How's it going lurkers? Yes, it is that time of season again. In
about 3 more days, Saint Nicholas' evil, cloven hoofed sidekick, Krampus
will punish all misbehaving children, while seducing buxom women with
his long tongue in between.
On December 5th, Krampus
will arrive with his birch switch, sack, and lumps of coal to punish
the "naughty."
Then, Saint Nicholas will arrive the following day to
reward well-behaved children with presents in their stockings.
Earlier
this week, I had the hardest time choosing which song to share with you
all for Song Saturday.
Because Krampus Day is creeping around the corner
in 3 more days, I am sharing this festive collaboration by Austin Dickey
and Into The Flood.
Into The Flood is a Metalcore
band from Tacoma, WA. Last week, I watched their music video for
"Death Posture." The song is not bad. I recommend listening to this
band, whenever you have the chance.
According to
Austin Dickey on YouTube, Into The Flood composed a Metal version of
"The Nutcracker (The Mountain King)." Dickey asked if he could perform
the vocals and write lyrics for the song.
Sure
enough, this collaboration came to fruition making the song, "Krampus"
his very own. For today's Song Saturday, here is Austin Dickey's
innovative collaboration with Into The Flood on "Krampus."
Austin Dickey [Featuring Into The Flood] "Krampus" (2016)
In case you did not already know
or in case you forgot, today is Krampus Day. Krampus is Saint Nicholas'
evil sidekick, who shows up every December 5th to punish "naughty
children."
Growing up, I never learned anything about this
evil goat demon from teachers or my family.
Some classmates did
not necessarily know anything about Saint Nicholas Day being on December
6th, which I always found to be very odd. They not only knew NOTHING about Saint Nicholas Day, but also knew nothing about Krampus
Day. NEITHER were discussed in any of my K-12 schools.
I suppose our teachers did NOT want to
traumatize us impressionable children. Otherwise, they probably never heard of Krampus either.
I
recently learned about Krampus 3 years ago from watching Grimm on NBC.
Speaking of Grimm, I will really miss watching this show after its
series finale, in the spring. As comical as the writing is, viewers have
been exposed to some international folklores and Germanic terms to describe various creatures known as "wesen."
The
series also gave me a reason to start watching primetime shows on
Fridays again, over these last 5-6 years. I would've tried sharing that
Krampus episode from Grimm today, but no thanks to Hulu, only viewers
subscribed to their site can watch online streams now.
Since
that is the case, I have decided to share footage of a Krampus Parade
instead. Last month in Schladming, Styria (a former small mining town in
the northwest of Austria), a Krampus Parade was held. It is normally
called Krampuslauf meaning "Krampus Run."
Over 1200
Krampus celebrants dressed as the beast in black rags and masks drag
chains behind themselves.
Every so often, these celebrants hurl their
chains and switches towards children. This is along with them swinging
cowbells, which is to warn people that Krampus is coming.
In Scandinavian countries and other parts of Europe, Krampuskarten or "Krampus Cards" are given for Krampus Day.
Saying "Gruß vom Krampus" means "Greetings from the Krampus" in German.
The
depiction of Krampus has evolved over time, since the 1800's. Older
versions of Krampus cards depict this goat demon as more evil and
frightening. In more modern times, he is depicted as more child
friendly, if not a womanizer.
If you would like to learn more about Krampus, feel free to check out my previous blogs about him at the following:
How's it going lukers? Several nights ago, I created a Google+ profile, joined some group pages, and I am following a few.
Judging
from its interface, Google+ feels similar to being on other social
media sites. Luckily, my news feed is not being flooded with selfies,
politics, and house cats.
Well, now that
Thanksgiving is over, I thought I would share another blog about
Krampus. Over these last several years, Krampus has been getting a lot
more exposure in the good ol' U.S. of A.
In fact, a PG-13 rated Horror Movie is being released in the movie theaters about Krampus on December 4th.
December 4th is
literally 1 day before Krampus makes his appearance to punish naughty
children and 2 days before Saint Nicholas is supposed to give presents
to nice children.
Krampus Official Trailer (2015)
I love how the filmmakers play on coulrophobia (fear of clowns) with the Jester Clown being a monster.
How many kids play with or have toy clowns in today's era? Aren't they too busy playing with video games and other electronics?
Since
we are on the topic of Krampus, you may recall that I published a few
blogs about him over these last 2 years.
Next week, I will re-share at
least 1 of those other blogs for December 5th because that is the day,
when Krampus appears and punishes naughty children.
Sometimes he even banishes them to hell!
Meanwhile,
it is Song Saturday. Last night, I stumbled upon this duo of Gothic Horror
Fantasy Instrumental composers. They are Midnight Syndicate.
