Open Thread for December 24, 2010

Merry Federal Holiday!

Discussions so tangential,
Discussions so tangential,
Discussions so tan-gen-TIAL
In this … Open Thread!

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Many of us are celebrating with family, so the Thread capper will be light this week. Two items, though:

First, round two of the Overthinking (Tw)it T-shirt giveaway is still underway. Tweet your favorite 2010 post to @overthinkingit with the hashtag #otis and you’re entered in a drawing to win a free T-shirt from our store. You can re-enter even if you entered the first round. Last time we had fewer than 20 entries, so the odds are with you!

Second, here’s a question for you:

Lots of families have a tradition of sharing a piece of pop culture around the holidays. They either watch a favorite movie or TV special on Christmas eve, go to the theaters on Christmas Day, or sit around and listen to their favorite holiday music. Are there any special pop culture memories that you associate with the holidays? Any years where the ritual went comically wrong, or memorably right?

Sound off in the comments, celebrators – for this is your … Open Thread.

10 Comments on “Open Thread for December 24, 2010”

  1. Qwil man #

    Every year growing up my mom and I would frost christmas cookies while watching Muppet Family Christmas, a TV special in which the whole gang straight up ambushes Fozzie’s mom by showing up unannounced and making a mess of her home for the holidays. I know the whole thing by heart and could probably recite it with perfect pitch, as though singing a song.

    I’m not gonna get a chance to go home this year, and my mom’s been busy taking care of my grandma so this is the first year I can remember that I won’t have her christmas cookies (an idea that still hasn’t sunk in) but you better believe I managed to fine Muppet Family Christmas in its entirety on youtube!

    Its only in my adulthood that I realize the Sesame Strret cast showing up makes no sense and they have no motivation to stay, which sort of makes them dicks for adding to an already burdened old lady. Huh.

    Reply

  2. Timothy J Swann #

    We always watch Scrooged at Christmas Eve in my family. And then, in bed, I always read the whole of A Christmas Carol.

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  3. Gab #

    My family plays a video game every Christmas, all day long. We’ve played various kinds (fighting, strategy, role-playing, platform), but the main goal is to beat it as close to completely as we can (meaning unlocking characters, outfits, levels, etc.) before going to bed. Last year was Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. My brother-in-law liked it so much that when he got home with my sister/his wife, he bought the game- and the Wii to play it on.

    Not sure what this year’s will be, and I’m susptecting this may actually be the first year we don’t do it since… jeez, I can’t even remember when the tradition started- which makes me thoroughly sad.

    Reply

  4. Allyse #

    We have, on several occasions, sat and sang REO Speedwagon’s hits: “Keep On Loving You,” “In Your Letter,” etc. From REO Speedwagon, we usually transition into Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell album. By then, there is dancing and pantomiming and general mayhem.

    All of this was originally spontaneous, but we tried to capture history a couple of times.

    Reply

  5. lee OTI Staff #

    This time of year, we all pause to reflect on the oddity that is the Star Wars Holiday Special. Who in the OTIverse has actually seen it? I haven’t, but am familiar enough with it to enjoy these two related parodies:

    1) The Star Wars Christmas Special That Everyone Really Wanted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMmaO6MzK4E

    2) 1982 Tron Holiday Special: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5aaba22e7f/the-1982-tron-holiday-special?rel=player

    Merry Christmas, everyone.

    Reply

  6. Megan from Lombard #

    Watching the 24hr marathon of ‘A Christmas Story’ has always a family tradition as well as watching ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ on Christmas Eve. Nothing like “you’ll shoot your eye out!” to really make it Christmas.

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  7. Sillyweasel #

    Uhm, my family isn’t really a “do things together” family, so usually on Christmas I would make sure to catch The Nutcracker ballet on PBS, though this year having no TV I’ll be finding a version of it online.
    I’m always a little put off by the film versions of this, with the exception of the reinterpretation in Fantasia, which I love.
    One day I’d love to be able to afford to attend an actual production of the ballet, not that I know anyone who’d attend it with me. But whatever.
    I mean really, I can find people to come with me to Gwar and Cannibal Corpse but not a ballet?

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  8. Bob in San Diego #

    Every year, my parents and I would get home from Wigilia at my Grandma’s house around midnight. It seemed every year around midnight, HBO would play Die Hard and my Dad and I would sit down and watch it. As I got older and we stayed later at my Grandma’s, we started popping in the VHS so we can see the whole thing. Now for the past 4 years since I’ve moved to San Diego, my Dad would start it at midnight Chicago time and I’d start it at 10 pm and text each other at the best parts then call at the end to talk about how great of a movie it is.

    Reply

  9. Matthew Wrather OTI Staff #

    From time to time I read through the iTunes reviews of the OTI Podcast to see how people like what we’re doing. I stumbled upon this gem:

    I recently became enamored of the Overthinking It blog, and figured I’d give the podcast a try. … When I tuned in, I expected an in-depth analysis of the Harry Potter phenomenon (per the episode’s description), presumably in the context of the newly released 7th HP film. What I got instead was a long meandering intro which attempted to offer a working definition of magic by way of David Duchovny, Sandra Bullock, and Star Wars. By the halfway point, nothing Harry Potter had been discussed… But then… it began! The spent the next (what felt like) 10-15 minutes tediously discussing their respective histories with the Harry Potter books before revealing that NONE of them have seen the latest film.

    This was a two-star review. I think it’s a completely accurate description of what we do—”working definition of magic by way of David Duchovny, Sandra Bullock, and Star Wars” and “NONE of them have seen the latest film” sums up our ethos precisely. I voted it “helpful” immediately.

    Reply

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