12/05/2004 Entry: "Advent & Advert Calendars Updated!"

The Advent Calendar rages on as Mare, Knacks and Kuse share their very first Christmas tree together. And make big sushi plans. Elsewhere, Dearfoams slippers sneak a mention onto the Advert Calendar. I'll be back later today with some more stocking stuffer reviews -- picked up a bunch this weekend while out shopping for presents, something I wouldn't go through again even if Sears started handing free hams covered with silver dollars to every customer.

Survey: What's the best/your favorite/weirdest Christmas/holiday decoration you own? We pulled out all of our shit today, and I can't believe how much Christmas junk we've accumulated. This year's haul is one for the books -- wait till you see the pics.

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 12/06/2004 02:00 AM EST

This Santa tea light candle thing. I played with it every year. When youlight the candle it looks like Santa is staning in front of a lit fireplace.

Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 12/06/2004 02:34 AM EST

My most fantastical ornamentation has got to be good ole Travis the Singing Trout. Though I was initially frightened by this singing denizen of the deep, he now hangs proudly for all to see and fear. Mother-in-laws are pretty crappy, but sometimes they accidentally stumble onto the greatest of things.

Chestnuts roasted by kentdog @ 12/06/2004 02:47 AM EST

My favorite decoration is probably this Gingerbread Man that I made way back in 1st grade or somewhere around there. For some reason I kept licking him, thinking that maybe he'd taste better the next time.. or the time after that.

And 10 bucks says that Mare summons bursts of pure plasmatic energy in her fists and shoots them out of her fingertips like bullets by the time this Advent is over with.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt(#2?) @ 12/06/2004 06:32 AM EST

Swear to God, one year I took this little fuzzy jack-o-lantern thing a resteraunt was giving away at Halloween, stuck a hook in it, and hung it on the tree. For several years, it adorned our Xmas tree, and my mom never once tried to argue with me.

Just because its Xmas doesn't mean you should forget the spirit of Halloween, I guess. Or maybe it was my tribute to Tim Burton.

Chestnuts roasted by A-wel Cruiz @ 12/06/2004 07:50 AM EST

My favorite holiday decoration is a porcelain doll that my great-grandmother gave me shortly before she died, when I was litte. I used to collect china dolls when I was a kid, until my younger brother (I'm talking to YOU FROSTOR)broke them all.This was the only one that survived.

It originally had nothing to do with Christmas, but somewhere along the line, my mom started using it as a tree-topper, I guess because she had a white dress, and could be construed as angelic. After Christmas was over every year I'd ask my mom if I could have the doll back and she wouldn't let me have it, fearing I'd break it, so she packed it away with the Christmas stuff.

So when I moved into my own place, I asked my mom if I could finally have the doll back, and like 2 years later, she finally gave it to me. It's a little the worse for wear. Her hair is kind of knotted and her dress has a lot of pitch on it, but it's still my favorite part of Christmas, putting that damn doll on top of the tree every year.

Sorry this wasn't more funny...

Chestnuts roasted by B-Dawg @ 12/06/2004 09:17 AM EST

Christmas Cobwebs, my own design. Red and Green "cobwabs," just like the regular fake cobwebs you put up on Halloween

Chestnuts roasted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 12/06/2004 09:58 AM EST

kidneyboy (and Matt, and any other interested parties), you may be interested to know that "David the Gnome" was inspired by some extremely popular [children's/fantasy] books on the lives of gnomes from the 70s and 80s--"Gnomes", "The Secret Lives of Gnomes", etc. They were illustrated by Rien Poortvliet. There's a new one out this year called "A Gnome's Christmas".

Chestnuts roasted by Emily @ 12/06/2004 10:10 AM EST

SNAKE-EYES- You're here in Korea, too? Are you teaching? Military? Have you noticed yet that Xmas wrapping paper does not exist in this country?? They have EVERYTHING else- dancing Santas, blinking lights, xmas techno dance cds, but no damn wrapping paper!!
My fave ornaments would have to be the snowmen both my brother and I made in kindergarten....mine LOOKS like a real snowman, and his looks like a few balls of styrofoam stuck together that somehow threw up on themselves!

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 12/06/2004 11:27 AM EST

My favorite decorations that we have back home are the ornaments that my sister and I made in elementary school with our pictures on them.

It's weird to go home for Christmas, and see my first grade self trapped forever on wooden ornament.

Chestnuts roasted by Jeff Mack @ 12/06/2004 11:45 AM EST

My favorite ornament is he one that goes up every year, Ma makes sure of it: Santa's Big Head! We got the thing years and years ago, just before we moved back to OK from CA. A big plastic light-up Santa Noggin that always goes on the front door. As usual, though, I will do my best dumpy Spider-Man impression and string up the outside lights on the porch this week. But first, Sis is going back to Iraq this Wednesday to finish out her deployment. So Santa is up right now!

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 12/06/2004 12:04 PM EST

My Grandmother gave me this Santa Mouse ornament from Avon that is bascially a mouse dressed as Santa trying on a beard while standing in front of a mirror. Whats weird about it is that for the past ten years he's been broken off beneath the knee caps. It's a sick sort of ritual when we dig through the box looking for his severed legs then glue them back on every Christmas.

