The Perfect Day For a Holiday Kick-Off

It was just gloomy when I awoke this morning around 7:30, but the weather called for rain, sleet, and yes, even snow later. In the spirit of the weather and the upcoming season, I ran Rick Steves' European Christmas, the last remaining Steves DVD Linda sent to me, during breakfast. This time, Steves brings his family for the ride as they travel across Europe, enjoying many different customs along the way. We see adorable angel and St. Lucia carolers in Oslo, a fun holiday bazaar in Bath, England, the Midnight Mass at St. Peter's in Rome, a living nativity in Tuscany (I always wanted to see one of those), an elaborate Christmas Eve dinner in Burgundy, ice skating at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, a sweet old-fashioned family Christmas in the Swiss Alps, and choirs singing beautiful old holiday tunes everywhere.

I spent the majority of the afternoon on the computer, working on a few stories for Helium and more inventories. I made my way through most of the cookbooks. I don't have that many left. A woman only needs so many recipes. As it turns out, I have 25 left, not counting the cake decorating books and magazines. I put in the four Celebrate! Wilton hardback annuals Mom gave me this afternoon before calling it quits. I'll finish the inventory with the remaining magazine-like Yearbooks tomorrow or early next week.

Between writing sessions, I ran the first Thanksgiving special of the year. Actually, Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving covers Christmas and Groundhog's Day as well as Thanksgiving, making it a great way to transition into the holidays. This is really just an adaptation of two New Adventure of Winnie the Pooh stories revolving around Groundhog's Day and winter and the Pooh Thanksgiving special with new linking material, including a lengthy Christmas sequence in which Rabbit tells the story of how he adopted his beloved bird "daughter" Kessie. The opening Groundhog Day short is a little dull, but the Thanksgiving segment is sweet and Kessie and Rabbit's story very touching.

Switched to swashbuckling during dinner. Peter Sellars played two roles in one of his final movies, the 1979 comic version of The Prisoner of Zenda. Most of the story remains the same. King Rudolf of Ruritania (Sellars) is kidnapped by his wicked brother Michael (Jeremy Kemp), who wants the throne. His loyal men bring in a look-a-like commoner to take over for him during his coronation. During the coronation, he falls for the lovely Princess Flavia (Lynne Fredrick). Antoinette, Michael's lover (Catherine Schell), and the dashing Rupert of Hentzau (Stuart Wilson) do what they can to keep the king from his throne.

The big change here is that the look-a-like isn't a well-spoken minor English nobleman, but a Cockney cabbie named Sydney (Sellars again). This Flavia is no fool - she knows the moment she dances with Sydney that he's no king. Sydney does help rescue the king, but he knows to leave the real fighting to Rupert, who switches sides in time for a final duel with Michael. The ending is quite different, less bittersweet...and far happier for both parties. Oh, and there's the running gag of the Count (Gregory Sierra) who keeps trying to attack the King for having an affair with his wife (Elke Sommer).

The critics have called this one of Sellars' worst vehicles for years. I firmly disagree. While not a hilarious romp on the order of the Monty Python or Mel Brooks movies, I still thought this was really fun. The cast, Sellars included, is obviously having a great time with the hoary plot. There's some fabulous fairy-tale cinematography on-location in Austria, too. Not bad action outing for fans of 70s comedies or Sellars. This is currently available on Amazon.com as part of the Universal Vault Series.

Finished out the night with Scooby Doo while I did the dishes. A Nutcracker Scoob is the first of three Christmas specials the Mystery Inc gang has done over the years. Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Scooby, and Scrappy are helping a group of kids in an orphanage put on their annual version of The Nutcracker. Things unravel quickly when a mean old miser threatens to turn the kids out of their home by Christmas morning...and then a ghost threatens to bring down the curtains on everyone!

Oh, and the snow ended somewhere around mid-afternoon. It's just poured for the rest of the day, and is still pouring at press time.