I have to admit, I have a special affection for the old-fashioned stop-motion Rankin Bass specials. It does not compare to my love for the Muppet specials, but it is a special affection nonetheless. This one is not my favorite, but it is still a classic. I remember watching it when I was little, but I don't think I watched it as frequently or with as much reverence as some of the others.
We begin with the singing mailman voiced by Fred Astaire. Everyone remembers his rendition of the title song. Then we delve into Santa Claus's origin story. Orphaned baby, supposedly named Claus, ends up adopted by a family of elves, whose last name is Kringle. They all dress in the Santa suit we've come to know and love. When Kris Kringle grows to be a man, he sets out on a journey to deliver toys to the king. I think that's what he's doing. The Kringles used to be toymakers for the king, but since the Winter Warlock came to power, times have been rough. Anyway, Kris sets out on foot and befriends a penguin, which, let's face it, we all would do if we had the opportunity.
Meanwhile, there's a town called Somberville, ruled by an evil mayor named... wait for it... Burgermeister Meisterburger. He trips over a toy duck, and then bans toys from Somberville. Kris Kringle shows up in Somberville, and chides the children for being sad. Which is kind of a jerky thing to do. He tries to give them toys, and then their teacher (a pretty redhead named Jessica- this will become important) gets on his case, because he's breaking the law by giving them toys, and well, walking up to kids you don't know and giving them toys is kind of creepy. But Kris wins Jessica over by giving her a china doll. Well, that was easy. But then he gets caught by the mayor so he runs away.
This airing edited out the creepy-ass song that says "if you sit on my lap today, a kiss a toy is the price you'll pay." I am officially opposed to editing anything out of classics, but I completely understand why they edited that out.
Time for a confrontation with the Winter Warlock. Kris gives him a toy too, and just like Jessica, the Winter Warlock is easily swayed. His icy heart melts and his whole outlook changes from bad to good. Although he worries it won't last. Which brings on the classic song "Put One Foot in Front of the Other." I've heard many debates over the years over which Rankin-Bass special this song was actually in. So, you heard it here-- it's this one. Don't let anyone tell you differently. I tried to find a video on youtube to post here, but apparently Rankin-Bass isn't cool with their stuff being on youtube. Bah humbug to that.
Winter Warlock gives Kris the magic to spy on children, so when Jessica finds him to tell them the children are asking for more toys, he tells her to tell the children to behave themselves.
We see Kris Kringle come up with ideas for going down chimney and putting toys in stockings, all in effort to conceal the contraband toys from the evil mayor. Shortly thereafter, however, the mayor catches them all and puts them in the slammer, then burns all the toys in front of the children. Man. That's cold. Maybe that's why I didn't like this special as much when I was little.
The warlock teaches the reindeer to fly in order to break Kris Kringle out of jail. Then he grows a beard and changes his name to Claus in order to run from the law. He and Jessica get married in a small forest ceremony, where the warlock uses his magic to light up the trees, and then they flee to the North Pole to create the Santa workshop.
The internet tells me there's another song that was edited out. Something sung by Jessica called "My World is Beginning Today." I have no memory of that. Weird.
The mailman sings the title song again, and we see Santa as we know him-- old and white-haired. And I feel all warm and fuzzy, for reasons I can not explain. It's cheesy, yes, but it's old-fashioned and sweet.
Visuals: 3 out of 5
Spirit: 4 out of 5
Nostalgia: 3 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 4 out of 5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Christmas Vacation Installment #5: Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
I have never seen this special before. When I was a kid, I thought the song was the funniest thing I had ever heard. Now, I'm not sure why I thought that. The song was meant to be a novelty song, poking fun at Christmas songs, but the fact that there is now an animated special indicates the song has lost sight of its goals. Let's find out together.
The narrator is actually voiced by the guy who sang the song! That surprises me. In the opening, we see Grandma be run down by the reindeer. Scary. Then the narrator says "let's go back to the beginning" and we learn that Grandma has a store. A sort of old-fashioned general store. We meet Cousin Mel, who was mentioned briefly in the song. I always pictured a nerdy guy, but here Cousin Mel is a woman. A woman colored like Daphne from Scooby Doo and shaped like Pamela Anderson. She disapproves of Grandma's business practices, which apparently include just letting people take things and "come back on your next payday." I can see how Cousin Mel would have trouble with that.
The family has just purchased an inflatable Christmas tree. That's dumb. A businessman dresses up as a troll to offer to buy Grandma's store. That's even dumber. Said troll-man (with his insane troll logic) wants to open a new store that will deliver gifts on Christmas Even in a sleigh-mobile. I don't like where this is going. Neither does Grandma, but for different reasons.
Grandma is making fruitcakes, which brings about a stupid song. Cousin Mel diabolically plots to sabotage the fruitcake, thereby driving customers away and forcing Grandma to sell the store. I'm serious, that's what is happening on my TV right now.
Our narrator is questioning Santa's existence. Cousin Mel is very mean about this.
Grandma leaves to take some cookies somewhere or another. The title song begins to play, just as it plays out on screen. Line by line-- sung: She'd been drinking too much eggnog, spoken: "You've been drinking too much eggnog!" sung: And we begged her not to go... spoken: "Please don't go!" You get the idea. I'm beginning to think this special was made ironically.
Grandma goes down. Narrator sees it from his window. No one believes him. Police are called anyway. Female cop sounds like Sarah Palin. Unlike in the song, they do not find Grandma's corpse-- just the outline of her body surrounded by sleigh tracks and hoofprints. I have a feeling Grandma may pull through after all. Just a hunch.
Just like in the song, everyone's dressed in black. Grandma's gifts remain unopened. Grandpa plays cards with Cousin Mel. Then he stupidly gives Cousin Mel power of attorney. Our narrator's world is about to crumble.
The rest of the family seems strangely unconcerned about what might have happened to Grandma. Our narrator emails Santa, because apparently you can do that, I guess? Why didn't he do that sooner, to say, hey, Santa, are you real or what? Cut to the North Pole, where Santa is whining that no one believes in him. You know, if you took all Christmas specials as truth, you'd think Santa was just a whiny bitch, always looking for an excuse to cancel Christmas.
