Elf Without Jingles

07/16/2014

A few final thoughts to all you Delegates attending the World Santa Claus Congress, which kicks off on Monday:

Once again, the grounds of Bakken, the world's oldest continuously operational amusement park, will play host to over 200 Santa Clauses, Mrs .Clauses, Reindeer Keepers, Gnomes, Elves, Pixies, and other interested fans for this, the 57th World Santa Claus Congress, where, among other things, the parameters of Christmas Eve will be determined, and the opportunity to both fellowship and network with Santas from all over the world will be recognized!

But more importantly, our Delegates will again remind the world how precious the magic of Christmas truly is. You are all about to participate in one of the most positive and festive international gatherings of its kind anywhere in the world. What sets the Congress apart from other events of this particular size and scope has plenty to do with the fact that, while we share a common spirit of happiness with the world, we also remind ourselves that there is hope for a greater, more peaceful Planet. All we need to do is learn how to embrace that hope.

Though I myself will not be amongst you on Monday, my dear Delegates, I want you to know that I will be cheering you all on, following the events and postings from each of the three days, and hoping you'll all share your videos, photos and other memories with your fellow Santas across social media. (Even Santa Claus has had to do the social thing, the better to once again keep up with the times!)

Nonetheless, I wish all of you good luck in these next three days. Clearly, your efforts will be the stuff Santa fans will really believe in; and I can guarantee that all our friends will believe in you all as well.

Ho-ho-ho! Good luck, Congress Delegates, and Merry Christmas to all!

07/09/2014

Well, it's almost time now. The 57th World Santa Claus Congress is only days away, and everyone, I hope, has had plenty of time to prepare. For those of you who were wondering why we need an international gathering of Santas in the first place, well ... I can only say that the Congress will become more important than ever in the weeks and months to come. And now, let me tell you why.

For some time now, dearests, your humble Elf Without Jingles has been raising a great deal of concern over Santa's ultimate future. Digitalism, as I have come to call it, is becoming more and more a topic that even children as young as five years old can discuss with the greatest of ease; hence the fact that, as times change, so too must this foolish old Jolly Old Elf. Santa's association with the motion picture industry, which goes as far back as 1898, is at risk thanks to an increasingly mundane formula where Christmas has had to be 'saved' and/or 'defended'; so much so, in fact, that to survive, most Kringles have had to self-promote and self-market their own movies, at a time when the major studios won't do it anymore.

But who's to say how odd a filmmaking Santa can be if he wants to make his own movie? Well, I would honestly say that that's just me, grumbling and thinking at random.

07/07/2014

As we continue to enjoy our summertime adventures, your humble Elf Without Jingles must pause for a moment to remind you about KringleQuest's official charity, the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a/k/a http://www.curepsp.org

Progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP, is a neurodegenerative brain disorder. There's no known cause, no known treatment, no known cure. It affects about 5 to 6 people per 100,000 each year. Some of the symptoms: loss of balance; personality changes, such as a loss of interest in otherwise pleasurable activities; weakness of eye movements, particularly in the down direction; weakened movements within the mouth, tongue and throat; difficulty in swallowing foods, etc.; and slurred speech.

These were the heartbreaking keys that led to Dudley Moore's death from PSP-related pneumonia complications, a little over 20 years ago. Now, multi-talented actress Patricia Richardson, whose family has had its own history with PSP, wants you to meet some of the people who are fighting every day to find a cure for PSP.

We encourage you to seek out the http://www.curepsp.org website and explore what's happening right now as the struggle to stop this unusual disease continues.....

CurePSP is the foremost organization working toward curing and preventing progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and multiple system atrophy (MSA).

07/06/2014

Ho-ho-ho, all you Brooklyn Santas!

I'm here in a Starbucks at Downtown Brooklyn's Fulton Mall! Oh, the memories I have of the Christmases I often spent here ---- Once upon a time, the Albee Square Mall had Santa's Throne overlooking the tiny food court in the Mall's basement. Here, Santa could, on those days when he was on duty, watch the shoppers as they munched on burgers, pizza, whatever. Alas, these days, you can't get a decent pizza in Downtown Brooklyn the way you used to anymore. Times, sales prices, cultures --- they all changed. But then, things happen! Ho-ho-ho!.