I am currently following them on Google+ and alerted them about me sharing their song, "Night Of The Krampus."
The
song can be found on their new album, Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering.
Anyway, here is Midnight Syndicate for today's Song Saturday.
Midnight Syndicate "Night Of The Krampus" Christmas: A Ghostly Gathering (2015)
How's it going lurkers? Have you been naughty for Krampus or nice for Saint Nicholas?
Last year, NBC's Grimm premiered an episode about Krampus. I have never heard
of Krampus, until last December.
Krampus On Grimm (2013)
I would've learned about him 2 years ago on American Dad. American Dad has an episode titled "Minstrel Krampus."
Krampus & Steve Smith's Duet On American Dad's "Minstrel Krampus" (2012)
"Minstrel Krampus" was supposed to air on Fox in December 2012.
Fox
pre-empted the episode, until last December. Because of the controversy
surrounding the Sandy Hook Massacre, "Minstrel Krampus" was NOT aired
in December 2012.
Leave it up to the media to cause
more hysteria than necessary. Don't get me wrong, I empathize with the
families of the Sandy Hook victims. They spent their holiday and
continue spending their entire lives without their children.
However,
American Dad's "Minstrel Krampus" episode had ZERO involvement in a
15-year-old boy, NOT a 20-year-old man murdering innocent children. It's appalling that the media's Mathematical skills are much worse than mine.
2012-1997= 20 years
2012-1997= 15 years
Fox
would not air that American Dad's "Minstrel Krampus" because they really did NOT want to be used as a scapegoat for a 15-year-old boy with mental and
behavioral problems, who killed innocent adults and children. Go figure.
The
network already knows the media is skilled at condemning and demonizing entertainment.
This justifies Fox's reason for unairing American Dad's "Minstrel
Krampus" in December 2012.
Since I am on the topic of
Krampus, DanniDarkness (1 of my subscribers) published a blog last year on
Blogster about Krampus. Unfortunately, I don't know if she removed her
blog about him, or if that Blogster glitch deleted it. Regardless, I
couldn't locate the link to Danni's Krampus blog.
According
to what I have learned about Krampus, he is a beast-like monster that
is a part of ancient Germanic folklores.
Krampus is a black
and/or sometimes brown haired demon with cloven hooves and goat-like horns.
On
December 5th (Saint Nicholas Eve), Krampus punishes misbehaved children
by capturing them in his sack. Then, he carries them to his lair. Some
have said, that Krampus even carries them to hell. In the following vlog,
Lucas Livingston explains in more detail about the history of Krampus.
Lucas Livingston Explains The History Of Krampus (2012)
After learning a little more about Krampus, I understand why he is depicted as being a womanizer on American Dad.
When I read
DanniDarkness' blog last year on Blogster about Krampus, she mentioned
that songs were made about him.
I don't know any of
the songs about Krampus, although I found a Metal song about him for this Song
Saturday. Listening to the song makes me automatically think about Adult
Swim's Metalocalypse for some odd reason.
Today I have a song by Craterface. It's titled "Krampus Carol."
How's it going lurkers? I swear, this month has been crazy for me. I am sure it has been just
as crazy for many others as well. Now that it's December, there are
several holidays throughout this month.
Hanukkah
ended for Jewish people on December 5th. Then, December 6th was Saint
Nicholas Day.
Happy Belated Hanukkah and Saint Nicholas Day to those of
you, who celebrate both holidays!
Today is Winter Solstice also known as Yule for the Pagans. Happy Yule or Winter Solstice for Pagans!
In
4 more days, it will be Christmas for the rest of us, who celebrate it.
If I don't publish more blogs before Christmas, Merry Christmas to
everyone else!
Speaking of Christmas, I thought I
would continue to maintain the "Christmas Spirit" by sharing another
Song Saturday.
Right now, Blogsterians are publishing their own Song Saturday
blogs. I was going to share London After Midnight's "The Christmas Song" over there, but it seems pointless.
As
opposed to the Baby Boomers on Blogster, younger adults from Generations X and Y will at least
acknowledge AND appreciate my content. I am currently active on several
different social networking and blogging sites with younger adults.
Yesterday,
I joined another social networking site called Horror-Punks.com.
Horror-Punks.com seems like a Horror/Goth version of MySpace. I feel
that I can assimilate better on Writer's Cafe and Horror-Punks than on
Blogster.
Blogster has too many divisive Baby
Boomers fighting over politics and religion. They fail to grasp that
everyone doesn't share their views, care to be chastised, and don't care
for their self-righteousness.
Anyway, here is London After Midnight's "The Christmas Song" for today's Song Saturday.
London After Midnight "The Christmas Song" Oddities (1998)
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