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

12/07/2007: Trees! Snow! Popcorn!

Well, we got our Christmas tree. Actually, we’ve had it for several days now. Too frequently in the past, we set up our tree so late that there was really only a week’s worth of enjoyment before Christmas passed. While I firmly believe that Christmas trees should stay up at least until January 1st, it’s just as true that looking at them after Christmas can be a little depressing.

We’re decorating it tonight. I worry that we brought it home too early, as the floor around the tree already looks a bit like a shag rug, and even the slightest shake of the branches makes the floor look even more like a shag rug. And yet, I keep shaking those branches, because I’ve convinced myself that the loose needles are of a finite amount, and eventually, it’ll get to the point where my branch shakes bear no floor needles. This went on for about fifteen minutes last night. I’m living large.

The tree’s been here for around a week now, and yeah, technically, we may have purchased it too early. I don’t know. I researched online to see what the Christmas tree experts thought, but everyone had a different opinion. Some people said that it didn’t matter, because the trees at the lots were already cut and delivered in November. Others said that heated homes are too dry for trees to look healthy inside for more than a week. This is part of the reason why legitimate books should always be viewed more seriously than online guides. You never know if you’re getting instructions from a true professional or the guy in the weird house down the street who collects lawn ornaments in the shape of ducks.

I totally kicked my old scratch-off lottery card addiction, but it’s a lot harder to keep it that way when there are so many holiday-themed ways to win big money. I always need to remind myself that, despite outward appearances, these Christmassy scratch-off cards have not been imbued with lucky holiday magic. They are not more likely to be winners than regular, non-Christmassy scratch-off cards. And even after I remind myself of this, I still go home with a few.

Just before I went freelance, I bought the cards mainly as a hope shot that I’d win a zillion dollars and never have to work again. There was a little kiosk right outside the office that sold them, and every lunch break, I’d head down and wait on a line filled with similarly disenfranchised 9-to-5′ers, praying for a cinematic moment. There’s no sense of desperation in me buying them now; it’s just that I can never pass on something with snowflake graphics and “Santa red” trim. My afflictions have changed, but they’re just as stupid.

Around this time of year, my sister starts a family-wide e-mail chain to discuss who is making/bringing what for Christmas Eve dinner. As we’re all Italian Catholics who were brought up on the “seven fish dish” meal, Christmas doesn’t feel like Christmas if there aren’t 50,000 things to get full on. The e-mail chain helps us divide and conquer, and when all’s said and done, we’ll have covered everything from coconut shrimp to stuffed calamari, the latter of which being my least favorite thing on the planet.

The only thing my family never seems to consider is the junk food. As much as certain dishes are synonymous with traditional holiday dinners, I find that certain junk foods are just as synonymous with those occasions. Example: It’ll be a cold day in Hades before I let one of our Christmas Eve get-togethers slip by without a jar of Planters cocktail peanuts on the table, not because I think they’re the greatest things ever, but because I remember them being there since I was five-years-old.

Of course, the photo above is of popcorn, so I digress. I would consider it a personal offense if you told me that you got through the entire month of December without at least one of those magical holiday popcorn tins, filled with curtained-off sections of popcorn in three different flavors. Popcorn is an all-year snack, sure, but these subdivided popcorn tins are Christmas through and through.

I know at least one of you will punch me for this, but I hate caramel-covered popcorn. Always have. I’ll never understand why stupid caramel-covered popcorn achieves the largest portion of these holiday tins when it’s so obvious that the honor should go to the cheese-dusted version. You may disagree, but that’s okay. I know you’re wrong, and that’s all that matters.

Just in case it doesn’t snow again this year: Look! A picture of snow! Our latest “storm” was really mild, and most of the heavenly white stuff has melted away. As much as I love a full-blown, tundra-level landscape-saturating mess, I’m also fond of the extended aftermath of a snowstorm. It’s not even that cold today, and spotting these random patches of snow that refuse to melt away makes me believe that of all the many fruits of weather, snow is the only one with a sense of self-determination. It’s impossible to see these errant patches of snow existing in fairly warm temperatures and not think that they’re really trying to keep themselves together. Snow with soul!

And on a final note, an update on X-E’s Christmas Chia Pet Project:

No longer the hairless, prepubescent Chia Pet of last week, our friend has begun sprouting his winter coat. I’m pretty stoked, because the green stuff is growing at a slow-but-steady rate, and it seems like he’ll peak just around Christmas. Finally, one of my master plans may pay off!

Have you made it this far? Let’s toss a survey into this, then. In the comments section, name the one thing you want most for Christmas this year. (Or whatever you celebrate, though I do admit that this site seems to ostracize everyone who celebrates anything that I don’t.)

I’ll start: A watch. Yeah, just a watch. Reason: I have a couple of work gigs coming up in the new year, and I feel that a good, new watch will mesmerize my employers and make them believe that I’m both timely and fashionable. Also, since my wardrobe palette currently weighs in with a total of three colors, I’m thinking that a shiny watch will help break things up a bit. So yeah. A watch. Your turn.

Unlike uncivilized barbarians, I have something important to say early on in the blog.
SECOND!

And er…Merry Christmas, He-Man Photog Sierra Mist. There ya go, the perfect post.

While I don’t necessarily mind caramel corn as an entity, when is MORE cheesy corn NOT the best idea?

Heck, squeeze that buttery-type stuff down to a small sliver of the container and load that bad boy up with tons of orange puffy shapes and we’re talking Christmas present!

Ahhh yes, being on topic. I forgot. Umm…I got a Wii, wife and I bought a 42″ Plasma for each other’s gifts, not much tops that. I asked for some cool WWII repro gloves, and some box sets. Pinpointing a must have is not as easy as which playset came out this year (my annual tradition in the 80s).
Maybe…some old 80’s DVDs? Voltron or something? Anything that makes it feel like 1985 on December 26th is welcome by me.

lol 3rd? coool.. i noticed it as i added the rss feed to my list.. i thought you could do it aside from the individual blog comment rss itself since it’s built into wordpress :).. was gonna ask at one point why you didn’t do it but didn’t want to bug ya…

Kick ass job on the Advent this year Matt. Damn fine job… I know what you mean about being almost too busy to enjoy it. I’m hoping that by the end of next week I’ll finally be in a position to relax myself. One last wedding to photograph and edit!

Sorry, post junkie today: ETA on the latest adventures of Knacks and Kuse? Also, will they EVER see one another in this years AC? Seems like they’ve been deliberately separated…as if their power combined is too great.
The bunnies have been pretty active early on. There’s gotta be a confrontation coming. You see the Empire first off in Star Wars, but the Emperor has to wait till ESB at least. My feeling is we’re in ESB territory, if that makes any sense at all.

