K.A.C. 2013 - T - 11 ...

     Eleven days to go! Time now for us to spring to the rescue for you last-minute holiday shoppers with one of a kind items you can't find anywhere else ... and what better place to start than with this GIANT Cat Couch for all your feline-loving friends! What's missing from this picture? Well, CATS, for one thing. And, oh, FURNITURE in this apartment ... this thing is HUGE! To read more about it, click here:

http://geekologie.com/2013/11/this-giant-cat-couch-is-cat-shaped-not-f.php 

     Next up is my FAVORITE geek chic holiday gift ... the Star Trek Transporter Shower Set! :) Serious kudos to whoever thought this one up - brilliant! :) You can find out where to get yours (as well as the TARDIS Mini-Fridge and the Hunger Games: Catching Fire Katniss Barbie figure - I wish that were a joke, but it's not) here:

http://io9.com/all-the-toys-and-collectibles-youll-hate-to-give-away-1471349900 

     For the rest of the list, covering things you haven't even thought you needed until now, click here (be warned - it's a time sink)!

http://io9.com/the-ultimate-io9-gift-guide-for-2013-1473469880 

************************************

     Not to be outdone, Quint at Ain't It Cool News has his own annual gift giving guide. There's some duplication of the items on the io9 list, but by and large he has come up with even MORE amazing items that you need to have NOW! It's in four parts, so grab your favorite drink and settle in ... you're going to be here awhile!

     - Part 1: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/65230

     - Part 2: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/65261  

     - Part 3: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/65281

     - Part 4: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/65291


     ****************************************

    

If you would prefer a more service-oriented gift, then here you go! The Men in Kilts window washing company has added a new feature: Men in Kilts shoveling snow! No, no, ladies, don't thank me ... it's all part of the package (umm ...) here at the K.A.C. Take a peek below!

https://www.meninkilts.com/

******************************************

More tomorrow! 

K.A.C. 2013 - T - 12 ...

     Ummm, I think the idea is to cheer the tyke up, Santa, NOT scare the living crap out of her!

     Welcome back - today's topic (in case you couldn't guess from the photo at left) is ... Sketchy Santas! This year we have 64 new reasons to be terrified of the Jolly Fat Man - not that most kids need it! The photo at right pretty much nails it - what the hell happened to Santa's face? You would think after so many years of hawking Norelco razors he would know how to SHAVE some of that mess off! Whatever --- brace yourself and click the link below for more Holiday Horrors!



     http://sketchysantas.tumblr.com/

     Think Santa was sketchy only in your parent's time? Think again! Take a look at these photos from 1934 (courtesy of Retronaut) of Santa and his plane. What a shame there aren't any shots of the little tykes running in terror once they got a good look at Sinister Claus! Go see!

http://www.vintag.es/2014/12/santa-clauss-plane-at-at-seaton-delaval.html

     

      Finally, it's not too late to plan your road trip to get your picture taken with ... Santa the Hutt! Oh, he's real and he's waiting for YOU at the Betabrand's clothing store in San Franciso - for more pics and the full story on the Jolly (?) Fat Man, click here:

http://geekologie.com/2013/12/santa-sculpted-in-the-likeness-of-jabba.php

**************************

More tomorrow!

K.A.C. 2013 - T - 13 ...

           Given that we only have 13 days to go, I thought today would be an EXCELLENT time to explore the more macabre side of Christmas, courtesy of Charles Addams. One of my favorite holiday cartoons he did can be seen at left ... maybe that's why you see so few carolers nowadays! 

     The characters he created (who would become known as "The Addams Family") ran for many years in The New Yorker magazine and eventually had their own TV series, which ran for two years (from 1964 to 1966). Interestingly, until the advent of the show, none of them had names! Addams was approached by producer David Levy about turning his cartoons into a TV show and asked him to give them all names and a brief character sketch so the writers would have something to go on. A number of his cartoons were adapted as sight gags for the series (and later films). Case in point - this very cartoon was how the Addams Family movie opened in 1991 - take a look! 

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vptcez6UBxY  



     ************************************************

     

      Let's turn now to a more traditional Christmas celebration. When I think of this time of the year, I think of trees, tinsel, snow and ... Vincent Price??? OK, scrap that. Here's a recent find that will make you squirm - a 1949 TV production of Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol, narrated by The Goateed One himself! There's a LOT missing from this piece (it's only a half-hour long) and has a non-existent budget (the three ghosts get particularly hurried along), but is a fascinating Christmas curio nonetheless. Two bits of casting to take note of: the part of Fred, Scrooge's nephew, was played by Robert Clarke, who would go on to minor SF fame in such films as THE MAN FROM PLANET X, BEYOND THE TIME BARRIER and arguably his best-known role, THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON. And Missie Cratchit is played (in her TV debut) by little Jill Oppenheim ... who would grow up (and out) and change her name to Jill St. John! It's rather a shame Vincent didn't play Scrooge in this ... but with his narration I kept expecting the story to be rewritten and all of the Cratchits come to a bad end! 

