MetaFilter posts tagged with christmas

God damn trees!

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:33:39 -0800

From the guys that brought you Hobo With A Shogun comes award-winning short, Treevenge (NSFW)

A Kitten for Hitler

fearfulsymmetry — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:21:01 -0800

'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.'

That film has been made. The story behind it.

My deity is at least 16-bits

patr1ck — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:40:57 -0800

8-bit Jesus is a free CD of Christmas classics, done in 8-bit style by the fantastic Doctor Octoroc. [via]

Good will to all men

Artw — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:51:35 -0800

A christmas message from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Christmas at the BFI

Rumple — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:13:01 -0800

Christmas in the London Blitz, 1940; Making Christmas Crackers, 1910; Santa Claus, 1898; Christmas is coming, 1951: short films from the British Film Institute's wonderful Youtube Channel (including excellent playlists), which you can also explore through Google Earth using the kmz file found here.

Educative and informat-ta-tive

Senor Cardgage — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:39:03 -0800

Would you care to relax in the bosom of my family this christmas? Freed from the formality of working life? Christmas Tidings from Mr. Cholmondley-Warner and Grayson (SLHEYT) Sure, it's just a christmas youtube, but its a fantastic one and nowhere on it are the words "Made in Belgium" written.

Why I Hate Christmas

nasreddin — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:10:19 -0800

"Modern Christmas is like primitive Keynesianism, a short-run-oriented economic experiment that has been tried and found wanting." Economist James S. Henry weighs in on "Why the Grinch has it right."

Henchmen Cancun '08, sadly, shall never be

XQUZYPHYR — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:13:52 -0800

Merry Christmas from Henchmen 21 & 24. The annual Venture Bros. Christmas song from Quickstop Entertainment. (Previously and previously)

Merry Christmas Sam Jackson!

timsteil — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:56:56 -0800

In 1974, John Henry Faulk told NPR a Christmas Story.

BMJ Christmas Issue

alby — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:49:08 -0800

Every year the British Medical Journal publishes a less-than-serious Christmas edition. This year's edition includes:

[sort of via]

Penguins in Santa outfits playing in the snow!

hermitosis — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:39:19 -0800

Penguins in Santa outfits playing in the snow!

It was Christmas Day and Danny the Car Wiper hit the street junksick

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:07:26 -0800

'Junky's Christmas' by William S Burroughs (Part 1, Part 2) More Christmas themed short films courtesy of Cyber Cinema ('the best short films on the web') at The Guardian

Ho ho ho

greenie2600 — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:15:30 -0800

Neutral, developer of the excellent room escape game Vision (among others), has released his second Christmas-themed escape game. It's a bit tougher than his first one, but neither are particularly difficult—after all, we are talking about Christmas-themed escape games. Play them while you can—they're only available during the holidays!

A Familyre Christmas

roll truck roll — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:12:39 -0800

A Familyre Christmas, Volume 1 and 2. For the second year, Daniel Smith's collective of awkward folk acts is counting down the days until Christmas by giving away a new holiday album. Artists include Danielson, of course, as well as the previously-discussed Half-Handed Cloud and Sufjan Stevens. Also this month, Danielson has a new double CD of live tracks and rarities spanning his/their career. A few years ago, Rick Moody wrote an excellent essay about the difficult-to-pidgeonhole Christian message in Danielson's music. I wish I could find it online, but alas.

'Twas the knit before Christmas.

gman — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:04:12 -0800

Create your own festive Christmas sweater. Or you can just buy one.

A merry "Bah, Humbug!" to us all

JHarris — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:24:05 -0800

Robert E. Howard-themed fantasy blog The Cimmerian posts a different take on a holiday classic.
Mystery Science Theater presents A Child's Christmas in Space, A Patrick Swazye Christmas, Merry Christmas (If That's Okay), a critique of Christmas movies and shows, and a little yuletide hysteria.
Tom Lehrer: "A Christmas Carol"
Futurama: The Elves' Christmas Song
Finally, there's The Colbert Report's book-burning Yule Log, both on the web and downloadable for Windows and Macintosh.

A year or so I linked the Escape Pod's recording of "In The Late December" here. It still fits. So does "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fish-Men." (But this link is to the World of Warcraft version.)

