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12/27/2006: The Christmas Fallout Thread: 2006!

Well, another Christmas season has come and gone, and what's left now is that familiar combination of good memories, misplaced guilt and a couple of other indiscernible feelings that I'm not exactly sure what to do with. The only downside to putting so much stock into the holidays is some weird form of alien jetlag when it's all over with. Luckily, we get plenty of new toys to help us cope with life-as-usual.

This is the 2006 Christmas Fallout thread, where everyone gathers around the fireplace one last time to trade stories of celebrations completed, and more importantly, gifts received. While coming from such a large family means having to spend a mint on gifts, it also means that I get a lot of gifts. I consider that a fair trade. Here's this year's haul!

NINTENDO WII CONSOLE w/ ALL THAT JAZZ

I finally fired this baby up today, and it's making me all sorts of things. Happy and excited are in the forefront, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little frustrated that I haven't mastered the controls yet. That said, even the "cheap" in-pack Wii Sports game is tons of fun. I don't care how "easy" it is — I could play that bowling game all day long. Getting the Wii provided the first instance in a very long time when I was actually giddy over video games. Even now, with the Wii in the living room and me in here, I can't help feeling like I'm in the wrong room.

INSANELY AWESOME TIKI HEADS

Every year, my family does a grab bag, where everyone puts in a gift of around a $25 value, and we all play a game of chance to see who gets what, who steals what and who goes home happy. I was sure that I'd be gunning to take home the gifts that I myself put into the lot, but when my sister's find — two gigantic resin Tiki God statues that are possibly intended to be outdoor planters — was unveiled, I nearly had a heart attack. After much begging, some cheating and a lot of praying, indeed, I went home with the greatest gift of any holiday-related grab bag exercise in history. Every time I look at these things, I pinch myself.

AFRICAN CRAZYDOLL GUY

Another grab bag score. I actually had the woman give up her desired grab bag gift (some stupid appliance) to fetch me the Tiki heads, so when someone stole my gift, I went for the throat and stole someone else's African Crazydoll Guy. I'm not sure if I'm explaining how this grab bagging thing works correctly, but that's not the important thing. The important thing is that I now have an African Crazydoll Guy to compliment my Easter Island duo.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS
RAMPAGE: TOTAL DESTRUCTION
EXCITE TRUCK

I don't know that I would've been so into owning a Nintendo Wii if I wasn't interested in at least a few of the launch titles. (If it was any different, I probably would've waited for the new Smash game to come out.) Getting Zelda was a no-brainer, but I'm a longtime Rampage fan, and something that qualifies in my mind as a sequel to Excitebike made Excite Truck an easy choice. I wasn't expecting to get all three, but Christmas is a time for miracles. I haven't played any of the games long enough to offer anything more than a superficial opinion, but Zelda already has me praying for influenza so I can skip a few more days from work to get to the good parts. The landscape is just massive, and though I can see some of the more able gamers maybe complaining that it takes a good while to get to the meat, I'm happy with the slow build. It gives me a chance to remember how to play video games.

Rampage: Total Destruction is exactly what you'd expect it to be — a broader version of the original goal of smashing buildings and eating people. Excite Truck is going to take some getting used to, and by that I mean, I can't seem to get more than ten feet without being complimented on how stylishly I crashed into a tree.

WII NUNCHUK CONTROLLER
2,000 WII POINTS CARD

The extra Nunchuk won't come into play until I get an extra Wii Remote, but I certainly will, so it's good to have. I can't wait to explore the fancy world of spending Wii points on shitloads of vintage games, but it'll probably be a week or two before I look into how to do it.

KING KONG: MEGA HUGE GIANT THREE-DISC DVD SET
EMPIRE OF THE ANTS / TENTACLES DOUBLE FEATURE DVD

Truth be told, I only wanted this mega giant King Kong special DVD set to see a couple of creature-related scenes that were cut from the theatrical release and not placed on the first DVD release. That might seem like I'm giving too much to one movie, but they're excellent scenes, including one where the gang goes rafting and several bit players get eaten by a giant sea monster — a sea monster that I've owned in action figure form for over a year now. I kind of think it was a bit bogus to hold off on putting this out just so they could get "double money" from those of us who already bought the first release, but for what it's worth, they put a LOT of stuff on there. I was always more into the sum total of Skull Island than the stars or the monkey, and for those ends, this is an excellent resource.

The other DVD was desired primarily because I absolutely adore Empire of the Ants. I was renting that mofo from video stores long before I ever even heard of a "so bad it's good" movie market. I actually reviewed the flick very early on in the site's history, but with this disc, I'll probably give it another shot. You ain't seen nothing like that movie, and I'm sure Tentacles just as lovably stupid.

ENCYCLOPEDIA PREHISTORICA: SHARKS & OTHER SEA MONSTERS

This book is some kind of wonderful. It's a really intricate and elaborate pop-up book, but calling it a "pop-up book" sounds like an understatement. I'll say more when I get over my fear of tearing pages by thumbing through it.

GIZMO HEAD PILLOW

Words can't describe how awesome this thing is. Very simply, it's a pillow shaped like Gizmo's head. This thing is absolutely huge. If you hold it from ear to ear, it's about three miles long. Appropriately fuzzy with big drowsy eyes, I look forward to staining it with head oil on a nightly basis. Going to sleep on Gizmo makes going to sleep seem so much cooler than it ever has before.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS BOOK
JIMMY BUFFET "CHRISTMAS ISLAND" CD

The Peanuts book is an excellent look back at an excellent Christmas special, and it's not at all limited to anyone-can-write-this fits of nostalgia. There's a lot of good info in there, covering the special's "prehistory," casting, Schultz's own attitudes towards it and all sorts of press clippings that'll give you a better idea of what the show meant in its own time.

The Jimmy Buffet CD makes me wish it was Christmas for another week. I don't want to put it away yet.

STAR WARS "COMPLETE LOCATIONS" BOOK
LITHIUM BATTERIES
DEODORANT!!!

