After all the muzak, Christmas Past - a quality Christmas song by Mick Flannery, which he sings here with Lisa Hannigan (who previously benefited from the Colbert bump) at the Other Voices festival in Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Other Voices has been running for seven years, so the archive of performances has grown impressively.
posted by degreezero on Dec 25, 2009 - 1 comment

Winter holiday traditions change with time and location, with their current forms retaining little of their old forms, wassailing (rhymes with fossil-ing) possibly more than most. The modern interpretation of wassailing has been simplified to singing carols, though it was born of much more diverse traditions, from a cheer of good health before battle to scaring evil spirits from apple orchards. From these origins come wassail the drink, and that's just one of the many foods of the winter season (Food Timeline prev., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). A few more are covered below the break. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Dec 25, 2009 - 8 comments

It's Christmas, which means the most important tradition of all: the cast of The Venture Bros. changing your memory of a holiday classic forever. Merry Christmas from Alvin, Simon, and Theodore Tim-Tom, Kevin, and Henchman 21. [more inside]
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Dec 25, 2009 - 19 comments

Here's a fun collection of Vintage Christmas Album Covers, and more here at the Strange Christmas Album Covers Flickr set. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Dec 25, 2009 - 7 comments

On December 24^th, 1979, radio personality Alan Maitland started a tradition on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's program As It Happens. That Christmas Eve, Maitland read a Frederick Forsyth story that featured the unlikely meeting of a Vampire and a Mosquito. His telling has been re-aired every year since. [more inside]
posted by Decimask on Dec 25, 2009 - 6 comments

6 to 8 Black Men. Christmas in the Netherlands as described by David Sedaris (SLYT)
posted by blue_beetle on Dec 24, 2009 - 20 comments

When Pope Benedict XV called for a cease fire over the Christian holiday of Christmas the high command on both sides of no man's land called it "impossible". But the men in the icy muck and mire of Flanders decided for themselves what was possible, what was not possible. The future held millions of dead and wounded but the season motivated the British (along with some French and Belgians) and the Germans to shake off the traditional definitions of enemies and allies. [more inside]
posted by IvoShandor on Dec 24, 2009 - 36 comments

Tesla Christmas Tree.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy on Dec 24, 2009 - 12 comments

As households across the world quietly deploy presents from St. Nick, Kate Beaton, author of the charming historical webcomic Hark, a Vagrant! (previ ously) remembers the tradition in a bittersweet light. In spite of venerable op-eds (and their animated offspring), such pain moves some to question whether parents should teach their children to believe in Santa Claus at all.
posted by Rhaomi on Dec 24, 2009 - 25 comments

If you're of a certain age, you might've seen Simple Gifts: 6 Heartwarming Holiday Stories on PBS in the late 70s or early 80s. Maybe you enjoyed it as much as I did, or maybe you still will.

Prologue, by Maurice Sendak.
1. A Memory of Christmas part one, part two
2. Lost And Found
3. Excerpted from Orlando, The Great Frost part one and part two
4. My Christmas, as told by a young Teddy Roosevelt
5. December 25th, 1914 (You might otherwise know this event from the video for Paul McCartney's "The Pipes of Peace.")
6. No Room At The Inn part one, part two
posted by kimota on Dec 24, 2009 - 4 comments

"The verdict was read out after a few hours. The Ceausescus were sentenced to death. They had ten days to appeal, but the sentence was to be carried out immediately. A nod to Kafka." 20 years ago on Christmas Day, the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were sentenced to death by an impromptu revolutionary tribunal and executed by firing squad. The Times speaks with one of the men who was there that day. Footage of their trial. Translated transcript of the trial, courtesy of the very informative ceausescu.org. [more inside]
posted by Sticherbeast on Dec 24, 2009 - 21 comments

A forgotten gem from The Band, and a Christmas Card to all my fellow MeFites.
posted by timsteil on Dec 24, 2009 - 10 comments

Twenty-two new accounts created in order to tweet John Hughes' Home Alone in real time. Merry Christmas.
posted by jefficator on Dec 24, 2009 - 26 comments

Each year from 1963 to 1969, the Beatles recorded a short Christmas message for their fans^*: The Beatles' Christmas album. An oldie but a goodie!
posted by twoleftfeet on Dec 24, 2009 - 12 comments

“West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut...” — In the true spirit of the holiday season, Mark E. Smith presents: a reading of that classic old Christmas tale, Howard Phillips Lovecraft's The Colour Out Of Space. [more inside]
posted by koeselitz on Dec 24, 2009 - 30 comments

The Day Before Boxing Day [SLYT]. From the ever-unusual Robyn Hitchcock, and friends.
posted by scruss on Dec 24, 2009 - 8 comments

