Elves Frank Myrrh and Crash Murphy hosted a chat in North Pole Chat today to discuss upcoming events during Christmas in July and to catch up on North Pole News since both were out on vacation.

They stirred up a hornet’s nest, it seems, when both reported being unable to find news at North Pole Flight Command. Both independently visited Flight Command on their return from vacation only to find that nobody at Flight Command would talk to them.

News of that spread to the Elf Community and the topic was brought up there in the chat with Elf Roger Star, International Director of Santa Trackers. Roger didn’t know anything about it.

In the hours since the chat we have received word that North Pole Radio News has returned to Flight Command for additional comment and their report should be coming out shortly.

Below is a transcript of the lively chat held earlier today with Elf Frank and Elf Crash:

Elf Frank Myrrh	Greetings!
Elf Ernest	Hi Frank!
Elf Ernest	How would you like to proceed today?
Elf Frank Myrrh	I think Crash and I can handle it. We haven’t talked for a while.
Elf Ernest	Ok. I’ll just do a brief intro and then step back.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Are we expecting a crowd?
Elf Ernest	I have no idea. Not really. I think the chats this weekend will be sparsely attended because it is a summer weekend.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Ok
Elf Ernest	Hi Elf Ulan! Thank you for being here. We will begin in about five minutes.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Hello Elf Ulan!
Elf Buddy Frost	Elf Buddy Frost reporting in!
Elf Ernest	Hi Buddy Frost. We’ll be starting in just a few minutes
Elf Ulan	Hi Elf Ernest and Elf Frank!
Elf Ulan	Happy Leon Day!
Elf Frank Myrrh	Happy Leon Day!
Elf Frank Myrrh	Hopefully Crash remembers to show up
Elf Ernest	Oh, he’ll be here. I talked to him a little while ago
Elf Ernest	Speak of the devil, here he is now
Crash Murphy	Hello!
Elf Ernest	Thanks for joining us today, everyone!
Elf Ernest	This is the first of many chats over the next two days.
Elf Ernest	We will begin with a little conversation between Frank and Crash
Elf Ernest	Who will talk about events coming up for Christmas in July plus whatever else is on their minds
Elf Ernest	Frank, I’ll turn it over to you…
Elf Frank Myrrh	Thank you, Ernest. And Crash, long time no speak!
Crash Murphy	I know…it’s been a few weeks
Elf Frank Myrrh	Were you on vacation that whole time?
Crash Murphy	No, just the first week or so of June. I was on a special mission for Santa last week
Elf Frank Myrrh	Oh? Can you talk about it?
Crash Murphy	No, not really.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Top secret stuff?
Crash Murphy	A Christmas mission. I was in the Southern US, working on a thing Santa has planned for Christmas for someone special
Elf Frank Myrrh	Oh, those are the best kinds of missions.
Crash Murphy	Yes, I love doing that stuff. I will be involved with a few of those over the next few months
Elf Frank Myrrh	I have never been able to do something like that, Crash. I’m jealous.
Crash Murphy	Well, you’re a North Pole guy and I’m a traveling elf. We live in different worlds much of the time.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Yeah, I kind of missed you the last few weeks.
Crash Murphy	Gee, Frank. What a nice thing to say. I’m quite excited for the 2nd half of the year
Elf Frank Myrrh	Yes, I think the news will really pick up now. Will you come in studio today for a news report or a podcast?
Crash Murphy	Yes, that’s the plan. I think we need to catch up.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Agreed.
Crash Murphy	Shall we take some questions?
Elf Frank Myrrh	Yes, let’s not ignore our guests.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Folks, if you have a question or comment feel free to jump right in here.
Crash Murphy	Frank, did you take a vacation?
Elf Ulan	Okay!
Elf Frank Myrrh	I took some downtime, yes.
Crash Murphy	Where did you go?
Elf Frank Myrrh	I didn’t go anywhere. I just took some time off.
Crash Murphy	Really?
Crash Murphy	What did you do?
Elf Frank Myrrh	I read a lot. I did some painting.
Crash Murphy	Painting…you mean like ART?
Elf Frank Myrrh	No, I mean like my house.
Crash Murphy	No way! YOU???
Elf Buddy Frost	I have a question. With the upcoming events of Christmas in July, I was wondering if there was any early on information you might be able to give us now.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Yeah, I do stuff.
Crash Murphy	Hi Elf Buddy Frost
