TO OUR READERS.......

As of JANUARY 18, 2020,
this blog will be going on hiatus for a couple of weeks while we're in Japan ⛩️🏯🗻( depending on whether I can get Tess back on the boat when it's🚢time to come home😭). She's been wanting to visit there since she was 9👘.(I'm not allowed to say how many years she's been waiting🤐).
She and her friend Lily are leaving tomorrow and I'll catch up with them by plane✈️ as soon as I'm able. WARNING TO THE SHIP'S CREW: The Ginger is spoken for
💪 😁 💍!!!

We have truly appreciated your support over these past three years, but we will be making some changes due to our New Year's resolutions🎉.
 The filmography pages and any Brendan-related posts 🤠 can heretofore be found at this address:.  https://brendanfraserfactum.blogspot.com/
 We have been contemplating this change for the better (or worst😒) part of a year due to an increasingly busy work schedule😵, Tess' ongoing medical issues😢 and confusion on the part of some of our readers🤔 and it became obvious that we needed to separate the two halves💔 of the blog for the good of everyone involved. We'll also be downsizing our two YouTube channels. We hope that we have now clarified the situation for those who were confused🧐.

ADDED FEBRUARY 24, 2020
We returned from a very relaxing 2 weeks on the boat (you can't get a tan in February in NY😁 !) to find several unrepeatable (this is a family friendly blog 😮 !!!) comments from "Club Brendan". Apparently, in our absence, he's also been making a nuisance of himself on YouTube again, but our watchers have reported that his account no longer exists. Good ! As I said before, he needs to find a new hobby.

I guess I need to reiterate that Tess and I no longer work for Brendan Fraser, so any problems that anyone has with him are no longer our concern. Brendan is a big boy and it's time he started defending himself. Any complaints should be directly addressed to him. Try your local Comic-Con🤖.

We've enjoyed publishing the  posts and would like to continue to do so, mostly on holidays🎂🎄🎃 and vacations🏝️🏊. We have a couple of long-awaited projects in the works🤫🤭 and we look forward to sharing them with you here 💌 .

         Take care and we'll see you soon,

     TheChamCham😉🍜 and Tess☺️🍰.

A man may lose his youth,
his glory and his wealth
and still be whole.

But a man who has lost his
soul, his honor and his self 
respect has lost everything.

And will never be whole again.

AUSTRIA !!! (I'm told that I was "chintzy" with the pictures🙄, so I've added some. Enjoy !!!

Hey Kids !!!
 We're😸 baaaack. We were supposed to be gone until the 7th, but Tess caught a cold (I bet it was that innocent-looking baby👶🏻 she was talking to at the hotel). She fell asleep on the plane, which she never does because she watched too many AIRPORT movies😨 in her impressionable childhood. When she woke up, she said her head felt big 😕. So she's tucked up in bed and when I finish here I'll be taking her more ginger lemon tea and crackers. I offered to make (nuke)chicken broth, but she isn't hungry.
My Tess suffers from Autoimmunity. At last count she has four autoimmune disorders.
She didn't have them before we met so sometimes I wonder if the life she's had with me has been a contributing factor. There are times when she can travel with me for business and pleasure, and other times when she can't. A lot of plans get cancelled. It makes me sad 😔when she can't go places with me because she makes everything better. She feels guilty, even though it isn't her fault, and twice she's arranged for someone else to go with me, but it just wasn't the same. We'd planned to go to Austria last year, but something happened and we wound up separated for the holidays.😔 Last summer she joined me halfway through a lonnnnnng and miserable business trip, but she was miserable too (which is why neither of us posted about it) and I felt guilty for making her come all the way there.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION : BE MORE SELECTIVE FROM NOW ON. NO AMOUNT OF 💵💶💷 IS WORTH BEING STUCK IN A VERITABLE PERGATORY FOR MONTHS. I travel for work, but my home is my sanctuary and that's because of My Tess. Oh, I've given her plenty of misery in ten years too. That's why the good times are so precious.

SALZBURG
I forgot the tree pictures too.
Tess brought her tiniest tree (it folds up😄), one string of lights and a few unbreakable ornaments and of course, her deer family. That gift bag with the doggie was mine😁!!!

The Christmas Market was first on the to do list.

The Sound of Music Tour (self-guided).

Schloss Leopoldskron.

