Wow, I am really a sad slave to technology. Last night, our cable went out about 6 pm-ish. AND the DVR box died, so we couldn't watch saved stuff either. The Comcast people were no help but arranged for a technician to come out today. According to the Comcast guy (to whom we gave some beer after he fixed our cable and internet) somebody was up on the pole fixing something and forgot to re-connect the Comcast when he was done. Now all our stuff is back on again and I am on line AND watching TV BOTH AT ONCE!!!! AND I went on YouTube and found all these great old clips of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, cartoon versions and others that haven't been on TV since I was little. So I'll be watching those until Christmas. I spend so much time around the holidays trying to feel some of the excitement I felt around this time, oh, 35 years or so ago. Not sure why. I love Christmas but it goes so fast. It is just not the same when you don't get toys under the tree. Anyway, since we had no TV and no internet, we cleaned the house, rearranged all the furniture, and put the tree up.
That was Tuesday. Now, Monday (December 15 for those who are keeping track) I wiped out in front of Black Beetle. Sunday night was the night that the rain turned to sleet and freezing rain; everything was covered with a thin sheet of ice on Monday morning. I forgot to walk carefully coming out of Black Beetle and down I went. I didn't really hurt myself, not right away, but I think I pulled a little muscle around my ribs. Falling down kind of messes with your psyche, though. I don't know. So, Monday night I wanted a 22 ounce beer with a bit of strength. I had a 3 Floyds BLACKHEART in my fridge, and thought that would be just the thing. I was right. It is really a great beer. The guys at Three Floyds use English malts, English hops and English yeast, then age the beer in oak just a bit. So, it isn't the classic English IPA -- like Sam Smith's, but a 3 Floyds, "not normal", really excellent but exaggerated example of the style. It pours beautifully with a cascading head settling into golden reddish-brown. It is malty, but definitely has a more pronounced citrus hop character than you usually find in English IPAs. Really good, really satisfying. And I have to say, the next day, after the work on the house on Tuesday night, I really started to feel better. The house looks great, we got some new furniture, the tree is beautiful. The shopping is pretty much done. We are staying in Chicago for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Things are good. So, I am pretty happy. The long dark night of Autumn 2008 seems to be clearing. My cat is on her Christmas pillow. I'm gonna enjoy these last few days of Christmas.
Okay, am I the only person TOTALLY looking forward to that new TRUE BEAUTY reality show????
1 comment:
When I was a boy in the 50s, a favorite ritual was watching the "Christmas Carol" movies. There were three... but one year they stopped showing one, and in those times there was nothing I could do but lament its passing.
Thanks to the internet I have rediscovered this hoary chestnut, Scrooge (1935), a British movie, again starring Seymour Hicks as Scrooge.
The other two, which are still shown and are more familiar, are
A Christmas Carol (1938), starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge, and , most famously Scrooge (1951), starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge.
An entire list of A Christmas Carol renderings is on Wikipedia.
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