There must have been some magic in clean coal technology

Johnny Assay — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:36:41 -0800

Just in time for Christmas, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity brings you the Clean Coal Carolers! Their repertoire includes such classics as Frosty the Coal Man, Deck the Halls (with Clean Coal), Clean Coal Night, and Oh Technology. Of course, the Scrooge-like bosses of the ACCCE, suffering from an incredible lack of Christmas spirit, took the Carolers off their website only a couple of days after they were posted — but thanks to the magic of YouTube, you can still revel in the festive sounds of the season. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find their reworkings of "Adeste Fideles" or "Jingle Bells" online. Some things, alas, may be lost to the ages. Yes, I heard about this on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Wanna make something of it?

They already used the obvious jokey reference

jacquilynne — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:55:43 -0800

Musical Fruitcake. Almost all Christmas songs are a little schlocky. But some are even worse than that.

Some traditional Jewish holiday music

grobstein — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:02:17 -0800

Almost no traditional Christmas carols were written by Jews (though there have been rumors). But sometimes it seems like almost all the best 20th century Christmas songs were. Many people are dimly aware of this, but few know its full extent. I have compiled a list, with representative performances. Wikipedia's (ASCAP) list of the top 25 most-performed holiday songs is loaded with Jewish Christmas songs. The list of Jewish-written songs in the top 25 follows (I may be missing some); links to YT performances: 1. The Christmas Song ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") - Mel Torme, Robert Wells 5. White Christmas - Irving Berlin 6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne 7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Johnny Marks (also responsible for many second-tier Christmas songs) 9. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram (at least two are Jewish) 11. Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish (one Jew) 13. Silver Bells - Jay Livingston, Ray Evans 14. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Johnny Marks 18. A Holly Jolly Christmas - Johnny Marks 22. (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays - Bob Allen, Al Stillman (at least one Jew) 24. Santa Baby - Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer (at least one Jew) And here is a similar list (with slightly different rules for inclusion) that I had the misfortune of discovering after I did all the research for my own. It has brief discussions of the Jewishness of the various writers.

Ayup, Batman!

Grrlscout — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:26:59 -0800

Christmas Caped Crusader Tis the season for heartwarming news filler, perhaps, but the video of this guy at the children's hospice makes me think he's the real deal. When the cameras stop rolling, though, do stunts like this make people give more deeply or more often to charity?

Communist Christmas

homunculus — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:00:58 -0800

Communist Christmas. There's a red star up on the Christmas tree. [Via]

Keeping it indy

Artw — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:44:55 -0800

Book sales are down. Powells, the largest independant bookseller in the US, is asking staff to scale back hours or take sabbaticals. Will you buy a book from an independent bookstore this Christmas?

Neil Diamond is a Jewish guy who sings X-mas songs

MiltonRandKalman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:12:48 -0800

What's the worst part about the holidays? The consumerism? The awkward office parties? Belligerent relatives and needy offspring? No, its holiday music, especially those involving former heroes [NSFOP]. This year, give the gift of non-suckage.

Do They Know It's Christmastime At All?

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:22:42 -0800

Bleed The World

Silent Night

twoleftfeet — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:12:15 -0800

Silent Night in English, German, Irish, Arapaho, Czech, Italian, Finnish, Russian, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Japanese, French, Spanish and another 120 languages. The official song of the Christmas truce. Additional performances by Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver & the Muppets, Elvis, Andy Williams, The White Stripes, Britney Spears, Frank Sinatra, The Three Tenors, Olivia Newton John, Bing Crosby, Tom Waits, Jewel, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty, Mariah Carey, Nat King Cole, Aaron Neville, Aretha Franklin, Martha Raye, Johnny Cash & his mother, Hanson, Christina Aguilera, Rick Astley, Barbra Streisand, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir (with Walter Cronkite), Mahalia Jackson, Dean Martin, Joan Baez, Tammy Wynette, in American Sign Language, Joe Satriani, Beyoncé, Bobby Darin, Pat Boone, Jess & Nick, Josh Groban, Neil Diamond, Johnny Mathis, Karen Carpenter, Bee Gees, Liza Minelli, Béla Fleck, Aaron Neville & Linda Rondstadt, David Hasselhoff, some cats, some more cats, and a drunk reindeer. A little history. Merry Xmas MeFi.