X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

11/03/2005: What’s cooking?

Well HELLO there!

First off, thanks to everyone who posted their kind words in the previous thread (and via e-mail) about all of the Halloween coverage on the site. I got a little depressing towards the end, but it was all a lot of fun and part of a continuing learning experience on how to bring the most to the site with the more limited time I have these days.

Just wrapped a major project at work that’s been keeping me there late, up late and all in all late. Everything looks good, and it’s got a pretty interesting footnote to it. I’ll show you all the completed spot this weekend.

It might interest you to know that the article on deck is a review of the 2005 Jones Soda Holiday Pack, complete with three new flavors sure to make my unsuspecting taste-test victims sick. This year’s offering hasn’t lit the world on fire to anywhere near the level that last year’s did, but I guess, if you’ve seen one turkey soda, you’ve seen them all. With a few other articles planned to be sprinkled in, I can also promise a new Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade review this month. A really good one, too, with commercials and all.

Beyond that, it’ll then be time for X-E’s 2005 Christmas season, featuring an all new Advert Calendar, and an all new Playmobil Advent Calendar that introduces a LEGO Advent Calendar to the mix. We’ll see how that goes.

Sit tight.

Well, the good thing is, I’m taking most of my vacation days in December. :) So I’ll have more time to do this.

Oh joy! The past reviews of Thanksgiving day parades were pure bliss memory overload; I simply could not believe how much of those I remembered. I watched them live and every word and clip brought back flooding images of my childhood. Even the He-Man float, I am ashamed/delighted to say. I look forward with anticipation for your next installment, though I dread the day to come when you review one I have not seen, as it was the late 80’s when I stopped watching these testiments to commercialism. Thanks in advance!

The next one is from `89 if that helps. I have later ones, but to be honest, they’re so much about Broadway shows and so little about anything else, they’re barely worth reviewing.

So an 89 parade huh? Wow was that ever a tacky year.. milli vanilli
NKOTB…. the horror.. Can’t wait for all the cheesy comercials.
Matt you know what we like.
So apparently green body-spary does not wash off very well. First day back at work and I’ve still got greenish arms, hands. I was the Jolly Green Giant & my girlfriend was sprout.
Vodka orange jello is pretty strong stuff fyi.

Glad to hear your doing a review of the parade… keep those kool-aid reviews going! Hope this halloween jukebox lasts…

Thanksgiving anticipation is just as good as the rest. Did anyone see Bare Naked Ladies lip-synching last year as they almost cracked up beyond repair?
As always, I look forward to any and every holiday article you care to put on my interweb, Matt.

Legos + Advent Calendar?
This holiday season will be nutritious and delicious!!!

So are Jones and Target going to synergize and take over the world, or what? At least they could start carrying the regular flavors year-round :/
Hooray for X-E holiday season!

Awesome! Earlier tonight I was kicking back with a glass of eggnog and "Last Christmas" on the stereo. Do y’all think it’s too early to start the festivities? Whenever I go to a store and see leftover Halloween merchandise it’s really awkward… kinda like running into an ex-girlfriend. Somehow I think the marshmallow pumpkins /know/ I’m there to pick up Xmas lights.

89 huh? Wonder if Batman made an appearance? Let’s just hope Swayze doesn’t show again-think his mullet was in full effect around this time, like in the Chippendales tryout skit he did with Farley on SNL.."He’s got some of the sexiest moves I’ve ever seen-In presentation aint no way I’m better than him" Ahhh..good stuff.

The idea of a Lego advent calendar fills me with unrestrained glee. If you’re interested, clicking my name will shunt you into a story of how Legos contributed to my own mental near-collapse earlier this year. Warning: Clicking the above link might–nay, must–call into question everything you once held to be true.

AWESOME!

the moment I saw the Lego Advent Calendar in the Lego catalouge many months ago, I thought of you, Matt (of course), and wondered if you would have any interest in that one as well.