     Take a look for yourself - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GFn2qRArls

     **********************************************

     Back with more tomorrow!

K.A.C. 2013 - T - 14 ...

     It's Christmas Potpourri Day at the K.A.C. - time for me to play catch-up with a lot of little snippets that need a home. Let's begin!

     Long-time readers of the K.A.C. will remember my blog entry from December 24th, 2011 all about The Christmas Truce of 1914, a true story from World War I. I have found two follow-up pieces on that fascinating tale to share with you.

     First is a newspaper account from 2004 - it is an interview with the last survivor of the truce and his eyewitness account of what happened. You can read it here:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/dec/19/christmas.lornamartin 

     Next is a very moving song about the truce, written by John McCutcheon in 1984. It's called Christmas in the Trenches and is very reminiscent of some of Stan Rogers' ballads. The lyrics can be found at the link below and there's another link you can click to hear John singing the song:  

     http://www.weboflove.org/christmastruce  

     ************************************************

          

     Here's a recent article that is almost tailor-made for us here at the K.A.C. - the sad tale of Abandoned Santa Villages across the United States, complete with rather creepy pictures! Read about Santa's "other" winter abodes that fell due to economic hard times ... and no amount of Christmas magic could save them! :(

http://roadtrippers.kinja.com/abandoned-santa-villages-are-latest-casualties-of-the-w-1475573325

*************************************************

     

      Speaking of inflation, here's this year's chart of how much the Twelve Days of Christmas would cost you in today's dollars - it's those Five Golden Rings, I'm telling you! For the full breakdown, head here:

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-12-days-of-christmas-carol-27393-20131202,0,1465570.story#axzz2mLhVamrr

***************************************************
 

      Let's close on a more upbeat (well, for us, anyways) note. Are you Christmas Carol-ed out for the year? Here's your antidote! 'The Season's Upon Us' by The Dropkick Murphys - this one goes out to Ashley and all you other fans (you know who you are)! Crank up your speakers and watch this bit of holiday cheer - see how much this reminds you of someone you know! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTx-sdR6Yzk

****************************





More tomorrow!  

K.A.C. 2013 - T - 15 ...

     Yesterday we talked about Thomas Nast and how his iconic images of Santa Claus became the "official" look of the character. That look was cemented with his accompanying drawings to Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (aka "'Twas The Night Before Christmas") poem - from there, Santa started appearing everywhere - cards, advertisements, calendars, etc. ... what is known today as "branding".

     One of the earliest examples of this was Christmas board games. This topic is of particular interest to me as I collect vintage board games and was surprised in my research to see these! At first I thought, "What a horrible idea - what kid would want to play these? They would have such limited appeal - they would probably sit in the closet all year." The more I thought about it, however, the more it struck me ... that's EXACTLY what they would do, on purpose! The parents of the Victorian era would have these put aside and ONLY bring them out for the children to play with as Christmas drew near, to increase the anticipation of the arrival of the Big Day for the little tykes. Rather sneaky that, what?

     The games were easy to follow even for the youngest member of the family. Here are three examples of what constituted Christmas fun back then. Our first game (from 1890) was called Christmas Mail (see photo at left). The object of the game was to help Santa deliver Christmas cards to all the addresses on the board (as if he didn't have enough to do delivering all the packages, now he's stuck doing the postal worker's job, as well!) - the winner was the first person to get all his cards delivered.

     Next (from 1896) is the Parker Brothers game of The Night Before Christmas (as seen at right). Years before they created Monopoly, they had this game out, based on the famous holiday poem. This was a race game, where players were competing Santas (I rather like that idea, actually!) who flew their sleighs seeing who could deliver their toys to all the houses the quickest. This game gets points taken off for the creepiest-looking Santa, though ... just something about those eyes ...

      The "Santa Race" idea would prove so popular there would be a number of variations on the theme, including the 1901 Game of the Visit of Santa Claus, where this time, in addition to lashing those poor antlered beasts to a frothing frenzy dashing around the world in one night, you also collected "gift cards" along the way - hey, enough of this gift GIVING, right, Santa?

     There would be many other Christmas board games over the years (including, yes, CHRISTMAS-OPOLY), but these were some of the earliest ones to set the pace (my thanks to Slate.com and The Museum of Play for the info and pictures of these games).

     ******************************************************

     Come back tomorrow for more!

K.A.C. 2013 - T - 16 ...

     Last year we covered how Haddon Sundblom created the modern interpretation of Santa Claus that we all know and love (see my blog entry for December 6th, 2012). Today let's turn back the Christmas Clock even further and see where Sundblom got his inspiration from - the answer may surprise you!

