It's Different When You Are Old....
We remember having family around on Christmas morning and all the fun but as one gets older, the family moves on and developes their own traditions... That is good.
Michele is in Louisana with Franklyn's family, Robin is retrieving Bob's belonging from his trip to the Bahamas, Jeanette is somewhere, Joe called and is cleaning up after opening up presents and it heading to his in-laws, and Colleen is up to her fanny in snow on the east coast. John is freezing in New Hampshire.
Weasels Do Not Like Cold Weather
"Hi Guys... It's me and it is 7 degrees above zero"
Us?
Ah ha... We have a new tradition.... To Panda Palace on Christmas Day with our friends. Our friends make it special, Marcia and Leon always have a smile, Herbie is a great target for everybody to pick on, our English friends (Brian and Jan) bring us news from the UK, Vicky and Del sneaking in before their company arrives.... Carri and Greg provide great targets for our barbs plus they get the most super case of the giggles.... All us "old Folks" recreate "The Christmas Story" courtesy of Frank!!!
The Christmas Story???? At Panda Palace
The film is set in Hohman, Indiana, a fictionalized version of Shepherd's hometown of Hammond, it is filmed in Cleveland, and the former Higbee's department store and Public Square. Nine-year-old Ralph "Ralphie" Parker (Peter Billingsley) wants only one thing for Christmas: a Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass in the stock, and "this thing which tells time" (a sundial). While using various schemes to convince his parents to get him this gift he continually bumps into objections from others saying, "You'll shoot your eye out."
In each of the film's three acts Ralphie makes his case to another adult and each time receives the same reply. When Ralphie asks his mother for a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, she refuses. Next, when Ralphie writes an essay about wanting the BB gun for Miss Shields (Tedde Moore), his teacher at Warren G. Harding Elementary School, Ralphie gets a C+, and Miss Shields warns him. Later, Ralphie asks a local department store's Santa Claus (Jeff Gillen) for a Red Ryder BB gun, and Santa tells him the same thing before pushing Ralphie down a long exit slide with his boot.
Ralphie goes out to test his new gun, shooting at a paper target perched on top of a metal sign, and predictably gets a ricochet from the metal sign. This ricochet ends up hitting his cheek and glasses, sending them flying and knocking out a lens. While searching for the glasses, Ralphie inadvertently steps on and crushes the other side. When his mother hears him crying, he concocts a story about an icicle falling on him and breaking his glasses, which she believes. She takes him upstairs to dry his face and forgets to close the door. This allows a horde of the Bumpuses' (the Parkers' hillbilly neighbors) dogs, who frequently torment Ralphie's father, to enter the house and eat the Christmas turkey that is cooling on the kitchen table. Making a last-minute decision, Mr. Parker takes the family out to a Chinese restaurant where they have a hilarious time dining on duck which adult Ralphie calls "Chinese turkey".
Join The Fun!!
Sarge gave us the OK to head out for dinner...
"I'll take a double order of Franks 'Paper Wrapped Chicken'"
We arrive at Panda Palace right on time
Paul checks out the new iPhone accessory
Dressed for the occasion... Fra-Gi-Le
Del is wearing his Italian shirt (FRA-GE-LE)
Marcia gots the giggles...
Did You Know? - A giggle is a high-pitched, bubbly way of laughing. It is usually suppressed, resulting in short bursts of laughter. A giggle is often considered a very feminine laugh. Giggling is sometimes affiliated with laughing gas a dentist would administer. Giggling is also sometimes done nervously. Giggling is often associated with small children.
The UK is well represented with Brian and Jan
Herbie brought a backup meat cleaver.... Just in case
Did You Know? - A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is used mostly for hacking through bones as a kitchen knife or butcher knife, and can also be used for crushing via its broad side, typically garlic.
In contrast to other kitchen knives, the cleaver has an especially tough edge meant to withstand repeated blows directly into thick meat and dense cartilage and even bone, not to mention the cutting board or other supporting surface below. This resilience is accomplished by using a softer steel and a thicker blade, because a harder steel and a thinner blade will fracture more readily. Formally, weaker knives would suffer buckling failure when used in a cleaving fashion.
And in contrast to all other kitchen tools but one, a meat tenderizer, it is the only one designed to be swung like a hammer. The edge of a meat cleaver does not need to be particularly sharp, because the knife's design, like that of a hatchet or an axe, relies on sheer momentum to cut efficiently, to slash straight through rather than slicing in a sawing motion. Part of the momentum derives from how hard you swing, of course, and the other part derives from how heavy the cleaver is.