X-E Christmas time is near
Time for "Advent Calendars" and time for cheer
We’ve been good, but we can’t last
X-E Christmas, hurry fast

Im Such a Dork! Looking forward to what you have in store for us this year Matt!

Nice to see that you’ll be covering the LEGO® Advent Calendar as well. I’ve always loved those things!

I always look forward to the Advent Calendar. Can’t wait! Oh Mare. What craziness will you get into this year?

Raise your hand if you think its just plin wrong that Mat still does not have a spot on VH1s I love the 80’s. Its on its third incranation and still no shout out the the internet largest colection of 80’s goodies. Mat personaly introducing Cartoon allstars to the rescue would stay in my TiVo for eons to come and would start a cult of devo hat wearing, slap braclet wielding, Moonwalk dancing, chocodile eating super mutants in the post apocolyptic future.

I partook in a Salute Your Shorts marathon last night at my friend’s apartment. What a good show. That Bobby Budnick sure gets into some hilarious antics, especially when that crotchetdy old Ug gets in the way.

is it just me or does matt look almost exactly like WWE’s Gregory Helms (the Hurricane unmasked)?

is there some reason Salute Your Shorts is coming back all of a sudden? i saw a Camp Annawanna t-shirt at hot topic last week. not that i’m complaining; i was a fan of the show

"Legos + Advent Calendar?
This holiday season will be nutritious and delicious!!! " - Justin.

I can’t imagine a lego advent calendar making the holidays any more nutritious, unless you define sharp foreign plastic objects lodged in one’s oesophagus the height of nutrition, in which case you’ree quite correct :). (This is not such an unusual sight in the emergency ward during the holiday season, as glee-filled kids test the edibility of their freshly unwrapped building sets. My favourite flavour is ‘belleville’.)

The holidays are sounding awesome already. It’s not Thanksgiving and Christmas without reviews of the Macy’s parades, with all their cheesy, oh-so-80s goodness, and of course, the classic advent calender - or, this year, we’re all lucky to say "calendarS." Mare Winningham should be in that pantheon of Christmas icons that include Santa, Baby Jesus, Rudolph, and Charlie Brown’s tiny tree.

I’m so freaking excited for the upcoming holiday stuff on XE. 1989….what a great year…I was only 8 but I remember the late 80s and early 90s fondly. I can’t wait to read about the parade and see the old commercials. This is going to rock!

A new Advent Calendar might mean another Mare showing up! Yipe! I wonder what Mista Snowman is up to?

Silly me, I thought I was going to have to ask about a new parade review. The reviews are like early Christmas presents, and finding out we’re gonna get another one is like an even earlier present.

Matt should make a commercial that introduces Nickelodeon’s Christmas season. I suggest using the commercials at the beginning of the movie "Scrooged" for tonal reference.

Hey, Matt,
Looking forward to the coming months ahead on X-E. My sister and I still crack up regarding your comment about the Care Bears shaking their asses at that one Macy’s Parade (sorry forgot the year!) and looking forward to the further adventures of Mare Winningham.

I don’t know how you keep up the site with a full time job at Nickelodeon but I give you lots of credit. I work full time in NYC and commute back and forth from Long Island everyday and by the time I get home I don’t even want to LOOK at the computer. So kudos all around to you…

Bobby Budnick was in Mac and Me. hehehe. And DonkeyLips was in WishCraft with that guy from Garden State and Sally. Speaking of which, Rachael had like 1 comment make it into 80’s 3D, that I saw anyway. She was talking about Legend of Zelda.

"Is that somehow related to Magic: The Gathering cards". On the one hand I could be mad, but on the other it’s Rachael and I refuse to find any fault in her.

Should an X-E movie/show need someone to play Matt, a lady friend pointed out that the Haimster is too far gone, so why not Chris "Dream On" Demetral instead.

