NetClassixFilter: The next time you're standing clueless in the greeting cards section of your local drugstore franchise, you'll be wishing you'd visited the Gallery of Unfortunate Greeting Cards instead. For all your holiday needs: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Weddings, 4th of July, Hallowe'en, Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and of course, Washington's Birthday. [via Cap'n Wacky]
posted on Jun 9, 2008 - View this thread

It has now been several years since Jacquie Lawson, an English artist living in the picturesque village of Lurgashall in Southern England, created an animated Christmas card in 2000. The e-card, featuring her dog, Chudleigh, her cats, and her 15th-century cottage, was sent to a few friends for their amusement. Those friends sent the e-card to others, and within weeks Jacquie was inundated with requests from all over the world to design more e-cards.
posted on Dec 20, 2007 - View this thread

I pledge to buy handmade this holiday season, and request that others do the same for me. Why? Better gifting experience, better ethics, better for the environment.
posted on Nov 23, 2007 - View this thread

So you're in the mood for some Christmas music, but you're tired of all the old standards. Not to worry, the web has you covered courtesy of several vinyl sharing blogs. First off, there's Check the Cool Wax, with the soundtrack to Rankin/Bass's Night Before Christmas, Pee-Wee's Christmas Special, Yuletide Disco, Western Christmas Songs & Exciting Christmas Stories featuring Batman, Superman & Wonder Woman. Much, much more inside.
posted on Dec 3, 2006 - View this thread

Have yourself an Ugly Little Christmas! Cause nuttin' says Christmas like Juggling Monkeys.
posted on Dec 24, 2005 - View this thread

"Give the Jew Girl Toys" --music video by comedian Sarah Silverman
Claus...Claus...is that German?
posted on Dec 10, 2005 - View this thread

Dec. 9, 1965: "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" [Realmedia] [More inside]
posted on Dec 9, 2005 - View this thread

Santastic: Holiday boots for your stockings. Mash-ups of decades of Christmas records just in time for the holidays. The quality varies throughout, but it makes for some fun manic listening if you've grown tired of the same perennial chestnuts. Merry Christmash to all, and to all a boot night.
posted on Dec 3, 2005 - View this thread

The history of the Christmas tree began in Germany. They are a fairly recent tradition in America, a country which first shunned any "frivolity" over the sacred holidays until Queen Victoria made Christmas trees cool. The American addition of electric Christmas lights, on the other hand, is a fairly recent tradition in Germany, a country where Christmas tree candles are still in use. Even in 2004, electric Christmas lights are used far less extensively in Europe than America... but maybe someday they'll want to be cool like us, too.
posted on Dec 24, 2004 - View this thread

James Lileks vs. James Wolcott. That link is Wolcott's blog entry about this whole "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays" thing. This is Lileks' response. Can't wait for Round 2!
posted on Dec 22, 2004 - View this thread

No Xmas in U.S. this year: Santa on Fed's "No Fly" list.
Okay, that's just "News" from the website of satiric rockers Bah and the Humbugs, skewering Xmas since 1985. MP3s of the entirety of this year's CD Farhenheit 12/25 are available on the website, or you can buy the CD for $10 and all ten sheckles go to the UN World Food Programme. More tracks here, including the "Jolly Roger the Xmas Pirate" series and "Free the Reindeer. " Great stuff for that awkward holiday family get-together, where the music won't offend but the cool lyrics can keep you chuckling to yourself all night.
posted on Dec 17, 2004 - View this thread

A Cappella Holiday is a refreshing alternative to the tired, workaday holiday fare that may be piped into your office. All holiday tunes, but all a cappella, with some real gems you've never heard before. If your ears have been malled by Muzak and it's making you anything but merry, this free, streaming radio station might be the tonic. (There's a non-holiday a cappella station too, if you're just fa-la-la'ed out.)
posted on Dec 10, 2003 - View this thread

Are you miffed that Christmas just isn't about Jesus anymore? Annoyed that is all seems to be about commercialism and spending money? You Christians can now empathize with the ancient pagans who were miffed that Christmas just wasn't about Mithras anymore. But don't feel bad about jacking Christmas from them, Mithras jacked it from Apollo, who borrowed it from the Etruscan god Sol.
posted on Dec 9, 2003 - View this thread