Deodorant and batteries make great stocking stuffers, but that Star Wars book is seriously terrific. I'm a big fan of those "cross-section" books that offer glimpses of what goes on inside everything from medieval castles to submarines, and the book is pretty much that with a Star Wars twist. Including intensely detailed, charted diagrams of the Mos Eisley Cantina, Jabba's Palace and the Death Star, the book takes even the most minute shots from all six movies and expands them to the point where I feel like they really exist and I can vacation there. If you're into the worlds and environments of the movies, you have to get this book.

iPOD RADIO REMOTE
GROW BUMBLE

One of the saddest parts of my commute to work each morning is listening to talk radio (currently O&A) on my two minute drive to the bus stop, and then having to totally give up on it and stick with whatever's in my iPod as I sit on a bus for sixteen hours. I'm not going to carry an old Walkman and an iPod, because that's just absolutely insane. Now, I don't have to. With the Radio Remote, I can do it all.

And Grow Bumble? A tiny Bumble figure that will grow 600% larger whenever I get around to drowning it? Hell yes.

NINTENDO MINI-CLASSICS: DONKEY KONG
NINTENDO MINI-CLASSICS: ZELDA

It's only now occurring to me that I can't write two paragraphs for each gift if I want to be finished with this tonight, so from here on out, shit gets shorter. Here's a pair of cute handhelds that remind us of simpler, less fun long car rides. Each handheld is designed kind of like a crude little cousin of Game Boy.

UNCLE JOHN'S GIGANTIC BATHROOM READER
BOGGLE

I wish Uncle John would get past the idea that his books that are only meant for reading in the bathroom, because it comes this close to ruining it for me. If you're not familiar with Uncle John, he makes all sorts of wonderful "random factoid" books that'll keep you occupied for hhhhhooourrrss. There's usually no real theme to the books — one page might be about why Wendy's makes square hamburgers, and the next'll be about why yawning is contagious. If you've ever spent a night just drifting mindlessly from Wikipedia entry to Wikipedia entry, this is kind of the same idea.

And I love Boggle!

CONNECT 4

Even if you make me go second, you cannot defeat me in Connect 4. Accept this and move on. Also accept that I've reserved the black tokens for every game I may ever play.

STREET FIGHTER "BLANKA" FIGURE

Blanka is just one of the many Street Fightaaa figures available from SOTA Toys. I've only recently discovered the line, but still feel perfectly okay with naming it one of the best action figure sets ever. Each figure comes with an alternate head and pair of hands, and they're all super detailed and really beg for collectors to give into the dark side and free them from their mintyfresh cardboard and plastic prisons. I've got a feeling that Blanka will ultimately grace my desk at work, because nothing breaks the silence of awkward meetings quicker than a glow-in-the-dark Blanka.

DARTH VADER'S IMPERIAL CHOPPER

I don't want to say too much, because this thing deserves its own blog entry. Let's leave it at this: "Darth Vader. On. A Motorcycle." Some fans are in an uproar that Hasbro made this thing, claiming that it goes against whatever Vader is supposed to be. Obviously, Vader never rode a motorcycle in any example of Star Wars fiction, movies or otherwise. I dunno, though. I think it looks kinda cool.

THE BEASTS THAT HIDE FROM MAN
ANATOMY OF THE SEA

A pair of absolutely kickass books on two of my favorite subjects. The first one deals with our pals from the cryptozoo, and even though I've only read a few pages so far, I've already learned about a tree on some remote island that wraps vines around virgin sacrifices and eats them alive. Yes! I haven't touched the other book yet, but that just means tonight will be historic.

CHEESE RACLETTE & GRILL

I assume this item to be some form of a slap in the face to George Foreman's monopolistic inclinations, but I can't say for sure until I look up the word "raclette." The photo on the box tells me that I can now cook scallops and hot dogs simultaneously, and that's exciting.

CARNIVOROUS CREATIONS PLANTER

The reviews for this thing are just terrible, but I couldn't help myself. I needed it. It's alleged that I will be able to grow and maintain everything from Venus Fly Traps to Pitcher Plants, but I don't need bad consumer reviews to tell me how utterly impossible that will be with only a mid-quality plastic terrarium and some pouches full of seeds and soil to guide me. I don't care. It'll make for a fun article someday, and just the box photo of a tub full of death plants is worth the price of admission.

FLY TRAP FIENDS (2)

From the same maker, here's a pair of smaller kits that skip on all the other killer plants to focus solely on Venus Fly Traps. Will probably end up being equally impossible, but I love the idea all the same. A brief glance at the instructions tells me that I have to leave the soil in the fridge for eight weeks before doing anything, so I can totally understand why people are getting so pissed when nothing grows. And yet, I still can't wait to try!

THE MYSTERY AT DISNEY WORLD
MASTERING THE UNIVERSE

Some more books that only I would like. "The Mystery At Disney World" is mostly for kids, and tells the rather headscratchin' story of a child being kidnapped in the parks. I read that it somehow manages to double nicely as a Disney World trivia book, and that's why I wanted it. "Mastering the Universe" is a screwy autobiography written by a bitter former Mattel employee who claims that he invented He-Man, Skeletor, oxygen and the cure for cancer. At least, this is what the reviews say. I'm excited to read it. Sounds like a 200 page bad blog entry put into book form.

SUPER SUSHI DINNERWARE SET

This really nice sushi dinnerware set came to us from one of my sisters and her husband, and solves our age old problem of never wanting to eat sushi at home because we don't have the right damn fancy plates! It even comes with ceramic chopsticks in case whichever place we order from forgets to throw 'em in the bag.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MAMMALS

Thicker than a phone book and heavy enough to kill my adversaries with, "The Encyclopedia of Mammals" is 50,000 pages of warm-blooded wonders from around the world. I envision many nights spent twisted on the couch with a dirty throw blanket, string cheese and this book.

THE FACTS OF LIFE: SEASONS 1 & 2 DVD SET
POKEMON SEASON 1 DVD SET

Why hello there, amazing DVD sets! HELLLOOOO!

A big reason why this year's Christmas Fallout thread came so late is because the lady and I have become absolutely hooked on these The Facts of Life DVDs. Holy shit, I totally forgot how much I loved that show. Of course, the first season featured a far larger and very Jo-less ensemble cast that would change quite a bit by season 2, which we haven't gotten up to watching yet despite our best efforts to do nothing but watch The Facts of Life all day long. I would've been satisfied just with the episodes, but even the special features are pretty good. Yay!

Haven't opened up the Pokemon set yet, but it's got close to the first thirty episodes of the cartoon, which are the ones I loved the best, and I'm not just saying that because they're the only ones I've seen.

When I note how many hours of unbridled ecstasy can be had with the DVDs shown above and elsewhere in this post, I'm very depressed that I am an employed human being.

