Advent calendars...

[fajrdrako]

When I was a little kid, I remember being frustrated by advent calendars. They emphasized to me how slowly Christmas was coming. Only one window per day - ! And usually nothing exciting in the window anyway, though I remember one good year when my Advent Calendar had a chocolate behind each window.

So now, when times goes too fast anyway, Advent Calendars aren't so frustrating, especially ones that are online. A few years ago, a Dunnett-fan friend made a Dunnett-related advent calendar - with art and references from the books behind the windows. This year, I've found two good ones:

The BBC Doctor Who Advent Calendar - it has games; I just wasted a good five minutes doing an abominable job of guessing who was behind the Santa masks. Well, I got two wrong, that seemed abominable to me!

The National Gallery Advent Calendar, with assorted art from the National Gallery in London - which I would think is one of the best art collections in the world.

And now there is snow on the ground. It snowed most of the day yesterday, when it wasn't occasionally sleeting or raining. Talking about it, Pat and Sandi and Sheila and I all instantly thought of Camelot - "The snow it is forbidden till December, and exits March the second on the dot" - we'll see what happens on March the second. We then watched Camelot as part of Sandi's birthday, and I enjoyed it at least as much as ever - it's been years since I've watched it right through. Love the music. Love Franco Nero and Richard Harris, though not Vanessa Redgrave. Love the costuming. It made for a nice relaxing afternoon.

Coming home, I saw that more and more people on my street have pretty Christmas lights on their houses and trees. I love that: coloured lights in darkness.

So now I start to feel some Christmas spirit. Maybe I can find time this weekend to write Christmas cards, and put up some decorations. I won't be able to get many Christmas presents for people this year - I wish I could! - maybe I can think of present-substitutes.

Comments

[cupati.livejournal.com]

I got one wrong on the secret santa - but I'm going to go through it again, cos I spotted someting suspicious...

[cupati.livejournal.com]

Yep, I was right...

(http://photobucket.com/)

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

OMG. I nearly forgot Toby's calendar with special doggie chocs.

[medelle.livejournal.com]

Wooo!

I got all 10 correct! GO ME! :D

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

We're having more rain than anything just now: had 3 or 4 times as much rainfall in November than we should have had.

Camelot: ah yes... Must put than on sometime, too! Mordred... another of my dashing but doomed pets! David Hemmings was rather cute in the role!

Rhetorical question

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

But what is an Advent calendar without chocolate involved?

I love the movie, "Camelot".

Re: Rhetorical question

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

You must be young. They never had chocolate in them when I was a kid: just printed seasonal pictures. We used the same one, year after year.

Re: Rhetorical question

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

We discovered the chocolate ones in Germany. Or, my kids did. And, I like to think of myself as "young," but I'm 53!

Re: Rhetorical question

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I'm 41, and only really started noticing the chocolate ones about 20 years ago.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Heh heh heh.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Doggie chocs - now, that's a Christmas treat. I wonder if there is an equivalent for budgies?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I always figured you were clever.

Re: Rhetorical question

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

One can always treat oneself to chocolate as a reward for opening the window, pushing the button, or whatever. After all, it's for Christmas!

I love Camelot too. Just about everything about it except Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere - I don't know why I don't like her much, but it's okay, she has lovely clothes. The music is superb and so is the cinematography and the choreography. They did leave my favourite Camelot song out of the movie - "Fie on Goodness" - but that's okay too. I adore David Hemmings in it - so young, so bad!

Re: Rhetorical question

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

53 is young. I'm 54 and I'm young, so anything younger than 54 is very young!

Re: Rhetorical question

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The ones I remember were from ... hmm... probably about 45 to 48 years ago. Before you time. Maybe they stopped doing chocolate ones for a while. Or maybe it's a geographical thing - I'm not 100% sure but I suspect my mother got her advent calendars from the Eaton's catalogue, which is where she got most things. Which would make it very Canadian. On the other hand, I remember them, or some of them, as being British in style - having the old Saint Nicholas design rather than the American Santa Claus, for example. So I really don't know.

Re: Rhetorical question

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

...This reminds me how good German chocolates are. Yum!

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Ok, I haven't seen Dr. Who but Dr. Finch... Giles?!

[cupati.livejournal.com]

As far as buzzruth was screaming at me, may moons ago - yes. Not that I've seen anything other than Doctor Who. ;)

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

It sure looked like Giles. :D

Re: Rhetorical question

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I rather suspect chocolate ones were too expensive when I was small. We just used the same printed card nativity scene calendar year after year. The windows would be pressed closed afterwards for re-use.

I only really started to notice the chocolate advent calendars when I went to St As as a student. It had specialist chocolate shops, and rather pricey Lindt chocolate calendars. Then the supermarkets started selling ones that ties in with various other merchandise: Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, & c.

Re: Rhetorical question

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

The only good chocolate in the UK comes from specialist makers (Montezuma's, Green & Black's & c), or is imported (Lindt, Suchard, Mozart bars, Ferrero). Much British chocolate hasn't enough cocoa solids. Currently, I'm on the hard stuff - Lindt 99%. Montezuma's do a fiendish milk chocolate with sweet paprika and strawberry! But I like Ferrero Rochers, because they're from Monferrato... ;-D

Re: Rhetorical question

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I adore David Hemmings in it - so young, so bad!

And actually, he's right. The grown-ups are banishing people for telling the truth, and putting spin before honesty (the conversation he has with Arthur in the forest is very well-scripted and acted). He's a child who's lived with this all his life (his stories about his mother's behaviour, the bullying by his half-siblings and neglect by his stepfather), and had hoped for something different from his father. Instead, he's found more of the same hypocrisy. His problem (in the film) is that, having identified what he wants to dismantle in the ancien regime, he doesn't know what to put in its place.

Re: Rhetorical question

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The grown-ups are banishing people for telling the truth

Oh, absolutely. They are acting badly for the right reasons, and totally messing things up. There are civilized ways to handle their problem - ways real people could arrange to their own satisfaction - while Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot, with their fuzzy thinking, just got themselves trapped into a box, doing what other people were manipulating them into doing. In fact no self-respecting medieval king should act as stupidly as Arthur does in that movie, but that's okay, I love him anyway. (Weak king though he seems to be.) Real grown-ups would talk to each other and find a solution to their problem.

the conversation he has with Arthur in the forest is very well-scripted and acted

That's actually my favourite scene in the movie. You are probably not surprised to hear this.

He's a child who's lived with this all his life ... and had hoped for something different from his father. Instead, he's found more of the same hypocrisy.

Deserved better from his father, too, I'd say. But Arthur is preoccupied with his Lancelot and Guinevere problems, and probably hampered by a prejudice against Morgause. Too bad, for Mordred's sake.

His problem (in the film) is that, having identified what he wants to dismantle in the ancien regime, he doesn't know what to put in its place.

And really, in wanting to destroy Lancelot, he's only finishing what Guinevere started out! I'm actually very sympathetic to Guinever on the whole, but in that movie, she really is rather a manipulative bitch. And I mean that in the nicest way.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Anthony Stewart Head plays Mr. Finch, and he plays him beautifully, too. He's my favourite single Doctor Who villain.

Re: Rhetorical question

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You sound so like my friend maaboroshi. I'm pretty much off chocolate entirely these days (except hot cocoa sometimes when I'm writing or reading). I may make an exception around Christmas.