Oh man, the parade reviews are always great, and the Advert Calendar was awesome last year. I think it’s safe to say this Holiday season is gonna kick ass.

I’m long past my days of wearing hundred dolla Hot Topic giganto raver pants, but I still gotta give the place props for paying attention to the market and making with the retro styles. I would SO buy a Camp Anawanna (sp?) shirt…also perhaps of interest, speaking of Salute Your Shorts and niche specialty geek stores, the actor known as Donkeylips at one time helmed the register at the scifi store It Came From Another Planet at Universal Citywalk. That was years ago, though, so I’m sure he’s back to focusing on his acting career.
Back when Love the 80’s Struck Back I totally thought Matt would be tapped, but it’s hard to picture now.

Ever since a co-worker showed me X-E 5+ years ago, the parade reviews have been some of my favorite articles on the site. I’m really looking forward to a review of 1989’s, when I was young enough to still care about parades but old enough to remember it!

I’ll admit I haven’t done a good job of keeping up with the calendars in the past, but I’ll try to be better this year…promise!

Very excited about the parade review. Thanksgiving was at my house every year, so I always got to watch the whole thing growing up. I never missed any of it, except the marching bands. I remember one year Joey Lawerence sang, probably in the early 90’s. That was pretty awful.

MY friend dropped my jaw when he sang the entire "Salute your Shorts" theme song out of nowhere. Then I hit him with the "Hey Dude" theme song. Don’t know how we remembered those-Budweiser seems to sharpen the old memory and create new ones!

Joey Lawrence singing uggggghhhhh. Didnt somebody make fun of him one time and all he did was say "Whoa" for an entire song.

One of my radio stations are already playing 24/7 Christmas songs. I love it! Anything to piss off my co-workers…

Hey, I would really love to see a "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles" review for this Thanksgiving. R.I.P. John Candy…and Michael McKean’s career…and decent John Hughes movies.

I just started getting into X-Entertainment hardcore upon securing a horrendously boring job wherein I actually get paid to surf the Internet during the "down time," which usually constitutes for 7.75 hours of my 8 hour shift (the other .25 is bathroom break time). I can definitely relate to a lot of the articles, as I’m from the suburbs of Philly and thus a regular visitor to Wildwood, A.C., etc. (I’m still pissed that A.C. took down the Ocean One mall).

Another X-E visit I think you would have a good take on would be a visit to Red Bank, NJ, complete with trips to Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash and the RST Video Store/Quick Stop complex.

Yeah some lady at my office too is trying to play Christmas music already, for some reason she thinks it’s freakin hilarious…yeah…gunna have to steal her stapler remover now. Sounds stupid huh? Well its extremely f-ing annoying to not have one of those things here…HA ring ding-dinga-ling that ya-crazy broad. Best part-she is extremely too lazy to go find a new one from supplies…I’m sorry I’d let you use mine…except I can’t freakin stand you!

Yeah! Love Planes Trains, remember whe Candy’s jammin in the car, playing pretend piano on the dash-"Every body do the mess around"

Didnt somebody make fun of him one time and all he did was say "Whoa" for an entire song.

Ya, SNL did a long time ago when they parodied Blossom. Mike Meyers played the Joey character, and only said "whoa" the entire sketch. Then came his music video entitled "Whoa" and the only lyircs were "Whoa…Girl…Whoa"

And yes, I’ve been seeing salute Your Shorts t-shirts at Hot Topic too. That means a DVD realease shouldn’t be too far behind…

Eddie Lightning Frog, that’s hillarious!!! I feel the same way, like you don’t really want to make eye contact and you’re concentrating on the new holiday, but then again you can’t resist seeing what’s left on sale. And you feel sort of ashamed loving a new holiday sooo much when just last week Halloween was The Big Thing and now you kinda want it out of the picture cause its blood and ghosts are interfering with snowy Christmas joy.
I want to start the Christmas festivities so much but its just a bit too early, well I really can’t consider it Christmas till my tree is up which I do several days before Thanksgiving to my wife’s shame. I am looking for Christmas carols on the radio as I drive though and last night heard some in a store and that made me happy.

