1 00:00:37,640 --> 00:01:15,079 The Pure Normal Project Radio Show. Carry your hosts Scott Allen and Christina Bowen. 2 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,239 Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Paranormal Project Radio Show. 3 00:01:23,879 --> 00:01:27,280 This is our special in between Christmas and New Year's show. It's actually pre 4 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:32,400 recorded, but we're glad to be here tonight with a very special guest. 5 00:01:32,439 --> 00:01:34,680 Hi, Christina, how are you doing? Doing great? Going a little 6 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,480 crazy with the holidays, but I know, I get it, I get 7 00:01:38,519 --> 00:01:40,680 it. But it's almost over. Then we'll be in the dead of winter 8 00:01:40,799 --> 00:01:46,280 and praying for Memorial Day, which is what January first. So our guest 9 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,640 today I don't want to waste any time, is author, explorer, podcaster, 10 00:01:49,879 --> 00:01:55,599 storyteller, adventurer Jeff Balanger. And you know he was on our show, 11 00:01:56,239 --> 00:01:57,920 I don't know last year or the year before now, and he has 12 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,680 a new book out, The Fright Poor Christmas, so I thought what better 13 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:07,439 time of year to bring him on to talk about his new book. He's 14 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:13,599 also the host of the new England Legends series on Prime and PBS, and 15 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:15,199 he also has the podcast of England Legends as well, so we're going to 16 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,599 bring him out. Jeff Balanger, Welcome to the show. How are you 17 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,719 hello? Good to be back with both of you. I am so glad 18 00:02:22,759 --> 00:02:24,960 to have you with us today. How did this How long you been working 19 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,960 on this book? And how did this come out? Yeah, so it's 20 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,879 funny. The it started really about ten years ago, when it was an 21 00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:38,759 early and cold December day and I was hanging lights outside for the holidays. 22 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,840 Half of them didn't work. They worked when I put them in the box 23 00:02:42,879 --> 00:02:46,639 eleven months ago. They are not working now. And then I was putting 24 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,639 a Christmas wreath on my front door. The wreath was plastic, fake, 25 00:02:50,759 --> 00:02:53,599 Everything about it was fake, except the pine cones, but those were still 26 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:58,599 sprayed with plastic. And the crafting wire I used to attach it to the 27 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,479 door knocker was old and rusted, and it broke and fell to the ground, 28 00:03:01,599 --> 00:03:08,159 and I was just like, humbug. I didn't say humbug, it 29 00:03:08,199 --> 00:03:15,120 was. It was like a string of swears that like somewhere news nowhere hadn't 30 00:03:15,159 --> 00:03:19,479 been invented yet, and you know others were old classics, you know. 31 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,400 I dusted off the hits, played them all, played them all, and 32 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,159 as I sat stood there with my fingers like numb, I was just like, 33 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,960 why am I doing this? I'm a Halloween guy. Why am I 34 00:03:32,159 --> 00:03:36,280 out here in the cold putting the lights up? Why the lights? Why 35 00:03:36,319 --> 00:03:38,599 the evergreens? Why December twenty fifth? Why Santa Claus? Why do we 36 00:03:38,639 --> 00:03:43,439 go into hawk for this one day of the year. Why so much trouble? 37 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,879 Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? And I'm the kind 38 00:03:45,919 --> 00:03:50,199 of person that once those questions start knocking around in my head, I don't 39 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,840 really sleep well until I start to find those answers. And then that old 40 00:03:54,159 --> 00:03:59,080 there was a Christmas lyric jumped into my head in that moment, Andy Williams 41 00:03:59,199 --> 00:04:01,800 singing, They'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long 42 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,400 long ago, And I went, all right, what was Andy Williams talking 43 00:04:04,439 --> 00:04:08,560 about? Because when I grew up, I had Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer 44 00:04:09,039 --> 00:04:13,719 and not much else, And so what does he mean scary ghost stories? 45 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,040 I'm a Halloween person. Why should I should just skip this holiday? But 46 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:19,600 then I started diving in, and I said, all right, I'm gonna 47 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,079 have to break this thing apart into all its original pieces and put it back 48 00:04:24,079 --> 00:04:27,319 together again so I could understand it. And I started to dive in, 49 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,199 and I went, oh, dear Lord, I was always a Halloween person 50 00:04:30,199 --> 00:04:34,399 because I like spooky things. I like spooky, creepy things. And I 51 00:04:34,439 --> 00:04:40,319 would learn through this journey that, oh my, have I been loving the 52 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:45,920 wrong holiday all these years? Yeah, because Halloween is the second spookiest holiday 53 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,920 of the year. It is a distant, distant, distant second, and 54 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:56,240 it can't hold a candle to Christmas when it comes to fright factor. And 55 00:04:56,319 --> 00:04:59,240 so it sort of started there. And then I was asked to give a 56 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,319 talk on Cramp this the Christmas Devil, and I went, well, I've 57 00:05:01,319 --> 00:05:04,720 been meaning to look into the old guy a little more anyway, And one 58 00:05:04,759 --> 00:05:08,480 thing just sort of led to another, and so this was all born as 59 00:05:08,519 --> 00:05:11,879 like a stage show where I was telling the story of Christmas and the monsters 60 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,360 in the darkness around it. And then a couple of years ago, publisher 61 00:05:15,399 --> 00:05:16,680 contacted me and said this should be a book, and I said, yeah, 62 00:05:16,759 --> 00:05:19,720 I've been meaning to get to that, and then but I don't want 63 00:05:19,759 --> 00:05:21,319 to just be like another book, and they're like, no, no, 64 00:05:21,199 --> 00:05:25,000 no, no, we want this to be like full color, hardcover, 65 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,720 beautiful, like gift book. And I just went really twisted and sick. 66 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:36,040 I'm in, I'm in, let's right, Yeah, that's kind of my 67 00:05:36,079 --> 00:05:39,959 wheelhouse, so let's do this and so so it was really it was like 68 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,759 ten years in the making, and many of the stories were crowdsurced sourced. 69 00:05:43,759 --> 00:05:46,600 I would tell the stories in front of live audiences and some would come up 70 00:05:46,639 --> 00:05:48,959 and go, I can't believe you left off whatever, and I'd write it 71 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:50,759 down and I'd go home and I go, God, that's good. I 72 00:05:50,759 --> 00:05:54,639 I can't believe it. And then you know, the next audience would get 73 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,920 that one, and it just grew and grew. But it turns out and 74 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,839 then also too, I started to get mad. I was raised Roman Catholic, 75 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,000 which I feel like I should divulge here in the beginning. And when 76 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,920 I was growing up, you know, Christmas was a very big deal in 77 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:13,680 my house, right, and my priest though, father Lawler, kind of 78 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:19,399 a mean guy for being honest. He I remember him hating Santa Claus and 79 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:25,879 thinking, what, like I was five years five or six years old and 80 00:06:25,959 --> 00:06:30,439 Santa was coming to our church hall and all the kids there were beyond excited 81 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,720 because I don't know, the world's biggest celebrity is coming. Yeah. Yeah, 82 00:06:33,759 --> 00:06:39,560 So all of a sudden in walks Santa freaking Clause. And he's got 83 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,439 a big sack, and he's got candy canes for all the kids, and 84 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:46,079 little rapped gifts which turn out to be plastic rosary beats for all the kids, 85 00:06:46,319 --> 00:06:50,439 and what I've always wanted, you know, just like leering at Santa 86 00:06:50,439 --> 00:06:54,439 Claus trying to shoot death lasers out of his eyes, trying to like kill 87 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,160 Santa with his brain. And I remember looking at father Lawla and being like, 88 00:06:58,439 --> 00:07:01,319 what's wrong with you? That's Santa Clause. This guy's literally like bigger 89 00:07:01,319 --> 00:07:12,920 than Jesus. Uh oh oh maybe, oh oh that's why. Oh so 90 00:07:12,959 --> 00:07:15,000 anyway, I think he was sort of telling me in his own angry, 91 00:07:15,079 --> 00:07:20,360 bitter way that this holiday has nothing in the world to do with Jesus. 92 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:27,600 And boy was he right. He was right. Pagan is the day is 93 00:07:27,639 --> 00:07:33,720 long? Yeah, forgive me. It's as pagan as the day is short. 