WACKY NAPKINS
NOT-SO-WACKY EATING UTENSILS

The martini-themed napkins (more on this in the next blurb) all feature art that absolutely looks like it was drawn by Gary Larson, but absolutely wasn't unless Gary is currently using a pseudonym so he can produce cheeky napkins in peace. The utensils came to us from a family member who knew me well enough to realize that most of our forks and spoons get lost somewhere in the vicinity of my computer desk, and most typically end up covered with fire ants, which is such a psychological stain that no dish detergent can ever really clean them enough. As such, it's good to have as many as possible. Also, the spoons in this set are very roundish and not very ovalish, and remind me of the spoons that I always assumed Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale used while eating soup at that cold, long table.

MARTINI GLASSES (5)

We were given six of these, but one broke in transit. Oops. The martini glasses were part of a big brown bag full of martini-related gifts given to me by my brother, and when I say "my brother," I really mean his wife, because the closest my brother ever came to buying a present was confirming that "it looked okay" to my sister-in-law. This is fine with me, because they're excellent martini glasses. Doing away with the naughty glass stems that so often crumble under the might of my granite fists, these have something more akin to stumps on the bottom.

"ICE SHOT" SHOT GLASSES
HOT TEXAS MARTINI OLIVES
APPLE MARTINI MIX
FONDUE LIGHTER FLUID OR SOME SHIT

More treasures from the big brown bag of drinking tools, I really appreciate my family's ability to hone in on that one special thing I love and take it to the limit. The fondue lighter fluid would seem to be a throwback to a few years back, when the woman and I proclaimed that we wanted to try fondue and were given no less than seven fondue sets for Christmas. Of the four items above, I'm most interested in the olives. I'm not sure they'll last long enough to hit any actual martinis.

E.T. WALKIE TALKIES

A gag gift picked up for me by my nephews at some closeout store. Well, the joke's on them: I already own these. They were part of the ill-fated merchandising blitz when E.T. phoned home on the big screen re-release several years back, which reminds me of this old blog post, which I really like, because I think it's the Internet's only resource for E.T.'s Chips Ahoy! cookies with "glow blast" chips.

"G.I. JOE VS. THE TRANSFORMERS" GRAPHIC NOVEL, VOL 1
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: A FAMILY PORTRAIT DVD

The Joes/TF comic is really cool. I read it yesterday and was totally into the story, which is more than I can say for a lot of the Transformers comics I've read in the past few years. (I don't like many of the newer takes on the lore — the stories are often plainly boring.) The book is a bit of a reimagining of what we grew up "knowing" about both franchises, but all of the revised elements are done in such a way that longtime fans will feel more curious than pissed. I can't wait to get the rest of the set.

Haven't watched the Texas Chainsaw DVD yet — seems like something that shouldn't be put on until it's dark and rainy, and I've only gotten dark covered so far.

POKEMON "EEVEE" DVD
ALF SEASON 1 DVD BOX SET

I have a soft spot for Eevee. During the first Pokemon wave, he/she/whatever was one of my favorite characters, partly because Eevee is a cute little puppyish thing, but mostly because it had the ability to evolve into three totally different other Pokemon by way of strange, colored stones. I like my Pokemon convoluted. There was a great cartoon episode that played on this aspect of the game, where an Eevee trainer was being pressured by his brothers to evolve it into one of the three possibilities. He ultimately decided not to evolve it at all. I still kinda think he should've went the Vaporeon route. Vaporeon ruled. Fishdog!

I've only seen ALF a handful of times since its original prime time run, so I can't wait to dig into these DVDs and see how it holds up. I was an ALF lunatic as a kid, because wisecracking furry aliens equals RATINGS.

STREET FIGHTER "M BISON" FIGURE
AMAZING LIVE SEA-MONKEYS FIGURE

Bison is another SOTA Toys special, and is just as cool as Blanka. The Sea-Monkey figure is everything a Sea-Monkey action figure should be, portraying the tiny shrimp as they were seen in several thousand comic book advertisements through the decades. Between Blanka, Bison and this Sea-Monkey, I'm starting to question whether I really grew up during the action figure golden age or not. I mean, yeah, we had Trypticon and Princess Leia in Bespin Fatigues, but we didn't have no Sea-Monkey.

20 Q GAME
LUKE & YODA HALLMARK ORNAMENT

The "20 Q" game has become a pretty cliched little gift, but at the same time, it's such a good time waster. It's very rare to beat the computer if you answer every question correctly. Assuming you do answer every question correctly, marvel at the electronic gods as they successfully theorize that you were thinking of an OWL.

The Star Wars ornament was rather oddly placed inside the aforementioned big brown bag of drinking equipment, but it's a welcome addition to my growing collection of blasphemous Christmas tree ornaments. Since it's made by Hallmark and since Hallmark liked it enough to subcategorize it with their "KEEPSAKE!!!" logo, this is a seriously high quality ornament that will likely decorate far more than Christmas trees in the coming months.

"MEG" NOVEL

I rarely read fiction, at least in outright "here is a fiction novel" form. I will do this for MEG. MEG deserves this. MEG is the story of a megaladon (big ass prehistoric shark) relic terrorizing landlubbers once more, and in the few pages I've already read, I got to envision a giant shark biting the kidneys out of a T-Rex. Hell yes.

I still have a few more pictures to take, but that's the brunt of it. I'll update the rest when I can. Christmas was excellent as it usually is, but now that the dust has settled, I'm pretty okay with letting life move forward in more colors than red and green. Thanks for being a part of the site's sixtieth holiday season!

(And a big thanks to the readers who sent gifts this year! I'll be contacting you personally to bow and kiss your ring soon if I haven't already.)

I think I still have one or two presents outstanding, but here's the bulk of what I got:

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
Clerks 2
Count Duckula Season 1
The Original Television Christmas Classics set
The Burbs
New Super Mario Bros DS
Children of Mana DS
Feel the Magic DS
Harvest Moon DS
2 pairs of fuzzy wuzzy socks, one midnight the other pastel striped
a pair of black gloves
one puke yellow robe (so I stop strutting around nekkid)
2 packs of Marshmallow Peeps, one Snowmen the other Trees
Gertrude Hawk Christmas Smidgens
Before You Leap by Kermit the Frog
Miss Piggy Wallet
A gift membership to AAA (haha my car sucks)
Heart print hobo bag purse by LeSportsac

A Wii!? You are one lucky son'm bitch. Better be getting Red Steel on that shit…

My best friend! She got my dad one of those "African Crazydoll Guys!!!" Except it's lying down with it's feet and hands in the air, holding up a cup so I we can stick a candle in it.

