Pen-Elayne on the Web

Season's Linkings

Happy Christmas, to those approximately 96% of you out there (at least in this country, and according to FOX which is apparently pissed at your religious tolerance as well) who celebrate the day. Anyone who's actually reading blogs today might wish to check back here from time to time, as I'll try to update this entry if I find any more cool or interesting Christmas-related links.

We start with Google's greeting; be sure to click on the link:

Click on these links to see the unfolding logos from Google past: the alien, the Independence Day celebration, the Summer Olympics in Sydney, the Winter Olympics in 2000, and past Christmastime ones here and here.

I saw another animated version of A Christmas Carol yesterday for the first time. It was a train wreck of a movie. I wish I could sponge away the dialogue from my brain. Why don't these people understand that what makes the story so powerful is Dickens' writing itself? You ignore his words at your peril; without that facility of language, the story becomes a fairly pedestrian tale about a not-that-old guy pining for his lost love who can't understand why people don't like him, because he's a kind but sober fellow who doesn't see the point in being impractical. After all, we know he's kind because he cherishes the mice who are apparently the real stars of the movie. Yes, mice. What was the director smoking? The animation is in similar style to The First Snow of Winter, a movie I'd dearly love to catch on TV again because, hey, where else are you going to get a duck, a vole, and a herd of sheep doing Riverdance?, but whereas that one was clever this cartoon is just tedious, right on through to Kate Winslet's Belle singing about how she should never have left Ebenezer before their touching reunion at the end, bleagh. Would they know the weight and length of the strong coil they've left their audience? It is a ponderous movie. Update: More from Mark Evanier, who talks about Christmas Carols here and here and, damn him, links to an adaptation featuring animated guinea pigs.

Oddly, Operation Santa Claus doesn't have its own website, but you can read all about it at Sharon Glassman's Love, Santa site. Here are a couple other reviews of this annual tradition begun by the NY Post Office's main branch about a block or two from where I work. And there's even an Op SC in the OC!

Looking for some leisure activity? Why not go Elf Bowling? Don't worry, contrary to rumor there's no virus in the program. And if you like it, you can then go on to Elf Bowl 2: Elves in Paradise (This time it's personal) then Elf Bowling 3 and yes, there's even a fourth version. Who's your daddy, Santa? Trish Wilson has some other games, including that brilliantly sick snow globe that I can't resist shaking (I even got two of the characters into a fight once!).

Here are some holiday-themed stats from Maritz Research on Americans' travel and dining plans (we're homebodies ourselves), money spent on travel (including a gender gap), and gift-giving and bonus trends in the workplace.

Lastly, here's this year's Christmas message from the head of the Church of England, who speaks of the soldiers in Iraq and offers condolences to the bereaved, as well as emphasizing the importance of teamwork. You can find a sum-up on this page as well. It's been a tough year for Her Maj, as was last year.