

The Voice of Christmas: The Complete Decca Christmas Songbook

The Voice of Christmas: The Complete Decca Christmas Songbook, a 2-disc set, is another of The Husband's Bing Crosby CDs. I remember a lot of these songs from LPs from years past.

You can listen to some of the music at Amazon.com.

Bing Crosby's White Christmas

The Husband loves Bing Crosby's Christmas music. You'd think it'd be possible to eventually get tired of it, but I've got no evidence he ever will. We have 3 Bing Crosby Christmas CDs he has picked up through the years. White Christmas, pictured above, is one of them. You can sample the tracks from the Amazon link.

I like Bing Crosby fine, don't get me wrong, but he's not my favorite. This CD has Good King Wenceslaus, though, which is a plus.

Advent Carols from St. John's

Advent Carols from St. John's is a CD of music from The Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge.

from the booklet included with the CD:

This recording presents a reconstruction of the service for Advent with Carols and within the space available preserves as many aspects as possible of the service as it might be heard on Advent Sunday from St. John's.
...
The service blends traditional plainsong antiphons, carols and carol-anthems alongside readings and Collects.

You can listen to parts of this CD at Amazon.com. They webcast some of their music at their website.

The Byrd Edition, Vol 1

The Byrd Edition, Volume 1, sung by The Cardinall's Musick, is the first volume of a project to cover the entire works of William Byrd. This CD includes early Latin church music and propers for Lady Mass in Advent.

from the notes included with the CD:

Admirers of Byrd's music may immediately be struck not only by the fact that the majority of works on this disc are heard rarely in performance (not to mention on disc) but also that many of them sound unlike what we have come to accept as "typically Byrd". In his early manuscript works one hears the strong influence of the music of John Sheppard and Thomas Tallis, although at this stage Byrd already carries a distinct voice of his own.

You can listen to samples of the music at Amazon.

Legends of St. Nicholas

I've been listening lately to Legends of St. Nicholas: Medieval Chant and Polyphony by Anonymous 4. I've loved the Anonymous 4 sound since I first discovered them years ago.

from the little booklet that came with the CD:

Perhaps it was the beauty and widespread use of this Liturgy, along with hundreds of hymns to St. Nicholas and several music-dramas, that helped keep the amount of medieval polyphony in his honor relatively small. In fact, almost all of it that survives from between 1200 and 1350 is included in this recording.

You can listen to samples of the tracks at Amazon.

Stop the Killing, End the War

I had offered to run The Elder Son to work, and, on the way, we passed a group of sign-wavers at the corner of Poplar and Highland. I'm always interested in protesters, and The Elder Son said one of the signs said, "Another Mommy for Peace." "Stop the Killing, End the War" was on another. Ah, these are my people! After I dropped him off, I pulled into the parking lot, getting out to say a word of support for their efforts before I came on back home to have supper with The Younger Son. One of the women is someone I met at the Memphis Friends Meeting.

I had done a bit of online searching for some kind of Memphis demonstration in response to Obama's decision but couldn't find anything. I'm glad there was some activity on the street. Not that I think it'll do any good. I'm just so disgusted with the whole thing. Of all the campaign promises he could choose to keep, he picks this one? And I thought getting out of Iraq was part of the deal... I can't imagine that they think they can win this thing. The Younger Son is fond of the saying, "You can't win an occupation." This feels an awful lot like Vietnam to me... I'm somewhat gratified that the officials who've been whining about the cost of health care reform are raising the issue of the cost of this continuing escalation.

You can watch the President's address live at Hulu. We'll probably see if the local public station covers it. Surely they will. [They didn't. We watched NBC.]



The images in this post are from Code Pink's site Women Say No to War. (Their PDFs lock up my computer for some reason.)

Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol

We asked The Daughter to choose a DVD tonight since she was home and isn't always around when we watch something. She picked Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, one of her favorites and a favorite for all of us. The Husband says this is the first Christmas Carol adaptation he ever saw. We both remember watching it on TV when we were little, commercials and all.

