Season's greetings and pass the remote.

Ho ho ho. Its Wednesday, December 14, 2011, I have no idea what's going on with blogger, and this is The Side. Something's up with the interface, so the next few postings may be a bit odd as I figure everything out. Most likely, its due to me using the old interface which I like and I don't think its going to be around much longer. Looks like I'm back on the learning curve.

Last year, I did two weeks of posts about Halloween, which was a lot of fun. Starting off today, I'll be doing the same for Christmas. Starting things off with what usually gets me into the holiday spirit: TV specials!

TELEVISION!

MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN. Got to start off with this classic. Sure, I've seen it nearly every year, but its cute story and message about the meaning and spirit of Christmas is timeless and fun. I'm a bit bummed out that they've already showed this on TV and I wasn't home, so I'm hoping they'll show it again.

RUDOLF THE RED-NOSED REINDEER. I'm a big fan of Yukon Cornelius. He's the person who taught me that Bumbles bounce. The abominable snowman used to scare the heck out of me when I was a kid, especially the part when he looked over the mountain range. There was actually a news story that this special promoted bullying. Seems some folks haven't seen this special in a while.

GARFIELD CHRISTMAS. I can't remember the last time this was on TV, but its great. Garfield, Jon, and Odie go see Jon's family on the farm. The writing is sharp and clever. It was a great fun. There were a bunch of really great Garfield specials back when I was a kid and I'm pretty sure they'd hold up just fine. Now, if only they'd get shown on TV.

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. "Ker-plunk?" "Ker-plooey." I absolutely loved this one. A town builds a clock that plays music in hopes of getting Santa to come, and a little mouse breaks it because he wanted to see how it works. There's a big effort to fix the clock in time. I'm pretty sure this was one of the Rankin/Bass specials, and those were always great.

THE GRINCH THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS. Can't forget this one. Songs everyone remembers. That dog with the big antler tied to his head still amuses me. Never really watched the Jim carrey movie of this because the cartoon captures everything so well in a short, well done, and nowhere near as obnoxious package.

MUSIC!

Starting us off with one of my favorites from when I was a kid.



Time to head out to the kids' Christmas show at show. See y'all Friday.