Upon seein the mention of a Macys Parade AND the Calendar (plus a LEGO one) my jaw literally dropped. This will be my 2nd year of seein the Advent Calendar as it happens…so ya know I’m lookin forward to it. Even lookin forward to the Macys Parade, those articles are usually long suckers…but so worth the time! So here’s to those and any other upcoming articles (including the Jones Soda one this weekend) I finish off by saying I hope we see Mare this year, and hope she’s still the evil bitch we’ve come to know and love. (or hate…however u wanna look at it)

John Candy jamming to Ray Charles was pretty sweet, but for my money, the movie’s highest point is Steve Martin at the car rental agency.

Oh yeah, I think this is where I picke-up some of my very important words of vocabulary at such a young age. Thank you Mr. Martin

I hope to see a Survivor Series article since there was no Halloween Havoc one. Matt vs. the Gobbledy Gooker

I hate it when younger kids (or even people who just fake) try to talk to me about 80’s shows: “Yeah man Alf was cool man, he was so 80’s…yeah man he was hairy and had sunglasses sometimes….and…and he’s just so 80’s” -Gottdammit if you can’t tell me what a BLT is than shut the hell up about Alf, youngsta.

And I apologize to the youngster’s because there are some of you who actually watched old tapes or have the DVD collection so you know your stuff, and I’ll admit I stopped watching halfway through some episodes and his prime time movie because the more full body shots they showed of Alf, the more it just reminded me of a creepy bottom heavy man, especially when he walked- but hey I over came that and enjoyed the show, so please just know your stuff. BTW I am not talking about anyone particular here.

I second that sentiment D-Man. If you were born in 1989, you have the early-mid 90s at best. Don’t be a poser. There’s nothing more frustrating than some kid calling himself… I don’t know, FraggleMan…and he’s 16 years old.

On a happier note, I waited in line at Wal-Mart today to the tune of Jingle-Bell Rock.

Now I do love Christmas, I really do but waiting in line in Wal-Mart with Jingle Bell Rock is basically my interpretation of Hell. Hey but nice to see that people are in the spirit already!

Did anyone see the new DRAWN TOGETHER where they were aping that old muppet sketch where those fucked up muppets would be near a phone, it would ring and they would be all like..Phoonnne…phonnee! yupyupyupyupyupyuypyupyupy brrring brrrring yupyupyuyp phooone!!

It was a take off of the aliens (who scared the crap out of me) from Sesame Street. Don’t ask me what I was doing watching Drawn Together…even my devoted love of Adam Carolla doesn’t normally stretch that far. (Anyone catch his last Loveline *sniff*)

The aliens were called Yip Yips. Speaking of Drawn Together, in that same episode, there was a Muppet Babies reference with a brief scene with baby Gonzo & Kermit being mauled by dogs, with the dogs tearing out their stuffing. It’s only 3 episodes in, but the 2nd season is 5x better than the first one by a mile.

And I was born in 1987, and I fondly remember watching Muppet Babies as a young kid on CBS and Nickelodeon when they stilled showed Muppet Stuff (Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Eureka’s Castle, Muppet Matinee, Emmit Otter’s Jugband Christmas, etc). And speaking of which, I’ve also been seeing Muppet Babies merchandise showing in stores like Hot Topic & FYE.

I understand your problem D_Man, and sadly, the most info I know of the 80s came from either here or I Love The 80s. But I know most of my stuff about lots of stuff from then. I’m not looking forward to the day when I see some little middle schooler wearing a Camp Anawana shirt or reminiscing about Tiny Toons or Garfield & Friends.