We're mostly pretty familiar, I guess, with the ol' rum pa pum pum of the Little Drummer Boy. He shows up every Christmas, marching drum slung round his waist, rat-a-tat-tatting for the Son of God, thanks to that familiar song about him. A catchy little tune it is, too... heck, David Bowie and Bing Crosby think so! Let's keep in mind, though, that back when a certain Holy Infant made his first grand appearance at a stable back in Bethlehem, any little drummer boy that might've serenaded him wouldn't have been playing any paradiddles or ratamacues. Nah, he'd have been laying down beats more like this, or this, or (from actual boys), this. I think the baby Jesus would've dug the groove, too. Merry Christmas, y'all!
posted by flapjax at midnite on Dec 24, 2009 - 32 comments

Christmas statues are commonplace in countries around the world. There are the usual snowmen (previously), reindeer, and other types of fauna (an update to a previous post). But the most sought-after model is of course the Fat Man. [more inside]
posted by Hardcore Poser on Dec 23, 2009 - 8 comments

The little-known Jewish holiday of Christmas Eve. Seriously.
posted by andoatnp on Dec 23, 2009 - 38 comments

Is it still spam if they actually give you the money? (SLYT)
posted by mikepop on Dec 23, 2009 - 37 comments

In celebration of Festivus: military maps of the War on Christmas.
posted by Joe Beese on Dec 23, 2009 - 20 comments

Sure, we all know that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is broadcast every year in the US as a Christmas tradition, and that Sweden basically closes every year from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on December 24th to watch Donald Duck, but what about other countries? [more inside]
posted by DoctorFedora on Dec 22, 2009 - 33 comments

For many, this time of year brings to mind George Frideric Handel's masterpiece "Messiah" - a three part oratorio for orchestra, chorus and soloists. For many, the holiday season has not begun until the local Messiah Sing-Along. (Need a score to sing along? It's always a good idea to check the Choral Public Domain Library! And before you go, make sure you're ready with a handy - and hilarious - quiz!) But the Messiah narrative has much less to do with that omnipresent, tacit, eponymous character and much more to do with the shared and often painful condition of the human family and our attempts to understand and commune with the universe. Director Claus Guth has staged the oratorio using a setting that mirrors that experience: a funeral. [Clips of that performance within.] [more inside]
posted by greekphilosophy on Dec 22, 2009 - 19 comments

Sweden's bizarre tradition of watching Donald Duck (Kalle Anka) cartoons on Christmas Eve
posted by mr.marx on Dec 22, 2009 - 51 comments

Christmas Mini Room Escape Game III. A light-hearted diversion from the work that you're ignoring this week anyway. [more inside]
posted by ixohoxi on Dec 22, 2009 - 34 comments

For television stations around the world, December is the season of the Christmas tape. Unlike ordinary blooper reels, Christmas tapes (also known as goof tapes) are produced as entertainment for the staff Christmas party, with the intention that they will never be seen by the general public. Tropes of the genre include cruel practical jokes, after-hours misuse of the studio's green screen, in-jokes about unreliable equipment, sarcastic assessments of colleagues' work habits, and the usual piece-to-camera screwups. The B-B-C's tradition of in-house production, however, has ensured that its Christmas tapes contain such oddities as indecent daleks, Nazi weather presenters and on one occasion, a rather bad sci-fi film. Most links mildly NSFW.
posted by embrangled on Dec 22, 2009 - 8 comments

This Saturday in New York City, a couple hundred people gathered to coat their gullets with thick, rich Christmas Joy, in the Eighth Annual Coquito Masters Contest. Interested in trying a Coquito (aka Puerto Rico's version of egg nog)? Here's some recipes! LET'S GET CREAMY!
posted by Greg Nog on Dec 21, 2009 - 30 comments

In 2006, LibriVox released a small collection of traditional Christmas Carols, sung by volunteers from around the world, all in the Public Domain. It was a neat idea. Then, years of silence, no carolers came. Now it's December 2009 and the carolers have returned, with a second larger collection of traditional carols. (orig LibriVox page. Project page.)
posted by stbalbach on Dec 19, 2009 - 7 comments

Pomplamoose are Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn and they make music. You might have seen their cover of Single Ladies (previously), but they do so much more than pop covers.

Just released for Christmas is this wonderful original track entitled "Always in the Season." Other originals include "Hail Mary" and "Beat The Horse;" the rest of their catalogue is linked inside. [more inside]
posted by flatluigi on Dec 18, 2009 - 47 comments

FedEx Kinkos Won’t Print Our Christmas Card [nsfw]
posted by ColdChef on Dec 17, 2009 - 313 comments

Maria Bamford's One-Hour Homemade Christmas Special! by Maria Bamford, stand-up comic and pretty much a native speaker in Pretend Tiger. FYI, if you've heard some of those jokes before... it's a gift! She made it for us, for Christmas, to celebrate her success at selling out this year.
posted by Kattullus on Dec 16, 2009 - 49 comments

Every Christmas since 1966, the Swedish town of Gävle has built an enormous traditional Yule goat of straw. And almost every Christmas, someone tries to set fire to him. [more inside]
posted by zamboni on Dec 16, 2009 - 31 comments

Roommate Leaves Town, Christmas Prank Ensues [SLYT]
posted by rageagainsttherobots on Dec 14, 2009 - 38 comments

