THE DADDINO FAMILY TREASURY OF CHRISTMASES PAST
Christmas 1978

L-R: Grandpa, Aunt Pat, Tommy, Mom, Aunt Millie, Nanny, Me, Grandma, Holly, Bobby, Uncle John.
There’s me in mid-bodytwist, dodging Holly and Tommy, wearing a clingy lavender-color[…]

Ah, Tom really was boozing at this point. Forget the Narnia affectations of the comedy gag in the title. Anyway it would be funnier if it was the Lion In Winter And The Garderobe. Instead we have a really rather austere period piece which yet again h[…]

That’s what it says on the piece of paper. It must be said though that the scribe was mighty pissed at the time and, well, Digby is the biggest fucking dog in the world. No two ways around it. A cautionary tale perhaps for anyone who gets a pup[…]

THE DADDINO FAMILY TREASURY OF CHRISTMASES PAST
Christmas 1977

L-R: me, mom, Holly
This is me giving my mom “my” present of florally-scented bath cubes. As a six-year-old I’m not someone with pocket change for fancy gurl toiletries[…]

As far as I could work out, the main connection between Christmas and The Hudsucker Proxy is that it snows near the end. Why we still have this ridiculous link between snow and Christmas, at least in the UK, is beyond me. I think I have only ever see[…]

THE DADDINO FAMILY TREASURY OF CHRISTMASES PAST
Christmas 1977

L-R: me, Holly, mom, Tommy
I think I asked my mom to make the horsie kiss the dog. I love the look on my mother’s face, it’s so maudlin.
The dog was Holly, by the way. She ma[…]

1947 version. It really is no contest. Cute little Nathalie Wood versus that kid from Mathilda who looks like she is constantly sucking a thistle. No, we like our sugar coated sentimentality dished up firmly with a black and white spoon. Though perh[…]

THE DADDINO FAMILY TREASURY OF CHRISTMASES PAST
Christmas 1977

L-R: Tommy, Me
North Bellmore is less than thirty miles away, but I go into Manhattan exactly twice in the 1970’s: one in a class trip to the United Nations in 1979 and other is fo[…]

Seeing the picture of Will Ferrell as an Elf mocked-up on so many boxes of Sainsbury’s Corn Flakes this year has been a cheery sight. An odd one though, own label products always used to be free from marketing hype and tie-ins. That was the pro[…]

THE DADDINO FAMILY TREASURY OF CHRISTMASES PAST
Christmas 1976

Now before Xmas ’76, I’ve only had five Christmases, out of which I can probably remember only two. (Or maybe three, only I don’t remember remembering Christmas ’[…]