View From the Phlipside - Ripping on Rudolph

These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside

I will admit that I have a soft spot for the traditional Christmas movie slate. In fact, just to make sure that I can see them all each year I've hunted most of them down and bought them. A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, the 1930's version of A Christmas Carol, The Walton's Christmas special, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life to name just some. I own them all. And December will be spent watching them all.

At the same time I'm aware of the cliche factor of it all. I know some of it is pretty cheesy. So I'm not above having some fun with it as well. Which is where the wonderful weird folks at RiffTrax enter the picture. If you're not familiar with Rifftrax then maybe you know them from their previous project Mystery Science Theater 3000. Or as it is known among the aficionados Misty Three K. The guys who made their fame by mocking bad science fiction films have turned their sights on Christmas. Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett will be joined by no less a loony luminary thanWeird Al Yankovic as they take on a variety of Christmas shorts, ads and a classic.

Oh, yes this time they're not sticking to lesser known movies that were just begging to be mocked and slandered. No, they're going for a classic of the season that, let's face it, is just begging to be mocked and slandered. Rifftrax Live - A Christmas Shorts-stravaganza will be taking on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And they'll be doing it live, broadcast to theaters all over America.

This is a relatively new thing that I've seen done for a couple other events over the last few years. You go to a theater (actually we'll have to go to either Erie or Buffalo. I don't see any theaters around here jumping on the Rudolph slanging bandwagon), you buy your ticket and you get to watch a live broadcast of the event. It's like the world's biggest big screen TV crossed with a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The show hits the theater next week, December 16, with an encore presentation the following day.

If you like your humor snarky and you're not squeamish about raking a great holiday classic over the coals (I mean they are going to murder this movie) then maybe it's worth the drive to Erie, Buffalo or Williamsville. If not then grab a copy of the DVD, snuggle up under the blanket and enjoy the story of an elf who wants to be a dentist and a reindeer with a big shiny nose. And let the Rifftrax boys worry about coal in their stockings.

Call that the view from the Phlipside

Thoughts on a Christmas Eve

First let me send my wishes for the happiest, merriest, holiest Christmas possible.

Christmas here should be pretty good. The kid is home and there's a lot of laughter in the house. Money is tight for us as for so many others. The reality is that we've never had a lot of money. You don't get rich working in small town radio or for the church. There might be a present or two less under the tree but that's OK. We'll go and visit some relatives. The weather has decided to cooperate which is always nice as well.

Some other thoughts about Christmas have been fussing at me. When I finally unpacked them I realized they weren't worth talking about here. Some folks have problems with Christmas. Some are personal, some are theological. I don't have to enter into their problems.

I love Christmas. I love the emphasis on peace and good will. I wish we took them more seriously and tried to live Christmas every day. I wish the same thing for Easter. For me the story of a family facing all kinds of troubles, struggling to find a roof over their heads and the arrival of a new life into the world always speaks to me. It's perhaps even more poignant this year.

I've always felt a special affection for Joseph, the father of Jesus in this world. I know the emphasis is always on Jesus and Mary and that's fine. But is it really that easy to overlook the man who also heard God's call and answered it. He took up his own burden on faith. Joseph gets forgotten after the Christmas story. Maybe it's just because I too got a surprise baby around this time of year (although certainly Jesus wasn't born this time of year). If you look back at a recent post of mine you'll probably figure out some of my feeling of connection with Joseph.

I can't wait for the midnight service. Even though I'll be "working" rather than comfortable in the pew (in fact only the kid will be in the pew. My lady wife will be the thurifer tonight) I love this service. Of all of it my favorite part is the end. The lights are turned off, the parishioners hold lit candles as we sing "Silent Night" It's a wonderful feeling.

We'll open a present tonight, then have the big opening tomorrow morning. I had never heard of opening presents on Christmas Eve till I moved up here. Apparently it's fairly common around here. Tonight we'll open a small present. Then tomorrow get up a little late (ah, the joy of having a GROWN UP child!), make the Christmas morning special breakfast, open presents with Christmas music playing in the background (TSO and Vince Guaraldi plus more traditional music). It'll be calm and fun as we watch our two little cats exploring through the jungle of shredded paper and pine needles.

