Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 21

It's the Winter solstice! The longest night of the year has had an impact in the cultural formation of countless civilizations as well as their holiday/wintertime traditions. Many of the Native American tribes would use the Winter solstice as a time of reflection, fasting and prayer. They saw this time of year as just a curve for the yearly cycle of the seasons. Things would start to look more prosperous from this moment on!

That is why I have chosen to focus on a cause that needs to become a reversal trend for the indigenous people of North America. For women and children, especially girls, of the Native American tribes, they have become targets for sex trafficking, kidnapping and forced labor. In 2023, 293 indigenous children were reported missing or kidnapped. That number is actually thought to be much higher due to under-reporting because of fear and intimidation. A recent student concluded that roughly 8 in 10 Native American women had been sexually assaulted or raped. This is considered 9 times higher than the national average! Again, it's also believed to be higher due to a lack of reporting from the victims. In Albuquerque, it is believed that 85% of all women murdered in that metropolitan area are Native and indigenous people. That number could be even higher as well.

So why such large numbers and why are so many crimes against indigenous women and children being under reported? Aside from the intimation and fear??

For one thing, the issue of jurisdiction is muddied. Tribes and reservations have separate law enforcement agencies apart from state and federal agencies. There is a lot of confusion. There are some things that the FBI could assist with but law enforcement might not know that they can. Or a victim or their family might go to a local police department and be told that it's out of their jurisdiction. After being turned away too many times, hope is lost and the offense goes unreported. Plus tribal law enforcement is so understaffed, as earnest as they are, there just isn't enough manpower to devote to each crime.

Criminals and predators know that the odds are in their favor in not being caught. They understand all about the boundaries of jurisdiction and the lack of manpower. So they continue to target native and indigenous women and children. That's where today's featured charity comes in...

The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center seeks to advocate and educate about the epidemic of missing, endangered and murdered Native American women and children. They provide resources for families that are in need of help finding missing family members, as well as provide legal assistance. A grassroots advocacy program, the NIWRC is operated by various tribal members. They are a part of the Domestic Violence Resource Network and have successfully lobbied for female tribal members to be covered under extensive domestic violence protection bills passed by the United States Congress in the past few years. A brilliant effort to eliminate those jurisdiction overlaps! Another important effort of the NIWRC is the operation of a safe house for battered indigenous women and their children. 

If supporting the safety and protection of Native women and girls is a cause that speaks to you, I encourage you to donate to the NIWRC here. And if you are a person experiencing any sort of abuse from a partner or spouse, please seek help. 

Resources for the National Sexual Assault Hotline are: 

Phone: 1-800-656-4673

Or you can email or chat through the website RAINN.org.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 20

My bride is back again to talk with you about another amazing charity. This one is really personal for both her and myself. Here's Jan to explain the importance of Autism Speaks...

For about 40 years, I have had a passion for learning about and supporting those with autism.  My summer job was a camp counselor with 5-10 year olds with special needs, many of whom had autism.  And my first professional job as a social worker was a residential facility for people with profound disabilities, again many of whom had autism.  Over time, the autism thread wove through other aspects of my life, and today, many of my favorite people are autistic, including my godson and some special friends from church.  So Autism Speaks is a cause near and dear to my heart.

Their mission:

Autism Speaks is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan. We do this through advocacy, services, supports, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.

• Ensure access to reliable information and services across the lifespan
• Support research and innovation that drives towards improved quality of life and well-being for individuals with autism throughout their lives
• Leverage our assets through advocacy, partnerships and collaboration to support, extend and convene the work of service providers
• Accelerate delivery of solutions for adult quality of life needs, including transition, employment, housing and health and wellness
• Live and promote principles of diversity, equity, access and inclusion both in and outside of the organization

With an estimated 1 out of 31 children being diagnosed with autism, chances are you know someone who is autistic, someone who loves someone with autism or have autism yourself.  Autistic individuals are just that-individuals, each bringing their own light to the world.  Unfortunately, the world is often not very autism-friendly.  Autism Speaks works every day to change that.  

If you can envision a world where all people with autism can reach their full potential, then please donate to Autism Speaks here.

Zor Saves Christmas #1 (Family Comic Friday)

The holiday sequel to the Ringo Award nominated miniseries. Zor is a magical being made of tears. When someone touched by Zor's magic is in their greatest distress, he comes to life through their falling teardrops to save the day.

In this Christmas one-shot, little Zoe is doing her very best to make it a merry Christmas. It's the first one since her mother died and Zoe and her father are trying to make new traditions together. This year, they're going to visit Santa at the local mall. 

