Stephen Burckhardt's Blog: My Blog Ramblings, page 48

Friday Funnies: Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas, Posse!!!

I hope you and yours are having a wonderful day. I am going to be foregoing the usual "dad" jokes for today and instead I want to share some videos of classic TV Christmas Specials.

Everyone here with StephenBurckhardt.com is sending seasons greetings to all of you and your families.

Peace be with you, today and everyday.

Stephen
Judy Garland Christmas Special 1963https://youtu.be/WzCL3FM9dDcBing Crosby & Family - Last Christmas Showhttps://youtu.be/ndPY9OjIF7ADean Martin Christmas Show 1968https://youtu.be/-LHl0zf09pEJulie Andrews Christmashttps://youtu.be/aEl-52tLjDk

and of course I could not pass up this one . . .

Johnny Cash & Family Christmas Show 1977https://youtu.be/jHuFslG6JAQ

Whatever Wednesday: Last Minute Gifts!

Hello, Posse!

I hope you are ready for the big day coming up this Friday. I know it never seems to fail that no matter how well I prepare I always seem to end up forgetting to get a gift for someone. With all the hustle and bustle of the season, working, family obligations, sometimes it is easy for a few things to get overlooking in the holiday rush.

That is why it is always good to have a few quick gift ideas you can whip up at the last minute. It might require a quick stop at a discount or a craft store but odds are you might find at least one idea here you can make from things you already have in your home.

Check out this video from the Blossom YouTube channel. Be sure to hit subscribe if you like their ideas.

https://youtu.be/oLYBqPySims

This time of year tends to make people reflect a bit on their childhoods and the Christmases they enjoyed the most. I remember we had a tradition in our house that my sister and I would sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve and our mom would read us the Night Before Christmas book and Dad would play us the record 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (see video below) for us.

My sister always love the book and I love the record. When my sister had kids of her own, she took the record to play for them. Since she had the record I took the book and hid it. Eventually, she asked for the book to read to her kids as well. We negotiated a trade that was mediated by our mother. I still listen to this from time to time at the holidays. It brings back very fond memories of childhood Christmas Eves with my family.

https://youtu.be/IE6U7RtKMR8

Thank you all for following along with my all of my holiday blogs this year. I wish you all the very best of everything this holiday.

Merry Christmas, posse.

Dianne

Monday Movie Madness: It's a Wonderful Life!

Hello, Posse!

Today I'm sharing my favorite Christmas movie. I have a feeling this falls in the favorites of a lot of people. What is shocking about this films is that when it was released, it received mixed reviews and was considered a box office failure. In fact, after the release the movie was so poorly received that it actually made people question whether director, Frank Capra, had lost his talent to produce good movies.

Since that time, It's a Wonderful Life has become a Christmas classic and is now considered one of the greatest films of all time. The American Film Institute lists it as one of the 100 best American movies ever made, landing at #11 in the 1998 movie list, #20 on the 2007 list, and is #1 on the list of most inspirational American films of all time. In 1990, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress included this movie in it's listings, designating it as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." It was also nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

It's a Wonderful Life is an American Christmas drama. It was produced and directed by Frank Capra in 1946. The film is based on the short story, The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern. The movie centers around the life of George Bailey (James Stewart), a man who sacrificed his dreams time and again to help others. On Christmas Eve he reaches his limit and his imminent suicide brings an intervention by his, less than perfect, guardian angel (second class), Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). When George wishes he had never been born, Clarence shows him how his life has touched the lives of others and how different life would have been for his wife Mary (Donna Reed) and then entire town of Bedford Falls if he had not been born. It is after this revelation that George realizes that he really has a wonderful life.

Another interesting fact about this movie. It is said that James Stewart, due to the action Stewart saw in WWII, he became "flak-happy". Today this condition is known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Stewart had considered leaving Hollywood for good but signed on to make It's a Wonderful Life with Capra who was also a vet. In many of the more angst driven scenes, it was said that it was in fact Stewart letting out some of his own emotions he was dealing with at the time. This movie was credited with helping him decide to continue acting. If you want to learn more about this, check out the book, Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe by Robert Matzen. He writes about Stewart's postwar period in the actor's career in this nonfiction book.

The western connection for this film is extremely easy. James Stewart of course is known for starring in some great westerns but did you know that Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy), Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi (Mrs. Bailey), Frank Faylen (Ernie), and Ward Bond (Bert) have also been featured in westerns. I had already mentioned Karolyn Grimes (Zuzu) as a western connection in a previous blog. It's no wonder this movie is so good considering it it packed full of western movie stars.

