Winter and Jason came last week and spent TWO nights with us! We had a ball AND a blast- did some wine tasting, toured Elk Grove ("on your right you'll see a housing development and a strip mall, and on your left is a strip mall and a housing development. Next we'll show you the newest strip mall and housing development, followed by the contructions sites for 3 more strip malls and a half- finished housing development!!") and generally made merriness.
We had super Christmases, spending The Eve w/the Redding clan and The Day at Big Red's house in Lodi. We had chicken and dumplings and played Phase 10 whilst all the teeny-bopping cousins swapped covers for their new iPod Nanos. Oh, to be 11 years old again....all our gifts rawked- i got spiffy new clothes and shoes, books, art supplies, seasons 1-4 of The Office (BBC) AND A SEWING MACHINE! Josh got a peacoat and some new shirts (thank Jebus), a laser level, poker chips, AND A VIDEO iPOD! We are mucho excited to play with our new toys. i told Josh he needed to build a 2nd bedroom onto our apt so i could have a sewing room, but i don't think our lease works like that. Plus the whole being on the 2nd floor thing would make it a bit tricky.
We both have this week off work, so it's fun to sleep in and hang out all day together. Winter and J are coming back through on Thursday, then we're going back up to Redding for some more partying and to celebrate Jesse's birthday, since we were crunched for time on our last visit.
Today we had lunch with Robyn, Gary and Kallie since it's Robyn's 49th birthday again. We got her a gift card to J. Jill, which hopefully means a Markle family trip to the Roseville Galleria in the near future.
Now for the long, long stretch of Nothing until we can't stand it anymore and drive ourselves to SD for sanity's sake. Thankfully we'll both be fairly busy at work so it should go not-too-slow. The sewing machine will help! Scrunchies and placemats for EVERYONE!
December 27, 2005
December 23, 2005
Close Call
Cosmo's inner pryo got the best of him this afternoon and he was minutes away from being renamed Mr. Bigglesworth. i came into the bathroom to find him sitting next to the candles with chunks of black char all over the end of his magnificent tail. The dork set himself on fire then kept sitting next to the flames! i spent the next 20 minutes chasing him around the bathroom with the scissors, trying to cut out all the char. The smell was not pleasant. i took pix but they're not working right now so maybe i'll re-post them later. HAHA! he just climbed up on my lap and i'm noticing that his left eye whiskers are significantly shorter than the right. i pity the people with smart, boring pets.
TOP 5 CHRISTMAS TREATS
Anything can be a treat/snack if you eat it at odd hours....which i hear is really good, nutritionally.
- Tiny chocolates shaped like bottles with 'holiday spirits' inside.
- Pumpkin pie
- Mint-chocolate candy canes
- Glog
- Yams with marshmallows on 'em
- Tiny chocolates shaped like bottles with 'holiday spirits' inside.
- Pumpkin pie
- Mint-chocolate candy canes
- Glog
- Yams with marshmallows on 'em
December 19, 2005
Excellent
Mr. Burns, Willy Wonka, and Bruce Wayne all featured in Forbes' 15 Wealthiest Fictional Characters.
No. 5: Burns, Charles Montgomery
Net worth: $8.4 billion
Source: Energy
Age: 104
Marital status: Single, one bastard child
Hometown: Springfield, U.S.A.
Education: Yale University, B.S.
Owner and operator of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant for more than 50 years; also water works and a hotel on Baltic Avenue. Saved millions by canceling company's prescription drug plan, but reinstated same after assistant Smithers' thyroid condition brought him to the brink of death. Bought the Frank Gehry-designed Springfield Concert Hall from the city and turned it into a prison. Struggling Monty Burns Casino chain purchased this year by MGM Mirage for $2.1 billion. Has every disease known to man, and survives only because they perfectly counteract one another, an extremely rare medical condition known as "Three Stooges Syndrome." Credits longevity to Satan. Member since 1989.
No. 5: Burns, Charles Montgomery
Net worth: $8.4 billion
Source: Energy
Age: 104
Marital status: Single, one bastard child
Hometown: Springfield, U.S.A.