Santa must be in high demand this year. Or he's gotten really strict. He's requiring a ticket to get to sit in his lap and tell him about your wishlist. Unfortunately, Zoe's has lost her ticket and with the mall closing in 30 minutes, she's in danger of missing her meeting with Santa. Crying buckets, Zor is activated by Zoe's tears and he's found the missing ticket. Unfortunately, so has the Mall's resident mouser and Mr. Cat has no intentions of letting it go without a fight. 

The story was charming. Zor is a great character with awesome powers. This truly was a magical tale by Rob Potchak. I just wish that the artwork was consistent.

The humans all look very stiff; almost like they were made by a 1990s Microsoft Paint program. Except for Santa Claus. He's lively, cheerful and almost jumps off the page! Zor exhibits so much fluidity. Fitting since he's made for liquid. And I just loved his nemesis who's only doing what a cat does and isn't inherently evil or anything like that. Interestingly enough, one of the reviews on the back cover likened this story to a Pixar movie. That seems fitting since the humans have always looked off in those films.

So far, it's is one of top 2 holiday comics of the year. Something that the whole family can enjoy. From Keenspot, the publisher who brought you the many comedic adventures of Grubbs, make Zor Saves Christmas a new Christmas tradition with your children!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 19

I write my Advent posts several days in advance. Did you really think that I'm up pass midnight waiting until the exact minute of the day to post these with the corresponding date? 

I had a charity in mind for today when I was at work at saw that some of the students at the school I teach at were working to raise money for a cause. Inspired by their enthusiasm, I decided to research the charity. I wasn't previously aware of them, so I wanted to make sure that it was appropriate for my blog. Well, I did and it is.

The charity is called Undue Medical Debt. Now I know that my wife posted earlier in this Advent about a medical related charity. That one covers medicines and is contained to just the patients who call North Carolina home. Undue, as my kids call it, helps anyone who qualifies for assistance throughout the entire United States. 

I don't think anyone can deny that our nation's medical costs are insane. Not just are they expensive, they're MENSA level difficult to understand. I pay a co-pay and a deductible which my insurance does a great job keeping up with. Yet for some reason, probably greed, the hospital and general practitioner offices will try to get me to pay more than those costs my insurance claim that I owe. Thankfully, my wife has a better understanding of this because of her job in medical care, because I sure as heck can't. And honestly, it should be illegal for hospitals to charge you more after your insurance has paid your bill. 

Don't think that I am on the insurances side. It should also be against the law to deny someone coverage because of an unexpected emergency or the patient gets bad advice from the doctor. Last year, I passed out from a stomach virus and had a really fast heartbeat. I was advised to stay overnight and have my heart monitored. Freaking out, my wife and I agreed for the stay, even though I really wanted to go home. Needless to say my insurance is refusing to cover that part of my emergency. And yes, I am fighting it!

Unfortunately, Undue is unable to just erase an individual person's medical debt. Instead, they act like a debt collector in reverse. With funds raised, Undue contacts hospitals and medical care centers who are willing to sell off their debt portfolios. For every $1 the charity raises, they manage to have $100 of a patient's medical debt erased.  

An area DJ was the recipient of this kind of relief. He likened it to winning the lottery as he wasn't expecting it. I consider it a miracle blessing. 

Undue Medical Debt was founded in 2014, under the original moniker RIP Medical Debt. As of September of this year, the charity has reported the elimination of Nearly $23 billion for almost 15 million people. 

Look, you might not have any medical debt. If that's the case, you've been extremely lucky. But it's a very real possibility that something could happen to any of us unexpectedly, at any moment. Before you know it, you may need help with an unnecessary medical bill. Why not pass it forward this holiday season and donate to the cause today? 

Letters From Father Christmas- J.R.R. Tolkien

For over 20 years, J.R.R. Tolkien would bring magic to his children's holidays by sending them letters from Father Christmas; the name children bestow Santa Claus in England. But these just weren't any old letters from St. Nick. These missives were epic adventures filled with interesting characters, weather reports from the North Pole, and battles with goblins who are obsessed with Santa's inventory of toy trains of all things.

The first letter was sent to eldest son John in 1920. According to a recent graphic novel biography I read about the friendship of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, this was a fallow period for the eventual creator of The Lord of the Rings series of books. Experts say that Tolkien expressed frustration at not being able to write a great mythos for the United Kingdom. But I would have to disagree with this assessment. In my opinion, these letters were the author exercising through the creative process to create what would eventually become 1937's The Hobbit, laying the foundations of Middle Earth. 

The maps, the elvish language and the willowy font Tolkien created for his works involving Middle Earth all take shape here. There's even a very large message written in the alphabet of the goblins, along with a cipher. I'm making it one of my holiday goals to decode it. 

