Has it really been 11 days since the last post? Well, okay, normal 'blogging will soon resume. I've been taking some time off from everything to get acquainted with a new PS2. New 'BlogTone this weekend, too!

Elf

Ever since I saw the first previews last September, I've wanted to see Elf. When I couldn't see it in the theatres, I realized that the DVD release was probably going to be held until the "Holiday Season" this year. It was definitely worth the wait and lived up to all my expectations. It's really funny. And even though I know that Santa Claus was just invented by Washington Irving to put down the rowdy Catholic wassail in this country (darned puritans!) it's still my favorite "Christmas movie" of all time. I want to see it again now!

Many New or Expectant Mothers Die Violent Deaths

Surprise, surprise, surprise. This couldn't have anything to do with a culture which has made it a woman's right to choose whether or not their unborn baby gets to die a violent death? But then, what about a man's right to choose? What if he doesn't want to have the baby... or a wife/girlfriend/committment? Why shouldn't he have the right to "abort" his family (or family to be -- a "fetal family", if you will) if thats what he chooses? Maybe in ten years when the Scott Peterson case makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court we'll be at a point in our society where a man's right to choose will just seem a natural consequence of Roe v. Wade and Peterson will be lauded as a hero in the fight for human rights. Men will march in rallies carrying signs with handguns or hunting knives with "no" signs over them (similar to those old clothes-hanger signs) to commemorate all the "unsafe, back-alley family abortions" (because if you draw a gun or a knife on someone, there's always a chance they'll be armed and shoot back -- and that really can endanger the life of the father) before family abortions became safe and legal. There will be debates in Congress (those politician most in favor of family abortion will see themselves proudly named on "Scott's List") to determine how much in aid we send overseas to promote the right of men to abort their families... and on this the U.S. will finally have made common ground with the radical Islamic states (and we'll be one step closer to world peace). Instead of condemning these men to death, shouldn't be praising them, holding dinners in their honor?

UPDATE: ScrappleFace beat me to it and was funny about it.

Well played, Scrappleface. You win this round....

New "Doctor Who" series official webpage.

There's a teaser trailer up there, but it's nothing to write home about just yet.

Just when you think NPR was getting all cool and populist (last night "All Things Considered from a Liberal Point of View" featured a story on Karaoke Revolution for the PS2) they run this piece which all but accuses the only American diplomats in Cuba of antagonizing poor old Castro and putting all of U.S. Business' interests (since when did NPR ever care about U.S. Business' interests) in Cuba in jeopardy -- by putting up some Christmas lights and the number "75" on a sign.

Praise God.

It's the most awful thing imaginable just about that the mother should die that way, but you can definitely tell she was up in Heaven interceding for the life of her baby. Notice how now that the poor kid has been found alive she's now a "baby" and not a "fetus" (at least as far as most news outlets are concerned. Queer dat. I wonder, though: since she was never "born" will she remain to some a fetus? Will she be going into job interviews twenty-two years from now and be expected to introduce herself as a 22-year-old fetus?

Even the "conservative" Fox News Network maintained she was a fetus all throughout the search. Bastards. If you ask me they're not much better than the folks who murdered her mother: they killed the mother with a kife, Fox News would kill the baby by denying her humanity -- at least until it becomes impossible (oh, the kid survived? Must be a baby) to do so.

Holiday Classic

Kathy Shaidle's "The Night Before Kwanzaa"

Man finally bites dog!

In my lifetime, even! Yay!

Run, Robot, Run!

Thanks, RC!

Nintendo Unthreatened by PSP: Satoru Iwata states Nintendo will not lose handheld war against Sony.

Iwata claims the reason behind such a successful launch lies with Nintendo's dedication to innovation. The NCL President has spoken in favor of this approach for some time now, stating that impressive graphics and conventionally powerful game consoles no longer satisfy consumers. Only game systems capable of providing new levels of interaction between the player and the software will succeed in coming years.

I happen to agree, and it's pretty ironic considering the GameCube's utter lack of oneline multiplayer capability Warp Pipe withstanding) versus Sony's free and open adoption of the concept. Of the two portable systems, however, I definitely think that Nintendo's is better poised to provide more fulfilling game experiences. I think regardless it'll be a big hit in Japan (unless Sony really pushes the movie angle of the PSP -- does anyone know if it has an S-video output? If it does, the DS may be sunk), but America, with it's tendency towards populist dissing of superior formats, as usual, is pretty much up for grabs.

We just caught Karroll's Christmas on A&E (yeah, I know, we never watch A&E but there was a preview for it on one of the real channels earlier in the evening). It's definitely the only adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" that I would ever consider watching again. Very funny and actually among the more Christmassy of the adaptations (featuring actual Christmas hymns -- and the actual first Christmas... kinda).

Of course it was just a treat to see Wallace Shawn, Verne "Mini Me" Troyer, Larry Miller (especialy him), and Alanna Ubach (who some may remember best as Josie, Beakman's lab assistant, and others may remember as Marsha Brady's lesbian admirer and still others still may know from all her voice work with Disney) all in the same cast. This will probably be on again (it's on every day this week, as it turns out) so definitely try and check it out. It's not great but like I said, it's probably on the better end of the spectrum of Christmas Carol adaptations (admittedly, that's saying a great deal. But we did enjoy it).

