2021 Holiday Season: Week 6!
Welcome to WEEK 6 of the 2021 holiday season! Yeah, I completely whiffed on adding a post for Week 5, but it looks like everyone was able to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives.
Not much new to report, other than this month being insanely busy. I wish December didn’t move so fast! Right now I’m working on Funpack stuff, because with the holiday shipping deadlines I needed to start earlier than usual. (If you’re a subscriber, look for info on the December box on Sunday!)
At some point next week we’ll be dropping our next podcast, which has already been recorded. It’s very Christmassy, of course!
I still have a couple of big pieces I’m hoping to get onto the site before Santa arrives, but I just gotta get through the deadlined stuff first.
Hope everyone is well! Here’s your free-for-all thread. Talk about whatever ya want, all week long.
This week’s background noise: He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special, from 1985. I’m old enough to have seen this when it premiered, and yes, I remember watching it that night… which just happened to be on Christmas!
2021 Holiday Season: Week 4!
Totally forgot that I was supposed to update After Dark last night! That post-Thanksgiving food coma will do that to you. Welcome to WEEK 4 of the 2021 holiday season. Now that we’re nearing December, it’s super official. Bust out the lights and suck down candy canes with impunity.
Thanksgiving was solid. I got all of my cooking done on Wednesday night, so I was free to enjoy the entire Macy’s Parade without stressing. I’m glad for that, too, because I thought it was an amazing parade this year. It was probably the first one in the modern era that I could see myself reviewing, whether on Dino Drac or on the podcast. (Tho not this year, obviously!)
There were a dozen people at the big family dinner, which was actually pretty small by our standards. (By comparison, Christmas Eve will involve close to triple that number.) A smaller gathering was perfect for this year, which has been nuts in so many different ways. Last thing I needed was total insanity.
Highlights from the party included getting my ass kicked by my nephews on the Nintendo Switch, which I’d never played prior to Thursday. I was also happy to discover an open Dunkin’ Donuts nearby, so I got to be the hero who delivered Boxes O’ Joe (and some stale donuts) during the dessert round. (Way over-tipped the two people working at Dunkin’, too, because I can’t imagine that they wanted to be there.)
Now that we’re doubly officially in the holiday season, it’s time to break out the big guns. Here’s one of my own commercial compilations, featuring 30 minutes of nonstop old school Christmas spots. (I’m sure I ran this last year, but it’s worth highlighting twice.)
On deck for this week: Purple Stuff bonus show, new (old) holiday toy catalog review, and then hopefully back on camera for a YT video, because it’s been a while!
Enjoy your week. This is your free-for-all thread. Talk about whatever!
2021 Holiday Season: Week 3!
Sorry about this week’s thread being a little late — we were busy recording the next podcast.
This doubles as The Thanksgiving Thread. Well, it does if you live in the States, at least. If you do, let’s hear about how you’re celebrating, what you’re eating, and how you’re spending the rest of the extended holiday weekend.
I’ll also add a secondary survey to this week’s thread. Since it’s Thanksgiving and all, name three things you’ve been thankful for this year. (Trivial stuff is fine! If the damned Spider-Man trailer made you happy, go with it.)
Here are three of mine:
1) I’m thankful for Halloween the Cat, a bright spot in a year that got pretty dark.
2) I’m thankful for HBO Max, especially RN, because I like having instant, eternal access to A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation and that Thanksgiving-themed third-season episode of The Sopranos.
3) I’m thankful for my remaining stock of Pecan Caramel autumn candles, which I bought extras of before Michaels switched over to pine. They calm me!
This week’s background noise is the 1990 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We covered this exact parade on The Purple Stuff Podcast back in 2019. It’s the one with the infamous Quik Bunny intrusion. Enjoy!
2021 Holiday Season: Week 2!
It was slow around these parts last week. Maybe people weren’t aware that After Dark would remain updated through the holidays, or maybe Halloween is just a bigger draw. Doesn’t really matter — whether a thread gets 300 comments or just three, I’m gonna keep a “build it and they will come” attitude.
So, here’s your thread for Week 2 of the 2021 Holiday Season!
This month has been busy as hell. The Funpacks and podcast are always on the monthly to-do list, but since everything kinda needs to be delivered before Thanksgiving to have any relevance, I don’t have my usual wiggle room. Still, it’ll get done. One way or another, it always does.
My fam finally locked their plans for Thanksgiving. It’s going to be a smaller party than usual, though “smaller” in my giant Italian family doesn’t exactly mean “small.” To be honest, I’m all for having a more low-key TG this year. After all of the exhausting craziness of 2021, I’d rather have a reflective, relaxing holiday.
This week’s background noise: Garfield’s Thanksgiving, the 1989 TV special that made us love Grandma Arbuckle that much more. (Bonus points: This is an official upload from Garfield’s people, so the quality is excellent!)
Oh, and since last week was pretty quiet on After Dark, maybe I can liven things up with a survey:
In the comments, name a holiday dish that you’ve always heard/read about but never tried. Preferably something you really want to try.
I’ll go with oyster stuffing. I’ve been reading about it forever, but to date have never even seen it in person, let alone had a chance to sample it. I followed a recipe for Stove Top with minced clams last year, and since that was surprisingly good, I’m betting that homemade stuffing with oysters has gotta be a winner, too.
This is your free-for-all thread for Week 2. Answer the survey question if you wish, but you can also talk about whatever ya want, all week long!
