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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!
Comments Off 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.
Comments Off 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.
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.
Comments Off 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
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!
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
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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!
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
Comments Off 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."
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
There’s a danger in buying Christmas gifts without thinking of what they really mean. You might be surprised at some of the available gifts that send an awful message! Our own Jill Harness rounded up some of the strangest items advertised as Christmas gifts that might ruin a relationship because of the implied message behind them. And if you were to receive one of these, at least you know how much they really care. Pictured is a belly button brush -just what Mom always wanted. Link
These would be perfect toppers for children’s Christmas presents! For a project dubbed “Ribbonesia”, an artist named Baku Maeda arranged ribbons so that they look like different animals.
Link -via Dude Craft | Artist’s Website | Photo: Kei Furuse
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
It’s a Wonderful Life is on the American Film Institute’s list of “100 Greatest Movies Ever made” (coming in at #11) and was voted the #1 spot on the list of “Most Inspiring Movies of All-Time.” To all of us now, the film seems as much a part of the Christmas season as Santa Claus, egg nog, gift giving, and kissing under the mistletoe. But much like The Wizard of Oz and Citizen Kane, the most beloved Christmas movie of all time was a disappointing box office flop when it was first released. In fact, It’s a Wonderful Life may just have sailed away, out of our collective consciousnesses, but for television and the magic of reruns.
It wasn’t actually until the 1970s, almost 30 years after its theater debut, that It’s a Wonderful Life became the cultural icon it now is. The film’s copyright protection ended and it fell into the public domain in 1974, so stations could air it for free. Repeated airings at Christmas time in the ’70s caused millions and millions of movie fans to fall in love with this now-considered “timeless classic.”
Republic Pictures restored its copyright claim to the film in 1993, with exclusive video rights included. At present, it can only be shown on the NBC-TV network.
Directed by the wonderful Frank Capra, It’s a Wonderful Life had its official debut on December 20, 1946, and going into limited release just five days before Christmas. It didn’t go into general release until July of 1947. One has to wonder at the logic of the distributors of the film. Why put an obvious “Christmassy” film into general release after the holiday? Nowadays, that would be rather like releasing one of the Halloween films in November or the film Valentine’s Day in March. What the heck were these guys thinking?
It’s a Wonderful Life also faced an even-bigger obstacle regarding its release. It was almost completely overshadowed by another film called The Best Years of Our Lives. An indisputably beautiful, touching film, The Best Years of Our Lives was a salute to returning World War II veterans. The film showed how each one dealt with life after war. The United States, of course, still had war on its mind, and this mindset probably caused the discerning movie-goer of 1946-47 to opt for The Best Years of Our Lives and neglect It’s a Wonderful Life.
Critics, too, pretty much dismissed the film upon its release; reviews were decidedly mixed. It’s a Wonderful Life did garner five Oscar nominations, but it was shut out at the awards ceremony.
Jimmy Stewart was not the first choice to play the film’s lead, perennial All-American George Bailey. (Stewart has called George Bailey his all-time favorite role.) The studio very much wanted Cary Grant, but fate, as is its want, intervened, and Stewart, a true screen legend, was given his quintessential role. Henry Fonda was also in the running for the lead role (he would have made a perfect George Bailey, too).
Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers also was offered the female lead as Mary Bailey, George’s devoted wife (director Capra’s perennial favorite leading lady, Jean Arthur, was unavailable). But Ginger was set to do a Broadway play and gave the offer a thumbs down. She considered the story “too bland.” Ginger never quite forgave herself for this monumental error in judgement, and Donna Reed got the part.
more …
There is something very wrong with Santa’s reindeer, like rabies or some sort of nerve related affliction, because they’re twitching out all over the place in these creepy cute animated GIFs by Mel Roach.
They’re perfect for watching, looking at, or just plain ignoring as they flail around on your screen. Happy holidays!
Link –via TheMarySue
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Alan Sailer is no stranger to shooting things, both with a pellet gun and a camera, but this time around he’s making a pretty little mess in his series called The War On Christmas, which features Christmas ornaments frozen in time as they explode in a million shiny little pieces.
These ornaments look so cool being blasted that i’m tempted to take a few off my own tree and blow them to smithereens!
Link –via Flavorwire
Christmas is great, but it certainly seems weird to get a tattoo for a holiday as it only comes around once a year. But I guess not everyone agrees because there are obviously enough weird Christmas tattoos for Oddee to have collected a top 10 list of them.
Some
needy people are getting a nice Christmas surprise this year: anonymous
"layaway angels" have been donating money to pay off layaway
accounts in stores from all around the country:
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Dianna Gee says layaway angels are visiting its stores "from coast to coast." At a Haleyville, Ala., Walmart, a man donated $11,000 to pay the accounts of 75 families.
The phenomenon apparently began three weeks ago when a woman paid off three layaway charges at a Grand Rapids, Mich., Kmart. Media coverage prompted a slew of copycat givers.Generosity can be contagious, says Lisa Dietlin, a Chicago philanthropic adviser. After years of austerity, people are "knocking the economy in the eye and deciding not to be stingy this year," she says.
Last Friday, a man walked into a Hayward, Calif., Kmart with $10,000 cash to pay down layaway accounts. He used $9,800 on 63 accounts and dropped the remaining $200 in a Salvation Army kettle as he left the store.
Assistant store manager Darlene Beverly called some of the recipients. "Some scream, some holler — with joy, of course," she says. "They cry big time."
Judy Keen of USA Today has the story: Link | Photo: KSDK
This Christmas Twaggie was illustrated by artist Ingrid Doering from a Tweet by @1surlygurl. You have to feel sorry for Santa Claus -especially if you are Santa! Link
John Byrne was installing a new central heating unit in his home in Dublin in 1992 when he found a letter in the fireplace. It was a little scorched, but still readable.
On Christmas Eve 1911, a brother and sister, who signed their names, “A or H Howard”, penned their personally designed letter to Santa with their requests for gifts and a good luck message at their home in Oaklands Terrace, Terenure (or Terurnure, as the children spelled it) in Dublin.
They placed it in the chimney of the fireplace in the front bedroom so that Santa would see it as he made his way into the Howard household in the early hours of the morning.
A check of the 1911 census lead Byrne to believe the children were 10-year-old Hannah Howard and her seven-year-old brother Fred, who lived at the address with their parents and older sister. Link -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Eric Luke)
While you’re enjoying the holidays with family and friends, remember the many people who have to work straight through because it’s necessary. ZDoggMD and Dr. Harry made a video about what Christmas is like for medical folks, to the tune of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Link -Thanks, Doc!
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