Christmas Traditions Took The Stage

Images from the Czech Christmas program....










The most popular toy in 1907 I'm told.

tucked up tight, huh?

Let's get this holiday-season-shibang started off right. Sit back, spin these here Ronettes and smile real, real wide. That's it! Yup!

"Oh what a laugh it would have been..."

toying with you

TOY IDEA EXCHANGE
Need an idea for what toy to buy?
Or have a toy idea to share?
This is the place.
Use Comments below or email me at tburke@csafraternallife.org and I'll be glad to post your ideas for you. I'll publish a running list of your ideas and/or requests in a separate area in the upper right corner of the blog, hopefully starting sometime next week.

ONLY 40 some hours til the Ornament Contest starts....set your alarm for 9 am CST this Friday to take part. All you have to do is count them up in the November issue of the Journal and email me your guess. Prizes for the first ten to guess correctly.

POPPER—what was the most popular toy 100 years ago?....
....The answer tomorrow....

On Christmas Eve at my home we put on a sketch

COUNTDOWN—T-minus 70 some hours—to the Find The Ornaments contest on Friday morn, November 30th. Gonna play? You better. It's an Email-Only contest that starts at 9 am CST. First ten correct get prizes. Get your November issue of the Journal, start counting ornaments and get ready. It's very competitive. Last year I got seven emails between 9 am and 9:01. No kidding.

GOT FUTURAMA?—the 27th is the official release date for the new Futurama episode Benders Big Score direct to video. (Yes, I pre-ordered.) I'm hoping to get my copy any day now. Early reviews: awesome!

WEARIN' O' THE KROJE—Here's a nice image sent to me by my friends at Lodge Los Angeles. Thank you Kathy for always thinking of Insider.



HO-HO-HO—The Czech Christmas program at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry was last Saturday. Terrific job to John and the gang.The kids were so cute. Big crowd. I'll post photos real soon.

DO WE GET MAIL—thanks for the quickly-filling Insider Holiday Mailbag everybody. Keep emailing me (tburke@csafraternallife.org) your comments and I'll post them soon, probably in December during Blog-An-Hour. (On either Dec. 20 or 21.)

I've been kicking around having a "Toy Idea Exchange" right here on Insider. Came about when I heard people bouncing toy gift ideas off each other. Know of neat gift ideas? Creative ideas? Or places to get cool stuff? Share them right here on Insider. I want to run a list up in the top right corner once this gets rolling. More to come tomorrow....

Swing It

REAL—The Czech program at the Christmas Around The World exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is Saturday November 24, at 11 a.m. Svaty Mikulas is December 6. Blog-An-Hour Day will be either December 20 or 21. I'll keep you posted. The Home Office is closed between Dec. 24 and Jan. 6. The CSA Photo Contest deadline is January 24. Rules are in the Journal.

NOT—The 17th annual chicken roping festival in Toluca Lake is January 32nd. The 49th walrus rodeo is February 30th in Carnoustie, Scotland. The Spice Weasel Fest is sometime in March in Teguchigalpa, Honduras.
....Spice weasels! Hmpf! Yeah sure....everybody knows they're endangered. Gosh!

glow on wichya baa-seff

Glowing colored lights are springing up on downtown lamp posts and you know what that means....the holidays are creeping up—I liken it to the way evening fog creeps into SF Bay on cats paws. Right after Thanksgiving I'm going to shower you with all sorts of stuff: a new holiday interactive feature that you bloggers can participate in along with other goodies and a slew of holiday music. I'll take your requests too. Last year the blog audio went "kerplop" right at holiday time! But this is a new year and everything is jake. I'll make up for it, believe you me.

It's Wednesday so you know what that means....it's a good day for CZECH FUN PHRASE—Boure ve sklenici vody.

Newbie? Take heart. Just click on the word 'Comments' below and leave your message. It doesn't hurt one bit. Well except, that is, for the electric shock I've rigged up thru your mouse when you hit the 'send message' button. Meehehe. (Evil snicker.)

