Every year at this time I watch several versions of A Christmas Carol. It is my favorite show during the holidays. The period in which the story takes place has forever fascinated me. If you are like me the most glaringly obvious sign that a story is taking place in this period is the clothing. Waistcoats, triple breasted vests, high collars and of course the top hat were staples of the day.

The first silk top hat, made from silk shag (a form of plush), was made in 1793. It is not without some measure of controversy that this is credited to one hatter by the name of George Dunnage of Middlesex County in England. The style was never referred to as top hat back then. They were referred to as beaver hats, and Dunnage’s hat made of silk was called ”an imitation of beaver”. Thus the silk top hat came into being. Usage of the actual term top hat did not become popular until later in the 19th century. Dunnage’s father Benjamin was in the ribbon trade, which put George in the place to be knowledgeable of the silk trade. Dunnage and a business partner, Thomas Larkin, went into business together under the name Dunnage & Larkin and patented the manufacturing of silk hats until they disbanded the company and went their separate ways in 1818.

Men wore top hats for business, pleasure and formal occasions. A pearl gray color was worn in the daytime, black colors were used for day or night. They were popular primarily due to making the wearer feel taller, handsomer and suave. If men did not don a top hat you can bet they had some style of hat on. It was a demanded fashion. Men, rich or poor, would not be caught dead without a hat on.

Today, top hats are used for all sorts of special occasions. From weddings to racing events, men can be seen wearing these statuesque hats. Around 1980 the making of silk plush top hats ceased, due to the expense of the materials and the making of new looms. For this reason the antique top hat market has seen a rise in recent years. There are also several companies who craft top of the line top hats of newer materials. While still maintaining the grand look of old, the originals will always remain as a symbol of nobility, status, and sophistication.

I personally will always see Ebenezer Scrooge wearing his top hat along with the Mad Hatter, Uncle Sam, Abe Lincoln, Fred Astaire and of course Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat. Yes that’s right they are all sitting in a room playing poker and eating peanuts and cookies. Seriously!

Happy Holidays!

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Evel Knievel Cycle Toy

In 1973, New York based Ideal Toys created toys based on Butte Montana’s daredevil son, Robert “Evel” Knievel and history was made! Many thanks to Rob Chatlin for the terrific scans. My brother and I wer elucky enough to get one of these each.  I LOVED this toy. You hooked the bike up to a crank stand, cranked a bit and it revved up the friction motor in the toy bike so that the wheels spun.  You slapped a release and OFF IT WENT!  endless hours of annoying crank noise, but once again no batteries required. I think it was about 75 when we actually got one of these.

Shogun Warriors Godzilla

The shogun warriors toys were some of the coolest robots on the planet already but then in 1977 they released the BEAST.  One Christmas morning I woke to unwrap this one of the coolest toys I ever got.  His claws fire off with enough force to knock things down. His tongue flashed a fake flame stream, he rolled on wheels, and he didn’t need batteries. My brother and I spent endless hours roaring and having fun with these toys. I think it was in the early eighties when i got one these.

Stretch Armstrong

Stretch Armstrong was a large stretchable, gel filled, toy figure invented by Kenner that was made from 1976 through about 1980.  You could pull the dolls extremities from its original 15 inch size out to about 3 to 4 feet.  I spent many a fun filled day playing with this toy.  Its simplicity belies a really fun toy you can do a LOT with.  I wrapped this guy around everything.  My brother got the green monster which I was insanely jealous of.  Love ya bro!

Merlin Game

One of the very first hand held electrinic games.  It was not just one game but SIX.  Don’t let the seemingly simple buttons fool you. THis game was fun.  It was invented by a guy that went to Harvard and worked with NASA.  While it was invented and marketed in 1978, it was in the eighties when I got my hands on one.  I spent hours playing this thing. It is so additctive and memorable that I recently received the updated, rereleased version from a friend.  Thanks Jimbo.