So much reads like a Christmas version of The Lord of the Rings. The runes ans carvings of past humans described in those caverns. The underground lairs of the goblins. The different races of elves that help Santa and how to distinguish among them. The battles between Father Christmas and goblins. The weapons. The gigantic horn that you blow to summon defenders of the North Pole from great distances. The only thing missing is one ring to rule them all...

And we've got the war. The Lord of the Rings was a way that Tolkien would process his way through his trauma that he experienced as an officer during the first World War. The last few years of letters reflect those horrible memories returning with Hitler's constant aerial bombardments of the United Kingdom. Father Christmas bemoans the upheaval of families and the difficulty in securing certain gifts for the Tolkien children. In reality it's the voice of an earthly father worried about his sons who have gone to war and not being able to adequately provide for those who still live at home. 

This is a must for any Tolkien fan who not only loves Christmas but wants to witness the formation of Middle Earth. I think you even see some of the Inspiration for The Chronicles of Narnia, because isn't Father Christmas a character in those? Not sure. But I know that talking animals sure play a part in those works and this collection of yule tide correspondence sure has plenty of those.

Collected and published posthumously, this was a brilliant read that fittingly ends; albeit with a very bittersweet goodbye from Father Christmas. So you might shed a tear or two towards the end. But not before being taken to a magical world of myth, merriment and laughs.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy Advent 2025, Day 18

Today's charity is one that I became aware of thanks to my goats. Well, the farm in which my goats are housed actually. It's called Ornaments 4 Orphans. For Christmas, the gift shop at Spring Haven Farm are selling felt ornaments of chickens, pigs, doggies and of course, goats. They are a part of O4O's Nepal collection.

Ornaments 4 Orphans 'collaborate with global artisans to create jobs, fight poverty, strengthen families, empower communities, and ultimately prevent vulnerable children from becoming orphans.'

You can also purchase ornaments made in Uganda, Peru and Kenya. The ornaments reflect the art and culture of the region in which they are made; along with the animals. For example, the Kenya collection contains ornaments depicting elephants whereas the Peru selection contains a llama decoration for your tree. 

Don't need any more ornaments for your tree, O4O also sells hand crafted bookmarks, key chains and nativity scenes that reflect the rich artistry of the country in which they are made. 

As they support fair trade and wages, it's important to note that this is a for-profit organization. However, the profits are used to buy more supplies, educate, train and empower families and to help keep orphaned children in their communities and with extended families. 

And yes, I did post a link to Spring Haven Farm in this post even though they are not a charity. My goats are my babies and I support and volunteer there like a parent might support their human child's PTA. Plus, the farm has taken in injured, abandoned and elderly animals, like everyone's favorite, Annie Donk(ey). So if their supporting a charity, I will support it as well. 

If Ornaments 4 Orphans sounds like the answer to your Christmas shopping list dilemmas, check out their website and store here...

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 17

On this date in history in 1903, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright took their epic first flight on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville won the coin toss and got to fly first. He was in the air a whole 12 seconds, going a molasses quick 10 feet per second. With some tinkering, the brothers completed 3 more test flights with Wilbur's last flight staying in the air nearly a full minute and having traveled 852 feet 

So, in honor of this occasion, the time seems right to focus on a STEM charity. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The culinary arts courses I teach are considered a part of this branch of education as there is a number of scientific and mathematical elements used in the field. But I have already devoted some of my Advent to food, nutrition and agriculture. So let's look at computer engineering. In particular, coding and the need for more females in the industry. 

There are probably 3, maybe 4 women in the field of computer engineering and design that I can name off the top of my head. Ada Lovelace, who's considered the first computer programmer of them all because of the algorithms she developed for Charles Babbage's 'analytical engine', a sort of early calculator. There's actress Hedy Lamarr, whose invention of frequency hopping technology is the precursor to Wi-Fi. There's the 'Hidden Figures', the group of black female engineers who worked at NASA. Although I must admit, the only one of the group that I remember by name is Katherine Johnson. 

And like I said, that is about all I can list. 

So for today's featured charity, I selected Girls Who Code. It was founded in 2012 by Reshma Saujani, a lawyer and Politician that noticed a lack of women in the field of science; In particular, computers and electronics. Noticing a lack of women in the field, Saujani did some research and found that while in the early 90s about 30% of computer engineers were female, that number was declining. By 2024, that number has dropped to less than 1 in 4 in the computer tech industry being women. 

Girls Who Code or GWC seeks to reverse this trend. GWC teaches computer science to eligible students in grades 3-12 through free afterschool clubs, summer immersion programs and training and support for students who continue to earn computer science degrees in college. Mentors who run programs for work prep such as mock interviews, can join the CWC Leadership Academy to learn leadership skills in training the next generation of female coders.