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol by SantaKlaws

This is one of the saddest songs ever:

It's a 1962 animated musical, and Jim Backus voices Mister Magoo. Other actors providing voices are Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy and Paul Frees. The show is a drastically condensed version of Dickens' book (for example, nephew Fred is omitted entirely), but it keeps the essence and spirit of the thing.

Hakuho Wins Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament

Hakuho wins again!

from The Japan Times:

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) With a 12th championship title already in the bag, Hakuho exacted swift revenge over Asashoryu on Sunday to wrap up the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament with a perfect 15-0 record.

and from another article at The Japan Times:

With the presentation of the Emperor's Cup to yokozuna Hakuho on Sunday evening Nov. 29, the first decade of sumo in the 21st century came to a thundering close.
...
However, what promised to be a great record-breaking basho all but fizzled out once yokozuna Asashoryu went on a four-day losing streak toward the end,

The Jakarta Globe reports:

Fukuoka, Japan. Mongolian grand champion Hakuho wrapped up his 12th Emperor’s Cup victory on Sunday by beating countryman and fellow yokozuna Asashoryu at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.

I'll post a video when I find the one I'm looking for. Ah, here we go:


The photo at the top of the page is by user Arcimboldo from Wikipedia.

We're No Angels

Once again this is our first Christmas movie. We watched it this afternoon. We love this movie, and it continues to be one of our favorites. We're No Angels stars Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray and Adolph (the deadly snake) as the titular angels. Basil Rathbone plays a wealthy businessman concerned only with profit against Leo G. Carroll who plays his bumbling, well-meaning cousin. Joan Bennett is Leo G. Carroll's wife, and Gloria Talbott is their daughter. The film is directed by Michael Curtiz.

I've been looking for a trailer for years and still can't find one -there's not even a trailer on our no-frills DVD- but here's one scene from the film:


The New York Times doesn't like it, describing it as "generally a slow, talky affair of elephantine roguishness and a few genuine chuckles." Variety, on the other hand, gives it a good review and says, "Michael Curtiz' directorial pacing and topflight performances from Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov help minimize the few flaws." There are overviews at TCM and MSN.

Primer

Primer is a 2004 science fiction film about time travel. Shane Carruth is director, producer, writer, star...

GoogleVideo has it online:


Moria gives it 4 stars and says, "It’s a highly intelligent and strikingly original sf film." The New York Times says, "Having seen it twice from start to finish and gone back over the videotape in search of clues to its meaning, I wouldn't say that it entirely makes sense." BBC calls it "One of the most wilfully obscure sci-fi movies ever made". Variety says, "Repeat viewings might reveal more insight into the narrative, though how many viewers will feel so compelled is questionable" Roger Ebert says.

"Primer" is a film for nerds, geeks, brainiacs, Academic Decathlon winners, programmers, philosophers and the kinds of people who have made it this far into the review. It will surely be hated by those who "go to the movies to be entertained," and embraced and debated by others...

HT: SFSignal

1st Sunday of Advent

Sacred Space has an Advent retreat online. They have daily readings for the season here. They have a link to an interactive Advent wreath.

The Episcopal order for Morning Prayer is here. The Catholic Liturgy of the Hours for today is here. A series of Advent wreath meditations provided by the United Methodist Church General Board of Discipleship is here. The Orthodox churches observe a 6-week Nativity Fast in preparation for Christmas, so they're already in the middle of their Advent season.

The Advent wreath graphic at the top of the post comes from The Curt Jester.

The Church of Life After Shopping

In observance of this great week-end of the celebration of all kinds of over-indulgence, I'm spending a bit of time looking at Rev Billy and The Church of Life After Shopping. Part of Reverend Billy's belief statement says:

Our neighborhoods, "commons" places like stoops and parks and streets and libraries, are disappearing into the corporatized world of big boxes and chain stores. But if we "back away from the product" – even a little bit, well then we Put The Odd Back In God!