Ask and receive! Awesome!
I thought about the fact that Christmas Island wouldn't get any play until next year, but I couldn't resist. Fodder for the next Jukebox, at least

I got a lot more goodies than I expected this year. I got a 4 GB notPod that has an FM tuner already built in, and that can even record from the radio so I'm really jazzed for talkie radio reasons of my own (I like Mark and Brian, but Danny Bonaduce joining up with Adam Carolla is finally enough incentive to consider switching loyalties). I also got an awesome "Bella Cucina" blender set that is blatantly a Magic Bullet ripoff, but is far prettier, and which I can't wait to use for some frozen concoctions that help me hang on. Also got some clothes, some cash, Pete and Pete Seasons One and Two, a Christmassy fleece blanket with fat little bears and penguins on it, a Folgers Coffee gift set, some cookies…I really made out like a thief. Had a really nice time with friends and family too. Hope everyone else had as great of a time as well.
Oh, and I believe the grab bag game you're referring to might just be Yankee Swap, aka Bad Santa, aka Nasty Christmas, aka White Elephant. Fans of The Office will know it as "Machiavelli meets Christmas".

This post is basically a list of what I should have gotten my boyfriend for Christmas.

Why does the CrazyDoll look like Sesame Street's Ernie? If you give it a little knife will it come to life ala Trilogy of Terror?

As for what I got:
3-disc King Kong DVD
Ultimate Avengers 2 DVD
2-disc Superman Returns DVD
Cat in the Hat DVD
Superman shirt
Batman shirt
Talladega Nights shirt
WWE Unscripted book
Marvel Universe Encyclopedia
A comforter
English Leather cologne
$$$$$$$$$$$$$
With my birthday money I bought Cranium Pop 5. Can't wait to play it.

I feel the same way about my Wii. Anytime I'm on the computer and not playing it, I feel like I'm neglecting it.

You should totally be my Wii friend Matt. I can picture a Mii Matt walking across my Mii Plaza.

Coolest out of all of 'em: Wii, Gizmo Head Pillow, Vader Riding Motorcycle. You be sure to tell us when you know what your Friend Code is. If it truly will be "a couple weeks" before you start messing with connecting the Wii, that's perfect, ’cause that's when I'm expecting my LinkSys instant-wifi thingy to arrive in the mail. I'll finally have a code as well….

Yeah, that's it, big whoop, wanna fight about it? Some walked away with less. My cousin got a hat and that was it. Seriously, just a HAT, and it was from his parents. He didn't seem to mind, though.

I already spent the $25, on the LinkSys (it was a last-week-of-Christmas super online deal; they usually cost $50 or above).

That Darth Vader's Imperial Chopper reminds me of the Ninja Turtles set of combat cruisers.

I was fortunate enough to receive, starting with some things received pre-Christmas all the way to some post-Christmas presents to myself:

Justice League Unlimited S1 DVD (this got me through final paper writing and grading)
Biography of the band Big Star
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
Crisis on Multiple Earths TPB (gotta love Mike Sekowsky's lovably goofy art and Silver Age DC in general)
Spider-Man T-shirt from Target
Target old-school robot pencil sharpener
Spider-Man RC monster truck (lights work too!)
Gumby and Pokey bendy figures
"New Frontier" Green Lantern figure
Assorted stocking stuffers incl. diecast Grimlock
Astonishing X-Men Minimates set
Chewbacca ceramic M&M dish/goblet thing (beautiful)
He-Man best-of DVD
All-purpose gift card
Paypal/eBay gift card (already used to buy Mega Man 2 and old comics)
NES-game-playing console I forget the name of
Some cookies

Stuff I got ON Christmas:
-The Simpsons season 8 DVD box set. This is my favorite season, which contains most of my favorite episodes, including Homer's Phobia which is my ALL TIME favorite. I really didn't have any DVDs before and I don't get TV reception in my room, so this is all kinds of awesome.
-A kickass Far Side "Secret Lives of Animals" 2007 calendar
-A PS2, which I bought for myself, but it was still for Christmas
-Pack of Sharpies (I love Sharpies!)
-Assorted girl stuff: nice black purse so I can pretend to be classy, big bath set, scented candle (which I promptly broke the jar to while trying to light it), earrings, makeup

Stuff I had already received before Christmas:
-A really nice, custom made purse with my name on it, from my coworkers. The mother of one of our former students makes these, and I'd been wanting one for awhile but couldn't afford it. The trim is neon green and I love that.
-Name That Tune 80s Edition DVD game, from my aunt. I love this game but I don't have anyone to play it with who knows what the hell they're doing. I need cooler friends.

Stuff I don't have yet:
My mom is horribly behind the times, so she just gave me $135 to buy the two main gifts I wanted. This was more than I needed, which I told her, but she said just keep the extra. So when our car is out of the shop and I can go shopping, I will also have:
-DDR Supernova (The aforementioned PS2 was purchased JUST so I could play this)
-The Sims 2 (I only recently bought a nice enough computer that I could run this game, which I've been wanting for however many years it has existed)
-Two CDs I've been wanting: Queen's "A Day at the Races" (I already have "A Night at the Opera"), and Erasure's "Nightbird". I'll still have some extra cash after that, so I may pick up the Scissor Sisters remix CD as well since I already have both their albums. (There is no need to point out how extremely gay my taste in music is, I already know and am quite proud of it

)
-A MYSTERY GIFT from my friend in Orlando, which is currently either in the mail or at his house waiting to be mailed. It's probably a gift card, but to where? IT IS A MYSTERY. A Christmas MAGIC mystery!

And the absolute BEST present I got…
A phone call from my dad, who I haven't heard from in almost a year. He's in poor health and we lost touch because he doesn't have a steady phone number OR address right now. But he finally called on Christmas morning, and now I have his address and phone number finally so I can make sure he's doing okay.

The African Crazydoll guy doesn't look like Ernie from Sesame Street, it looks like Bert from Sesame Street.

Probably already been mentioned, but those are Easter Island heads, not Tiki God heads.

Just when we got sad for James Brown, the only person in the world that could've one-upped him. We're going to be hearing about this one ’til after New Years!