This special is starting to get really weird. Santa has a stash of missing Grandmas. In a circle of beds surrounding a Christmas tree. He sees Grandma's picture in the email and proclaims, "The mystery of Grandma X is solved!" Unfortunately, Grandma has amnesia and has no memory of her grandson. So an elf breaks elf code and goes to get our narrator, who takes the obligatory wonder-filled big-eyed sleigh ride to the North Pole, where he is reunited with the grandma who doesn't remember him. Yet she agrees to go home with him and try to save the store, because she thinks Cousin Mel sounds like a bitch. Santa comes along for the ride, for no apparent reason. Santa ends up going to the businessman (the one who dressed up like a troll earlier) to plead the case for saving the store, except he doesn't plead, he just sort of rambles. And the businessman just gives in and accepts Santa's story, like, "Well, okay, you're obviously the real Santa who moments ago I didn't believe in. I guess the deal's off."
But- uh-oh. Grandma's missing again. I think Cousin Mel hired a hitman. This is the most cracked-out Christmas special I have ever watched. Cousins taking out Grandmas? Who thought this up?
Santa's in jail for running over Grandma. Sleigh-hicular hit and run. Cousin Mel just wants Santa's money. Does Santa have money? How does his business turn a profit?
I looked away for a minute, and suddenly Cousin Mel and her partner in crime are doing a flamenco dance and singing "Grandpa's Gonna Sue the Pants Off Of Santa." What the fuck is going on with this Christmas special??? Good thing it's almost over. I can't take much more.
Cousin Mel is actually keeping Grandma in a mountain cabin. Narrator finds her, through some plot contrivance that I don't care about. He revives Grandma's memory with fruitcake, and then they use fruitcake to win the trial, which makes no sense. Apparently Narrator somehow figured out that Cousin Mel sabotaged the fruitcake, and that is why the reindeer went off course? Because the secret ingredient she used is the chemical equivalent of reindeer nip. How the hell would anyone ever know that?? Anyway, even though Santa did in fact run over Grandma, he is still Santa and people love him and apparently have no problem believing in him anymore-- there's no Miracle on 34th St "is he or isn't he?" here-- everyone just accepts that Santa is on trial, and they don't want Santa to go to jail, because that will mean no more Christmas. This isn't Who-Ville, bitches.
Cousin Mel makes full confession, having not learned a thing, because she's a one-dimensional villain. Santa is free and Grandma is back in business! Everyone is happy. The troll-businessman no longer wants to buy the store, he just wants to franchise it, which Grandma appears to be okay with. Although, wouldn't he have to own the store in order to franchise it? That isn't addressed.
The Narrator wraps things up with "And that's the story, exactly as it happened." And I'm all, "Narrator, you're an asshole. You have sullied the good name of novelty songs. For shame."
Visuals: 1 out of 5
Spirit: 1 out of 5
Nostalgia: 0 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 1 out of 5
overall: 1 out of 5
The narrator is actually voiced by the guy who sang the song! That surprises me. In the opening, we see Grandma be run down by the reindeer. Scary. Then the narrator says "let's go back to the beginning" and we learn that Grandma has a store. A sort of old-fashioned general store. We meet Cousin Mel, who was mentioned briefly in the song. I always pictured a nerdy guy, but here Cousin Mel is a woman. A woman colored like Daphne from Scooby Doo and shaped like Pamela Anderson. She disapproves of Grandma's business practices, which apparently include just letting people take things and "come back on your next payday." I can see how Cousin Mel would have trouble with that.
The family has just purchased an inflatable Christmas tree. That's dumb. A businessman dresses up as a troll to offer to buy Grandma's store. That's even dumber. Said troll-man (with his insane troll logic) wants to open a new store that will deliver gifts on Christmas Even in a sleigh-mobile. I don't like where this is going. Neither does Grandma, but for different reasons.
Grandma is making fruitcakes, which brings about a stupid song. Cousin Mel diabolically plots to sabotage the fruitcake, thereby driving customers away and forcing Grandma to sell the store. I'm serious, that's what is happening on my TV right now.
Our narrator is questioning Santa's existence. Cousin Mel is very mean about this.
Grandma leaves to take some cookies somewhere or another. The title song begins to play, just as it plays out on screen. Line by line-- sung: She'd been drinking too much eggnog, spoken: "You've been drinking too much eggnog!" sung: And we begged her not to go... spoken: "Please don't go!" You get the idea. I'm beginning to think this special was made ironically.
Grandma goes down. Narrator sees it from his window. No one believes him. Police are called anyway. Female cop sounds like Sarah Palin. Unlike in the song, they do not find Grandma's corpse-- just the outline of her body surrounded by sleigh tracks and hoofprints. I have a feeling Grandma may pull through after all. Just a hunch.
Just like in the song, everyone's dressed in black. Grandma's gifts remain unopened. Grandpa plays cards with Cousin Mel. Then he stupidly gives Cousin Mel power of attorney. Our narrator's world is about to crumble.
The rest of the family seems strangely unconcerned about what might have happened to Grandma. Our narrator emails Santa, because apparently you can do that, I guess? Why didn't he do that sooner, to say, hey, Santa, are you real or what? Cut to the North Pole, where Santa is whining that no one believes in him. You know, if you took all Christmas specials as truth, you'd think Santa was just a whiny bitch, always looking for an excuse to cancel Christmas.
This special is starting to get really weird. Santa has a stash of missing Grandmas. In a circle of beds surrounding a Christmas tree. He sees Grandma's picture in the email and proclaims, "The mystery of Grandma X is solved!" Unfortunately, Grandma has amnesia and has no memory of her grandson. So an elf breaks elf code and goes to get our narrator, who takes the obligatory wonder-filled big-eyed sleigh ride to the North Pole, where he is reunited with the grandma who doesn't remember him. Yet she agrees to go home with him and try to save the store, because she thinks Cousin Mel sounds like a bitch. Santa comes along for the ride, for no apparent reason. Santa ends up going to the businessman (the one who dressed up like a troll earlier) to plead the case for saving the store, except he doesn't plead, he just sort of rambles. And the businessman just gives in and accepts Santa's story, like, "Well, okay, you're obviously the real Santa who moments ago I didn't believe in. I guess the deal's off."
