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Even though its December 19th already, I figured that many of you could use some gift ideas as you are frantically running around with the "oh crap, what do I get him/her" mindset. So here we go:

1. Netflix Subscription.

If your gift-getter is a movie watcher, this is the ideal gift for them. Giles received this gift two years ago for Christmas and we still have the same account. Options are available ranging from 1 month (as little as $9) up to a year. You can also consider giving packages with more than 1 movie-at-a-time. And for those who use the internet, you might not have known that Netflix gives you hours each month to watch videos for free online based upon the amount of your monthly bill. So you give them a double gift by getting them a subscription to a service that is leaps and bounds better than Blockbuster (both in the store and online) and your local movie rental hut.

Check it out here.

2. Slingbox

This is another gift of a bit higher price range that is perfect for the technology-savvy family member or friend. Verions of the Slingbox plug into your television and other media outlets and let you stream your live entertainment to the web where you can watch on your laptop or mobile phone. The price ranges for these are in the three-digits, however, so it depends on how much you like the person.

Check it out here.

3. Magazine Subscriptions

Despite our digital age, magazines are still great gifts for nearly everyone on your list. Whether it be Home and Gardens or Game Informer, ESPN the Magazine or Oprah, somebody could use a year subscription. And it's a great excuse for not having a gift in time.

Those are the ones that come to mind from me. What great ideas are you willing to share?

Sorry to neglect you, the "faithful reader," these past few days. Unfortunately the snow storms caused a severe disruption of weekend plans and we have been playing catch-up for a few days.

The good news? We have a sweet amount of snow! Check this picture out.
That was what it looked like on Sunday morning. I shoveled snow Sunday afternoon for about an hour and a half. Good fun (honestly, I do enjoy the snow).

But it's off to bed now, since I'm freelancing with a friend as a production assistant right now and it's a busy schedule. Busy = money = good, however.

It's your feast day, St. Nicholas! Too bad nobody in the US has any frickin' clue who you are. So I thought I'd post a few sentences on my blog about you, if you don't mind. And if you do, well, let's be honest, you're dead so you will not be shooting me an email complaint.

Basically St. Nicholas was a Bishop in Turkey in the third century and he had a reputation for secret gift-giving. He was never canonized (made into a saint) but is remembered as such by people all over the European world. The tradition eventually developed where children would leave socks (stockings) outside on the night of December 5 and St. Nick would come by and drop gifts in them for the children. So you can pick up on that tradition.

His feast day in the Christian calendar in December 6th, several weeks before Christmas. In the Netherlands and Belgium he is called "Sinterklaas" and this tradition came over with Dutch immigrants to New York City during the American colonial period. It is believed that this tradition was expanded and became prominent as Santa Claus as an acceptable non-English tradition in the newly-formed United States. A good list of the stories and ideas that became today's "Santa Claus" is in the American origins section of his Wikipedia article.

My basic point in sharing this Wiki's worth of knowledge is simply this: we Americans do a great job destroying historical/mythical characters. Can you imagine an old, white-bearded man in a bishop's cloak drinking a Coca-Cola with polar bears? Didn't think so.

Just keep in mind the historical importance of the Christian calendar from time to time and check out the lesser feasts and festivals on Wikipedia or other sources: you can learn a lot about church history and heritage!

Here's my letter to Santa this year:

So Santa. Or "Rich Santa," as I have dubbed your alter-ego. There's some stuff I want. Kinda need, in a sense but definitely want. First of all, I need a car. Just a beater is fine, a 10-15 year old set of wheels that can get me places, but yeah, I need one of those. If you're going to get me a car, though, you might as well get something half-decent, like the Ford Focus with Sync in it. Just to be cool.

Secondly, Giles and I need laptops. Well, "want/need" in this case. We can do without. But MacBook Pros would be good. Hint hint.

We need a home server after the debacles* with hard drives of late. This is a nice one.

At some point we're going to need a new television, seeing as how our 19 incher's color is slowly becoming 100% red (not sure how, but it is). So why not go with this one as an adequate replacement?

While you are at it, you might as well get a second smaller television for our office.

As for odds and ends, Parallels would be preferred for the XP, a high-speed printer/scanner would be great to clear out the closet worth of documents, and probably some cash too would be good.

Give my people a call when you've got it all together and we'll set up a drop date. I'm free on Wednesday...two business days enough for you?

*When I say debacle, I mean it. Three hard drives not being used because my boxes reject them like Paris Hilton rejects food. It's bad. Only 200 gbs of music, videos and documents galore. Fun.

First off, we set up our Christmas tree tonight. Photos are here. You can also find photos from our recent visit to my sister's house here. Those are great (we babysat for her kids).

Hope you enjoy them.

Because of the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas CD. Seriously kids, think about it.

If you can't tell, my new theme is a kind suggestion to the new laptop I hope is under the Christmas tree. :-)

Feel free to have one shipped to my place. Or if you'd like, donate the money via PayPal (on the right side of the page). Either of those works.

Marty's thoughts on this issue are quite similar to my own. His thoughts are more thorough, however, and I suggest you read them.After celebrating Christmas and getting married, I may post more thoughts on the issue.

I wrote this tongue and cheek about a month ago. Feel free to leave your comments here as well.

Sorry guys. Christmas music is evil. I'm sorry to make you sad, Anna. And Megan, come on, sacred? Not sure that I'd classify Transiberian Orchestra or Harry Connick Jr. as "sacred." But let's consider all of the reasons why Christmas music is evil.

1. There are approximately 20 Christmas songs in the world. Each of these have now been recorded by EVERY pop singer as well as those classified as "adult contemporary" and played on any station called Lite FM and that features Delilah's radio show.

2. Some radio stations in some cities went "all Christmas" after Halloween. No excuse.

3. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Grant do not make me think of family. The first two think of "skanky hos" and the third about cheating adults. I'm sure that if they were members of my family-get-togethers on Christmas, we wouldn't be all warm and cuddly by the fire. Skank punching would definitely ensue.

4. "Let it Snow" should only be played in states/regions that actually snow around Christmastime. When I was in Atlanta last week and the song was on the radio, it was 70 degrees outside. Right. "Let it Snow."

5. Santa Claus is not cute and friendly. He is straight up creepy. Anybody else know when you're asleep and when you're awake, besides, say, those you live with? And come on, who puts coal in your socks? I don't want some creepy old immortal man punishing and rewarding my kids. What if he was having a bad day? Or he ran out of coal and had to resort to doling out...head lice? Fun. Lots of fun.

6. Finally, Christmas is a holy day. Not a day to listen to Michael Buble sing about making snowmen. And, much as I might enjoy listening to Mannheim Steamroller, I'd rather be having a more traditional Christian Christmas. Or even more traditional Old-school European one. When it comes right down to it, Bing Crosby (much as I love him) doesn't make or break Christmas for me.

7. The Chipmunk Christmas Album. Evil. Pure Evil. If I had a copy right now, I would light it on fire.