94 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,680 So yeah, So it turns out all the fuss, all this fuss 95 00:07:36,759 --> 00:07:41,600 is over one thing, and that's the Winter solstice. It is the shortest 96 00:07:41,639 --> 00:07:44,959 day and the longest darkest night. Winter is coming. It's a time to 97 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,199 be afraid. It's a time to ask yourself if you have enough food and 98 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,839 fuel to get through the winter. It's a time to put your bigones aside 99 00:07:50,839 --> 00:07:55,879 and party with your neighbors because we're gonna need each other to get through this 100 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,160 season. And if we've been having arguments all year, it's time for me 101 00:07:59,199 --> 00:08:01,600 to give you gifts and for us to drink and eat together and say I'm 102 00:08:01,639 --> 00:08:05,720 sorry, because if anything goes wrong, I might be knocking at your door 103 00:08:05,839 --> 00:08:09,360 and asking to stay with you, and you might be doing the same. 104 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:13,240 Mm hmm. And that was it. So that was that was the impetus. 105 00:08:13,279 --> 00:08:20,199 And then there's so many pieces, and I've learned that this holiday was 106 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,160 originally the most inclusive of all holidays. Had nothing to do with what you 107 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,000 believed or didn't believe, or who you prayed to or didn't pray to. 108 00:08:28,399 --> 00:08:31,759 Made no difference if you live in a place where winter's not so easy. 109 00:08:31,559 --> 00:08:35,919 That was it. Holiday was for you, the salstice, whether you want 110 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:41,840 to call it Saturnalia or Yule or midwinter or Christmas. It was always always 111 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:50,960 about getting ready to hunker down because the long winter's coming right right, So 112 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,799 so the fright before Christmas, Grampus, where did he fit in? So 113 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,759 if you are trying to explain to your loved ones, especially your children, 114 00:09:00,879 --> 00:09:05,480 about why it's so important that we stay inside. Now, us adults know, 115 00:09:05,879 --> 00:09:09,159 if you wander outside and the cold and the dark and you're caught unprepared, 116 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,200 you will die. You'll die from the elements. You'll you know, 117 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,960 you'll go hypothermic, You'll fall down dead, and that's the end of it. 118 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,120 So whether the elements kill your child or a monster kills your child is 119 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,639 kind of irrelevant. If you teach them this is the time to stay inside. 120 00:09:26,919 --> 00:09:31,440 This is the time to stay safe among your people, because out there 121 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,720 there's literally monsters lurking. Maybe some of these monsters are here to help, 122 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:41,399 you know, weird twisted sideways around the back kind of way. And so 123 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:46,240 Crampis was born in Austria, in Germany and in the Mountainous region. He's 124 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:52,360 many centuries old and he eventually got connected with Saint Nicholas, and Saint Nicholas 125 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:58,159 was a real historical figure born in Myra modern day Turkey. Because he was 126 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,159 born into a wealthy family, he was an orphan from a young age and 127 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:07,000 he spent his whole life giving his money away, building orphanages and hospitals and 128 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,440 giving dowries to the poor. And throwing coins through windows. Gave it all 129 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,399 away because that's what made him feel good. And he became the patron saint 130 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,879 for a lot of groups, pawnbrokers for one, it's tailors for another, 131 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:24,080 and children and children as well. And when he died on December sixth, 132 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,799 which is an important day, December sixth became Saint Nicholas Day. That's the 133 00:10:28,879 --> 00:10:33,919 day that Saint Nicholas brings presents to the good girls and boys around Europe. 134 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,919 And if Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus are one and the same in your head, 135 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,559 anyone listening right now, I'm going to ask you to go ahead and 136 00:10:41,639 --> 00:10:45,879 split them apart, at least for the next hour or so, like the 137 00:10:45,919 --> 00:10:50,799 rest of the world does. Saint Nicholas arrives on December sixth, Santa Claus 138 00:10:50,799 --> 00:10:56,919 comes on December twenty fifth. Certainly plenty of similarities and crossover, However they 139 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:03,080 are different. So if December sixth is Sa Nicholas Day, December fifth becomes 140 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,360 the day for consequence and judgment. And that's where Crompus fits in. He 141 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:13,000 comes on down, He arrives often with Saint Nicholas. He's a monster covered 142 00:11:13,039 --> 00:11:16,879 in fur, he's got long horns and a long forked red tongue. He's 143 00:11:16,879 --> 00:11:18,799 covered in chains so you can hear him coming, and he carries a scratchy 144 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:24,039 sack. And on December fifth, the evening Kropus knocked. He'll come around 145 00:11:24,039 --> 00:11:26,600 and scoop up all the naughty children, stuff him in the sack, bring 146 00:11:26,639 --> 00:11:31,120 him back to his lair and kill them. So come December sixth, Saint 147 00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:33,679 Nicholas Day, Saint Nicholas can bring presents to all the good girls and boys, 148 00:11:33,759 --> 00:11:39,600 because that's all that's left alive. Oh that's a pleasant thought, isn't 149 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,159 that. So it wouldn't it be great joy time of year one day if 150 00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:48,879 we could get rid of all the jerks in the world, like now we're 151 00:11:48,879 --> 00:11:52,759 not doing a show on the purge, that's you know, I mean, 152 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,759 let's face it, I think that would be pretty wonderful. So so that 153 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,960 was that was where it all sort of started. And and if people have 154 00:11:58,039 --> 00:12:05,840 called incorrectly Santa crampis rather the anti Saint Nicholas or the enemy of Saint Nicholas, 155 00:12:05,879 --> 00:12:07,600 not true at all at all. These guys just did the work. 156 00:12:07,919 --> 00:12:13,360 He did the work. They they would arrive together cohorts good cop like that 157 00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:18,879 easy right, And and nor is cramp as evil. You know, every 158 00:12:18,919 --> 00:12:22,799 society needs someone that dolls out the punishment, someone that that you know, 159 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,679 handles that, and that was Crampis. That doesn't mean you can't love your 160 00:12:26,759 --> 00:12:31,240 job, you know what I mean. You are a little twisted, aren't 161 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:35,320 you. But that doesn't make you evil. You know, you should enjoy 162 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,320 your work. Well, you know, killing the killing the little children, 163 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,320 I don't know. I mean, that's so that's a little bit, that's 164 00:12:41,399 --> 00:12:46,639 that's a little rough. I mean on the surface, sure, yeah, 165 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:52,320 but over time he became very metaphorical, you know. And and then he 166 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,039 also carries a switch of sticks as you can see behind me. And then 167 00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,720 he was known to just beat the naughty children as as to kill them, 168 00:13:00,759 --> 00:13:03,240 just sort of like correcting them. But he was always sort of the consequence 169 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:05,360 for bad behavior. When I was a kid, I was warned, I'll 170 00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:09,679 get less presents, or at the very worst, I'll have coal and sticks 171 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,919 in my stocking, which is that's what I was told. Yeah, I 172 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,000 mean, you know, you could behave badly for a whole year and colon 173 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,200 sticks, so what you know what I mean, so bad? Yeah, 174 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,039 all the cookies. I stole all the nights I stayed up late. Small 175 00:13:24,039 --> 00:13:28,559 price to pay. There you go, But that's not really much of a 176 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,279 consequence. Crampis and there are many other monsters as well, brings that consequence. 