K.A.C. 2024 - T - 01 Days ...

 

     1998 - There can be only one Christmas video, as far as the KAC and its followers are all concerned for this year (we're all 12, have you heard?) - it's SNL's 'Schweddy Balls' sketch from their Christmas show of the year:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPpcfH_HHH8&t=2s 

     There were numerous follow ups to the sketch over the years, none equaling its greatness, but one that came quite close from 2010, featuring the immortal Betty White and her 'Dusty Muffins'!'

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_tVJ2rHHSA 

     OK, since this is our last entry of the year, we'll try to end on a more scholastic note with a few historical entries. First up, from the BBC comes 'Dark Christmas: Seven seasonal monsters from myth and legend'. Many of them we've covered before, but there's some others that are new to us:

     https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4zPGG8xQcxX0rmxh0jm8Hy3/dark-christmas-seven-seasonal-monsters-from-myth-and-legend 

     Next, from CNN Style, 'Dress Codes: Why Santa Claus wears a red and white suit': 

     https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/22/style/santa-red-white-outfit-dress-codes/index.html 

     

 

      And the most scholarly piece of the year goes to Roger J. Horne and his look at just HOW far back some of these traditions go. Thanks to Laura for the link!

     https://rogerjhorne.com/2024/12/23/the-old-christmas-and-its-witchcraft/  

     

 

 

 

     We couldn't leave without our annual Christmas Ghost Story, could we? How about five? A surfeit of spooky delights rounds off our final entry below with 'Ghosts of Christmas Past: Five haunting Scottish tales':

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ohqD4FixLs 

     And with that, we're done.Thank you for coming along with us for another year. We're going into hibernation (well, we 'might' wait until the 26th!) - Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule and Happy New Year to one and all. See you next year, bright and early, on December 1st, 2025!

     

     

    

     

   

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 02 Days ...

  

     1997, the year Barney the Dinosaur died a spectacular death at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in front of traumatized kids and in full glory around the world during the live TV broadcast  - the screams alone from the crowd over the Decompressing Dino are worth the price of admission. See for yourself the Purple One's demise below:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epgXuMB1sF8 

     Here's a PEOPLE article from folks that were there. My favorite quote: "The Associated Press reported that one child could be heard saying “Barney’s dead! He’s dead! YEAH!” 

     https://people.com/millennials-react-to-barney-balloon-incident-at-1997-macys-thanksgiving-parade-8752740

     But that's far from the only Parade Pandemonium where these inflatable terrors are concerned. There's a whole history of mishaps, as can be seen below:

     https://people.com/see-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-balloon-blunders-photos-8752677 

     https://www.thewrap.com/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-fails-balloons/  

     And speaking of things going wrong, what would you say if I told you there is a HILARIOUS show all about that very topic? Justin von Bosau told me about this BBC series, The Goes Wrong Show, which ran from 2019 - 2021, as well as some specials, including this classic, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong. It's absolutely the funniest version of the tale you'll ever see. Track down the entire series, there's not a bad one in the bunch, for for now, enjoy!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLOi5H3ylBo   

     Back tomorrow with more!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 03 Days ...

     1996 - With only three days to go, we're pulling out all the stops to regale you with sights and sounds that other blogs wouldn't dare to show you ... they'd say for good reason ... pfffttt. Oh, sure, you COULD get the feel-good snuggles of Elmo Saves Christmas from this year, but if that's what you're looking for, you've come to the wrong place, bucko! Does Elmo have Santa, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Snow White, Jack (of 'the Beanstalk' fame) AND MS. WITCH?! He most CERTAINLY does not! What's that, you say? Is it any GOOD? Sorry, crunched for time, gotta get the next article up:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ePF4Fn86uo 

           When was the last time you uttered THESE famous words at this time of the year: "Shrek with his pregnant wife Sonic looking lovingly into each others eyes"? If you answered NEVER, well, someone did! We missed Ugly Christmas Sweater Day by two days (mark your calendar, it's actually on the 20th), so here's a different take on our annual look (and hours of fun to boot) - Buzzfeed's AI-powered Ugly Christmas Sweater Generator! There's over 300 posted sweaters, so the more outrageous you can think, the odder design you're gonna get. I tried a simple one, 'Godzilla Celebrating Christmas', and actually got a very sweet design (below):

     Heck, I'd buy THAT beauty in a heartbeat! Wanna give it a shot? Here you go - post your own to let everyone see! Thanks to Donna for the reminder.

     https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahaspler/ugly-christmas-sweater-generator 

     Keeping it short today, as we were out celebrating - too bad I didn't have this cute boy to take along - back tomorrow with more!
 

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 04 Days ...

 

     1995 - Believe it or not, there's really not much to write about this year, Christmas-wise. Ren and Stimpy had a Yaksmas special and that was about what passed for entertainment then. We were now five years away from the Y2K projected worldwide computer meltdown and now people were getting serious about plans to avert it.

      So instead of that depressing scenario, let's some you even MORE depressing ones from earlier, specifically "Brilliant Found Photos Of Mid-Century Christmas Parties':

 

     https://flashbak.com/brilliant-found-photos-of-mid-century-christmas-parties-49505/ 

     

     Witty bon mots more your thing? Then give a listen as those naughty elves over at Rifftrax roast the chestnuts of the ancient holiday short A Christmas Fantasy over their open fire:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7F6azzjUM 

      

 

     Finally, with only four days to go, you may just be completely out of ideas for what to serve your guests. Never fear, we've got you covered - how about Oyster Casserole and Grits Dressing? No? Slow-Cooker Grape Jelly Meatballs (pictured)? NO? Well, aren't YOU the fussy one! Beggars can't be choosers at this late date. Go see these and 48 other tummy troublers from the past - bon appétit! 

     https://www.southernliving.com/holidays-occasions/christmas/recipes/vintage-christmas-food-recipes  

     Back tomorrow with more!

