Happy Christmas, NY Style!

Good Old Movies

Did you know that the 1940 film, "The Shop Around the Corner," was the basis for the 1998 movie, "You've Got Mail?" Both films starred big name actors of the time. Margaret Sullivan and Jimmy Stewart in the 1940 flick and of course Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the follow-up 58 years later. I recently had the opportunity to watch "The Shop Around the Corner," on AMC one evening and it was marvelous. The similarities are striking. If you have the chance, I'd suggest watching it! In the meantime, E! is featuring "You've Got Mail" this week!

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

Did you know...???

Rudolph was the creation of Robert May, an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago. May, who was very imaginative, wanted to create a booklet to give to parents who shopped at Montgomery Ward and with the help of Denver Gillen, a friend who had artistic skills, they created a booklet about Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

The story of how Rudolph lit the way through the fog to help Santa Claus deliver his toys was distributed for several years, with millions of booklets distributed at Montgomery Wards stores over the years.

In 1947 the story of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was put to music by a friend of Robert Mays by the name of Johnny Marks. It was recorded and sung by Gene Autry a famous TV star and sold millions of copies of the song. Rudolph has had his own TV shows and movies and continues to grow in popularity with every passing year.

A Classic

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has recently been made into a made-for-TV movie, which I hope they will rerun so I can see it!!!

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? VIRGINIA O'HANLON. 115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there.

Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real?

Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Radio City Rockettes!

This year was my third year seeing the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. It is such a good show, and if you haven't seen it before, you really must prioritize to see it soon! It hasn't been in Atlanta since 2004, and even a few parts have changed since then. Last year, Mandy and I got the chance to see it at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and it was pretty awesome there too!

Fun Facts:
1. The Radio City Christmas Spectacular began in 1933 and only 2 acts have survived all those years: The Toy Soldiers and the Living Nativity at the end.
2. To be a Rockette, your height maximum is 5'7".

Wanna see more? Click here: http://www.radiocitychristmas.com/nationaltour/

New Moon

I admit it fully. I succombed to the hype and saw New Moon. And I have to admit, I liked it. It was 100% better than the first film (which was lame and had just such poor special effects). I still think it's cheesey how they make Edward glow in sunlight as if he's taken a shower in glitter. But I enjoyed the film more than the last. I do still think there is no chemistry between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. It's more believable between Kristen and Taylor, but Kristen's just probably one of the worst actresses EVER. Her poor acting aside, the movie overall was good. It was an easy, stress-free escape from reality which is exactly what I paid for. I will now probably finish the book series...I quit midway through the 3rd. Sigh.

Honor Chorus

Check out the slideshow of my awesome Honor Chorus kids this weekend!!!

http://www.thelucasimage.com/09SESHonorChorus/

The Sparrow

I was teaching grade one about Japanese music today at school. The song was called "Chichipapa," and was about the "Sparrow's Singing School." I asked the children if anyone knew what a sparrow was. Here is the conversation that took place between me and one of my really gifted kids who has a big vocabulary...which apparently didn't---until today---include "sparrow." HA!

ME: Can anybody tell me what a "sparrow" is?

JACK: A sparrow is this weapon...you pull it back like this, and then let it go and shoot it, and then it sticks in someone.

ME: Hmm...that sounds more like an ARROW. Let's think of something that is ALIVE...

I love my job. Especially little nuggets like that!

Halloween Funny

Church & Coffee

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

Flooding in the Phillipines

Please say a prayer for our friends, The Stallsmiths, who are missionaries in Manila, Phillipines with Wycliffe. Fortunately, they have not suffered any hardship or damage of any kind to their new home. But many others are not as fortunate. These are pictures they sent us over the weekend. Please pray for all the families affected! More details are below the pics!

FROM GLENN & SARAH:

Thank you very much to those who checked on our safety here in Manila. We are grateful to report that we are doing well and were unaffected by the two recent storms. No water entered our house. We did not get stranded anywhere. The power and water stayed on to our house during the entire ordeal. Last Friday and Saturday (September 25 & 26) Tropical Storm Ondoy (aka Ketsana) dropped a month's worth of rain in 24 hours. Waters rose quickly, trapping people on their rooftops or in their vehicles. Families were separated, caught on opposite sides of the Pasig River. Hundreds died. Hundreds of thousands are homeless. Classes were called off all week, with many schools used as evacuation centers for the victims. We could write pages of stories about our friends who were affected. Here is just a sample:

~One of our Filipino employees who works in our library had water at chest-height in her home. Her husband put their baby daughter in a washing machine to let her float above the flood waters.

~The wife of a different employee noticed a large crack in the neighbor’s house. She insistently knocked at their door and warned them to leave the house. Within seconds of leaving the house, it collapsed down the hillside.

~A Wycliffe missionary friend lost everything she owned when the 10-foot high waters entered her house. There was an oil spill nearby, so the floodwaters left a slimy slick over everything. Many other people were at least able to salvage their clothes, but our friend had to throw away everything.