Clerks 2 DVD Gift Set
Family Guy Volume 4
Family Guy: The Game
Eerie, Indiana: The Complete Series (God, I love that show)
Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff Expansion (jazzy, careful, you will be addicted. It was a birthday present to myself a few weeks ago)
Undershirts (I can throw out the holy, pit-stained ones)
Hugo Boss cologne
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Which I'm playing right now. It's paused, of course)
A bedspread
Cash

Mars: Actually, I just started experimenting now, and loaded up the site for the first time on the Wii. I was impressed that it all looked just the way it should.

If I pass around my friend code, does that mean I can school you fuckers in Wii Sports bowling?

That is a pretty great haul. Mine was about a quarter as impressive, but I'm going to watch the Little Miss Sunshine DVD I got ten times over, so it should even out.

Darth Vader on a motorycle looks like he is angry towards people who claim he doesn't love motorcycles. "Yes, I have a motorycle. So what? Let me have my hobbies."

That's a great hull Matt! I got lots of goodies, I can never believe how much stuff I always get anyway…

-A watch (needed very badly!)
-Connect four game
-It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
-A pen that is made out of lego, and the legos are little batman charaters!
And lastly
-a knitting kit that is in a slurpee cup! Very cool, the knitting needles look like the straws!

Spring Tuition
A New Hoodie (I won't throw you out old faithful, I swear)
Kingdom Hearts II & Guide (OCD Cha Cha Cha!!!)
Money for a DS (all demand and no supply)

First of all, I am insanely jealous of everyone who got a Wii. I don't play video games (because I suck at them) so I'm not even sure how often I would play one, I just WANT one. Maybe I'll get myself one for the ol' birthday.

Matt: Hooray for the Gizmo pillow! I'm glad you dig it. And I SO hope you're going to feature the Grow Bumble in a blog! PLEASE!!!!!!!!

Jazzy, I wanna play Name that Tune 80's Edition with you!!!!! And I love Queen!

Well, I got:
-"Something from Ireland" (from my best friend who lives in the UK)
-two cook books
-a gorgeous, expensive, red Kitchenaid kitchen knife for chopping veggies
-red, silicone mini bread loaf pan (I bake a lot of Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day)
-a Cat Scrapbook Kit (from my cat haha)
-a book about the Bible (from my mom who can't stop cramming religion down my throat)
-Pirates of the Caribbean 2 Monopoly (I collect themed Monopoly games, apparantly. Even though I never play them because everyone else I know hates the game, I still get one every year. Last year was Disneyopoly. I just like it for the Alice game piece.)
-a plush, microfiber bathrobe in the worst color imaginable for someone who lives with a black cat: WHITE
-three University of Oklahoma t-shirts (GO SOONERS!)
-electronic, handheld Battleship (to replace the one I broke)
-two bags of Jelly Bellys (one buttered popcorn, the other chocolate pudding… I eat them together)
-Magnetic Sudoku Travel
-a funky-but-awesome Egyptian candle (from my co-worker)
-the SceneIt? movie trivia game (from my boss)
-$250 bonus from one job, $100 bonus from my other job, $200 bonus and a certificate for a free tattoo from the tattoo studio I work for (I build their webpage)
-the complete Rankin-Bass DVD box set (wrapped in an empty cookie box… I was like, "Oh, cookies…" and then got into an argument with my mom about "I'm still full from breakfast! I don't want to try the damn cookies!")
-an external hard drive (from myself… thank you, self!)
-a Spa Day for me and my mom (also from myself… thank you again, self!)
-I Dream of Jeannie The Complete First Season (I am a fan of classic TV)
-and, lastly, a homemade gift certificate good for the bed, couch and loveseat of my choice (from my parents) which I will go pick out (hopefully) this weekend… gaudy red furniture here I come!

All-in-all, I think I did well. To be honest, I was more excited about the gifts I was going to give than what I was going to get. I bought my parents a GPS system that they went nuts over and will probably never understand how to use.

Yay another Queen fan! I was pretty excited about the gifts I gave too. My mom has been whining for years about this damn Elvis movie that would COMPLETE HER COLLECTION, that she couldn't find anywhere. I got her a box set of that movie plus five others on DVD, AND a DVD player. Win.

Also, thank you to everyone who got me a little sumtin sumtin this year. I didn't want to call anyone out specifically in the post (some folks are private, I understand), but –everyone– who got me something should be hearing from me via snail mail, if not already then by the end of the week. If not, that means I don't know who sent what, so if you're worried about that, please e-mail me!

MATTTTT!
I got the Pokemon Season 1 Volume 1, too!!! I've already watched the first two discs (that is SIX HOURS of untamed pokemon action!) and my eyes were glazed over the entire time.

I hope you (and everyone else!) had a wonderfully awesome/radical/kitschy christmas.

Ooohh… Special K, you got some good shit! I wish I had a certificate for a free tattoo, I'm hoping to get my first soon. Also my one redneck fur friend apparently has a present for me and I'm a little… concerned. The other day she randomly asked me if I like white tigers and I couldn't think of any response other than, "Better than I do orange tigers!" I have this feeling I'm now going to own some sort of strange tiger paraphernalia.

Ooh I've been meaning to mention, if anyone's interested you can see Johnny Galecki (David) and Laurie Metcalf (Aunt Jackie) on episodes of My Boys this week. Finally, a vehicle for Roseanne alums that's at least somewhat watchable (no offense to any Desperate Housewives fans).
Cute sushi set. I got wacky napkins too, also booze themed, to go along with some snazzy martini glasses and champagne flutes I got. Guess the family's giving me the go-ahead to really start drinking in earnest.
I forgot to mention the junk I bought for myself, like Pirates 2 and Sin City: Hell and Back, which arrived a few days early and that I've read three times already. I really want the extended Kong DVD set, but I'm still kind of steamed about already shelling out for the first version.

Matt: I request pictures of the banana people. O.O By the way, did Knacks pass on that message from me? hahaha

Mystie: Yeah, I'm going for the ink next month. Hooray! I love working for a tattoo studio!! And be sure to tell us what the furry friend sends you! Or at least tell me because now I'm all kinds of curious.

You're ruining my argument from the last thread Broomstick. You're not supposed to get bonuses from work in America06

Unfortunately, Wii sports doesn't support online play and neither do any of the launch games (although there is a Pokemon Stadium-type game that just launched in Japan which allows you to battle other players online). For now, you can do the following Wii stuff online:

Exchange Mii characters (I assume you know what this; if not, check out the Mii channel)
Exchange pictures either uploaded from an SD-card or…
Send emails to/from your system including the ability to send a JPEG attachment to your Wii.