Matt: Snow covered leaves!! It’s like Halloween meets Christmas - and that’s not a pretty site… Nothing more depressing than a leaf-covered snowman, or woman. btw: Congrats on the $2!! That’s awesome… What was the prize you could have won on the second game (or do you not like knowing what you could have won after you know you’ve lost)? I’ll bet it was $25,000

i was so excited that i was able to post first i completely forget to post about what i want THE MOST for christmas: a new computer. the one i use at home is ancient and slowly dying.. sigh.

All I want for Christmas is the Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 Remastered HD DVD set.

lol what I want for xmas is a bluetooth keyboard for my PDA because I’m just that lazy.

what I need for xmas is snow tires because I can’t afford a full set and I’m tired of not being able to make it up the slightest incline since the dumping of snow we got earlier this week.

For the record, I’d have to say the caramel popcorn (Popycock or other brands) is my personal favorite. Not sure how the cheese ones roll into the holidays but if you want to get more holidayish then it should be plain popcorn on a string

My mom always said that a Christmas tree is good one week before and one week after Christmas. So there ya go. But I suck and use a fake tree, so there.

I can’t find a Chia pet anywhere in the UK:( I used to live in the US during the holidays (boarding school

) in the late 80s, and the commercial is hardwired into my nervous system. Nothing says Christmas to me like the Chia jingle.

Cheese dusted popcorn sounds incredibly wrong to me. Never seen it here. Afraid I do like the caramel stuff best. just melts in the mouth.

Primus: Yeah I’m just an RSS retard, more or less. :) I think I understand the concept now. Perhaps someday I will find out what “RSS” stands for. Quick note on that: Probably unwise to rely on RSS if you’re looking for Advent updates or new comments, as both of those can happen without registering on the RSS feed.

Terror: Knacks and Kuse have some issues to work out. I think they’ve mentioned this before, but they’re like Kevin and Paul at the end of The Wonder Years. (Who is which? Not for me to say.)

1. Yes, it just isn’t Christmas without the Planter’s Cocktail Peanuts, I totally agree on that.
2. It isn’t Christmas without home made Chex Mix.
3. Yes, caramel corn popcorn–even the squirrels won’t eat it if I throw it outside. Now that’s saying something.

My parents have a tree in their yard that is bare and shabby, looks exactly like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. OH GUESS WHO’S GONNA KILL IT WITH A BIG READ BULB.

I’m glad someone else celebrates the seven fish dinner, most people just look at me funny when I tell them we do it. Ah, old Italian traditions! Always to excess. Any one have any good scallop recipes for this year? My family has a severe aversion to those popcorn tins. My evil aunt always gets EVERYONE one of these. And always ALWAYS stale.

This christmas I really really want Stephen Colbert’s Book I am America (And so can you!).

Real Simple Syndication! Jolly handy stuff. Can pipe it through Feedburner.com to get full stats on who’s subscribed.

What I want more than anything this year is the transforming Soundwave figure/mp3 player. I would trade in my spiffy looking Ipod for that thing. I’ve always wanted and never got a Soundwave figure as a kid, and having a practical use for one makes it that much better.

Some money to buy a Wii again since i had to sell mine. Probably gonna get it before christmas though…more likely next Sunday at BestBuy. I get a tin of pop corn every year from my grandma! I eat the carmel with the butter flavor together so they mix and have a sweet salty flavor

I should really start reading your entries all the way through before I comment…

This is going to sound so needy and whiny and thoroughly unmanly that I can’t believe I’m posting it, but since none of you can find me to make fun of me in person, what the hell. If there’s one thing I want more than anything its to be in a relationship again. Well, no, not just that. I almost typed in “I want my wife back” but that’s not really at the heart of it either. I think what I really want is more selfish than that. Here’s the best way I can put it: I’d like to once again feel like I felt when I was with her.

It was a sort of very deep, penetrating sense of everything in my life being grounded and in order, even when it clearly wasn’t. It’s not easy to describe, and it’s not something I even noticed when it was there. I think if you’re in the first real love you’ve ever been in, as I was, that maybe that feeling of steadiness and completion is something so big that you can’t really comprehend it at the time. Maybe its something you can only really appreciate after it’s gone and you can feel it’s absence. Anyway, if I could reach into Santa’s magical bag and pull out anything at all, that would be it.

But since that’s unlikely to be under the Christmas tree, I’d opt instead for the Target exclusive TransFormers DVD with the limited edition case that transforms into Optimus Prime. That thing is pretty bad ass.

What I’d really like for Christmas is for finally when one of those distant relatives sends a knitted item of clothing that it looks vaguely like a human could wear it. You know, two arms of roughly equal length, a hole for the head about an equal distance between shoulders and preferably at the very top, and not to be knitted out of steel and old rope.

However, my letter for Santa will include the same thing I’ve been asking for for ages: A giant war…um, peace-keeping…mecha that I can pilot, a license to kill, diplomatic immunity, a secret hideout and an army of genetically engineered Squirpions to do my bidding.

Matt: Did Kuse pay full price for the Mansion in which his family and band of miscreants dwell? If so, how on earth could he afford to furnish it so nicely? Also, did he get it with the 3rd floor addition?

I know I’m already getting a new dresser and dressing table, but what I really want is a dining room table. The longer we go without one, the more I’m inclined to agree with my boyfriend that we should just turn the dining room into a game room with a pool table and a bar.

I’d like to get a Wii, so I can play Lego Star Wars: the complete saga and use the remote like a lightsaber. I’d also like to play Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones when they eventually come out.

Before I go and read anything for today’s shenanigans and goings-on, I just noticed something. In that stamp at the top of this here page, is Santa taking a dump down that chimney? Yule Log, anyone?

Anyone look at the very last update from the previous Advent Caladar recently, because I don’t remember seeing the pagan rabbits taking the burned up Santa last year.

Sorry…I totally forgot to add what I wanted for Christmas. There are two things actually:

1) The Mansion I mentioned above fully furnished but in my size and with more than 4 rooms!

2) A new watch. Mine died a few months ago and I have never had any luck with changing batteries. Once they die on me they die. I have a fondness for Fossil so I hope that is what I get but my best guess is that I am still going to be watchless come January 1. Maybe I will get one for my Birthday!

I was wondering, are the rabbits some weird ass playmobil, or some line of toys I never saw? Revenge of the 3rd tier toys?

colls, mine - i almost didn’t type it aloud - is a new kitchen floor. jesus christ, that makes me feel pretty old. i’m going on to amazon right now and looking for something completely useless and fun that i must have. problem is, i have no impulse control and always buy those things for myself immediately. So i buy myself video games and other frivolity year round, then ask for a kitchen floor from my family for christmas.

on second thought, that doesn’t make me feel old. that makes me feel irresponsible. better, right?

and matt, my tree’s been up for a week already. we can watch them slowly die as the chia thrives and becomes the new symbol of christmas.

A sweatshirt from the FDNY which should have come at LEAST 2 weeks ago still hasn’t, so right now i’m really hoping that arrives by christmas.

And a new watch also, a really trendy black ion one with a diamond at ‘12′, i just can’t bring myself to put yet ANOTHER purchase on the card which is for myself, though i am pushing the amazon delivery schedules now.

