The Cozy Mystery List Blog

I hope you all are enjoying the holidays! I don’t want to start out the year with another of my “rant and rave” entries… so thought I should hurry up and post my next two entries… which of course >>> are rant and raves!

My family picked two holiday movies to watch this year… and both of them were Jim Henson productions! I am SO glad that we got these movies years ago… when our children were little (during the ’80s) because, apparently, Disney is distributing them ALTERED!

You know the expression… “Don’t mess with perfection.”>>> Well, apparently when Disney bought the Henson Production Company, they thought that they (Disney!) could make “perfection” even more perfect! They (Disney!) were wrong!

We bought our DVD of  The Muppet Christmas Carol years ago, right when it was originally released. Unfortunately, it was released in the “pan and scan” mode. My husband, (I have “spoken” about him before… with his love of technological toys…) decided that we “need” to get the wide screen DVD version, so he decided to buy it. He was in for a big surprise!

Apparently, it is now being released by Disney without a very crucial song/sequence, which makes a critical transition time in the movie. You know longer are able to see Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine) sing a song with the fiancée who lost out to his love for money. We don’t know exactly why this scene has been deleted from the wide screen version. The good news is that the (Disney) distributors did deem this scene important enough to include in the “bonus scenes.” So, you can watch the wide screen version until the crucial moment, go to the bonus scene, continue watching the movie AS IT WAS INTENDED in the bonus scene, and then, when you get to the precise moment, you can go back to the wide screen version.

Needless to say, my husband did NOT buy the new and “improved” wide screen version of the movie. We will continue to watch it each year in the pan and scan mode… since we prefer seeing all of the scenes VS all of the scenery. Although each time we watch the movie, we see more of the small details that producer Brian Henson added to the movie scenery.

Shame on you, Disney Studios, for messing with perfection!

PS… I’m on a “3 Rs” >>>Rant & Rave Roll! A Muppet Family Christmas DVD in my next entry!

I just want to send a quick holiday greeting to ALL of you. 

Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just simply because winter is here:

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and/or Season’s Greetings to all of you!

My daughter came home on Friday, and one of the first things she noticed was that I hadn’t yet taken down my autumn leaf stickers that I decorate my computer desk with… She couldn’t believe that I hadn’t put up my wreaths and tree light stickers. I won’t go into detail (again) about how I decorate my computer desk throughout the year… suffice it to say that I do! (I’m pretty sure that it’s a fall-back to the days when I put up bulletin boards, etc.)

Anyway, I finally just got up some of my holiday stickers, but I have decided to forgo putting all of the stickers up since I’m getting such a late start. I don’t know what it is, but I just love to be surrounded by wreaths, stockings, tree lights, and more lights!

I think that because I find myself at my computer so much of the time, I simply want reminders of what is actually going on outside of “my own little world.” It’s easy for me to get wrapped up in my work at the computer, and every once in a while I simply enjoy looking up and being reminded of the time of year.

And, of course, since we don’t really have seasons here in San Antonio, I enjoy being reminded that there are actually trees with orange, red, and gold leaves that fall off of the branches in October and that snow does indeed fall from the sky during the winter.

So, I finally have some of my Christmas stickers up on my computer desk, but in less than a week it will be time to change them out for snowflakes!

Our children are in their early 20s, but we still drive around and look at Christmas light displays every year. We are so lucky that both of them are still able to join us for the holidays, and we take full advantage of their schedules. We love to “oooooh” and “aaaaaah” at the particularly good displays of light. (I know that the economy is hurting a lot of people, but there are still a lot of beautiful displays of Christmas lights all around.)

Most people already know about the Riverwalk Christmas lights. The lights are just one of this city’s beautiful attractions. I believe that the lights are on from Thanksgiving until past the New Year. I truly don’t know how the city is able to get all of those holiday lights into the tall trees that overhang the Riverwalk, but somehow, each year, it is a fête accompli! And, of course, all of the businesses that are on the Riverwalk also have their holiday lights twinkling.

Be sure not to miss the Christmas tree lights on the tree which is located right across from the Alamo’s entrance. I think that they try to change the tree’s decorations each year…

Years ago, when we still got the newspaper in paper form, the Express News had an article about a little subdivision called Windcrest that actually holds holiday light competitions every year. Boy, did we luck out because of Windcrest’s competitions! We have a lot of “oooooh”ing and “aaaaah”ing each year we visit that neighborhood.

University of the Incarnate Word has a dazzling display of white Christmas tree lights. The college’s campus has all of its many trees lit up, making it a truly sparking holiday world.

This year was our first year to go to Shavano Park to see the holiday light displays. A lot of the subdivisions are gated, but we drove through an area which isn’t gated. You can find it between Huebner and De Zavala on Lockhill Selma. The holiday displays of lights were phenomenal on the houses that were decorated. Be forewarned… be careful with the deer! We were able to see a buck and several cows in the yards… so drive safely!

Leaving San Antonio and heading north on I10, there is a little town named Boerne which participates in an event called the Texas Hill Country Regional Christmas Lighting Trail. We drove through Boerne’s main street last year and we had a whole lot of “oooooh”ing and “aaaaah”ing going on in our car!

There are two other areas which I cannot vouch for, since we haven’t driven to either of them. I can say, however, that we are going to be making our way over to both of these areas very soon:

I have found out that there is an area right behind The Forum shopping center that is quite nice to drive through. I have read (on some of the blogs) that you are supposed to go south on a street named Olympia. Olympia turns into Universal City Blvd., and apparently the holiday lights all the way down this stretch are beautiful.

The last place that I have discovered (but not visited yet) is Johnson City. I believe that it is located off of N 281, on W 290… an hour away from San Antonio. It is supposed to have the most beautiful display of Christmas lights found near San Antonio.  Apparently the whole town gets festive, from the Court House to their electric company!

Well, mystery readers, I know that this entry has nothing to do with mystery books, but my husband thought that I might be able to help someone in San Antonio who is searching around to find a new “oooooh” and “aaaaah” place to drive through and enjoy some beautiful holiday lights.

Be sure to take along your favorite Christmas CDs or cassettes!

PS>>> If you have any particularly good holiday light displays in your town, you are more than welcome to tell us about them in a comment to the blog…