177 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:39,759 And of course today he's blowing up. He's getting movie deals. You 178 00:13:39,799 --> 00:13:43,279 know, he's in twenty fifteen, the Crampist movie came out. It was 179 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:48,399 sort of a cult classic. It's getting played year after year. Know this 180 00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:52,200 my Christmas playlist? Yeah? Yeah, you watch It's a Wonderful Life and 181 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:56,120 then Crampis back to back. Yeah, I want to see a crossover, 182 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,240 you know, or Jimmy Stewart's like, oh hi, what's going on? 183 00:14:01,399 --> 00:14:05,360 You know, that would have been brilliant. Rings Crapus is coming and you 184 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:13,279 little I need to see that on the big screen. Yeah, I know, 185 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,720 some c g I folks, we could. We're gonna have to start 186 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:20,240 a gofund me. I guess we can get this done. That would be 187 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:26,919 awesome. Gosh. Oh yes, So did I mean did you grow up 188 00:14:26,919 --> 00:14:31,840 with scary girls stories or monsters in your well? Not at Christmas time, 189 00:14:31,919 --> 00:14:33,799 although you know I did go to Catholic school, so there was Sister Francis 190 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:39,360 she carried sticks. Yeah, the consequence. But so you grew up with 191 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,600 the was that our lady of inadvertent flatulence? Is that? Yes, yes, 192 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,919 that's the one. They were rough. They were rough there. They've 193 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:54,399 turned out many a psychic medium, I assure you. Yes, they literally 194 00:14:54,679 --> 00:14:58,080 beat the psychic right India. Oh my god, I don't see any dead 195 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:07,039 people. Wam brought me to the edge. Now it's open. I didn't 196 00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:11,200 know I was gonna laugh so much. This is great. So yeah, 197 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:16,080 so it's really so. The holiday and many, especially northern European countries, 198 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,320 incorporate these various monsters. They're out there lurking in the dangerous, long, 199 00:15:20,559 --> 00:15:26,360 dark, cold night. And then parents discovered that they could use them to 200 00:15:26,759 --> 00:15:31,320 keep their kids in line. And so, uh, anyone who's ever been 201 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,799 a parent and been trying desperately to get just a little bit of quiet time 202 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,840 at night before you yourself have to go to bed, No, at times 203 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,600 you get desperate, and uh, I picture, I mean, imagine, 204 00:15:41,799 --> 00:15:45,919 imagine instead of being told you know Santa's watching, or you know you're gonna 205 00:15:45,919 --> 00:15:48,480 get less presents, imagine just cramp is standing in the corner, just hitting 206 00:15:48,519 --> 00:15:56,799 the sticks against just just sitting quietly, you know, like you're watching your 207 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:02,240 parents are like, hey, did you take antra cookie Crampis And he just 208 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,120 kind of leans forward. Oh not yet, buddy. Just wait, he's 209 00:16:06,159 --> 00:16:08,360 ready, you know, just he's ready, just hitting the sticks like yep, 210 00:16:08,519 --> 00:16:12,320 watching everybody. I'm ready. Just say the word and I'm on the 211 00:16:12,399 --> 00:16:19,240 job. You know, Santa is time out and Crampis is the time you're 212 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:25,960 out because he's knock getting you out. I guess we're talking about like misdemeanors 213 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,279 and felonies. Right, that's it. There you go, yea, yeah, 214 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,360 that would be that's a good analogy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 215 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,919 yeah. Don't you know there's wildly popular. I mean there was postcards, 216 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,039 lots of postcards. If you want to spend a fun few minutes, go 217 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,200 on Google image search and just type in Crampis postcards. You'll see those old 218 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:47,320 ones. Yeah. I love those. Yeah, that's what you gave instead 219 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,360 of Christmas cards. You'd send those. And they were wildly popular and Crampis 220 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:57,440 was everywhere, but around the nineteen teen's nineteen twenties he very quickly went out 221 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:03,079 of fashion when Sam Clause took over the Christmas holiday. There's a direct one 222 00:17:03,119 --> 00:17:08,640 to one correlation there. You know, once it became about Santa, then 223 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,680 all the monsters had to go away. But Crampis is just one one of 224 00:17:11,759 --> 00:17:18,240 many. Through the very folklore of it. Wasn't the current Santa that everybody 225 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,880 sees and things that wasn't that linked to a Coca Cola advertisement early back then? 226 00:17:22,279 --> 00:17:26,400 Is outfit? Sure is? Yeah, when you when someone says Santa 227 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,480 Claus and you picture in your mind what he looks like. Coca Cola taught 228 00:17:30,519 --> 00:17:34,359 us that in the nineteen twenties. And what was happening was that America was 229 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,319 in a great depression and the only way out of a great depression, economic 230 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:44,440 depression or recession for that matter, is to spend money. And if you 231 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,039 don't have money, how do you do that? And if you do have 232 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,079 a little bit of money, your instinct is to save it and not spend 233 00:17:49,079 --> 00:17:53,279 it. But Coca Cola came up with this, like they took. Santa 234 00:17:53,319 --> 00:17:57,880 had been evolving since really like the eighteen fifties or so. He showed up 235 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:03,680 in Harper's magazine. Thomas Nast Twas The Night Before Christmas was written by Clement 236 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,680 Moore that really started to make the figure bigger and bigger. But it was 237 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:14,119 the nineteen twenties when Coca Cola developed this ad campaign and the thing is it 238 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,720 worked. People bought coke, and then the following year people that sold anything 239 00:18:19,599 --> 00:18:23,079 donuts and pizza, cars and whatever. They were like, wait, wait, 240 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:27,559 wait, Coca Cola does not own Santa Claus, we could use them 241 00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:33,680 too. And so the world's biggest celebrity was out there promoting for free products 242 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,640 and services everywhere, and America started to crawl out of the Great Depression. 243 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:41,720 Thanksgiving was moved to the fourth Thursday in November instead of the last Thursday because 244 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,400 retailers needed more time for shopping for Christmas. And what's good for the economy 245 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:52,440 is good for the America, and then that Christmas squarely became about consumerism at 246 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,400 that point. That's what it was all about. It was about making sure 247 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,119 we spend, spend, spend, and all the monsters, all the consequences 248 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,759 had to go away. That's that's what was so important, was to you 249 00:19:03,759 --> 00:19:06,799 know, make sure that nobody's scared. We want everybody happy, bye bye 250 00:19:06,799 --> 00:19:10,400 bye. And that's where it sat. But I'm here today to warn you 251 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,759 that these monsters are coming back and they're coming back because they're showing up at 252 00:19:14,759 --> 00:19:18,160 pop culture references, they're getting movie deals, they're they're in parades again. 253 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:25,640 We are bringing back the darker side of this holiday, and I think just 254 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:30,920 in time to save ourselves. So is your balance, Yeah, yeah, 255 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,480 the good guy, the bad guy. I love that. I'm all about 256 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,519 balance in this world, anyhow. I agree, well also to think about 257 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:44,720 this in my experience anyway, I don't know of anybody that can't make changes 258 00:19:44,759 --> 00:19:51,039 for the better without fear. Unless you are afraid of something, how can 259 00:19:51,079 --> 00:19:53,599 you like if you know, like it's a good idea to eat more vegetables 260 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,640 and take walks and exercise regularly, you know that that's just everyone does that, 261 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,799 but you know it's tough to put it into practice until your doctor says 262 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,079 you just had a minor cardiac event. The next one could kill you. 263 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:10,839 If you do ABC and D, you might keep this away and be okay. 264 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,640 And then you say, oh my, I'm not ready to die. 265 00:20:14,839 --> 00:20:19,960 You're scared you make changes. This holiday offers us this inherent darkness, this 266 00:20:21,079 --> 00:20:25,839 inherent danger, and if we face the gauntlet of these ghosts, of these 267 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,279 monsters, then we might come out the other side. Better for it, 268 00:20:29,319 --> 00:20:33,440 and everything can change in one night. And I know a guy who did 269 00:20:33,519 --> 00:20:38,240 change in one night, thanks to some ghosts haunting him. I've heard of 270 00:20:38,319 --> 00:20:44,759 him. Yeah, I believe it was four or or ghosts. The first, 271 00:20:44,839 --> 00:20:48,480 of course, was Jacob Marley, the one everyone forgets. Yes, 272 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,519 yeah, that's the and he's most important. He's the one that shows up 273 00:20:52,559 --> 00:20:56,480 and says to his old business partner, Scrooge, you know I'm covered in 274 00:20:56,599 --> 00:21:00,640 chains, chains I forged in life. They were just as long as yours 275 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,680 seven Christmases ago, this very night, and you've worked on yours ever since. 276 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,920 It's a ponderous chain. But there's a chance for you, Scrooge. 