Chestnuts roasted by Shonuf1 - "Merry Christmas, Movie House" @ 12/06/2004 12:06 PM EST

The Raisins sang the BEST version of Rudolph ever on that special. Very soulful for clay.

I also love the Muppet Christmas Special they used to run. The new Muppet Christmas movie from a couple of years ago was pretty good.

ABC Family ran 48 hours if Christmas specials this weekend. Anyone watch them?

My favorite decorations are Hallmarks superhero christmas ornaments. We did an entire tree with them one year.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 12/06/2004 12:38 PM EST

Poor Kuse! The jig is up.

My favorite ornaments are the plastic ribbon candy ornaments that I just bought this year. Mm-mmm, I love ribbon candy.

Our wierdest ornament is the refrigerator w/ the chains around it. It has a sign on it that says, "I'll Start Tomorrow". Come now, no diet can defeat the Christmas ham.

Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 12/06/2004 01:10 PM EST

Dominick the Christmas Donkey????? Seriously, Matt, where in the hell did you hear about that one? Pure Comedic Gold!!!!! (27 on the jukebox)

Chestnuts roasted by Doc @ 12/06/2004 01:22 PM EST

Inquisitivewoman and other Claymation Christmas lovers:

The special was released on DVD last year.

See:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009WHRM/qid=1102358112/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-4931046-3075359?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846

Go buy it! It also has the Claymation Easter and Halloween specials (though the Christmas one is obviously the best!)

Ok..Back to writing paper...Sigh...

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 12/06/2004 01:36 PM EST

For those of you fool enough to wander into Times Square yesterday you could have been treated to ghetto spiderman hamming it up for every overweight, middle american tourist cramming the streets and generally making life in the City a living hell every December. Also spotted was the Naked Cowboy who, to his credit, lured more gawking rubes with cameras than Spidey did.

Chestnuts roasted by Pedro @ 12/06/2004 01:39 PM EST

My fav. decoration was my 8ft. Santa Homer. That is until I woke up this morning and found out someone had stole it from my front lawn. Bastards.

Chestnuts roasted by Jason @ 12/06/2004 01:58 PM EST

when I lived with my parents, we used to have this santa that you hung on the door and it had a motion detector that would allow it to sing xmas carols at you when you approached the door. We used to make it a mission impossible sort of game to walk into the house without the stupid thing going off. Of course none of us had the brains to just take the batteries out of the stupid thing. Then again how were we suppose to scare away the neighborhood kids selling mistletoe if we turned it off. The entire thing was a conflict of interests. But nonetheless i loved the tradition of dodging the santa.

Chestnuts roasted by Ally @ 12/06/2004 05:13 PM EST

Not mine, and not Christmas - but my high school English teacher had this Easter egg wall decoration that was a painted egg with dangly crepe arms and legs and pink foil eyes. She would always put it over the vent so it would dance the dance of death at us, and its eyes flashed red. Horrifying.

Chestnuts roasted by Goz @ 12/06/2004 06:59 PM EST

I have one of those Santa Homers, too. I got it as a gift from my ex a couple of years ago. Strangely, the batteries died the same day he dumped me...?

Chestnuts roasted by Sara @ 12/07/2004 03:00 PM EST

i've got this spider web decoration (with spider)thats a few inches wide. whats so coll is that it is really shiny and kinda rough. it looks like halloween went to far got caught in the snow and found in december

Chestnuts roasted by E-man @ 12/07/2004 06:34 PM EST

inquisitive woman---I am in Korea teaching lil' kiddies English. I actually get to play Santa Claus with the kiddies and I've only been here a month!!! Tis the season.

Cameron T.--You saved my life!!! I ordered a copy today. Thanks so much. I thought I'd miss out on seeing it this year.

Chestnuts roasted by Snake-Eyes @ 12/07/2004 11:25 PM EST

id also like to add to emilys comment the secret world of gnomes was also the book that gave MR.stewart yes marthas husband!! the first finacial boost to his publishing company and the money given for martha to take over the world!! thanks david the gnome! grrrrr!! ive two sets of favorite decorations.first these two boy and girl gingerbread ornaments made by avon in 82 there sort of a nice smelling clay soapy compisition they look sooooo tasty yrs of my teeth marks on them. then weve all seen this one im sure in new york hes still pretty frequent but sadly hes ending up on e bay and land mines evry where! frosty the snowman made by empire plastics in 1968 hes 45 inches tall out door blowmold red top hat yellow earmuffs green scarf and huge green wreath in his hand. they made an oveabundance of him to still befound in warehouses and ma and pa general stores up to 1987 where he came to us from the sears chrstmas catalog 1986!!i love him to death !!!its like your best friend moved into your attic and you cant seen him only till the holiday season also his good lady wife whom i called martha after my fith grade english teacher she was made and stored though out the us in 1971 also by empire plastics she was a real rare find after seeing her at our local pauls store only 6 of her left dangling on chains on the cealing ive never seen her again except in our front yard!!! ive been told those two are my enheritance im a ok with that!!

Chestnuts roasted by JAY B! @ 12/08/2004 04:34 AM EST

I must say between the claymation and the homer simpsons and all the glowing eyes my favorite holiday decoration is my marvin the martian ornament that glows and says earth sucks is my favorite holiday tradition besides slamming the door in the carolers faces.

Chestnuts roasted by samantha @ 12/13/2004 01:53 PM EST