Education: Yale University, B.S.
Owner and operator of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant for more than 50 years; also water works and a hotel on Baltic Avenue. Saved millions by canceling company's prescription drug plan, but reinstated same after assistant Smithers' thyroid condition brought him to the brink of death. Bought the Frank Gehry-designed Springfield Concert Hall from the city and turned it into a prison. Struggling Monty Burns Casino chain purchased this year by MGM Mirage for $2.1 billion. Has every disease known to man, and survives only because they perfectly counteract one another, an extremely rare medical condition known as "Three Stooges Syndrome." Credits longevity to Satan. Member since 1989.
Holidays, Hymnals, Opposable-Thumbed Cats
John Herman pointed out that the word 'holiday' is translated from the phrase 'holy day' and is therefore just as appropriate to use as 'Merry Christmas', so for crying out loud, can we stop all the hissy-fits?
In other news, we helped the youth group with their Holiday Party, and were grieved to see that for the $5 gift exchange, about 50% of the students brought Starbucks gift cards. And when it came for 'Yankee Swap' that was all anybody wanted. These are the same disillusioned youngsters that looked at me like i had a unicorn horn growing out the side of my neck when i used the word 'hymnal' in a study meeting last month. i heard crickets chirping, saw a tumbleweed, then one of them finally said 'What's a hymnal???' Kids these days.
Not much else is going on, Cosmo got mad at Josh for hanging a picture frame on his favorite blank wall. (It was the wall where he first made friends with a fly.) He has learned to open closed doors using the technique of standing on his hind legs and jumping and beating the door handle senseless until it unlatches itself out of sheer frustration. This is particularly fun when it happens to our bedroom door handle in the middle of the night. He made such a racket i woke up and thought we were being robbed/mutilated/you name it. Then i realized a robber wouldn't have such a hard time opening an unlocked door, and probably wouldn't be meowing at it anyway. Last night Josh covered the handle in double-stick tape, which seemed to work. Apparently cats don't like sticky all over their paws. Today he spent the entire morning standing in the bathtub and staring at a shower tile. (There wasn't so much as a water spot there, i checked twice.) i'm almost finished with all the Christmas gift-wrapping, not that there's much paper left that hasn't been tackled, chewed or smothered, so it will be nice when i don't have to fight that battle multiple times a night. He did get 'normal' enough to play fetch with me last night, and what's more endearing than a cat who acts like a dog?
In other news, we helped the youth group with their Holiday Party, and were grieved to see that for the $5 gift exchange, about 50% of the students brought Starbucks gift cards. And when it came for 'Yankee Swap' that was all anybody wanted. These are the same disillusioned youngsters that looked at me like i had a unicorn horn growing out the side of my neck when i used the word 'hymnal' in a study meeting last month. i heard crickets chirping, saw a tumbleweed, then one of them finally said 'What's a hymnal???' Kids these days.
Not much else is going on, Cosmo got mad at Josh for hanging a picture frame on his favorite blank wall. (It was the wall where he first made friends with a fly.) He has learned to open closed doors using the technique of standing on his hind legs and jumping and beating the door handle senseless until it unlatches itself out of sheer frustration. This is particularly fun when it happens to our bedroom door handle in the middle of the night. He made such a racket i woke up and thought we were being robbed/mutilated/you name it. Then i realized a robber wouldn't have such a hard time opening an unlocked door, and probably wouldn't be meowing at it anyway. Last night Josh covered the handle in double-stick tape, which seemed to work. Apparently cats don't like sticky all over their paws. Today he spent the entire morning standing in the bathtub and staring at a shower tile. (There wasn't so much as a water spot there, i checked twice.) i'm almost finished with all the Christmas gift-wrapping, not that there's much paper left that hasn't been tackled, chewed or smothered, so it will be nice when i don't have to fight that battle multiple times a night. He did get 'normal' enough to play fetch with me last night, and what's more endearing than a cat who acts like a dog?
