Made it!
Yes, I have happily ran the gauntlet that was Christmas 2016. I sang Christmas carols, went to see the twinkly Christmas lights around town, baked gingerbread and shortbread, ate many a roasted beast, opened extravagent gifts and had more than my fair share of champagne and Irish whiskey tipples. I have come out the other end of all of this with the realisation that we place far too much time, money and energy into one day of celebration (well more like three for me) but that's besides the point. What I am trying to say is that I saw a lot of stressed out faces, a lot of annoyed individuals and a lot of eye rolling this season and it made me feel a bit sad to be honest.
Don't get me wrong, I totally got my merry on and mostly I was having a pretty terrific time; but I did see a lot of other people not having as much of a good time and clearly not feeling the Chistmas spirit very much at all. A lot of people that I encountered seemed to be generally enduring the gathering together process, rather than actually enjoying themselves, and well....that was a bit concerning to me. If you aren't having any fun at your Christmas get togethers, then you are doing it all wrong!
If everyone is 'enduring' then the recipe is not correct. People should be all 'knees up mother Brown' at Christmas time, and most importantly they need to be really nice to each other because it is supposed to be the merriest holiday of the year. It is most certainly NOT the time to flick your bitch switch and get all fucking hostile and moody. It is absolutely imperative that you keep your personal issues on the back burner at Christmas, otherwise everyone walks away feeling like a piece of shit, swearing that they will never get together again and the whole point of even gathering together in the first place becomes utterly pointless.
What you should be doing at Christmas gatherings is eating like a king and not worrying about your caloric intake. You should also have a least one good stiff drink (a lot more if you can get away with it) and give everyone at least one really good meaningful hug over the course of the day. You should get at least one awesome thing that you love the shit out of, anything on top of that is gravy. And you really must take some time out to reflect on how fricken lucky you are to have so many opportunities and luxuries and people to spend your time with. If you do all that, then your Christmas gatherings will always be fabulous, lose sight of that stuff, get caught up in the minor details or have a nasty turn and you will have gone all wrong with it.
I must say, that in spite of some rather odd behaviours that I witnessed, I had a really tremendously good Christmas. I was so spoilt it was ridiculous! I ate some bloody delicious things, and I was generally being mighty merry in every way possible. It was a much better Christmas for me this year than the last one was, and I am now looking forward to a spectacular New Year as well.
I am loving the silly season this year!
Yes, I have happily ran the gauntlet that was Christmas 2016. I sang Christmas carols, went to see the twinkly Christmas lights around town, baked gingerbread and shortbread, ate many a roasted beast, opened extravagent gifts and had more than my fair share of champagne and Irish whiskey tipples. I have come out the other end of all of this with the realisation that we place far too much time, money and energy into one day of celebration (well more like three for me) but that's besides the point. What I am trying to say is that I saw a lot of stressed out faces, a lot of annoyed individuals and a lot of eye rolling this season and it made me feel a bit sad to be honest.
Don't get me wrong, I totally got my merry on and mostly I was having a pretty terrific time; but I did see a lot of other people not having as much of a good time and clearly not feeling the Chistmas spirit very much at all. A lot of people that I encountered seemed to be generally enduring the gathering together process, rather than actually enjoying themselves, and well....that was a bit concerning to me. If you aren't having any fun at your Christmas get togethers, then you are doing it all wrong!
If everyone is 'enduring' then the recipe is not correct. People should be all 'knees up mother Brown' at Christmas time, and most importantly they need to be really nice to each other because it is supposed to be the merriest holiday of the year. It is most certainly NOT the time to flick your bitch switch and get all fucking hostile and moody. It is absolutely imperative that you keep your personal issues on the back burner at Christmas, otherwise everyone walks away feeling like a piece of shit, swearing that they will never get together again and the whole point of even gathering together in the first place becomes utterly pointless.
What you should be doing at Christmas gatherings is eating like a king and not worrying about your caloric intake. You should also have a least one good stiff drink (a lot more if you can get away with it) and give everyone at least one really good meaningful hug over the course of the day. You should get at least one awesome thing that you love the shit out of, anything on top of that is gravy. And you really must take some time out to reflect on how fricken lucky you are to have so many opportunities and luxuries and people to spend your time with. If you do all that, then your Christmas gatherings will always be fabulous, lose sight of that stuff, get caught up in the minor details or have a nasty turn and you will have gone all wrong with it.
I must say, that in spite of some rather odd behaviours that I witnessed, I had a really tremendously good Christmas. I was so spoilt it was ridiculous! I ate some bloody delicious things, and I was generally being mighty merry in every way possible. It was a much better Christmas for me this year than the last one was, and I am now looking forward to a spectacular New Year as well.
I am loving the silly season this year!
THE JUNGLE BOOK
Release Date: 2016
Rating: PG
Running Time: 106 mins
Here is a version of Rudyard Kipling's classic tale about the adventures of Mowgli the Man-cub that even he would've loved. This visually stunning, live action CGI was directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Walt Disney Pictures, who also produced the 1967 animated film of the same name, which is quite frankly left in the dust in the wake of this beautifully realized and captivating version.
An orphaned human child named Mowgli has been raised in the wild by a wolf pack and a panther mentor. When he attracts the unwanted attentions of the ferocious tiger Shere Khan, he is sent away by his animal guardians to the safety of the nearest man village, but Mowgli does not want to leave the jungle or his animal family.
Simply put, the animals are just 'out of this world' amazing in this film, I have not seen anything that comes close to this yet in terms of computer generated wildlife. I was completely spellbound, and spent half of the movie kicking myself that I hadn't gone to see it on the big screen. The animals have been perfectly voiced by Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken, but my favourite by a long mile was Bill Murray's marvelous portrayal of Baloo, the chilled out, honey craving bear that befriends Mowgli.
This is high quality, engrossing, intelligent family entertainment, that should not be missed.
FINAL SAY: For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
4.5 Chili Peppers
Release Date: 2016
Rating: PG
Running Time: 106 mins
Here is a version of Rudyard Kipling's classic tale about the adventures of Mowgli the Man-cub that even he would've loved. This visually stunning, live action CGI was directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Walt Disney Pictures, who also produced the 1967 animated film of the same name, which is quite frankly left in the dust in the wake of this beautifully realized and captivating version.
An orphaned human child named Mowgli has been raised in the wild by a wolf pack and a panther mentor. When he attracts the unwanted attentions of the ferocious tiger Shere Khan, he is sent away by his animal guardians to the safety of the nearest man village, but Mowgli does not want to leave the jungle or his animal family.
Simply put, the animals are just 'out of this world' amazing in this film, I have not seen anything that comes close to this yet in terms of computer generated wildlife. I was completely spellbound, and spent half of the movie kicking myself that I hadn't gone to see it on the big screen. The animals have been perfectly voiced by Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken, but my favourite by a long mile was Bill Murray's marvelous portrayal of Baloo, the chilled out, honey craving bear that befriends Mowgli.
This is high quality, engrossing, intelligent family entertainment, that should not be missed.
FINAL SAY: For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
4.5 Chili Peppers
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