The horse fountain (I Have Confidence)

Mirabelle Palace Garden (Do Re Mi)

Mondsee Church (The wedding)

Tess had done a lot of research beforehand and acted as our tour guide. There was a private tour with breakfast on the terrace overlooking the lake for $1,100 for 6hrs for up to 8 people, but Tess had already found a hotel with a full breakfast (Miss frugal). Besides, Tess said we'd have to be on the bus by 8am and it isn't a vacation if someone is telling you what time to get up😄. She also thinks 11am checkout is ridiculous, but we won't go into that now.

Mirabelle Palace Garden(Do Re Mi)

Nonnberg Abbey

The Mozart Concert at HohenSalzburg Fort

The ladies loved it and I didn't fall asleep. We had dinner afterwards.

On our last day in Salzburg, we went to the Marionette Theater to see.........

The pictures here are from the website.

The theater was packed and I snapped one picture after the show started and several people......well, let's just say, if looks could kill.  Nobody wants to be the "Ugly American" so I put the phone away. Tess put her hand on mine and whispered "Live in the moment, Honey". As usual, she was right. I did take a couple of pictures of the theater, but I'll put them in the video.

It wasn't as good as a Thunderbirds episode or the 1964 film, but the recorded music, voice actors and singers were very good. On the other hand, dinner was excellent 😋!!!

Schnitzel with noodles !!!

and apple strudel. Delicious coffee too.

ST.GILGEN

We moved to this quaint village whose claim to fame is being the birthplace of Mozart's mother. It's off the beaten path, but very beautiful and quiet with just inns, shops and restaurants and even though tour groups come here, they don't stay for more than a few hours. After a week of sightseeing, Tess wanted us all to "rest and enjoy the beauty of nature" (sometimes I know I make her sound like an idiot, but she really isn't.)

We took a couple of walks, slept well, ate a lot of wonderful food and if she hadn't gotten sick, it would

've been our best trip in years, and our best Christmas since England.

I think it's a law in Austria that you have to eat your weight in strudel. O.K. , when in Salzburg...........😋

2020

We rang in the New Year quietly. I tried to find pizza in the village, but our host's son/nephew ??? said that the only place had mediocre pizza. So, we ordered fondue and some desserts and drinks and had a little party. At midnight, it was just the two of us, so we danced to Auld Lang Syne (Tess had downloaded it into the phone, along with some other music and videos in case the power went out🤨) because "New Year's Eve wouldn't be the same without Mr. (Guy) Lombardo". Tess' parents were always away on New Year's Eve, so she and Miss Belle would bake a cake and drink Shirley Temples and Tess would dance with her cat😸. Such a wild girl😯😄.

Well, that's it, I guess. I'll try to put up the video tomorrow right here👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Nite😉.
Tess wants popcorn,which is odd, because she never eats it. I checked the pantry and the kitchen and the garage (well she keeps some extra supplies out there) and we don't have any☹️.

TO WALMART !!!👉🍿

MERRY CHRISTMAS ☃️⛄🎄

Hey Kids,
We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !!!

We'll see you in 2020 😉😊!!!

Happy Chanukah.

Wishing our Jewish friends
and family members a
safe and happy Chanukah.
"Chag urim sameach!"😊😉

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS (and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and..........)☹️😢🌧️☔💧

Video credit:Martin Santiago.

ENOUGH IS AS GOOD AS A FEAST 😋🍗🥧🍷!!!

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday, here in our neck of the woods. Traditionally, the above photo or something like it, is what I could expect from my Tess, but not this year.

We've been on another one of her crazy diets and apparently spreads like the one above , are not on the program. When I asked her what we were having, she gave me that look again😞and said "Tofurkey".
Me: NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!😱😫😭
Tess: But you are doing so well! Your cheeks are pink, your eyes are bright and your tummy is getting flatter and I can get so much closer to you when we snuggle 🤗👍!

While that IS true, I feel that I deserve a reward for🏅being such a good boy lately and so I insisted on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all of the trimmings 🍗🥧🍷.
She told me that I would have to cook it myself 😲!!! Why? Because it was only going to be the two of us and all of those leftovers would be too tempting. She envisioned me making skyhigh Dagwood sandwiches full of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. Am I the only one who puts mashed potatoes in there too ?

Me: Let's go to a restaurant !
Tess: Thanksgiving is in two days! No one will have a table.
Me: Take out ?
Tess: No.
Me:🤔 Fine, I'll cook ! Just enough for the two of us......and maybe one sandwich ?😇
She looked doubtful, but then she smiled and hugged me and said that she was looking forward to it.

To the store !!!