If supporting STEM and STEAM education in our schools is of importance to you, check out their donations page here. Along with a general fund donation, you can sponsor a a student for a year's worth of afterschool coding experience, fund a new club from the ground up or gift students the tools and technology needed for computer and Internet access.

Christmas 365 #2

Issue #2 takes place a couple months into the Rockwell family journey into a year's worth of Christmas celebration. To celebrate a dozen Christmases is expensive; what with the decorations, the food, the gifts, the trips to the emergency room.

Dad Peter is accident prone. He makes Wile E. Coyote appear like a safety monitor. Thankfully, his daughter has been recording everything and posting the content online. But that income can only go so far and with Memorial Day approaching, it's going to take the Rockwell family to think outside of the box to add to the holiday appeal. In response, they create a Memorial Day Christmas theme park, complete with water slides, reindeer burgers and Santa's salute to Veterans.  

No sophomore slump here. The opening which shows all of the accidents Peter has received since the Christmas when the tree caught fire in the living room, was hysterical. His doctor was a great supporting character. 

The artwork is really good. Lots of creativity, which is essential of you are tasked with developing Christmas themes for Valentine's and St. Paddy's. Piotr Kowalski does a remarkable job that conveys so much life and action.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 16

16 years ago today, the James Cameron film Avatar debuted in theaters. While I have never seen any of the films in the series, I know that they carry with them an ecological message. I had been planning on focusing on a charity that supports the sustainability of our food supply and the effects on our ecosystem, so with today's date in history, I figured today is as good as any in my charitable giving themed Advent.

For today's Advent, I have selected the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation or ISSF for short. As someone employed in the culinary industry, being able to continually grow food is vital. The harder the item to come by, the more expensive it will cost. The more expensive our food becomes, the less customers will come to eat at your establishment and soon you find your restaurant closed. So a regenerative food supply is good for the human race and good for our planet as it promotes the health of the food chain.

The ISSF was founded in 2009 by a group of scientists, fisheries and other conservation organizations to 'undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks.' Thanks to the ISSF, a number of innovations have been made in reducing 'bycatch', a term for other fish and sea life that get caught in traps and nets used for the harvesting of specific seafood. They've helped replenish the bigeye tuna from an over-fished state and they've helped to establish catching limits based on scientific data and observations from fisherman to prevent over-fishing of other variety of tuna. The ISSF has also helped fisheries to commit to the banning of 'shark-finning'; the wasteful practice of cutting off a shark's fins for a God awful tasting soup and discarding the rest of the shark, where in having lost its ability to swim properly, sink to the ocean floor and die a slow death. 

The ISSF has a long way to go. The Asian market relies heavily on both tuna and shark fin for both local and  international sales and consumption. Japan refuses consistently to adhere to internationally agreement fishing limits on tuna because of the high demand of sushi and sashimi grade tuna. Current market rate for bluefin tuna, which is dangerously close to being listed as endangered, is around ¥17,000-20,000 ($244-$488) per kilogram!

The thing to consider is that once the bluefin supply is nearly exhausted, those fisheries that rely on tuna for sushi/sashimi grade sale are going to go after the yellow fin and other more plentiful varieties of tuna and the cycle will continue over and over and over until the ocean is just one big empty body of salt water.

If the food supply of our world's oceans and the sustainability of it's occupants are a top priority- nay, a concern!- of yours then I encourage you to donate to the ISSF here!

Christmas 365 #1

This issue came out in time for Christmas. However, issues #2-4 did not. Since I am not a fan of cliffhangers and the month long waits in between, I sat on this miniseries until the 2025 holiday season. But upon finishing the first issue and looking back on things, I can understand why the follow up issues came out after Christmas 2024!

The premise is simple really: a man who is overworked at his job thanks to a clueless owner and a manipulative supervisor has had enough. After having missed his daughter's high school holiday concert and gotten into a fistfight with another dad at Santa's village in the mall on Christmas Eve, the father decides to make up for not being there for his family by vowing to celebrate Christmas once a month on the 25th for the whole year. That means Valentine's, Easter, even Independence Day are all going to have a Christmas feel to them!

Working late into the night for Christmas #1, the house looks like a Winter Wonderland at first. I say at first, because the sparklers used to decorate the living room with have just set the Christmas tree on fire, taking all of the presents underneath with it. So, the plan isn't off to that well of a start...

Written by Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance, this wasn't quite what I had been expecting as I waited until now to read this series. That's not to say that I didn't like it. Its just from the cover as well as the opening 3-page preview I saw last year, I thought that there was going to be a magical element to the story. I thought that some forgotten arcane spirit was going to make it Christmas every day for a year. Maybe a child wished that their Christmas would never end. Or maybe the evil spirit was mad at being forgotten and was punishing the world for their collective amnesia. The opening where a young boy is chased by evil looking snowmen really perpetuated this wrong assumption. 