Matt, don’t feel bad, we didn’t put up our tree yet either (will be doing so this weekend) but I totally understand about how you put it up late, you don’t get much out of it, and after the holidays it’s sad.

In regards to caramel popcorn, I never liked the stuff either, HOWEVER try the caramel flavor popcorn from Garrett’s near MSG at 1 Penn Plaza. They would give out free bags of this and their cheese popcorn all last year to LIRR commuters and it was the best damn caramel popcorn ever I became addicted. GET IT NOW. OH and tell Knacks I love him

i love caramel popcorn! although i like the cheesy stuff nearly as much. i remember one year when i was a kid i took the divider thing out of the can and everyone was really mad at me.

and i’m not sure what the seven fish thing is, but my family eats incessantly at every christmas. turkey, dressing, seemingly hundreds of sides, and my favorite: the dessert table.

While Guise’s Christmas idea sounds tempting (who doesn’t want a giant mecha?) I’d settle for a Wii and a few decent games. Fortunately for me the wife is in the same boat it’s just tracking one down now.

yeah, first thing i’m going to do once i get out of this prison (work) is go to wal-mart and get me one of those tins of popcorn. oh, and look for christmas crunch!!!

What I want most for christmas is an actual vacation. i havent had more than 2 days off in a row in upwards of 3 years. the pain of being a full time college kid and a full time officemax employee. the shame….oh the shame…. something i will actually probably be able to get for christmas that i want is a new coffee machine. my coffee machine is a piece of crap, and i think my mom (AKA Santa) is buying me a nice one that has a timer on it so i can set it up to turn on in the morning while i get ready. i already got my number one thing for christmas which was a laptop, but that was a graduation present, not a christmas present.

Agreed Matt with the caramel, although I’ve grown to like it, albeit no where near my likeness for teh cheese. Cheese is always the first to go. It should definetly be the largest section, although some of my family members go ape shit if 46 pieces of caramel were gone from the start.

How cool would it be if they started dying the popcorn different holdiday colors! White for buttered popcorn, red for the cheese popcorn, and green for the caramel.

velouria- Yeah I’m really trying to be practical about getting stuff to furnish my apartment. But I, too, would secretly want a Wii. And an iphone. and a $600 dooney and bourke bag. I’m hoping that if I try and sound responsible with my gift asking, santa 1 (my parents) or santa 2 (my boyfriend) will get me something fun and completely uneccessary.

melissa- I didn’t even know they had Garrett’s outside Chicago!. That is the ONE caramel corn I will eat, even if it is only a few pieces.

Matt: What kind of watch are looking for, a super-sweet Timex or something a l’il more flashy?
I love watches and would so love getting one for Christmas, but the ones I like tend to fall outside the girt-giving price-range.

I realy want a Nintendo Wii for Christmas, beacause they are so much fun. WIIIIIII! Great post as always.

I asked for sea monkeys for my office pollyanna.. every one else asked for yankee candles. ha.
I like carmel corn.. i guess its from the boardwalk every summer..it makes me happy when i get it at christmas.

Personally I am not a fan of any of the popcorn in those tins. I’ll eat it, but I always do so with a vague sense of anger towards the tin-giver when I think what a waste of calories it is. I mean I’m getting fat plowing through the giant tin of stale popcorn when I could be getting fat plowing through some yummy Orville Redenbacher or Cracker Jacks. Still, the tubs of popcorn do make a good mindless snacking food during holiday specials.

As for what I want the most for Christmas - I dunno. This year I’m not feeling so materialistic, largely because I just got an awesome new job and can just buy what I want. I just bought a Nintendo DS so nothing I’m getting for Christmas is going to top that. Of the stuff I asked for, the stuff I’m most looking forward to are Simpsons box sets and a memory foam pillow so I can stop being a hunchback.

I can only think of a couple things I’m really dying to have: a Wii and a bigger iPod - my Nano is only 2 gigs

But I ain’t getting those anytime soon, so I’ll just have to keep dreaming on that. I also wouldn’t mind finding someone special but that ain’t gonna happen either. S’okay though, Simpsons box sets atone for all

I love caramel corn but the cheese corn rocks so much harder. The caramel corn in those tins sucks. I want some cheese popcorn. T_T

For christmas I saw 2 things I would sell my arm for:
1) this great Nicktoons book on every nicktoon made up til like next year. I”m a cartoon artbook nut (animation major), and that book made me drool in all kinds of ways.
2) I love video game paraphanelia, so I would KILL for that Super Mario Starman that PLAYS MUSIC. Not just any music, my friends: the INVINCIBILITY music. I almost beat the crap outta my bf screaming: OMG OMG, DIDYUCEETHAT???? XD

everyone does know to pour corn syrup from the grocery store into the trunk holder of your tree right? THEY WILL NEVER DIE.

It’s been snowing constantly for us upstaters. Although I’m moving to Mississippi next month so this will be it for me.

I’d really like an iPod for Christmas. I have an el-cheapo mp3 player for so long and it keeps looking more and more pathetic each year as newer and shinier mp3 players come out. Also, it only has a grand total of 512MB of space, and that’s with an extra memory card in the damn thing.

Wow, what a coincidence. I also hate the caramel popcorn and think the cheesy kind should have the biggest portion. Cheese popcorn rules! And Planters cocktail peanuts, too.

You all might hate me for this, but I hate popcorn of all kinds. The little bits that get stuck in your teeth make me want to gag. Sorry!!!

I know that this site leans a “little” towards the Wii, but I have a 360, and I need COD4 for Christmas.

I would like a Wii and a Xbox 360. Or, all the old lost X-E posters to at least come back just to say hi. I’m just glad to see another Mare show up so early in the rabbit-fueled mayhem.

I want a new kick-ass video card for my computer so I can play my games at the highest settings because I’M A BIG NERD!!!!

Some people have a tradition of decorating the tree on Thanksgiving so keep it watered and I imagine it will be fine.

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Salvia+hispanica
The fur on that little green friend is a great source for protein and omega 3’s! So if you find yourself nutritionally deprived from all the reindeer corn and gingerbread, you can take solace in knowing that a little gnaw on your rabbit’s (I’m assuming it’s supposed to be a rabbit) sprouting coat will keep you healthier.
Just thought you would like to know that.

One question - you don’t seem to like many holiday foods… what about fruitcake? We have fruitcakes circa 1986 in the bottom of the freezer at my mothers house. I swear we could build a house in some third world country out of them all. (Thank you graaaandma.)

JessicaM: Have you ever seen the Peewee’s Playhouse Christmas special? Throughout the thing everyone on the planet keeps giving Peewee fruitcakes as gifts, and at the end we see what I can only assume to be Peewee’s personal gay slave boys using them as bricks to build a new room onto the Playhouse. Classic.

Jazzy: nobody likes fruitcake, - its just a holiday staple. whats Christmas without fruitcake or ribbon candy?