December 16, 2005
TOP 5 CHRISTMAS BUMMERS
Don't get me wrong, i heart Christmas big-time, but i think we can all agree that there are some downfalls to it::::
The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad music. For me, it's the song 'Last Christmas I Gave U My Heart'. Hearing it makes me want to pour hydrochloric acid into my ears.
Yuletide predators. i've been hearing stories about the rising # of Christmas-y thefts, like stealing the Frosty off a person's lawn. My coworker's big stone planter and accompanying poinsetta got snatched off her front step!
The inevitable post-holiday blues, when you realize you won't get anymore paid days off or get to see your friends and family for MONTHS.
Parking and errand-running becomes a nightmare. i think that thru-out December, retailers should reserve a row of parking and a cash register line for non-holiday consumers. No waiting for someone to get 14 cans of cashews wrapped or 9 different gift receipts printed. It could be like the Express or Cash Only lines at Safeway, only it will be Scrooge Parking and Jehovah's Witness Register Line. If people abuse these features, a rent-a-cop will confiscate their purchases and give them to the poor. Yes. I'M A GENIUS.
Seasonal employees, God bless 'em. The one at Eddie Bauer gave me a box with no lid, the one at Borders gave Josh flack about his Bebe shirt (it was actually BebO, as in Norman), and the rest are more in the way than helpful. They're kind of cute though, in their cluelessness. ("Hello! And welcome! To Juice It Up!")
How 'bout it? Did i miss anything? Is there a song that's worse than 'Last Christmas'?
The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad music. For me, it's the song 'Last Christmas I Gave U My Heart'. Hearing it makes me want to pour hydrochloric acid into my ears.
Yuletide predators. i've been hearing stories about the rising # of Christmas-y thefts, like stealing the Frosty off a person's lawn. My coworker's big stone planter and accompanying poinsetta got snatched off her front step!
The inevitable post-holiday blues, when you realize you won't get anymore paid days off or get to see your friends and family for MONTHS.
Parking and errand-running becomes a nightmare. i think that thru-out December, retailers should reserve a row of parking and a cash register line for non-holiday consumers. No waiting for someone to get 14 cans of cashews wrapped or 9 different gift receipts printed. It could be like the Express or Cash Only lines at Safeway, only it will be Scrooge Parking and Jehovah's Witness Register Line. If people abuse these features, a rent-a-cop will confiscate their purchases and give them to the poor. Yes. I'M A GENIUS.
Seasonal employees, God bless 'em. The one at Eddie Bauer gave me a box with no lid, the one at Borders gave Josh flack about his Bebe shirt (it was actually BebO, as in Norman), and the rest are more in the way than helpful. They're kind of cute though, in their cluelessness. ("Hello! And welcome! To Juice It Up!")
How 'bout it? Did i miss anything? Is there a song that's worse than 'Last Christmas'?
Movie Review: Millions
British movie with British actors. Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later).
RENT. THIS. MOVIE. NOW. It's fan-freaking-tastic. Premise: Father and two sons move to a shiny new house / shiny new community / shiny new school (Elk Grove, much?). Mum's dead. 7 year old Damian likes to read about martyrs and saints and 'sees' and 'talks' to them like imaginary friends. Very cool cgi-y stuff with halos. Anyway, Damian is sitting in his box-fort by the RR tracks talking w/a saint when a big bag of $$$ comes out of nowhere. Being the believer he is (wouldn't you if you had conversations with Francis of Assisi?), Damian thinks the money is from God, so he wants to give it to the poor. His older brother Anthony has different ideas. All this takes place in December 2001, days away from the currency change-over from pounds to euros, so they have to spend/give the money ASAP. Sharing with the poor proves harder than it seems for Damian, and a scary guy shows up looking for his stolen bag of cash.
It was one of the best movies i've seen in a while. The conversation between Damian and St. Peter about Christ's loaves and fishes 'miracle' is enough reason to watch in and of itself. Don't expect just a warm-fuzzies flick about a kid who likes poor people- it's a very well shot, imaginative, sad, creepy, and funny film. It's also on my Christmas list in case you're wondering. i not only highly recommend it, i require it. 5 OUT OF 5 FRECKLES.