Movie Snack

And now it is time for the tie-ín movie snack. I want to share a great recipe from Seeded at the Table's Jingle Bell Bites. (

This recipe is quick and easy to make and just has six ingredients. I personally plan to make this recipe this week. It will be a great addition to the neighbor gift bags I am making this year. When a recipe is this easy, it's always great to make some extras to share for the holidays.

So now it is time to grab your snacks and settle in for another great Christmas movie!

Enjoy, posse!

Stephen
It's a Wonderful Life Trailerhttps://youtu.be/kWumEBO97l4It's a Wonderful Life: 50 Things You Don't Need to Knowhttps://youtu.be/lD2Q9GrEHjU

Friday Funnies: Awards Night

Hello, Posse!

The night has finally come. Tonight is the Inspire Awards, Celebrating Inspirational Women. Earlier this year, Sharon Stephens, Dianne's mom, nominated her for the Inspire Awards HER Abilities Award. Dianne was thrilled to be nominated in this incredible category of women and when she got notice that she was a finalist, she felt it was beyond incredible.

From their website, Inspire Women Awards (

"This special 2020 Inspire Award is reserved for a special woman who despite her disabilities inspires by her positive contribution to the community, workplace, family or just her own life. Battling physical, mental or learning disability she has defied odds and overcome personal or work challenges. The winner of this award will have transcended her physical or mental or learning disabilities to turn her life around. Embracing HER-Abilities, she may also have achieved new success, eliminated limiting beliefs, and found a fulfilling way to live a fulfilling life."

Originally, Dianne and her husband, Pedro, were looking forward to flying to England to meet the judges in person and attend the formal awards night ceremony but then Covid19 happened. It has taken the organization some time to figure out how to proceed given the current state of the world, but the date was finally set for a virtual awards ceremony.

I hope you will join all of us here at StephenBurckhardt.com in sending her good vibes and well wishes tonight for the awards. No matter what happens, I know Dianne already feels like a winner just to be named among this phenomenal group of women.

Due to the festivities coming up tonight, I am going to take a break from the "dad" jokes and instead share a great video from Colt Clark and the Quarantine Kids. If you have not subscribed to their YouTube Channel, I highly suggest you do so ASAP.

Take care, posse!

Stephen https://youtu.be/EKLUhETnhu8

Whatever Wednesday: Crafts and Cooking

Hello, Posse!

I hope you are all getting into the holiday spirit and looking forward to some great celebrations even if they have to be done at home with Zoom. One of the things my husband and I have been doing to get in the mood for Christmas is baking. My husband and I are both experienced cooks but even we have a list of dishes we have always wanted to learn to make but just never got around to making. We have been using this time at home to whittle away at those lists.

My husband just recently made his first ever batch of cookies and I learned how to make English muffins. Another recipe I had always wanted to make was traditional Christmas fruit cake, that is until I read some of the recipes. There is no way I'm doing that! The list of dried fruit alone would kill my grocery budget for the week. It calls for about 1/2 a cup of 12 different dried fruits. Since it would be impossible to find packages that small and I would be left with a ton of unused dried fruit, I looked for a version that would be doable if not completely traditional. I found a great option on Everyday Cooks, Everyday Fruit Cake. (

Not only is this recipe more economical, it reads like something I would actually want to eat. The website even gives tips on variations to make this recipe vegan or gluten free. They also have a few suggestions for other recipes you might like if you like this fruit cake. Their Fruit Tea Scone is another one I may have to try.

When you are done baking, you might want to try your hand at some simple Christmas crafts by CreArtive By Nature DIY & Decor on YouTube. Donna shares some great craft videos on her channel but her sock gnomes are some of my favorites. If you like her video, be sure to subscribe to get more great craft ideas.

https://youtu.be/BgMjYDgks9E

I hope you love these ideas and they help put you into full on Christmas mode. It won't be long until we are opening gifts, eating too much, and looking toward the New Year.

Wishing all the best,

Dianne

Monday Movie Madness: A Christmas Carol (Scrooge)

Hello Posse!

We are getting to some of my very favorite all time Christmas movies. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has seen many big screen adaptations over the years staring everyone from Sir Patrick Stewart (I LOVE his work) to the Muppets. But I still love the old black and white version released in 1951 starring Alastair Sim. It was released in the United Kingdom under the name Scrooge but the title was changed to A Christmas Carol for the US release. They have since created a colorized version of the film, but I prefer the original black and white version. I think the darkness and shadows actually add something to the story.

A Christmas Carol is the story of selfish, old miser who is ill-tempered and mean-spirited, Ebenezer Scrooge. He hates Christmas and everything to do with it. He professes that he thinks Christmas is just a way to take money from his own pocket. He boldly refuses to show any charity to anyone. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge goes out of his way to harass the clerk who works for him. He even has a confrontation with his nephew who comes to ask his uncle to spend Christmas with him and his family. He rudely refuses the invitation and goes home to have Christmas Eve dinner alone in his home.

