The header photo this month shows my father and my older brother Scott on Christmas day, 1959. Here is the full photo.
Wilford and Scott Jones, Christmas, 1959
Here is another photo of my dad and Scott:
Wilford and Scott Jones, Christmas, 1959
Scott in his stroller:
Scott Jones, Christmas, 1959
Today in Sacrament Meeting a speaker told how a man visited his home to thank him for the work his son is doing on his mission. The visitor was taught the gospel by that man’s son, joined the LDS Church, and has made many changes in his life.
NOTE: If this entry has concepts or terminology you do not understand, you may find explanations at www.mormon.org [intended primarily for those who are learning basic principles about the LDS Church], at www.lds.org [the official website of the LDS Church that includes basic information as well as more advanced materials for members of the LDS Church], or from me directly by posting a comment.
This year, as Christmas approaches, I’ll share some things I’ve done so far to enjoy and celebrate the season.
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As reported earlier, I read “Keeping Christmas In My Heart” by Richard Rife.
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I’ve begun reading “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
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Last night I attended a performance of “A Christmas Carol” at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. They did a great job. I began attending Hale Center Theater performances of “A Christmas Carol” in December 1987 during my first year of law school. My small section civil procedure professor, Richard Wilkins, had just begun playing the lead role (he would go on to reprise that role for perhaps 20 years?) and treated us to a dress rehearsal. This was when the theater was in Murray, Utah, and I attended with my good friend, and very literate, Holly Garbutt.
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I listened to Garrison Keillor’s “Now It’s Christmas Time Again” in which he shares Christmas music and anecdotes, largely with a Scandinavian or Minnesota flavor, frequently sprinkled with humor. The setting is the fictional Lake Wobegone, and the style of the presentation is quite similar to that of Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show. Some of the music will sound familiar to any American, but it turns out the music has Norwegian origins and the songs will be sung in Norwegian. Since my ancestry is part Danish, I enjoy getting exposed to some Scandinavian traditions. I can’t remember how I discovered this CD, but it is a favorite and does a great job capturing the Christmas spirit. One of my favorate parts – - Keillor nostalgically describes a Christmas scene, and in describing the wrapped gifts at the base of a beautifully decorated tree, observes that many of those gifts are socks and underwear.
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Saturday night I also went out to Spanish Fork to drive through the “Festival of Lights.” If you drive to downtown Spanish Fork, from there you just have to follow the signs, and after 5 or 10 minutes you’ll find yourself at the entrance of this venue in which you drive through an area illuminated with various Christmas-themed displays, and listen to Christmas music on FM 99.9 at a price of $5 per car. If you arrive between 6 pm and 10 pm, you’ll actually be able to enter – - I did not, and did not.
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This morning I caught Lloyd Newell’s message on The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s weekly broadcast “Music and the Spoken Word.” The message and music had a Christmas theme. It will be shown again today at 3 pm Utah time on www.byutv.org.
I learned of this film because it was recently shown at BYU’s International Cinema. My interest was piqued by this description: “Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece follows members of the French resistance fighting against the Nazi German occupation and the collaborationist Vichy Regime during World War II. Army of Shadows mixes political intrigue and gripping action, including a daring escape from a Gestapo detention center, with profound personal expressions of solitude and fear. 1969 | Jean-Pierre Melville | French | 145 minutes | color”
The scheduling at BYU did not work out for me, to it was off to the Orem Public Library again, and I viewed this on November 14. I had high expectations for this film – - perhaps too high. The film apparently assumes the audience knows of the remarkable feats and accomplishments of the French resistance movement during World War II, because the film shows none of them. The story accounts for 5 deaths – - 1 German soldier is killed by a member of the resistance during an escape, 2 resistance members take cyanide capsules while they are held captive and tortured by the Gestapo, 1 resistance member is killed by the resistance itself after becoming an informant for the Nazi’s, and 1 resistance member is killed by the resistance after she comes to be at risk of betraying the resistance while under duress after having been captured. The film demonstrated a close-knit group of people working with each other under secretive and dangerous circumstances, but I would have liked to have seen some greater depiction of the cause for which they were fighting, and the fruits of their labors. I have a greater appreciation of the actions and accomplishments of the French resistance from numerous viewings of episodes of “Hogan’s Heroes” than from my viewing of “Army of Shadows.” If I combine the two works, however, I can come away with a somewhat complete, if uneven, picture.
I spent Thanksgiving day in Provo.
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I worked out at Gold’s Gym, starting my workout a little later in the morning than usual. My right foot is acting up, so I had to forego running to the gym and instead did 60 minutes on the exercise bike – - I hate foot injuries! As always, the audio edition of The Economist was my constant companion.
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I called my parents and visited with them a bit.
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I ate Thanksgiving dinner at Chuck-A-Rama in Orem. There was quite a line of people there, Chuck-A-Rama was doing great business. The 10- to 15-minute wait in line afforded the opportunity to appreciate a huge photo of a collision between a Rio Grande Railroad locomotive and a Provo city passenger car that occurred in about 1910 at about 200 West Center Street in Provo, as well as Chuck-A-Rama songs, images, and other propaganda playing on a large screen TV mounted to the wall. The restaurant had most everything you might eat at home, and more. This included huge hot rolls. I believe the only weakness in the Thanksgiving menu is that you have no shot at getting the drumstick or the wishbone at Chuck-A-Rama, and the variety of pies falls short of the home menu. Nevertheless, it was a delicious meal, with the added advantage of some people watching opportunities.
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I read Stave 1 of “A Christmas Carol.” I must have actually read the book at some point, but if so it has been a long time ago. I’ve seen many theatrical productions, in particular Hale Center Theater productions in which my former law school professor Richard Wilkins played the part of Scrooge. My favorite film “adaptation” of this book is actually “Scrooged” – - if there are purists among my vast readership, they may be cringing.
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For the evening I planned to watch a game on the Internet via NFL Network, the game between the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. I planned on watching the game this way for two reasons. First, my cable package does not include NFL Network, and I could find no way to watch the game on some sort of single event “pay per view” basis, I would have had to purchase a package including games I would never watch (i.e., every game except for the November 26 game between Denver and New York). Second, I saw notices at www.nfl.com saying that I could watch the game live online. Well, just before game time I learned the NFL Network is contractually prohibited from showing entire games online, but they instead alternate between showing “look-ins” that allow you to see about 6 consecutive live plays, and then bombarding you with commentary by at least 4 in studio commentators that analyze everything to death. I ended up watching a quirky, star-studded, pretty entertaining, frequently inappropriate, film on the Lifetime network called “Love Actually” about individuals in London and their relationships with their loved ones at Christmas. By doing this, I failed to take advantage of the American Movie Classics network’s offering that was apparently intended to help viewers observe Thanksgiving and get into the holiday spirit – - an all day “Godfather” marathon comprised of all three “Godfather” films. In “The Godfather” there is a scene in which Luca Brasi, a ruthless enforcer who kills people at the behest of Vito Corleone, approaches Corleone at the wedding of Corleone’s daughter, and tells him “Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child.” (emphasis added) From a certain perspective, are “The Godfather” films anything other than an unrelenting display of people expressing gratitude?