RENT. THIS. MOVIE. NOW. It's fan-freaking-tastic. Premise: Father and two sons move to a shiny new house / shiny new community / shiny new school (Elk Grove, much?). Mum's dead. 7 year old Damian likes to read about martyrs and saints and 'sees' and 'talks' to them like imaginary friends. Very cool cgi-y stuff with halos. Anyway, Damian is sitting in his box-fort by the RR tracks talking w/a saint when a big bag of $$$ comes out of nowhere. Being the believer he is (wouldn't you if you had conversations with Francis of Assisi?), Damian thinks the money is from God, so he wants to give it to the poor. His older brother Anthony has different ideas. All this takes place in December 2001, days away from the currency change-over from pounds to euros, so they have to spend/give the money ASAP. Sharing with the poor proves harder than it seems for Damian, and a scary guy shows up looking for his stolen bag of cash.
It was one of the best movies i've seen in a while. The conversation between Damian and St. Peter about Christ's loaves and fishes 'miracle' is enough reason to watch in and of itself. Don't expect just a warm-fuzzies flick about a kid who likes poor people- it's a very well shot, imaginative, sad, creepy, and funny film. It's also on my Christmas list in case you're wondering. i not only highly recommend it, i require it. 5 OUT OF 5 FRECKLES.
December 14, 2005
Best Week Ever Award Winner
Korina (Kennedy) Buhler is having the best week ever! Not only is she a college grad as of 3 o'clock Thursday, she was just offered a fancy San Francisco public relations job with the Zeno Group. Good for you, Weena! You deserve it!
December 12, 2005
This is why i use gift bags.
Within 60 seconds of rolling out some wrapping paper there's always a cat smack dab in the middle of it. It's not just about his strategic placement either- he obviously sees the wrapping paper as competition for our attention, and with no opposable thumbs, it's up to his jaws to do the annihilating.
Weekend Wonderboredom
Friday: Global Wine Group holiday party. Now, according to Josh, this was going to involve his bosses getting blasted and some accompanying mayhem of fictional-comic proportions. i had visions of lamp-shade hats dancing in my head. i got a fun new black dress to wear and prepared myself for the worst...or the best...depending on your perspective. Alas. It was a very tame evening, no 50-year-olds table dancing, photocopied fannies, or vino keg stands. The only scandal was a coworker teasing Josh about his high-school wife. Yeah. i think it was supposed to mean 'Darn. Your wife is young and hot and mine's not...' but i'd rather not be referred to as 'high school', especially when i got all dressed up for the occasion. Blame Bacchus i guess. Anyway, everyone Josh works with thinks he pretty much walks on water, so it's nice to see him doted on. Next time, though, i'll be more insistant on some lamp shades.
Saturday- We compiled stockings for the children who live at Meadows Depot. A lone youth grouper helped (big ups to Bethany!) and we managed to accidentally steal a shopping basket from the Dollar Tree. We wandered out to Lodi for dinner w/Adam, Nicole, Claire & Thomas where we got to play the fishing game, watch 'Eyeore's Birthday' and enjoyed watching some top quality Child Ceaselessy Spinning In Circles.
Sunday meant getting my new DRB cd in the mail (yipee!!), being bored out of mind after i finished my re-reading of Memoirs of a Geisha and ultimately ending up at Chris and Kallie's to meet their new kitty, Scotty, who is all white with pink accents (nose, ears, toes, tongue).
Saturday- We compiled stockings for the children who live at Meadows Depot. A lone youth grouper helped (big ups to Bethany!) and we managed to accidentally steal a shopping basket from the Dollar Tree. We wandered out to Lodi for dinner w/Adam, Nicole, Claire & Thomas where we got to play the fishing game, watch 'Eyeore's Birthday' and enjoyed watching some top quality Child Ceaselessy Spinning In Circles.
