into the night sky

into the night sky
countless children gaze
in hope of a quick glimpse
a sudden glimmer
a silhouette
of an ancient ageless one
who comes from storybook pages
through the frosted panes
little eyes see
only the sea of deep space
of countless stars peering back
they then reason that
the old man must know
so they scurry
and scamper up
into their beds
to bury themselves beneath
warm patched quilts
sewn from old clothes
of children once
who also dreamed and hoped before
little ones
who looked for the impossible
and believed in flying sleighs
and hoof prints on rooftops
and a jolly old saint
who could slip down countless chimneys
in a single night
those were the days
and are now
as i marvel at my own little one
gazing into the vast night sky
or into colorful lights
and witness her burn just as bright
as i once did
so let it be
feed the merry flame
and beg a kiss beneath mistletoe
and know
that the boy is still somewhere
inside here
resurrected once a year
by memories stirred
and yet willing
for new memories to be made
and kept
right here
i am willing
i have my little window
in which I clearly see
she will sleep
and in the late moments of the eve
there will be movement
around the fireplace
faint noises in the living room
a moment of hushed magic and joy
as love is delivered
in the form of a toy

David B. Finlayson
December 14, 1999

Rudolph

Max Fleischer is one of my favorite animators. At the top of my list are the old Superman cartoons. The 1990's Batman cartoons were stylized after Fleischer's old Superman cartoons. He was also responsible for bring Betty Boop, KoKo the Clown (Out of the Inkwell) and Popeye to life.

Walt Disney has been mistakenly sited for binging synchronized sound to animation with Steamboat Willie. Not so - the credit goes to none other then Max Fleischer. Fleischer is one of the great pioneers of animation.

This Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer cartoon was produced after the war, and sponsored by Montgomery Ward. The last time I saw this cartoon was on the silver screen at The Alabama Theater in Birmingham. It was played just prior to It's A Wonderful Life. Good stuff.

Ghosts of Christmas' past

This picture of our Christmas tree was taken in our living room at 2624 Scenic Hwy during the Christmas of 1986. The house had a beautiful bay window that overlooked Scenic.  We usually trimmed large trees, but they seemed even larger when peering in from outside.  The bay windows seemed to magnify the size of our Christmas trees.

Ours was a big family to begin with.  We quickly gathered even more family as siblings married and started begetting more loved ones.  Our family is still busy getting bigger.  I guess we will soon have to declare ourselves a nation.  I remember when we were only eight.

I can remember pretty far back - all the children lined up down the hallway behind dad's wheelchair - as if he himself were the great Polar Express.  We'd line up from oldest to youngest and push forward into the living room where Santa had visited.  It was always so nice of him to spread out the gifts around in specific areas of the room where the each child knew was his or her spot. Christmas sure is a busy time for Santa, odd that he would take all the time to spend arranging where each gift should go in a room.  I guess that magic dust he'd been snorting not only put him in an altered state of time,space, & dimension - but also made him very OCD.

Surely with all the gifts delivered via sled, that it must've taken poor old Santa several trips back and forth from the North Pole.  Then again, maybe he hitched a trailer onto a sled.  Do you think it possible to pull a trailer along with a flying sled?  It just pushes my imagination as to how it could happened.  Chalk it up to Christmas magic I suppose.

Christmas' come and go.  Each one a little different than the one before.  It's not very practical to believe that every year can be handled the same - something will change.  Today we all have to negotiate how our families can find time and a way to get together under a single roof.  No plan is perfect for all.  Even though our little nation grows, we are still family, still the same people gathering for a time to reconnect and celebrate the birth of our Lord.

raw nerve

Rush Limbaugh was recently on William Shatner's 'Raw Nerve'. It's a pretty good interview. There was a lot more to the interview that Rush said that didn't make it on the show due to time constraints. I'd love to hear what didn't make it.

This is part one of a three part interview.

Scrooge

'Scrooge' came out in 1970 and starred Albert Finney and Alec Guiness. This is a musical, and it's among my favorite interpretations of 'A Christmas Carol'. In this segment of the story, Scrooge gets wrapped in singing a song with the townspeople. He has no idea that they are thanking Scrooge for dying!

I have this on VHS with hope to find it on DVD sometime in the near future. A few weeks ago the family went to see the new Disney digital telling which is very impressive. The Disney movie scared Kelsey - she didn't like it. Gina showed Kelsey the Albert Finney version and she loved it.

Holiday Inn

Gina and I purchased 'Holiday Inn' (1942) at Walmart a few weeks ago. It's the first movie to have Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas' in it. The song went on to become one of the biggest selling songs in the history of music.

The movie 'White Christmas' was actually a remake of Holiday Inn. Though the movie White Christmas (1954) was in color, the first movie to be filmed in VistaVision, it isn't as fun and charming as Holiday Inn. Both movies though are well worth watching during the Christmas holidays.

We watched Holiday Inn last night. Kelsey needed to go to bed, but we let Katie stay up to see it. It was fun to see Katie reacting to this old classic. It was very enjoyable. By the way, the DVD we purchased has both the black and white as well as a newly colorized version in the case. There is also a CD with all the music from the film. The colorized version isn't the old Ted Turner colorized version - but employed a newer technique.

I will probably watch the color version while listening to the commentary. They've got some archived Bing comments in it that I am looking forward to hearing. I never really cared for colorization of black and white classics. Color had been around at that time - it was the choice of the director for the movie to be in black and white in the first place.

