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The 2011 holiday season is obviously over, and I’m sure most of you have already put away your decorations and chucked out your tree, ready to start a new year full of whatever 2012 has in store. But wait, there’s one more present waiting for you under the tree on the interwebs, and it’s called Mega Man’s Christmas Carol Part 2!

Brought to you by the good people at Sprites Inc., this fun retro styled game casts Doctor Wily as a Scroogey sort of fellow hell bent on ruining Christmas for Mega Man and his posse. And the best part is- you can download it for FREE!

So sit back, stretch your fingers, and bring that holiday cheer back one last time!

Link  –via Destructoid

If you watch Arrested Development, then you know there’s always money in the Banana Stand,  which is why this is such a great gift for any fan of the show.

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This great picture of Lucas Arts’ holiday card from this year made me wish I was on their Christmas card list. This particular card was sent to Bonnie Burton, the editor of The Official Star Wars Blog.

Image Via Laughing Squid

If you thought your Christmas tree was outlandish this year, take a gander at these wild and wacky trees, created by some of the world’s top fashion designers.

There are trees designed by Gaultier (pictured above), Vuitton, Chanel, Trussardi and Christian Dior, among other fabulous fashion moguls.

They take conventional and turn it upside down, creating some of the most artistic and innovative designs for what is normally just another tree adorned with ornaments and lights. Check out the other 15 fab trees at the Flavorwire link below, before the trees get taken down for the new year.

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The Polish city of Kraków has a rich tradition of building fanciful and elaborate Nativity sets, known in Polish as szopki, that dates back to the arrival of Franciscan friars in the city in the Thirteenth Century. These have become tremendously popular and a cultivated craft:

To bring in a national color, historical figures from local legends were added to the scenes. Many other Biblical figures like King Herod and the Holy Family started making appearances too. By the eighteenth century, the figures had become movable, with stick puppets and string marionettes being introduced. While all this was taking place at Church, the excitement had gotten out of hand as decided by the Bishop Teodor Czartoryski, who banned the plays from churches in 1736. Only immobile scenes were permitted in church, the live puppet shows being passed down to the people. This was the beginning of the szopka as it is known today.

Some szopki are six feet tall! View several more pictures of them at the link.

Link | Photo: Lukasz Zoladz

This Christmas, give you fellow priests a present they won’t soon forget: a smack to the face with brooms!

That’s what about some priests did while preparing Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity for Orthodox Christmas on January 7:

The outburst, broken up by baton and shield-wielding Palestinian police, came to head as the Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics, who each control a portion of the church along with Roman Catholics got into the scuffle over a ‘turf war.’ The Church of Nativity is believed to be built over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus.

Bethlehem police Lt-Col Khaled al-Tamimi was quoted in Reuters as saying that no one was arrested “because all those involved were men of God” while the BBC reported that the 1,700-year-old church is in bad shape because priests can’t agree on who should be footing the bill for its repair.

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What happened when you toss a hopelessly tangled string of Christmas tree lights to the recycling bin?

Chances are, if it escapes being put in a landfill, it will end up in Shijao, China, where 20 million pounds of Christmas lights go to die every year:

Shijiao, like most of China's recycling zones, began to thrive 20 years ago in part because of its cheap labor and low environmental standards. Even two years ago, visitors to the fields around town would see clouds of black smoke churning off giant piles of burning wire (not just Christmas tree wire), the fastest -- though by no means the cleanest -- way to extract copper from plastic and rubber. But something interesting happened on the road to globalization: China's manufacturers, hungry for cheap raw materials, developed an appetite for the recovered insulation that wraps around insulated copper wire, and devised a way to make into a range of products including, Li tells me, slipper soles.

Illustrator Becca Whitaker has just finished her Geek’s 12 Days Of Christmas, a series in which she released one illustration a day for the last twelve days on her blog, and I love the image she chose to end the series!

These adorable illustrations would make a great coloring book, maybe something to think about for next year Becca? You can see the rest of the illustrations in the series at her site Becca’s Bombshells, where there is no shortage of geek love.

Link –via DesignTAXI

John already shared a Portal Christmas tree with you guys, but this Portal wrapping job is equally amazing. While this is a really cool way to wrap a present, it seems weird to buy two copies of the same game just to wrap something more creatively.