But- uh-oh. Grandma's missing again. I think Cousin Mel hired a hitman. This is the most cracked-out Christmas special I have ever watched. Cousins taking out Grandmas? Who thought this up?
Santa's in jail for running over Grandma. Sleigh-hicular hit and run. Cousin Mel just wants Santa's money. Does Santa have money? How does his business turn a profit?
I looked away for a minute, and suddenly Cousin Mel and her partner in crime are doing a flamenco dance and singing "Grandpa's Gonna Sue the Pants Off Of Santa." What the fuck is going on with this Christmas special??? Good thing it's almost over. I can't take much more.
Cousin Mel is actually keeping Grandma in a mountain cabin. Narrator finds her, through some plot contrivance that I don't care about. He revives Grandma's memory with fruitcake, and then they use fruitcake to win the trial, which makes no sense. Apparently Narrator somehow figured out that Cousin Mel sabotaged the fruitcake, and that is why the reindeer went off course? Because the secret ingredient she used is the chemical equivalent of reindeer nip. How the hell would anyone ever know that?? Anyway, even though Santa did in fact run over Grandma, he is still Santa and people love him and apparently have no problem believing in him anymore-- there's no Miracle on 34th St "is he or isn't he?" here-- everyone just accepts that Santa is on trial, and they don't want Santa to go to jail, because that will mean no more Christmas. This isn't Who-Ville, bitches.
Cousin Mel makes full confession, having not learned a thing, because she's a one-dimensional villain. Santa is free and Grandma is back in business! Everyone is happy. The troll-businessman no longer wants to buy the store, he just wants to franchise it, which Grandma appears to be okay with. Although, wouldn't he have to own the store in order to franchise it? That isn't addressed.
The Narrator wraps things up with "And that's the story, exactly as it happened." And I'm all, "Narrator, you're an asshole. You have sullied the good name of novelty songs. For shame."
Visuals: 1 out of 5
Spirit: 1 out of 5
Nostalgia: 0 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 1 out of 5
overall: 1 out of 5
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Christmas Vacation Installment #4: Mickey's Christmas Carol
This is the most condensed, Cliffs Notes version of A Christmas Carol that I have ever been exposed to. It was also the first version I was ever exposed to, which I'd wager is the case for a lot of people my age.
Cratchit (played by Mickey) does Scrooge's laundry in this version- I hope Scrooge at least covers the cost of his water.
Scrooge makes the statement about boiling merrymakers in their own pudding, but leaves out the part about burying them with a stake of holly through their hearts. So, he's pissed off nephew Fred, played by Donald, and he also snubs the charity collectors, albeit without saying the line about "if they'd rather die they'd better do it." Charity collectors are played by two characters from Wind in the Willows, as is Mr. Fezziwig later. I never knew who they were when I was little. Wind in the Willows never held my attention. Scrooge lets Cratchit go home a whole two minutes early, which Mickey is downright gleeful about.
Why Goofy for Jacob Marley? It's hard to imagine Goofy ever having been cruel or miserly. After Marley gives his spiel, he falls down the stairs with his trademark yell. How does a ghost fall down stairs?
Jiminy Cricket is the Ghost of Christmas Past. Because this version is very abbreviated, their first stop is Fezziwig's. There we meet Belle, Scrooge's former love interest, played by Daisy Duck, which confused me when I was little. She was Donald's girlfriend! Next we see her heart broken by Scrooge's love of money-- he forecloses the mortgage on her honeymoon cottage and she runs away in tears. Interesting way to dump someone. I had no idea what was happening there when I was little. And it didn't really seem important.
The giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk is the Ghost of Christmas Present, who takes Scrooge to see the Cratchits and their meager feast. And his laundry boiling in the fireplace. Minnie Mouse has no lines as Mrs. Cratchit, and the whole scene lasts less than five minutes. Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim's fate, and he gets very emotional considering he just laid eyes on the kid.
Too late-- the Ghost of Christmas Present is already gone, and the scary one has taken his place. They skip the robbers and go straight to the cemetery. We see Cratchit/Mickey sadly lay Tiny Tim's crutch against his headstone, then we see two weaselly (literally) gravediggers laughing about the funeral that no one came to. We can read the headstone, but I guess Scrooge can't, because he asks the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come "Whose lonely grave is this?" And in response, the ghost lights a match to illuminate Scrooge's name. I have to admit that this moment gave me chills when I was little, and it still kind of does. The ghost lights the match, then raises it to light his cigar. In lighting his cigar, he throws back his hood and reveals himself to be Pete (sometimes called Big Pete, Bad Pete, Big Bad Pete... you get the idea), which is odd because Pete isn't usually scary, but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn't usually speak, so it's startling when he says "Why yours, Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery!" and, with an evil laugh, pushes Scrooge into the grave. Suddenly, there are flames. Nightmare fuel, anyone?
Scrooge wakes up. Everything's okay! There's no sending a child to buy a turkey, but he does see the charity collectors (and puts coins in their pants) and his nephew Fred, and he makes things right. Next, he heads over to the Cratchits', bringing along a bag of toys. As I said, this was the first version of A Christmas Carol I was exposed to, and it's worth noting that as I became familiar with more complete tellings of the story (including, eventually, the original novel), despite all the new scenes and details that made the story make so much more sense, the fact that Scrooge never brought over a bag of toys always seemed like a glaring omission.
Wow, that was even shorter than I remembered. Despite its hurry to tell the story as quickly as possible, it's a sweet little special. There is no narration, so we don't get the reassurance that Tiny Tim DID NOT DIE-- but we know he lived.
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 4 out of 5
Nostalgia: 4 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 1 out of 5
overall: 3 out of 5
Cratchit (played by Mickey) does Scrooge's laundry in this version- I hope Scrooge at least covers the cost of his water.
Scrooge makes the statement about boiling merrymakers in their own pudding, but leaves out the part about burying them with a stake of holly through their hearts. So, he's pissed off nephew Fred, played by Donald, and he also snubs the charity collectors, albeit without saying the line about "if they'd rather die they'd better do it." Charity collectors are played by two characters from Wind in the Willows, as is Mr. Fezziwig later. I never knew who they were when I was little. Wind in the Willows never held my attention. Scrooge lets Cratchit go home a whole two minutes early, which Mickey is downright gleeful about.
