The Robin although synonymous with Christmas in most people’s minds has in fact no connection to the Christmas story whatsoever.
So,
what is the reason that the Robin has managed to ingrain itself into our
Christmas consciousness.
I
think it’s probably because the Robin’s select their mates in December, so
their birdsong is at its best and the male’s plumage is at its brightest while
all the other
Birds
are dull and quiet.
If you like schmaltzy then this is for you.
An
unfulfilled newspaper reporter Rebecca Chandler (Jennie Garth) is looking
forward to a Hawaiian Christmas getaway with her fiancé Ryan but she gets
dumped instead.
Then
to add insult on to injury her editor dumps the annual romantic non-news feel good
story on her which she reluctantly accepts.
She
is sent to the small-town of Hamden in pursuit of the elusive Secret Santa who
every year bestows whatever is desired by a needy recipient.
She
is dogged by bad luck along the way when her car breaks down and the only
lodgings she can get are at a home for the elderly where she meets Miss Ruthie
(Barbara Billingsley) who tries to revive her Christmas spirit.
From
there Rebecca pursues Mr. John Martin Carter (Steven Eckholdt) the rich local
philanthropist whom she supposes to be the Secret Santa.
A
definite feel-good movie.
My mate is planning a trip to Lapland
As
his kids really want to go
He
would prefer elves landing on his lap
At
Santa’s Village bar à gogo
Her Majesty the Queen
Decorates
her own Christmas Tree
And
at Balmoral Castle this year
She
awarded it an OBE
The feast of St Nicholas is widely celebrated though what they believe and the way it is celebrated varies from place to place for example in the Czech Republic they believe on the eve of St. Nicholas Day the Angels lower St. Nicholas, or Svaty Mikuláš, down to earth on a rope of gold and he carries a basket of apples, nuts, and candies for the children.
He
is accompanied by a devil rattling his chains who comes to carry off the bad
children and a sweet angel who pleads for them.
While
in Slovenia the night before the Feast of St. Nicholas, children put a shoe
outside the door in the hope it will be filled with various treats of fruit, sweets,
or money.
Here
the saint is accompanied by the devilish Parkel who might leave coal for the
naughty children, more often than not, a mixture of the two are left as most
children are good and bad.
On
the night of December 5th in Romania, boots are carefully polished
to be put by the door or by the window to wait for the visit of Sfantul Nicolae.
In
Bulgaria Nikulden is a great winter festival when Bulgarians celebrate St
Nikolay, the protector of sailors and fishermen.
St.
Nicholas or Svaty Mikul arrives
in many Slovakian towns and villages, in a horse drawn coach, along with an
angel and the devil who rattles a chain and on St. Nicholas Eve all the
children polish their boots to leave on the windowsill or at the
doorstep and in the morning, they hope to find nice surprises and not the
dreaded coal.
Hungarian
children must polish their best boot and put it on the windowsill to be filled
by St. Nicholas, Szent Mikulás.
The
good saint comes with a big sack full of presents and a large record book
containing the children's good and bad deeds. He has his two helpers, the good
angel who helps give out presents and the mischief making devil.
And
In the morning the good children hope to find candies, tangerines, walnuts,
apples, dates and chocolate Mikulás figures.
St.
Nicholas, called in Poland Sw. Mikolaj,
is a saintly, dignified figure in Poland; he descends from Heaven with an angel
helper, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a white horse as he visits homes in
the countryside.
In
parts of the Caribbean like Aruba and Antilles where the Dutch settled the
celebrations still involves SinterKlaas sailing into harbor from Spain with his
white horse and a collection of helpers, one of these helpers is Zwarte Piet or
black Peter who is ready to put the naughty children in his sack and carry them
back to Spain.
But
in Curaçao however and reflecting changing times, the "horse" is more
symbolic and Sinterklaas rides in a white Ford Mustang!
So,
from being lowered from heaven on a golden rope to riding in a Ford Mustang it can’t
get much more diverse than that.
By all accounts the eating of Goose at Christmas as part of the festivities came about because on Christmas Eve 1588 Queen Elizabeth I was dining on Goose at Greenwich palace when the long awaited news reached her that the Spanish Armada had been defeated.
Relieved
and delighted she decreed that roast goose should be served at Christmas to
mark the historic event.
It
was her father Henry VIII who is widely regarded to be the first person known
to eat Turkey on Christmas day.
The family McCallister are gathering in preparation of Christmas in Miami, at Peter (John Heard) and Kate's (Catherine O'Hara) home in a suburb of Chicago.
Ten-year-old
son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is unimpressed with the prospect of Christmas in
Miami and on the night before their flight after a family argument he storms
off to the third-floor bedroom of the house where he wishes he had his own
money so he could go on his own vacation.
Peter unknowingly resets the family's alarm clock, which
causes them to oversleep.
In
the resulting panic and confusion of the rush to make their flight their
youngest son Kevin gets on the wrong flight and is bound for New York.
It’s
only when the family arrive in Florida that they realize Kevin is missing.
Kevin
meanwhile is touring New York is checking into the Plaza Hotel.
In Florida, the McCallister's discover Kevin has been
found using Peter's credit card in New York so the family flies to New York and
Kate desperately tries to find her son.
Sadly, after visiting Duncan's Toy Chest Kevin crosses
the paths of The Wet Bandits,
Harry Lyme (Joe Pesci) and Marv Merchants (Daniel Stern), who are planning to
break into Duncan's
Toy Chest and steal the proceeds
which are due to go to a children’s charity.
The
story follows the bad guys attempts to rob the Store and Kevin’s efforts to
thwart them while Kate takes extreme measures to find him.
There
is slapstick galore, humour in abundance, sentimentality and a happy ending.