Crash Murphy	Christmas in July will feature the annual tracker press conference, I think on July 11th
Elf Frank Myrrh	But we’re not really in the know about what will be said in that press conference
Crash Murphy	Nope, we’re not. Elf Roger maybe can give us a hint during his chat
Elf Frank Myrrh	The website at SantaTrackers.net had a lot of changes earlier this year
Elf Frank Myrrh	But that was really all we were involved with. I think it is safe to say that we’re curious about where Santa will take Santa Tracking this year
Crash Murphy	I can tell you this: Flight Command is suddenly VERY busy
Elf Ulan	I’m curious about it too
Elf Frank Myrrh	Well, Crash – everywhere at the North Pole is suddenly very busy.
Elf Buddy Frost	Well I know I’m excited to see what changes will come to Santa Tracking this year. Part of what makes the job so exciting and fun!
Crash Murphy	Well, yeah. Vacations are over.
Crash Murphy	I think tracking Santa will be exciting this year. Santa is really hands-on with it this year.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Crash, have you seen Santa lately?
Crash Murphy	I haven’t seen him but we have talked by phone quite a bit.
Elf Frank Myrrh	How is he doing?
Elf Buddy Frost	So what exactly do you mean Crash when you say Santa will be very hands on with the tracking this year?
Crash Murphy	He’s on the job, Frank. Very focused.
Crash Murphy	Elf Buddy Frost, what I mean is that Santa has not been as involved in running and changing the program like he has this year. He jumped in right after Christmas last year
Crash Murphy	And he’s already made a lot of changes.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Crash, do you think Santa made those changes because he wasn’t happy with Santa trackers?
Crash Murphy	No, I don’t think that.
Elf Ulan	A lot of changes?
Elf Buddy Frost	I’ve noticed some of the changes and I have to say I am liking them so far. I can’t wait to see what more changes are to come
Crash Murphy	I think he needed to make a decision whether the program would go forward. The five year test ended in 2021
Elf Buddy Frost	I think there was already news that the program would be going forward
Elf Frank Myrrh	So Santa didn’t think tracker elves were doing anything in particular wrong?
Crash Murphy	No, not at all. I think Santa decided to embrace the tracker program, that it was a success as a test. Now he wants to make it better
Elf Frank Myrrh	Do you know what that means exactly? How does he make it better?
Crash Murphy	I think Santa wants to improve communication. He wants elves to know how much he needs their information and he wants them to know more about what he does
Elf Frank Myrrh	So…how does he accomplish that?
Crash Murphy	That might be what Christmas in July might teach us
Elf Frank Myrrh	Well, let’s be honest, Crash. Christmas in July is kind of a time for having fun.
Crash Murphy	Well, yes, but it’s also the real start of the recruiting season for tracker elves
Crash Murphy	I think Santa will be using the events of Christmas in July to send a message about changes to the tracker program
Elf Ulan	Like last year?
Elf Frank Myrrh	I wonder why Santa isn’t doing a chat this weekend.
Crash Murphy	I think Christmas in July might mean a little more than last year Elf Ulan
Crash Murphy	I think Santa will be very direct with tracker elves this time around
Crash Murphy	So far, everything is very hush-hush. Normally I know what Santa is up to by this time of the year but this year I don’t
Crash Murphy	That tells me he has something up his sleeve but that he doesn’t want to let that cat out of the bag
Elf Buddy Frost	Well hopefully that at least means whatever is coming will be spectacular!
Elf Frank Myrrh	Crash, in years past the focus has been on that goal of how many trackers Santa wants. Do you think it will be a HUGE number this year?
Crash Murphy	Yeah, it could be. The number has gone up every year so far
Crash Murphy	I do know this: Santa is talking a lot about us all being BETTER elves.
Elf Frank Myrrh	What do you think that specifically means?
Elf Ulan	I heard about it
Crash Murphy	I think more training. And then more direct communication.
Elf Frank Myrrh	What did you hear, Elf Ulan?
Elf Frank Myrrh	I think Crash is right. Santa is likely to surprise us with something.
Crash Murphy	What do you think it is, Frank?
Elf Ulan	I mean he wants us being better elves….
Elf Frank Myrrh	I honestly don’t know. I came back to work yesterday and like you I headed over to Flight Command. Guess what happened?