Why Goofy for Jacob Marley? It's hard to imagine Goofy ever having been cruel or miserly. After Marley gives his spiel, he falls down the stairs with his trademark yell. How does a ghost fall down stairs?
Jiminy Cricket is the Ghost of Christmas Past. Because this version is very abbreviated, their first stop is Fezziwig's. There we meet Belle, Scrooge's former love interest, played by Daisy Duck, which confused me when I was little. She was Donald's girlfriend! Next we see her heart broken by Scrooge's love of money-- he forecloses the mortgage on her honeymoon cottage and she runs away in tears. Interesting way to dump someone. I had no idea what was happening there when I was little. And it didn't really seem important.
The giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk is the Ghost of Christmas Present, who takes Scrooge to see the Cratchits and their meager feast. And his laundry boiling in the fireplace. Minnie Mouse has no lines as Mrs. Cratchit, and the whole scene lasts less than five minutes. Scrooge asks about Tiny Tim's fate, and he gets very emotional considering he just laid eyes on the kid.
Too late-- the Ghost of Christmas Present is already gone, and the scary one has taken his place. They skip the robbers and go straight to the cemetery. We see Cratchit/Mickey sadly lay Tiny Tim's crutch against his headstone, then we see two weaselly (literally) gravediggers laughing about the funeral that no one came to. We can read the headstone, but I guess Scrooge can't, because he asks the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come "Whose lonely grave is this?" And in response, the ghost lights a match to illuminate Scrooge's name. I have to admit that this moment gave me chills when I was little, and it still kind of does. The ghost lights the match, then raises it to light his cigar. In lighting his cigar, he throws back his hood and reveals himself to be Pete (sometimes called Big Pete, Bad Pete, Big Bad Pete... you get the idea), which is odd because Pete isn't usually scary, but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come doesn't usually speak, so it's startling when he says "Why yours, Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery!" and, with an evil laugh, pushes Scrooge into the grave. Suddenly, there are flames. Nightmare fuel, anyone?
Scrooge wakes up. Everything's okay! There's no sending a child to buy a turkey, but he does see the charity collectors (and puts coins in their pants) and his nephew Fred, and he makes things right. Next, he heads over to the Cratchits', bringing along a bag of toys. As I said, this was the first version of A Christmas Carol I was exposed to, and it's worth noting that as I became familiar with more complete tellings of the story (including, eventually, the original novel), despite all the new scenes and details that made the story make so much more sense, the fact that Scrooge never brought over a bag of toys always seemed like a glaring omission.
Wow, that was even shorter than I remembered. Despite its hurry to tell the story as quickly as possible, it's a sweet little special. There is no narration, so we don't get the reassurance that Tiny Tim DID NOT DIE-- but we know he lived.
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 4 out of 5
Nostalgia: 4 out of 5
Humor: 2 out of 5
Music: 1 out of 5
overall: 3 out of 5
Friday, December 3, 2010
Christmas Vacation Installment #3: Buffy "Amends"
My husband picked out which Christmas thing to watch today. It took him an incredibly long time to decide. He almost went with Rudolph, then decided on Buffy. Logical.
Buffy was never big on holiday-themed episodes. In the course of seven seasons, they did three Halloween episodes, one Thanksgiving, and one Christmas. So let's talk about that Christmas episode, which was actually written and directed by Joss Whedon himself.
Angel is being haunted by his past, as usual, only in a slightly more obvious way than usual. The Scoobies discuss their holiday plans: Xander is camping out in his yard to avoid his family's drunken fights, Cordelia is going skiing (and is in raging bitch-mode because this is right after she and Xander broke up), Willow is emphatically "BEING JEWISH," and Buffy is "Tree. Nog. Roast beast." Her unenthusiastic summary makes me giggle. Tradition must seem so asinine when you have literal demons to slay.
Willow and Oz reconcile, yaaaaay! I always loved them together. Love Willow and Tara together too though.
Buffy and Mom picking out a tree at a live tree farm. I like the idea of doing that, never done it myself. Joyce suggests they invite Faith over for Christmas Eve, a suggestion to which Buffy is largely ambivalent. Buffy then suggests inviting Giles, which makes Joyce twitchy and weird because she recently had sex with Giles under the influence of magic chocolate. But Buffy doesn't know that. After suspiciously eyeing a patch of dead trees, Buffy goes to Faith to extend the invite, and Faith rather pathetically lies about having a big party to go to. Faith was really interesting before she became a villain.
Angel goes to Giles for help, and is haunted some more. Willow and Oz plan to watch videos together on Christmas Eve because Willow's Jewish parents will be out of town. And Oz has no parents, at least not that we ever see.
Buffy and Xander question Willy the Snitch about where the bad guys might be, and come up with nothing. Xander proposes "I think right now the best plan is to deck the halls with boughs of holly."
Willow tries to seduce Oz, he gently and romantically turns her down. How do you romantically turn someone down? It helps if you're awesome like Oz.
Buffy and Mom decorate tree and build a fire even though they live in California. Joyce: "So, angel's on top again?"
Buffy: "What?"
Joyce: "Angel, or star?"
Snerk.
Faith turns up, because she was never invited to a party at all, and she's lonely. She even brings gifts, and I for one would like to know what they are, but we never find out. I'm weird like that-- I often wonder what fictional characters get each other for Christmas. Angel shows up and freaks out, Buffy takes off running and trades some slayer snarkage with the First Evil while Angel goes off to meet the sun-- preferred vampire suicide method. He has to do this atop a cliff, even though we don't usually see cliffs in Sunnydale. He monologues a bit about the kids below waking up and sneaking downstairs, and it's a pretty effective "vampire is sad about things he can't have" moment. Buffy and Angel are dramatic and teary, like they always were.
Aaaaaaaaaand then... the Christmas miracle happens, which truly makes this a Buffy Christmas: it snows! In Southern California! There's a sweet little montage of all the characters noticing the snow: Willow and Oz get up from her bed and go to the window, with the light looking pretty on Alyson Hannigan's face. Joyce and Faith step outside and look around, Giles peers out the window in astonishment, Xander shivers in his sleeping bag, and Buffy and Angel walk through town hand in hand, under a marquee that says "Pray," which Joss Whedon claims was an accident. A TV weatherman says "Sunnydale residents shouldn't expect to see the sun at all today," just to drive home the nature of the Christmas miracle. Angel was going to kill himself via sun, but he can't, because something out there wants him to be alive.
