Glimpses of Christmas

 

Hope you're all enjoying the Christmas holidays readers.

Send us pics of what you got from Santa.

Morinaga of Japan

This beautiful set of Morinaga premiums was on auction recently. It was dear, too dear for me, but it is a gorgeous and pristine group.

I've owned the little blue Zero-X for about 15 years now. It came in a small Morinaga candy carton. Mine's built up and I did enjoy photographing it at the time, probably the most detailed of all the Zero-X miniatures available.

As with most vintage bits of Andersonalia like this I first came across it in Dennis Nicholson's brilliant book on collecting Gerry Anderson toys back in 1996, in which the Morinagas feature and included small, albeit black and white, photos but photos of these treasures nonetheless.

Do you own any Morinagas readers? 

This Year's Ghost

 Whilst overnighting in Shipley Travelodge on Christmas Eve night we caught this year's BBC Ghost Story for Christmas, The Room in the Tower.

Horror connoisseur Mark Gatiss, who attended the former Bretton College up the road in Wakefield, has for years done a stirling job keeping this treasured old BBC staple alive and despite me falling asleep half way through on account of manifold festive drinks earlier, I saw enough of The Room in the Tower to appreciate the effort put in and thought the final moment truly horrific!

With the loss of the brilliant series Inside No.9 starring fellow Brettonians Reece Sheersmith and Steve Pemberton, there's only really Gatiss's Ghost Stories flying the flag for new BBC horror. It's slim pickins these days, so I'll have to reacquaint myself with those old BBC Christmas spirits from previous years, as I'm sure there's an omnibus on the TV one night this Christmas. If not, I've got them all on DVD.

In the meantime, there's this fabulous BFI post about the locations of the original BBC Ghost Stories, mostly based on the tales of the superb M.R. James:

Ghost Stories for Christmas: how TV’s most haunting locations look today | BFI https://share.google/0BGTnezq1EgOKBsRD

So mesmerizing were and are the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas that I've done the very same thing myself and visited at least one location in the past and blogged about it at the time: 

MOONBASE CENTRAL: A MORNING FOR THE CURIOUS https://share.google/9MSGSbsLjWhFkvBTi

Do you like these BBC TV films readers?

I truly hope Mark Gatiss and company keep this old thing alive and kicking.

For now though, newness will have its wicked way, as we settle down with a plate of Christmas leftovers and appreciate the latest offering from the global American phenomenon that is Stranger Things.

Having really enjoyed all the Stranger Things series a few years back, the Missus and me were excited about the new series shown this November after the shows long hiatus.

Despite having all the very familiar elements - Eleven, the Upside Down etc - we came away having watched those four latest episodes feeling underwhelmed.

It seemed a bit of a mess to us. 

Still, there's this Christmas's installment so maybe all will be redeemed when the Demigorgon visits again!

From Under The Christmas Tree

 Father Christmas's sack was full again this year.

Santa, my family and friends pulled out all the festive stops and treated me handsomely on my birthday and Christmas. 

Tons of ace books; Vipco VHS, a pulp horror digest and three tomes missing from my 1970's martial arts collection ( thanks Bill!) 

Paperbacks from Missus Moonbase; Chernobyl, Ghormenghast, The Vardi and more. Christmas shirt stories from my older brother too. 

My daughter and son in law got me this spiffing Scalextric FAB1 in its superb case. 

The Grandkids got me these cool Supertoys spaceships.

My daughter and her kids got me a huge box full of old toy parts and small toys, which I've yet to fully explore. Great fun to come!

And last but not least, some if my fave drinky poos from family and friends: Marsala, Port, Frangelico and Amarula.

I also received some Old Jamaica chocolate from my old friend Evil Ed, who kindly sends me the wonderful sweet fave of mine every year.

What did you get for Christmas readers? 

The Day After Christmas

 Well this is Boxing Day and what are you doing?

Always an odd one, like Sunday after a Saturday and despite the ecclesiastical Yuletide season lasting until Candlemass, for many now Christmas is over by Boxing Day.

It's still festive but true Christmas has been and gone I feel.

This year, for the Missus and me, Boxing Day is a day of rest after a particularly jolly family Christmas Eve and Day at our daughter's house in Thackley, eating, singing, opening prezzies and playing games. 

It wasn't always a day of rest though.

As a kid in the Sixties, Boxing Day was a much bigger family affair than Christmas itself, as all the various branches of the clan, the five families, descended on my parents' house in Preston to eat, play, dance, talk and grown-up drink. Lots of drink! 

Looking back I don't know how my Mum pulled it off. She must have been knackered already after getting everything ready for 5 children on Christmas Eve, cooking for 10 on Christmas Day and knocking up a buffet for 30+ on Boxing Day. I'd like to think my Dad helped her. He will have certainly sorted out all the booze at least. I bet Mum couldn't wait for the 27th, when she could put her feet up and watch the Onedin Line again like normal for a few days, before further graft to make New Year happen! That too required further food and drink for neighbours this time, the war generation at last at ease, dancing to Frank Sinatra in the lounge and kissing each other's husbands and wives at midnight, sometimes rather too much as in my Dad's case!

For me the end of the Christmas Season was the mournful sounding of the ships' horns on Preston Docks as the clock struck twelve on News Years Eve, a sound from the past recorded clearly in my child's mind. 

My two older brothers and one older Sister still living in Lancashire do still convene at her house on Boxing Day and probably have continuously since our parents died decades ago, a truly valiant effort to keep the spirit of our Sixties home alive. 

Having moved away young and living abroad, then ultimately settling in Yorkshire a good few hours drive away from Lancashire's coast, I haven't been able to keep up really. 

Seeing my siblings throughout the year anyway,  nowadays I focus on enjoying the season with my wife and our own family here, which in itself requires quite a bit of travel to Shipley or the Dales.

This year, as we are at home slowly getting ready for friends staying for a week as of tomorrow, to celebrate Boxing Day 2025 and the spirit of what it once was for me, I shall be watching Carry on Screaming on the telly soon, it's crazy monster antics so reminding me of my happy monster-filled childhood in the 1960's and early 70's.

We'll be frying tonight! 

What are you doing today readers? Was Boxing Day a big day as a kid for you? 

The Leftovers

It's Boxing Day!

What are you up to readers?

Playing with your new stuff?

Eating another dinner from the Christmas leftovers?

Cold turkey sarnies?

Hope You're Having A Great Xmas!

 Happy Christmas Readers!

All Through The House