Fiona's Gourmet Coffee and Salad Dressing -- Winner of the "Most Unfortunate Logo Design" award.

I guess my dad mentioned something about this a few weeks ago, but it wasn't until I saw it on POF that I realized it really existed: Barney Shakur (caution: f-bombs and it will make you laugh until you cry). Even better that it was done six years ago, and appears to have been assembled on VHS -- iMovie be damned!

Read Katie's Doubleshot Thoughts (we'll assume for the moment that these are doubleshots of espresso and not Jäger). Another fine 'blog that I'll have to add when I go in and prune my linklist over on the right there.

Sounds good to me. I'll see if I can rein in my use of "Happy Holidays" this year.

Salt + Light TV Homepage

I'll have to entrez this site sometime when I'm a little less tipsy tired. It looks to be pretty decent, though. Hard to say since I can't find any video clips or anything. Oh wait, here they are. Oh, wow... they're all Canadian. I think that being a faithful Catholic and a Canadian in this day and age must be akin to being a member of the French Underground during the war (don't ask me which war, I don't know). Anyway, you should totally check out that website, I guess. Not much there, really, to keep you coming back, but the fact that the Royal Canadian Reichstag would allow a telelvision station on the air which professed to be faithful to Catholic doctrine is in itself pretty amazing. Oh well, we'll see what happens when any of them need some of that socialistically-funded medical care or surgery, eh?

Jeff Miller pointed me (well, not me PERSONALLY, it was on his 'blog) to that site, but of course has some funny things to say about it.

For my money, Frank Caliendo is the finest impressionist out there. There's some funny video from his Fox Sports gig on his website (his Robin Williams is uncanny) but my favorite is going to be his Andy Rooney bit on colorful phrases. I wish I could find that one online.

And I really thought those crazy kids would make it.

MSNBC - Deadly shipwreck now a major Alaska oil spill

It's two, two, TWO catasrophes in one! Soon to be also a major motion picture and a song by U2.

These are the moments...

Those SODAK Moments.

Most decidely and vehemently, as all we should be, not complacent after the election.

Dr. John proves again why he's the coolest.

This CD, on the other hand, made me want to shoot myself in the brain.

Kind of cute (in a crass "rape-my-childhood-memories-for-profit" kind of way).

Personally I think it's missing a scene where Don Cornelius throws Dan Rather (dressed as the Bumble Snowman) over a cliff and instead of bouncing he goes splat! and all this red clay comes out of his tummy and mouth.

In case you're wondering what makes the Rubberband Man commercial mentioned below different from the CBS spot is that the Office Max promo is a work of genius: it gently references the stop-motion genre without placing itself directly in the most recognizable example of that genre. It also takes a beloved character (the Rubberband Man) who exemplifies the heroic (not to mention he came out of nowhere, which just makes him awesome) and elevates him to mythic extremes. The CBS promo has... Charlie Sheen.

Nothing warmed the shackles of my heart more than the new Rankin and Bass inspired Rubberband Man commercial, from OfficeMax (see it here or possibly here. The remixed music is even pretty good (unlike the GAP commercials where they not only had someone re-record "Shining Star", but mercilessly chopped it up -- I HATE it when they do that!). But mostly it's the way they captured all of Eddie Steeples' moves in animagic. Anyway, it's my new favorite commercial.

Artist Unveils Monumental Ode to the Pixel for its 50th Birthday

I didn't have this in mind when I wrote a song about pretty much the same subject but I guess the two compliment each other.

And of course it's not the bicentennial birthday of the pixel, as the article says (over and over and over), it's the semicentennial birthday of the pixel. But I guess if you're painting blue squares on a canvas and calling it art you can't really be expected to know that.

SILENCE!?!

What's with all the 'bloggers bailing lately? Maybe 'blogging is the new fondue, now? Maybe 20 years from now our children will tease us about our weblogs and they'll turn up as a running joke on the Simpsons.

Meet Riffington. His nickname is "Riffy" which is totally an insult to the REAL Riffy, the roller-skate-wearing alligator who was the R.I.F. mascot when I was a kid. I emailed Riffington to ask whatever happened to Riffy the Alligator. We'll see if he replies.

Things I did not know:

Fr. Bryce has a doctorate. All these years and he never mentioned it.

Here's the quote I appreciate:

To that end, he’s taught philosophy at Sacred Heart High School. “I’m a firm believer in the need for philosophy,” he explains. “A lot of the young people have problems with God and faith, but the real underlying problem is with philosophy. They haven’t been taught how to reason and think.”

I don't wanna steal from POF again, but I gotta:

The Ten Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time. All are funny and some are really funny.

Nintendo Sells 500,000 DS Handhelds in First Week

A word or two about the PSP: yes, it's an awesome-looking system BUT it'll cost $50 more than the DS, I'm guessing the games will be more than the $30 it costs for a DS game, and if the battery life comes close to matching even 25% of the DS' 8-hour battery life, I'll be very surprised (solid-state rules!).

Funniest Hitler Disco Video Ever!!!

Link via POF. Actual video produced by Johan Söderberg who seems to have a real knack for this stuff (though I'm not sure I get the whole Israeli prime minister thing but the Bush/Blair meets Richie/Ross song is classic). Brevity truly is the soul of wit.

Dog bites man.