Joss Whedon is an atheist, but he admits to framing this as a Christmas miracle. Christmas miracles are part of television's collective consciousness. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas--or, at least, the spiritual aspects of it-- when you grow up surrounded by a culture that is, let's face it, rather obsessed, it has a way of sinking in. And it's my humble opinion that one might as well embrace the cultural aspects of Christmas, since they're here to stay anyway. That's life!
Edited to add ratings:
Visuals: 3 out of 5
Music: 0 out of 5
Spirit: 3 out of 5
Nostalgia: 3 out of 5
Humor: 4 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
Buffy was never big on holiday-themed episodes. In the course of seven seasons, they did three Halloween episodes, one Thanksgiving, and one Christmas. So let's talk about that Christmas episode, which was actually written and directed by Joss Whedon himself.
Angel is being haunted by his past, as usual, only in a slightly more obvious way than usual. The Scoobies discuss their holiday plans: Xander is camping out in his yard to avoid his family's drunken fights, Cordelia is going skiing (and is in raging bitch-mode because this is right after she and Xander broke up), Willow is emphatically "BEING JEWISH," and Buffy is "Tree. Nog. Roast beast." Her unenthusiastic summary makes me giggle. Tradition must seem so asinine when you have literal demons to slay.
Willow and Oz reconcile, yaaaaay! I always loved them together. Love Willow and Tara together too though.
Buffy and Mom picking out a tree at a live tree farm. I like the idea of doing that, never done it myself. Joyce suggests they invite Faith over for Christmas Eve, a suggestion to which Buffy is largely ambivalent. Buffy then suggests inviting Giles, which makes Joyce twitchy and weird because she recently had sex with Giles under the influence of magic chocolate. But Buffy doesn't know that. After suspiciously eyeing a patch of dead trees, Buffy goes to Faith to extend the invite, and Faith rather pathetically lies about having a big party to go to. Faith was really interesting before she became a villain.
Angel goes to Giles for help, and is haunted some more. Willow and Oz plan to watch videos together on Christmas Eve because Willow's Jewish parents will be out of town. And Oz has no parents, at least not that we ever see.
Buffy and Xander question Willy the Snitch about where the bad guys might be, and come up with nothing. Xander proposes "I think right now the best plan is to deck the halls with boughs of holly."
Willow tries to seduce Oz, he gently and romantically turns her down. How do you romantically turn someone down? It helps if you're awesome like Oz.
Buffy and Mom decorate tree and build a fire even though they live in California. Joyce: "So, angel's on top again?"
Buffy: "What?"
Joyce: "Angel, or star?"
Snerk.
Faith turns up, because she was never invited to a party at all, and she's lonely. She even brings gifts, and I for one would like to know what they are, but we never find out. I'm weird like that-- I often wonder what fictional characters get each other for Christmas. Angel shows up and freaks out, Buffy takes off running and trades some slayer snarkage with the First Evil while Angel goes off to meet the sun-- preferred vampire suicide method. He has to do this atop a cliff, even though we don't usually see cliffs in Sunnydale. He monologues a bit about the kids below waking up and sneaking downstairs, and it's a pretty effective "vampire is sad about things he can't have" moment. Buffy and Angel are dramatic and teary, like they always were.
Aaaaaaaaaand then... the Christmas miracle happens, which truly makes this a Buffy Christmas: it snows! In Southern California! There's a sweet little montage of all the characters noticing the snow: Willow and Oz get up from her bed and go to the window, with the light looking pretty on Alyson Hannigan's face. Joyce and Faith step outside and look around, Giles peers out the window in astonishment, Xander shivers in his sleeping bag, and Buffy and Angel walk through town hand in hand, under a marquee that says "Pray," which Joss Whedon claims was an accident. A TV weatherman says "Sunnydale residents shouldn't expect to see the sun at all today," just to drive home the nature of the Christmas miracle. Angel was going to kill himself via sun, but he can't, because something out there wants him to be alive.
Joss Whedon is an atheist, but he admits to framing this as a Christmas miracle. Christmas miracles are part of television's collective consciousness. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas--or, at least, the spiritual aspects of it-- when you grow up surrounded by a culture that is, let's face it, rather obsessed, it has a way of sinking in. And it's my humble opinion that one might as well embrace the cultural aspects of Christmas, since they're here to stay anyway. That's life!
Edited to add ratings:
Visuals: 3 out of 5
Music: 0 out of 5
Spirit: 3 out of 5
Nostalgia: 3 out of 5
Humor: 4 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Christmas Vacation Installment #2: The Office "Benihana Christmas"
I watched Muppet Family Christmas last night with my brother and his girlfriend, but I think blogging about that one is going to have to wait, because I love it so much that I will talk about it for a very long time. And I'm still supposed to be writing a paper.
I just started to watch The Santa Clause on ABC Family, but it got boring before the first commercial break. So I'm just going to watch a Christmas episode of The Office. Season 3's "A Benihana Christmas," to be exact. I know I've seen it before, but I don't really remember what happens. This will be fun. Fun enough for a live blog!
This episode begins with Dwight bringing in a dead goose and dropping it on Pam's desk. Pam reacts with appropriate horror. Dwight proclaims that he ran over the goose and "it's a Christmas miracle!" Tony then intervenes to say "we talked about this," and that phrase is never good. It's even less good if you've had to be talked to multiple times about bringing dead birds into the workplace. But apparently this time is different, because last time the duck he brought in for lunch was still alive. Okay, that's worse. "Apparently people got attached to the duck." Hee.
Next we have Michael Scott riding a bike into the office and congratulating himself for putting a bike in the toy donation bin. But it's his old bike. Not that the average bike-less kid would be too upset over getting a used one, but charities like new things. Toys For Tots used to take used toys-- I remember donating some of mine when I was little-- but now they only take new toys, and they will park the hottest Marines they have in front of toy stores to collect donations. I'm serious-- they are always hot. It's Officer McDreamy in uniform, designed to make you go, "Yes, sir, I will buy a toy for your cause, heehee..." Smart men, those Marines.