277 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,039 You are going to have to face down three more spirits. And if you 278 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,880 get through this, and Jacob Marley arranged it, he made it happen, 279 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:18,400 you get through this, you might make it. And Scrooge, of course, 280 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,880 has to face his past. The ghost of Christmas past, see his 281 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,400 lonely self at the boarding house, sees his sister die in childbirth, sees 282 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,640 him self falling in love and then getting his job with old Feziwig, but 283 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,359 then also sees himself falling in love with something else with money, and then 284 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,440 losing the love of his life, and you see him turn into this hardened 285 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,319 man. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him a world where Christmas cheer is 286 00:21:42,319 --> 00:21:47,720 everywhere, even in the poor houses and workhouses, even at Bob Cratch's house, 287 00:21:47,759 --> 00:21:49,839 where tiny Tim is so sick, and if only they had more money 288 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:55,440 they could afford medical help and nourishment. And Scrooge is in a position to 289 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,319 do something about that, but chooses not to. And then finally, the 290 00:21:57,319 --> 00:22:02,680 Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him bleak future where some old guy dies 291 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:04,440 and people are laughing about it. Good to be rid of him. And 292 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,839 finally, when we see the grave, we realize it's Scrooge. And it's 293 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,279 at that point in the story where all of us who are reading the book 294 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:17,119 or watching it on TV or play or however you're consuming it, were shocked 295 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:18,480 because we go, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, 296 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:23,680 I realize who Scrooge is. I had no idea He's me. I'm 297 00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:26,960 Scrooge. I'm getting older and crankier. And then in the next morning, 298 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:32,720 of course, he wakes up to the bells of churches ringing, and everything 299 00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:36,519 is different. He has faced as ghosts, faced as demons, he's run 300 00:22:36,559 --> 00:22:40,279 that gauntlet. He came out the other side, and he can change everything 301 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:44,279 in one instant. He can start giving to charity. He sends a turkey 302 00:22:44,279 --> 00:22:48,359 to Bob Cratchit, he goes to see his nephews for dinner. Everything is 303 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:52,359 different in one single night. And that idea of redemption overnight sounds so, 304 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:59,319 so very good. And it's there for us because of the inherent danger ghosts 305 00:22:59,319 --> 00:23:03,319 and monsters that are lurking in the shadows of the winter solstice. I love 306 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:11,519 that it's been there for us, right It's I mean the Christmas Carol's been 307 00:23:11,559 --> 00:23:15,920 around since the early eighteen forties, that that story has never gone away. 308 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,319 You know, it shows up year after year. It's we've seen muppets do 309 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,839 it. We've seen it on stage, we've seen it in cartoons. You 310 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,880 know, we've we've won ice yea, yeah. Have you seen it at 311 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:32,759 north Shore Music Theater? Have you seen their version? So they they've been 312 00:23:32,759 --> 00:23:37,279 doing it for decades. And the man that plays Scrooge is from Texas and 313 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:41,319 I actually had him on the show last year for this very spot to talk 314 00:23:41,319 --> 00:23:44,759 about his role as Scrooge, and because I thought, you know what's more 315 00:23:44,759 --> 00:23:48,279 paranormal than a Christmas carol, really, you know. And it was a 316 00:23:48,319 --> 00:23:52,680 great it's great how it's all kind of like tied in together like that. 317 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:57,359 It's so it's such an important story and that you can't say enough what Charles 318 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,759 Dickens did to define in the holiday. The holiday was not a thing. 319 00:24:02,079 --> 00:24:04,440 It was not It was like groundhog Day, like the way you think of 320 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:10,480 groundhog Day now is how people thought of Christmas then just today, most people 321 00:24:10,559 --> 00:24:14,920 went to work and school and everything else, and Parliament was in session and 322 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:18,519 all that other stuff. But this book suddenly said like, no, this 323 00:24:18,599 --> 00:24:21,279 is a day, this is this is special, and it's a time to 324 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,640 give to charity. And it's and it's a secular book too. I mean, 325 00:24:26,039 --> 00:24:29,680 you know, the Birth of Jesus is mentioned barely gets one sentence in 326 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,519 the whole book, but it's really about how you're supposed to feel about it. 327 00:24:32,559 --> 00:24:37,039 And what he's doing is he's tapping into centuries of Saturnalia and Yule and 328 00:24:37,319 --> 00:24:41,680 these festivals that have been omnipresent, you know, and so many things we 329 00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:45,920 do today still connect us to those very old ways. When you put up 330 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,519 a Christmas tree, when you put a wreath on your front door, when 331 00:24:49,519 --> 00:24:52,839 you put up lights on your trees outside, when you baked goods, when 332 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,400 you make eggnog and get drunk with friends, when you go to your office 333 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:02,960 party and get loaded. You know you are participating in Saturday A. Yeah, 334 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:08,759 you're participating in Yule. Right, it shines through. But we fooled 335 00:25:08,799 --> 00:25:11,880 ourselves into thinking like, oh, this is how we celebrate Christmas. And 336 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:18,279 it is. But it was not wrong because the Church took what was already 337 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:25,119 happening, though exactly, and rolled it into their own version. And that's 338 00:25:25,319 --> 00:25:29,920 super modern. I mean, Christians have been at war with Christmas since about 339 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:36,119 three point thirty six AD until like nineteen seventy. You know, they literally 340 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,359 banned it. When the Puritans were in charge of British Parliament, they banned 341 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:42,799 Christmas. They called it satanical. To dress fine, give gifts, make 342 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,400 merry, you'd be fined five shillings, which is about three days wages for 343 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,640 the working class. Back then, and even when the band was lifted, 344 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,240 preachers were preaching from the pulpit, we do more to dishonor Christianity in the 345 00:25:55,240 --> 00:26:00,119 twelve days of Christmas than in all twelve months combined. And they were they 346 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,400 were furious with the holiday because it was so so pagan, and then finally 347 00:26:04,559 --> 00:26:07,039 somewhere along the way they just sort of gave up and said it was ours 348 00:26:07,079 --> 00:26:10,839 all along. Don't say, you know, Jesus is the reason for the 349 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,240 season. And all we know is that if it were important, if the 350 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,240 birth story of Jesus was important, it would get a lot more ink in 351 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,119 the Bible. It gets hardly a mention, And and if the date was 352 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:23,799 important, that would be told to you in the Bible. It's not. 353 00:26:25,079 --> 00:26:27,880 It's just all we know is that shepherds were sleeping out in the field at 354 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:32,440 night keeping watch over their flock. And in Bethlehem they did that in the 355 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,519 spring, summer, and fall. They did not do it, which means, 356 00:26:36,839 --> 00:26:40,279 you know, we can rule out December. But you know here, 357 00:26:40,319 --> 00:26:42,519 no there, right, we know they just picked a day. No, 358 00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:45,119 they didn't pick a day. It was a pagan day. But I mean 359 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:48,240 it wasn't the day, the actual day, no, no, right, 360 00:26:48,319 --> 00:26:52,400 yeah, of course, yes, the actual celebration. It was the celebration 361 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,359 of the birth, but it wasn't the anniversary of the birth. And so 362 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:03,400 that happened with the Emperor Constantine in Rome. He was the first Christian emperor. 