What to my wondering eyes should appear but the suggestion that "A Visit From St. Nicholas," the classic poem which has defined the American Santa Claus, from red suit and big belly to reindeer and chimney-delivery method, was written not by classics professor Clement Clarke Moore but by poet and military man Henry Livingston. Though some think the authorship controversy is sugarplum vision of Livingston's descendents, other scholars the claim: literary 'detective' Donald Foster agrees (though his sleuthing record is not unblemished). Leading historian of Christmas Stephen Nissenbaum, says that either way, St. Nick is the product of the same social world, that of the wealthy white elite in the New York of the early Republic. If the claim is true, then in the convoluted history of the manuscript we've gotten some reindeer names wrong.
posted on Dec 24, 2007 - View this thread

Secret lives: Santa Claus Steady Mobbin' - I fear this will lead to no good.
posted on Dec 22, 2007 - View this thread

"What do you think of that, Santa?" Yet another case of student 'art projects' out of control . . . other incredible violations of mall-Santa lap etiquette:1, 2, 3, and no doubt the most flagrant example, 4. Be careful out there.
posted on Dec 3, 2007 - View this thread

Ho Ho Ho? Hellz No Fat Man!
posted on Nov 15, 2007 - View this thread

Penguins With Angst is the visual tale of a group of hoodlum penguins who vandalize a grain silo & threaten the life of Santa Claus. Easter Sacrifice is a photostory of the kidnapping of the Easter Bunny & his eventual decapitation by the Dove of Peace. Both art projects courtesy of Exclusionary, the online gallery of Jasper Thomas' work.
posted on Dec 17, 2006 - View this thread

Santa'd: Flickr's new holiday Easter egg.
posted on Dec 13, 2006 - View this thread

The Real Story of Christmas ...Many who are excitedly preparing for their Christmas celebrations would prefer not knowing about the holiday’s real significance. If they do know the history, they often object that their celebration has nothing to do with the holiday’s monstrous history and meaning. “We are just having fun.”
posted on Dec 17, 2005 - View this thread

T.E.R.D. Tangible Evidence. Real Discoveries. Dr. Lloyd Darrow may have proof that something - or someone - really exists.
posted on Dec 25, 2004 - View this thread

Santa Santa Santa Santa It's Friday, it's Flash, it's Christmas Eve, so....
posted on Dec 24, 2004 - View this thread

Watch the sky! He's coming soon! With fighter escort!
posted on Dec 23, 2004 - View this thread

Santa Saves Time and Money by simply skipping over the Blue States. SNL still somehow relevant. TV Funhouse still on the good side of that damn shark.
posted on Dec 22, 2004 - View this thread

Ho Ho Waaaahhhh!! A lot of kids don't like standing in long lines. A lot of kids don't like strangers (especially ones with big fake beards who are laughing dementedly). A lot of kids don't like having their pictures taken. Put them all together, and you've got the nightmare of the Kid's Photo With Santa, some unfortunate results of which are immortalized in the Scared Of Santa Photo Gallery. (Link is to #2, which is my favorite.)
posted on Dec 18, 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

From the Holly-Jolly uber-conservatives at Human Events comes a patriotic selection of Christmas ornaments, including George W. Bush (with extra sparkle!) and what appears to be the Team America Santa.
posted on Nov 29, 2004 - View this thread

Have a merry, sex and gadget filled hyper-commercialized Japanese Christmas. "Well it all started when a Spanish Jesuit missionary named St. Francis Xavier brought Christmas to Japan in 1549...." The Jesuit bid to Christianize Japan was a flop though, and now - while Jews in the West, for example, tend to go out for Chinese food on Christmas Eve, the Japanese had little connection to the Christian version - so they invented their own! Syncretistic Japan pulls in random elements of Western "Christmas" and recombines in pleasing new ways! ( shocking only to Christians ). Santa Claus on the Cross and more!