If I’m going to restrict myself to realistic presents, I want a new digital camera. My old one crapped out on me at Thanksgiving and it was pretty out-of-date anyway.

what I want: a Boston Terrier.
Why: Cause our dog Cash likes my BF better, and he’s 80 lbs. I want a dog that likes ME- and while my cats are cool, they aren’t dogs.
What I’m Getting: A Sewing Machine.
Why I’m a hand sewer at the moment, and sewing big stuff is killer on the hands. Also… I have a major fear of power tools and I think this may be a good way to break that fear.

I want my mtv! The original one… the one that used to play cheesy music videos from artists that couldn’t dance worth a crap but could actually perform their songs.

I was in high school and the end-of-day bell had just rang. I gathered up my books from my last class and headed across the building to another classroom that was just packed of people. Walking into the room, I smiled and low-fived several people, including kingklash, kneg and nork. I sat down in a seat on the far side of the room just as Matt was walking in.

I had the distinct vibe that this was an afterschool club and we all gathered here several times a week, but instead of discussing retro stuff, toys and holidays, we discussed tools(?!).

Matt put his bookbag (covered with Craftsman and DeWalt patches) and, with a grin, asked, “Who can tell me the last thing I reviewed that was green?”

Me: “You reviewed a set of glow-in-the-dark screwdrivers a couple of weeks ago.”

I started flipping through a notebook of printed-out articles, each looking exactly like the blog, but instead of comments there were handwritten notes, like I had been writing down what everyone else said during the discussion.

Matt looked over my shoulder as I searched for the article, but I couldn’t find it.

Me: “Well, I guess I was imagining that article… But I did find one about a glow-in-the-dark flashlight.”

Matt: “That counts as something green! Gold star!” and then he hands me a sticker that I add to the slew on the back of my notebook.

I have been trying to get a Wii for that special someone in my life… but to no avail. Mere minutes ago I thought I finally had one in my sights , it was in-stock in the Sears website and I was even able to add it to my cart. Then it wouldn’t let me complete my check-out!!!

I love popcorn tins and all the popcorn in ‘em. Caramel is my favorite, but I love the cheese, too. The butter is always eaten last, but it gets eaten.

The finace insisted on a real tree this year, so we went out and cut one down. I don’t know how real trees work, so I’m hoping it will last until Christmas.

And what do I want more than anything this Christmas? Scattergories. I’ve asked for it every year since I moved out of my parents’ house and I guess they never hear me. That’s the only thing I asked for specifically this year. Other than that, I’d like a new hoodie with either the Nightmare Before Christmas, Pink Floyd or the Deftones on it.

Matt: It hasn’t snowed here (Shreveport Louisiana) in about 9 years. It was a new years eve snow that just came out of nowhere. Count your blessings. I remember growing up in the Bronx and getting snow every now and then. I miss that big time.

OMG and by you mentioning a watch that reminds me I need a battery for my watch. I hate pulling out my iPhone every time I want to know what time it is because I’m scared to death I’ll drop it and break the glass screen. Thanks!!

How can there possibly be 68 comments in 3 hours? The buttered popcorn is the only one of the 3 that I really like. You’d think that would be the largest 3rd.

My housemates and I just got our tree today. I’m so happy! I haven’t had a real Christmas tree in about 10 years. =/

Two is the fact that the guitars are widely known to be shitty. Even the replacements haven’t been good for a fair number of folks. Plus the drum’s foot pedal seems to have a bad tendency to completely snap.

Three is that I’d really want the 360 version. I have the console itself. But no good way to get on Live. As it stands, I’d have to disconnect from my ISP, shut the modem off, unplug the ethernet cable, plug the 360’s in, fire the system up, and do what I want to do to download crap from Live. I dunno how routers work, but I’m never getting on Live again this way. Doing it this way caused something in my old PC to fry the hard drive.

My old PC was sent to a friend’s and he got everything I wanted off the hard drive after CheckDisking it. The next day, when he went to try looking around more, he found it dead. My old hard drive held onto life until my stuff was safe ;o;

So yeah. Rock Band. I’d want the 360 version for the DLC, but with no good way to access Live… :/

Great post, Matt! Christmas isn’t the same unless I have some of that cheap hard candy that has little trees in the middle and stuff! Your Chia looks… cold.

I love baking and I love to bring cupcakes in to work and always stress out about them getting smushed in transit. Pam from The Office has a myspace and apparently the same problem! She uses this: http://www.cupcakecourier.com . That is what I want for Christmas!

i think the popcorn tin should be divided even more to include a white cheddar flavor.

All i want is a new digital camera. a reasonable gift i guesss. If i dont get what i want, i always usually get it a month later for my b-day.

ChibiSoma- YES the Rock Band guitars suuuuuuuuuck! It’s glitchy as hell. However, word on the street is you can use the Guitar Hero controller instead.

okay, I see that alot of people want Wii’s so I’ve got a funny Wii-related story.

I’m in a mandatory speech class (god, how I hate community college), and we were doing visual presentations. Someone brought in a Wii, and the teacher introduced the person and said “He’s going to demonstrate to us today the Nintendo World War II”

Special K , what a funny dream. Matt was in my dream too recently. I can’t remember any of the conversations but I think I went over his apartment with some friends and he was a dick to me. Probably because I wasn’t as old as the creamy cucumber salad dressing.

xcharliemx - Another Shreveport reader! Wow I thought I was the only one. Yes, this snow you speak of, we RARELY get any. And when we do the whole area shuts down and people act so stupid. I live in north Shreveport by the way.

This is going to sound really cheesey, but I would like some money so that I can actually buy people the gifts I want to buy them. That and maybe another KitchenAid Artisan mixer (my ex-boyfriend kept my first one for some reason even though he can’t even make a bowl of cereal).

Oh yeah, and I’d like some of that peace and harmony that Cliff Richard keeps singing about every Christmas.

Because then we’d never have to hear Cliff’s “Millenium Prayer” and “Santa’s List”.

I HATE getting those popcorn tins as Christmas gifts! They’re always stale and nasty!

I have to go against Matt on this one. I think the popcorn tin should be 75% caramel corn, 25% regular popcorn. I’m not crazy about the cheesy corn.
I’d love to get a Wii for Christmas.

My Chia kitten just started sprouting today. Neem Seal (I named him Neem Seal) has a nasty especially hairy belly and butt, which I cannot explain. I have pics on my own site, if anybody is interested.

Seriously though, there isn’t any one thing that I especially want, except maybe the Blade Runner four disk special edition. Not the five disk version, because I’d like to show a little restraint and that fifth disk seems unnecessary. Plus, the briefcase would totally NOT fit on my DVD rack. =P

I agree with the “have to have nuts” for Christmas. Although my family always had a bowl of shelled nut and you had to shuck ‘em yourself.

Ben, just to divert off-topic slightly, but VHS video boxes for Star Trek used to bug me like that, like the Data one…cool, it has his face, but it takes up so much space!