363 00:27:03,519 --> 00:27:07,200 He's trying to unify Rome. Jesus was born a commoner. That's a 364 00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:10,839 very important part of the Christian story and Christianity. Of course, hinges on 365 00:27:11,039 --> 00:27:14,799 Easter, not on Christmas. What defines you as a Christian is that you 366 00:27:14,839 --> 00:27:18,759 believe in Easter everyone is born, all of us are born. But the 367 00:27:18,799 --> 00:27:22,960 death and resurrection, that's not something everybody does, and so that's what defines 368 00:27:23,079 --> 00:27:29,119 Christianity. Easter is the very biggest holiday in Christianity. From a theological perspective, 369 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:38,359 it's just nobody, but nobody got the memo right exactly. But the 370 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,720 Emperor Constantine was trying to sell Jesus to the Romans. He was trying to 371 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:47,200 unify under one religion. Didn't ban the others. Knew he couldn't ban Saturnalia, 372 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:52,039 which was December seventeenth to the twenty third. But he knew if Jesus 373 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:53,240 is going to be a king, not just a king, but a king 374 00:27:53,279 --> 00:27:56,920 of kings, he needs a birthday, and he knows the perfect birthday is 375 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:02,680 December twenty fifth, because in the Jewel calendar, the twenty fifth was the 376 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,759 winter solstice, and that was the festival of Saul and victis this sun God. 377 00:28:07,079 --> 00:28:10,559 It's the shortest day, but it's also marks the day where the sun 378 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:15,119 starts to return, and there's the light, so it's coming back, and 379 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,039 it will build and build all the way until the summer solstice, when you 380 00:28:18,079 --> 00:28:22,119 get the longest day and the shortest night. And so so that was it. 381 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,759 He thought that was a perfect day to celebrate Jesus. You have, 382 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,799 you have this raging party. The seventeenth to the twenty third, one day 383 00:28:29,799 --> 00:28:33,400 for the hangover. On the twenty fourth, twenty fifth, we party again. 384 00:28:33,039 --> 00:28:37,359 And Christians were at war with that date right up until very modern times. 385 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:47,559 Here we are and here we are. So so your book is it? 386 00:28:47,599 --> 00:28:51,519 Is it? Is that all of that? Or is it really doesn't 387 00:28:51,519 --> 00:28:56,240 focus on Crampus. No, it's not just Crampus as one chapter. Jesus. 388 00:28:56,279 --> 00:28:59,799 I mean, let's face it, he's sexy, he's got the movie 389 00:28:59,839 --> 00:29:03,960 deal, dines in the restaurants we can't get into. You know, he's 390 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:07,480 on the list, he sells, he sells. But no, I cover 391 00:29:07,519 --> 00:29:08,720 the whole history of Christmas, how we got here, how we got to 392 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,160 December twenty fifth, The history of Saint Nicholas, the history of Santa Claus 393 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:17,519 and then the many other monsters that lurk, not just Crampis, but you 394 00:29:17,559 --> 00:29:21,759 know, Iceland has got stuff that's even worse right, and brings us the 395 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:27,519 Grilla, And crampis no, that's the Matti load from Wales. That's the 396 00:29:27,599 --> 00:29:30,400 dead horse that rises from the grave to try to get in your house for 397 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:40,960 treats and alcohol, which is awesome too. So the Grilla is the she's 398 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,240 she's an ogre who lives up in the mountains, and she's got thirteen tails, 399 00:29:44,799 --> 00:29:48,359 and she comes down around the winter solstice. And unlike Cramp, like, 400 00:29:48,359 --> 00:29:52,519 if you're a good person, you don't have to worry about crampis not 401 00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:56,319 your concern. Grila, on the other hand, does not discriminate good kids 402 00:29:56,359 --> 00:30:00,480 bad kids. Makes no difference. If you're wandering out in the woods, 403 00:30:00,559 --> 00:30:03,039 she will scoop you up, bring you back to her lair, cut you 404 00:30:03,119 --> 00:30:07,240 up, cook you in a stew and eat you. Oh, my parents 405 00:30:07,279 --> 00:30:12,440 are happy to tell this story in Iceland. So when Iceland was first settled 406 00:30:12,559 --> 00:30:15,960 only about eleven hundred years ago, there were no people there. When the 407 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,440 Europeans first arrived, it was covered by ice, you know, much before 408 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,839 that. But there were trolls and monsters and imcen fairies and all kinds of 409 00:30:22,839 --> 00:30:26,880 magical creatures. And as they started to settle into as the people started to 410 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,960 settle into villages and towns, those creatures got pushed up into the mountains. 411 00:30:32,319 --> 00:30:36,640 But on the salstice they come down to collect what's owed to them, their 412 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:41,039 rent, if you will. And so the Grila is the queen, the 413 00:30:41,039 --> 00:30:45,839 matriarch of the whole dysfunctional family. And also you have to understand too, 414 00:30:45,839 --> 00:30:49,920 in reikievic the capital right now, the round the salstice, there's about four 415 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,680 hours of sunlight. That's it. That the sun rises and sets in like 416 00:30:53,759 --> 00:30:57,000 four hours. If you go further north, it's less and if you get 417 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,880 to the very northern tip of Iceland, you're almost at the Arctic circle, 418 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,039 where there is no sunrise. It is total darkness. This is the time 419 00:31:04,119 --> 00:31:08,640 we stay inside, we stay safe, We keep our children inside because there 420 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:15,079 are monsters lurking out there and it's dangerous. So the Grila she also has 421 00:31:15,119 --> 00:31:18,759 she's in charge of the Ulads, who are these thirteen trolls that come down 422 00:31:18,799 --> 00:31:22,000 one by one throughout the month of December and stay at your home for two 423 00:31:22,039 --> 00:31:26,319 weeks and mess with you, Like one month, steal your cow's milk. 424 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:32,839 One will, you know, lick your spoons clean after dinner. Another peeps 425 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:37,000 through your window, Another steals your meat, another steals your candles, another 426 00:31:37,039 --> 00:31:41,680 steals your yogurt. And they just all come, you know, all throughout 427 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,440 the month, and it's a wild time. And Iceland, I mean even 428 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,160 on the news each night they'll say, like tonight is the you know, 429 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,279 the sheep Coke Claude who will come and poke your sheep, So watch out 430 00:31:52,279 --> 00:31:56,319 for that. Yeah, and he stays for two weeks. So this lore 431 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,920 and legend ties us back to really ancient ways and reminds us that, you 432 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:06,559 know, there's there's other stuff out there, and Iceland's amazing. Iceland they'll 433 00:32:06,559 --> 00:32:09,319 re route highways because they believe that's like a troll rock. You know, 434 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:14,240 you can't blast that rock. We're going to go around it. I've heard 435 00:32:14,319 --> 00:32:17,640 that. So that's amazing, you know, like that's they take it seriously. 436 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,680 And so the Grila has become also part of their own pop culture. 437 00:32:21,839 --> 00:32:24,640 If you land at the Reikivic Airport right now, there will be a giant 438 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:29,599 cauldron with a big ogre witch like stirring in it, and you can get 439 00:32:29,599 --> 00:32:32,960 in the cauldron and get your picture taken with the with the greela like we 440 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:38,880 do Malsanta. They've got that, which is also I know, right, 441 00:32:39,359 --> 00:32:44,079 I know. And there's so so many like of these various monsters, all 442 00:32:44,119 --> 00:32:47,720 across various cultures. Every country almost has their own version of something. And 443 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,759 it's uh, I think it's a wonderful way to connect to the darker side. 444 00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:55,680 The balance, as you were saying, Christine, the balance. Yeah, 445 00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:00,000 like you just can't. Did you ever eat like like some cake that 446 00:33:00,119 --> 00:33:05,519 was just too damn sweet? Yeah, and then you've got to go and 447 00:33:05,559 --> 00:33:07,359 have chips to balance it out. That's what we did to Christmas. We 448 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:14,720 made the cake too sweet, you know something else and and and we're collectively 449 00:33:14,759 --> 00:33:17,480 working on that right this very minute. You know that it's changing, and 450 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:22,720 I think changing for the better. This stuff speaks to something very ancient and 451 00:33:22,759 --> 00:33:25,880 primal in all of us, something I think a lot of people, and 452 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,000 especially in today's society, that we have forgotten. Yeah this, you know, 453 00:33:31,039 --> 00:33:36,039 we've forgotten where we come from, and we've made up all these fancy 454 00:33:36,079 --> 00:33:39,160 stories to explain things. And then we have these big parties and they said 455 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:45,240 everybody's forgetting where the roots of it where it started. Yeah, and it's 456 00:33:45,279 --> 00:33:47,880 but it's always been there. It always, it always had a way to 457 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:52,880 shine through even when you no matter what label you slapped on it, whether 458 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:58,559 you're hanging mistletoe or or eating a yulog speaking of cakes that are too sweet? 