Countdown to Christmas (2011)

It’s not quite feeling like winter the past couple of days.  Oh well.

From Time.com: “8 Ways to Better Enjoy the Nutcracker” – good tips, actually.

Funny thing about this time of year: people can get a little crazy about the religion thing; yes, it is a Christmas tree, not a “holiday tree” and, sure, secular Christmas would probably bother those who want to make it solely about the religious aspect.  And, sometimes, I find the rabid atheists, who seem to want us to be atheist, get a little crazy in wanting to avoid all overt religious demonstration.  And, it doesn’t help that, regardless of the holiday spirit or timing, prejudices become real obstacles anyway.   So, I had to admire this post over at Time.com, by Tim Padgett:

Before [author Christopher] Hitchens died at 62 from esophageal cancer, he made a point of declaring he was certain no heaven awaited him. But that swipe at the faithful always misses the point. Most of us don’t believe in God because we think it’s a ticket to heaven. Rather, our belief in God — our belief in the living ideal of ourselves, which is something even atheists ponder — instills in us a faith that in the end, light always defeats darkness (which is how people get through the wars and natural disasters I cover). That does make us open to the possibility of the hereafter — but more important, it gives us purposeful inspiration to make the here and now better.

With all due respect to the memory of Christopher Hitchens, making the here and now better would be difficult without religion. But it’s also hard enough without the un-Christian antics of people like David Caton [the head of the Florida Family Association whose ridiculous campaign encouraged companies like Lowe’s to pull their ads from the reality show, “All-American Muslim” on TLC]. As Christmas ought to remind us.

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (2011)

This cold spell is making it feel a lot like Christmas in the city.

I am also in incredible denial that 2011 is about to end.

Jimmy Fallon hosted “Saturday Night Live” last night. His appearance was (a) kind of funny, but there were a couple of pointless and not good sketches, and I didn’t watch the whole thing.

But: (b) the Weekend Update Joke-Off was great – Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon vs. Seth Myers and Amy Poehler!

Check out this post over at “Entertainment Weekly”: a photo of Jinx, in the G.I. movie sequel, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” along with an embedded video of Jinx’s appearance in the cartoon movie. I have a weird feeling about this, I must say, because that cartoon movie was hilariously ridiculous and dramatic all at once and so the idea of Jinx in the live-action one partly intrigues me (not that I ever got around to watching the original G.I. live-action movie, so watching a sequel doesn’t quite have an appeal for me).

Jinx is an Asian American serving with the Joes, but I had no idea that her comic book version is a little different from her cartoon movie version. Nonetheless:

(1) seeing GI Joe reruns from the 1980’s on the HUB on cable is strangely entertaining – 1980’s redux!;

(2) they’re really making a sequel to that live action GI Joe movie? Really?; and

(3) for the sequel, they’re really taking a character from the cartoon movie, and made her sexier than she was in the cartoon. (for box office purposes, of course; not like we really want more camp for the Joes).

Seeing the trailer for the “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” movie was odd, because it seems to be a plot taken out of the A-Team (and a plot that “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” is also doing; and yes, I do want to see the latest Mission Impossible movie): the Joes have been accused of a crime that they did not commit. Aww. The level of camp in this trailer is escalating with every moment or scene; it such such eye-rolling camp that I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be good. I’ll keep my ridiculous 1980’s stuff, thanks…

But, really: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is in this movie?

Also, it’s not really Christmas until I’ve seen a “Nutcracker” somewhere on tv. Always a weird fun…

An early wish for 2012 (besides avoiding the Mayan prediction of the endtimes and continuing the perpetual wish for world peace, which ain’t happening anyway): please don’t let “The Dark Knight Rises” suck.