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| William Mortensen Vaughan |
La Libertad: Have you been spending more time at home since the outbreak of the Corona Virus?
William: Yes, I have. My wife and I went shopping on March 3, 2020, and I didn't go out again that month, except for one trip to a U.S. Post Office, around the 10th, and to my dentist, on March 19th. I self-quarantined from my wife for a week after that. Since then, we haven't gone anywhere, except to visit her parents, who live a few blocks away from us, and to make a couple curbside pickups at Walmart and Lowe's. We wish we had been using curbside pickup before! This month [June, 2020], we're probably going to try curbside pickup at a Kroger store, in Richmond. I want to get some Crabbie's ginger beer, and maybe some Old Rasputin. I'd also like to get some Butterscotch Beer from Publix, if they have curbside pickup by the time we go.
La Libertad: How safe is curbside pickup?
William: Walmart's curbside pickup seems to be the safest. They ask you a few questions through the window, but you never need to touch anyone or anything. You can release the trunk from inside your car, and they load your groceries and close it for you.
The first time we went to Lowe's for curbside pickup, they insisted that one of us sign a paper receipt, which we passed back and forth through our car window. Like Walmart, they made it so we didn't need to sign anything the next time we went, but they seemed much less prepared to fill our order. When we arrived and called, an automated message asked me to select "2" for "curbside pickup," which I did. This took me to a live operator, who asked me how she could direct my call. I said "pickup," so she transferred me, and I ended up hearing the same automated message. I went around and around like this for about fifteen minutes. Finally, I told the woman what was happening, and that someone needed to come and load my giant, white cargo truck.
Then they were missing a roll of concrete reinforcement mesh, and twenty paving stones. Luckily, we checked the order before we left. What should have taken fifteen minutes turned into a forty-minute ordeal.
La Libertad: What improvements have you made to your website, Dickensian Carol?
William: I try to update my website at least once a week. Since our last interview, I've added some reviews and quizzes, and some plaid/tartan wallpapers.
The main review that I've been creating quizzes for this year, is my review of A Christmas Carol, starring Guy Pearce, which was released last December. It's a three-part mini-series, with a total runtime of almost three hours, available on Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Three hours is long enough to have quoted every word of the original, unabridged novel. Several unabridged adaptations on Audible are available, which have run times of about three hours. For examples, A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry is three hours and thirty-one minutes long; A Christmas Carol (AmazonClassics Edition) and another, narrated by Andrea Fox, are both three hours and six minutes long; and A Christmas Carol: Dickens on Dickens is three hours and forty-three minutes long, but it includes an epilogue by the narrator, Gerald Dickens, who claims to be Charles Dickens' great-great grandson; his narration of his great-great grandfather's novel is probably about three and a half hours, like Tim Curry's. Abridged narrations, on the other hand, tend to be less than two hours long; the Simon and Schuster Adaptation, narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart, for example, is only an hour and forty-seven minutes long.
La Libertad: You previously told us that whenever you "Google" "us christmas carol" or "christmas carol us," A U.S. Christmas Carol is the first "hit" returned - even before any Wikipedia article. Is that still true?
William: Yes, it is.
La Libertad: How extensive is your collection of adaptations of A Christmas Carol now?
William: I still don't know for sure, but I've probably collected a dozen adaptations since the last time you asked me, so about eight dozen, I think. I've started burning some downloadable adaptations onto Compact and Digital Video Discs.
La Libertad: What are some of the best and worst adaptations you've seen, heard, or read since our last interview?
William: At least five adaptations of A Christmas Carol were released in 2019, including :
A Christmas Carol, starring Guy Pearce (see above)
A Christmas Carol, starring Kate Katzman
A Christmas Carol,* starring Martin Prest
"A General Hospital Christmas Carol," starring Michael Easton
A Christmas Carol, starring David Hardware
And I've seen all of them.
Offhand, I would say that that Martin Prest's one-man adaptation is the best of those five, but I've spent a lot more time watching and rewatching Guy Pearce's adaptation. Otherwise, I would say it's the worst.
It has foul language and delves more deeply into Scrooge's sexuality than any adaptation that I've ever seen. Overall, it also has a dark, dismal tone, and a nitty, gritty feel to it. It's as if it were a cross between A Christmas Carol and the television series "Deadwood."