Yes, the name of the movie inspired naming the hotel chain.

I had the fire going all weekend long. It was a good little Christmas moment for me - watching this movie with Gina and Katie by the open fire. For some reason - Bing helps get me into the Christmas spirit.

my santa experience

Back in the early eighties I worked for a silk screen shop in Southside.  Rodco wasn't a very good experience for me.  The company was owned by two young quirky entrepreneurs. I was hired as a graphic designer for minimum wage to come up with t-shirt designs.  It was a bonafide sweat shop.

I remember a cold December morning when one of my bosses, Tim, came in holding a bag.  He plopped it on my art desk in front of me and said, "Put this on".  I looked up and him and then I peered in the bag. 

"I don't think so." I replied. 

Tim had a stern look on his face, "You will do it right now. We don't have much time!"

"What is this all about Tim?"

"Christy promised her students that Santa Claus would visit her classroom today and you're going to be Santa!"

Tim wasn't a very pleasant fellow to be around to begin with, and I certainly didn't feel like being bullied into playing Santa.

"Are you ordering me to be Santa because Christy has ordered YOU to be Santa?"

Tim was fuming. "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer David!  Get in the suit - we've got to go NOW!"

"Tim, you need to hurry up and get in the suit, because playing Santa isn't in my job description."

Darryl, my other boss, walked in about that time. "What's going on?"

Tim told Darryl about the great humanitarian deed he was making me do.  Darryl told Tim that he needed play Santa if I didn't want to.  I could tell that Tim wasn't expecting Darryl to tell him to go do his own dirty Santa work.

At that moment I decided to volunteer.  I told Tim that I didn't care to be bullied into it.  I didn't want to be Santa but I would do it.  I put on the cheap suit and sat in the passenger seat as Tim drove down the country road to Ragland Elementary.

When we got there, we walked down the halls together.  Kids peering out of windows as if they were convicts behind bars.  I could hear countless voices calling out my name.   I was immediately overwhelmed with children once I stepped into Christy's classroom.  Christy showed me to a chair and I got down to business.  I could tell by the clothes the children wore that the school mostly taught children of lower income families.  I remember the classroom had kind of a funky smell to it. 

Tim and Christy stood by the door as I put children up on my knee and listened to every wish and want.  There was a moment though that I will never forget.  A little girl crawled up on my lap.  I was about to ask her what she wanted for Christmas.  Her dirty little face looked up and she asked, "Santa, why did you not come to my house for Christmas last year?" 

Tears welled in my eyes and I had no response.  I just sat there and hugged her, not being able to say a word. I never played Santa again.  Santa writes checks that some parents can't cash.  Being a chubby and jovial kind of guy - I've been asked countless times to be Santa.  Hold a gun to my head and I'll just say No-No-No!

jump starting Christmas

As most of my family can tell you, I am not a big fan of trimming the tree. I can't stand it actually. I do put on a good show for the little ones. Gina asked me a few weeks ago what would it take to have a nice Christmas this year. I said, "let's forget the tree". I also mentioned how I would love to leave town and go to Bowling Green, KY for Christmas. I know that won't happen for sure. I don't think Gina and the girls would care for spending Christmas in a Holiday Inn Express.

So yesterday we assembled the tree. It's a nice looking tree. Now that it's up, I look at it and dread having to put it away come January. I can't explain why I feel that way about it. Gina, Kelsey, and Katie went upstairs and made some hot chocolate and cookies. Kelsey had a blast.

After the girls went to bed, Gina and I stayed downstairs and watched Christmas in Connecticut (1945). I don't recall ever seeing it before. We picked it up in the five dollar bin at WalMart a few days ago. It is a pleasant romp of a movie. I am not a big Barbara Stanwyck fan, but I've always enjoyed Dennis Morgan. I especially liked Dennis Morgan whenever he teamed up with Jack Carson.

This is a pretty good movie. Gina seemed a little hesitant about me spending the money on this movie, but she ended up really liking it. To my pleasant surprise, there is also two reel 1946 Academy Award winning short subject that's also part of the DVD's special features called 'A Star In The Night'. This little Christmas drama was Don Siegel's debut film. It's well worth watching.

After Gina went on to bed, I watched Robert Rodriguez's 'Planet Terror' by the warm Christmas tree light. Nothing says Merry Christmas like killing zombies.

Keaggy Interview

Master and the Musician...I appreciate Keagy's comments about 'being somebody'.

jive turkey

Today was an unusual Thanksgiving. Usually there's lots of music. Family members get together to share a meal, bring their instruments, sing and talk. I nearly didn't bring my guitar, but Gina insisted that I take it. I ended up leaving it in the car. It's been a crazy week and I was in another zone today. It was a pleasant Thanksgiving, different from all preceding Thanksgivings.

The food was out of this world but I didn't fill my plate, nor did I stuff myself sick. I did however graze through out the evening. I sampled most of everything through out the evening, but never felt stuffed. No one pulled out their instruments. Everyone seemed to just want to talk and be together.

I didn't get to talk to everyone there. I did move around a good bit and listen in on some conversations and enjoyed a few intimate conversations of my own. Today was like tuning in and out of channels on the radio - wandering the dial - taking a little in here and there. Mine is a big family. Everyone is caught up in their own world and challenges.

Like I said, it was all different, but pleasant. I wouldn't wish it any different. I could have easily have stayed home and slept the day away. I am glad that I didn't. I am in a weird little mood today.