HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM REAL ART
Here, Have a Shitload of Cool Xmas Vids!

I'm hitting the road for Houston early tomorrow, so this is going to be my last post until the 27th or so. Until then, I'm leaving you with plenty of time wasting Christmas videos, with both old and recent favorites. My favorites, that is, but I'm sure you'll like 'em, too. So, without any further ado, let's go to the links...

First up, Snow Miser's theme song from Rankin-Bass' The Year without a Santa Claus. Click here for frozen Christmas merriment!



And what would a Snow Miser performance be without hearing from his grumpy brother, Heat Miser? Click here for some stop-action Christmas anger!



Next, a video for the song that RetroCRUSH called "the worst Christmas song of all time," Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime." I strongly disagree with RetroCRUSH, but couldn't help but wonder why all the reasons they offer for it being the worst are pretty much the things I like about the song. Ah well. To each his own. Click here for Paul in a silly Yuletide mood.



And what would a Paul McCartney performance be without hearing from his grumpy brother John Lennon? Click here for a clever posthumous video for "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)."



And while we're dealing with 60s Brit rockers, I might as well hook you up with the Kinks' "Father Christmas," a marvelous latter-day offering from the band, bashing the consumerism that's come to nearly drown out traditional messages of peace and love. Click here for the video.



Remember Billy Squier? I sure do, and I also remember him rocking out for Christmas back in the early 80s with the original MTV VJ's. For me, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the cheesiness, the video holds up well. Click here for Billy Squier's "Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You."



Here's yet another Brit Rocker, one of my faves Greg Lake of the prog-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, insisting, in pleasant song form, that Father Christmas (the English Santa Claus) actually exists! That, and video imagery that suggests that Israelis and Palestinians can make peace, if only they'd celebrate Christmas instead of Hannukah and Ramadan. Click here for "I Believe in Father Christmas."



Ach! Too many Brits for Christmas! But then, I've heard a compelling argument that the Victorian era English pretty much shored up our current understanding of how to celebrate the holiday, what with Dickens and all. Nonetheless, it's time for more Americans. Rolling back again to the early MTV era provides one of my favorite Christmas rock songs, the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping." I was unable to find on Youtube an actual band video for the song, but I did find an amateur thingy that a teenaged girl made in her bedroom at home, which, once you've seen it and understand what I mean, is somehow appropriate. At any rate, you get to hear the song...

Click here for the video.



How about a Brit and an American together? Everybody loves David Bowie and Bing Crosby! Rumor has it that after they shot this performance of "Little Drummer Boy" they went to a sleazy Los Angeles motel and had gay glam-rock sex for hours on end. Who knew? Click here for some intergenerational Christmas love.



Enough of the music videos. How about some story? How about some scatological humor? How about a little South Park? Click here for the original "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" episode in full. Just for shits and giggles.

Howdy ho!



And finally, as a nod to all the other holidays besides Christmas celebrated around this time of year, I give you the classic Seinfeld episode "The Strike Festivus." Okay, I know it's a fictional holiday, but it's well worth watching, especially if you've never seen it. Click here for Festivus.



Okay, that's all for this time, except for this shitty but fun "Decorate a Christmas Tree" site, a very nice time-waster. Okay, now, for real, that's all for this time. Oh, except for the old great Christmas poem, "A Visit from Saint Nick," you know, the one that starts "Twas the night before Christmas..." Okay, NOW, for real, that's all for this time.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a goodnight! God bless us, everyone! Peace on Earth! And all that jazz...

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