Instead, Christmas 365 is more like a cross between National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and the unsettling down-trodden man takes revenge pic, Falling Down. Not a bad premise for a story. Just nowhere close to my original idea for the story.

I really hope the main character's supervisor gets what's coming to him. He's such a slime ball opportunist. He reminds me of somebody that one of my loved ones is having to deal with at their job. I hope that I get to live vicariously through this story because I don't want to risk my family member getting fire because I get my revenge on their foe for making whomever's life hellish at the moment.

Although, if Mikey writes anything like his brother Gerard does, I'm not expecting a happy holiday ending to this tale. We'll see...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025 Day 15

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite stores. It's one of my bride's favorite too. Its called Bull City Fair Trade. Based in Durham, NC, Bull City Fair Trade offers an amazing selection of clothes, books, treats, jewelry and much, much more. It's a fantastic, no, make that magical place, during the holidays with their beautiful inventory of ornaments, nativity scenes and Christmasy treats. 

Now you might be asking yourself 'Why in the middle of an Advent about charitable giving are you advertising for a small business in the middle of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle?' The answer: it is because every item sold in the store either supports fair trade and fair wages for the craftsmen who manufacturer these beautiful items or the items are produced by charitable organizations trying to empower the disenfranchised, incarcerated and formerly enslaved.

For example, one company trains women who were once sold in sex trafficking to become seamstresses. They make these awesome purses out of used rice sacks. Another company works with former convicts on parole to become skilled in trades and agriculture, while paying them a wage that is much more fair than what they are forced to earn in prisons. It's a little known fact that some prisons around the world get lucrative contracts outsourced from major American companies and they force the prisoners to make shoes, clothes and more for little to no income. It is all slave labor!

Bull City Fair Trade also carries local products made by Durham area charities that employ those who are homeless, food insecure or with disabilities. My family makes it a point to visit Bull City annually and take care of a large chunk of our Christmas shopping there. In fact, it's almost time for another trip.

In the previous days of this Advent, I have shared links where you can make donations. Today, I am sharing the link to BCFT's online store. Please check it out. Read about some of the charitable organizations that create these incredible items. Then make it a Merry Christmas for all by getting someone or EVERYONE off of your holiday shopping list!

Supergirl #8

It's a good rule of thumb that if a comic book set during Thanksgiving ends with a 'to be continued', the next issue will be set at Christmas time. Even if the Turkey Day story was resolved, if it is a monthly series, you can expect the next chapter to involve either Christmas, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa. Maybe even a combination of the 3! I would say such a thing occurs 90% of the time. 

Last month, I was treated to a Supergirl Thanksgiving issue. While I wasn't impressed with it, my devotion to the Maid of Might hasn't wavered. In fact, when I saw that last panel with a promise of 'to be continued ', I was actually excited at the prospect of spending Christmas with Supergirl. 

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I HATE cliffhangers. Yet, since I knew that I would be buying the December issue, it didn't bug me so much. But I did make sure to wait until when I bought the book to check and see if it was a holiday themed issue. 

Another holiday comic book rule of thumb is that if there's snow on the cover, either just starting to fall or full on blizzard, the contents inside involve the holidays. The only real exception is if the book stars an ice powered hero, like X-Man Bobby Drake or guest stars a frigid foe like Mr. Freeze. Well, this issue had a cover with Supergirl and some freaky looking robot standing in a snowy forest. So my chances of this being a Christmas comic shot up even more! Man, was I so full of the holiday spirit when I opened up the book to page 8 and there's a mention of Hanukkah and Christmas!!!

The holidays are hard for Kara. While she loves the Danvers, her adopted parents, and her cousin Kal-El, Kara misses her family who perished after the destruction of Krypton. The night before Christmas Eve, or what my mom would call Christmas Eve Eve, someone has broken into the Danvers home and it appears that they know that Kara Danvers is Supergirl!

Supergirl, along with her fellow Kryptonian Lesla-Lar, AKA Luminary, decide to investigate the break-in. Anything to get her mind off the holidays. The trail leads Kara to the orphanage where she grew up, bringing her face-to-face with a forgotten part of her past.

This was a much better issue than the last. And it didn't even have a different writer from the last. I'm not sure what Sophie Campbell did, but this felt worlds different than the last issue. Now, there was a different by Taiwan artist, Haining. Their talent really showed. All of the annoying double L characters was gone. And Lesla-Lar is really starting to grow on me. Notice, she is NOT an annoying double L character. She's got this rugged, yet bungling fish out of water attitude like Thorfinn on Ghosts. Definitely someone I would want watching my back. Not someone I'd want on my trivia night team.

