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Jan. 2nd, 2006 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaalaChristmas Eve
Mum, Deirdre and I attended the evening church service, as per tradition. This was the first year they didn't need chairs in the aisles; people must be moving away from this town. The new minister is nice even if her sermon/story was pretty simple-minded.
Christmas
This was the breaking-of-tradition year. The usual two afternoon/dinner family gatherings were compressed into one small afternoon-only gathering, our tree was in a different place, we had Christmas dinner on Boxing Day, etc. etc. It felt weird. Still, it was nice not to have to rush through breakfast and opening of presents. Mum, Deirdre and I went to church too, which was pleasant despite the (expected) paltry attendance.
I received several pretty nifty gifts, including:
Boxing Day
No, I didn't go shopping. I'm not crazy. I didn't do much of anything, as a matter of fact.
We had our Christmas dinner and I taped the "Doctor Who" special but didn't get to watch it. Yes, it was on my calendar. Yes, I'm pathetic[1]. (I missed the first fifteen minutes though, owing to a Beyond the Fringe and Flanders & Swann video binge just beforehand.)
December 27
We (Mum, Dad, Deirdre, I) attended the abbreviated version of the extended family get-together. It was pleasant but felt more than slightly awkward because we didn't have the time it usually takes for everyone to relax and actually start socializing. My cousins feel more like strangers every year; S, the older of the two, did show some interest in the UK photos I'd stored on Dad's camera, so that was nice
We came home and had dinner (leftovers, I believe), Mum and I watched the "Doctor Who" tape and (quite coincidentally) we and Deirdre went and saw the Harry Potter movie afterwards. I swear: I didn't plan it as "David Tennant evening".
So, about "Doctor Who." Russell T Davies's inconsistent writing pissed me off a few times but still... *squee!* (In terms of pop culture crassness, I loved the Arthur Dent stuff so I guess I can forgive him the Star Wars and Lion King reference.) Any worries about a lack of acting ability on David Tennant's part were solidly banished and I'm actually getting quite fond of his gangliness and bizarre facial expressions. Truth be told, I'd rather he used his own accent, but that's a pretty minor quibble. One need hardly read very much to realize that the guy is (or at least was) a total Doctor Who fan too (not to mention a geek), so it's terrific that he gets to fulfil his childhood dream.
Harry Potter was good too, though as with the book I spent much of the time thinking, "Wait... they do this murderously dangerous competition for fun?!" I missed Prisoner of Azkaban so it was a big skip to suddenly see all these sulky teenagers--Harry in particular is way too "ripped" (as my sister so delicately put it) for a kid his age--but I got over it pretty quickly. Emma Watson's acting has matured remarkably, though her eyebrows are slightly hyperactive; Daniel Radcliffe's acting, uh... needs a bit more depth. Ralph Fiennes's Voldemort isn't as scary as Stephen Fry's but it'll do. Going in after reading other people's descriptions, I found the graveyard scene less gory and scary than I expected.
New Year's Eve
It was a quiet New Year's Eve. Neither my sister nor I had planned anything with friends beforehand. She went to a dance class downtown and I stayed home... again. Mum, Deirdre and I went to church (held on Saturday because people wouldn't come on Sunday morning, I assume) and I was, quite unexpectedly, recruited to accompany the hymns at the piano. Sight-reading them. Yikes! It's good practice though, I guess, and people were grateful.
Our family spent the evening reading, watching television and (in my case) listening to Sean Cullen on CBC Radio 1, playing music, interacting with robots, dueting with Ron Sexsmith, bewailing his solitude, describing his producer as an elf, and "lowering his pants" at midnight.
I'm still burdened by extended assignments. Aside from a couple short walks and the outings described above, I've spent most of my time moping around the house but not really getting anything done. Eurgh.
[1] In fact, I'm so pathetic that I downloaded "Attack of the Graske", the (originally) interactive mini-episode, a couple days later. I only just got around to figuring out how to use BitTorrent and I figured "Doctor Who"-meets-"Blue's Clues" would be worth the short download. And... it was, actually. ("Maths. Not your best subject, is it? I bet you write lovely poetry though!") Even without the interaction, it gives one that old "Mister Rogers is addressing me personally!" thrill.
Mum, Deirdre and I attended the evening church service, as per tradition. This was the first year they didn't need chairs in the aisles; people must be moving away from this town. The new minister is nice even if her sermon/story was pretty simple-minded.
