Santa Parade 2023

A new Christmas season has brought with it a new Santa parade, this year being our ward's fourth annual event. By popular demand, JB and I were asked to reprise our roles as Mrs. and Santa Claus, respectively. With wonderful memories of last year's parade still at the forefront in our minds, we eagerly accepted the opportunity and considered it a great privilege.

Last year, breathing through the fake beard caused my glasses to fog up frequently, making it difficult for me to see people up close for a majority of our time on the float. Hence, I prepared this year's parade by growing out my beard following Halloween. JB then helped me out earlier on this evening by applying costume paint before the parade, giving me a bona fide white Santa beard.

It was another very cold December night, but at least we had chairs next to each other this time and could snuggle up together for some warmth.

Once again, this experience was not unlike being treated like a celebrity. Not only did several ward members come out of their homes to wave at us, but also several others not of our ward—people who happened to be driving by—pulled over and took their kids over to our float to take pictures with us. Three very anxious kids even hand-delivered letters to Santa ... which we will answer in the next few days.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Improvables: Seventh Annual Halloween Show

On Friday night, our troupe put on our annual Halloween performance, which is one of our favorite nights of the year.

My attempt at a costume was Anger from Disney/Pixar's Inside Out, which has been my favorite movie of the year to this point. I say "attempt" because though I spray-painted my hair red for the costume (and the red spray paint got all over the place), it didn't really turn my hair red as I expected it would, and it also didn't really translate to photos like these (in which I am asking a question in a game of "Press Conference"):

At any rate, it was another memorable night, and the costumes were very impressive all around. After the show, members of the troupe posed for this picture:

As you can see, we're kind of a big deal.

Movie Review: "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies; Or, How I Learned to Stop Smaug and Love Middle-Earth"

This movie—I just . . . I can't even. What a film! And that's just the title alone, which is marvelous.

About my viewing experience today: Sometimes, one of the best parts of going to see a movie in the theater is listening to the very audible reactions of the people around you (as long as they don't distract, of course). The lady seated behind us had the most hysterical laugh—risa que da risa, as the Peruvians say—heard, for example, during the scene in which the cheese-head orc (yes, really; this orc looked like it was a very upset Green Bay Packers fan) ran headfirst into a wall to break a hole through it.

I guess you had to be there.

All right, so . . . Before we go any further: SPOILER ALERT. (You'd think that would be obvious when you're reviewing a movie, but hey . . . some people. Am I right?)

 - In the previous two movies, we had Radagast and his rabbit-driven sled. In this one, we also have an elf riding a moose and dwarves riding rams—'cause they're RAM TOUGH! (rim shot)

 - The dwarves' hair was styled by the same barber who cut the hair of infamous '80s band A Flock of Seagulls. Well, at least some of them.

 - Gingers get angry, and they will not be stopped (Galadriel, Tauriel). Galadriel goes full girl-from-The Ring-crazy in one scene.

 - Christopher Lee has pretty sweet fighting moves for a 92-year-old guy.

 - Literally dozens of people are rescued from imminent doom at EXACTLY THE VERY LAST POSSIBLE SECOND.

 - Speaking of last-minute rescues, I think I figured out why the eagles keep appearing when they do to help save the day. The eagle is the symbol of the United States, right? Well, the U.S. didn't make it into World War I until 1917 and, later on, World War II until late 1941 (after more than two years of fighting). Those Americans are always arriving late. (Nevertheless, they do help to save everybody.)

 - Near the end of the film, Merry (Dominic Monaghan), from the first Middle-Earth trilogy, makes a very brief cameo appearance when Bilbo returns to the Shire. I later verified this in the IMDB trivia section because, hey, slow news day. You can see him on the bottom-right of the screen, walking away from Bag End.

None of this is meant to come across as any sort of a complaint. It's just Paco's unique take on things, because that's the kind of Sensitive New Age Guy he is.

Can't wait for The Hobbit 4!