Sunday meant getting my new DRB cd in the mail (yipee!!), being bored out of mind after i finished my re-reading of Memoirs of a Geisha and ultimately ending up at Chris and Kallie's to meet their new kitty, Scotty, who is all white with pink accents (nose, ears, toes, tongue).
December 09, 2005
My Top 5 Favorite Christmas Songs
(i was in my 20s before i realized that the song I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus referred to the child's parents, not his adulterous mother and an opportunistic Santa. So for a long time i thought the song was rather scandalous.)
Come All Ye Faithful....as performed by the Blind Boys. Ever since hearing it sung in a multi-congregational service at Mid City in the different languages i haven't been able to get through it without choking up.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....great lyrics. Christina Aguilera has a good version. (don't judge me, the girl can sing and you know it)
Christmas Song....Dave Matthews Band (on the Maybe This Christmas Too album) Dave & Co. doing what they do best.
Carol of the Bells......especially performed only by voices, cool stuff. i could listen on repeat for 8 hours.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel....nice and haunting, like all church music should be :P Good lyrics, too.
What's your favorite Christmas song or version of a song?
Come All Ye Faithful....as performed by the Blind Boys. Ever since hearing it sung in a multi-congregational service at Mid City in the different languages i haven't been able to get through it without choking up.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas....great lyrics. Christina Aguilera has a good version. (don't judge me, the girl can sing and you know it)
Christmas Song....Dave Matthews Band (on the Maybe This Christmas Too album) Dave & Co. doing what they do best.
Carol of the Bells......especially performed only by voices, cool stuff. i could listen on repeat for 8 hours.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel....nice and haunting, like all church music should be :P Good lyrics, too.
What's your favorite Christmas song or version of a song?
December 08, 2005
God bless the small business.
In my 'order summary' email...
"Kallie - Thanks for your order with CD Baby! Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure they were in the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.
We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved 'Bon Voyage!' to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Thursday, December 8th.
I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year". We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!"
Beat that, Amazon.
"Kallie - Thanks for your order with CD Baby! Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure they were in the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.
We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved 'Bon Voyage!' to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Thursday, December 8th.
I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year". We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!"
Beat that, Amazon.
Stay classy, Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Brings Back "Choice on Earth" Cards
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood has brought back its "Choice on Earth" Christmas cards, turning a holiday celebrating Christ's birth into a fundraising opportunity to support abortion.
In an email Thursday encouraging its members to "send a holiday gift with real meaning" Planned Parenthood tells potential donors they can choose from one of five "Choice on Earth" Christmas cards.
The abortion business hopes donors will make a contribution in honor of a friend or relative and send them a pro-abortion Christmas card as an acknowledgment.
The cards come in five varieties this year and four feature the message "Choice on Earth." One includes the dove symbolizing peace and another extols the virtues of "hope, justice, and empowerment."
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood has brought back its "Choice on Earth" Christmas cards, turning a holiday celebrating Christ's birth into a fundraising opportunity to support abortion.
In an email Thursday encouraging its members to "send a holiday gift with real meaning" Planned Parenthood tells potential donors they can choose from one of five "Choice on Earth" Christmas cards.
The abortion business hopes donors will make a contribution in honor of a friend or relative and send them a pro-abortion Christmas card as an acknowledgment.
The cards come in five varieties this year and four feature the message "Choice on Earth." One includes the dove symbolizing peace and another extols the virtues of "hope, justice, and empowerment."
December 07, 2005
My precious....
For those of us who don't live in San Diego and can't stock up on new albums at one of the Derren Raser Band's shows... buy it here. There's also a good article that captures Derren in all his glory.
December 03, 2005
Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven
Starring Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons
This movie was directed by Ridley Scott, who makes epic, violent, visually stunning films like Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Although battle scenes aren't my favorite, i really like his style, and this was no exception.