This comic didn't do anything to restore my Christmas spirit. Mostly, because I haven't lost that despite the constant mystery pain I've been in for over 4 years. What this issue did restore is my faith that this current Supergirl is not completely terrible and that I will still keep this on my pull list.

I just wish Supergirl was more cheery. I like it when she's overly positive, like on Superman: The Animated Series instead of sulking like a platinum blonde Batman.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 14

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah. With my wife being of Jewish heritage, I traditionally honor her with one day of my annual Advent being devoted to my bride and her tribe. But since I am focusing on charities this year with her help, I decided to honor someone from my childhood who made me interested in Jewish culture and prompted me to make marrying a Jewish woman one of my martial goals! That person would be Dr. Burton Horwitz, D.D.S. 

Now growing up, I wasn't a fan of the dentist. My mother took some bad advice and didn't have me going for regular checkups until I was maybe 3 or 4. As a result, my mouth was lousy with cavities. I hated the adolescent torture device known as a 'raincoat', which was these rubber stoppers that got wedges into your jaw to keep your mouth open during a procedure. To this day, if I have to have a filling or more than likely a cracked tooth fixed, I tell my dentist: 'NO RAINCOAT!' and I'm almost 50.

Dr. Horwitz is an active member of the Jewish community in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's been on TV annually for I don't know how many years lighting a giant community menorah and bringing awareness of pro-semitism! He has been a faculty member of the UNC School of Dentistry for decades and was awarded the Order of the Long-leaf Pine for his years of dedication and service to the community. (Plus, his brother used to own this amazing deli with the best Reuben on Earth!) But what many probably don't know about Dr. Horwitz is the amount of pro bono dentistry work he has provided for area children and kids around the world. 

For some reason, all dentists are off on Friday. It's a mystery that probably will never be solved, up there with the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and if Bigfoot is real. Dr. Horwitz didn't spend his Fridays off playing golf. Instead, he would spend his Sabbath eve mornings running free clinics for poor and uninsured children in the Wake County area. He's also traveled to London, Ukraine and Africa to run free clinics for children in desperate need of dental health and education. 

So in honor of Dr. Horwitz, I am selecting the Smiles for Life Foundation. Since 1998, they have raised nearly $60 million dollars. With those funds, the have provided dental health care and accessories, like toothbrushes and toothpaste to patients both young and old. One of their main focuses is on those with developmental disabilities, as they suffer disproportionately from poor dental health than those of all economic groups. 

March begins a global springtime initiative every year for Smiles for Life. With the deadline looming, there's a trio of options for you to consider:

1. Find a participating area dentist office and donate to their clinic efforts.

2. If you are a dentist or work at  for a dentist orthodontist, join the Smiles for Life Network and host a clinic for those in need.

3. Become a corporate sponsor. Come on, you CEOs and business owners, we know you've got some tax exempt funds lying around somewhere!!!

For more information about these options, click here and then scroll downward.

Marvel Super Special #39: Santa Claus: The Movie

1985's Santa Claus: The Movie is not only considered the worst Christmas film of all time; it holds a distinction of being placed on the lists of many from film critics worst films ever made. Still, that didn't keep me from having this magazine sized Marvel comic book adaptation on my wish list for many years.

I remember going with my mom to see this in theaters in '85. I had just turned 8 and I either saw it during Thanksgiving break or Christmas break. The sets of the North Pole and the costumes of the elves and Santa were stunningly beautiful. But I recall how weird that the movie looked on the screen. Something was off and finding out years later that this was an American/British production, that explains it.  But as a form of entertainment to a 2nd grader who loved the magic of Christmas, it wasn't a terrible movie.

Along with the use of video tape instead of celluloid, one element that has critics cringing is the blatant product placement. At the time, it didn't seem so weird to me. But having re watched the film years later, the film feels like a 90 minute commercial for a lot of international products. The 5 minute long scene where McDonald's diners are gleefully devouring burgers and fries in front of a starving homeless boy seems cruel. Even if it is just a movie, that scene doesn't convey an image of Mickey D's caring about the little guy. 

With McDonald's sponsorship, there was a lot of marketing for the movie. But instead of toys, they gave out book adaptations of segments of the movie. There were also some record read-a-longs, coloring books and I want to say a sweatshirt or t-shirt tie-in. But no toys or candy. Though considering how dangerous the candy is in this story, maybe that was a good thing.

I think Marvel either missed a great opportunity to not release this as a giant sized movie special. Or they dodged a gigantic bullet. With the film bombing domestically (it was a big hit in the UK) and only a magazine edition of the comic book adaptation, not a lot of Marvel Super Special #39 were produced. Marvel didn't lose too much on this book and today, this issue is a highly sought after addition to Christmas comic book collectors collections because of how rare it is. Not to mention, the heftier price tag. 