Please keep praying!

My New Favorite Thing!

From P.S. 22 in Staten Island, NY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2p5augniQA

And check them out here too:
http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

Guess I got my work cut out for me! HA!

More NJ pics!

Dad prepping the space for lecture.

Double decker train (not ours)

Our train! Yay!

Metropark Station sign on the platform

Dad with magician and friend, Dick Swanby

New Jersey & DC With Dad!

What a great weekend with Dad! We decided we should do it again. I got to meet lots of other clowns and magicians and enjoyed watching Dad in his element. A good time was had by all! Getting ready to ride the train from NJ to DC!
All the stops our train made...a 3 hour trip total!

Ticket booth!

Dad's table of magic props & tricks for sale

Dad preparing his lecture (and "Magic with a Smile" Glen helping)

Return of Plumpy*Nut

I get things in the mail from World Vision just about every week. I sponsor a girl in Albania, but they have regular mailouts to ask for donations towards particular agendas. But what I got yesterday made my heart happy. World Vision is now purchasing and distributing Plumpy*Nut!!! In case you didn't get a really cool email from me earlier this year about this amazing product, basically it's a peanut-based paste full of vitamins and minerals that is basically saving lives in Africa. This product can essentially take a child who is so malnourished that he is on the brink of death, and put weight on him in just days. The nutritious packet is made by locals in the countries where it is distributed, thus providing even more jobs. Additionally, the packets can keep for a long time which means they can be transported without spoiling. Kids love the sweet taste and even toddlers can feed themselves (like in the photo above). If you're interested in learning more about donating through World Vision to the cause of Plumpy*Nut, click here to watch a short video on it and see how to give:

http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=1753174&go=item&xxwvCampaign=1119031

SWINE FLU...WATCH OUT!

Apparently the Swine Flu has gotten a bit out of hand...

Mom sent me this from work this morning. Classic!

Dad & Me

I have the coolest Dad. As you probably know, he's a magician. Thus the rabbit. We used to go to these magic conventions when I was a kid, you know, with ventriloquists, puppeteers, clowns and of course magicians. I performed with Dad when I was younger too...my signature trick was the sword basket. I would get in this wicker basket and dad would shove all these swords through at different angles, then step in the basket as if I had disappeared. Tricky.

So I told Dad a few months ago I wanted to go to one of those conventions or lectures with him in the future. He travels a lot doing his lectures to other children's entertainers/magicians/clowns about how to do what he does. He also sells his products, tricks, books, DVDs, etc.

Dad has taken me up on the offer! In a few weeks, we are heading to New Jersey for one of Dad's lectures and I will help him out. Then we're taking the Amtrak train to Washington D.C. for his next lecture. That will be so much fun because we both love trains. Then we'll fly home. It will be a proper father/daughter weekend. Good times, good times! Now...if I can just remember how to deal with all those crazy magicians!

Let the Chorus Begin!

Chorus began again today! Hoorah for singing!!! I can't believe I had over 60 kids in my room...and that's only HALF the group! The other half comes tomorrow. Today we began some holiday tunes, and I honestly thought when they were singing the divine words of, "Joy to the World," and "Silent Night," that it was a Choir of Angels. We also worked on, "Over the Rainbow." I thought to myself, "Wow. Great job choosing kids who sing really well this year!" Sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me and push that kid who really can't sing into choir, just because. This year I was more strict and turned 39 singers away as they just weren't up to par. Now here we are, 130+ singers, including some new faces who weren't at my school this year. Here we go!!! Wee!!!!!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!!! Wahoo!

Gotta love that t-shirt!

Both GA and NC kids enjoyed Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island,
the 3rd largest sand island in the world!

Ferris Wheel at Sydney Harbor

Beautiful Opera House and Harbor Bridge view at dusk

Harbor Bridge, night fall.

Byron Bay Lighthouse

Getting ready to go on the boat out to the Great Barrier Reef!
We loved Reef Magic tours...what a great company! And thanks to
the medication Kytril, no sea sickness for Autumn! Yay!!!

Inside Capricorn Caves

One of my koala friends at RainForeStation!

Some typical currency

One of many "big" icons in Oz...the Big Banana!
(There is also the Big Prawn, the Big Mango, etc).

With our homestay family, Shiloh, Wendy and Mark Quill.

Sampling sugar cane cut right from the stalk!

In certain areas of Australia, frogs really enjoy hiding in the
toilets and coming up when you flush! Ahh!!!

Hanging up our laundry to dry at our home stay. I mean,
should I point out that they have a perfectly working dryer? Nah!

Me with Amanda getting ready for sand tabogganing...probably
my least favorite activity on the trip. AHHH! Bleh!

Squinting at Byron Bay. Gorgeous day and views!

Trying our hand at cricket at the Sydney Cricket Grounds...

or just faking it with the equipment that was laying around!