Nice lot of Christmas and alt-Christmas tunes; thanks, everyone!

I hope I didn’t post this last Christmas. But this brings a smile to my face every time I hear it… and since the Michael Bublé Christmas album is a favourite of Arbutus Jr’s, I hear it a lot!

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

@Blenkinsopthebrave    Yes! Good call, so much fun.

@purofilion    The Arbutus household tends to default to the usual suspects at Christmas time. We have a big collection of dvd’s that we dip into every year. One that we never leave out is The Bishop’s Wife, which also has Monty Woolley, along with Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young…[Read more]

I have just laughed my way through all your gift giving and getting stories! Special mention must go to @PhaseShift’s denture tablet story and @purofilion’s underwear.  🙂

@janetteB   I wouldn’t think port would be strong enough, you might have to ply the SO with whisky. But will your shower be bigger on the inside now? I wish I could make tha…[Read more]

Week of madness almost behind me! I got through it swimming on the memory of our annual carol sing last weekend, when our little band of medievalists gets together to sing all our favourite carols, famous and obscure. I tried to find a good version of one of our very favourites, Bach’s In dulci jubilo, but couldn’t find any nice version in Ger…[Read more]

@purofilion    Oh my goodness. Three hours sounds dire! I remember Arbutus Jr.’s Grade 7 grad (a couple of years ago now) and it was really quite charming. There were a few earnest valedictory speeches, a couple of students performed songs, and the teacher went through the list of grads and said something funny about each one. There was a vide…[Read more]

I hope everyone is managing to find their happy place amidst all the festive insanity. I spent yesterday evening at two different Christmas performances. The first one, at the music school where I volunteer, featured tiny cellists and violinists and pianists, ,  boys in ties or tee shirts, and girls dressed up like little members of the Ballets…[Read more]

Bad Arbutus! I have failed to keep up with things in this lovely little music lounge. I brought a glass in from the pub and spent some time this afternoon enjoying the offerings.

@TheKrynoidMan    I don’t know that I have ever posted “Waterloo Sunset”, but it is one of my favourites. Thanks! I never actually saw Phantom of the Paradise, but I ag…[Read more]

@pedant      Well, you’re right, of course. I’d forgotten about the reconstructions.   😳  And on another watch, the movement in the colour episodes is more apparent than in the black and white ones due to the colour contrasts. But even with that in mind, there was still a marked difference in tempo between the Hartnell episodes and some of…[Read more]

avpr212     I confess I actually find articles like this one fairly irritating. The problem here is that one person’s missed opportunity is another person’s lucky break. Although the points themselves are not all without merit, the writer is essentially complaining because Moffat didn’t do the series he would have done. He clearly isn’t a f…[Read more]

@PhaseShift     I watched it on Monday but haven’t had time to make a post until today. A nice finale to a great story, and I didn’t actually find it overly complicated (unless you count my inability to keep straight which stalwart military character is which!).

Ace’s horror and panic when she is about to be shot feels very believable, as does h…[Read more]

@purofilion   @BarbaraLefty     We are big drink sniffers in our house, too! I will drink a bit of single malt to keep Mr. Arbutus company, but he appreciates it more than I do. (Bourbon is the official alcoholic beverage of our medieval music ensemble, due to the influence of a member with family ties to the American south…[Read more]

I just saw this tweet and thought that there were those here who might find it instructive. Cheers!  🙂

https://twitter.com/SaintRPh/status/540866276709527552/photo/1

@purofilion

Oh, Puro. I’m so sorry. How unpleasant on top of everything else! Enjoy that drink, and whatever you do, don’t say “What else could possibly go wrong?”

This should have been in the pub– it’s quiz night! Apparently I’m at home with @Craig and the Great Intelligence. Going to grab another drink now.  🙂

@FatManInABox    Never admit anything!

@pedant  @purofilion     Good grief. What sort of establishment is this? I stopped in for a craft brew and because there appeared to be a big screen TV. Imagine my surprise.

Lots of great stuff here. McCoy, as is his wont, goes slightly over the top during his speech about evil from the dawn of time; but by and large, he is great in this. As others have said, his interactions with Ace clearly exhibit great affection and familiarity.

The vampire girls are still poorly done, but I don’t think it matters at this point a…[Read more]

@DanMartinUk     Thanks for the link. There was a bit less vitriol than has become usual (at least, at my time of reading!). There were some interesting comments, including this one by @Bluesqueakpip. I hope you don’t mind my quoting you here, because it was beautifully stated and I don’t know that all our posters here will find it!

It was all…[Read more]

@PhaseShift    Happy birthday! (Raises mug of tea because it’s only 9am here and I just don’t have your stamina!)

I couldn’t agree more on the subject of Black Friday. We’ve just been starting to see it happen in Canada, but in Vancouver at least, it doesn’t seem to have been a particularly big deal. Possibly because it’s not actually a day…[Read more]

Well. I thought I’d had a hectic week due to the insanity of pre-season high school basketball. But goodness, @purofilion, what a shocking time you’ve had. I’m glad you and your family are all okay. It’s absolutely astonishing and very fortunate that no one died, but such a mess (literally and figuratively) for so many. Happy birthday to Boy Ili…[Read more]

Well, despite the flaws here and there in the execution, I still think this is a properly creepy story. The scene in which the vampires accost the reverend, who is vulnerable because he has lost his faith, always resonated with me. Because how easy it is to suffer moments of weakness! The Seventh Doctor was always a bit of a chameleon, but like @pu…[Read more]