Perhaps the least notable adaptation is David Hardware's, which reminds me of Stuart Brennan's.
The best Audible adaptation I discovered is an unabridged adaptation by Gerald Dickens, who is, apparently, a great-great grandson of Charles Dickens. Allegedly, Gerald's father was David Kenneth Charles Dickens; whose father was Gerald Louis Charles Dickens; whose father was Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, K.C. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath); whose father was Charles Dickens.
I also obtained a DVD copy of the movie based on the Kindle and Audible novel titled A Shoe Addict's Christmas. Candace Cameron Bure plays the Shoe Addict.
La Libertad: What upcoming adaptations, if any, are you looking forward to?
William: I'm still waiting to see Humbug! starring Ice Cube as "the Scrooge," which should have been released last year.
I'm also looking forward to Christmas on the Square, starring Dolly Parton, to be released on Netflix; an adaptation starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds, to be released on Apple; an adaptation told from Marley's point of view, titled Marley, to be released by Disney.
La Libertad: What else have you been doing since our last interview?
William: I've been gardening more than ever before in my life. The first apple I ever grew appeared this spring, as did the first few roses I've ever grown. I have a magnolia tree which started out growing like a weed, which is now a significant little bush. I recently published a photo album on Facebook, titled They Toil Not; Neither Do They Spin, featuring pictures of flowers in my yard, most of which I didn't plant.
La Libertad: Are your Twitter accounts blocked?
William: Yes, I've lost control of both of my Twitter accounts. I lost control of one because they did not, apparently, agree with some of the things I said. I lost control of the other, simply because someone hacked it, and I had neglected to update my phone number on that account. I had the honor of being followed by Steven Seagal 's on the previous account, and by Kathy Ireland's verified account on the other, so I'm sorry I lost them.
La Libertad: Do you still do genealogy?
William: Yes, I do, although I've been banned from WikiTree. I find that they are a bunch of "genealogy snobs" and bullies, and I'm tired of their abuse. I'm also tired of people I don't even know changing the profiles of my forebears, as they do on other genealogical website, such as FamilySearch and Geni. Therefore, I've started spending more time publishing my own genealogical pages, so I can write the histories of my forebears and cousins without worrying about whether or not anyone is going to edit it - at least until I can no longer afford my web-hosting fees, which will probably be when I die. By then, I will probably leave a lot more of my online work on DropBox.
La Libertad: What are the most exciting genealogical discoveries you've made since our last interview?
William: As far as I'm concerned, the most exciting genealogical discovery I've ever made in my life is how closely related I am to U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon! He's the Marine whose expedition "to the shores of Tripoli" are memorialized in the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn.
His father, Continental Army Captain William O'Bannon, served in the Revolutionary War. William had a brother named Benjamin. Benjamin had a daughter named Eleanor. Eleanor married Joseph Vaughn, who had a son named John Vaughan, who had a son named Luther Clay Vaughan,
Furthermore, I've recently discovered that I am the first cousin, four times removed, from James Dunlavy, who received a Congressional Medal of Honor for capturing General Marmaduke, during the Civil War.
I also discovered that not just one, but two of my great grandfathers were veterans of under-age military service, during the Civil War: Luther Clay Vaughan, and Luke Wright Osborn. Luke was promoted at least twice, by the way, to Second and then First Corporal. I'd never even heard of a First or Second Corporal before, although I knew the U.S. Marines had Lance Corporals.
I previously traced my Welsh lineage back to Lords such as Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor and Casnar Wledig, but I've since discovered that a person who I thought was my great-great grandfather was not my great-great grandfather, and my known Welsh lineage ends with a man named Malachi Vaughan, born in Wales, circa 1740. This is the second time I've changed my mind about who my great grandfather Luther Clay Vaughan's father was. I used to think that he was John M. Vaughan, but I couldn't find any official record placing him in Luther's home, or visa-versa. Then I thought Luther's father was John Vaughan, based on a U.S. Census record from 1910, showing that he was living with a daughter named Susan Frazier, but then I found a U.S. Census record from 1880, showing that he had a different wife, and different children, none of whom were Luther Clay or his known siblings. Now I believe that John W. Vaughan was Luther's father, as proven by U.S. Census records for 1850 and 1860.
