That's right, this is when I say something about this day and its impact on what we do this day, every year.
About two thousand-some-odd years ago, someone may or may not have been born who, in his 33 or 34 year life span, inspired stories that inspired events that (long story short) created the world in which we live today. At one point, someone even decided to count the years from the assumed year of his birth. Somewhere in there the observed date of his birth was moved to coincide with a mid-winter holiday, and here we are.
In time, the traditions surrounding the celebrations of his birth became entwined with the traditions of the mid-winter holidays wherever it was celebrated, until now we have this crazy hodge-podge melange of traditions filling our houses and bringing people together. On top of that, other religions and cultures have made their holidays of the season more culturally impactful, and other traditions of the season have even been created in answer to this. And in addition, the traditions around this season have become the greatest engine for consumption and economic activity in history (maybe. It sure feels that way. Someone else can do the math).
But more important than all this is the fact that, despite the economic impact, despite the lack of connection in the popular imagination with the sources of the many traditions that have been integrated into today's festivities, in spite of the fact that there are some who specifically have different traditions in this season, there is one through-line in all of it.
This is the time when we all are culturally obliged to forget our differences. We are encouraged to come together and be nice to each other.
I normally don;t put much stock in "dream interpretation" with regards to fortune telling, and personality profiles, but just for fun, I thought I would throw out the question here, because this dream as relatively brief, and realistic, containing an unusual amount of coherent logic.
Dream, morning of 10/3/2013
I found a sort of folder in which there
were 6 horizontal slots in the front cover, arranged in vertical rows
of three. In five of those slots (the bottom right one being empty)
there were small cards from Christmas of the years 1958 – 1962. My
mom said this was a thing her brother Carl did, which was to send an
update of his family every year, and wondered what year this was
from. For some reason it seemed to be connected to when I was born.
We were also wondering when he stopped doing this.
On the upper right-hand corner of the
cover was a date, 1968. Also, it seemed that somewhere there was a
date that indicated the last time he sent one, that was 1998. This
seemed to me that he sent them every year until he died. However,
upon reflection, in the dream, I recalled that he died before that.
I looked several times at the small
cards slotted into the front cover, wondering why they were from only
as late as 1962 when the folder was from 1968. My mom kept wondering
when it was from and I kept on trying to show her the date in the
corner.
Hi Folks! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, eating much wonderful food with the people you love.
I have been busy here. I have posted up a short video on the making of “Combat Twister” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL5mUOb7Y6M) , the video shoot that took place a few weeks ago at the Halloween Adventure Costume Shop on West 43rd Street. It is backed by the music of STARK (http://www.starknyc.com), a hard rock band that performed at Frank Wood's birthday celebration. The video that I actually shot still requires a few hours and some financial support to finish.
I have also posted up a short statement form Neal Adams about Captain Marvel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5upTHccAQi0), made at the Big Apple Convention a couple of weeks age (and I edited in a few pictures of Captain Marvel, just to help get the point across). It is the first video of a new YouTube channel I have created, where I will be posting videos relating to the Captain Marvel Culture project.
Finally this week, it's that time of the month again, when Grapple Den hosts its monthly wrestling party. This, the last party of the year, will feature a X-Mas unwrapping match, blizzard wrestling, and of course, the royal Reindeer Tag-in Rumble! This will all go down at Tagine, that lovely Moroccan restaurant on 9th Ave near 40th Street on Wednesday, December 3rd, from 9:30 PM to 1:30 AM. As a special holiday present from Grapple Den, admission is half the usual price, only $10 per person this time! For more info, go to http://www.grappleden.com/party.
Now just a few plugs:
As you all know 'tis the season where we all are looking for that perfect gift for that special someone. Times are tough for all of us, so I hear, and Captain Zorikh is sensitive to this issue. That is why all products in the Watch This Space catalog, including the Pennsic War video documentary ( a great gift for that medievalist or LARPer), the Captain Zorikh music CD's (of which I highly recommend the Death Star Repairmen for that special Star Wars fan), and everything else is either $1 or 15% off, whichever is greater, from now through December 31. Simply deduct the appropriate ammlount from your PayPal order, or send a check or money order to the address at http://www.captainzorikh.com/wts/catalogue.html.
And should you find nothing there that is just right, remember that you can click on the link to Amazon.com from almost any page at http://www.captainzorikh.com and http://www.captainmarvelculture.com and a small portion of your purchase price will help Yours Truly finance future projects. Those websites happen to have lists of movies of interest to anyone who digs medieval/renaissance/ancient world/fantasy/swordfighting stuff, a list of comic book movies, and books about stage combat and armor, all linked to Amazon.com (and I know some of you out there dig that sort of thing).
And to wrap it up, plugs for two places in times Square that have kept me fed the past few months...
Dave and Buster's on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Ave is having a Punisher party, with free giveaways and other special stuff to celebrate the release of the new film, “Punisher: War Zone.”
Halloween Adventure Costume Shop on 43rd Street between 8th and 9th Ave, in addition to having hosted the Combat Twister video shoot, also has lots and lots of costumes and accessories, masks, wigs, hats, makeup, magic tricks, gag toys, funny nose & glasses, squirt guns, lightsabers, even plastic doggie do! It also has Santa suits and elf costumes of all sizes for any budget, and New Years party hats, horns, beads, noisemakers, confetti, and more!
That's Captain Zorikh for you, you never know where he will show up next!
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