Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
Thankyou so much Jonny. Only you could take your special day and make it as equally special for me.
I have a great, retro shiny silver, 6-foot Christmas tree from the 1960s – bought it on eBay from an antiques dealer. I have the cool spinning, 4-color wheel that makes it sparkle. (Admit it, you oldsters know exactly what I’m talking about!) It wasn’t too expensive for a decorative item, but it WOULD be heinously expensive as a cat toy.
My question for you: how did your cats deal with one of these trees? Did they savage it? Disdain it? Fear it?
My fuzzy monsters have been fairly well-behaved for the last two Christmases when we had a cut pine tree. There was some drama with the ornaments on the lower branches, but that’s about it.
I’m completely serious, I had a VHS of this movie when I was a kid. It was very retro and cheesy but I need proof it existed! The plot went something like the Martians kidnapped Santa and forced him to make toys for the Martian children because they are unhappy. A large robot is involved. A couple Earth children have to rescue Santa in time for Christmas. Thoughts?
The moral of the movie is that both groups learn to appreciate one another, become friends, and share Santa’s gifts.
Christmas without Santa is another title for A Year Without Santa Claus, which has a little girl narrating. Set in the 20’s or 30’s. The martian movie is more like the 70’s…and it’s really obvious in the sets and costumes, lol.
Board games usually flood the toys and gifts market around the Christmas season, or do they? They are always there, but customers tend to buy them much more at Christmas as they make ideal gifts for friends and family, but why are they seen as such reliable presents? The answer lies in the simple fact that board games can be enjoyed again and again, sometimes for years on end. A couple of examples come from my own childhood, actually.
My grandparents had a pair of old board games that would come off the shelves during rainy days or when my younger self had exhausted the other options for fun while visiting them, and those board games had been used by my father and uncle when they too were children.
That’s the simple beauty of board games and the honest reason they stick around for so long in homes around the world- once they have been purchased, they can be enjoyed literally for decades. Incidentally, those particular titles I’m getting nostalgic over were the classic Mastermind game and a copy of Scrabble, both of which had stood the test of time through string game play and concepts that hadn’t aged.
This is also why titles such as Trivial Pursuits and Monopoly are still so very popular with families as Christmas presents as well as treats on birthdays and suchlike. The methods of play may have evolved a little over the years, and in the case of Trivial Pursuit the questions change on a regular basis, but it is their basic concepts that have kept them alive in the hearts and minds of people everywhere, who will no doubt introduce their own children and grandchildren to them when the time comes.
There are some very special board games available in stores and online for Christmas this year, many of which have the potential to become just as beloved as those two games my grandparents would play regularly with me. There are games to suit all tastes and interests, including games based on movie properties, as in the case of the New Moon board game based on the second film in the Twilight Saga, along with many others besides.
There’s a fun new version of the legendary Monopoly game in the form of the Monopoly City Edition, along with titles such as the Bananagrams game, Quirkle, Quiddler, Apples to Apples, The Settlers of Catan, Pictureka and more. Some of these games currently available do have the potential to be modern and future classics, which goes a long way to show how much board games are a part of our culture even now in the modern age.
Andrew is a pop culture blogger, author and music journalist. Board games are designed to last, and to be enjoyed again and again. They’re great for Christmas, and you can discover more of the best board games online!
Our boy enjoys retro toys and Bob Dylan.