And to probably contradict myself, Vanilla Coke is gonna be replaced by Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. It’s gonna suck. I’ve tried Black Cherry soda before and it was one of the most horrible things I’ve tasted (and I’ve drank Candy Corn & Caramel Apple soda). I predict the fallout of this will probably be like New Coke. And I was just getting over the loss of Pepsi Blue and now this…

GRRRAAAAGHHH I went to Target today, and they didn’t have any Jones holiday soda! At least I think they didn’t. No one who worked there knew what I was talking about, and I looked around for a while but saw no sign of them. This same Target had a whole 20 foot wall space for the Halloween sodas… I hope I’m just checking too soon. And I have Choxie to cheer me up.

1987 Jesus Christ!!! Just Kidding Invader I was only graduating Pre-Shool then. I don’t think it’s so much an age thing-I mean I love the kids shirt with Chunk in the middle of the Truffle Shuffle and I still get shit from my Dad when I listen to Led Zepplin especially after he’s had a few: “What the Hell do you know about Zepp ya little shit- I used to“… then I get to listen to that crazy shit….I guess what I’m saying is…is..holy shit it’s friday night I should be somewhere drunk by now you all have a great night and be safe!

Wow, I was born in 1981. It’s cool to be into it even if you didn’t live through it. The point is, don’t act like you did - Invader, you were good enough to say that most of what you know about the 80s comes from VH1, which is rad. Honesty is a good thing.

I was born in 1983 and most of the stuff I know about the ’80s comes from VH1. I don’t have any memories at all from before ‘89 and I didn’t become pop-culturally aware until the early ’90s. So I’m in a weird position in that articles such as the ones on X-Entertainment make me nostalgic for things I did not think about or had no knowledge of at the time.

Invader, you were good enough to say that most of what you know about the 80s comes from VH1, which is rad. Honesty is a good thing.

Well thank you. And basically every pop culture thing from about ‘91+ I’ve been through, so you wont see pretending to What Would You Do, Double Dare, Nick Arcade and Danger Mouse on Nickeldeon, back when it was GOOD!

Speaking of I Love The 80s, 3-D covered both You Can’t Do That on Television AND Mr. Wizard, and they actually had Mr. Wizard on the show. Well, I vaguely remember Mr. Wizard, but I DEFINITELY saw lots of YCDTOTV, vaguely remember anything past the slime and that Epcot circular interior room, the lockers, the death camp, and this onme sketch in an arcade where a little girl was getting kicked out becuase of a No Bear(bare) Feet rule, and she was wearing a big Bear Foot around her neck like a pendant.

Alright "Norbs", if that is your real name! I don’t really like Thanks Giving. We’re celebrating the Puritans who slaughtered indians and did the whole Salem witch trials thing. To be honest I hate the Pilgrims. I skip Thanks Giving and go right into Christmas mode. Did you know that Christmas started in England and it had absolutely nothing to do with Christ? It was all about drinking, breaking and entering, rape, and liver failer. It got so bad it was outlawed for a time in England. Now I’m off to lick wallpaper.

I’ve tried the Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper and that’s pretty good. Matt better get the Coke products before they’re gone for good.

I was born in 81 and I remember more stuff from the 80s than I do from the 90s. I remember watching the VH1 I Love the 90s and thinking "What the heck was I doing during the 90s? I don’t remember half this stuff." Even with the 80s 3D I remember YCDTOT, Mr. Wizard, Snorks, Freeky Freezies, Micro Machines, Pyramid, PYL, and Love Connection.

Here’s some more stuff about Christmas.
The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight.

In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21, the winter solstice, through January. In recognition of the return of the sun, fathers and sons would bring home large logs, which they would set on fire. The people would feast until the log burned out, which could take as many as 12 days. The Norse believed that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year.

The end of December was a perfect time for celebration in most areas of Europe. At that time of year, most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking.

In Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden during the mid-winter holiday. Germans were terrified of Oden, as they believed he made nocturnal flights through the sky to observe his people, and then decide who would prosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside.