I'm looking forward to Christmas. May your Christmas be bright.

Peace

Gobsmacked!

Lovely word gobsmacked. If I understand it correctly it means to be greatly surprised, stunned even by a sudden turn of events.

And that's exactly how I feel about the football pool this morning.

It was a wretched week. I only got 9 of 16 games right, I missed on my top two favorites (Tampa Bay losing to San Fran and Houston losing to Oakland) so I knew my point total was going to get hammered.

Well so did everyone else's. With 77 points (which is like 60% of the total available) I was only 20 points behind this week's #1! So instead of FALLING in the standings, I ROSE in the standings! Only 3 people above me overall outscored me this week. Astoundingly I'm now only 90 points out of first place overall. Of course with only 1 week left the chances of me winning approach zero. But my goal was to finish in the top 10 (only 8 points away) and within 10% of the winner's total points (I'll have to finish within 150 points of first so I'm probably in pretty good shape for that one too).

The really funny thing is that I'm totally dumped the statistics analysis routine and just gone with my gut. Watch out for coast to coast games (like that TB/SF one!), watch out for division games, rivalry games and bad team/bad team and good team/good team matches. The problem becomes teams like San Diego who can be very good and very awful. Tough to pick week to week.

So I'm at #14 overall and was #14 for the week as well. Pretty sweet. One last big week and we'll see how we do.

Otherwise a bunch more snow last night. Followed by rain and 40 degrees on Weds, snow and 30 degrees for Christmas, rain and 40s Friday, rain and 50s Saturday then winter returns. Weird. But we can use some snow pile reduction again so I won't complain. And it makes doing some Christmas travelling easier too.

Peace

Weekend Update December 22

The Weekend That Was - Well I wanted an "off" weekend and I got it. Weather shut things down on Friday, I had nothing planned for Saturday and then another storm canceled my meeting on Sunday. So I totally goofed off. And it felt GREAT!!!!! The weather has been a bear and the worst is still to come it appears. I'm doing this late on Sunday evening and we may wake up to well over a foot tomorrow. Gotta wait and see. But it's been nice to relax this weekend. We did Britten's Lessons and Carols at church this morning which was pretty cool. Great sermon that sounded like it was aimed right at me. Don't you love those? Excellent work by our associate rector as always. But MAN IT'S COLD OUT THERE!!! Temps are in the single digits and wind chills are around -1. Lovely.

The To Do List - Worked on a few more small projects, worked on some stuff for a Youth Commission retreat next year. Need to follow up with some folks on some other things before Christmas break starts.


What Am I Procrastinating About? - Not too much at the moment. Kinda strange.

What Am I Watching/Reading/Listening To? Ripped through "Tried By War - Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief". Really enjoyable and I think pretty even handed. Points out where Lincoln made political compromise, made mistakes and got things right. Really recommend it if you're into American history and military history. It was a great break from everything I've been reading recently. The book is shorter than I expected because it has a couple dozen pages of footnotes.

No music but a couple movies. Finally watched "The Truman Show" with Jim Carrey. This was a really fun movie. It's funny that Carrey can do such good quality work when he takes the shot. An interesting concept, well written, acted and directed. I really enjoyed this one. I probably would have seen it sooner except so much of Carrey's work is just stupid. Not this one though.

Plus watched a Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life" A classic. I don't care if people think that Capra is naive and not cynical enough. Thank God for that. I forget how much fun it is. And I love the styles. Why did men ever stop wearing great hats like this? And any movie that stars Jimmy Stewart is worth watching.

Next Up Christmas! What more do you need in a week?

How Am I Doing Still trying to find my way. It's great to know that I have friends and support in this struggle. It's a little brighter and that's a pretty good feeling.

Peace

A couple quick items

In my family we have a concept called "Threat of treatment".

Examples -

The minute you make an appointment for your mechanic to look at your car that noise goes away.

The minute you make the appointment to see the doctor the cough/fever/whatever goes away.

The laser printer here in the parish house wasn't working. We called the repair guy. It just ran off 12 perfect two sided copies.

Yeesh.