A knife-sharp edge on a cleaver is undesirable because it would quickly become more blunt than it if were less sharp but sturdier to begin with. The grind of Eastern Asian kitchen knives is 15–18 degrees, and for most Western kitchen knives it is 20–22°. But for a meat cleaver it is even blunter, more like 25°.
The tough metal and thick blade of a cleaver also make it a suitable tool for crushing with the side of the blade. This contrasts with certain hard, thin slicing knives, which should not be used for crushing because they can crack under such repeated stress.
Greg is preparing to entertain... Forsouth...
Nope... Make thet "Five Sooth"
Did You Know? - forsooth - an archaic word originally meaning `in truth' but now usually used to express disbelief
Looks like Carri gots the giggles too
Marcia, Lee, Brian, Jan, and Herb
The Movie Begins At The Department Store Window
Visiting the department store windows
Before the days of Black Friday and shopping malls, a magical thing happened every Christmas. Downtown was the place to shop, and the retailers competed to get the shoppers’ attention. Looking back on my memories, every child knew that (to quote “A Christmas Story”) “Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved.”
Everybody seemed to enjoy the movie
Staring in disbelief (Unpreparedness, unwillingness, or inability to believe that something is the case)
Herb, Greg, and Carri dressed in the Italian colors to celebrate Fra-Gil-Lee
Never drop the lug nuts
Did You Know? - A lug nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks (lorries), and other large vehicles utilizing rubber tires.
Sue can almost recite the movie word for word
Wonder what they are doing now?
"Quick... Something is happening"
The leg lamp.....
All the way from Italy
It goes in the front window....
The crowd roars
Jan seems to be enjoying the movie
The Hounds Are Coming.... I Hear Them
Remember - As an adult, Ralphie remembers his father as an artist who, “worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay.” “In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that, as far as we know, is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.”
Oh no! The Bumpass's bloodhounds got the Christmas turkey
The dogs mobbed Ralphie’s Dad whenever he appeared at his door or when he got home from work. Any man that beloved by dogs can be forgiven a lot of profanity.
And he loved roast turkey. After the Christmas turkey was roasted his wife was on constant guard to ensure he didn’t sneak into the kitchen and start eating it before dinner.
That turkey was the tragedy of the movie. The bloodhounds broke into the house and demolished it like it had been thrown into a Piranha infested river.
Ralphie summed it up, “The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey Hash! Turkey a la King! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, ALL GONE!”
Christmas carols and the Christmas goose arrive
The goose has arrived
Frank is in shock about the great "Turkey Tragedy"
Time To Go To The Panda Palace Restaurant For Dinner or Frank Saves The Day
Frank serves the main course...... Greg assists
The whole restaurant participates
Some folks stayed for a while after they finished dinner to partake in the frivolity
Herb cannot believe what he is seeing
Greg uses the machete
Greg can't figure out which of the three is the REAL GOOSE
We have NO idea who these folks are but they enjoyed the fun
The performance of his life..... The chicken, NOT Greg
Now the read clever comes out
Greg worries us.... sometimes....
GREG! The chicken is on the RIGHT
Tra-Rah-Rah-Rah-Rah
Franks gets it now
"It has a head! It is looking at me!".... No problem!
We turn to the audience and avoid the screen violence
"See... All fixed!"
Sanity Begins To Return To The Restaurant
Now we did into the food seriously while Brian tells us what he did last night
We are still watching the movie
Frank says....
...and the food goes round and round
Frank keeps the food coming.... Great meal
We even have carollers....
We had super seats right by the TV
Tummies full...
Trivia: - What was the name of the bully that terrorizes Ralphie and his friends?
Packing up to go home
Trivia: - In the movie A Christmas Story, what was Santa's response to Ralphie's request for a BB gun for Christmas?
Good night and Merry Christmas
Off To Whittier We Go...
We were invited to Whittier to visit Luisa nad Mitch
Papa got a Christmas present from the guys
All here and accounted for...
Da Pooch!
Luisa and Mitch
"Present? Did someone say present??"
Luisa is about to compose a picture...
"What should I do here???"
Mitchs offers us left-overs
"So Carri, what do you think??"
"Your right... I should have pushed the button"
"See... this is the proper button"
Lisa meets Herb
Whittier....
Back To Rossmoor To Romp With The Crazy People
Knock knock!!
Ruby says "Hello" in perfect pug
Ruby was in the mood
A kitchen gathering... the best kind... food and friends!