Link Via Geeks Are Sexy

Well, of course. Did you think that he was going to use an alphorn? Those things take up too much room in a sleigh.

The tune becomes more recognizable about halfway through the video.

-via View from North Central Idaho

The floating heads of the Koren Ensemble (featured previously) perform selections from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. -Thanks, Daniel Koren!

Before there were forests, wispy plants fell on each other in their struggle to reach the sun, like clumsy teenagers unsure of their growing bodies. Then one plant evolved a simple woody stem. It could grow taller than the other plants, and it stole light from them. It poisoned them with shade. Wars ensued that have lasted hundreds of millions of years. Trees of many kinds arose and struggled with each other to be taller. Any species that does not participate in battle loses out in the darkness of the understory—any species except a few. Those in the clan of the sandalwood evolved a way out of the darkness. They survived by stealing from the trees what they had spent their tall stems fighting for.

Sandalwood discovered deceit. Its roots kissed the roots of trees and slipped inside them to steal. But sandalwood still needed to grow up a little and put out a few green leaves to have enough sugar to thrive. And then came mistletoes. Mistletoe is a common name for several independent lineages descended from sandalwood. Like their ancestors, mistletoe species sink their roots into trees. Unlike those ancestors, they do so in the sky.

The story continues to explain how mistletoe developed its way of reproducing in the treetops. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Darwin Bell)

This custom Christmas card was sent out by escape artist, illusionist, and debunker Harry Houdini around 1920 or so. There’s another of his cards at Letters of Note. Link

(Image source: Houdini Himself)

No question, Atari would have been a great gift for you in 1981. I did get you a skateboard. As you skated around your neighborhood that spring you met your best friend for life, Victor. You ran over the girl you’d eventually bring to your senior prom, Dominique. If you’d spent all that time indoors playing Atari, maybe your life wouldn’t have taken these turns. Sometimes I’m not able to give children the gift they want, but I can give them a gift they’ll use and enjoy that is maybe the perfect gift for them at that moment. Part of believing in the spirit of the Holidays is trusting in that spirit.

Read more at The Hairpin. Link

Zach Braff and Donald Faison from the TV show Scrubs recorded a Christmas song and uploaded it to YouTube this morning as a Christmas greeting. -via reddit

Four-year-old Dominic McCracken-Bruce and his 2-year-old brother Tyson only asked for one thing for Christmas -their Mommy. Army Reserve Capt. Dawn McCracken-Bruce was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait for the past nine months. When she came home for the holidays, she and her husband decided to surprise the boys during their visit with Santa Claus at the Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh. See the video at WTAE. Link -via Fark

Yesterday, I posted Anthony Bordain’s great Krampus Carol and now for those of you who want a terrifying reminder of the evil Christmas character inside your own home, you can always look to this great doll from Shove Mink of Croshame. While the link doesn’t have any directions to make your own, the pictures can still provide you with a good starting point if you’re already a skilled crocheter.

Link Via Laughing Squid

If you love Christmas animations, but start to feel like they’re a little too old and cliched, here’s the real reason why intrepid animators never update them to fit in with modern times.

Link Via Laughing Squid

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If you’re one of the many people who has become obsessed with Skyrim, but your wife keeps insisting that you put up the Christmas lights, what do you do? Why make Skyrim-themed lights of course!

Via BuzzFeed

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In honor of all of the great action movies that take place on Christmas, 39 Degrees brings you Gundog, the greatest action movie animal of all time.

Via BuzzFeed

Image: Donna Stolz/University of Pittsburgh/Nikon Small World

What better way to say Merry Christmas than with this fantastic wreath made from collage images of mammalian cells by biologist Donna Beer Stolz (what wonderful middle name!) of University of Pittsburgh? She won 19th place at the 2011 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.

Previously on Neatorama: Lives Within a Drop of Water and Making the Ordinary, Extraordinary (images from the Nikon Small World)

Will Santa be confused by where to put the presents? No.

Kudos to Ryan Kelly, Jason Roberts and Chris Schuster, the brilliant crafters responsible for this Christmas tree.

-via Super Punch

UPDATE 12/25/11: Ryan emailed me with more information and pictures. You can find them below the jump.