Incidentally, if you (or anyone else here) wants to add me, my number is 4134-0911-5582-8240 (make sure to reply with your number as well so I can add it).

Oh, and you may also be interested to know that the newest Pokemon games (Diamond and Pearl) will be released for the DS in April in the US. They also support online play and I believe they even support voice chat. I know you like Pokemon and I think you have a DS, so I figured you'd like to know.

30GB Zen Vision M Video mp3 player
Elebits for the Wii
Clubhouse Games for the DS
Yoshi's Island for the DS
A massive book about the universe
A massive book about Earth
Clothes

Dead Heat on DVD
SMB Super Show Volume 2
Glow in the Dark Skeleton longsleeve tee
Surf Guitar book
a rad book of sideshow freaks' posters
few surf CD's
Shaun of the Dead on DVD
Corpse Bride on DVD
a book about a werebear going nuts in the woods
a shirt with a skeleton on it
bottle of jd (from me to meeee)

I absolutely love the mii functionality of the wii, it's much more engrossing that way. Someone should make some advent calendar miis already.

I wanted a WII but got…
Miami Vice Season Two DVD
Superman II with the Richard Donner cut DVD
A NY Yankees notebook and pencil
A Spongebob Squarepants tin contining mallows
Some cutlery
Orange Licorice Ducks
Weird N.J. volumes 1 & 2
C.S.I. Senses board game
Enrollment on a part time forensic science course
Bath stuff
P.J.'s
Slippers
Twizzlers (a big deal to me, seeing as I live in the UK)
A small book of "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Chocolate Cockroaches (Urrr)
A toy Dodge Ram that plays Y.M.C.A.
A book of Hot Drum Grooves
NBA mints
Chuck E. Cheese Gummy Pizza

Matt Congratulations on the Wii, prepare to not want to do anything else but play for a long time. Here's my list, including one of the biggest shocks of the season:
Wii (a month ago, but still my gift)
Zelda, Super Monkey Ball, Extra remotes, carrying case, etc
A LOTTERY TICKET THAT I WON $400 DOLLARS ON (from an aunt, she couldn't believe it, neither could I)
Ducktales Vol. 2
Alf Seasons 3 and 4 (woo hoo!)
Batman LEGOs, the Joker set and Two Face set
Target Gift Card = More Batman LEGO sets
Money, candy, etc

Hey, I want the grow Bumble! The Bumble rules! I do have a can of Bumble hot chocolate though, so I guess I can't complain.

My haul included a Microsoft Zune
Seasons 1&2 of Dangermouse
Books as follows:
The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
Cupid and The King: Five Royal Paramours by Princess Michael of Kent
Agnes Bowker's Cat: Travesties and Transgressions in Tudor and Stuart England by David Cressy
More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland by David Koenig

I also recieved cash from my parents. I'm going to use some of it to buy the Schoolhouse Rock dvd, and possibly this adorable but meant for people much younger than me purse featuring Hello Kitty riding a chinese type dragon that I saw at a toy store while shopping for my kids.

I read on this thread that a few people got A very very Muppet Christmas…that sucked…I'd really like A Muppet Family Christmas but it's insanely expensive on ebay and amazon.

- The Cosby Show Season 1
- The O.C. Season 1
- Indiana Jones trilogy boxset
- Jurassic Park trilogy boxset
- Star Wars: Droids animated movies
- Nerds Christmas funbook (a friend in the States sent them to me after I mentioned off-hand in an IM conversation that it hurts me in my heart that we don't have them in Australia… very thoughtful!)
- A whole bunch of PEZ refills, cos everyone knows I need that shit to live.

Christmas was a little different this year, since it was in my apartment in my town for the first time. Finally, I didn't have to drive 350 miles to go home for Christmas!

From my Godparents:
-A nice tea chest with tea (I like tea).
-a bulletin board with Bears and pine trees (much cooler in person than it sounds)
-a sign that I put above my guest bathroom door that says "The Loo; London, England"
-100 bucks
-One of those dachshund statues that looks like Santa Claus (They have these at Hallmark, I think)
-A nice bottle of Port

From Friends:
-A bottle of Port from….Portugal (bought overseas). It's pretty good.
-two mugs with snowmen on them
-a nice framed print of a black and white picture of trees

From Family:
-The Polar Express DVD
-Harry Potter 4 DVD
-Rosa's Cafe gift card (we go there every Tuesday at work)
-a Day-by-day calendar featuring the dumbest things that people have done.
-a bookmark that looks like a dachshund but is really raindeer
-a small pillow that has a Jefferson quote on it: "I cannot live without books"
- a Wii! with: Zelda, Excite Truck, and a 512 MB SD Card
- Guide for Zelda (wow, it's heavy!)
-a silver/pewter (we're not sure which) communion set that belonged to my maternal great-grandparents. The Wii is nice, but this is probably my most treasured present.

There's a story about my Dad getting the Wii, but I don't have time to type it right now…Maybe later today…

Oh sure, I will pick up SIMPSONS Season 9 and maybe some other DVD's but I got nothing but cash and gift cards. Financial strains and the Rise of E. Claire as THE Dominant Force led me with nothing.

A VCR
An ocean book
Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens
An amber tree, a ring/earrings, a shawl, two awesome magnets, and a shamrock growing pot from my sister who spent the semester in Lithuania
embriodery supplies
Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Vogue Knitting
a staple gun
a glue gun
gel pens
socks! tons of socks!
and like six gift cards to target, urban outfitters, joann's. And a large check.

The best present by far was from my stepdad's sister. Every year she takes the family to the Hershey Hotel's circular dining room for xmas eve dinner, and we (my sister, husband, and I) watch her real family open up literally thousands of dollars of expensive presents - satellite radio with lifetime memberships, stereo systems, ipods, (and tons of legos for those who are under 10). This year, just before dinner, she gives me, my mom, and my sister each an Avon calendar. The kind you get for free for buying chapstick or something. She tried to explain it. "The flowers are really pretty." Cause there's one for every month. It took me fifteen minutes to compose myself enough to walk into the dining room.

Did the Carnivorous Creations inspire memories of the long lost Chia Plot for anyone else?

