Will you profit from what I've shown you of the good in most men's hearts?

(Sorry for those who checked out the post before; it posted in an early unformatted version.)

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 190th 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) -



Seymour Hicks first played Scrooge onstage in 1901 and it became his most popular role. Throughout his career he played it over a thousand times, often at fund-raising benefits.


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) This is the favorite in the Caligari manse-



Changes to the screenplay from the Charles Dickens book were made, mostly in the Christmas Past sequence. Among these changes are: Reversing the birth order of Scrooge and his sister, so as to add that Scrooge's mother died giving birth to him. Creating a character named Mr. Jorkin, who does not appear in the book. Flashbacks of several incidents in Scrooge's past (his sister's death, meeting Jacob Marley, taking over Fezziwig's warehouse, and Marley's death) which do not appear in the book.


Scrooge (1970) -



Alec Guinness did not enjoy doing this movie. It required much more time than he expected, with the need of wires, and a harness for his floating character. He suffered a double-hernia that required surgery to repair.


Blackadders Christmas Carol (1988) -



Ebenezer Blackadder is the only incarnation of Blackadder who is not named Edmund.


A Christmas Carol (1999) -



This is one of the very few movies to include a certain short scene when Scrooge is with the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come: Bob Cratchit visiting Tiny Tim's body lying in repose in an upper bedroom. In the book, this takes up only one paragraph.


Please join us in watching what 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 A Christmas Carol Encyclopedia, Stave 1 (which is an update of his original Twelve Hundred Ghosts - A Christmas Carol in Supercut.)




Mr. Waterman uses clips from over over 850 sources to make this 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!