A bit of autobiography here at the start: I grew up a stone’s throw from Hershey, Pennsylvania and my current full-time employment comes from Hershey’s Chocolate World in Times Square. Chocolate, its production, and its sales are all a major part of my identity. So I view media related to Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” through a different lens than most. For example, the first time I saw 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” at the age of six, I wondered why the whole world would lose its mind over a contest where the prize was a visit to a chocolate factory. I lived a mere ten minutes from a chocolate factory, and even at that young age, the tour had gotten boring for me. Eventually I learned that the factory of the movie was a gorgeous and twisted place, and then I was able to enjoy the ride (with the possible exception of the nightmarish actual “ride”), but it took about half the movie for my disbelief to be suspended. more

Family wrapper makes the rules more

Whether you choose a real one or opt for the everlasting fake one, there is no doubt that the tree is the centerpiece of any yuletide decor. I remember my mom’s trees were always showpieces; our Victorian-styled house had a coinciding tanenbaum bejeweled in beautiful white lights and delicate ornaments that took her days to arrange just right. She then got ambitious and decided our lodge-style den needed an equally elaborate tree with bears and moose adorning every branch. One was the fun tree, the other was the fancy tree, but both were always the focal points of our home. more

The Christmas tree is a quintessential part of holiday decor. I remember my mom’s trees were always showpieces; our Victorian-styled house had a coinciding evergreen bejeweled in beautiful white lights and delicate ornaments that took her days to arrange just right. She then got ambitious and decided our lodge-style den needed an equally elaborate tree with bears and moose adorning every branch. One was the fun tree, the other was the fancy tree, but both were always the focal points of our home. more

I’ve almost always believed in Santa Claus, but I never thought he was real. more

NOTE: This Japanese film is available in both “Subbed” and “Dubbed” versions. This review will focuson the “Dubbed” version with the English-language voice cast. more

One of the things my dad taught me about the working world is that it’s always good to have “multiple revenue streams.” That way, if one stream dries up or slows to a trickle, you’ll have another one to keep you going. more

Christmas movies come in all styles, forms, and qualities. People like to feel a certain way during the holidays. They want joy. They want fun. They want to escape the quagmire that is the everyday world, even if just for a few moments. Christmas movies, in all their cheesy wholesomeness, provide that siesta from life’s doldrums. Luckily for all the holiday movies junkies, there are enough to keep you binge-watching into the yuletide. I have the ones close to my heart. The newest version of The Grinch, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch always gets me smiling. I love any Christmas Carol movie. My guilty pleasure is the Muppet version that combines the ridiculousness of the Muppets with the dead-pan seriousness of Michale Caine’s Scrooge. more

One of the most common sparrows in North America has a history that’s far more interesting than many people realize. more

We’ll be going into winter soon, Dec. 21 — maybe sooner if Mother Nature gets impatient. more

I have never liked parades - there I said it. I know they are a staple of small town, Midwest America and it is one of the aspects that make me a bit of an outsider around here; this town loves a good parade. I admit, I have avoided them, forgotten about them, gone out of town when they occurred, locked myself in my house, and done just about anything to stay away from the crowded streets filled with gaudy decorated vehicles and people walking by waving at strangers. I guess it is one of the Grinch-like, bah-humbug aspects of my personality, all the cheer and inconvenience of blocked roads just were not my thing! In all fairness, I blame my equally bah-humbug mother. She thought parades were boring so I never went to them and in turn inherited her disdain for watching people walk in straight lines in front of me. So naturally, I decided to participate in one. more

Dear Editor— more