Razzmadazzical

OIL UP THE FLEXIBLE FLYER—is it snowing yet? Nawwww! Are you feeling joyous and holiday-like yet? Maybe not quite. Oh well, you may have noticed I've added the holiday lite link (at right) for some cheery seasonal music. I figure what the heck. It's early but since they're now playing it 24-7 already I might as well throw it on here since you guys seemed to enjoy it the last two years. HELP ME OUT HERE BLOGGERS—I need your opinions. I'm planning to do something new in '08, probably start with some teasers in late Jan. I would ask for valentine's greeting, you know, for your special someone, and you could email them to me and I'll create some cool heart-shaped artwork with all the valentine's messages inside and scan it and put it on the blog on Valentine's Day. Our own big customized valentine. Whaddaya think? I'm hoping I'll get a dozen at least and make it really nice. Let me know if you'd participate and what other ideas you have. WHO IS HAVING THE BEST WEEK EVER?—blog and let me know....and check out the show of the same name on Friday night. Let me just say it's ROTFL* funny. (Remember your acronymns?) RING-A-DING-DING—Friday is November 9th. That day is our little Insider blog's second anniversary. We were so naive way back in 2005, waaay back then. Remember those first few dozen posts? How we toddled along, unsure of this strange new blogosphere. Now we're all such veterans of the blog....which reminds me, Sunday, November 11, is VETERANS DAY. Fly the flag and remember your vets. THURSDAY SWING—the CSA photo contest is rolling. I'm already getting submissions. Check out the back cover of the November issue of the Journal for rules (you should receive it early next week). Submit your photo by email. There's more cash prizes than ever before. Also, play this year's ORNAMENT CONTEST on November 30th. Check out the November issue. There's ornaments galore! All the details are on page 12. I started this contest a few years ago under the "If you build it it, they will come" dream. Don't leave me hanging now. If YOU play it will be special....AND you can win prizes. Really! I mean it this time; genuine CSA keepsakes you can't buy in a store. And that my friends, is priceless. No. It's more. It's, it's....well I'd have to invent a word for it—

* rolling on the floor laughing

Batty

I'm sorta blogged-out today. Ever felt like you were running on fumes? S'like dat. Look for the November covers of the Journal this week. Also: there's a whole bunch of new content coming to Insider just up around the bend so stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel.

Track 12

Miro takes you back to nature with some soothing "woodwind and animal skin" music.

November Is Now In The Room, Best We Talk Softly

This was either going to be the shortest blog yet—or the longest. But most likely falling somewhere in between.

GOURDED SECRET—Twenty-eight was the pumpkin count and three of you got it right. Nice job Kathy, Shadow and Irma!

THURSDAY SWING—"The Czech singer and violin player Iva Bittova will perform in Chicago on Monday, November 5, 2007, at 7:15 p.m. in the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center as a part of the Annual European Jazz Meets Chicago Festival." —from the Consulate General of the Czech Republic located in downtown Chicago.

CZECH FUN PHRASES— listopad ....and.... Dej pac!

TY, TY, TYVM—I've been talking with several people who are basically Insider's Goodwill Ambassadors of the Highest Order. (Wizards of our blog, if you will.) JP, Peaches, Ann, Kathy, M, Pat, and Paul—thanks for all of the support you give me all the time. U da best! Keep on doin' what you do.

AND TO THE CASUAL SURFERS—I'm glad you visit....jump in and chat. Doesn't have to be on topic. Just fire away. Someone asked me recently if I do "speaking engagements". After I stopped grinning I said that I do but that I charge an appearance fee and it's large. Also, I require an entourage, catered food and beverages, and also a live rock band as a warm up act before I take the stage. There was no sound at the other end so I politely said I was only kidding and that I'd love to speak anywhere, anytime. That scared them more. The next thing I heard was a dial tone. Did you realize the dial tone has nothing to do with dialing. I'm coining the phrase "phone tone" right now. Don't you DARE try to claim it's yours. Don't you.

GAMERS—sheppardsoftware.com has great educational games for the whole family. Try it out. BTW—I'm really tough on the geography games. I can practically ace all the world capitals! Really! Anyone want to take me on?....the capital of Iceland is Reykjavik, the capital of Brazil is Brasilia, the capital of CSA is....Oak Brook! Hahahahaha ‡)

Let's say it together now: Have a greeeeeeaaattt day!