I've seen people asking anywhere from $60-100 for this book. Too rich for me. I consider myself very lucky (or on Santa's nice list), finding it in near mint condition for less than $20! This was a fine adaptation. I think it benefited well from not being tied up with so much licensing and that allowed writer Sid Jackson to really capture the intended magical feel of the story. The artwork by Frank Springer was very good with some great likenesses of most of the cast. Petra Scotese's color palette fully captured the bright and lively hues I remember so vividly being a part of the film.

A true diamond in the rough. Normally, adaptations don't do justice to a movie. But this one actually surpasses the original product!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 13

No Farms. No Food. 

There's pretty much no way to get around it. We need food in order for everything to survive. Automation has done wonders to make it to where we don't need as many farmers as we use to have. And yet, we still need human beings to grow our food, raise livestock and maintain a food supply for the next generation. 

Smaller farms are losing a lop-sided battle against larger, corporate farms. They cannot compete paying living wages to workers when a larger corporation can afford robots, artificial intelligence and automation to offset the need for human workers. I'm not saying that a corporate farm is all bad. Some entrepreneurs do merge a mix of technology with the human equation in order to do the most good helping people find and maintain employment while producing enormous amounts of food. However, such companies are the exception; not the norm.

Every nation on the world is essentially 1 horrible harvest season away from a global food crisis. And I'm not just talking about famine and drought. That's not liberal fear mongering because we came really close to such levels of hunger with the pandemic. While food was plentiful, getting it into the hands of the population was severely disrupted. Some argue that 2020 was proof for more automation. But what are we going to do when there's no more jobs because we lost them to a machine?

These kind of questions are not new. Voices have been expressing fear in loss of employment ever since Jethro Tull and John Deere introduced their first plows for sale. By the mid-1980s, farmers were losing their homes and livelihoods are an accelerated rate that musicians John Cougar Mellencamp and Willie Nelson took inspiration from Live Aid just a few months earlier and put on a massive concert in America's heartland called Farm Aid to assist farmers who were facing losing their homes to foreclosure or corporate giants. 

According to Willie Nelson, he thought that one concert would be enough to solve the problem. Enough money would be raised and not another farmer would ever face economic uncertainty. But the Earth has weather that is constantly changing. Unexpected floods, drought, frost or an massive heatwave could wipe out one farmer's entire crop for a year while down the road, the guy growing broccoli hasn't been affected. As a result, Farm Aid has become an annual event.

Along with raising funds for disaster relief and helping farmers to avoid bankruptcy or worse, the organization runs educational programs to help new farmers create homesteads and alerts to American people to the need for farms. They also have a crack team of lawyers and lobbyists that have helped get vital legislation passed to help the American farmer. 

Now if we could just get legislation passed where instead of paying farmers to not grow food, nor arrange for them to destroy it, and figure out a way to get food to the homeless and needy without jeopardizing competitive wages on the global market. I don't care. Wasted food should never be a thing and a field that was paid for by the government to remain barren is a misuse of resources.

If keeping the American farmer from going extinct is an important cause for you, then check out Farm Aid website and donate here...

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 12

I selected another more local charity today that even if you are not from North Carolina, you can still donate to. Or, maybe this charity would inspire you to pursue options more local to your state or county.

See, my wife's brother, my brother-in-law, was adopted. With that in mind, and the fact that I don't like to the number 12, here's my bride to talk about her family's experience and how you can get involved.

Take it away Jan...

Christmas With Archie

I think my favorite comic book store likes me. This Summer, when they took in a collection, they bought this 1974 Archie classic. And they gave it to me as a gift!

This one has been on my wish list for a long while. In the early 1970s, after comic artist Al Hartley became a Christian, he was recruited by the newly founded comic imprint Spire to work on their growing lineup of faith-based comic books. After initial success, Hartley reached out to Archie Comics co-founder John Goldwater to license out the Archie characters. From 1972-1982, a total of 19 Archie one-shots were created to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One of those books was 1974's Christmas With Archie. Here, the Archie gang and the citizens of Riverdale put the 'Christ' in Christmas with visits from Santa to the local orphanage, a Christmas party at Riverdale High and some last minute holiday shopping. While the message of Christianity is tied into many of these stories, that does not mean that this was not a fun book. It was not all angels floating on clouds with harps. The opener where Archie fills the tires of his jalopy with helium and becomes a one-made holiday parade was hilarious. The 'Finding the Santa' fun page was a great challenge. I also enjoyed the look at Christmas future starring the high school cafeteria lunch lady, Miss Beazley.

