It feels like it’s been too long, but really, it’s only been two years since my last 50 Favorite Films. This is my biennial tradition that, honestly, I’ve been doing offline for about 30 years, but now is available for online navel gazing. You can check out the 2012, 2014, and 2016 editions should you care to. For those who are interesting in how I sort films based on criteria of quality, watchability, and personal…
I mean, yes, they’re biased, but 20th Century Fox knows their back catalog of movies and they know Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Behold! Admit it, you’ll watch this before you break open the myrrh.
It has come to my attention that some people out there on the Interwebs still cling to the notion that Die Hard, the celebrated action film starring Bruce Willis, is not a Christmas movie. Look, Gremlins counts as a Christmas movie, Edward Scissorhands counts as a Christmas movie, and –Lord help us all– Santa Claus Conquers the Martians counts as a Christmas movie. So yes, “the Christmas episode” of action movies does indeed count as…
Here at the home stretch, I figured it was a good time to feature Brian Gordon and his gift of validation to parents everywhere, Fowl Language. Don’t forget the bonus panel! And if you enjoy his work, consider supporting him and his ducklings via Patreon. Welcome Yule! (and I hope you all get some sleep)
Who doesn’t like caroling? And who doesn’t William Shakespeare? Well, quite a few people in both camps, actually… but let them stew in their camps like Achilles in his tent. If you, like me, think that those are two great tastes that go great together, Mya Gosling, the creator of Good Tickle Brain, gets you. More importantly, she has devised Shakespearean Christmas Carols not once, nor twice, but thrice, and, um tetralogically? Really, it’s like all…
Last year, I went with videos. In this year’s run-up to everyone’s favorite solstice, I figured I’d go with comics. So let’s kick off the week with one of my favorite online comics, XKCD, where he explores the reason for the season, XKCD-style.
While not a secret, I don’t post too much about being a board gamer here, but one of the things I’m most looking forward to during this season of spending time with family and friends is playing a few board games — including some that have not “hit the table” in a while. I also generally get a game we can play as a family each Christmas (the previous ones, Feuerdrachen and Drachenturm, have been…
If you checked out my earlier post, you know that I’m readying the 2018 edition of my favorite films. I always add a new crop of films to the sort every time, but I also find time to re-watch some of the old films… and Thanksgiving weekend proved to be a great time to do so. One of the films was the delightful modern fantasy, Field of Dreams. Sharp-eyed readers will recall that it ranked #29…
With a family full of librarians, archivists, and history buffs, it comes as no surprise we’re all fans of used book stores. Close to home, the long-standing Idle Times Books in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC is set to change owners (and also change names) as Paul Schwarztman explains in this piece from the Washington Post.
I have a number of rituals at the end of the year. One of them is to do some cleaning and decluttering. I always mean to do “Spring cleaning” around Spring, but it doesn’t always happen that way. Invariably, this means getting rid of a bunch of old boxes and such. Also invariably, I’m deluged by a bunch more boxes from holiday deliveries. I know I’m not alone. How do all of us deal with…