God bless us, every one!

I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?

Today is the 188 anniversary of the publication of Charles Dicken's story - A Christmas Carol.

There are literally dozens of adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Let's take a look at a few of them:

A Christmas Carol (1910) -



This is one of the earliest film adaptations of the story. It featured Marc McDermott as Ebenezer Scrooge and Charles S. Ogle as Bob Cratchit.


Scrooge (1935) -



This film is the first live action production to include the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come's scene of Scrooge's shrouded corpse as in the book.


The Christmas Carol (1938) -



Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge McDuck was probably based physically on this version of Ebenezer Scrooge, with the fringe of hair and the small tuft of hair on the top of his head.


The Christmas Carol (1949 TV special) -



This is a very rare example of a 1940s television broadcast still surviving in entirety. In the infancy of television, programs were always broadcast live because videotape recording technology did not yet exist.Although crude (a film camera was pointed at a television monitor filming the broadcast,) it was the only available method to record a live broadcast during the earliest days of television.


Scrooge (1951) -



Scrooge was likely based on a real person named John Meggot (born John Elwes), who was a local celebrity, a member of Parliament, and a famous miser from Charles Dickens' part of England. Meggot was dead by the time Dickens was born, but he heard quite a bit about "Scrooge" from locals where he grew up.


Scrooge (1970) -



Not noted for being a singer, Albert Finney nevertheless insisted that the final number be sung live instead of synced like the other songs in the film. Finney played the last song with an earpiece giving him his musical cues and he nailed it on the first take.


Blackadders Christmas Carol (1988) -



It has been noticed by some that Robbie Coltrane's costume and character in this Christmas special, has a nearly identical portrayal to his much later role as Hagrid, in the film versions of J.K.Rowling's series of Harry Potter books. Also, its been claimed that JK Rowling herself had said Robbie Coltrane was always intended to have been cast as Hagrid in the films, suggesting that this Blackadder episode may in part have inspired the creation of Hagrid.


A Christmas Carol (1999) -



During the 1990s, Patrick Stewart wrote and starred in a one-man play based on A Christmas Carol, performing it in various places in the United States and the United Kingdom. He performed it again for the survivors and victim's families of 9/11, and again in 2005. In the play, he performed over forty different characters.


This could be the greatest mash-up ever, or at least the most labor intensive. Heath Waterman spent 18 months putting together this labor of love, retelling the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in his video Twelve Hundred Ghosts - A Christmas Carol in Supercut.



Mr. Waterman uses clips from over over 400 versions of the holiday classic. (Make it your business to watch this!)


And there is no better way to get into the holiday spirit than drinking spirits -

Eggnog is usually thought of as a Christmas beverage and to tell the truth I am not a huge fan of Eggnog. So I find it amusing that the recipe that I'm posting is for Eggnog (Above is a copy of my family recipe - my father sent it to his sister in 1962.)

Coquito, a Puerto Rican twist on the classic, is a family favorite and I thought I'd share it with you and perhaps you can try it out on your family.

Please note: these drinks go down quite smoothly and are very potent - they could be administered as a calmative for frayed nerves during the holiday season.

Ingredients:

4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 can of (14-ounces) condensed milk
1 14-ounce cans evaporated milk
1 1/2 cans of 15-ounce cans cream of coconut
1/2 of a Fifth of white rum (or more)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon coconut (or vanilla) extract


Tools:

Drink Blender
Can opener
Glass


Directions:


Add the egg yolks, sugar, spices and vanilla into the blender. Mix until well blended.

Add the evaporated & condensed milk to the blender and briefly mix. (Condensed milk is very thick - you may want to open the can up all the way and scrap out all of the milk with a spatula.)

Vigorously shack the can of cream of coconut (it tends to separate.) Pour the cream of coconut into the blender and mix well. Scrap out any remaining coconut stuff from the can.

Add the rum and mix. Taste. If you think you need more rum, add it.

Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve cold.


A Christmas Carol Tom Lehrer -

Demand Euphoria!