Thanks for the History lesson D. Poop. I think most americans are clued in to the truth behind the original thanksgiving, I mean we all saw that Rosanne episode where they explain the slaughter didn’t we?
But jeez, don’t deny yourself the parade, the charlie brown special, pie, football etc.

Kb-I’ve never really liked parades, american football or pie. Well I like oreo pie I suppose. And I’ve never seen the Charlie Brown special. I’m a sheltered child, plotting, schemeing, watching the wheels on the bus go round and round. You know, a psychopath.

As a Native American let me say: We should have pushed the Pilgrims back into the ocean, Columbus was a dope, and Manifest Destiny was a crock. Aside from that, let’s get the family together and bring out the turkey!

On the subject of Drawn Together, I was looking away from the screen when the bit started, but when I looked back and saw their mouths, AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! The hell?!?! Even Ling-Ling!! That was about the second time a cartoon put a major skeeve on me. The other time was the Wilford Brimley/Bob Crane comment from Family Guy. At least I laughed at Stewie’s observation. DT, well, it has gotten better this time around. uh-huh, uh-huh, yup-yup-yup, uh-huh, in-ter-net, uh-huh, yup-yup.

don’t worry, you’re not missin much if u haven’t seen the charlie brown t-day episode…nowhere near the magic that is in the halloween or x-mas variety…to me, he started phoning all the holidays in…t-day, valentines day, easter, arbor day, secretary’s day, you get the idea….just milkin’ a cash cow

Well. I think it should be a rule no to debate stuff like that here. Your both probably right (I know thats impossible) but the reason I come to this sight is to get away from shit. I know it’s important to stand what you believe in and there are alot of things about the past I dont agree with but, for shit’s sake,,look how we celebrate , Turkey, balls of stove top stuffing, parades with gigantic cartoon characters, football, tricking your little cousin to eating dog shit, and ditching your drunk family members to go see a movie-hey it’s something to do that day and I wouldnt have it any other way.

D-MAN- Calm down. I don’t dislike thanksgiving because of the Pilgrims. I just don’t see the point in it. The only holidays that I really celebrate are halloween and christmas. You get free stuff on those holidays and they are both really fun but thanksgiving, you eat food and watch tv. And what the shit is up with you typeing shit so much? My eyes can’t take reading shit like that. Why don’t you substitute shit with, oh I don’t know, titty biscuits? You thought I was going to type poop didn’t you.

Yes I did write the last comment to with "Ants go Marching" in the background..HuuuuRah.

Maybe Darth Poop is right about Thanksgiving being born out of the blood of the original inhabitants of this land, and maybe D-Man is right about turkey being delicious. But for the love of god, would somebody please think of the children?

Darth- sorry if that sounded judgy, I was just trying to infuse some holiday cheer

Jesus tap danceing Christ on a pogo stick I don’t care people! Stop apologizing! I don’t take anything that anybody says on this website that seriously. To me X-e is just one big party. Lets get hammered and yell about Puritans people. Come on! You know what fuck this topic because today is "National Gravity Awareness Day" Activities include: dropping things onto the ground, watching things fall towards the earth, observing the tendency for most objects to not rise into the sky, and, everybody’s favorite, tossing a live turtle from the roof of the nearby 7-11. Look for exclusive coverage from Harris Nyler, if he ever returns from the bathroom.

The Blog thread always seems to get a bit restless when Matt is away for too long…

I didnt say a Turkey was delicious M-Trox, (stove top sutffin balls are) I was the one who said we would trick little cousin into eating dog shit and young relatives ditch old drunk relatives late to catch a flick. Guess I was the only who did this.

Oh yeah-Thanksgiving is gunna be 10 times as good this year Broncos are playing-finally a game worth watchin on Thanksgiving!

Hi, I am your sister’s neighbor. She has taken my pug hostage until I view your site. Nice site, now give me my dog back!

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