Miss Vicky is thinking upo something.... Oh oh...
Mr. Serious is taking it all in
Brian keeps looking at all the decorations
Excellent observation Brian
Put these two together and anaything could happen... It might even snow in California
Robbie is bust playing a game at the other table
Solving a puzzle
Carri discovers the "Cap Bomb"
What is a Cap Gun? What is a Cap Bomb? He had to ask!
Brian Discovers "The Old West" With Vicky's Toy Cap Gun
Did You Know? - A cap gun is a toy gun that creates a loud sound simulating a gunshot and a puff of smoke when the trigger is pulled. Cap guns were originally made of cast iron, but after World War II were made of zinc alloy, and most newer models are made of plastic.
Cap guns became especially popular when the heroes of cinema and television rode through the West ridding the territories of villains. Many cap guns were named after or endorsed by leading matinee idols like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, Tonto, Dale Evans, Marshal Matt Dillon, or any of countless others.
The "Golden Age" of cap guns was roughly a 20 year period following World War II when television became popular and such companies as Nichols Industries, Hubley, Kenton, Kilgore, Wyandotte, Classy, Mattel, Actoy, Esquire, George Schmidt, and Stevens made millions of cap guns in various versions. While many had their names patterned after a hero or heroine, many cap guns also were named with western-sounding names, like: "Stallion 45", "Pony", "Mustang", "Pioneer", "Cowboy", "Texan", "Colt 45", "Rodeo", and such.
Cap guns get their name from the small discs of shock-sensitive explosive compounds (roughly 1.4 to 1.6 mm in diameter) that provide the noise and smoke, effectively the same as the separate percussion cap primers used in real firearms of the mid to late 1800s, although invariably smaller and made from cheap plastic or paper rather than soft metal. Some are arranged in plastic rings of eight or twelve.
There are also single caps, roll caps (of 50 to 500), and disk caps, all of which are actually extremely small versions of percussion fireworks. Armstrong's mixture is often used today as the explosive, but previously the tiny powder charge was a simple mixture of potassium perchlorate, sulfur and antimony sulphide sandwiched between two paper layers which hold in the gases long enough to give a sound report when the cap is struck.
"An amazing device from these clever Yanks"
"How does this work??"
- slide the gun open
- place the roll on the small metal peg in the gun with the end of the roll towards the muzzle and pointing down
- thread the end of the roll between the back of the gun and the small metal plate inside the gun (both located just forward of the hammer)
- pull the trigger a couple of times to feed the strip through
Brian discovers the Cap Bomb Toy....
Remember these??? Cap goes in the tip and the red plunger explodes the cap when it hits the ground
"Dang... It worked!!"
Ah Vicky... I just shot your squirrel!
"It worked! Wow! Can I do another? Pleeeze! Pretty Pleeeeeeze!"
"I could be a "Bangologist" with a simple roll of caps and a hammer"
Brian recreates the story of the "Great Cap Bomb Incident"
Snow In California??? Yup!
Did You Know? - Superabsorbent polymers (SAP) (also called slush powder) are polymers that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of a liquid relative to their own mass.
Water absorbing polymers, which are classified as Hydrogels when cross-linked, absorb aqueous solutions through hydrogen bonding with water molecules. A SAP's ability to absorb water is a factor of the ionic concentration of the aqueous solution. In deionized and distilled water, a SAP may absorb 500 times its weight (from 30–60 times its own volume), but when put into a 0.9% saline solution, the absorbency drops to maybe 50 times its weight. The presence of valence cations in the solution will impede the polymers ability to bond with the water molecule.
The total absorbency and swelling capacity are controlled by the type and degree of cross-linkers used to make the gel. Low density cross-linked SAP generally have a higher absorbent capacity and swell to a larger degree. These types of SAPs also have a softer and more sticky gel formation. High cross-link density polymers exhibit lower absorbent capacity and swell, but the gel strength is firmer and can maintain particle shape even under modest pressure.
The largest use of SAP is found in personal disposable hygiene products, such as baby diapers, adult protective underwear and sanitary napkins.
Vicky had a bag of the stuff and all heck broke loose inthe front yard
Marcia is up to something!!
It's snowing
"It's a bleeding blizzard"
"The snow is falling
....."
Let's visit the neighbors across the street!
"Donnie is going to be ticked in the morning"
Carri runs for her life
Vicky re-arms
Jan is taking aim
Marcia retreats
Snow everywhere
"We give up"
Too realistic
Dandruff or snow... That IS the question
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