459 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:05,559 Right, that used to be a tree that you burned, you know 460 00:34:05,799 --> 00:34:09,360 it was. There's so many things that sort of made their way through and 461 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:14,239 which I think is amazing. What a test of it to these old ways 462 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,239 that they make it through all the way to present day, even if people 463 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:22,800 don't understand why they're doing it or where it came from. And I think 464 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:27,440 that's really sort of wonderful. So now you know, last year I started 465 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,199 a new tradition where I make my own wreath. I actually go out in 466 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:34,480 the woods and I pull evergreen branches and I twist them into a wreath and 467 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,880 all this other stuff. And it came out horrible. It's a mess, 468 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:44,519 But I will say this, it worked. Those prickly needles kept the bad 469 00:34:44,599 --> 00:34:50,000 cheer outside and the good cheer inside. It meant something As a green witch. 470 00:34:50,079 --> 00:34:53,400 This warms my heart. That's what I do. I've orangees drying right 471 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:59,400 now to hang. So but so you do it instead of just putting a 472 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:01,400 fake plast greath on my door. Because my dad did it, and my 473 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:05,639 dad's dad did it, and my neighbors do it, and it looks nice 474 00:35:05,639 --> 00:35:09,199 and all that other stuff it has meaning, I'm putting it up with intent 475 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:15,440 to keep the bad stuff outside and keep the good stuff inside. This tree 476 00:35:15,559 --> 00:35:20,840 is more powerful than winter. Our ancestors didn't pick it arbitrarily. I mean 477 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,079 they would look out of the landscape and see that winter killed everything. It 478 00:35:23,159 --> 00:35:27,400 killed the flowers and the grass and the trees. They're just skeletons, kills, 479 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,679 the ponds and the lakes frozen solid. But then you go, wait 480 00:35:30,679 --> 00:35:32,960 a minute, wait a minute, what's that tree? That winter can't kill 481 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,079 it. It must be magical, It must be powerful. There must be 482 00:35:37,159 --> 00:35:40,519 something about it. And so we take those branches and we put them over 483 00:35:40,559 --> 00:35:44,039 our doors and windows, and we put them, you know, in wreaths 484 00:35:44,079 --> 00:35:49,119 over our doors to keep the bad spirits out. Spirits we can clearly hear, 485 00:35:49,159 --> 00:35:52,400 by the way, because in the wintertime you hear this shrieking, howling 486 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,119 sound that you don't hear in the spring, summer or fall, and you 487 00:35:55,159 --> 00:35:58,840 could say, well, it's just the wind whipping through the trees, or 488 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,400 you could say those are the cries of the vanquished foe of the Norse god 489 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:07,039 Odin as he rides through the sky and his wild hunt. And if I 490 00:36:07,039 --> 00:36:09,400 don't protect myself, they'll get in. And if they get in, then 491 00:36:09,599 --> 00:36:14,599 things aren't going to go well for me. And we still do that, 492 00:36:15,079 --> 00:36:17,239 which I think is so cool. Well, what about the trees, like 493 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,679 the Christmas trees? Yes, so the Christmas tree. Well again, this 494 00:36:22,159 --> 00:36:23,800 is the one tree more powerful than winter like. You don't need to be 495 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:28,400 a botanist or otherwise to figure that out. Just look look outside, see 496 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,519 what's still alive. And so our ancestors knew it too. It provides you 497 00:36:32,599 --> 00:36:36,679 shelter if you're stuck outside. You know, it's some shape and some protection 498 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:42,159 from the wind and everything else. This tree is absolutely something about It is 499 00:36:42,199 --> 00:36:45,239 powerful. And not only that, when our ancestors would make a kill in 500 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:50,519 the winter, they would pull the entrails of the animal out and drape it 501 00:36:50,559 --> 00:36:52,880 around the evergreens. Two reasons. One is to make an offering to the 502 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:57,719 tree. The other is that other animals could pick that clean and they too 503 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,800 could survive the winter. And I want everybody to really let that sink in 504 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:05,360 and think about it. If you're ever stringing popcorn and cranberries to put his 505 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:10,119 garland around your Christmas tree, well that's just a completely different visual. I 506 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:15,000 say, let's have a more traditional Christmas this year. Get yourself some entrails, 507 00:37:15,079 --> 00:37:17,199 put them around the tree. I know the smell is going to be 508 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:22,159 awful, it'll be terrible, but that an orange will cover it. Yeah, 509 00:37:22,519 --> 00:37:24,519 you'll need a few oranges. But when people walk in and go, 510 00:37:24,679 --> 00:37:29,199 oh my god, what is that, you could say that is the smell 511 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,239 of an authentic and traditional Christmas? Thank you very much. You can start 512 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:36,119 out with some sausage links. It might be easier to go and have to 513 00:37:36,199 --> 00:37:38,360 kill something. Sure, sure, sure, yeah, but that's it. 514 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:44,760 I mean, think about how Intestine like cranberries and popcorn. Look, that's 515 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:49,760 what you're doing. You're you're literally recreating the entrails around a tree. Fascinating, 516 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,440 beautiful, really just it's a lovely thought. Yeah. I know, 517 00:37:52,639 --> 00:37:54,320 I know, right, you thought you were just going to get like a 518 00:37:54,360 --> 00:38:00,880 monster story and you finally understand so wrong, are wrong? They have to 519 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,159 have a lot of guts to come in and tell a story like that, 520 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:09,079 I tell you, Yeah, but he's always good for a dad joke, 521 00:38:09,119 --> 00:38:14,239 always, so yeah, so many, so many great traditions are born from 522 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:17,519 this, this holiday and now growing up too, I remember I had Jewish 523 00:38:17,559 --> 00:38:21,960 friends and I was like, this sucks. You know, Santa doesn't visit 524 00:38:22,039 --> 00:38:23,280 you, Like, what's up with that? Is any anti semi you know? 525 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,039 And and then I realized, I was like, but he could. 526 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:30,639 You know, Santa does not have to be exclusively Christian at all. And 527 00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:34,400 you could put up a tree, and you could put up lights. Those 528 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:38,599 are not Christian symbols whatsoever, you know, and you not doing that is 529 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:44,880 your own choice. Obviously no one has to. But don't tell yourself you're 530 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,639 not doing it because oh that those that's what Christians do. I mean, 531 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:52,000 yes, it is what they do, but it's it's not their symbol either. 532 00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:54,320 And so I think, if you like the lights, if you think 533 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,559 they're pretty, put them up, you know, put them up. Yeah. 534 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:00,280 And we do it, by the way, because we literally want to 535 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:05,719 be a beacon during this long, dark, dangerous night in winter, that 536 00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:07,039 that we want to find our way back home in the dark. We want 537 00:39:07,039 --> 00:39:09,639 our neighbors and friends to be able to find us if they need us. 538 00:39:10,039 --> 00:39:15,239 That's what we Yeah, that's why we do it. It's not just to 539 00:39:15,519 --> 00:39:19,679 run up the electric bills and you know it's order to outdo our neighbors, 540 00:39:20,039 --> 00:39:23,079 but it's it's it's something that that has that always had meaning. We need 541 00:39:23,119 --> 00:39:29,920 to be beacons in this this long dark night. I love that. So 542 00:39:30,079 --> 00:39:34,679 this is just all right up my alley. I'm I'm a blend of all 543 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,159 the different traditions. So because I have a Christmas tree, but I also 544 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:43,519 celebrate Yule, sure, and you know so I blend it all together. 545 00:39:44,119 --> 00:39:46,159 Right, Well, that's that to me, that's redundant. Like the Christmas 546 00:39:46,199 --> 00:39:51,760 tree and celebrating Yule goes hand in hand. That's now it's saying I'm a 547 00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:55,760 Christian with a Christmas tree. That's blending traditions. Right. I celebrate the 548 00:39:55,760 --> 00:40:00,719 birth of Jesus and I put entrails on my Christmas tree. That's blending traditions. 