Christmas Lights + Guitar Hero
posted by empath on Dec 14, 2009 - 21 comments

A Wish... (part 1) ...For Wings... (part 2) ...That Work (part 3). The only Christmas Special you'll see this year with hairballs, a cross-dressing cockroach, Ronald Coleman and a 22-second warning. The apex for Berkeley Breathed and Opus (for Bill, notsomuch). via.
posted by oneswellfoop on Dec 12, 2009 - 26 comments

Every so often, the Opie and Anthony radio show run a Homeless Shopping Spree, where they take some homeless people off the streets and take them out to an upscale mall to buy clothes for them. This year, a man who calls himself Mustard mentioned to them that he used to be a musician, so they gave him a guitar.
posted by flatluigi on Dec 12, 2009 - 66 comments

Merry Christmas From Juniper Creek's Prophet and sister-wives. Video and free album from the cast of HBO's Big Love.
posted by hermitosis on Dec 11, 2009 - 11 comments

The Roches on the Today Show, Christmas 1990. Joy To The World::Angels We Have Heard On High::God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen::The First Nöel::Adeste Fidelis::Hallelujah Chorus Saturday Night Live '79
posted by vronsky on Dec 9, 2009 - 35 comments

This month the ClassicShowbiz Twitter feed is linking to all kinds of classic Christmas themed TV episodes, including Andy Kaufman, Gumby, Sanford and Son, Welcome Back Kotter, The Jeffersons, Mr. Ed, Fat Albert, Alfred Hitchcock, Twilight Zone, Dragnet, Taxi, Bob Newhart, Happy Days, That Girl, All in the Family, and much more with more to come.
posted by twoleftfeet on Dec 8, 2009 - 4 comments

Abandoned in a hat in the middle of a snowdrift as a newborn, rescued by a woodsman and guarded by a lioness, stolen and raised by a wood nymph, instructed in the ways of all the languages of the animals as a child, on the threshold of manhood he visited medieval Europe, feudal Japan, and Arabian markets to learn the inherent evil of humanity. For his insistence on toymaking, he was terrorized and repeatedly captured by a race determined to corrupt young minds, until his immortal protector came out to defend him with a laser-shooting axe which eradicated the malevolent culture. But can that same protector defend his ward's life to the likes of the Commander of the Wind Demons? The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause, a Rankin/Bass production, Part [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
posted by Navelgazer on Dec 7, 2009 - 45 comments

8 bit Christmas
posted by DU on Dec 4, 2009 - 19 comments

Patton Oswalt's "Christmas Shoes" - the cartoon version [SLYT]
posted by porn in the woods on Dec 4, 2009 - 20 comments

This Christmas: 6 ways you're not saving money (when you think you are) and 39 ways you could be (that you're not doing).
posted by Taft on Dec 3, 2009 - 81 comments

Holidays on Display, currently on view at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, offers an image-rich online exhibit as well, detailing the way businesses learned to capitalize on one of the country's largest celebrations. Peer into the artistry of holiday window design as well. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Dec 3, 2009 - 6 comments

Animated Advent Calendar [via mefi projects] Want a way to count down the days till the Santa (with or without companion(s)) comes to town, but you don't want to go out and spend money on a disposable bit of proto-landfill with daily entries that don't dance? The Online Advent Calendar is your answer. The '08 version is also available for viewing.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey on Dec 1, 2009 - 9 comments

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has been reprinted, abridged, disected, redrawn and re-told on film numerous times, but the original 66 page manuscript has rarely been seen by the public. The manuscript was obtained by The Morgan Library & Museum during the 1890s, where it is currently on display. If you can't make it to New York this time of year, you can take a close look at 4 heavily edited pages and attempt to decipher Dickens' original writing, thanks to The New York Times.
posted by filthy light thief on Dec 1, 2009 - 14 comments

Seems a little early, but the American Family Association is gearing up for another round of Yuletide boycotting. You can check the "naughty or nice list for retailers to avoid. (Warning: AFA site is obnoxious- watch out for auto-play video). We’ve previously discussed AFA boycotts of Hallmark and Ford, which may or may not have had any impact. I guess even the "War on Christmas" isn’t immune to a little Christmas Creep.
posted by Shohn on Nov 17, 2009 - 137 comments

From the guys that brought you Hobo With A Shogun comes award-winning short, Treevenge (NSFW)
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Jul 13, 2009 - 34 comments

'Ten years ago, while working on The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg and I had a heated discussion on the pros and cons of film censorship. Broadly speaking, Melvyn was against it, while I, much to his surprise, was absolutely for it. He then dared me to write a script that I thought should be banned. I accepted the challenge and a month or so later sent him a short subject entitled A Kitten for Hitler. “Ken,” he said, “if ever you make this film and it is shown, you will be lynched.'

8-bit Jesus is a free CD of Christmas classics, done in 8-bit style by the fantastic Doctor Octoroc. [via]
posted by patr1ck on Dec 25, 2008 - 10 comments