So, this is the point Michael is dating Carol. Which one was Carol? I don't even remember. And he has two tickets to Jamaica to present to her at the Dunder Mifflin Christmas Party! THAT will end well. Oh, and Michael is wearing a Dunder Mifflin bathrobe around. I'm wearing a snuggie as I type. I can't judge.
Carol is pissed because Michael photoshopped himself into a picture of Carol, her kids, and her ex-husband skiing. He photoshopped his face over her ex-husband's, and used the photo for his Christmas cards. Like most Michael Scott stunts, this is both incredibly implausible and just believable enough that you can see someone actually doing it. Carol unceremoniously dumps him, because he's weird and creepy.
Pam's Christmas gift to Jim: she's been sending Dwight letters from the CIA. They're considering him for a top secret mission, and Jim gets to decide what that is. In a rare moment of maturity, Jim turns this opportunity down.
Michael wants to cancel Christmas because of the breakup. Jim wants to know, "Will they still air Rudolph?" which cracks me up.
Party planning time! Angela says orange streamers would be whorish. She would hate Knoxville. Blah blah Michael's sad. Oh, Jim is still dating Karen, so Pam is being unnecessarily mean to Karen, but the spirit of Christmas moves her, so she decides to be nice, which results in the two of them ganging up on Angela to throw a "way more fun" party. That is straight-up Mean Girl behavior. I'm disappointed in you, Pam. Dwight is about to discipline them in some fashion, but Jim sides with his ladies.
This episode is veering away from being Christmas-y. Michael is being whiny. Gets old sometimes. In the interest of cheering Michael up, it's an all-boys outing to Benihana. Hence the episode title. Benihana is an Asian restaurant, the kind where they cook in front of you and seat you with people you don't know. Dwight gets seated on the other end of the table and excluded from the conversation. More Mean Girl behavior! What the heck!
Ryan: I miss the days when there was only one party I didn't want to go to.
Pam: If you're using more than three pieces of tape to wrap a present, you're doing it wrong.
I was pretty sure I was wrapping presents wrong anyway. A few years ago, I gave up on wrapping paper entirely. Gift bags are my friends.
Karen suggests that Pam should date Roy, who is of course Pam's ex-fiance. AWKWARD. Jenna Fischer plays awkward very well. More Asian food. More Mean Girl stuff. Dwight authorizes Angela's party to start ahead of schedule. Dwight does not have authority to do that. SCANDAL. Back to the boys' party at the Asian restaurant, where they are also acting like Mean Girls. Jim tricks Dwight into loudly describing how to butcher a goose, because he lost that ounce of maturity that he gained earlier. The unseen camera crew calls him on it. Yay, unseen camera crew!
The only people at Angela's party are Angela, Phyllis, Stanley, and some female employee I don't recall. The boys bring the waitresses back to that party, and then split because it's lame. Michael gives his old bike to the waitress, because I guess he equates her with a needy child? Who knows. Now Stanley has made his way over to the "way more fun" party and is karaoke-ing a joyless rendition of "You Oughta Know." Which is kind of Christmas-y, I guess. I got that cd for Christmas when I was thirteen. Changed my life.
Aww, the spirit of Christmas is on the move. First Angela and Dwight have a sweet little moment (for them), then Pam and Karen decide to reach out and unite the two parties. "In the name of Nutcracker Christmas," says Pam, brandishing a Rice Krispie wand. Cuteness. See, Nutcracker Christmas was the theme of Angela's party-- the official Dunder Mifflin party-- I think I glossed over that. You know what? The Nutcracker music is creeeepy.
Michael can't tell the two waitresses apart, because they have on the same uniform and he's drunk and... yeah, he can't tell two Asian girls apart. So he doesn't know which one he's been flirting with all night. He solves this problem by marking on her arm with a pen, which is the most disturbing thing that's happened so far in this 35 minutes and 20 seconds of Netflix Instant Play. I think she's onto him, because she leaves shortly after and turns down his offer to take her to Jamaica. But she still takes the bike. Because that's what this was all about to her: a free used bike.
Party continues. Jim explains to Michael what "rebound" is. Angela karaokes a passionate rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy," with Dwight kneeling in front of her holding the mic and everyone else watching intently, because, who does that? I'm laughing at this scene, prompting my husband to ask why it's funny, and I don't really have an answer. It just is. In a random moment of awesome, Oscar starts to walk in the door during the song, and then promptly walks back out. And ultimately, Jim does go through with pranking Dwight along with Pam, because he's in love with her. And sometimes, when you're in love and it's Christmas, that means pranking someone less cool. Family Unfriendly Aesop, anyone?
I can't believe I just spent an hour and a half on this. Did I mention I'm supposed to be writing a paper?
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Music: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 3 out of 5
Nostalgia: 1 out of 5
Humor: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
I just started to watch The Santa Clause on ABC Family, but it got boring before the first commercial break. So I'm just going to watch a Christmas episode of The Office. Season 3's "A Benihana Christmas," to be exact. I know I've seen it before, but I don't really remember what happens. This will be fun. Fun enough for a live blog!
This episode begins with Dwight bringing in a dead goose and dropping it on Pam's desk. Pam reacts with appropriate horror. Dwight proclaims that he ran over the goose and "it's a Christmas miracle!" Tony then intervenes to say "we talked about this," and that phrase is never good. It's even less good if you've had to be talked to multiple times about bringing dead birds into the workplace. But apparently this time is different, because last time the duck he brought in for lunch was still alive. Okay, that's worse. "Apparently people got attached to the duck." Hee.
Next we have Michael Scott riding a bike into the office and congratulating himself for putting a bike in the toy donation bin. But it's his old bike. Not that the average bike-less kid would be too upset over getting a used one, but charities like new things. Toys For Tots used to take used toys-- I remember donating some of mine when I was little-- but now they only take new toys, and they will park the hottest Marines they have in front of toy stores to collect donations. I'm serious-- they are always hot. It's Officer McDreamy in uniform, designed to make you go, "Yes, sir, I will buy a toy for your cause, heehee..." Smart men, those Marines.
So, this is the point Michael is dating Carol. Which one was Carol? I don't even remember. And he has two tickets to Jamaica to present to her at the Dunder Mifflin Christmas Party! THAT will end well. Oh, and Michael is wearing a Dunder Mifflin bathrobe around. I'm wearing a snuggie as I type. I can't judge.