La Libertad: Are you related to anyone else who is famous?
William: During our last interview, I mentioned that I had recently discovered that Charles Dickens was a distant cousin of mine. (By the way, the 9th of this month marks one hundred fifty years since his death.) Since then, I've been adding the names of actors, directors, writers, and producers, who created adaptations of A Christmas Carol for film and/or television, to a list called "A Christmas Carol," which I created, on RelatviveFinder.org. As a result, I've discovered that Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Carrie Fisher are all distant cousins of mine.
I also mentioned that I presume that I'm related to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Viggo Mortensen, and Taylor Swift, but I had yet to make the connections. Since then, I've found a genealogical connection between me and Taylor Swift. Oddly, it's not through my great grandmother, Mary Catharine Swift.
La Libertad: Are you still among the top players of any video games?
William: I do remain among the top one percent of all-time card counters on BlackJack by FilGames.
I was a High Roller on Governor of Poker 3, but I have lost access to that account, and I've found that my Internet connection is too weak to play it anymore, so I don't play that anymore. However, I am among the top one percent of poker players on Governor of Poker 2, which, unlike 3, is offline. Apparently, only one percent of us have won the Gold Mine. Furthermore, on the desktop computer version, I beat the Governor of Texas, which proved to be a huge disappointment, because I was no longer able to play anywhere I wanted to in their "Texas." I basically needed to start over. It was extremely anti-climactic. What's the point of becoming the Governor of Texas if you can't play poker wherever you want to, in Texas?
Speaking of losing access to accounts, I've lost access to both of my Twitter Accounts: @Vaughanster1962 and @DickensianCarol. This is particularly sad, because Steven Seagal was following my Vaughanster account with his verified Twitter Account, and we were getting along. Kathy Ireland was following my Dickensian Carol account, with her verified Twitter Account, and she and I were also getting along.
La Libertad: Did Steven Seagal and Kathy Ireland actually send you personal messages, via Twitter?
William: Yes, they did.
La Libertad: About what?!?
William: Well, initially, I unintentionally offended Mr. Seagal with an insensitive remark about Sean Smith, one of the four Americans killed during the Benghazi massacre, on September 11, 2012. One of the survivors, Kris Paronto also contacted me, via Twitter, as a result, and accepted my apology. Steven Seagal later followed me.
Kathy replied to several of my posts, on topics including art and Passover. She also liked several of my posts about upcoming theatrical performances of adaptations of A Christmas Carol.
La Libertad: Do you still play Chezz?
William: Yes, and I am in the top half of the top one percent of the players of Chezz in the world, with three different accounts: Lord Vaughan, AUSXmasCarol, and XmasCarolUS. Chezz is currently my favorite game.
La Libertad: Where have you traveled since our last interview?
William: I don't think I've done much traveling in the past year or so. I think the most unusual trip I made, since our last interview, was to the McCormick and Schmick's in Virginia Beach, on Veterans' Day, 2019, which was a little embarrassing.
La Libertad: Why was that embarrassing?
William: Every year since I don't know when, McCormick and Schmick's has offered U.S. Military Veterans like me a free meal, in celebration of Veterans' Day, although not always on Veterans' Day. Last year, I mistakenly made a reservation for Veteran's Day, and didn't realize, until I saw the menu, that they weren't offering us the free meal on Veterans' Day, but the day before. To their credit, no one batted an eye. When I informed the waitress that I was a Veteran celebrating Veteran's Day, she simply brought me the special Veterans' menu, and took my order without saying anything about it, except to thank me for my Service.
La Libertad: What links would you like to share?
William: Just
www.AChristmasCarol.US
La Libertad: What else, if anything, would you like to tell our readers?
William: I invented a new mixed drink for Cinco de Mayo, this year: The Molasses and Orange Juice Margarita...
La Libertad: Doesn't that taste gross?
William: Honestly, I thought it might turn out tasting gross, but I was surprised by how good it tastes. I think the molasses and orange juice complement each other nicely. I would not, however, recommend it to anyone who doesn't already like molasses.
Personally, I like molasses, and dark beers, such as Guinness and Old Rasputin, which are made with molasses.
Photo and interview by Libertad Green
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* There seems to be a discrepancy in the dates of release; IMDb indicates that it was released in 2017; Amazon, in 2019.
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