My "biggest" (read "most expensive") gift I received was an 80 gig video iPod. Still haven't had time to play with it yet. Stupid work…

Matt — being the O&A man that you are, ever consider getting yourself an XM set up? All the joy with none of the censorship! And the Pioneer Inno is completely drool-worthy: Xm On-The-Go capabilities with 50 hours of recordable memory you can either use on XM content or music content you already own. I worship at the alter of XM, so I apologize if I offended anyone's sensibilities with my proselytizing.

As for my haul:
-New, silver iPod Nano
-Wagner PowerPainter Home
-Happy Bunny robe with "Crazy Doesn't Even Begin to Cover It" on it
-Slippers
-Another $100 added to my hockey ticket account
-New headphones to replace the god-awful uncomfortable iPod earbuds
-The requisite manicure kit
-Tuff Skins for the iPod
-iPod Sox
-Stainless steel martini shaker
-DVD player
-$15 Napster card, $25 iTunes card

And the split X-Mas/Birthday gift: A cruise to Key West and the Bahamas. Five days of gambling with my folks and drinking heavily.

to all you who got the Wii for Christmas, congrats, but be careful. for anyone who missed the news, Wii had a recall on it cuz the controller can snap off the wrist strap. Some dude playing managed to total his tv when the controller flew off the strap at it.

My most loved gift was Munchkin the card game by Steve Jackson games. Can't wait to play it now!

Many thing given, many things got. I'll just list the three best things, so far.

A TransFormers:Armada guidebook from my 11-year old nephew. He knows how much I like robots.
Keychain Atari games from Little Brother and his Wife. While I can make a decent showing at current games, I am hard-core old, old, old-school.
The Best Of The Best Of The Electric Company DVD from Oldest Sister. Now, that's Old-School. The show that taught me to read at age 3.

The goofiest thing I got this season was all three BK games I bought for myself while Christmas shopping. Now, I need to find a used Xbox to play them on.

I did pretty good this year. I got everything from the girly stuff like body lotions and sprays to cash, to Sesame Street pajama/lounge pants, CDs (Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell 3 and Muppet Show 25th anniversary), slipper socks, flannel sheets, gift cards, etc. O&A PARTY ROCK (that's for you, Matt!I love the boys!)

- shot glasses
- He-Man & the Masters of the Universe DVD season 1, vol 1
- He-Man & the Masters of the Universe DVD season 1, vol 2
- He-Man & the Masters of the Universe DVD season 2, vol 2
- a trip to Vegas (in January) @ the Riviera
- a JVC 20GB Hard Drive Camcorder
- a case of Budweiser Select
- a punch bowl
- a panera bread gift card
- a blockbuster gift card
- clothes (shirts / pants / socks)

Unfortunately, I didn't get any games for my Wii, and my girlfriend couldn't find MOTU s2.v1. but, I did get the camcorder I wanted. So, I was very happy.

The woman tried her hardest to secure me a Wii, but ultimately met with failure

She got me $200 in gift cards and Wii Zelda as a consolation prize. Because I'm lazy and don't want to play the call every store every day game, I justified to myself spending $450 on eBay to get the Wii myself. I figured that's just like me buying it myself at the regular price like I planned to do anyway. I also happened to get my repaired XBOX 360 back from Microsoft just in time for X-Mas so that was like a present (actually they sent a new console). Other stuff I got:
-Cute Darth Vader martini glass/candy holder thing.
-Set of Star Wars ornaments
-Hicory Farms Beef Stick (delicious and disgusting at the same time)
-Miniture WW2 era Optimus Prime figure.
-Mini Robodog
-Star Wars Cookbook (Wookie Cookies! Yeah!)
-A travel mug decorated by my daughter (almost 2)
-Guiness PJs (an X-Mas Eve tradition)
-Mini Bowling set for my desk.
-$25 Barnes and Nobel gift card. (actually a four months late birthday present from my brother)
-Some Star Wars strategy/board game that features kick ass starship minitures.
-And the grand pumba of them all, a $1000 check from my parents! Now we can fly to Florida in April for my cousin's commitment ceremony, then on to New Hampshire to visit family and old friends for Easter.

I was also loved playing with the animal See N Say that Santa left for my daughter. Probably more than she did.

I guess ppl felt sorry for me cos I was hospitalized for a few weeks so I got some decent loot this year

Zelda Twilight Princess GC
Final Fantasy III DS
a longsleeve shirt with snowflakes on it
a heart shaped jewerly box
Eragon book
Dragonlance Twins series book box set
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 360
Viva Pinata 360
holiday socks
a green reindeer stuffed animal with candy canes
unicorn pajamas
leopard print pajamas
socks that say princess on them
Witchblade compendium graphic novel collection
Dungeons and Dragons the complete series DVD set
Invader Zim DVD set
Last Exile DVD set
Wild Arms DVD set
Harmony Bear cuddly care bear
all three Target Holiday MyLittle Ponies (they were for me or my daughter… we share them…)
30 bucks walmart gift certifcate

Not sure if you'll see this…but my favorite website www.deepdiscountdvd.com has MOTU S2 V1 for under $30 and its always free shipping. They ussually have anthing you can think of for like $2 less than in stores

Fuck… I could have bought a Wii, but I had received Scarface (the game) for PC on Christmas, and that was the last straw in finally getting a fucking good computer. Unfortunately, God hates me, and with all computer parts I have tried to pimp my computer with, this one makes my computer beep and won't turn on. F that. F that in the A.

Lemurcat, I'm with you: I'm an XM ADDICT. I became a subscriber just to hear O&A but I honestly love many of the channels on there. They play so much stuff on the various stations that I actually listen to that it's like carrying around my music collection with me. I don't even own an IPOD because of XM. I'm still on the Airware though. Haven't upgraded to Inno yet.

I love my Wii! I demand that you at some point show us your Mii–that sounds like something you'd have a ton of fun writing about.

