#santa Barbera

[thetravellingvagrant]

Day 13: In Which I Get Sunburned In December

Today was the only full day in Alicante that my schedule would afford me and, it being the last real location of the trip and a bit shit to boot, I decided to make it a nice, easy one. I was to have a bit of a bibble around a nice beach, then get a souvenir or two and a bit of food, then go home to enjoy my prison cell for the night

Pictured: El Porridge

I was excited to not be grinding myself into a thin paste by walking loads and loads and loads, to be honest, and so I set off into the city with a spring in my step. Metaphorically, not literally, I had neither the requisite energy, nor joy to skip.

As I left the hostel, it struck me that it was really fucking hot, today. Mid-20s hot. And bright. It's a good thing I managed to forget my shades but remember my incredibly heavy winter jacket. Absolutely nailed it.

Regardless, I pressed on with my day, blind and sweating and realized as I traversed Alicante by day that it wasn't *that* bad, here. Yes, it had a sort of…stupid vibe to it, as places often do when populated exclusively by English ex-pats named Sharon, but away from the more jubilant touristy areas, in the (frankly blinding) light of day and without even an inkling to visit a burger king, in which it looked like a dirty bomb has been detonated, the city was alright! Not brilliant or anything; there was still irritations like the absolute blight of leather faced old men, dresses like off duty sailors, walking around narrow, crowded streets at .3 miles an hour, clasping both hands in one another behind their backs

Hurry. UPPPPP.

But a far cry from the place I had experienced last night where I genuinely worried I was going to get robbed, headbutted or coerced into going to a nightclub in the ten minutes I was outside my accommodation.

I made my way through the…slightly unremarkable city and eventually managed to locate one of it's many beaches. It was busy. Perhaps not as busy as, say, a shit aquarium, but definitely enough to make me curl my lip and be slightly surprised, given that it was December. 

Scowling, however, I angrily removed my shoes and had an absolutely furious walk across the warm sand which I seathingly enjoyed very, very much.

I then found a nice tree which I say under for ages and ages, listening to a good podcast and nonchalantly burying both my feet in the sand 

...Two weeks 'til Christmas!

And then having a bit of a paddle 

You're welcome.

As I have no doubt you can tell, I was thoroughly revelling in my easy day, enjoying, more than most things I have experienced and likely will ever experience, the opportunity to have a stress free sit down and a splash. I was having an easy day and no one - not you, not god, not my mum, was going to stop me.

Anyway, then I saw this big cunt and had to climb it immediately

...Well, shit.

Excited to just enough of a degree for it to be a reasonable replacement for actual energy, I began my ascent up the big boi hill, the route up which varied wildly and seemingly at will between tarmacked road, cobbled path and incredibly dangerous crumbling cliff edge, having an excellent time trying - and failing - to attract the routes manky, scabby cats to have a good old rub around my legs or sit on my lap.

This was as close as they let me get.

Eventually, after - it must be said - a *lot* of trial and error, I found myself on the main road up to the top of the hill and the castle which lay upon it. It was then a car pulled up along side me. A man leaned out his window, which is usually always a preamble to a genuinely dreadful thing happening.

“Ello mate, can I take my car up there?”

I took my headphones out of my ears. 

“Oh, I have no idea.”

“Ohh, you speak English yeh?”

I told him I did

“Are you from the UK, yeh?” He asked, in a thick Mancunian roadman drawl

“Yeah.”

“You from Manchester, too?”

I told him I was from Glasgow

“Yeh? You don't speak Scottish tho, innit.”

I chuckled, out of awkwardness more than amusement

“...so can I take my car up there, yeh?”

I told him again that I had no idea. I did note that there was a car park right next to where he had stopped which seemed to point to him not being able to. He surveyed the hill.

“...fuck man, that's a lot of walking tho, innit.”

It wasn't. We were very near the top of the hill. Five minutes to the castle, tops. I told him the view would probably be worth it 

“Hmm…” he pondered. “Nah, I'll leave it” and with that turned his car around and sped back down the hill, his beats blaring into the distance, leaving me absolutely bewildered to my very core at the whole experience.

Anyway *I* made the effort to walk at a comparatively shallow incline for five minutes and was duly rewarded with some absolutely stonking views for my exertion.

...To be fair, it *was* a lot of walking

I wandered around the pleasingly sparse hilltop - most likely due to there needing to be the slightest bit of effort made to actually reach the place - taking pictures and fighting off the intrusive thoughts demanding to know if I'd survive if I jumped off the ramparts 

...Probably not.