Crash Murphy	What happened, Frank?
Elf Frank Myrrh	They shut me down, Crash.
Crash Murphy	They did?
Elf Buddy Frost	What do you mean they shut you down Frank?
Elf Frank Myrrh	Yeah, like I was a total stranger. Someone sent out an instant message that I was in the building and all of a sudden elves started to disappear
Crash Murphy	Oh….um…Frank, the same thing happened to me. I was just trying to ask what was new and they acted like I was trying to steal secrets
Elf Frank Myrrh	YES!!!
Elf Frank Myrrh	It was a strange feeling. That did not happen to me when I went to the workshop
Crash Murphy	Oh, you went there?
Elf Buddy Frost	Huh, now that is strange. Something REALLY BIG must be coming then!
Elf Frank Myrrh	Well, yeah. Just trying to catch up on the news. The workshop is super busy now, and I don’t think that is unusual. But they would talk to me but Flight Command is locked down.
Crash Murphy	I haven’t been anywhere but Flight Command, but I plan to get around this week.
Crash Murphy	I noticed we have some reindeer coming in. That’s a little early.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Oh? Anyone in particular?
Crash Murphy	All the test flight team reindeer are here.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Ok…
Crash Murphy	I don’t think that is unusual. They are only a few weeks early, Frank.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Fair enough. I know that test flight thing was talked about a lot last month
Crash Murphy	Yeah, but I think I’m heading over to the reindeer pens first
Elf Frank Myrrh	Do you think they know something about Flight Command?
Crash Murphy	Um…no…the flight command guys kind of order the reindeer group around.
Elf Ulan	Did someone ask reindeer?
Elf Frank Myrrh	Yes, that’s been my experience too.
Crash Murphy	I think when they adjusted the test flight schedule they asked the test flight reindeer to come back
Elf Frank Myrrh	So none of Santa’s usual team of reindeer are here?
Crash Murphy	No, they aren’t. We shouldn’t see them until September or October some time
Elf Frank Myrrh	Crash, why aren’t Santa’s reindeer used in the test flights?
Crash Murphy	To avoid injuries for them, Frank. Santa is very protective of his team
Elf Frank Myrrh	I guess that makes sense
Elf Ulan	How many are test flight reindeer?
Elf Frank Myrrh	Well, Crash. I think we have our jobs cut out for us this next week
Crash Murphy	Elf Ulan, there are about 400 test flight reindeer. They work in a rotation
Crash Murphy	Yes, Frank. I think the news business will be on our toes the next several weeks.
Elf Ulan	400!!!
Elf Frank Myrrh	I understand that the ranks of test flight reindeer are actually larger…but that many are “in development”.
Elf Frank Myrrh	They are special reindeer, too.
Crash Murphy	Very true. Test flight reindeer are a real serious bunch.
Crash Murphy	And it is competitive too. Hard to get on those teams.
Elf Ernest	Good information, guys. Any last questions for Frank and Crash?
Elf Buddy Frost	Nope, thats all I had
Elf Frank Myrrh	Ernest, Crash and I will get a new radio report up very soon.
Elf Ulan	So they work as teams
Elf Ernest	Okay, that’s great.
Elf Radar	Welcome back and thanks for your time. You gave us a lot to think about and a lot to look forward to.
Crash Murphy	Yes, they work as teams. They simulate Santa’s flight so 9 reindeer are on each flight team. There are many teams.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Thanks for being here everyone!
Crash Murphy	It is good to be back. It will even be good to see Frank’s funny mug again.
Elf Frank Myrrh	Hahaha…that’s the Crash we know and love.
Elf Ulan	I’m curious you will join any snowball fight…. Lol
Elf Ernest	Thanks everyone. Have a great day and we hope you can attend the other chats on the schedule.
Crash Murphy	I’m all over the snowball fight, Ulan. Yes, I will be there.
Elf Frank Myrrh	And I will cover it for North Pole Radio News.
Crash Murphy	Be ready to duck a lot, Frank
Elf Frank Myrrh	LOL
Elf Ulan	Thank you so much! It was fun!!
Elf Frank Myrrh	Bye everyone!
Crash Murphy	See you all soon!
Elf Radar	Bye!

Elf Ulan says:

June 25, 2022 at 9:00 pm

Thank you, Elves Ernest, Frank, and Crash! It was fun and very interred. It was turning the midnight local time, so my brain was more slow than usual. ^^;
I’m looking forward to knowing what information Santa needs from us and what he wants us to know that he does more, the Flight Command secrets, test flight reindeer, etc. soon. Thank you, and please have fun Leon Day and Christmas in July!