07/03/2014

Tomorrow, of course, is Independence Day! And it's a very unique 4th of July because 200 years ago, one Francis Scott Key, while imprisoned in Fort McHenry, Maryland, wrote about the flag of our United States! "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been sung many times through the years; among the truly classic versions, few have been more famous than Marvin Gaye's rendition of the tune, at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game --- and of course, Whitney Houston's version, sung at Super Bowl XXV.

Oh yes, there are a lot of other versions, but this ol' Elf Without Jingles would rather that you do http://www.loc.gov --- that's the Library of Congress --- if you wanna discover more about Our National Anthem!

The Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, and it serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with more than 120 million items. The collections include books, sound recordings, motion pictures, photog…

07/02/2014

I've been to many places in all my journeys boys and girls, but few of them have kept me as young as dear old Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. That, of course, is where Saturday Night Live lives. Lorne Michaels has always been an excellent host each time I've done SNL. And of all Santa's SNL appearances, the following, where Bill Murray brings me out on stage, remains my absolute personal favorite:

"Welcome! It's gonna be a great show! We're all very excited! Welcome! It's gonna be a great show tonight; we have some increllible, incredible guests, starting with this man. Ladies and gentlemen, Santa Claus! C'mon, everybody!

"I love this guy. Let me tell you all a little about this man. Santa's schedule this year is almost about as busy as mine. I call him up though, and I say, 'Kris, I'm hosting Saturday Night Live. Can you be here?' He says, 'Billy, two things: What time, and what do I wear?' The guy is a Saint! A legitimate, Christian holy man! Now, seriously, everyone knows that the guy is workin' and doin' and busy, with the love and the thing. What they don't know is that the Kringle does 365 a year.

"True story: Glen Campbell Invitational Golf Tournament --- the nut Claus shows up and starts handing out Rolex watches to everyone. I haven't taken it off! These are incredibly expensive! I love you, man!

"Isn't he wonderful? Can we hear about it, folks? (Audience cheers.) Kris, you gonna be back later in the show? (I nod yes.) Kris is gonna be back later. We'll be right back! Merry Christmas!"

Of course, there was that other time at Studio 6B, where Conan O'Brien once held court, when I started poking around, before I strapped on a big ol' Fender Stratocaster guitar, and jammed with Jimmy Vivino and the Max Weinberg 7 for a bit of "Louie Louie" (Ho-ho-ho!) --- but that, my young friends, is another story.

07/01/2014

Well, as I said, boys and girls, it's July --- and this month means a lot of very special things for this ol' Elf Without Jingles! A little less than three weeks from now, Santas from over 30 countries, as I've been saying quite a lot, will gather at Bakken Amusement Park in Klampenbourg, Denmark, for the World Santa Claus Congress. For three whole days, the Delegates will frolic, engage in fellowship, and share the utter joy of being Santa with the rest of the world!

July of course is also Independence Day --- America's 227th Birthday --- and when you're Santa, one of the things you like to do to celebrate Independence Day is to go outside the house, and raise our flagpole in North Pole Headquarters' Town Square. And, when the Stars and Stripes is raised high over our domain, Mrs. Claus, the Elves and I all come together to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. We do this because our 50 wonderful United States have played the best, and most iconic roles in shaping Santa's Legend into what it still is today.

By the way, it's Pat Boone's version of "I am Proud to Be an American" that I personally prefer, as opposed to the far more famous Lee Greenwood version. Pat would often sing this version on his old Chevrolet TV show; it's this version you hear as part of the conclusion of Michael Moore's legendary documentary, "Roger and Me".

Oh sure, I'll take a brief guest shot or two in a 4th of July Parade anywhere across the country -- but one thing's for sure: every Christmas Eve, as I take the sleigh high over Manhattan airspace, nothing thrills me more than seeing dear and fabulous Lady Liberty! Ho-ho-ho!

I'll eave it to Richard and Master Blackwolf to tell you why July is a Very Important month. In the meantime, Happy Birthday, America -- a few hours early, mind you, but Happy Birthday, nonetheless! Ho-ho-ho!