You can watch What Would Jesus Buy here:

or here.

"We used to be a nation of producers. Now we're a nation of consumers."

"We're proceeding into this shopping season under an enormous misunderstanding. We think that we are consumers at Christmastime. No! We are being consumed at Christmastime."

"What was Christmas before the shopping started?"

"Start Giving. Stop shopping."

from the film's web site:

What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!

Rev Billy's site provides a link to MakeWealthHistory.org, which says

Let me summarise the idea of Christian responsibilty in four areas:

We have a duty to God.
Psalm 24 begins with the following words: ‘The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.’ The earth is not ours. Contrary to some popular understanding, God did not give us the earth – he gave us the use of it.

We have a duty to the world
In Genesis we read that God made the earth good, and that the earth is ‘cursed’ because of us. Human behaviour and the state of the earth are inextricably linked. Have a look at Hosea 4, where it describes a society’s violence and dishonesty, and goes on to say: ‘Because of this the land mourns…’

We have a duty to each other
A very simple principle that John the Baptist puts best in Luke 3: ‘The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.’

and more.

Following the link trail from there, I find a site which says,

The consumer dream is, in essence, the promise that happiness will come to us through our consumer choices. I will be a more fulfilled person if I have a larger house, a faster car, and newer clothes. I will feel better about myself, and others will like me more.

On paper, it looks patently false and insulting to our intelligence. And yet somehow we’re all drawn into it, to one degree or another.
...
As Christians, we have a different reality, a higher purpose than this endless cycle of distraction and gratification. We know who we are in Christ, and we express that identity through our love for each other, not our choice of logos. We are at liberty to live simply, because our sense of value doesn’t come from what we own. It comes from the knowledge that we’re made in the image of God.

H.P. Lovecraft on Republicans

As for the Republicans — how can one regard seriously a frightened, greedy, nostalgic huddle of tradesmen and lucky idlers who shut their eyes to history and science, steel their emotions against decent human sympathy, cling to sordid and provincial ideals exalting sheer acquisitiveness and condoning artificial hardship for the non-materially-shrewd, dwell smugly and sentimentally in a distorted dream-cosmos of outmoded phrases and principles and attitudes based on the bygone agricultural-handicraft world, and revel in (consciously or unconsciously) mendacious assumptions (such as the notion that real liberty is synonymous with the single detail of unrestricted economic license or that a rational planning of resource-distribution would contravene some vague and mystical 'American heritage'…) utterly contrary to fact and without the slightest foundation in human experience? Intellectually, the Republican idea deserves the tolerance and respect one gives to the dead.(Letter to C.L. Moore (August 1936), quoted in "H.P. Lovecraft, a Life" by S.T. Joshi, p. 574)

HT: The Elder Son, who sent me this link

Thanksgiving Films

We've always been at a loss for movies that take place at Thanksgiving, especially if we wanted something a bit cheerful. To be honest, we gave up the quest years ago when the parades were better and The Husband had cable for his Turkey Day sports fix. When I ran across this post naming a few Thanksgiving movies I thought I'd try to put together my own list. I found a lot more Thanksgiving movies out there than I realized there were. Maybe we'll even watch one, since the parades have turned into advertisements for sit-coms we've never heard of and the sports are unwatchable on our cable-free, digitally-impaired TV. Or maybe I'll wait and have a Thanksgiving Movie Month next year...

Jerky Turkey (1945)
Holiday for Drumsticks (1949, Daffy Duck)
The Little Orphan (1949, Tom & Jerry)
Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)
Alice's Restaurant (1969)
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
The Waltons: The Thanksgiving Story (1973)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Planes Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Avalon (1990)
Dutch (1991)
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Son-in-Law (1993)
Home for the Holidays (1995)
The War at Home (1996)
The House of Yes (1997)
The Ice Storm (1997)
What's Cooking (2000)
National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Family Reunion (2003)
Tadpole (2002)
Pieces of April (2008)

Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day!