ring christmas bells, Ring Christmas Bells, RING CHRISTMAS BELLS

And like that, it's all over. But it was fabulous while it lasted!

Christmas Eve was a blast, with family, good food, and more presents than could fit under the tree. One of the gifts I gave my aunt Bernadette caused her to burst into tears, in what I hope was a good way, but that was really the only bit of emotional outburst so I think we can deem the evening a success.

I decided to join my aunt Flora at midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and it's the first time I've been to midnight mass in over five years. We didn't go to St. Patrick's, the church my grandmother went to for a number of years; instead we went to mass at Old St. Mary's on California. It was quite lovely, with an hour of Christmas carols performed by a choir and a small orchestra beforehand (their rendition of that "Comfort and Joy" song was particularly dramatic. Also, one of the soloists sounded just like Sebastian Cabot Glen Yarbrough in "The Hobbit.") And the mass, while it had its moments of complete cheesiness (a bit of theater between the priest and the "Ghost of Caesar") was, for the most part, quite nice and not too...uh...preachy. But it was also kind of weird. After over two decades of Christmas masses in a church with a primarily Filipino congregation, and Filipino priests, it was odd seeing the mass being delivered by a white dude. Nonetheless, I'm really glad I went, and am actually looking forward to going again next year. (I think it's easier to get excited about going to church when you don't have to go every week. But don't tell God I said that!)

Going to bed after 2am meant I wasn't able to do do my usual wake at five because I'm emotionally stunted and can't wait to open all my presents thing. Instead, my parents' dog decided to wake me up at 7:30 because he's emotionally stunted and couldn't wait to open his presents. He's gone through enough of these to actually know it's Christmas morning, and after waking me he went and stood in front of his stocking and whined until we were all up and finally gave him a present to open. Sheesh. Children!

I got a lot of good loot, including a DVD recorder so I can finally transfer all those old bits of video I've accumulated on VHS over the years, and then post them up on YouTube to the delight of dozens!

The weirdest bit of Christmas kismet had to be when I looked at the DVD of "Blood Tea and Red String," one of my presents, and saw a quote from ME ON THE BACK OF THE DVD! Check it out! My first blurb!

Sigh. But now it's Tuesday, and I have to actually try and work. Sheesh! I better sneak another piece of coal on the fire and hope my boss doesn't find out!

Sandy Claws

I think I'm going to take a cue from my cat and just sit and stare at the presents under the tree until it's Christmas morning, because I'm too tired to do much else. Which isn't to say I'm not excited. Those are just yawns of glee!

Merry Christmas everybody!

I'm Also a Sucker For Really Bad Puns

I've got a brief post up on SFist about some of the weekend's holiday TV offerings, which includes the TV yule log. Hallelujah!

I've Got a Lot of Problems With You People!

Saturday is Festivus, and since I'll probably be busy raining blows upon strangers who get in my way at various stores tomorrow, I thought I'd send my greetings to you today.

Shockingly, the "Festivus" episode of "Seinfeld" is not airing anywhere locally tomorrow night (or today, for that matter). But fear not! You can watch the entire show right here!

It's a Festivus miracle!

I Want To Decide Who Lives and Who Dies

Last year, Chuck gave me a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" DVD with "Manos: The Hands of Fate" and "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians," two of my favorite episodes of the show. I watched the "Santa Claus" episode again recently, and have decided to make it my regular Christmastime thing.

But I don't want to deprive you fine people of the same joy so, thanks to the joy of YouTube, here's the whole dang episode, broken up into 10 annoying chunks. Part one is below. Click on the following links to watch parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10! Merry Christmas!

Festive TV Fun

Freakgirl linked to this site, which has 101 Christmas videos. Like FULL-LENGTH and all. Including, awesomely, the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special"!

Watch them before some Scrooge makes them disappear!

Christmas Is For the Young...And the Emotionally Stunted

Kirk's awesome "Twelve Years of Christmas" posts on his Secret Fun Blog inspired me to dig through some old Christmas photos and post them on Flickr. Check them out!

I'm not sure if I learned anything from looking at these old photos, except maybe that my Christmas glee began at an early age. And that at about age six my hair went horribly, horribly wrong.

In other news, Christmas is a week away. A WEEK! My Christmas glee is quickly turning into Christmas panic!

Reality Is Over

My final reality TV locals post is now up on SFist, and I am happy to say I am very pleased with the results. In that I am happy about who won. Want to know more, read the damn post!

The End Is Nigh

My penultimate reality TV locals post is now up on SFist!

It's been fun having locals to root for, but I'll be happy to take a break from this recapping thing for a while.

...on Lyle Lovett

My favorite MST3K short...

You Know What Else Makes the Baby Rain Cry?

Christmas Tree '06
Originally uploaded by Rain Rain Rain.

People not telling her what songs make them cry.

The only thing that will make the pain go away at this point is staring at my big ass Christmas tree.

Ahhhhh. That's better.

Click on the photo to go to flickr and see some more photos of my tree, some ornaments, and some friends.

Llorando

This post on EW's PopWatch got me thinking, but I don't want to get enmeshed in their comments, so I thought I'd raise the question here and see if anyone is brave enough to reply.

What songs make you cry?