But before long had exhausted my interest in being up really high like an eagle or a lost kite and descended down the opposing side of the mound.

The descent was almost as good as the ascent, despite the creeping presence of touristy shit edging in more and more, the further down I went, and offered comparably lovely vistas to enjoy

And soon deposited me back in the city, proper where I limped first to a souvenir shop and then to a big supermarket where I bought some kind of microwavable potato and onion omelette which I actually really enjoyed despite it looking like a fried sick patty and having the texture of a flu sneeze. 

Finally, I managed to get back to my apartment - my easy day having turned into a close-to six hour excursion which turned my pedometer red, again - where I ate my sicky dinner and enjoyed the customary nap and nibble before turning in, on preparation for the last day of the trip on which I wasn't just going to be eating nice pizza and tolerating okay friendship in a smelly room with all it's blinds pulled down.

[kwebtv]

Shirley Anne Field (born Shirley Broomfield; June 27, 1936 – December 10, 2023) Actress who performed on stage, film and television since 1955, prominent during the British New Wave.

Predominantly a movie actress she made her first television appearance in the series The New Adventures of Martin Kane  (1957). In 1959 she appeared in the series International Detective.

Her other television appearances include:

Santa Barbara (as Pamela Capwell Conrad)

Monarch of the Glen

Where the Heart Is

The Bill

Dalziel and Pascoe episode "Recalled to Life"

Murder, She Wrote

Never the Twain

Last of the Summer Wine

Shoestring

Doctors

Bramwell, season 1, episode 2 ("The Threat of Reprise") as Peggy Heart

(Wikipedia)

IMDb Listing

[browsethestacks]

Treasury Editions: Christmas

[heyitslapis]

I wonder if Abby even realizes that her penance for what she did to Joel was to BECOME Joel.

[originalgravity]

[nintendroid]

Not only did Santa himself show up in Pac-Man's Christmas special "Christmas Comes To Pac-Land", but we also got a cameo from Santa's most famous reindeer, Rudolph.

Pac-Man had some pull in the 80s.

[thebananasplitsblog]

Announcement

Hey everyone! So sorry for the lack of activity, a family emergency came up so I haven't had much of a chance to check the results of the poll. But now I have and it looks like many are interested in a Banana Splits Secret Santa Event. Due to it being December already though, I believe it would be best to have the event next year. That way we can prepare for it better and have everything set up.

I would love feedback though so please let me know what do you think the event should have. What types of art should we allow for the event? Should we allow ocs, or should we just stick to the main four?

Have a good day!

[miss-scrawl]

A Winter scenery for @cafemagie ✨️❄️💐❄️✨️

I choose to draw Hannah and Barbara bc I feel like there's a lack of content of these two 💝 I really hope you can feel cozy this winter and enjoy this gift🪄🔮✨️

[christmasfavoritetimeofyear]

Fred Flintstone delivering presents.

[pembrokewkorgi]

In today's new installment of Unscripted Honesty, I talk about how a family that existed before the birth of Christ manage to celebrate Christmas: https://youtu.be/k_WHhdyxfuI PS. I already seem to have members of the "No Fun Police" in the comments. LOL!

[murphydesign]

happy santa vibes to you and your family!

[thetravellingvagrant]

Alicante dump 1

[kwebtv]

Character Actress

Luana Anders (born Luana Margo Anderson, May 12, 1938 – July 21, 1996)  Film and television actress and screenwriter.

In addition to the films she appeared in she appeared in a wide range of episodic television, including The Rifleman, Sugarfoot, the "Incident of the Running Man" episode of Rawhide, The Andy Griffith Show, One Step Beyond, Dragnet, as Theresa Ames in "The Guests" (an episode of The Outer Limits), Adam-12 and Hunter. She appeared briefly in several soap operas, including Santa Barbara in the 1991–1992 season.

She also made appearances in the following series:

The Restless Gun

Letter to Loretta

Cimarron City

M Squad

Lawman

The Islanders

Ben Casey

The Eleventh Hour

The Greatest Show on Earth

Vacation Playhouse

That Girl

Accidental Family

Dragnet 1967

Hawaii Five-O

My Friend Tony

Mayberry R.F.D.

Ironside

Bonanza

Mannix

Firehouse

Little House on the Prairie

The Next Step Beyond

[marcosvitor1996]

Fred Flintstone from The Flintstones dressed as Santa Claus.

[sohannabarberaesque]

Meanwhile, imagine for yourself how Hanna-Barbera Productions could have imagined a surfing otter not unlike here.

[originalgravity]