The story takes place 100 years after Christians crusaded in Jerusalem and slaughtered all the Muslims in the name of God. Now Jerusalem is in the hands of the Christian King Baldwin, who wears an eerie mask b/c he's a leper and who turns out to be my boyfriend. Baldwin allows all religions in Jerusalem, but Muslim King Saladin is waiting just outside for him to slip up and smack around the Muslims. Of course, some bad guys do, against the orders of Baldwin, who punishes them by making them kiss his lepery hand (very ew).
Orlando plays Balian, a humble blacksmith waiting around for Captain Jack Sparrow when Liam Neeson (Godfrey)
shows up and does the whole 'Hey, we haven't met, but... i'm your father!' thing and invites him to join them on their journey to Jerusalem. Godfrey is a knight and baron of Somewhere and is one of the few people on Baldwin's side. On their way, Godfrey dies and passes on everything to Balian, knighting him. Once in J-ru, everyone Balian meets is like 'Oh you must be Godfrey's kid! you look just like him.' Now, i don't have the best vision, but Orlando Bloom as a xerox of Liam Neeson? Not so much.
Anyway, once Saladin justifiably invades and kills all the Christians and Jeremy Irons is like 'this sucks, i'm going to Galilee,' Balian is left to defend Jerusalem. Since he has lost his faith, he decides to defend The People, because The City means nothing to him.
It got confusing at times, i had to turn on the subtitles just to help me figure out what the heck was going on. All in all it's an interesting look at faith, tolerance, and using the Christian card to justify wars and the killing of innocent people. Hm.
It's well acted: Orlando is a silent type who gets thrust into a situation and handles it the only way he knows how. The film keeps the inspirational battlefield speeches to a minimum, which was nice cuz that gets old (ahem Peter Jackson). Liam is Liam, which is a good thing, and it was nice to see Jeremy Irons, complete with a cool scar. There is also a good supporting cast of unknowns. i recommend it and give it 4.3 out of 5 leper fingers.
This movie was directed by Ridley Scott, who makes epic, violent, visually stunning films like Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Although battle scenes aren't my favorite, i really like his style, and this was no exception.
The story takes place 100 years after Christians crusaded in Jerusalem and slaughtered all the Muslims in the name of God. Now Jerusalem is in the hands of the Christian King Baldwin, who wears an eerie mask b/c he's a leper and who turns out to be my boyfriend. Baldwin allows all religions in Jerusalem, but Muslim King Saladin is waiting just outside for him to slip up and smack around the Muslims. Of course, some bad guys do, against the orders of Baldwin, who punishes them by making them kiss his lepery hand (very ew).
Orlando plays Balian, a humble blacksmith waiting around for Captain Jack Sparrow when Liam Neeson (Godfrey)
shows up and does the whole 'Hey, we haven't met, but... i'm your father!' thing and invites him to join them on their journey to Jerusalem. Godfrey is a knight and baron of Somewhere and is one of the few people on Baldwin's side. On their way, Godfrey dies and passes on everything to Balian, knighting him. Once in J-ru, everyone Balian meets is like 'Oh you must be Godfrey's kid! you look just like him.' Now, i don't have the best vision, but Orlando Bloom as a xerox of Liam Neeson? Not so much. Anyway, once Saladin justifiably invades and kills all the Christians and Jeremy Irons is like 'this sucks, i'm going to Galilee,' Balian is left to defend Jerusalem. Since he has lost his faith, he decides to defend The People, because The City means nothing to him.
It got confusing at times, i had to turn on the subtitles just to help me figure out what the heck was going on. All in all it's an interesting look at faith, tolerance, and using the Christian card to justify wars and the killing of innocent people. Hm.
It's well acted: Orlando is a silent type who gets thrust into a situation and handles it the only way he knows how. The film keeps the inspirational battlefield speeches to a minimum, which was nice cuz that gets old (ahem Peter Jackson). Liam is Liam, which is a good thing, and it was nice to see Jeremy Irons, complete with a cool scar. There is also a good supporting cast of unknowns. i recommend it and give it 4.3 out of 5 leper fingers.