DVD box sets are the bane of my existence at times. When the Transformers cartoon came out on DVD it was in this black fold out box for season 1, then for the later seasons they all had a standard design…and then, they repackaged season 1 to match AFTER releasing the others! What’s up with that?!

And why do sequels to movies always get announced after I buy the box set. Maybe I can finally get The Prisoner and they’ll bring it back?

And for Christmas? I want an effects pedal, but that seems highly unlikely. Or one of those nifty Ion turntables that converts songs to mp3s.

Jace It took me a minute to realize you meant ‘red ball’…at first I thought you were going to go out and shoot the poor tree with a laser!

I used to go to a popcorn store that made caramel and other kinds of popcorn nice and fresh. They had what they called ‘Chicago Style’ which was caramel and cheese popcorn mixed up. I got addicted to it, as well as to their white cheddar popcorn topping that I’d use on my microwave popcorn. :9 They did also have a mix of their cherry and mint popcorns for Christmas, since of course they were red and green.

What I’d like for Christmas is a Wii. And lots of money for taking care of my terminally ill cat (thank you Mr. Dick van Patten’s Natural Balance! NOT!). I’m moving to a new apartment the week after Christmas, which will be much nicer!

I have a love-hate relationship with box sets, both of DVDs and CDs. They look so pretty in the store and on my Amazon wish list, and they’re so nice and shiny and exciting when you receive them as a gift. But then you try to find a place to actually put them, and unless you have a nice big shelf to devote to your media, you’re stuck awkwardly stacking them or something.

CDs are even worse because the box sets often come in bizarre shapes and sizes, or open in nonstandard ways, or all kinds of crazy crap. I have one that is huge and opens like elevator doors, and you have to open it just right or it gets stuck. All this for only two CDs inside! It was really cool and exciting when I first got it home, but now it’s just maddening because I have to disassemble my entire stack of box sets (this one HAS to go on the bottom because it’s the biggest) to get the CDs out. And I don’t like putting them in those CD wallets because they get scratched *sigh*

Sorry for the double post, but: Did your cat get that way because of the contaminated pet food, Moony? That is so sad

YES!!! Caramel corn is disgusting, althought not *quite* as bad as kettle corn. Cheesy corn rocks my world and should really be filling the entire effing tin!

Sorry, Matt, but you call that dusting “snow”? you need to come up to Michigan. Drifts up to your ass! Now THAT’S snow!

What I want for Christmas: a fairly good-paying job with decent benefits. Although at this point I’d take a job in general. I got laid off — exactly one week from today I will be officially unemployed. Not to be a scratchy wet wool blanket on everyone’s parade but it’s the truth. I want a job for Xmas.

tigerfan55600: I feel ya on how everyone acts stupid. We get a light frost down here, buses stop running and everything, My job usually shuts down until 10am where everything has melted by then (black ice). We need to wish for snow this year. It is going to be EIGHTY DEGREES tomorrow. You’d think we’re in California or something. If we find more Shreveport X-E posters maybe we can do a X-E meet. I live in Highland by Centenary College.

2ble post: My wife has corrected me, I live in Broadmoor, not Highland. WTF? I don’t even know where I live!!?? I’ve been here about 6 years!!

Off to go Christmas shopping now that I got a little cash out of my 401k. Happy Friday everyone.

Colls: Yeah I think it’s pretty new to the area as I don’t recall one being in NYC before and it’s the first I personally heard of them. I would get bummed when the promotional people WEREN’T there. LOL

I should definitely pick up more soon…but I think Matt would like it, since I never liked caramel corn either. I never liked Cracker Jacks or any of that stuff.

I like caramel corn, but I like the cheese variety much better. Maybe they should make all-cheese tins. Cheddar, white cheddar, and parmesan or something.

My big thing I wanted this year was a GPS system, but I already went to Best Buy and picked up a TomTom. It’s so amazing, I click this little button that looks like a martini and it tells me the closest establishments to get my drink on. I also want a Wii, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen as they’re so very very scarce and the places around here that DO have them are making you buy like 8 games with them. So my mom’s holding off and hopefully getting it for me later as a combination graduation/birthday gift. Done with school next week, fucking amazing. My internship place is gonna hire me, and I fucking love love love love working there. Fuck.

No other big ticket items on the list, really…. my Amazon wishlist, yeah, but not the one I actually submit to the family. A few DVDs, some games, a pink keyboard and mouse, some other nonessential items in pink, some clothes and shit. I must have my mom pretty well trained, because she told me she was Xmas shopping for me at Hot Topic the other day, and I didn’t even ask for anything there.

OH I know! I fucking need some of those USB heated gloves, the god damn air conditioning keeps coming on at noon every day in the office. ;.;

Good luck on the shopping, stay away from the Youree corridor! It is madness I tell you, madness!

All the people comparing locations, maybe we need one of those maps that lets everyone log their locations.

I was slightly confused for a moment, Broadmoor is a rather well-known psychiatric hospital over here (previously Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane, how cheerful is that?). I’d quite like to be able to say I live in Broadmoor.

I had a Matt dream, once, broomstick. He was typing away and I was playing Pokemon on the couch. Then he opened his mouth to speak and I remember being all excited that I was finally going to hear his voice.

It was the Colonel’s voice, that came out, oddly enough. Then, I went to leave, so put my shoes back on and said “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill anyone”

Yep, Jazzy, that was the culprit, tho Natural Balance refuses to admit any culpability for that or my other cat’s death, and they refused to recall that particular variety tho I’m not the only one who had trouble with it. On top of that the vet wouldn’t certify that it was the food versus his age that caused his kidneys to fail, and I couldn’t afford an autopsy for the other one - plus she died about the time the story broke in the media (and which they thought was over 2 weeks later! It still isn’t ‘over’!) Spike’s story is linked to my name.

Kneg: That’s awesome! I think that’s the third or fourth X-E dream I’ve had, which leads my fiance to believe I spend way too much time here. :P Hey, thanks for the low-five, by the way.

We got about 4 inches of snow yesterday and we’re supposed to have a big ice storm this weekend. It’s been really Chritmasy here this year.

I asked my mom for clothes this year, believe it or not. My current wardrobe is getting holey and has been around for years.

But other than that, I’m kinda easy to buy for. Just get me cash or gift certificates to places I go to regularly and I’m happy. Maybe a couple a DVD’s. I honestly don’t have a “MUST HAVE” gift that I want this year.

yeah i put up my tree today too, AFTER i got home from having a wisdom tooth yanked, yaaaay…
what i want? hmm, a real copy of phantom hourglass instead of the rom im currently playing.
Chia pet looks great!!

really all I can think of for christmas is money, target giftcards, books, or near-antique games I missed the first time around, like Primal or Fear Effect

Wow, so many people want a Wii this year. I bought mine in January, and y’all are making me feel so lucky to have found it.

