A few weeks ago I mailed out Christmas cards. It’s something I’ve done for about a decade now, mailing out cards to close friends and random strangers. (Last year, for instance, Harlan Ellison received a card from me. Since I’m writing this, it clearly didn’t displease him.) I usually have a “main” design that goesContinue reading “On What I’ll Take Away from 2011”
Monthly Archives: December 2011
On Widows, Blue Boxes, and Christmas Trees
Saturday night, as I did my last Christmas wrapping, I watched Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. It’s been my Christmas Eve tradition for several years now, though last year, as I was in Raleigh for Christmas, I didn’t have the opportunity to watch the film. As I watched the film this year, I had aContinue reading “On Widows, Blue Boxes, and Christmas Trees”
On Christmas Day Music Musings
Like many atheists, I love Christmas. Richard Dawkins, for instance, says that he’s “culturally Christian” when he’s asked why he does Christmas things — the Christmas celebrations are part of the cultural DNA. Elizabeth Cornwell wrote an essay for the Washington Post about her own “Very Atheist Christmas” and it hits a lot of myContinue reading “On Christmas Day Music Musings”
On the Dark Knight Rises Trailer
Next summer, there’s a new Batman movie coming out. The Dark Knight Rises. The third and final film in the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale trilogy. Also starring Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle and Tom Hardy as Bane. The trailer was released online yesterday: One of the things I want out of this movie is a definitiveContinue reading “On the Dark Knight Rises Trailer”
On Christmas Songs New and Old
Ah, Christmas music. How I love it! How I will listen to it year-round! Unless it’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which I think is all kinds of dire. (And I didn’t find Doctor Who Magazine‘s rousing Twitter-version of it this morning any sort of inspiring.) This week, I’m participating in one of the FacebookContinue reading “On Christmas Songs New and Old”
On Leesburg’s Christmas Controversy
This morning, I ventured out to the Post Office. I had to mail some packages for Christmas, and I wanted to get my Christmas cards in the mail. I thought about going into Randallstown, but they have a small, difficult-to-navigate parking lot. Eldersburg, I decided, would be easier to get to. I expected, since itContinue reading “On Leesburg’s Christmas Controversy”
On LEGO Lord of the Rings
Today, I frightened my cubicle neighbor. I’d come into the office, and I walked into the middle of a conversation he was having with another writer in the Bullpen. “I bet,” said my cubicle neighbor, “that you can’t jump up and down for joy.” So without taking off my coat, without unslinging the BPRD bagContinue reading “On LEGO Lord of the Rings”
On Peanuts Christmas Music and Specials
My mom loves Christmas, and she always has. She puts up four or five Christmas trees each year, and each tree has a theme. There’s a Santa Claus tree, a Candy Cane tree, a fruit tree, a tinsel tree, and a couple of other themes besides. She also watches the Hallmark Movie Channel frequently, andContinue reading “On Peanuts Christmas Music and Specials”
On A Very She & Him Christmas
As many people know, in spite of my infidelic nature, I love Christmas music. I don’t confine myself to the time around the Christmas holidays, either; I’ll listen to a Christmas album in spring or summer just because I feel like it. A few days ago, the Guardian reviewed A Very She & Him Christmas,Continue reading “On A Very She & Him Christmas”
On the BBC’s Oliver Reed/Keith Moon Radio Play
This week, Radio 4 broadcast “Burning Both Ends: When Oliver Reed Met Keith Moon,” an hour-long radio play starring Sean Pertwee as Reed and Doctor Who‘s Arthur Darvill as Moon. Burning Both Ends tells the story of one of the most infamous, unexpected and touching of friendships between two icons of the 1970s, Oliver ReedContinue reading “On the BBC’s Oliver Reed/Keith Moon Radio Play”