Happy 4th of July

To all those reading this little blog,

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Happy Memorial Day!

In honor of those who have fought bravely protecting our country,

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, Readers!!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

From Brooke's Box of Books

Happy New Year!!!

To All Who Visit, 

Have a Happy New Year!!!!!  May 2011 bring you happiness and good cheer!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!!!  

I hope your day is filled with joy and laughter!!!

Christmas Happenings- A Holiday Meme, Week Two

 Christmas Happenings' is a meme designed to let you readers in on what makes Christmas special to me.  It will be a weekly installment here on the blog until Christmas comes to town!  


I'll be making the theme of this years 'Holiday Happenings' a visual one and will be showcasing the holiday specials that share the season with me year after year.  You never know, maybe you'll remember a few!

Christmas Happenings meme -- Week Two

Last week, I highlighted the He-Man/She-Ra Christmas special.  This week, I'm highlighting the special that is near and dear to my heart.  Literally, it is my most favorite Christmas special ever.  Unlike last weeks, it's one that a lot of you might also be fans of!  Can you guess?

Hint One: It was first scene on the small screen in December 1986.  

Hint Two: This live action tale is filled with songs, such as 'We Need A Little Christmas', 'Jingle Bell Rock', and 'Pass It On'.

Hint Three: The cast is humongous and includes a turkey and a rather large yellow bird!

Think you know?  Ready for the big reveal?  The 'Christmas Happening' for today is none other than...  

The Muppet Family Christmas!!!!!!

Here's the premise found on the Muppet Wiki,"In this one-hour Christmas special, Fozzie Bear surprises his mother Emily on Christmas Eve by bringing the entire Muppet gang to her farm to celebrate the holidays. Doc and his dog Sprocket, who had planned a quiet Christmas, end up joining the Muppets in their holiday activities and preparations.

The Sesame Street regulars, including Big Bird, Bert, Ernie and others, join the festivities, but to Kermit's dismay, the only one missing is Miss Piggy, who has been caught in a snowstorm."

Timeline:  I've been watching this every year since it aired.  It never gets old!  I even went to the trouble of dubbing my old VHS tape to DVD when I learned that the current american releases were being heavily edited due to copyright laws.  (bah, humbug!)

Why should you watch this?  Because it's packed with musical numbers galore and the whole entire muppet family (including Kermit and friends, Fraggles/Doc/Sprockett, the Sesame Street gang, AND Jim Henson himself)!!!  

Seriously, you should watch this.  If you haven't seen it, you're missing out on some great running gags ("Watch out for the Icy Patch!"), spot on humor (ie: Ernie, Bert, and Doc's 'small talk'), and touching moments (ie: Jim Henson and Sprockett).


Now, your job (if you choose to accept it) is to watch this holiday special!  Like it?  Leave a comment?  What's your favorite part?


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Christmas Happenings- A Holiday Meme, Week One

Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I love everything about it-- crazy Christmas shopping, snowy sweater weather, Christmas cookies, tree decorating, even listening to Christmas music on the radio.  Call me a kid, but I still write Santa each year at The North Pole and even track him on Christmas Eve.   Who says getting older means forgetting about the magic of Christmas?

'Christmas Happenings' is a meme designed to let you readers in on what makes Christmas special to me.  It will be a weekly installment here on the blog until Christmas comes to town!  It will take a different form every year (yes!  I plan on being in business for a while!).  I'm not sure how this will transpire, but we'll see where it goes!  Hopefully it will be as entertaining to you as it is me!!!

Christmas Happenings meme -- Week One

Traditions...  Traditions are big for all of us during the holiday season.  One of the things I really love about Christmas is having a valid reason to re-watch holiday specials from my youth and classic holiday movies!  And because I love watching them so much, I'll be making the theme of this years 'Holiday Happenings' a visual one and will be showcasing the holiday specials that share the season with me year after year.  You never know, maybe you'll remember a few!


This week Brooke's Box of Books will be showcasing an animated television special that is one that all products of the eighties should remember.  Let me give you a few hints...  Hint one: It debuted in December 1985.  Hint two: Both title characters had amazingly popular toy lines at the time (and for some years later).  Hint three: This special, as well as every episode the title characters starred in, ends with a 'moral' tag.


Ready for the big reveal?  Alright.  All three hints point to one very action packed hour of television special goodness-- 

'The He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special'!

When Orco accidentally blasts off in the Sky Spy, he finds himself stranded on Earth.  There, he finds two Earth children who have been separated from their father while looking for a Christmas tree.  When Orko asks what Christmas is, the kids are taken aback and tell him all about the holiday as they follow Orko into his warm ship.


Back on Eternia, the royal family is preparing for Prince Adam (aka He-Man) and Princess Adora (aka She-Ra) birthday party.  Man-At-Arms opens up a transport beam that opens up in the useless Sky Spy and transports both kids from Earth to Eternia.  Being that the twins mother is an Earthling, the royal family decides to not only celebrate the twins birthday, but to have a Christmas party for the kids, as well, to keep them occupied while Man-At-Arms can figure out how to get them home!


From there, the fun begins.  As it turns out, the evil Horde Prime wants the children!  Hordak and Skeletor both try to snatch the kids.  Hordak gives up quite easily, while Skeletor has an easier time catching them.  But as the two children, a lost dog, and Skeletor travel together, the good nature of the children and the caring nature of Christmas season rub off on poor Skeletor!

In the end, Skeletor stops the evil Horde Prime from snatching the kids, the birthday/Christmas party goes off without a hitch, and the children are returned to Earth safe and sound.  And like all He-Man/She-Ra episodes, the tag emphasized the morals of the story, "Though we celebrate it and get presents, Christmas is about caring, sharing and goodwill and its spirit is within all of us".  Perfectly said, I think.


This special is animated well and filled with an even amount of action bits and holiday themed scenes.  I've been watching it as long as I can remember (which isn't too hard, since this special is only 2 years younger than me!).  Is it corny?  Oh, yes.  Is it awesome?  Oh, yes.   I love this special as a whole, but here are a few of my favorite things about it!

First, I love how Skeletor is with the kids.  He had a good arc during this episode!  Also, the end has a nice bit of animation where Prince Adam is dressed up as Santa.  We usually only get to see Adam in two outfits, so it was a nice change!  (Plus, animators could legitimately forget to color his hair!)  Last, I really like this special because we got to see a huge cast of characters interacting in a quite jovial environment.  These three bits are only a handful of instances that make this Christmas special one with sticking power (at least in my household).


Do you remember watching this special?  Just finished watching it for the first time?  What's your thoughts?  Share your memories of this or other Christmas specials here on the blog and maybe it will be featured sometime during this holiday season!!!  

Now, on to the fun bit of this post!  If you haven't seen it, here's your chance to take a peek at the 'He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special'!  I've scoured youtube and embedded a few here!


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