I got the bunny Chia Pet for xmas when I was probably 6 or so. I remember seeing the commercials and thinking that it would magically grow immediately or something. I clearly had no idea how it worked, because it sat on a shelf in my room for some five years after that covered in a thick coat of black seed paste. Eh.

What do I want this year? Hm. A lot of stuff comes to mind, mostly video games and DVDs. The big thing, I guess, is the purple iPod shuffle. It’s adorable, and my 1g nano has turned to crap.

What I want most? It’s cruel to ask that. None of my relatives are rich enough to afford anything I want, and by that I don’t mean I have a desire for helicopters–I mean it’s rare to get anything above $25. And this year, everyone’s extra-poor, especially my parents, so I’ll be surprised if I get anything.

I’m not sure what I want for Christmas now because all I can think about is popcorn. I’m the freak who doesn’t like the caramel OR the cheese, but that’s okay because it means the buttery section is all mine. MINE.

If you want the tree to last longer and you have the option, hit up a christmas tree farm. My family ‘tags’ their tree around thanksgiving, then cuts it and puts it up a week or 2 before christmas. Decorations usually come down after the Feast of the Epiphany/beginning of the 2nd week of jan. Sadly i have a fake one b/c i live in an apartment.

Oh and 50% chance of snow in the DC region so everyone wear your PJs inside out!!!! I want a white weekend!

So, have you actually seen pictures of the 3 of us, or was it just your mental images of us?

I hate to say this, but I already have a Wii (had it since launch). ^^;;;;; Now is a really bad time to get them unless you’re willing to kill a fellow man to shorten the lines outside Target that start at 4 am. Or shell out $400…..

I really want a dog. I’m a dog person, we moved into a REAL house last Dec (we’d been living in an apartment for about 5 years) and all I really want is a furry, 4-footed animal w/ a wet nose, dumb and loving eyes, a waggy tail, drooly tongue and perky ears. T_T

Oh…and like Playmobil’s advent calenders…the ones I don’t have which is basically any one before 2006.

I like kettle corn, but you gotta get it fresh. I could really go for some cheesy corn right about now….

Popcorn tins are a tradition here…and with it, an awkward ritual. We remove the cardboard divider, put the lid back on, and shake it to the sound of our favorite Christmas tune. The popcorn mix is great. As far as you caramel corn hating heathens I don’t know what you’re going to do.

As far as my Christmas wish, I hope my insides don’t rot from this Swisher Sweet Cigar that I’m puffing on.

Dio, now if I had a license to kill for Christmas, I’d be willing to help anyone out on their Wii quest and the Mecha would help me get there.

So, Santa, if you happen to be reading this you can see I don’t want it for selfish reasons! I’m helping my fellow man.

If Nintendo didn’t push back the release of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, that would be my choice gift this Christmas, otherwise..I am happy with anything I get as long as it isn’t a Clapper.

As for popcorn, I love the stuff. Dale and Thomas makes the best popcorn tins..their Kettle Corn is crack I tell you, CRACK!!! http://www.daleandthomas.com

I don’t get the animosity toward caramel, but I’m more perplexed as to why one of the “flavors” is just plain regular popcorn. Seems to somehow defy the point of the tin.

I’ve just spent awhile making my perfect Christmas playlist in iTunes, and suddenly while making it the Christmas spirit hit me. Adding certain songs to the list somehow forcefully reminded me of the smell of candy canes, which we ALWAYS had when I was a kid. I went with some Sweet Tart flavored ones this year as I’ve developed a distaste for peppermint, but now I think I need some classic candy canes. I think in a while I will go out to buy some, as well as the supplies to make Christmas cookies. Which I can bake tomorrow while watching my hours-long Christmas tape

HOLEE CRAP. Santa-X! Oswald headed for doom!
Man, once a Lego dude went along, I knew he was done for. But Santa’s already back! Waiterbot might go bad! Can Knacks and Kuse face the forces of evil from BOTH SIDES? WOW. Man it’s getting good â€“ and a VLOG thrown in to boot! Each year they get better and better. First animation, then YouTube, man its freaking rockin out.

As a licensed popcorn connoisseur (or should I write cornnoisseur?), I can safely say that my least favorite of the bunch is the original buttered variety, while my favorite is the cheese. Caramel corn is actually a close second, but I prefer it when it comes in a small box with some nuts and a goofy paper “prize” that brings me almost no joy whatsoever, other than the inherent happiness found in cardboard box prizes. What Toucan Sam has taught me is that it isn’t getting a prize that matters, but getting a good prize. That little sailor boy needs to stop slacking off and bring back decoder rings, or anything with more than two dimensions for that matter.

It’s interesting how straightforward Waiterbot’s name was when he first appeared in the story, and how since then it has become such an abstraction.

Ok, so I hadn’t seen Frosty in years. But it clearly said in Frosty that Santa is fluent in Rabbit. Oh Shit!

Oh, and in Frosty returns: This little kid tries to get Holly to go outside with the line: Com’n, let’s go outside and make fertility goddesses.

mmmmmmmm, smells like xmas updates
1.never had a tree, im jewish, my family just happens to give out gifts on xmas (purely coincidence)
2. any word on the huge blog for tommorow possibly
3.oh god, well my friend really wants me to get supermario galaxy, its a good game, but what i REALLY want, is the gorillaz book

For Christmas I want an apartment in the city! But I think Santa is too poor for that this year.

Secondly, I am glad to know that someone else is still keeping the tradition of the Christmas Eve seven fish meal. We also do it in my extremely Italian family. I think we end up eating more on Christmas Eve than on Christmas. All my friends can’t fathom that idea. Now that I know you also take part in this feast I feel a little less alone in the world.

I’m confused as hell. Frosty Returns seems to have nothing to do with anything. Isn’t he supposed to get married and fight Jack Frost?

Heck, I’ve gotten half of what I wanted for Christmas already, but I’ll say the new Donald Duck Walt Disney Treasures DVD set when it comes out next week (Oswald the Rabbit would be cool, too), or a new DVD shelf, or the Looney Tunes Golden Collection 5 set. Oh, and more WebKinz (cute little stuffed animals who come with a code to type in so you can create a whole virtual world with them).

Yuck, I HATE cheesy popcorn (or anything with that orange gunk on it), but I’m not the biggest caramel fan, either. Give me good ol’ butter popcorn anytime.

We got snow here, too, a shocker because we NEVER get this much snow in December. Last time it snowed in December was two years ago, and it was barely a dusting. Even if it doesn’t last…at least it was THERE.

Damn, shit’s hittin the fan now in Advent. The on-location Vlog was hilarious, but kind of bummed we didn’t hear Director James Lipton’s voice saying “remarkablous!” or something. Then again, I only would’ve preferred the actual James Lipton providing his voice. And acting like a bear.

Monte, you’re thinking of “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” where the schoolkids create Frosty’s wife Crystal and get them married by a snowman “Made to look like Parson Brown.” “Frosty Returns” is a different story. And the Jack Frost of this special is drawn EXACTLY like the version in the stop-motion “Jack Frost” special also by R-B, but he’s the antagonist in the Frosty special.