December 02, 2005
Top 5 Christmas Movies
Tis the season for Christmas themed Top 5 lists. For guidance, i Googled christmas movies, and found a list by askmen.com. They listed Trading Places (the great Dan Akroyd/Eddie Murphy flick) and i thought, 'that's random.' Then i read why they thought it was such a great holiday film: "Jamie Lee Curtis offers a fine dose of nudity and yuletide cheer." Ah yes. Good times watching that movie on Whit's little dvd player on the flight to Chicago, and J.Lee's boobs everywhere so the other passengers probably thought we were lesbo pervs. ....and i have no segue back to Christmas, so here's the list:
Charlie Brown's Christmas-- where we all first learned that scrawny trees can clean up real pretty-like. You know Linus's presentation of Luke's account of Christ's birth gets you a little choked up, don't deny it. Plus, this movie has some fantastic dance sequences.
The Nightmare Before Christmas-- When one kid pulls a shrunken skull out of his stocking.... priceless! There's only so much a person can do with a movie about Christmas, so Tim Burton says 'Eh, i think i'll toss in Halloween too!' and it rawks. The world owes much to Mr. Burton.
Scrooged-- Bill Murray, Carol Kane & a pre-Housewives Alfre Woodard, among others, make this Dickens adaptation downright screwy (in a good way). It covers the spectrum of biting and mean to 'God bless us, every one' without overstepping either line. Plus it's Bill Murray.
Elf-- As if i would make a list like this without Elf!! This movie re-defines 'good clean Christmas fun' and forever changed the way i board escalators. Plus you've got Sonny Corleone in a Santa hat.
A Christmas Story-- Ralphie and that ever-elusive Red Ryder bb gun. TV networks play this movie incessantly for a reason: it's fantastic. Few movies, especially small holiday films, boast as many memorable scenes as this one. The lamp, the slow-motion F word, triple dog dares, evil Santa, the bunny outfit, Ovaltine, going ape on the bully, literally shooting your eye out, and of course, "fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra!"...to name a few.
i know Josh will hit me for not including Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation (just kidding, Josh doesn't hit me...... that often) (no really, he doesn't hit me!! ...he throws broken beer bottles at me) so i'm giving it an honorable mention, mostly for Aunt Bethany's 'prayer' that sounds an awful lot like the Pledge of Allegiance.
What do you think? Did i miss any? (and don't say Die Hard)
Charlie Brown's Christmas-- where we all first learned that scrawny trees can clean up real pretty-like. You know Linus's presentation of Luke's account of Christ's birth gets you a little choked up, don't deny it. Plus, this movie has some fantastic dance sequences.
The Nightmare Before Christmas-- When one kid pulls a shrunken skull out of his stocking.... priceless! There's only so much a person can do with a movie about Christmas, so Tim Burton says 'Eh, i think i'll toss in Halloween too!' and it rawks. The world owes much to Mr. Burton.
Scrooged-- Bill Murray, Carol Kane & a pre-Housewives Alfre Woodard, among others, make this Dickens adaptation downright screwy (in a good way). It covers the spectrum of biting and mean to 'God bless us, every one' without overstepping either line. Plus it's Bill Murray.
Elf-- As if i would make a list like this without Elf!! This movie re-defines 'good clean Christmas fun' and forever changed the way i board escalators. Plus you've got Sonny Corleone in a Santa hat.
A Christmas Story-- Ralphie and that ever-elusive Red Ryder bb gun. TV networks play this movie incessantly for a reason: it's fantastic. Few movies, especially small holiday films, boast as many memorable scenes as this one. The lamp, the slow-motion F word, triple dog dares, evil Santa, the bunny outfit, Ovaltine, going ape on the bully, literally shooting your eye out, and of course, "fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra!"...to name a few.
i know Josh will hit me for not including Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation (just kidding, Josh doesn't hit me...... that often) (no really, he doesn't hit me!! ...he throws broken beer bottles at me) so i'm giving it an honorable mention, mostly for Aunt Bethany's 'prayer' that sounds an awful lot like the Pledge of Allegiance.
What do you think? Did i miss any? (and don't say Die Hard)
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