Now, I realize the EW post is really about the world's saddest songs, and sad songs don't necessarily make people cry. They may make some want to slit their wrists. Or, perhaps, laugh hysterically at their overbearing earnestness. (I'm looking at you, Mr. "Meat Is Murder" Morrissey!)

But there are a few songs that, if I listen to them at the wrong time, will just make me bawl. One is "When She Loved Me" from "Toy Story 2," which I am loath to admit to because I really hate Sarah McLachlan (and don't care much for Randy Newman, for that matter). The really pathetic thing is, I cry because when I hear the song, I don't think about lost love or something, I actually hear it like one of my old stuffed animals is singing it about me.

Shut up!

Another tearjerker is "The Tigers Have Spoken" by Neko Case. Here's a sample of those lyrics:

They shot the tiger on his chain
In a field behind the cages
He walked in circles 'til he was crazy
And he lived that way forever
And he lived that way beside them,
Separate from the other tigers
He did not know another tiger
...
It was the last time he had felt alive
When he saw that brown-haired lady
She fed him with a bottle as a baby
And he recalled her face and smile
They shot that tiger on his chain

Songs about sad animals? You're killing me! Elvis' "Old Shep" can also bring me to tears.

So come on, you! There have got to be some songs that bring on the waterworks, either because of lyrics, or associations you have with the song. Fess up! Don't leave me crying here by myself!

December Madness

Man. This weekend was nuts.

Friday was my mom's birthday, and we had the requisite La Traviata dinner. It was its usual deliciousness.

On Saturday, I realized if I wanted to get a Christmas tree, there was no other choice but to rent a storage space and move some stuff into it, so I did. Why hadn't I decided to do this sooner? It's not much bigger than a large closet, but I can fit a lot of stuff in it, and plan to. I'll actually have closet space at home again!

Saturday night was my company holiday party, which required a drive in the pouring rain down to San Mateo. I sat with friends at the party for over an hour complaining about how loud the band was when we came to the realization that there was an entire other area of the party we hadn't even explored yet. We completely forgot it even existed. Inside it was heaven! Quiet, uncrowded, and full of the same booze and food as the main hall and--AND!--gambling. I ended up spending about two and half hours at a poker table. Gambling is fun when it doesn't involve actual money!

Sunday afternoon my father and I delivered Christmas stockings to PAWS clients, which was fun, and then it was off to buy Christmas trees. I was able to find a couple (one for me, one for my parents) that weren't ridiculously large. Mine is still pretty big, but it's not quite as fat as last year. (Just like me!) Sunday night was devoted to decorating my tree (putting over 400 lights on a tree sucks. I would pay someone to do that for me. Ugh!) and on Monday we decorated my parents' tree. (I'll put some pictures up of both when I take some!)

I can't believe there's only really one more weekend before Christmas. How did that happen?

Run Run Rudolph

Hey! "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is on tonight at 8 on CBS! Here's an old trailer.



And to read a little more about what I have to say about it, check out this SFist Watches post!

Locality

That's "local reality" folks! Clever, yeah?

Ahem.

Anyhoooot, this week's SFist Watches: Your Locals On Reality TV is now up!

Help Me, Al Gore!

I'm too busy to blog. TOO BUSY TO LIVE!

Well, maybe not that busy, but I don't think you'll get much more out of me today, so just read this instead.

Melrose and the Grinch

Sounds like a police duo.

There's another SFist Watches: TV Tonight post up now!

Scary Mary

Here's another one of those fake movie trailers, this time turning "Mary Poppins" into a horror flick.



I don't think it's quite as successful as the "Shining" trailer, and I have a theory as to why. Kubrick didn't film "The Shining" like a typical horror movie. For the most part, the film is brightly lit, and in deep focus--not the usual dark, things-lurking-in-the-shadows photography used in most horror flicks. Therefore, it's kind of easy to make the movie look like a romantic comedy.

"Mary Poppins" is also brightly lit, and colorful, and the action in it is a little too goofy-looking, and thus it's a tad difficult to make the movie look scary. Although I think whoever did this trailer made an admirable effort.

[Via Boing Boing]

"Lost" Not Lost, Just Moving

When "Lost" comes back in February, it'll be on at 10pm instead of 9. (Where the former occupier of that slot, "The Nine," will go has yet to be revealed.) This is most likely so they can avoid competing with "American Idol," and I suppose that's wise, but I can't say I'm not a little disappointed. "Lost" is one of the only shows I pretty much watch live and I don't like the idea of having to wait another hour for it.

Listen to me. I sound like someone who still has faith in the show! Maybe it's good that it's going on hiatus for such a long time. It'll give me time to completely forget what I huge pile of crap that "Fall finale" was.

Better Late Than Never?

How come it feels like I have no time to get anything done, but don't actually seem to get anything done?

Anyway, I forgot to mention this SFist post about "The Year Without a Santa Claus." It was on tonight. But it'll be on again, don't worry!

I Want It All, and I Want It Easy

I'm pretending the holidays aren't steamrolling towards me by listening to Morningwood really loud. One doesn't have anything to do with the other, but it helps get the frustrations out.

I mean, look at them on Letterman, all dressed up and jiggly for Halloween. Who could resist?

Yul Tide

This week's reailty TV locals post is is now up!