Carol is pissed because Michael photoshopped himself into a picture of Carol, her kids, and her ex-husband skiing. He photoshopped his face over her ex-husband's, and used the photo for his Christmas cards. Like most Michael Scott stunts, this is both incredibly implausible and just believable enough that you can see someone actually doing it. Carol unceremoniously dumps him, because he's weird and creepy.
Pam's Christmas gift to Jim: she's been sending Dwight letters from the CIA. They're considering him for a top secret mission, and Jim gets to decide what that is. In a rare moment of maturity, Jim turns this opportunity down.
Michael wants to cancel Christmas because of the breakup. Jim wants to know, "Will they still air Rudolph?" which cracks me up.
Party planning time! Angela says orange streamers would be whorish. She would hate Knoxville. Blah blah Michael's sad. Oh, Jim is still dating Karen, so Pam is being unnecessarily mean to Karen, but the spirit of Christmas moves her, so she decides to be nice, which results in the two of them ganging up on Angela to throw a "way more fun" party. That is straight-up Mean Girl behavior. I'm disappointed in you, Pam. Dwight is about to discipline them in some fashion, but Jim sides with his ladies.
This episode is veering away from being Christmas-y. Michael is being whiny. Gets old sometimes. In the interest of cheering Michael up, it's an all-boys outing to Benihana. Hence the episode title. Benihana is an Asian restaurant, the kind where they cook in front of you and seat you with people you don't know. Dwight gets seated on the other end of the table and excluded from the conversation. More Mean Girl behavior! What the heck!
Ryan: I miss the days when there was only one party I didn't want to go to.
Pam: If you're using more than three pieces of tape to wrap a present, you're doing it wrong.
I was pretty sure I was wrapping presents wrong anyway. A few years ago, I gave up on wrapping paper entirely. Gift bags are my friends.
Karen suggests that Pam should date Roy, who is of course Pam's ex-fiance. AWKWARD. Jenna Fischer plays awkward very well. More Asian food. More Mean Girl stuff. Dwight authorizes Angela's party to start ahead of schedule. Dwight does not have authority to do that. SCANDAL. Back to the boys' party at the Asian restaurant, where they are also acting like Mean Girls. Jim tricks Dwight into loudly describing how to butcher a goose, because he lost that ounce of maturity that he gained earlier. The unseen camera crew calls him on it. Yay, unseen camera crew!
The only people at Angela's party are Angela, Phyllis, Stanley, and some female employee I don't recall. The boys bring the waitresses back to that party, and then split because it's lame. Michael gives his old bike to the waitress, because I guess he equates her with a needy child? Who knows. Now Stanley has made his way over to the "way more fun" party and is karaoke-ing a joyless rendition of "You Oughta Know." Which is kind of Christmas-y, I guess. I got that cd for Christmas when I was thirteen. Changed my life.
Aww, the spirit of Christmas is on the move. First Angela and Dwight have a sweet little moment (for them), then Pam and Karen decide to reach out and unite the two parties. "In the name of Nutcracker Christmas," says Pam, brandishing a Rice Krispie wand. Cuteness. See, Nutcracker Christmas was the theme of Angela's party-- the official Dunder Mifflin party-- I think I glossed over that. You know what? The Nutcracker music is creeeepy.
Michael can't tell the two waitresses apart, because they have on the same uniform and he's drunk and... yeah, he can't tell two Asian girls apart. So he doesn't know which one he's been flirting with all night. He solves this problem by marking on her arm with a pen, which is the most disturbing thing that's happened so far in this 35 minutes and 20 seconds of Netflix Instant Play. I think she's onto him, because she leaves shortly after and turns down his offer to take her to Jamaica. But she still takes the bike. Because that's what this was all about to her: a free used bike.
Party continues. Jim explains to Michael what "rebound" is. Angela karaokes a passionate rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy," with Dwight kneeling in front of her holding the mic and everyone else watching intently, because, who does that? I'm laughing at this scene, prompting my husband to ask why it's funny, and I don't really have an answer. It just is. In a random moment of awesome, Oscar starts to walk in the door during the song, and then promptly walks back out. And ultimately, Jim does go through with pranking Dwight along with Pam, because he's in love with her. And sometimes, when you're in love and it's Christmas, that means pranking someone less cool. Family Unfriendly Aesop, anyone?
I can't believe I just spent an hour and a half on this. Did I mention I'm supposed to be writing a paper?
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Music: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 3 out of 5
Nostalgia: 1 out of 5
Humor: 4 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Christmas Vacation Installment #1: Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
Since I feel that ABC Family has poor taste in their selections for "25 Days of Christmas" viewing, I've decided to take matters into my own hands. Now through Christmas, I'm going to watch at least one Christmas special/Christmas movie/Christmas episode of a TV show and blog about it.
Emmet Otter is the Muppet Christmas special I have the least emotional attachment to, largely because I saw it late in childhood. I remember finding it on TV at some point (it had already started and I didn't see the intro), and spending most of it trying to figure out if it was made by Jim Henson and Company or if they were off-brand Muppets. The Kermit narration finally assured me that they were Muppets. Of course, Kermit's involvement has been completely wiped from the dvd because copyright issues are a bitch, and that automatically makes me like it less.
I also have to wonder if the budget was lower on this one than other Muppet specials-- the sets and even the puppets themselves seem stiff and more amateurish than usual.
As for the storyline, it's relatively simplistic. Widowed otter and son live meagerly, doing laundry and odd jobs for the neighbors. In a twist on Gift of the Magi, mother and son each enter a talent contest to try and win money for the other's Christmas gift. In a particularly bizarre twist, they each damage the source of the other's livelihood to do so-- Emmet puts a hole in his mother's washtub to use it as a bass, and his mother hocks the tools he uses for odd jobs in order to have a dress to sing in.
Emmet Otter and friends prepare a song about bar-b-q, which then ends up being performed by another contestant, so they come up with another song on the fly-- just as it happened on Glee!
Realism rears its ugly head and neither Emmet nor his mom wins the talent contest-- losing to a rock band from a faraway town. The presence of a rock band seems bizarre, and the fact that the wholesome country woodland creatures enjoy the rock music (with its lyrics about not liking anyone or anything and not wishing to learn) even more so.