Sectaurs

The concept was simple: good humanoid bug people and evil, less-humanoid bug people do battle atop giant insect mounts. But what set this line apart was the fact that many of the ride-on bugs were actually puppets. I had this creepy, hairy spider puppet with a plastic head and a snapping, finger-controlled mandible that I would have enjoyed the hell out of, even if there wasn’t a creepy spider-headed guy riding on his friggin’ back. In the ’80s we got these guys, we got a dragon-head puppet that came with Hordak’s hide-out in MotU. Nowadays, puppets and action figures are kept segregated. Who among us is brave enough to bring them back together?

Magical Musical  Thing

One of the earliest electronic toys I can recall. Sometime after 1978 Mattel created what I consider the precursor to the 80s music staple the keytar. It played surreal, reedy phone-like tones on a plastic membrane pad fretboard, laid out like a piano scale.

Read-a-long books with cassettes

In the days before computers, DVD and VHS, this was the next best thing for reliving a movie or a TV show. From Goonies to A-Team, Star Wars to Mary Poppins, they made them all!

So there you have it.  Toys from my childhood xmas memories.  Enjoy!

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I know that many do generally because they always have and don’t want to change. Some even say that it should be replaced by a more inclusive, general holiday. Part of me feels that all such holidays should be ignored by atheists altogether.  A more humane holiday should be global and universal, equally relevant to all humans, regardless of their cultural heritage or where they live.

The idea that xmas is a purely christian holiday is actually a myth perpetuated by the majority that happen to actually be christians. (link to post on this here) Many atheists don’t believe that Jesus existed, and those who do don’t regard him as having been anyone special. No atheists are christians, so why bother participating in such a holiday? It’s arguable that participating makes christianity seem more popular than it really is, not to mention giving christians an unjustified ego boost.

                I feel that atheists celebrating xmas can often cause more harm than good by arming conservative evangelical christians with the perceived argument that America is essentially a christian nation. The more popular and important christian holidays are in America, the easier it is to claim that there is something about christianity which is fundamental to America’s culture. It’s not a very good argument and this isn’t very good support for it, but why offer them even this bit of help?

Long ago I lost the struggle being an atheist parent who celebrates xmas, weather or not to perpetuate the Santa Claus myth. This required me to lie to my kids. Yes, it is a lie. There’s not a nicer way of describing what one does when telling small children that Santa Claus visits every house on the planet delivering presents to children via a flying sleigh pulled by “magic” ruminants.  If I had it to do it over I would have left this out of my children’s lives Aside from the joy of engrossing oneself in pure fantasy I find no value in it. In fact in many ways I feel it may even be a mild form of indoctrination.  There are always very strong incentives to do what other parents are doing. Not celebrating xmas and not telling kids about Santa could have caused my children to be ostracized from others above and beyond what simply being an atheist tends to do already.  At the same time, though, the numbers of religious minorities who also don’t participate are increasing, thus increasing the numbers of kids who are “different.” Being different isn’t easy, but who wants to be a hypocrite just to fit in?

One possible reason for atheists to celebrate xmas is that it has become increasingly secularized over time and there is little sign of the process stopping soon. Arguments against xmas remain, but atheist participation in xmas actually helps serve the cause of removing it from its various christian and pagan roots. There are good reasons why many christians are upset over the current state of christmas, and those may be good reasons for atheists to keep the changes in motion.

Some folks will read this and think it is an attack on a cherished holiday. Others may take away that I am a hard-line non- conformist that wants to openly besmirch christianity in general.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  I enjoy all the pagan, secular aspects of the holiday.  I just don’t like the feeling of being under fire that comes along with its observance.

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Throughout the course of my life I have met some extremely colorful characters.  I have a large circle of people who I am happy to call friends.  I have a lot of clients that I work for that I don’t really consider friends.  I want to tell you about a couple that fall into the former group.

These folks originally joined my group of acquaintances by becoming customers of mine. I was approached to update their existing business website, MagnetQueen.  It was a long process as their website was a bit larger than I anticipated.  Long jobs, as any developer or graphic designer will tell you, tend to stick with you.  This one introduced me to Brian and Liza,  Native New Yorker’s that migrated their business here to Tennessee.  They make Save the Date Magnets for weddings, birthdays, graduations, you name it.