Christmas
This was the breaking-of-tradition year. The usual two afternoon/dinner family gatherings were compressed into one small afternoon-only gathering, our tree was in a different place, we had Christmas dinner on Boxing Day, etc. etc. It felt weird. Still, it was nice not to have to rush through breakfast and opening of presents. Mum, Deirdre and I went to church too, which was pleasant despite the (expected) paltry attendance.
I received several pretty nifty gifts, including:
- the Beyond the Fringe DVD. You have to see what "Bollard" and "And the Same to You" look like. Seriously.
- a child's drum that actually works! It's got drumsticks and everything. I never had a real drum like that as a kid.
- the OBC recording of Spamalot. Sadly, this turned out to be a fairly significant disappointment, though more to my dad than me I think.
Boxing Day
No, I didn't go shopping. I'm not crazy. I didn't do much of anything, as a matter of fact.
We had our Christmas dinner and I taped the "Doctor Who" special but didn't get to watch it. Yes, it was on my calendar. Yes, I'm pathetic[1]. (I missed the first fifteen minutes though, owing to a Beyond the Fringe and Flanders & Swann video binge just beforehand.)
December 27
We (Mum, Dad, Deirdre, I) attended the abbreviated version of the extended family get-together. It was pleasant but felt more than slightly awkward because we didn't have the time it usually takes for everyone to relax and actually start socializing. My cousins feel more like strangers every year; S, the older of the two, did show some interest in the UK photos I'd stored on Dad's camera, so that was nice
We came home and had dinner (leftovers, I believe), Mum and I watched the "Doctor Who" tape and (quite coincidentally) we and Deirdre went and saw the Harry Potter movie afterwards. I swear: I didn't plan it as "David Tennant evening".
So, about "Doctor Who." Russell T Davies's inconsistent writing pissed me off a few times but still... *squee!* (In terms of pop culture crassness, I loved the Arthur Dent stuff so I guess I can forgive him the Star Wars and Lion King reference.) Any worries about a lack of acting ability on David Tennant's part were solidly banished and I'm actually getting quite fond of his gangliness and bizarre facial expressions. Truth be told, I'd rather he used his own accent, but that's a pretty minor quibble. One need hardly read very much to realize that the guy is (or at least was) a total Doctor Who fan too (not to mention a geek), so it's terrific that he gets to fulfil his childhood dream.
Harry Potter was good too, though as with the book I spent much of the time thinking, "Wait... they do this murderously dangerous competition for fun?!" I missed Prisoner of Azkaban so it was a big skip to suddenly see all these sulky teenagers--Harry in particular is way too "ripped" (as my sister so delicately put it) for a kid his age--but I got over it pretty quickly. Emma Watson's acting has matured remarkably, though her eyebrows are slightly hyperactive; Daniel Radcliffe's acting, uh... needs a bit more depth. Ralph Fiennes's Voldemort isn't as scary as Stephen Fry's but it'll do. Going in after reading other people's descriptions, I found the graveyard scene less gory and scary than I expected.
New Year's Eve
It was a quiet New Year's Eve. Neither my sister nor I had planned anything with friends beforehand. She went to a dance class downtown and I stayed home... again. Mum, Deirdre and I went to church (held on Saturday because people wouldn't come on Sunday morning, I assume) and I was, quite unexpectedly, recruited to accompany the hymns at the piano. Sight-reading them. Yikes! It's good practice though, I guess, and people were grateful.
Our family spent the evening reading, watching television and (in my case) listening to Sean Cullen on CBC Radio 1, playing music, interacting with robots, dueting with Ron Sexsmith, bewailing his solitude, describing his producer as an elf, and "lowering his pants" at midnight.
I'm still burdened by extended assignments. Aside from a couple short walks and the outings described above, I've spent most of my time moping around the house but not really getting anything done. Eurgh.
[1] In fact, I'm so pathetic that I downloaded "Attack of the Graske", the (originally) interactive mini-episode, a couple days later. I only just got around to figuring out how to use BitTorrent and I figured "Doctor Who"-meets-"Blue's Clues" would be worth the short download. And... it was, actually. ("Maths. Not your best subject, is it? I bet you write lovely poetry though!") Even without the interaction, it gives one that old "Mister Rogers is addressing me personally!" thrill.
