“And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child will lead them.”

Isaiah 11:6

Merry Christmas to all, family and friends, near and far.

For me, the Christmas season hasn’t started until I watch the Muppet Christmas Carol with close friends and drink egg nog.  I have done this every year for quite some time.  This year, I had to track down the Muppets (harder than you would think in the UK), find an egg-nog like drink (MUCH harder than you would think), and convince my friends to go along with it (my normal U.Va. compadres, Layton, Connor, and Cooper are in New York, Charlottesville, and Antarctica, respectively).  But Tommy, Marc, and Heather were up for it, so I watched the Muppets ring in Christmas once again.

I love the Muppets.  I love their optimistic spirit.  I really love their dry wit and humor.  And the Muppet Christmas Carol puts me in the Christmas spirit for a solid month.  I’ll try to share it with you, faithful readers who are separated by distance, through the magic of YouTube.

This song is a jovial defense of Christmas in the best way.  It gets me every time.

This is Statler and Waldorf–my favorite Muppets–playing Jacob and Robert Marley.

And this opening number, introducing Michael Caine as Scrooge, is the Muppets at their finest.

And finally, Heather pointed out that Sam the Eagle (link to video) bears a striking resemblance to Fred Thompson.  Really, it’s stunning–the only similar Muppet comparison I know is Beaker-Dan Lautzenheiser.

Merry Christmas season to all!

ERB