549 00:40:01,039 --> 00:40:12,679 You're just you're being consistents this year. Maybe you do you you know, 550 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:17,960 all good, all good? Yeah, stick to the cinnamon sticks and 551 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:24,360 oranges. Yeah, totally fine and understandable. Probably smells better the other thing 552 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,800 too, though. I remember thinking about how I didn't grow up with crampis 553 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,400 and being disappointed. Only now in hindsight, and I've I've had a good 554 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:35,079 talk with my parents about it. We've worked it out, you know. 555 00:40:35,119 --> 00:40:37,519 I said, why didn't I have crampis? And they're like, we didn't 556 00:40:37,559 --> 00:40:39,440 know. But then I thought about it, and I said, you know 557 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:44,039 what crampis was in my childhood. He was in yours too, By the 558 00:40:44,079 --> 00:40:47,519 way, I need you to think back. He was there, he was 559 00:40:47,639 --> 00:40:52,599 green, and he lived on Mount Crumpets. Yes, he was there just 560 00:40:52,679 --> 00:40:59,559 to look the same as you know him now. He was there. He 561 00:40:59,679 --> 00:41:02,480 was just on green. It was green. Uh. He didn't have horns, 562 00:41:02,519 --> 00:41:08,440 but his hair could like curl into like don Mount Crumpet. A long 563 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:15,920 of similarities there that I never made that connection. Yeah. So anyway, 564 00:41:15,519 --> 00:41:20,800 am I here tonight to accuse doctor SEUs of plagiarism? Yes, yes, 565 00:41:22,559 --> 00:41:29,239 accused Doctor Seuss. The Grinch worked because he probably was something a little bit 566 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:31,360 familiar. There was something about him. You're like, I like this Grinch. 567 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:36,000 I don't know why, but he wasn't out killing the kids. But 568 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:39,239 you know, yeah, there's there's a story. But there's an old adage 569 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:49,440 right that talent borrows, but genius steals. Oh, I hadn't heard that 570 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:57,079 one doctor Seuss was a genius. Well he was. Yeah, No, 571 00:41:57,119 --> 00:41:59,719 I know, I get I get it, and I get that like the 572 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:01,960 idea of all this can be really uncomfortable for some people because it's just the 573 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:07,960 antithesis of everything they thought how things are supposed to work. But if you 574 00:42:08,119 --> 00:42:15,320 read the old Grim fairy tales, the originals the shit they really are. 575 00:42:15,679 --> 00:42:20,679 Yeah, of course they are the originals, but they've disneyfied everything. And 576 00:42:21,199 --> 00:42:29,400 yep, they used to teach you a lesson and now they don't. Well, 577 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:34,159 the lessons learned when it's extreme. And so for example Cinderella, right 578 00:42:34,199 --> 00:42:38,000 in the original Grim Tales, when the wicked stepsisters were trying on the glass 579 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:43,039 slipper, one of them cut their toes off to try to wedge it into 580 00:42:43,079 --> 00:42:46,000 the glass slipper, and they filled the glass slipper with blood. Couldn't get 581 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,679 her foot in. The other one cut her heel off, also filling it 582 00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:52,280 with blood. Again, you'd think someone would watch that and go, you 583 00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:58,880 know what, No, didn't work, This isn't your shoe clearly flipped by 584 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,760 Walt Disney. Somehow got didn't make it to the final edit of the cartoon 585 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,159 Disney version. But the grim Tails were meant to be tough because number one, 586 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:13,000 we know, we know as adults there's monsters in the world. Yeah, 587 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:16,360 no question, you know. You have the news. In Bulgaria, 588 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:21,320 they have the Cara Concolis who comes out during the twelve days of Christmas, 589 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:25,760 the days they call the Unbaptized Days the Unholy Days. And the Cara Concolus 590 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:30,039 is a subterranean bigfoot with glowing red eyes and claws, and he's covered in 591 00:43:30,079 --> 00:43:34,000 fur, and he comes out at sundown and he's going to try to jump 592 00:43:34,039 --> 00:43:37,760 on your back and claw at you until dawn before he has to go underground 593 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,480 again. But he's a shape shifter. He can look like anyone and anything, 594 00:43:42,119 --> 00:43:45,440 and he's also sort of keeping tabs on you. And so I love 595 00:43:45,519 --> 00:43:52,599 that story because that is the most authentic monster, I think in the world, 596 00:43:52,039 --> 00:43:55,159 because we know, we know when we watch the news that there are 597 00:43:55,239 --> 00:44:00,360 monsters. As we just said, they do horrible things. They killed people, 598 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:05,760 hurt people, shoot people, you know, in groups. And the 599 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:08,400 thing is if they had like glowing red eyes and were eight feet tall and 600 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:12,960 covered in fur and had razor claws. We would just know to run. 601 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:21,400 That's easy. You see that real monsters look just like us, and that 602 00:44:21,519 --> 00:44:25,079 is the frightening thing of all. And so yeah, let me tell you 603 00:44:25,079 --> 00:44:30,760 about the Cara Concolus. Maybe that's just a regular old person, or maybe 604 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:36,000 it's a monster in disguise. And we have to really be careful when we're 605 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,599 out there among strangers or even people we thought we knew, because you never 606 00:44:39,679 --> 00:44:44,519 know. And so all of these stories, all these legends, all these 607 00:44:44,559 --> 00:44:47,840 monsters, have a moral to them that that we you know, we teach 608 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:52,760 our children and we tell each other because we need to keep the bad cheer 609 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:57,440 away. We need to be safe, we need to be careful, and 610 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,760 we need to be positive and look out for each other because winter is coming 611 00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:05,639 and it's coming again next year, you know. And it's not just a 612 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:12,679 thing from a series on HBO. It's not just Game of Thrones, right, 613 00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:16,800 Winter is coming very very soon. And so and once it's here, 614 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,760 you know that we got to figure it out. We got to get through 615 00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:27,760 this. So oh sorry, Jeff, go ahead. Did these stories change 616 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:32,079 in places where they didn't have the cold and the darkness of winter the way 617 00:45:32,119 --> 00:45:37,000 that we do here. They did not catch on like they do in southern 618 00:45:37,079 --> 00:45:40,159 parts because you know, so many of those stories also made their way through 619 00:45:40,239 --> 00:45:45,440 England, and England as you probably no colonize the world right at one point 620 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:49,039 the sun never said on the British Empire, Australia, New Zealand, South 621 00:45:49,079 --> 00:45:53,360 Africa, Singapore, you know, I mean the Brits spread far and wide 622 00:45:53,559 --> 00:46:00,159 and took their stories with them. But you know, when it's Christmas Day 623 00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:04,920 and you're at the beach sipping my tie in the Caribbean, it's a little 624 00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:07,320 bit so. So I've always said, like, how do you see the 625 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:13,159 light when you're on a beach on a bright sunny day with like the surf 626 00:46:13,199 --> 00:46:15,599 tickling your toes, You don't see the light. The light is everywhere, 627 00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:20,400 things are fine, you know, you see the light when you get into 628 00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:23,800 a very dark place. That's when you can see the light. So these 629 00:46:24,039 --> 00:46:30,000 these monsters did not travel well to southern climates. They they stay north to 630 00:46:30,039 --> 00:46:34,719 where winter was really a force to be reckoned with and still is. You 631 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:37,440 know, even though today we've got door dash and you know heat that we 632 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:40,480 can just turn up like hit it. A few degrees if we can afford 633 00:46:40,559 --> 00:46:45,559 that. You know, well, there's those of us that still have their 634 00:46:45,599 --> 00:46:50,880 childhood collection of coal. I'm still working on, so nice from just being 635 00:46:51,039 --> 00:46:55,320 naughty all those which is ironic, which means being naughty paid off. There 636 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,760 you go, right, like, oh, I'm keeping warm, this is 637 00:47:00,119 --> 00:47:02,400 right. Oh it's so warm. Oh that's nice. Thank goodness. That 638 00:47:02,519 --> 00:47:09,360 was such a brat. I could keep warm for years on this. Thanks 639 00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:15,320 Mom and Dad or whoever brought me that coal. Yeah, I get it. 640 00:47:16,159 --> 00:47:20,280 Yeah. So so yeah, there was a time when colon sticks was 641 00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:23,079 like, oh, thank god, we're freezing, right, you know, 642 00:47:23,599 --> 00:47:28,840 we're going to this. Yeah, we're gonna toast right up. I love 643 00:47:28,920 --> 00:47:35,880 that. Oh gosh. So so anyway, I was trying to save Christmas, 644 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:37,159 even if it was just for me. You know, I was trying 645 00:47:37,159 --> 00:47:40,360 to, like say, like, because when I was young, Christmas was 646 00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,719 a drug. You know. I was high on that drug from the time 647 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:47,440 the dessert fork played on Thanksgiving until the ball dropped on New Year's Eve. 648 00:47:49,199 --> 00:47:52,519 And as I got older, a lot of that magic went away until it 649 00:47:52,599 --> 00:47:55,559 was really not even there at all anymore. Then I had a kid, 650 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:59,960 and a lot of that magic came back, which was awesome. But now 651 00:48:00,079 --> 00:48:07,280 she's sixteen and she's she's over it, you know, and but I still 652 00:48:07,679 --> 00:48:13,199 find it. You know. I found it again because of what it means. 