Things did get a little preachy. The scene in the first story when Mr. Lodge turns on the TV to the middle of a televangelist's dissertation on appreciating teenagers was a bit on the nose. I also felt that the message of the story where Archie tries to find the perfect Christmas card for Veronica was too syrupy. 

This was a book I remember owning and loving as a kid. It's the book that made me mistakenly think that Archie Comics was a Christian publisher. I had a fun trip down memory lane with this. Thanks Gordon and the rest of the fellas for it! Awesome Christmas gift, dudes!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 11

Samaritan's Purse does a lot of charitable programs: disaster relief, training and counseling for veterans and the creation of wells and water purification stations worldwide. But my favorite activity to participate in is their Operation Christmas Program. People fill a show box with essentials like soap, toothpaste and combs along with books, toys and clothes for a child to unwrap on or near Christmas day- regardless if they celebrate the holiday or not. 

In 2024, almost 12 million shoe boxes were distributed around the world. Over 10 million of those care packages came from the United States!

In past years, my wife and I have donated boxes for both a boy and a girl. You can choose ages from infancy all the way to young teen. I try to pick the teens, figuring they don't get that many shoe boxes. While toy weapons are forbidden, I still try to add Star Wars, superheroes and other popular characters with universal appeal. 

I also buy heavy duty tape. That's because I always go overboard and pack my shoe box to the gills. And I fill an adult size 12-13, male shoe box. No puny kids sized boxes from me!

While the 2025 deadline for shoe boxes is gone and passed, you can still order cool stuff for kids and their families around the world like a dairy goat for milk, clean water for the nearby community and cataract surgery. Some of these items can be purchased individually. But there are a few that can be very expensive. So for those needs, you can donate for a fraction of the cost, in a way that potentially 3-4 donors would contribute. The catalog for such donations can be found here...

Santa Claus Vs the Nazis

Santa Claus Vs the Nazis!

It originated as an eComic on the digital site AcesWeekly.com in 2012 and then became an eBook in 2016. Thanks to popular demand it was reformatted a year later and collected into a graphic novel hard cover which quickly went out of print. Sometime last year it was announced that a trade paperback was coming for sale on Previews. However, I was only able to get a copy in the States just this past Spring. The reason? Imports and tariffs were blamed. But I think it had all to do with Diamond going kaput and my favorite LCS probably had to go all over the place to get their hands on a copy for me.

I'm really, really glad for all the trouble. While on the surface this seems like a comedic work, the whole idea and image of Kris Kringle punching the crap outta Hitler, the subject matter is actually taken fairly seriously. And to some degree, with historical accuracy.

In 1939, Russia invades Norway. The Norwegians turn to Germany for help. Thanks to the Nazis, the Russians retreat. However, this now means that Norway is under Nazi occupation as Hitler is not the type of leader to just give up territory.

The action takes place Christmas a year later. Santa is recruited by Winston Churchill to assist in the war effort. Apparently, Claus has interfered in the events of World War I (or some other skirmish around that time.) Horrified by those memories, St. Nick refuses.

A few weeks later in early 1941, a Nazi scout in the Lapland region of Norway discovers Santa's workshop. If the Fuehrer can control the magic of Santa, he'll be able to produce unlimited weapons and conquer the world. Santa is incapacitated to the point that he's immobilized but the magic of Christmas still thrives through the craftsmanship of Santa's elves. A pair of his helpers assisted by Rudolph, flee to London where Churchill begins a secret mission to liberate Santa's base of operations.

So far, the story has my attention. But it encapsulates me into a secret hidden part of Christmas lore when it's revealed that Queen Elizabeth secretly was the leader of a clandestine British commando unit under the alias Liz Windsor. There are a bunch of other Easter eggs hidden throughout. At least I hope they are Easter eggs. For example, one of the members of the special forces unit is a guy by the name of Fleming. His first name wouldn't happen to be Ian, would it?

Writer Benjamin Dickson also gets really creative with the legend of Santa and his compatriots around the world. In the Netherlands, Santa is assisted by a character named Black Pete, who was like the original Elf on the Shelf. He'd report to Odin and later Sinterklaas on who was good and who was naughty. The naughty children, Pete who would whip and sometimes kidnapped the worst offenders. 

Here, Dickson has the character portrayed as the black youth Peter, whom Santa Claus freed from slavery in the Caribbean and is the Big Man's second in command. Once I made the connection between the character in this book and the figure of European folklore, my love for this book went into overdrive!

A brilliant book that is such an off-the-wall holiday idea, I can't believe that I didn't come up with it. But it's not a lighthearted tale. And NOT for the kids! If only the promise of return of Father Christmas in 'Santa Claus in the Land of the Soviets' was real and not a joke a la a Marvel movie.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.