Scrooge goes to bed but is soon awoken by the first of a series of ghosts who come to try to help Scrooge change his hateful ways before it is too late to save his soul from eternal torment in the afterlife. The events of the evening have a profound effect on Scrooge and he awakens on Christmas day a changed man.

The movie stars Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge, and features Kathleen Harrison (Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge's charwoman), George Cole (young Scrooge), Hermione Baddeley (Mrs. Cratchit), Mervyn Johns (Bob Cratchit), Clifford Mollison (Samuel Wilkins, a debtor), Jack Warner (Mr. Jorkin, a role created for the film), Ernest Thesiger (Marley's undertaker), Patrick Macnee (young Jacob Marley), and Michael Hordern (Marley). There is a narrator (Peter Bull) who adds passages from the book at the beginning and end of the film. Bull also has a brief cameo in the film as one of the businessmen at Scrooge's funeral.

We make our western connection with actress Hermione Baddeley. In 1967, she was in the American Western Comedy, The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin. Baddeley plays Miss Irene Chesney and worked with stars Roddy McDowall and Suzanne Pleshette.

Movie Snack

While this is not really movie snackish, I just could not pass up this recipe because it just goes with the movie so well, Taste of Home.com's Tiny Tim's Plum Pudding. (

This treat is traditional for the setting and time period for this movie and I have always wanted to try making this for Christmas. This year seemed like as good of time as any to share this recipe.

This movie is available on YouTube for free viewing in full. So, it's that time, posse! Get your snacks and settle in. It's time for another great movie!

Enjoy,

StephenScrooge (1951) Full Moviehttps://youtu.be/UGvhyhjwtZM

Friday Funnies: Christmas Time!

Hello Posse!

Christmas is just two weeks from today! Are you ready? It seems like it was taking forever to get here then suddenly it just a few weeks away. I have all my gifts bought but I need to make some for my parents. Mom always gets a calendar with family photos and it's filled in with every family members birthday and anniversaries. I also add in all the national holidays, meteor showers, moon cycles, and a few fun national days too. For dad, I need to finish book five and send him his copies. Sadly, his gift is going be a bit late this year. I might have to send him something else to tide him over until it's done. What do you have left to do before Christmas gets here?

P.R. and I will also be celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary this year. It is hard to believe it has been seven years already. It has just flown by. I can honestly say the last seven years have been some of the happiest years of my entire life. We will be ordering dinner delivered this year and will likely watch a movie or two or have a Star Trek marathon because we are just that nerdy!

I hope you have many wonderful things to look forward to this holiday season. We would all love to hear what you have coming up.

In the meantime, let's get to the jokes!

Have a great Friday!

Stephen

Q: What is a Christmas tree’s favorite candy?

A: Orna-mints!

Q: What did the grumpy sheep say when anyone wished him a Merry Christmas?

A: Baaaa humbug!

Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?

A: Frosty-flakes.

Q: Where does Frosty keep all his money?

A: At the local snow bank.

Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?

A: Frostbite.

Q: What do gingerbread men use when they break their legs?

A: Candy canes.

Q: What did his teacher say to Rudolph about his grade when he failed his Civil War test?

A. You’ll go down in history!

and last but not least . . .

Knock, knock!

Who’s there?

Donut.

Donut who?

Donut open this present until Christmas!

Need some last minute gift or wrapping ideas? Check out this video from Blossom on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/-GTuBylc8lw

Whatever Wednesday: Happy Hanukkah

Hello Posse!

Hanukkah begins tomorrow so I thought today would be a great day to share a tasty Hanukkah recipe. There are several traditional Jewish recipes I have found over the years that I absolutely love. My favorites include potato knish, cheese blintzes, noodle kugel, and my favorite, potato latkes.

Luckily, potato latkes are easy to find here in Germany, especially near the holidays. If you are not that lucky to have kiosks around town selling these and need to make your own, you should check out this recipe from The Spruce Eats, Traditional Hanukkah Potato Latkes (

You can also find variations on the traditional recipe that include other vegetables like beets, spinach, and butternut squash. There are also varieties of toppings including avocado, pomegranate, or salmon. There are combinations to tempt just about any pallette. A quick Google search should find a combination that appeals to you.

Christmas is also getting closer and there are practically unlimited recipes, crafts, and gifts you can make to indulge in and share. How about a simple sweet Christmas craft you can share with family, friends, or maybe a few of the essential service people you deal with everyday like delivery people and shop workers. It never hurts to share a little love anytime of year but now is the perfect time to give to others.

ConervaMom.com has a fantastic holiday idea for making Candy Christmas Tree Treats (

This would be a great project to do with kids. They can choose different decorations and make their trees unique. They can leave these out for Santa instead of cookies for a special personalized treat for Jolly Ol' St. Nick.