653 00:48:13,559 --> 00:48:15,199 And even though she's sort of over it, I'm still trying to be 654 00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:17,519 like, hey, I don't care whether you love it or hate it. 655 00:48:19,159 --> 00:48:22,519 There's still magic to be found and had in this holiday, and I'm going 656 00:48:22,599 --> 00:48:24,920 to work on that, even if it's just for me. And at the 657 00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:29,360 end of the day, it takes your whole life to sort of realize, 658 00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:31,159 like, I can't control you, even though you're my kid, Like I 659 00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:36,559 have to do this for me, and maybe it'll just sort of radiate outwards. 660 00:48:36,559 --> 00:48:38,000 I don't know, but at the very least, I want to be 661 00:48:38,039 --> 00:48:45,400 happy, absolutely absolutely. And it's so funny we're having this conversation because Christina 662 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:49,719 and I have been having a conversation over the last several weeks about you can't 663 00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:53,840 see the light without the darkness. The darkness makes the light shine brighter. 664 00:48:54,559 --> 00:48:59,320 So bring on the monsters, bringing them on, Bring them all on, 665 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:02,079 Get scared, get frightened, cower in the corner, just like they did 666 00:49:02,079 --> 00:49:08,079 in the Crampist movie. Right, yes, everybody huddled together. And but 667 00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:16,280 you gotta look back and once again this is the family united YEP around a 668 00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:22,199 common enemy and it brought them together. So are monsters really a bad thing? 669 00:49:22,199 --> 00:49:24,960 I don't think they are. I mean there must be. That's why 670 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:29,679 we keep them. And the Crampist movie say what you will about it on 671 00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:32,719 his artistic merit, But like they nailed the spirit, Crampus is here for 672 00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:37,360 us. Crampis was waiting in the shadows. H He wasn't angry. He 673 00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:40,679 was just waiting for us to call him. That was it. He was 674 00:49:40,719 --> 00:49:45,199 just like he was just filing his fingernails, going I'm here when you need 675 00:49:45,239 --> 00:49:47,559 me, just just let me know. And and he got the movie deal 676 00:49:47,599 --> 00:49:51,519 and and now he's in. My parents live in this little town in Connecticut, 677 00:49:51,599 --> 00:49:53,880 and they have a Christmas parade which looks like any small town Christmas parade. 678 00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:58,119 You can imagine the fire trucks, the marching band from high school kids 679 00:49:58,159 --> 00:50:05,119 marching Sannah. But they also had a Crampus last year, really wandering through 680 00:50:05,159 --> 00:50:07,400 their parade and people are going, who's that and why is that here? 681 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:15,960 But if you know, you know, and first started conversations, absolutely, 682 00:50:15,039 --> 00:50:20,679 what's crampis? Why is crampis here, and I mean that parade, forget 683 00:50:20,719 --> 00:50:24,360 it. He's probably right behind you, like he's right behind me. That's 684 00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:30,199 fascinating, you know. Uh so, so yeah, no, he's coming 685 00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:35,960 back. I got to attend a few years ago. The New England Crampus 686 00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:39,239 Society has an annual ball, and of course Covid derailed that for a few 687 00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:44,199 years, but it's happening again and I went last year. It was at 688 00:50:44,239 --> 00:50:47,119 the Narragansett Brewery in Providence, Rhode Island, and it was all these crampuses 689 00:50:47,159 --> 00:50:52,920 walking around and beer, So I mean it's perfect, but yeah, I 690 00:50:52,960 --> 00:50:57,159 know, right, it was great. So so there's people that are celebrating 691 00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:02,719 Crampis and and everything that cramp Is represents, and I think that I welcome 692 00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:07,039 it. I totally welcome it because we need to be having these conversations and 693 00:51:07,079 --> 00:51:12,840 realizing there's stuff that's much older, that's we've seen little peaks of it here 694 00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:15,480 and there, but I think it's coming in having a renaissance right now. 695 00:51:16,079 --> 00:51:19,280 So we only have a couple of minutes left. Believe it or not, 696 00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,920 we've gone through almost all of our time. So Jeff, your book, 697 00:51:22,039 --> 00:51:29,400 where's the best place to get it. It's gone. Amazon sold out, 698 00:51:29,519 --> 00:51:34,760 we books a million just sold out. Online bookshop dot org sold out. 699 00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:39,760 There's a few stores out there that still have it. There's an audiobook version 700 00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:44,000 that that I narrate, and that's that you can get that won't run out. 701 00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:46,199 You can get that in the electronic ebook or kindle or whatever. That's 702 00:51:47,039 --> 00:51:52,840 that won't run out again. But the first their own Yeah, yeah, 703 00:51:52,400 --> 00:51:55,639 I mean, so the first printing, first edition is just about pretty much 704 00:51:55,639 --> 00:52:00,880 gone. If you're if you find one, hold on to it because it'll 705 00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:02,880 I mean, I'm sure next year we'll see another another printing of it. 706 00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:07,840 But this first one went faster than any of us could have ever guessed, 707 00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:10,440 and the publisher printed a lot. Now is that something you're going to print 708 00:52:10,480 --> 00:52:13,760 mostly at the holidays or do you think you'll get it all year round? 709 00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:16,159 You think, I mean, people get it. The publisher they've already ordered 710 00:52:16,199 --> 00:52:21,119 some to be that, but they don't expect them until March. And okay, 711 00:52:21,719 --> 00:52:23,840 no one thinks this. No one expects this book to sell much in 712 00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:29,320 the spring or the submar right, It's just people that are just that forward 713 00:52:29,400 --> 00:52:34,360 thinking, you know. But in the fall, you know, they'll there'll 714 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:37,079 be another reprint and it will be out again next year. And that's the 715 00:52:37,079 --> 00:52:39,239 beautiful thing about a Christmas story, is it It can come out year after 716 00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:43,519 year. So yeah, the response to this book was nothing. I like, 717 00:52:43,599 --> 00:52:47,079 nothing I'd ever seen. They just sold out so fast. That's great. 718 00:52:47,199 --> 00:52:50,599 Yeah, so we'll see, we'll see what happens next year. And 719 00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:53,400 but I also I really believe in the story, and I think it sold 720 00:52:53,400 --> 00:52:58,599 out so fast because it must have resonated with others too, And and that 721 00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:02,800 now we're you know, looking for that, everybody's still looking for balance. 722 00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:07,719 I believe that. Yeah, so I'm doing my part, doing my part 723 00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:12,159 to summon these monsters from the dark recesses of the holiday and say come on 724 00:53:12,239 --> 00:53:15,280 back. We need you, we need we need you so badly to balance 725 00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:19,599 this thing out and help us figure it out again and be a little more 726 00:53:19,639 --> 00:53:22,480 inclusive than we used to be. That's great, And anything else coming up. 727 00:53:22,519 --> 00:53:24,880 I know you still have your show, New England Legends. You've got 728 00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:29,400 that, You've got the podcast, and you're still on You're still on Prime 729 00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:32,320 and yeah, yeah, we're still still working on new podcast episodes every week 730 00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:37,639 and that's still going. Still working on Ghost Adventures We're about to start filming 731 00:53:37,639 --> 00:53:40,800 our next season next week or two weeks. Wow, yeah, very soon. 732 00:53:43,039 --> 00:53:45,320 The next season starts filming again. And yeah, and still always working 733 00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:50,159 on new projects and pitching ideas. You never know when one catches on, 734 00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:52,599 and then working on that so well. Jeff, thank you so much for 735 00:53:52,639 --> 00:53:55,920 being here. It's been a real pleasure having you back, hearing all about 736 00:53:55,960 --> 00:54:00,199 Christmas. I want to wish everyone a very happy new year. Will see 737 00:54:00,199 --> 00:54:04,639 you in twenty twenty four. Christina, Jeff, thank you so much. 738 00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:07,440 Have a wonderful night, everybody. Take care, Thank you, thank you. 739 00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:13,000 You've been listening to The Paranormal Project radio show with Scott Allen and Christina 740 00:54:13,039 --> 00:54:23,480 Bowen. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. While 741 00:54:23,519 --> 00:54:28,000 you're there, leave us a rating and review. We'll be back next week 742 00:54:28,039 --> 00:54:31,360 with more exciting guests. Now, go out there and explore the paranormal