Ryan writes:

Basically, it’s our artificial tree which comes apart in three sections. The top section is suspended from the ceiling by an adhesive hook so it simply hangs downwards. The other two sections are connected and placed upside down on the floor – the tricky part is that the branches are meant to be kept extended out by gravity, so there is fishing line attached between each branch and what is usually the base of the tree, pulling the branches up towards the ceiling.

We then got two sets of rope lights (blue and red as we couldn’t find orange). We laid the red out in a tight circle around the tree on the floor. The blue was wrapped in a circle, scotch taped to hold together, and then hung on to more adhesive hooks on the ceiling. Then we cut two circles of black poster board and placed these beneath the rope light rings to give them the feeling of holes. You barely see the black with all the branches and the portals lit up so it plays fairly well.

Finally, the hanging top piece didn’t have branches that extended all the way up to the ceiling, so to cover the obvious gap we bought some artificial garland and wrapped that around it to match up with the ceiling. That way it looks like the tree continues up into the surface.

With a little bit of finessing, you can hide any of the obvious gaps and have one seamless tree.

Mike Maihack of Cow Shell Graphics drew this fabulous Christmas comic featuring Batgirl and Supergirl's plan to bring holiday festivities to crime fighting. Love the pom-poms on Batgirls' ears! Link - via Nerd Approved

So that’s how the big guy in the red suit delivers all those toys in one night! I wonder if he happens to be friends with a Time Lord, and what other tricks does he have up his sleeve, say for those on his naughty list? The world may never know…

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Here’s a silly little animated short for all you Team Fortress fans out there, starring everyone’s favorite firebug Rudolph! Watch as he tries to burn the competition, and sing along as he is admonished for being such a useless class! Merry multiplayer mayhem to all, and to all a good fight!

–via Ology

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Sometimes great ideas go terribly wrong, especially when it comes to Christmas specials. For some reason, people tend to drop the ball when writing these holiday specials, and the results are hilariously bad.

While I disagree with the Rankin Bass specials being on this list, I will be the first to admit that they are a bit hokey by today’s standards, but I have a special place in my heart for all things stop motion so meh.

The rest of the specials definitely belong on this list, and some of them are so bad they serve to dampen my Christmas spirit, like the Larry The Cable Guy travesty above. Watch them with good humor, and wonder just what they were thinking when they made these stinkers!

–via ToplessRobot

Ben Lean recorded these scenes in Toronto December 16-18 and presents the shopping frenzy in time-lapse for your enjoyment. Aren’t you glad you’re through with Christmas shopping? What -you aren’t? Ha! -via Nag on the Lake

The flagpole scene from the movie A Christmas Story is recreated by hotdogs! Don’t miss the surprise ending. -via The Daily What

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You may recall Teddy’s earlier video where he eats corn, but here he is getting into the holiday spirit with a delicious Christmas cookie.

Via I Can Has Cheezburger

While Christmas would certainly be a lot more simple with a Santa Dalek, I don’t know that I’d consider it “saving” the holiday when they’ve exterminated everyone.

Link Via Geeks Are Sexy

Cats get a bad rap for not getting in to the the holiday spirit, but plenty of felines do have a soft spot for the holiday. In fact, BuzzFeed has a great collection of pictures of kitties celebrating Christmas. From cats climbing Christmas trees to kittens playing with presents, the pictures are all simply adorable.

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Here’s another snowman crime scene sure to make Calvin and Hobbes very happy. They’re impaled on the Ellifrett Structure at the University of Wyoming, and I can’t think of a more festive way to greet the students during the holidays, aside from staging a Santa Claus crash scene on the football field!

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The holidays are in full swing, and everyone wants to share good tidings with one another in their own unique way via the interwebs. The animators in this group are no different, and they have a particularly endearing way of showing their love for the holidays.

Enjoy this adorable short by Muckpuddy Animation of New Zealand, and head to the link to check out the other three shorts that are as stylishly diverse as they are charming.

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The Addis family loves Legos…a lot. As in, this 100,000 brick Santa Dalek isn’t their only massive Christmas creation. Every year they make an equally impressive creation ranging from giant nutcrackers to mail boxes to angels. This year’s Dalek is certainly my personal favorite, but the rest are definitely worth a look.

