Early Close of My Advent Calendar...by My Definition at Least!

This is just a post to let all my readers know that I closed off my Advent Calendar earlier than planned...well by my definition of it at least...cause I had defined it as ending after the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' which would have been on Tue 6 Jan 09. However let's face it in the modern world when people hit New Year's day it's all bout the resolutions for many and really Christmas and Advent ends once people go fully back out to work. And like this year cause Mon is the first Monday in January and clearing New Year's day and the day after (usually a recovery day for some)everyone is going to hit the pavement hard stomping off to conquer the world supposedly? So for all intents and purposes I need to come to the reality that Christmas is through...but on Universal Collective Prayer I will continue to speak about the 'Three Wise Men' and trumpet them off on Tue 6 Jan 09 especially since Epiphany celebrations still today is a big event in many cultures and celebrated worldwide in Christianity.

Also I am ending it early cause on a personal level I was all tired out...and really on New Year's Day I was re-borned so was tough for me too to go back! :) However the Three Wise Men followed me into this life and so I will have a longer departure time with them and only say goodbye to them on the 6th of Jan! :)

Best Wishes and hope you all had a lovely Christmas/Advent season and look forward to celebrating it again with you next year and to other festivals and seasons as they come along in this 'Great Big Blue Marble' called Planet Earth!:)

And I leave you with a You Tube clip I've shared in the past that was the introduction to a children's TV show when I was growing up that was aimed at kid's understanding cultures globally. I remember it being on Saturdays here in Trinidad. It was an American TV show but showcased kids from all over the world. You can read more about the show on wikipedia at this link.And I share it in the hope that in this New Year, 2009, me and readers from all over the world will get closer...and perhaps I will even start to hear more from them on here too...comments welcomed! :)

Advent Calendar:HAPPY NEW YEAR!-Nostradamus Predicts a Golden Age!

Today I am talking about re-birth and how this morning I was visualizing the blooming of white roses like how in films they make things move quickly so the roses go from buds to fully grown in seconds and to this visualization I was hearing the sound of Cat Steven's Morning has Broken...well I thought what would be an appropriate film to show for these feelings on this blog and I decided to dabble a bit into TV again although this is a very famous TV special and so kinda warrants it spilling over as film in a way...

You see everyone bad mouth's Nostradamus' predictions or always sees them as bad or like gloom and doom...the Third World War and all but I saw this docudrama when I was a child... they were really big back then...the TV moguls loved to churn them out. And especially when I was growing up in the height of 'the Cold War' American talk of World War three and nuclear holocausts were always abound! And this docudrama-Nostradamus-The Man Who Saw Tomorrow with Orson Welles (who I always mixed up with Alfred Hitchcock the director and with George Orwell the authour btw:)) will always be a classic.

But I am showing the very last clip for it because I want you to see how it all fits in with my morning's visualization and how it could be what instilled that idea in me as a child of the dawning of a NEW GOLDEN AGE!And how it dawns after we sort out all the hurt and conflict...in this portrayal it happens after pain and war...but perhaps if we could resolve it peacefully by talking to one another trashing it out...? Arab-Israeli talks anyone?

MAYBE THIS YEAR WILL BE THAT DAWN?...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Advent Calendar:HAPPY NEW YEAR-TCM's Tribute to the Movie Greats Gone This Year!

Here is Turner Classic Movies-TCM's tribute to all the movie greats that left the earthly plane this year. I offered it as my sixth day of Christmas and Happy New Year gift to you! Cause when people leave this earthly plane it is happy too if we view the leaving as a time to celebrate their life and what they gave us while here on earth! :)Cause really death doesn't have to be bad although of course we miss 'em too is why we cry but really if their's were lives fulfilled we should be celebrating and crying instead when lives are wasted due to inaction...But for sure we will miss Paul Newman not only for his work on film but his work in so much more especially with his Newman's Own line! :)I guess we miss some more than others cause their actions were so grand we wish they could do it forever and ever! :) And of course some of them on here especially like Heath Ledger, Bernie Mac and even Michael Crichton I find may have left too soon...but of course death can come at any age...But certainly they must come back again for an encore even if not just as before? Well some of you said yes to reincarnation on my poll this year so...

Advent Calendar:5th Day of Christmas-Angels on TV

I know this is a film blog not a TV one but today on this the Fifth day of Christmas on all my blogs I'm talking bout Angels and yep there are many good films about Angels out there but I just couldn't help myself but to talk about my fav TV shows ever about Angels!

-Highway to Heaven

and

-Touched by An Angel

If I had to choose one I'd say Highway to Heaven as it was more real but both were beautiful in their own way. Both happened a decade apart one around 1984 and one around 1994. I enjoyed both and at different ages, stages and eras of my life but for sure there were two series that I could tune in week after week to enjoy! :)

Here are the kick off parts for both shows as they used to start off on TV and for sure again I'd say the Highway to Heaven one is more powerful but again both strong and beautiful in their own ways ...enjoy! :)

Advent Calendar:4th Day of Christmas-The Gift of Hope in Film!