I looked at the frozen turkeys, but the butcher told me I didn't have much time for defrosting AND roasting. Besides, no leftovers 🙄!
I looked at already roasted turkey in the deli, ground turkey, Tofurkey 🤢.I strolled through the produce section and imagined having to peel and boil all of those potatoes, making cranberry sauce, tearing up all of the bread for the stuffing and I was already tired. Ok, I admit it😞! I AM A LAZY MAN !!!

That's why I hired a private chef in the first place ! I want food, good food and lots of it, but I don't want to have to make it myself ! I like eating in restaurants because you pick whatever you want and they bring it to you and you pay for the luxury of not having to do it yourself ! Right ? But, I also like to stay home and have food brought to me. In her defense, Tess as you may know, doesn't like Thanksgiving.

She thinks that we should be thankful every day, and she's right. She thinks a table groaning with food one day of the year is blasphemous when we eat well every day, and she's right. She thinks the finale of Game of Thrones was wonderful and she's rig....hey, wait a minute !

But I digress.
I suddenly found myself in front of the frozen meals and thought how easy it would be to just pop them in the oven. I opened the glass door and pulled out a box.

Sliced breast, dressing, mashed
potatoes, gravy, vegetables, and cranberry sauce.

 I turned the box over. Only 500 calories😃👍!!! I took out 3 more and put them in the cart, went around the corner and grabbed a pie from the bakery and drove to the shortest line.
When I got home, I put our dinner in the freezer in the garage and went in the house.
Tess looked up in surprise when I came in the door.
Tess: Did you forget something?
Me: No, I'm all done.
Tess: You were only gone for an hour.
Me:😁 I know.
She asked if I needed help unpacking the bags.
Me: Nope ! There's only one.
Tess: 😕

I was pretty pleased with myself until the next day.
I got up early for the parade and my sweetie found me a few minutes later, set a tray with my breakfast on the coffee table beside my massage chair, kissed me and left. My Tess is not a fan of parades, but she likes the Broadway performances, so I called to her when they came on. Not the best year for Broadway, but then that's been the case for years now.
She asked if I needed any help with dinner. I said no. She went upstairs.
I called her for dinner at six.

When I set her plate in front of her, she looked shocked and then she laughed, but the look on my face must have told her that I wasn't kidding.

Plastic off, still frozen.

Truth be told, they didn't look much better after I cooked them. I sprinkled some chopped walnuts over the stuffing and added parsley like Tess always did.
The Hungry Man dinner tasted good, but there wasn't much there. Tess says "enough is as good as a feast" and she's right.
Me: Only 500 calories !
She smiled that indulgent smile of hers.
Me: I bought four. Just enough for sandwiches tomorrow !
She nodded.
Me: I bought a pumpkin pie 🥧!

Hey ! How come ours didn't come with lizards 😩 ?

(I sprinkled cinnamon on the coolwhip like she does).
We had our dessert in front of a  roaring fire later. 34 degrees tonight. Perfect snuggling weather🤗.

Tess: Would you like to do Christmas dinner this year?
Me: No.
Tess: Darn it.
Me: What ?
Tess: This was so relaxing. No dishes to wash, just the two of us.
Me:You weren't disappointed ?🤨
Tess: No.🙂 I liked it.
Me: Really ?
She snuggled close to me and I saw the advantages to a 500 calorie dinner😘.
Tess: It was perfect.☺️
And you know what ? She was right.😉

Please donate to your local food pantry, not only for the holidays, but during other times of the year.
The Food Network touts NO KID HUNGRY and other food charities, but their shows are some of the most blatant wasters of food. Especially "CHOPPED"!!! A whole turkey per contestant, a leg of lamb, an entire fish ??? They only have 30 minutes to cook it in most cases. Then the judges consume a forkful (at best). It's pretty sickening. Do they feed the crew with the rest ? Tess gave up on THE FOOD NETWORK and watches Japanese and Chinese cooking videos on YouTube now. I don't blame her. Between Bobby Flay's "competition" (FIX !!! A grown man still being called Bobby🙄?, Those FIVE hosts on THE KITCHEN (the second biggest wasters of ingredients), RACHAEL RAY (🤐) and THE PIONEER WOMAN ( I've always suspected that STEPFORD WIVES were real, I just didn't know they lived in Oklahoma !!!) Those baking shows with Duff and Valerie Bertinelli aren't bad, the kids are sweet, and nicer to each other than their adult counterparts, but those Halloween baking shows were disgusting ! Black, gray, green ,blue, and purple fondant should be outlawed!  I like GUY FIERI. The food he eats actually looks GOOD😋!!!(that may be why he's never been a judge on CHOPPED😄!!!)