Brian is a Fordham University graduate and Liza is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design.  Together they have owned and run their own successful business for many, many years.  They would tell you that they wish they could be a lot more successful but, what other person wouldn’t  tell you the same?   They are a fun couple that likes the arts and are superb conversationalist and over the years I have grown very fond of them.  Most importantly they make some of the coolest magnets you can imagine.  My refrigerator is covered with picture magnets and fun magnets they have made for me over the years.

If you are in the market for some unique invites to give for your next event.  I hope you will consider my friend’s work.  I think you will be very pleased. 

Here’s to you Brian and Liza.

http://www.magnetqueen.com

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  I own the original TRON on DVD and watch it often.  As a boy it was one of those films that captured a time and a place and to get back there I just pop that DVD in and I am instantly transported to an arcade in the 80′s.  i love the actors and even though the story seems a bit weak its undoubtedly a groundbreaking film.

   I was very excited when i heard about a sequel to TRON and MEGA excited to hear that Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner BOTH would be back not as cameos but actually reprising their roles from the original.  I must say I was blown away.  This was more than I could have ever expected.  There are more nods and tipped hats to the old movie than I can detail here.  Things as simple as dusty old hand held led tomy games to 80′s music blaring from a jukebox in an old arcade.  Lots to love here if your paying close attention.

    The acting is very impressive. As already mentioned Bridges and Boxleitner are both quality actors but the newcomers Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund do a wonderful job here as well.  I was drawn in from the moment it started till it was over.

    The effects were of course TOP notch.  The 3D was tremendous.  I have seen quite a few 3D movies lately and this one had the best so far.  Things shown in real perspective, items moving in and out of foreground and background, just really well done all around.

    The Chase scenes are AMAZING.  The light cycles are back with major improvements to their appearance as well as their capabilities.  The fluid dynamic of the camera work was truley awe inspiring.

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    The costumes were well done and believable, albeit, aside from some glowing strips of light here and there they were almost nothing like the old movie.  I did not miss the toga, greco-roman sash thing from the original at all.  THIS is what a program would wear in a digital world in MY imagination for sure.

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    There are two things I will never forget about this new movie and here they are in order of importance.  The technology used to make Bridges young again as the character CLU is STUNNING.  Benjamin Button has NOTHING on this.  It looks and acts and FEELS like the real deal.  I know its almost fully CGI and in a few fleeting moments of screen time it had a few creepy quirks, but its still AMAZING how real it was.  Words cannot do it justice.

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    Lastly, the soundtrack by Daft Punk was unbelievably perfect for this film.  It is simply spellbinding.  The 85 piece orchestra coupled with old school techno meets in the middle with superior results.

   My final thoughts today are..GO SEE THIS MOVIE.  If you love the 80′s and enjoyed the first film this is canon and a MUST SEE.  If you are not of that generation, disliked or have never seen the first film, SEE THIS ONE ANYWAY.
I left the theatre wishing I could see it again and sad that it was  over.  Being a  film buff this rarely happens to me.

Enjoy!

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    Each year the TV station WTVF News Channel 5 a CBS affilliate would play an animated promo that touched me.  It has a sweet catchy jingly tune seemingly meant for the holidays and a comforting beauty that captured the holiday spirit perfectly, snow, toys in shop windows and all.  This year I happened to see the promo again and it flooded my heart with such memories and good thoughts of Christmas gone by that I wanted to know more about it.

    This commercial was hand drawn cell by painstaking cell by a former NEWSCHANNEL 5 employee named Charles DePriest in 1974.  The music used was from a music box and is titled “Gott ist die Liebe” (“God Is Love”) written by German composer August Rische (1819-1906) and can be found in many German hymnbooks.  Charles DePriest is now retired and lives in Smyrna,TN.

All this may not mean much to most that read this, but those that have lived here in Tennessee their entire lives you will appreciate this extra info like I did.

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