A proper Christmas in Japan - for singles - involves a hot date and visit to a "Love Hotel" where "you might be directed by scantily-clad female elves to rooms complete with Christmas trees and life-size reindeer watching the proceedings with interest." and "Grope Free Commutes", for Japanese women tired of having their asses grabbed on the subway by drunk salarymen returning from "Forget the Year" parties. This fine blog chronicles it all: " the Dolphin-and-fish-surrounded Christmas tree", Ukelele Christmas parties - "I wandered into a score of middle aged Japanese ladies wearing Hawaiian shirts and plastic lays, tuning up their ukuleles" and more. And don't forget to buy some cool new gadgets. "...a tiny robot helicopter weighing less than 9 grams... "
posted on Dec 25, 2003 - View this thread

Santa is trapped in a usb mouse.
posted on Dec 23, 2003 - View this thread

Psychedelic Santa Claus. "Modern Christmas traditions are based on ancient mushroom-using shamans." [Via J-Walk blog.]
posted on Dec 22, 2003 - View this thread

Santa lays off elves "Something will definitely be missing this Christmas." said Milja Vilmila, who was told her job as an elf helping Santa no longer existed.
posted on Dec 20, 2003 - View this thread

Sober Santa. Too much politics today, not enough Christmas fun. Here's a drunk Santa game from b3ta. Pretty tough once you get going.
posted on Dec 12, 2003 - View this thread

Did anyone catch Rudolph last night? (more inside)
posted on Dec 10, 2003 - View this thread

Santa brought me cookies for Christmas. I did not eat them. I sold them on eBay. Much like the Amazon reviews that were an artform to themselves, someone goes a little crazy with the ebay reviews.
posted on May 9, 2003 - View this thread

The world's most wanted man has embarked on his annual breaking-and-entering spree! Stop him before he reaches your house, using the power of NORAD. Track him as he wends his way around the world...(see! Missile-defense technology IS good for something!)
posted on Dec 24, 2002 - View this thread

Twas the night before Xmas and all through the net,
The geeks would be googling the ascii character set;
Metafilter refreshed on their PCs with care,
In the hopes that their FPP soon would be there;

Then up in the blue there arose such a clatter,
Mathowie sprang up to see what's the matter;
When, what to my wondering eyes there should be,
The canonical list of "Twas" parodies.
posted on Dec 22, 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

Santa Claus, elusive jolly old elf, has finally been located by someone curious enough (in both senses of the word) to use FedEx to track him down. (The page I linked to here only tells half the story; click that link down on the left to get FedEx's tracking page.)
posted on Dec 6, 2002 - View this thread

Magic 8 Ball Santa Witness the jiggling fat man! This couldn't wait for a Friday humor post. I've asked questions like: Will that cute brunette ever return my call? Will the Cincinnati Bengals go undefeated next year? Oh those lonely times at work...Huzzah!
posted on Dec 5, 2002 - View this thread

Sober Santa . Too much politics today, not enough Christmas fun. Here's a drunk Santa game from b3ta. Pretty tough once you get going.
posted on Dec 3, 2002 - View this thread

Secret Santa. Previously mentioned here, a year ago. "Got your own Web site? Got an Amazon wishlist? If the answer to both of these is yes, and you like the idea of giving and receiving, you should definitely sign up." Well, it's that time of year again.
posted on Nov 15, 2002 - View this thread

Santa cleared for interstate flight. The DOT has approved Santa's request for Christmas Eve air travel in the U.S. I find it interesting that, this year, "Santa also says that he has a sky marshal of sorts aboard."
posted on Dec 23, 2001 - View this thread

Project SANTA This game wasted a good two hours at work yesterday. It's a flash game, but with 70's gaming appeal. I played it so much I finally found the easter egg, supposedly the site of its "creator." It's on level three, click the moon. A Christmas game with an Easter egg, I dunno.
posted on Dec 15, 2001 - View this thread

Santarchy!
posted on Dec 12, 2001 - View this thread

Kansas City's Secret Santa has been handing out cash in hundred-dollar bills to needy individuals and random people during the Christmas season for the past twenty-one years. He's completely anonymous, preferring to give joy without getting any credit. He tries to find people with specific needs and surprises them in their homes or at their jobs with the cash they need. He gives out well over ten thousand dollars every year.
posted on Dec 22, 2000 - View this thread

"There is no Father Christmas." What?!
posted on Dec 15, 2000 - View this thread