Saturday, 27 November 2004 - 2:47 PM EST

Well, today is November 27th, 2004 --- and Santa Claus: The Movie is 19 years old now. One year away exactly! Aargh! Now I really have to get especially busy ---- that 20th Anniversary Special won't write itself,, you know. So, I have contacted Scott Michael Bosco --- and I have decided that we need him. Ilya Salkind has e-mailed each of us; he's contacted me twice. The only reason I've been so slow to contact him in return is because I know not his phone number in L.A. Drat these Hollywood types with their unlisted phone numbers!

Anywho, let this (if it makes it through the terminal I am now typing in) be our first response to a posting in KQ: The Blog. I did the South Street Seaport yesterday; Roger Franklin, longtime Kringle in residence there, was wielding a gold staff (he'd apparently sustained a leg injury in the off-season); and Tommy Tuminello, Sr., longtime Santa for ABC Carpet & Home (and a member of AORBS) was seen in his grotto, helping a young lady named Brandon learn the ins and outs of bell-ringing. As for Dick Shea, he and Angel have once more re-assembled their winning (albeit barely visible) team at Manhattan Mall. Would that Dick's public-access variety show were just as visible, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network czars having decided to move his time slot to (Horrors!) 2:30 in the morning on Tuesdays. Not good! Still, the journey ended as I checked out both Lord & Taylor's and Saks Fifth Avenue's windows.

Tomorrow, it's back into my civilian regalia for a few days so that me wig and beard can be washed (Ick!); meanwhile, I shall visit L&T's weekend Kringle and his two way cool elves, both of whom have remarkable tales to tell.