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 05 Days ...

 

     1994 - Get ready to go dark ... WAY dark as we present this award-winning stop-motion animated Christmas short, The Junky's Christmas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, narrated by and starring William S. Burroughs, based on his short story. It's very rough sledding, but surprisingly touching at the end. Not For Everybody - Discretion Advised:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-CCKaORM80 

     

 

     What the heck ... in for a penny, in for a pound. Our second holiday gift is ALSO a Burroughs production, this time pairing him with Tom Waits. Hop in the Wayback Machine as we go back four years to 1990 and their collaborative musical The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets - imagine The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as a musical and you BEGIN to come close to this weirdness. The Wikipedia article below goes into more description, but
why spoil it for yourself? Hit play first!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQkzAbCjio 

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Rider 

 

 

 

 

      Is there ANY way to salvage this day and shed SOME ray of happiness? NOPE! Instead, we're shedding TEARS here as we TRIPLE down with the 2024 John Lewis (UK) Christmas ad which has people up in arms - why? Watch it and read the article below:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4U8-km4pc8  

     https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/nov/14/john-lewis-christmas-advert-shopping 

     There, there, it's all done - that wasn't so bad, was it? I'm sure we'll have something happy tomorrow. Wellll, relatively sure ...     

       

     

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 06 Days ...

 

     1993 - The perfect Christmas/Halloween/Easter/Arbor Day (?) film comes out this year on October 9th and cements Tm Burton's reputation as one of the most innovative directors of this era. The Nightmare Before Christmas is 31 years old as of this writing and has become a perennial holiday favorite, with its charming stop-motion animation and its memorable tunes and score by Danny Elfman. The favorite song that all OUR friends like to sing? Yeah, you know it ... 

 

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QapSxz7QXs 

    

     Now HERE'S a Very Special Moment: Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl on 10/31/2015, Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara and Paul Reubens perform 'Kidnap The Sandy Claws' as their characters Lock, Shock and Barrel LIVE after a showing of the film. Needless to say, the audience loses their minds! A beautiful moment for all who love this film. Thank you, YouTube!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yHQBcUma8I 

     

     Think we've gone as dark as we can with Disney? Puh-leeese! Since we're already deeply entrenched in the weird today, we might as well let this ball roll all the way to the bottom. Check out this article from the UK Sun entitled 'Happy Ever After? From Cinderella to Snow White and Sleeping Beauty – The Hidden Health Risks Disney Princesses Face': 

      

 

     https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/32339890/cinderella-snow-white-sleeping-beauty-health-risks-disney-princesses/ 

     

     We end today with Shaun the Sheep and the Newbury Coat singers (just seeing which of you are paying attention) and their UK Christmas ad for Barbours ... or is it Baa-bours?

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtcVopAT7Pc 

     Our numbers are dwindling as we get closer to the Big Day - back tomorrow with more.

    

     

K.A.C. 2024 - T - 07 Days ...

 

     1992 - Before we get to today's tales, we must pause to welcome back in those rascally rapscallions Hardrock, Coco and Joe, as we do every year at this time. Longtime K.A.C. followers know all about the Three Little Dwarfs, but if you're new here, read on!

 

     "On December 18, 1956, WGN-TV's "Garfield Goose and Friends" introduced Chicago area children to Santa Claus' three favorite elves, Hardrock, Coco and Joe. At two-feet-high, Hardrock drove Santa's sleigh while Coco navigated and Joe tagged along for fun. To create the animated short or "song cartoonette", Hill & Range Songs hired Centaur Productions. The company was established in the early 1950s by Wah Ming Chang, a sculptor in Walt Disney's Effects and Model Department who created the model of Pinocchio; and George Pal, a producer and Academy Award nominee. The shorts were produced in black-and-white using stop-motion animation, a cinematic process that brings figures or puppets to life by minutely reposing and photographing them frame-by-frame, resulting as fluid movement on screen." (Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications) Once these three lads appear, all bets are off as it signals the OFFICIAL start of the Christmas season, with one week to go! Make sure your ears are nice and clean for the earwig that follows:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDM6Bbt9WDY  

     There, now that that's stuck in there nice and tight, let's see what else we have today:

      ITEM: What's the scariest line you'll hear from the K.A.C. this year? How about this? "Hi! My name's Noel and I have a happiness!" Sounds innocuous, right? Guess again, peeps! This little red guy from '92 will take your heart on a roller coaster ride in just 22 minutes - I don't know HOW I missed this back in the day, but I'm glad I did! Now that I've caught up to it, however, I'm not going down alone - it's YOUR turn. Do YOU want to have a happiness? SURE you do ... all it takes is one little click ...

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoSRUeYchMU 

    

     ITEM: Also from '92 (thank the Gods) is another Christmas special to take your mind off of the tragic horror of Noel. Let's turn instead to someone who is MUCH more in touch with our brand of lunacy here, Mr. Bean. Relive his holiday antics in 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean' below!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2UCRNldC3s 

     More tomorrow!