One of my favorite Episcopal blogs is "Telling Secrets" by Mother Elizabeth Kaeton. She's smart, she's funny and oh yeah she's got that whole living a life in faith thing down pretty good too. Well she's got a great Christmas gift with a twist post up here. You should definitely check it out. Hard to pick my favorite item but I know how much it annoys my coffee addicted brothers and sisters to have someone take their cup. So how about this:

LOCK-CUP

Lock Cup - Anti-Theft Coffee Cup. Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup? Well now there's a solution. The Lock - Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.

Check out the banana guard, day clock, toilet seat lifter and more...

Fun and a little bit tacky, yeah!

This is SO me!(Thanks to Pseudopiskie)

You Are a Bright Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays are all about fun and seasonal favorites. You are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

Even better than I could say it

Here's what I would have said in my rant about Christmas rants. Only said better. (h/t to Grandmere Mimi (Wounded Bird: Letter From Jesus About Christmas) who pointed me towards Ann)

Letter from Jesus about Christmas (slightly edited for Episcopalians)

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many you are upset that folks are removing My name from the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year -- it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually the time of pagan festival. Of course, I do appreciate being remembered at any time.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, here's how: GET ALONG WITH EACH AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on... If it bothers you that the town where you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen in your own front yard and put out your own Nativity scene. If all of My followers did that, there wouldn't be any need for a display in the town square because there would already be so many all around your community.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made ALL trees. You can remember Me any time you see ANY tree. Decorate a grapevine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten what I said, look up John 15: 1- 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wishlist.

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President to complain about the wording on the White House cards this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then do it! It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. People in your town will attempt to take their own lives this season because they feel so alone and hopeless. Since you don't know who they are, give everyone you meet a warm smile -- it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit-picking about what retailers call this holiday, be patient with the people who work for them. Give each a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support organizations like Episcopal Relief and Development, who are working for better lives for refugees, prisoners, people suffering from diseases that are easily curable with a small amount of money, giving tools and resources so people can support their families.

9. There are individuals and families in your town who will not only have no "Christmas" tree, but also no presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, take some food and gifts to a charity who will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do or say things that you wouldn't do or say in My presence. Remember -- When you speak badly of my children, you are speaking badly of Me; when you treat each other badly, you do the same to Me. Let people know by your words and actions that you are one of Mine.

Don't get so worked up about what you think are slights about me that occur in the material world. I am God and I can take care of Myself. I am not diminished by those things.

Instead, simply love Me and do what I have asked you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love.

AMEN.

And it's almost Christmas

The tree is about to go up at DaYouthGuy's house, the last presents are being prepared.

And the usual ranting about Christmas is well under way. The "Happy Holidays" rant, the "They've stolen Christmas" rant, all the usual suspects. I'm tempted to add a little rant of my own, mostly about how tired I am of the other rants. Instead let me offer this:

It's Christmas. Make of it what you will. Feel free to ignore those parts that don't work for you (really, any of them. To my friends and brothers and sisters of the atheist clan - revel in whatever brings you joy and ignore the rest. Seriously. I will not chide you or look askance. I only ask the same respect for my own choices. Same goes for everyone else. For God's sake (sorry atheists) relax and enjoy.) I intend to revel in the midnight mass at my home parish. Smells and bells, and a full choir and all the decorations. I will rejoice in the arrival of the Messiah and the miracle of it all. And I will wish a Merry Christmas to us all. God bless us everyone.

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy my favorite Christmas specials. I own a copy of just about all of them:

WKRP in Cincinnati Christmas episode - a great show about radio and a great riff on Dickens.

A Charlie Brown Christmas - If I only could have one this is it.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - love it.

The Homecoming - Christmas with the Waltons. A truly classic Christmas story

How The Grinch Stole Christmas - animated original only, don't bring that other one 'round here.

Scrooge (A Christmas Carol) - The Alistair Sims version or the Mr. Magoo version both classics

White Christmas - yeah, only nominally a true Christmas story but I love it.

A Wish for Wings that Work - OK my natural weirdness bubbles up on this one. This is the Bloom County animated special. It's very hard to find but my most excellent brother got it for me.




Miracle on 34th Street - the original only thank you very much.

Just SOOOOOO Wrong!

No, no, no! Say it ain't so. This is a CHRISTMAS lawn decoration! (H/T to Marko)