Tonight on all three of my blogs I'm giving the gift of 'Hope'. So on this blog where the theme is Books and Films I'm going to give you Hope as shown through films. I didn't have to look far on YouTube as Manny the Movie Guy has already done a lovely compilation of this year's films he thinks show hope that I think is a most fitting gift and I've seen or plan to see most of the films on his list if they are on in my neck of the woods! Here it is! Hope you enjoy tonight's gift to you on this the 4th day of Christmas! :)

Advent Calendar:3rd Day of Christmas-The Gift of Inspiration in the Film Chariots of Fire

The 1981 film 'Chariots of Fire' won four Academy Awards one of which was for the Best Picture. It is based on a true story about two athletes' journey to the Olympics in 1924. I saw this film when I was very young and can't remember the details or it and I am sure because I was so young I didn't even grasp all the details at the time. But even so I always remembered it in my heart as inspirational for whatever little I understood back then it to me still represents what the Olympics in spirit set out to be...what the Greeks must have envisioned when they started the games. To me all Sports and the Olympics is now meaningless in terms of spirit by and large (of course there will be many exceptions to this sweeping generalization) because really modern day sports is mostly bout the money not the spirit. In terms of its film making the film 'Chariots of Fire' is filled with marvelous acting and is forever famous for its score by Vangelis. Which makes it my Advent gift to you on this Third Day of Christmas...as I give the gift of Inspiration in Film! :)I hope you enjoy the opening scene,when the race is won and the close of the film...and really a gift to myself would be to get my hands on a copy of it to view it again at a more mature age. Would be cool to see a re-release of it one day...pity it wasn't done in 2006 which would have been its 25th anniversary.

Advent Calendar:The 2nd Day of Christmas-The Gift of Dance in Film!

Advent Calendar:The Twelve Days of Christmas in Shrek Style!

As you can read on my other blogs Meady's Musings and Universal Collective Prayer today is my birthday and the first of the twelve days of Christmas! I've decided to celebrate it on this blog with an animation done by someone on You Tube of a version of the Twelve Days of Christmas song along a Shrek theme. Shrek has really turned the face of animation and the world of fairy tales on its head and is innovation at its best! I own original dvds of Shrek and Shrek 2 and at one point my now 3 year old nephew when visiting used to knock on my door and say:

"Auntie Shrek...Shrek Auntie..."

And I would then proceed to hand over the dvds to him so he could play them on his little portable dvd player. :)

This was when he was about 2. By the time he was turning three he was all Shreked out and he returned the dvds which I had given to him as he loved them so! :)

And really if Shrek turned things upside down well Youtube probably blew them up and put them back together again...completing a feat that all the king's horses and all the king's men could not even do! :) (Humpty Dumpty) HATS OFF TO YOU YOUTUBE AND HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO BE FOR AND BY THE MASSES AND REACH THE MASSES. HAPPY NEW YEAR YOUTUBE!

Advent Calendar:Christmas Eve!-The Nativity Story = The Birth of Love's Pure Clear Light!

Here everybody please read my other blogs to see my apology for not blogging yesterday and my continuation on this theme of Love and its Pure Clear Light. I liked that a few years ago there was a version of the Nativity story out and I quite enjoyed it just cause it was out and to me it wasn't bad either...if you ask me I'd go see a version of the nativity story every year if Hollywood churned it out! Hope you enjoy this clip from the Nativity Story that shows what is going to happen on Christmas Eve into tomorrow Christmas Day symbolically at least...as the Christ child is born on to us in the form of Love's Pure Clear Light! :)

Advent Calendar:Mon 22 Dec- Family Ties Christmas Carol

There are so many adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol out there...and I'm sure more of them will be churned out for decades to come...I can't recall seeing this episode of Family Ties although I was a fan back in the day...and was this really 25 years ago? Anyway I thought this looked like fun and a nice memory to share with you as my Advent gift to you today...not a film but really a special episode of a sitcom on TV however based on a classic novel nonetheless.

Advent Calendar:Sun 21 Dec-Mouse Christmas Cartoon

As I continue to go down memory lane and share with you on my Advent calendar Christmas books, films or TV movies/specials that I loved as a child it seems Rankin and Bass were in their hey-day back then cause they continue to come up a lot...here is another Rankin and Bass production!:)If you have a fear of mouses or should I say mice please proceed with caution! :)

Advent Calendar:Sat 20 Dec-Santa Claus The Movie (1985)

This is one of my favourite Santa Claus films. I don't know if it is cause I was not even 11 when I saw it and perhaps still 100% believed in Santa Claus when I saw it that makes it extra special. But I dont know cause I never really stopped believing in Santa Claus like how some people can tell you the day and time they stopped believing or this and that. I think to be honest I still believe...So I think the reason I like this film so much is cause it is just that good! And really other than the Polar Express there has not been a really good Santa Claus movie out since! Take a look and see for yourselves!

Advent Calendar:Thurs 18 Dec-Pinocchio's Christmas(Rankin and Bass TV Special)

On this day of Advent I gift you with another pleasant Christmas memory from my childhood. I used to enjoy watching this on TV especially since I had read Pinnochio the book-'PINOCCHIO' by C. Collodi when I was all of eight years old! :) Hope you enjoy this clip too! :)

Advent Calendar:Wed 17 Dec-A Charlie Brown Christmas!

My Books and Films Corner Advent calendar installation for today is very similar to the installation on my Universal Collective Prayer blog today and perhaps you can take it all in while having a cup of Cadbury's cocoa as featured on my Meady's Musings installation. Hope you enjoy the genius of Charles Schultz...the Charlie Brown Christmas is a very cherished Christmas memory for me from my childhood! Snoopy really gets me doing all the different animal sounds for the play! And to be reminded of the phrase "Good Grief!" And re-watching as an adult I only now realise how smart Linus was and how he spoke very little but when he did speak he seemed to speak from a place of such wisdom! Of course always knew Charlie Brown was a brooding brain! Hope you enjoy it too! :)