Don’t even let me get into “Rudolph & Froty’s Christmas in July.” I forget if this one introduces Frosty’s children, but they’re in this one. Jack Frost appears here too, but only at the end. (not to mention references to Rudolph, the original Frosty & Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town, and Rudolph’s Shiny New Year)

My most desired Christmas gifts? I have 3: “Bender’s Big Score” on dvd, the Simpsons Movie DVD, and a wireless router so I can finally have WiFi in this damn house.

I tell you, these advent calendar adventures really are a great holiday tradition. I’ve been reading them since the beginning, and they’ve gotten more compelling with time. Love the incorporation of the videos. I guess it’s the sort of thing that only really works on the internet, but I’d still love to see a fully-animated X-Mas special with the gang, even though I know it’s impossible. Still, looking forward to see where this one goes.

Just wanna mention that the cheese flavoured popcorn is my favourite too (though I don’t mind the caramel)!

Gotta say this is in my opinion the best calender ever! This one seems more planed out more than the previous years.

I like cheese better than caramel, but I have nothing against the caramel. I honestly have NEVER gotten a popcorn tin for Christmas, I got a Doritos tin before, but they were all stale! The person who gave them out must have gotten a discount for year old tins or something?

Special K and Kneg, great dreams, green tools and the unsolved mystery of what Matt’s voice really sounds like! I had an x-e dream once, Matt held a huge ass party and everyone from the blog was there, and at some point I won something and my screen name was posted on a huge billboard, for some reason though my name was changed to, ilurvbitnerlololol.

Just got back from a monster junk food trip to Walmart

I scored 2 boxes each of Christmas Crunch and gingerbread Pop-Tarts, plus various cookie-baking supplies, candy cane Hershey’s Kisses, and some actual candy canes. Also picked up some cute jingle bell earrings and a matching necklace.

I’m sure I looked like either a huge pig or some kind of Christmas maniac, but I freely admit to being both, so I didn’t mind.

Add me to the list of people that want a relationship for Christmas…There’s a girl that I really like that I’ve been trying to have a relationship with for a while now, but she has just been keeping it casual. It’s been frustrating but I like her too much to give up now….

I need a new set of tires for my car. I wanted a new set last year but got a Wii instead. Sweet. :) So now this year I need a new set. I also want Guitar Hero 3 for Wii. And a few other Wii games. And probably some DVDs, etc.

Pretty much whatever anyone gives me is fine with me. I’m an easy-going guy and I realize that growing up I was a spoiled brat (only child), so I try to give others more now that I’m older..

WOW- So much goodness! OK, first, wicked calendar day today! I am love, love, LOVING the calendar this year, Matt = Thank you so much for all the extra hard work you are doing lately.

At the risk of sounding insane, I too have had XE dreams (doesn’t THAT sound kinky?) Last year I dreamed that there was a HUGE Xmas party at Matt’s house by internet invite only.

Xmas wish gift? Mostly DVDs = Arrested Development Season 3, Gilmore Girls season 7, original 1990s Degrassi High, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Aside from DVDs, I could use some new books…working in a bookstore gives me SO many book needs.

Guitar Hero. Original or sequel, no matter, I just want the bundle and I can buy the other games separately afterwards. Bu yeah, I wanna rock it old skool with a fisher-price lookin’ peripheric.

To Cameron T.:
I feel your pain! I know the situation well, and I wish you the best of luck.

Oh and a Masterpiece Megatron would be nice.
and maybe one of those red-seated, silver handlebar, sit on it and wiggle your ass left and right scooter things.

I’m hoping for an iPod touch too. Or an iPhone would be even better, but I don’t want to push my luck.

I think Waiterbot has forgotten the sheer raw power of an angry Mare. Angering one Mare is foolish. Angering 2 would suggest he harbours some sort of deathwish. Little Al suggests that he beg for forgiveness, and swear his allegiance to this new Mare.

The shopping center I live behind is playing Christmas music bells over their loud speakers and it almost sounds like it’s been played off a cassette tape. With it being so damn foggy and the shopping center without a single shopper, instead of being awesomely festive, it’s awesomely creepy. It seriously reminds me of something out of a horror flick.

Kneg: Since I’ve never seen any of you, I saw more of a vague hint of human bodies than actual faces and such. But in my dream I knew who everyone was, which was kind of nifty.

fistpittingnork: I noticed something like that when I went to Walmart earlier - which is strange, since I live in Florida, so obviously I’m far from whatever weather patterns are going on in Oklahoma. But there was this bizarre thick fog over everything, and it looked really, really eerie. Definitely not what Christmas should look like.

I would say of the tin popcorn I like the caramel the best, but only in small quantities.
For Christmas I want a toaster. Mine broke a while back and now I have to heat up eggos in the oven.

Not really big of a fan of the popcorn(except for regular). Might want to keep your house cool for awhile for the tree.

Christmas Corn??!! You crazy Americans, you’ll buy anything with Santa on the tin! But I guess thats the point of this website at this time of year! Theres no such thing as cheesy popcorn (and certainly no such thing as christmas corn!) in the UK, but we do get cheese flavoured rice cakes which I love so I’d assume they taste pretty much the same.

I love reading this site and see what weird and wonderful stuff American companies have managed to shoehorn into tradition. If they can convince people that christmas isn’t complete without popcorn they can convince them of anything!

Dag, that was a lot of posts to catch up on. I’m feeling guilty for all the times my Wii sits gathering dust now.

So I just got back from a double feature of Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Didn’t realize Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was going to be a Christmas movie, but it’s officially one of my favs now. Definitely one of the best “non-Christmassy” Christmas movies. Anyway, the reason I’m bringing it up is because I have to tell you guys about who I saw at the theater: ZoÃ« Bell! As in, ZoÃ« “the fucking cat” Bell! I didn’t have the stones to go up and say anything though. I managed to make a total dork of myself (seriously, I’m still cringing) when I asked Edgar Wright to sign my Hot Fuzz DVD, so my wussiness might have been for the best anyway. But goddamn, ZoÃ« Bell! That was probably a once-in-a-lifetime one

What’s topping my Christmas wishlist this year is a laptop (17 inch, Core 2, lots of memory) and the Canon Powershot that has the 12x optical zoom and 1600 ISO. I haven’t ever really had a computer all my own, and my PDA just isn’t cutting it anymore. No vlogs on Windows Mobile. And I’ve been making do with my ancient Powershot for ages (the thing has TWO megapixels. Two! Camera phones come with two megapixels!) and I feel like I deserve the upgrade. Nobody’s buying but me; I just have to decide how badly I really want it.

KRF42 - I’m with you on this popcorn tin thing. I’ve never heard of it and I live an hour and a half or so from the States. Of course, Canada COULD have these somewhere, but I sure haven’t seen any.

