Christmas/Ircink-style

"Christmas time is here,
Happiness and cheer,
Fun for all that children call,
Their favorite time of the year.
Snowflakes in the air,
Carols everywhere,
Olden times and ancient rhymes,
Of love and dreams to share..."

Ahh...I love that song. That Vince Guaraldi Trio tune from A Charlie Brown Christmas. And I love Christmas. This will be one of my last posts before I fly outta LA to go back home to Wisconsin to be with my family (actually I'll be in Chicago for a couple days first to see my friend, Justyna) and I wanted to give you a sneak peak at how the Ircink family celebrates this holiday.

Saturday, it's the annual Pierogi Feast at the Nowak home in Grafton, WI. My dad's youngest sister, Aunt Ev, and her husband, Uncle Bob (he's Polish and pierogi's are a Polish dish) put out this amazing spread of pierogi's and other food stuff.Pierogi's are generally cabbage or potatoes and they're very good. I've missed this event ever since I moved to CA and this year they're having it later. Na zdrowie!

Packer game at the Schmidt's on Sunday - GB at Chicago. We owe them a little payback for beating us earlier in the season (a game we shoulda won). They suck right now so we should trounce them.

Christmas Eve is traditionally just my mom, dad and my brother, Jason - and of course, Molly and Zo, Jas' dogs. It's not a quiet night in the Ircink household, that I can tell you. My mother puts together a spread of food - raw meat on rye, fairy food and other candies, herring, crackers with cheese and salami, meatballs, nuts, etc. And we drink. And smoke (not mom). Christmas Day my Aunt Karen (mom's younger sister) comes over with her family and we basically have a repeat of the previous day.

Throughout the holidays - we listen to classic Christmas albums including The Little Drummer Boy, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, various Celtic melodies, Mannheim Steamroller, and so forth. My dad will play his electric guitar and I'll play the Irish tin whistle (not the best, mind you). I've included a couple below for your listening pleasure.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y1GPxcxrBkI Bing Crosby White Christmas
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8hkUpW9ZCBQ Andy Williams and his brothers - Winter Wonderland
http://youtube.com/watch?v=667zOcXcV4c Johnny Mathis O Holy Night
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_zMhSjDqvRs Bing Crosby and David Bowie Little Drummer Boy
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon
http://youtube.com/watch?v=I-zhTP_iCkc&feature=related The Beach Boys with some Christmas music - go to the 1:00 mark
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dZvjPCcHI4g original Little Drummer Boy from the TV show

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6aNUm1ePMDs Have A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives, from Rudolph
http://youtube.com/watch?v=youiekG2UJA&feature=related Silver and Gold - Burl Ives, from Rudolph
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yon2YuXssvo Snow and Heat Miser, from The Year Without a Santa Clause

As far as Christmas/ holiday movies - we watch a few. Below are some of our favorites.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uZieW2F90Is A Christmas Story #1. The following are some classic scenes from this holiday favorite. TNT usually runs it for 24 hours.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UZ6HCcEIURU A Christmas Story #2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dgx1sSfriIA A Christmas Story - "Ohhhhh, fudge."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=a86VaRTuCaw scene from The Bells of St. Mary's. This movie, as well as Going My Way, are two family favorites. We love Bing - my Uncle Rocky can recite lines from both of these movies. Incidentally, Bing won the Academy Award for Going My Way AND he played the same character in both flicks, Father O'Malley. 'If you ever need a hand - if you're ever in trouble, just dial "O"...for O'Malley.'http://youtube.com/watch?v=iTUKHMlbYGA Swinging on a Star from Going My Way

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o7dY0GOtkv8 A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sims (1951). We Ircink's are Christmas Carol connoisseurs. We've seem them all - Reginald Owen, Henry Winkler, George C. Scott, Albert Finney - all of them. We feel the Alistair Sims version is the finest. Here are two wonderful scenes from it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5DAib6LwKAQ Another excerpt from A Christmas Carol (1951)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BVk6JKDa3zI Norelco Santa

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8jEnTSQStGE 1984 Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? Classic, particularly with my college group of friends. Tom, wanna lead us on this one?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KuP0KP2oPZ0 Classic Miller Beer Christmas commercial
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Izh6zrgMXk0 Budweiser Christmas commercial

Where will you be spending Christmas? Wherever you're at, I hope it's filled with warmth and the fellowship of family and friends. And from the Ircink family - Jim, Dee-Dee, Jeff and Jason, and Molly and Zo (the dogs) - and from our home in wintry Wisconsin, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas. And peace.