     Thomas Nast  (September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a famous political cartoonist at the turn of the last century, notably for his campaigns against the corrupt Boss Tweed and his associates in New York City - in fact, his cartoons were SO effective in causing public outrage that Tweed tried to buy him off. According to Wikipedia, "Tweed so feared Nast's campaign that he sent an emissary to offer the artist a bribe of $100,000, which was represented as a gift from a group of wealthy benefactors to enable Nast to study art in Europe. Feigning interest, Nast negotiated for more before finally refusing an offer of $500,000 with the words, "Well, I don't think I'll do it. I made up my mind not long ago to put some of those fellows behind the bars". Nast pressed his attack in the pages of Harper's, and the Ring was removed from power in the election of November 7, 1871. Tweed was arrested in 1873 and convicted of fraud. When Tweed attempted to escape justice in December 1875 by fleeing to Cuba and from there to Spain, officials in Vigo, Spain, were able to identify the fugitive by using one of Nast's cartoons."

     In addition to bedeviling corrupt politicians, Nash also used his talents to create the earliest American version of Santa Claus, which came about inadvertently as a result of the American Civil War. As related in the Thomas Nast Portfolio, "Thomas Nast “invented” the image popularly recognized as Santa Claus. Nast first drew Santa Claus for the 1862 Christmas season Harper’s Weekly cover and center-fold illustration to memorialize the family sacrifices of the Union during the early and, for the north, darkest days of the Civil War. Nast’s Santa appeared as a kindly figure representing Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ. His use of Santa Claus was melancholy, sad for the faltering Union war effort in which Nast so fervently believed, and sad for the separation of soldiers and families. When Nast created his image of Santa Claus he was drawing on his native German tradition of Saint Nicholas, a fourth century bishop known for his kindness and generosity. In the German Christian tradition December 6 was (and is) Saint Nicholas day, a festival day honoring Saint Nicholas and a day of gift giving. Nast combined this tradition of Saint Nicholas with other German folk traditions of elves to draw his Santa in 1862. The claim that Nast “invented” Santa Claus in 1862 is thus accurate, but the assertion overlooks the centuries-long antecedents to his invention.Santa Claus thrived thereafter in American culture both Christian and secular. During the Civil War, Christmas was a traditional festival celebration in the United States, although not yet a holiday. In Nast’s time Christmas was not a day when offices or factories closed; but the development of Christmas as a holiday and the use of Santa Claus as a secular symbol of gift giving removed from its Christian antecedents occurred during Nast’s lifetime. The modern American celebration of Christmas, with its commercialized gift exchanges, developed in cities, led by New York, after 1880. Nast’s images of Santa Claus were so popular that they were collected and reprinted in a book published in 1890."

     What is particularly striking about the cover version of Santa is his costume - instead of the traditional red costume fringed with white collars and cuffs (and the broad black belt), we have a "patriotic" Santa visiting the Union troops in a stars and stripes outfit!

     The Thomas Nast Santa was the visual representation for a number of years (more of which you can see in tomorrow's entry) until Haddon Sundblom's modern reimagining of the character, which is universally recognized as Santa today. Who knows what future changes will be in store for this beloved Christmas icon?

     *******************************************************

     Check back tomorrow for our next holiday topic!

K.A.C. 2013 - T - 17 ...

     If you've been following the K.A.C. for lo, these many years, you know we always feature a look at the Neiman-Marcus "Wish Book", featuring the most outrageously expensive, one-of-a-kind gifts that any SANE person wouldn't spend their money on. But there's always that "what if ..." faction who wishes they could buy some such trinket (such as these lovelies above). And that's where we come in. Far be it from us here at the K.A.C. to just SHOW you these things, we'll also show you how YOU (yes, YOU!) can afford it! How, you ask? The answer lies in yesterday's article ... no, you dope, not through the mad goblin Kallikantzaros (although I like the way you think!) - through El Gordo, the world's oldest (and biggest) lottery held every Christmas season since 1812. Read all about it here (but you're on your own for getting tickets!) - http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1868104,00.html  

     *********************************************

     Now once you're rolling in dough (or euros, as the case may be), you're going to want to SPEND some of that filthy lucre, right? Sure, you COULD do your part to alleviate hunger and help World Peace ... but we know better. You want something to let everybody know that you've made it and have money to burn! Right on cue comes the aforementioned Neiman-Marcus 2013 Wish Book! How could they possibly top last year's $100,000 chicken coop? How about a $150,000 Global Falconry Companion? Want to start with something a little smaller? Then you, my friend, want the $20,000 Balloon Venus (seen at left). What's that, you say? You're feeling generous and want to get me something? No, no, you really don't have to ... you insist? OK, then I'll take the Ultimate Outdoor Entertainment System (seen at right). It will only set you back somewhere between $1,500,00 - $2,640,000!!!  =:O  Decided on a card instead? Yeah, I thought that might happen.

     
     **********************************************

     Back to Earth with more tomorrow!