06/30/2014

Well, tomorrow's July 1st, boys and girls, and that means that the 57th World Santa Claus Congress is just a few more days away!

For those of you who don't know why we have one of those, the World Santa Santa Claus Congress takes place on the third week --- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday --- of July, on the grounds of Dyrehavsbakken, in Klampenbourg, Denmark, a few miles or so from Copenhagen. Bakken, as it's known for short, is the oldest, most continuously-operational amusement park in the world. It is here for almost six decades that Santas, Mrs. Clauses, Elves, Gnomes, Pixies, and other friends of Christmas have assembled for a full three-day schedule filled with fellowship, frolicking, and just plain old good clean fun!

But there's much, much more to it than that. The delegates have their own Parade of Nations; they have a morning swim in Copenhagen harbor, where they also pay their respects to the city's legendary Little Mermaid monument, honoring the memory of Denmark's greatest storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen; they parade down Copenhagen's Olde Town Square, too, where they'll visit hospitals and nursing homes in the city -- and then, there's the really big event, where the members of the Danish Santa Claus Guild --- das Dansk Julemands Laug --- choose one of their own to rule the Congress as their "Santa Claus King"! There have been 18 of them through the years soon, I'll be able to reveal who #19 will be!

But as always, never take my word for it. Have a look at the official homepages to see for yourselves! They are:

http://www.worldsantaclauscongress.com
http://www.bakken.dk
http://www.danskjulemandslaug.dk

Do visit all three, and enjoy! Ho-ho-ho!

Julemændenes Verdenskongres har fundet sted i forlystelsesparken, Dyrehavsbakken (i folkemunde kendt som ”Bakken”) nord for København i Danmark siden 1957. Hver sommer indtages Bakken af julemænd fra hele verden, der samles for at sprede den glade julestemning, have det sjovt og dyrke det sociale fæ…

06/28/2014

Well now, with Christmas a little less than six months away, I thought I'd let you all know how, once upon a time, a modest little themed restaurant used to be based in New York City. I really don't remember too much about the place, other than the following: that it was called Mars 2112, that the premise of the theme was that Her Serene Highness, the Empress Glorianna, ruler of Mars, had invited all Earthlings to some very special events for extraterrestrials of all ages, and that the primary word spoken there was "Vabemu!"

Alas, few if any would speak about the place in its final years. The customers just never came in the end. And if they ever did anything Christmas related, I don't think they ever put together such celebrations, either, let alone have Santa visiting the place.

It seems to me, dearests, that New York has a kind of invisibility about it, one that only Mrs. Claus and myself can properly understand. I often used to tell these tales to Dooley when we were working, but Elves aren't entirely used to dealing with those sorts of things.

06/19/2014

It's always a wise Santa who always takes his own advice, my friends, and for a while now, I've managed to do just that! For the moment, though, the only thing I'm doing battle with is my nose. Through the aeons, I've had lots of reasons to blow my nose. I won't list those reasons here, mostly because some of your parents might consider them to be a tad rude. Suffice it to say, here's Elf Without Jingles' advice for beating up a nasty cold in the nose: bask in the sun if you must, read a few fairy tales, and nurse your sniffles!

And always blow your nose! A good-sized handkerchief and a good sniffle or two always sees me through almost every time! Ho-ho-ho!

06/17/2014

It may be a little difficult to do my ho-ho-ho-ing for a while, kids. Put simply, I may likely risk losing me voice if I keep it up. Happily, even with one or two hand gestures, and soft words, I can still manage to at least speak to some of you. To all me fellow Kringles: I hope I can recover me vocal capabilities before the season starts! I spent a year getting an awesome Santa makeover; the last thing I need now is for me to lose me voice before the holidays!

I may just do the Christmas in July/August thing myself, if only for the purpose of putting my business cards to good proper use! Y'see, here in the Kringleverse, we take seriously the notion that you should always have a real great voice. Now I'm potentially about to lose mine and I, for one, don't like it! I need to talk to you --- and I'll go to any lengths to make that happen!