What's nice, and makes me like this special more than I'm otherwise inclined to, is that the otters aren't bitter after they lose. They talk it over and conclude that they feel good, and that they did what Pa would have done. It's a nice little family moment. And they do get a happy ending-- they combine both of their songs into a duet just as a consolation prize for themselves, and then a benevolent restaurant owner hears them singing and offers them a job singing in his restaurant-- which, if they work regularly for regular pay, will eventually amount to more money than the talent contest.
Ratings:
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Music: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 4 out of 5
Nostalgia: 2 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
Emmet Otter is the Muppet Christmas special I have the least emotional attachment to, largely because I saw it late in childhood. I remember finding it on TV at some point (it had already started and I didn't see the intro), and spending most of it trying to figure out if it was made by Jim Henson and Company or if they were off-brand Muppets. The Kermit narration finally assured me that they were Muppets. Of course, Kermit's involvement has been completely wiped from the dvd because copyright issues are a bitch, and that automatically makes me like it less.
I also have to wonder if the budget was lower on this one than other Muppet specials-- the sets and even the puppets themselves seem stiff and more amateurish than usual.
As for the storyline, it's relatively simplistic. Widowed otter and son live meagerly, doing laundry and odd jobs for the neighbors. In a twist on Gift of the Magi, mother and son each enter a talent contest to try and win money for the other's Christmas gift. In a particularly bizarre twist, they each damage the source of the other's livelihood to do so-- Emmet puts a hole in his mother's washtub to use it as a bass, and his mother hocks the tools he uses for odd jobs in order to have a dress to sing in.
Emmet Otter and friends prepare a song about bar-b-q, which then ends up being performed by another contestant, so they come up with another song on the fly-- just as it happened on Glee!
Realism rears its ugly head and neither Emmet nor his mom wins the talent contest-- losing to a rock band from a faraway town. The presence of a rock band seems bizarre, and the fact that the wholesome country woodland creatures enjoy the rock music (with its lyrics about not liking anyone or anything and not wishing to learn) even more so.
What's nice, and makes me like this special more than I'm otherwise inclined to, is that the otters aren't bitter after they lose. They talk it over and conclude that they feel good, and that they did what Pa would have done. It's a nice little family moment. And they do get a happy ending-- they combine both of their songs into a duet just as a consolation prize for themselves, and then a benevolent restaurant owner hears them singing and offers them a job singing in his restaurant-- which, if they work regularly for regular pay, will eventually amount to more money than the talent contest.
Ratings:
Visuals: 2 out of 5
Music: 2 out of 5
Spirit: 4 out of 5
Nostalgia: 2 out of 5
Overall: 3 out of 5
Semester's End: a brief reflection on blessings and challenges
November has ended, and with it my first semester of grad school. I have a take-home final due Monday, which is really just a paper, and isn't hard except for the making-myself-sit-down-and-actually-do-it part.
Monday was my last day of classes, and I must admit that I felt strangely melancholy that day. Partly because I have genuinely enjoyed both of my classes this semester, and partly because I am not as young as I used to be, and the rhythm of adopting a new schedule every few months doesn't come as easily as it once did. It took a while to get into a comfortable routine this semester (although I suppose moving apartments in September didn't help), and now come January, I have to adapt to a whole new routine-- one involving a class that goes until 9:30 at night, which I am NOT looking forward to. I also rebelled and signed up for an extra class next semester, and I need to talk with the professor and make sure she's okay with me being in her class.
(sidenote, apropos of nothing: a rerun of Yes, Dear is on my TV right now, and Mike O'Malley is teaching Chuck Norris the words to "Little Bunny Foo Foo.")
The Blessings of My First Semester of Grad School
~Professors who challenge and inspire
~Classmates who also challenge and inspire, but also provide laughs and sounding boards
~Golden Roast: right across the parking lot from the Social Work building, supplying me with delicious vegetarian soups and a house mocha to die for
~a library with its own Starbucks
~lots of new information that I feel like I can actually use in life
~being surrounded by like-minded individuals-- we may disagree on specifics, but our end goals are always the same
The Challenges
~Re-learning how to balance schoolwork and the rest of life, now with added adult responsibilities
~being a fish out of water at a big University
~parking at said big University... I think the night class is going to force me to give in and purchase a commuter's parking pass
~a small number of classmates who do the opposite of challenge and inspire
~the toll all those cups of coffee have taken on my bank account!
~my aforementioned extended study blues
But in their own way, as cliche as this is to say, the challenges are blessings too. I think I made the right decision going into this program.
Monday was my last day of classes, and I must admit that I felt strangely melancholy that day. Partly because I have genuinely enjoyed both of my classes this semester, and partly because I am not as young as I used to be, and the rhythm of adopting a new schedule every few months doesn't come as easily as it once did. It took a while to get into a comfortable routine this semester (although I suppose moving apartments in September didn't help), and now come January, I have to adapt to a whole new routine-- one involving a class that goes until 9:30 at night, which I am NOT looking forward to. I also rebelled and signed up for an extra class next semester, and I need to talk with the professor and make sure she's okay with me being in her class.
(sidenote, apropos of nothing: a rerun of Yes, Dear is on my TV right now, and Mike O'Malley is teaching Chuck Norris the words to "Little Bunny Foo Foo.")
The Blessings of My First Semester of Grad School
~Professors who challenge and inspire
~Classmates who also challenge and inspire, but also provide laughs and sounding boards
~Golden Roast: right across the parking lot from the Social Work building, supplying me with delicious vegetarian soups and a house mocha to die for
~a library with its own Starbucks
~lots of new information that I feel like I can actually use in life
~being surrounded by like-minded individuals-- we may disagree on specifics, but our end goals are always the same
The Challenges
~Re-learning how to balance schoolwork and the rest of life, now with added adult responsibilities
~being a fish out of water at a big University
~parking at said big University... I think the night class is going to force me to give in and purchase a commuter's parking pass
~a small number of classmates who do the opposite of challenge and inspire
~the toll all those cups of coffee have taken on my bank account!
~my aforementioned extended study blues
But in their own way, as cliche as this is to say, the challenges are blessings too. I think I made the right decision going into this program.
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