If you need a something to spruce up your house, A Pumpkin and A Princess.com has a wonderful Snowy Mason Jar (

You will need just a few supplies for this project: Mason jars, glue, Epsom salt, glitter, greenery & twine, flameless tea lights, and a hot glue gun. You can try adding different ribbon and decorations to make this project your own. This is a great craft with which to let your imagination run. The decorative holiday combinations you can create are practically endless.

If you need to take a break from all the holiday stress, I suggest checking out my Members Only page where you will find free downloadable short stories featuring characters from the Into the West Saga Serial. I have been toying with writing a Christmas short as a way to try to get my writing juices flowing again. They have been a bit frozen the last month and a half. It's starting to get on my nerves. Keep watching the Members Only page for that story if I can get my muses back to work!

If you are not a member of the the Member Only page, it is free to join and you can stop membership at any time. You control your membership, always!

Have a great Wednesday and if you are celebrating tomorrow, Happy Hanukkah!!

Dianne

Monday Movie Madness: Hoping for a White Christmas

Hello, Posse!

I hope things are going well for you and your are safe, happy, and enjoying the holiday season. Christmas is getting closer and I want to share one of my favourite Christmas movies. Now, I am not one of those people who will watch every Christmas movie produced, I am actually quite the Christmas movie snob. There are only a handful I really want to spend time watching this time of year and this one is in my number two spot of favorites.

White Christmas is an American musical. It was released in 1954 and stars Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and features the songs of Irving Berlin. This movie gave us a new version of the title song, "White Christmas". This song had been introduced in 1942 by Crosby in another film he was in, Holiday Inn.

Bob Wallace (Crosby) and Phil Davis (Kaye) served in the Army together. Due to an injury Davis apparently sustained in the service while saving Wallace's life, he guilts Wallace into a series of predicaments. Despite Davis' tactics, the duo join forces to become an acclaimed singing act. After the war they become quite famous and during their travels they come across a sister act.

Sisters Betty (Clooney) and Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen) are down on their luck and have to get to Vermont to play their next gig before the local authorities catch up to them for unpaid bills. Wallace and Davis help them out and end up going to Vermont with them. It turns out, the quaint country inn is owned by their retired former commander from WWII.

When the singers find out that the general is about to lose the inn due to financial problems, they decide to pull out all the stops and put on an all-star yuletide show to show the general just how much he means to them and his former troops.

This movie is a wonderful feel-good extravaganza with wonderful musical numbers, great comedy bits, and is full of people going out of their way to do selfless acts to help others. What more could you want for a Christmas movie?

Our western connection is easily made in the filmography of Dean Jagger who plays Major General Thomas F. Waverly in this movie. Jagger appeared in numerous westerns throughout his career including Western Union, Rawhide, and Warpath to name a few.

Movie Snack

Today's snack seems like a great holiday mix, just perfect for a Christmas movie snack. Check out the recipe on Mom on Timeout's web page, Snow Day Snack Mix Recipe. (

Now, it's time to get your snacks and settle in for another incredible holiday movie!

Enjoy!

Stephen

White Christmas Trailerhttps://youtu.be/SAPasm6a9YM

Friday Funnies: National Cookie Day!

Hello, Posse!

I hope you have had a great week. We have been getting ready for the holidays here in our home. I am usually not a big Christmas decorations kind of person but this year I have just been enjoying having the house look festive. Right now I think everyone could use a bit of holiday cheer.

Another thing that is fun is celebrating crazy National Days! Today is National Cookie Day and I wanted to share one of my favorite cookie recipes with you from Food.com, Traditional Mexican Wedding Cookies. (

With today being a quasi food holiday, I thought a few food jokes would be fitting. Grab some cookies and enjoy the holiday while you check out these great "dad" jokes.

Enjoy!

Stephen

Q: What do you call a fake noodle?

A: An im-pasta.

Q: What does a nosey pepper do?

A. He gets jalapeno business.

Q: What did the baby corn say to its mom?

A: Where’s my popcorn?

Q: Why didn’t the sesame seed want to leave the casino?

A: Because he was on a roll.

Q: What are baby potatoes called?

A: Tater tots.

Q: How fast is milk?

A: It can go pasteurized before you know it.

Q: Where do veggies go to have a few drinks?

A: A salad bar.

Q: What did the blueberry say to the other blueberry?

A: If you weren’t so sweet, we wouldn’t be in this jam.

Q: What is better than having a good friend?

A: Having a good friend who has chocolate.

And last but not least . . .

Q: Why were the pecan and the walnut such good friends?

A: Because they were both nuts.

https://youtu.be/GbQ3522oqmo