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Dec. 25, 2021 - The Unexplained - Howard Hughes
07:25
Howard's Christmas Message 2021

Howard's Christmas Message - **Please email questions for Howard about Howard for Edition 600 through the website - put "Question for Howard" in the Subject Line. Happy Christmas and New Year!

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Hello and a very Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year.
I'm not sure exactly when you'll get to hear this.
But I can tell you a little bit about where I am and what I'm doing as I record these words.
As you hear this, I'm recording it on Christmas Day.
And I'm at home.
It's very, very quiet all around the apartment where I live.
Seems that many people have gone away.
I went out for a walk in the park just a little while ago.
And there were a lot of grim-faced looking people.
You wouldn't believe it was Christmas Day.
I tried smiling at a couple.
Very few returned the smile.
I think a lot of people are just kind of preoccupied with all kinds of things this Christmas and I completely understand how they may be feeling about life in general.
Believe me, sometimes I feel that way too.
But it was interesting just to see how the world is, breathe a bit of clear air.
Today, as I record this, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all.
Christmases when I was a little kid tended to be frosty and bright, and the Christmases lately that I've had here in London have been almost spring-like temperatures, so I think it's about 11, 12, 13 Celsius today, something like 55 Fahrenheit, which was never a Christmas temperature when I was a kid.
It's dull and overcast and muddy underfoot.
And that's all I can say for it, really.
You know, it's a day that has come and gone.
I'm going to cook myself a little bit of Christmas something.
I've got some turkey in and something I can stick in the microwave.
And that's going to be me for another year.
And I always make this vow to myself every year.
Next year, I'm going to make a point of staying somewhere for Christmas, and I'm going to have dinner cooked by that place.
And I have to do that next year.
Otherwise, it's just empty and idle talk.
Now, looking back over the last year of The Unexplained, we've had some great guests.
I featured some of them on the radio show on Boxing Night.
And if you haven't heard that yet, then you can on their Listen Again feature.
So that's good.
I'm taking just a little bit of a break from recording podcasts at the moment, simply because this last six months, eight months or so, I've been booking them all myself.
It's pretty full-on with the radio show, all the ideas to come up with for that, and the guests to find for that.
You know, it's very much a one-man operation, all of it, really.
So I'm just having a couple of days to think, and I'm going to start recording podcasts as soon as I hit the ground running, very beginning of January, and we'll start feeding them out then.
And, you know, thank you very much for all of your support.
I've had lovely emails this year, and I'm still getting them in.
I've had some lovely Christmas wishes from people in all kinds of places, like Shirley in Canada and so many Ed in Texas and so many other people around the world.
Thank you very much.
And my friends across the United Kingdom and here in Europe, too.
It's been a tremendous thing to create something that has been running now for 16 years.
It will be in 2022.
That is heard and enjoyed and some people think is important to their lives all over the world.
I think that's just incredible, really.
It is a lovely, lovely thing.
And I do my best with it.
I'm not going to hit the mark for everybody.
Sometimes I'll get an email saying, I hate you.
I hate your show.
So all I can say to them is if it's making you that angry, turn it off.
I would never let something make me angry like that.
I don't think anything would really.
I don't see TV and radio content in that way.
If I don't like something, I hit the off switch.
But quite often I let things run because even if I don't like a guest or a style of drama that I'm watching, I think, well, maybe I'm going to learn something from this.
That's kind of how I think about it.
Every so often, you get those emails.
And to those people, if what I'm doing has annoyed you at times, you've got to just turn it off.
It's much better for your health, I think, that you do that.
But by and large, I think we're making progress.
What do you think?
Always grateful for guest suggestions, your thoughts on the show, of course, and for the online show, the donations gratefully received.
If you haven't made a donation, please do consider doing that.
The website is theunexplained.tv.
You can go there and follow the link and do that.
And of course, if you're not able to do that, I totally understand.
You know, I've been there myself and I'm always skirting that position myself where I couldn't afford to do anything, you know, extraneous.
I completely understand, just enjoy the shows.
So, lots of things likely in 2022.
I'll know the future of the radio show.
I'll find out about that, the way that that might develop.
And also, I've got some plans for the online operation.
It's time for that.
And I think, in a way, health crises in the nation allowing, you know, I think it's time for all of us to march forward in this year.
I feel, I don't know about you, like I've been in some kind of limbo for two years now.
And it's time to break out.
I want to see places again.
I want to connect with the world.
And I've become, maybe you have as well if you've been doing your work at home and stuff like that.
I've become a bit reclusive other than the people I have to have connection with for work.
I don't see anybody.
And I think all of us in that situation have got to review it in 2022, if we can, and make a change.
I think that's important.
And who knows, what we move into may be better.
You know, I'm not going to set up any hostages to fortune.
I've given up doing that.
But you never know.
So here I am quietly, cup of black coffee in my hand.
I am going to treat myself.
I bought some Irish whiskey.
So when I've finished recording this, I'm going to just tip a little bit of Irish whiskey in this coffee.
And I'm going to sit back and enjoy the silence.
And take a look out of the window, just have a look at the trees, and kind of give some thought to 2022.
And also give some thought to those who've passed before.
Maybe you've lost people over this last year, or maybe this is a time of year when you remember people who've gone.
I remember my wonderful mum and dad who used to make the most incredible Christmases for Beryl, my sister, and myself when we were kids.
And personally, you know, when I was a kid, I was too busy playing with my toys.
When I was older, I was too busy with my career.
I didn't really notice the sheer volume of work they put into Christmas.
And, you know, I should have thanked Them more than I did because I know from friends that putting Christmas on, if you've got other people involved in it, is not an easy thing to do.
So, the amount of stress my parents went through, putting Christmas on for my sister and me, it must have been enormous.
And I wish I could discuss that with them today, but I can't.
So, look, if you're looking back as I'm looking back, we can look back together and I share your feeling.
So, at the end of all of this, the unexplained continues.
I'm still here, 16 years on, going into 2022 with plans for it.
I wish you well across this holiday season and through the new year that's to come.
Thank you for being my friend and for being part of this.
Thank you to Adam, my webmaster, for being by my side on this one all the time and doing the things that I simply don't understand.
So thanks, Adam.
Thank you to you.
Take care.
All the best.
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