One for the haters:

 

Right then, we're in the final strait. To celebrate, from here on in you'll get a "proper" Christmas song/carol as well as something else on every day.

So, for "proper" songs let's start with the Daddy of all celebrity Christmas sing-a-longs:



And for the "other thing" here's the original short that ultimately led to the "Rare Exports" movie:

Sufjan Stevens has recorded a lot of Christmas songs, so it only seems right that he get mentioned on this Advent Calendar.  In fact, he manages to get both the "proper" Christmas Song slot, and the "something else".  The first offering then is a lovely, twinkly, rendition of "Joy to the World".  



The "something else" is the video for "Mr Frosty Man".  Let's be honest, I'm not really linking it for Stevens' crunchy grungy tale of a man who's literally too cool (though it's a fun throw away song) - I'm really here for Lee Hardcastle's amazing claymation video that accompanies it. I'm a fan of Hardcastle's horrible and hilarious works, and this doesn't disappoint.  Anyone who's seen his remake of The Thing with Pingu knows roughly what to expect:

OK, we're almost there.

This is the last of the short films I'll be sharing, this one's written and directed by Douglas Hart of The Jesus & Mary Chain.  It's for all of you who will be away from a loved one this Christmas:



Meanwhile, here's the obligatory Christmas song:

 

Right.  So where this is where everything changes slightly. But before we get into that, here's your promised Christmas Song - no more carols I'm afraid, but a good old Christmas Classic:



The song seemed the obvious choice given it's from "A Christmas Gift for You" and that's exactly what the main surprise behind today's door is...

An explanation first though, as the link itself isn't inherently Christmassy.

Quite a while ago I put a post on the writer's thread saying I was writing a kids book for a friend, and posting the first chapter. Some of you were even kind enough to offer some comments on it. During lockdown I rediscovered that chapter, and finally got round to writing the rest of the book - given that I couldn't visit the kids and read it in person, I recorded me reading it for them. Since then I kept thinking I should share it on here, because some of you helped shape its existence, but then I kept chickening out. 

So when I decided to do this advent calendar, I thought I'd finally share it as a sort of collective Christmas present. (I appreciate that risks sounding unbelievably arrogant.). So here it is, a link to a Dropbox containing all 5 and a bit hours of "BanAnna".  The audio quality is roughly what you'd expect from a bloke who knows nothing about recording audio, taping him reading a book whilst a dog occasionally barks in the background. There's a toe curlingingly embarrassing bit at the start where I say "that's me!" after my name as if talking to a 4 year old (because I was)...  None of you are the original target audience for what would most generously be described as a silly romp. 

But...  I'm hoping it can provide a bit of entertainment for some of you at least - particularly if you're stuck doing long car journeys at Christmas. If nothing else you know what voice to read my posts in now.

So, without any further mucking about (and really hoping the Dropbox link works) here's

BanAnna

All being well, you'll be getting something a bit more B&B specific tomorrow.

Here we are then.  The final day.  Congratulations to anyone who managed to click on every reveal. We've had songs, movies, games and horrific trees. All that remains is to open the final door and see what waits inside.

As with yesterday I have a song, and a gift. Let's start with the song. Inevitably I'm going with my favourite Christmas song - "Just Like Christmas" by Low. Not only do I love it for its ability to capture the intangible nature of a good Christmas, but it seems a nice way to remember Mimi Parker, who sings it, and sadly passed away earlier this year:



Finally, without much further ado, here's my final present.  Yesterday's was something I'd made before, and simply hadn't shared. Today's has been created just for you lot, and just for this.  (I've been beavering away on it during every free moment over the last couple of weeks.)

It seemed appropriate, given the nature of the site, that I give you a game of some sort.  The only problem being that I don't know the first thing about making games. So I settled on a Christmassy Choose Your Own Adventure type thing, as that seemed relatively straightforward.

As a bonus incentive there are chocolatey prizes (it's an advent calendar after all). So, there's a prize for the first person to find the secret ending, and post in this thread the sentence spoken by the tin robot.  There's a second prize (because I'm worried that it's possible no-one finds that one) for the first person to find at least 20 endings. Each ending has a distinctive name given to it (like "The Shut Up And Let Us Play Ending") so be the first to list 20, and you win.

That's it.  I hope you've got some pleasure out of this little thread, and that the game provides a fun diversion. Here it is:

The Bear and Badger Christmas Adventure

Merry Christmas!