'tis the season for ... Rankin-Bass TV specials! The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass is a fan-site devoted to the distinctive animation of Arthur Rankin, Jr and Jules Bass. In addition to extensive and interesting background information on your favorite Christmas specials (like Rudolph), you can also learn about lesser-known specials such as The Ballad of Smokey the Bear. The site also includes some rare video clips, including a pencil-test from Frosty the Snowman. There is also a very complete section on the Rankin-Bass TV series, Thundercats. Please also see additional note inside....
posted on Dec 9, 2003 - View this thread

eBay Auction of Tidings of Comfort and Joy
posted on Dec 8, 2003 - View this thread

The Best Thing on Television in 2002 The WPIX Yule Log makes its triumphant return.
posted on Dec 30, 2002 - View this thread

Santa Rampage! Last weekend a horde of Santa's wreaked havoc on Washington DC's clubs, bars and adult establishments. Amazingly only one santa was decked in the entire evening.
posted on Dec 14, 2002 - View this thread

Happy Thanksgiving or Is It? In 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt responed to pressure from the National Retail Dry Goods Association to move the official date of Thanksgiving back one week to the next-to-last Thursday of the month. FDR hoped that this would enliven the economy by adding one week to the Christmas shopping season, but he received considerable political flak for tampering with what many viewed as a sacred religious holiday. (Thanksgiving is considered sacred even though it only became a national holiday due to lobbying by the editor of a 19th century woman's magazine.) New Deal-era Republicans were especially bothered by the calendar change and one essayist at the American Enterprise Institute still seems to carry a grudge. Congress later resolved the issue by passing a resolution in 1941 that designated Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November.
posted on Nov 26, 2002 - View this thread

"Jingle Bells" is the first Christmas song we learn. It's the Christmas song no one ever forgets. But when "Jingle Bells" was written in the 1850s by Boston native James Lord Pierpont, it was not a Christmas song. It had nothing to do with the holidays. "Jingle Bells" was what you might call pre-Civil War rock 'n' roll. In its seldom-heard original form, it's about having a flashy vehicle, driving it too fast and using it to pick up girls. (by Larry Katz, Boston Herald--via Fark.com)
posted on Dec 24, 2001 - View this thread

Alt.Xmas.Music.Lyrics. I've never been accused in the past of only posting serious news item type links - so just to prove that i'm no stick-in-the-mud here is a fun link. It apparently requires no shockwave plugins..... ladies and gentlemen--and especially you cosmopolite European members--I give you, after a wee scroll down and download.... Walking Round In Women's Underwear!! please enjoy this during work hours.
posted on Dec 19, 2001 - View this thread

Christmas movies: I have noticed that Christmas movies, especially made-for-TV Christmas movies, come in two flavors: someone discovering the "true meaning of Christmas", or somebody saving Christmas. Sometimes the two are combined. Are there Christmas movies out there without these plots?
posted on Dec 18, 2001 - View this thread

A Very Nice Advent Calendar (and you can't peek ahead), courtesy of hoopla. [via harrumph]
posted on Dec 9, 2001 - View this thread

Since the gift season is right around the corner, what are all the audiophiles looking for? Is it a minidisc? Or mp3? Or some kind of combination? Maybe something to integrate into your stereo system?

Which side of the tradeoff is worth it? Cheap capacity with real-time recording limitations or ease of use and multi-format support with high priced memory?
posted on Nov 27, 2001 - View this thread

Not a terribly serious topic, but I saw the Grinch movie on the weekend and hated it savagely. Just deplored it from beginning to end. And as time has passed and I've thought more about my extreme reaction, I've grown to hate it even more. This dude at Entertainment Weekly makes a pretty good case for why this blockbuster is a big chunk o' crap. Thoughts? P.S. I did see Quills last night however, and it was amazing.
posted on Nov 29, 2000 - View this thread

It's that time of year again... Here's a friendly reminder. When you go caroling this holiday season, be sure to get all your copyrights in a row before venturing about the neighborhood. You never know when someone might turn you in. [caution, the preceding was laced with sarcasm]
posted on Nov 18, 2000 - View this thread

With winter and the holiday season fast approaching, let's get the annual snowcraft link out of the way. Shockwave plug-in required.
posted on Nov 17, 2000 - View this thread

The true meaning of Christmas. With Christmas just around the corner, i decided to search for the true meaning of Christmas and i may have come up with the answer.
posted on Nov 6, 2000 - View this thread