THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE CHRISTMAS LIST (2012)

 

Krissy Kringle (Hilarie Burton) dislikes Christmas intently, mainly because she’s had to go through life with the name Krissy Kringle.

But she also suffered the indignity of having her street renamed “Candy Cane Lane” as a result of her name and the street name she gets regular deliveries of Christmas mail.

This particular year however was worse than normal when she is fired from the Ad Agency where she works instead of getting the promotion she was expecting and is forced to take a job as a present wrapper at the Mall and must dress as an Elf.

When she arrives home and forces open her front door, amidst the mountain of Christmas mail she finds a special delivery intended for Santa Claus, the Naughty or Nice book which he had left behind while visiting a child.

Krissy uses the power of the book to expose the naughty deeds of those around her, but soon finds that her newfound power can have devastating results.

Gabriel Tigerman is excellent as Krissie’s partner in crime at the Mall, Marco Webb and Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter put in a convincing performance as her parents Walter and Carol Kringle.

ON CHRISTMAS EVE THE CHIMNEYS STAND

 

On Christmas Eve the chimneys stand

Waiting for Santa to go down them

And he duly obliges each one in turn

To visit every house because it soots him

FIRST WORKING CHRISTMAS

 

In the early seventies I was living in an area of Stevenage called Marymead where my mother was the warden at a block of sheltered accommodation flats for the elderly.

I attended Shephallbury School nearby which I left in the May and I started my first job later that same month.

My job was working as a trainee groundman with the Hertfordshire County Council grounds maintenance team and the depot was in the north of Stevenage old town paying the grand sum of £10.99 per week before stoppages.

Although the depot was some distance from where I lived it was never an issue as there was a very good bus service.

In the November of that same year my family moved house from Marymead on one side of town to the Hyde on the other, this point will become more significant later in the tale.

The house move didn’t affect my getting to and from work as Stevenage corporation as it was then known operated flat fare buses operating on circular routes so I still got the same bus but from a different stop and the price was the same this also will prove significant later on.

As I said this was my first year at work and I had my first Christmas party to look forward to.

It was on the last day before we broke for the Christmas holiday and we had a little party in the yard where a little Christmas cheer was imbibed and a drink or two were consumed.

Now I was only sixteen and I had only had very limited experience of alcohol and I got well and truly bladdered on whisky Mac, cider and something unpronounceable from Yugoslavia.

One of the guys gave me a lift into the town Centre and from there I caught my usual bus.

In my drunken state I managed to climb the stairs to the top deck and the bus set off filled with heavily laden Christmas shoppers and a drunken trainee groundsman.

I must have drifted off on the journey and I suddenly came to and looking out the window recognized a familiar site and I got off the bus.

I headed off up the road in the direction of home wishing all and sundries a merry Christmas as I went.

I entered through the main doors to the flats and passed the Christmas tree in the foyer and headed straight for flat number one.

At the door I fumbled for my key and presented it to the lock, it wouldn’t fit.

I peered closely at it and it was definitely my door key so I tried to put it in the lock again, still it wouldn’t fit.

Suddenly the door opened, and a stranger looked out at me “Can I help?” she asked.

“Ah my name is Paul, and I don’t live here, anymore do I?”

The lady, who was the new warden, agreed with me that I no longer lived there so I wished her a happy Christmas and made my way back to the foyer were there was a public telephone with a large Perspex dome over it.

My intention was to phone for a taxi but rummaging in my pockets I discovered I had no money for the taxi or indeed to make a phone call then as I tried to duck under the Perspex hood I tripped over my own feet and fell into the Christmas tree which ended up on top of me.

The lady who now lived at no 1 heard the commotion and came to investigate and to my surprise thought it very amusing to find a drunken teenager wearing the Christmas tree.

The new warden phoned for a taxi for me and even gave me the money for the fare.

That was real Christmas spirit and I have never forgotten her kindness and tolerance and try to keep that same spirit in my own heart at Christmas.

ROSEMARY

 

Rosemary has long been associated with Christmas and was often used during the middle Ages by the women folk who spread it on the floor and as people walked on it crushing it under foot a pleasant aroma was released.

Tradition tells us that Rosemary is so fragrant because Mary laid on its branches the garments of the Christ Child on the night he was born.

The legend also says that suddenly flowers blossomed on the trees and they bore abundant fruit even though they were out of season.

IF AN ELF IS WEARING EARMUFFS

 

If an Elf is wearing earmuffs

Call him anything you choose

Safe in the happy knowledge

That he can’t possibly hear you

SILVER TINSEL

 

It was in Germany that tinsel was first invented, and it was made from real silver.

A crude machine was used to shred the silver into thin strips which were then twisted onto a central wire.

This was indeed a luxury product although and obviously only available to the privileged classes.

However, the silver tinsel did not last forever as Silver would tarnish and lose its shine in time.

Despite its lack of longevity however it remained in use by those who could afford it until a cheaper artificial alternative was invented.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS VISITOR (2002)

A remarkable Christmas story of loss and renewal in which the Boyajian’s have not celebrated Christmas in 11 years not since they lost their son to the Persian Gulf War and their faith was lost with him.

But that all changed when a stranger joined them, who was around the same age their son would have been.

George (William Devane) struggles with the past and his wife Carol (Meredith Baxter) searches for answers and his daughter Jean (Reagan Pasternak) fights for the future.

They wonder if the stranger, Matthew (Dean McDermott), is a con artist or if he is perhaps the miracle their family has been waiting for.

Slowly his influence reawakens their faith and appreciation of Christmas in a way that will change them forever.

It’s a lovely endearing tale of small-town America and learning to appreciate what you have through what you’ve lost.