Link Via BuzzFeed

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I’m not sure how many No Reservations fans we have here at Neatorama, but if you caught Bordain’s Christmas special, you’ll not that this animation was lacking from the final cut. That’s because executives found it a bit too creepy. Personally, I found the Samantha Brown scene to be far, far more terrifying than this animation, but she gives me the creeps anyway.

Via Laughing Squid

To be fair, not all of these adorable treats are all that Christmasy, but those that are will certainly put a holiday smile on your face.

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I would love having one of these in my house except that I couldn’t help but feel like I was counting down the days to my own EXTERMINATion rather than Christmas.

Link Via Craftzine

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While that headline could be used for an article about modern-day Scrooges, I meant it quite literally. This fat kitty hates being dressed as Santa and its reactions are quite funny.

Via BuzzFeed

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The guys from Epic Meal Time are no strangers to bacon, in fact, it’s safe to say that their entire career rests on the back of those sizzling strips of pork.

But this time they have stepped up their game to an epic level, creating this monster Christmas tree made from over 2000 pieces of bacon, and registering at a whopping 272,000 calories! See if you can stomach this NSFW foray into culinary insanity.

–via GeeksAreSexy

Concluding our look back at retro Christmas wishes, we check out the groovy gear people were digging back in 1975. Unlike previous decades, which were mostly about the toys, this one’s all about stylin’ and profilin’. And they even included the grown folks in this gallery of fashion regret, so take a gander and see what people put on their lists over 35 years ago. Pant sets FTW!

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In full makeup, YouTube user AwakenRain looks just like a cat. But that’s not what’s so unsettling about this video. It’s that she sounds just like a cat at the same time.

-via Fashionably Geek

Yeah, we could put up some pretty light display this year. But why bother? It’s a lot of work, and for what? Joe in Tuscaloosa, Alabama spotted this expression of apathy in his neighborhood.

Link -via Blame It on the Voices

The blog Hey! Look at My Toys! is hosting a contest for Christmas nativity scenes made from toys and action figures. The nine finalists are presented for voting. At first, I wanted to use a picture of the scene featuring a unicorn, then the one with Pee Wee Herman as Joseph, but then I saw this one by Nathan N. See them all at the site. Link -via Unreality magazine

Darren Hayes shares the story of a truly memorable Christmas from his childhood. He grew up to form half the musical duo Savage Garden. The song is the instrumental version of “Bloodstained Heart” from his latest album Secret Codes and Battleships. Link -via Laughing Squid

Most of the dogs in this gallery have an expression on their face that says “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?”, and all this dressing up business is clearly giving them a case of the holiday blues. Owners, don’t be surprised if these dogs have left some presents of their own in your shoes!

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It’s almost Christmas, so the critters from the Queens Zoo and Prospect Park Zoo in New York have started celebrating! The dwarf mongooses were given brightly wrapped mealworm treats, and the Andean bears were given packages full of a nutty treat, and I think it’s safe to say they won’t be needing gift receipts!

–via Gothamist

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Hear the future of synth music now, from this emerging powerhouse duo Robotic Drummer and HP Scanner! Little Drummer Boy comes alive with the office friendly sounds of Christmas, and makes you wonder “what are these two going to play next?”

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what other tunes they’ll be programmed to perform, but for now enjoy the song that’s sure to become the new Robanukah anthem!

–via Geekologie

Is Santa an elitist grouch who doesn't "do poor countries"? That's the swipe that UNICEF's new Christmas seems to say!

A new UNICEF-Sweden commercial is taking a swipe at Santa Claus. In the video [...], Santa begins by laughing at his desk while he examines toys. Then he picks up a box filled with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) medical supplies — malaria tablets, rehydration bags, polio vaccines — destined for an impoverished country. Santa scoffs: "All this stuff goes to poor kids, like in Africa?" Santa then looks at a gift card the United Nations relief organization sends to people when someone makes a donation in their name. "What am I supposed to say when I give this out? 'Here's a picture of the gift you never got?' Come on. I don't do poor countries."

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The Joy of Tech sorts out the folks who shop -or don’t- for Christmas gifts. You can see a larger version at the site if the print is too small here. Which one are you? Link -via Nag on the Lake