But I don’t like popcorn anyway.

I eat a little bit at the movies for atmosphere, but I generally avoid the stuff. Hmm…I do like the cheesy rice cakes though, so maybe I’d like the cheesy popcorn?

Hm. These popcorn tins are news to me too, though they sure look spiffy. Here in EnZed we do tend to give tins of that same variety as gifts, but they’re ALWAYS filled with horrible shortbread biscuit things that taste stale. Despite apparently not expiring for ten years or something silly. These biscuit tins are always from somewhere non-specific in Europe, and are always given out by an elderly relative whom noone really likes anyway.

Noone ever eats the damned things either, so they eventually get fed to animals or stay around so long they actually do go stale, but it sure wouldn’t be christmas without a tin of the things.

If they can convince people that christmas isn’t complete without popcorn they can convince them of anything!

Actually popcorn and Christmas go way further back than just these tins. Have you never seen it used for ornamental purposes?

On occasions, but again, string of popcorn on the tree is more of an American thing. We tend to go down the coloured paper route for cheap decorations over here.

I really ought to sort myself a tree out soon. Torn between real and artificial. I always end up feeling bad for the poor little tree.

Arkenor Go real! Christmas trees are grown for the very reason of being Christmas trees. Getting fancy and full of decorations is what makes their lifes all worth it.

Every time I eat popcorn out of those tins they are incredibly stale. My Granddad has gotten those tins for Christmas and tolerates them. He actually uses one as an end table of sorts, it stays right by his chair while he puts a magazine, the remote control, or something else that he wants at an easy arm length on it. My favorite? Plain with butter is always good, but I like caramel corn like Crunch n Munch or Cracker Jack. Somethin’ with nuts in it.

I got a camcorder as an early Christmas present from my best friend. It’s a little camcorder with a 2GB memory card he bought as well for me to use to record movies for youtube and maybe some family home movies but mostly youtube. I am not expecting anything from my family because I am not going to Christmas but hopefully the beginning of next week I can get some things shipped to them for gifts. It’s for my cousin that has a 1 year old, and some gift cards for various family members. I am having tension with my family right now so I decided it’s not worth it for me to go. But the family members I like are getting 20 dollar visa gift cards lol. The rest of them can suck it. There I said it.

I was wandering around on joox.net tonight, and I noticed some older cartoons there I didn’t see before! Like Garbage pail kids the cartoon? Also, Darkwing Duck, Tail Spin, Ninja Turtles, Gummy Bears, Snorks, Smurfs, etc. Pretty neat

Mystie Congrats on almost making it through college! I have a cousin that is 23 years old, and this year he quit college because he got a good paying job at the kind of place he wanted to work anyway. Well I was offended because he should of completed to follow through with it. What if he gets laid off? Then what does he have to show for it? It just bothers me he dropped out.

Special K I vaguely remember having a dream about Matt from earlier this year, I think he was wanting my help with the site, he said that I was the only one that could help and he was begging for me to give him ideas. Heh.

I am so excited that you finally brought to light the bias of the popcorn tin. I dont know who thought it would be a good idea to put the caramel covered, rip out your dental work popcorn in the largest of the parcheesi spaces. The only thing with more blatant lunacy than this is whoever decided a sticker is a better prize in a cereal box than a color changing spoon. It changes color with your milk!! Come on!

Even though this will be my 8th holiday in a row where I will be far, far away from home and possibly off the coast of an unknown country, I still get excited for christmas. That being said, what I want for christmas is easy. The same thing I wanted every year since 1988. The GI JOE USS FLAGG playset.

Of course I spelled coloured with a U, thats the correct spelling. But I’m not here to start a war!

OMG POPCORN TIN. My grandmother won one of those in something or other one year, and since I slept in the living room with her when we visited, my hand was constantly in that thing. But I was more into the salty popcorns than the caramel, and it BUGGED ME that they gave SO much more space to the caramel corn! I ended up developing a taste for it, though, just because, well, we’d pretty much cleaned out the other two sections, and no child can resist a BUCKET OF POPCORN, even if it is caramel corn. I even sort of liked it, but not as much as the awesome, awesome cheese.

God, that thing was like an endless buffet in the eyes of an eight-year-old. I kind of want to hunt one down, but at the same time, I know it’ll just look like a really big bucket of popcorn to adult me, instead of the TRULY AWESOME HUGE FEAST IN A CAN I remember it as. So I’d better not.

…this is the only place in the world i feel like people will understand ANY of this post.

I’m totally getting one of those tins for my mom. She loves the popcorn, and hey, a tin to have afterward is pretty awesome.

The thing I want most for Christmas, I just got last night as an early xmas gift! It’s the Flight of the Conchords DVD set! I don’t have HBO, but found them on YouTube, and fell in love.

I want a kiddie pool filled with count chocula, just so I can prove to myself that I love it so much I can eat any amount and never feel full.

Oh man, popcorn tins. I get one every year from my Pop-pop. While I don’t hate the caramel popcorn, I must agree the cheese dust popcorn doesn’t get the respect it deserves.

And what I want most for Christmas is the Adventures of Brisco County Jr. on DVD. Bruce Campbell, you are my god.

Been busy the last couple of days. But I’ll finally weigh in on the survey questions, in no particular order:

I want to complete my DVD collection of the Married With Children seasons after Season 2.

I like, in this order, cheesy corn, kettle corn, and caramel corn; I really only like buttered popcorn if I have a large beverage with it. Also, I agree with Ben: Cracker Jack prizes need to get better - I think we should start a petition on petition.com.

Also, in an interesting piece of synchronicity, my watchband broke on Thursday, but I just hot-glued it, and it seems OK. I didn’t want to get rid of it, because it was the watch I got for my 5-year anniversary at AT&T and it’s nice (a Bulova).

On another note, at least one of the bunnies has a name now, even if it’s ???????. Anyone have an idea of what it sounds like? I imagine it hissing kind of like a snake.

Bring on Dec, 8th! I can’t wait to see what the Bunnies do now. Or, sorta see, since I just got contacts again after 12 years. Not doing so hot just yet.
OldJim
You can buy replacement watchbands from the manufacturer, provided something on the watch casing itself didn’t break. I’m sure Bulova has a band you could get via web or jeweler that shouldn’t set you back too many clams. I believe the Kenneth Cole one I need to be around $12.

On Popcorn tins: I don’t like any of them. I’d rather just have some popcorn popped in the microwave instead of stale, nasty-flavored popcorn.

However, I do like the holiday inspired tins that the popcorn comes in. Useful for storing all kinds of rubbish.

I’m watching ABC Family this morning and they’re showing that weird Rankin-Bass special where Santa Claus is raised in the woods by magical spirits and delivers toys with a lioness in the sleigh.

Cameron T., is that the one with the Mantle of Immortality? If it is, it is my favorite Rankin-Bass special ever. I’ve tried to explain its wonderousness (I’d even go so far as to call it remarkablous) to frien