Manimal, I beat you to Gerald Ford by a good 6 hours or so. And with a more relevant SNL reference

DVDs:
-Clerks II (seems I'm not the only one!)
-Harvey Birdman Vol 2
-Family Guy Volume 4
-Sealab 2021 vol IV (the last for the series)
-Brak Show vol 2 (the last 14 episodes, this was such an awesome show)
-Starsky & Hutch [movie] (from my Big Bro in the frat…he does not know my movie tastes)
-Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversery Edition (the best movie DVD ever I have)

Transformers Cybertron figs: (which I did not know I was getting!)
-Quickmix
-Menasor
-Metroplex
-PRIMUS
-Soundwave (my absolute favorite. He's awesome)

Other stuff:
-The revised edition of a roller coaster book I got 3 years ago
-2 sample-size bottles of Axe (Phoenix & Touch to be specific)
-2 deoderants ("so you won't have to buy it" wtf?)
-a new TAG sampler pack, with 2 regular-sized bottles & a body shot sized one with the body-shot thing included. (I got a Poker themed TAG set last year I didn't open yet. This one's actually getting some use)
-the 2006 HESS Truck (a tradition)
-another Xmas tradition, I have a Scratch-off Advent calendar, where all 24 slots are scrath-off lotto tickets. But I scratch em all off on Christmas day. I won $29 this time!
-Money
-A $25 gift certificate to Circuit City (CVS Secret Santa gift)

And the most suprising gift I just got now…Simpsons Season 9! Lisa Head! I was supposed to get it before Christmas, but my mom ordered it from Circuit City.com and it didn't come until today! I'm gonna go watch it now!

Melissa – They're going to have to pry my XM out of my bold, dead hands. The hockey coverage is incredible. I'm listening the the Canada-USA World Junior Game at work and it almost makes up for my family going through complete and total nuclear destruction on account of my brother being a jack@ss.

Leather Jacket
Sweaters/Pants
Waking Life on DVD
New Luggage (my bags didn't survive my stay in India)
Briefcase
1.0 GB Flash Drive
Lots of cool pens (I'm a writer)
Snakes on a Plane poster(!!)

Not a lot of "fun" stuff, but Insha'allah when I begin school in May, I'll also be teaching so I'm gonna need to look professional. Plus, my bday is next month, so I'll ask for fun stuff then.

you had me until the Facts of Life…I mean you really did. I can overlook Golden Girls cause I dig them, but I draw the line at Facts.

you got a WII….im jealous, I couldent find one! I got some great stuff though Aplle computer which im learning to use since iv always had windows based machines.. I agree I cant belive christmas is over……. Cant wait for next year!

Personally, I'm glad Christmas is over. It's more about the TV specials and the hype leading UP to Christmas, rather than Christmas itself for me.

Advent Calendar quite possibly got me through my first semester of finals in law school. It was one of the only daily things to look forward to… great job Matt, quite the edge-of-the-seat thrillride.

Christmas Haul:
Some cash for a new suit, then just some cash
Electric Griddle
Other random kitchen stuff
American Crew gift set
Dress shirt, tie
Socks, undershirts
Coupla gift cards

Digital camera plus a few memory cards
iPod Speaker/alarm clock
Ultimate Superman DVD collection (14 freakin' discs!)
Evening with Kevin Smith 2 DVD
Slings & Arrows Season 2 DVD {If you like Canadian regional theater (who doesn't?) try this show}
Best of ECW DVD
Halloween Documentary DVD
Disney coasters
Crystal Lake Memories: History of Friday the 13th Book. (If you are a fan of the series, this book rocks your house)
A couple sweaters
Cash, which will help pay for the gift a bought myself, an HDTV

Christmas Day is probably my least favorite part about Christmas. It usually just kinda fizzles out. Plus I don't like the feeling of having to look excited when I open each gift. It makes me feel awkward.

I sure hope Knacks keeps up with his MySpace page even though Christmas is over. I will miss the guy if he disappears for a year.

Well, I got the Wii on launch day and my parents helped me with that, so that sort of counts I guess =D

-Zelda Twilight Princess Shield and Sword + CD & Certificate of Authenticity
-This Lavalamp thing that you shake and makes a light
- A vending machine egg full of slime

Me and my brother also got a shared gift of a Bingo game and chess/checkers/tic-tac-toe board

My best present was getting to spend time with my bro, and cousin. I havent had such a great xmas since forever.

Belkin wireless G router
Family seasons 1 &2(70's drama with christy Mcnichol and buddy from charles in charge)
more added later

OK, I have to have the WEIRDEST collection of Xmas gifts this year. They range from normal clotheas and such, to illegal gifts given by straight laced relatives. So here goes:

2) T-SHIRTS!!!!! (anyone who read that earlier blog post of mine knows why this excites me… no more wolves in nature for me)

4) Steelers road to Super Bowl XL 5 disc set
5) Bottle of excellent scotch
6) Humidor with Chibas and some dominican cigars (my uncle works for Royal Carribean)
7) Memory for my computer
8) my wife in a Santa's helper outfit (best gift evar)
9) $100 cash
10) $200 JCPenny card
11) $100 Lowe's Home Improvement Card
12) $50 Olive Garden card
13) two huge bottles of Curve cologne (love it)
one dozen squares of homemade Texas Sheetcake
14) Thundercats DVD's
15) Set of Cheech and Chong DVD's with a quarter ounce of crazily good pot crammed inside the gift bag (from my church going sister)
16) Certificates for Ice Skating at PPG square
17) new fish tank
18) guitar strings
19) Green Day, Foo Fighters, and Dave Matthews Tab sheets (guitar crap)
20) pillowtop King size mattress with box spring and huge fluffy comforter (I will sleep all day now)

I am loving the idea that my straight-laced sister scored me some primo pot for Xmas. I don't smoke that often, but have recently been talking about wanting to break out my Scooby Doo Bong (not lying) again. My family rocks.

I've had my Wii since launch day, so I've had plenty of playing opportunity. Anyways, my loot.

Elebits(Wii): Truly an awesome game. Whoever was dealing to the guys that made up Katamari Damacy has found a new customer.

Dragon Quest 8(PS2): Lessee, character designs by the guy who created Dragon Ball, comes with a demo disc for FFXII… Yup, awesome.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness(PS2): I have wanted this game for SO long… I'm going to spend a LOT of time in this game, what with levelling characters, levelling items, maximum level of 9999, etc, etc, etc.

Final Fantasy XII(PS2): I haven't played this one yet, mostly because I know that when I do start playing, I may not be able to stop.

Gun(GCN): I may exchange this, only because it's a used copy from BlockBuster, complete with marker on the disc… But still, it's a good game.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga(GBA): I actually played this game most of the way through on a sibling's copy, but that just menas I know for a fact how good this game is.

Wii Points Card: Good for 2000 points. I tried to cash it in last night, but couldn't connect to the Wii Shop, even after an HOUR on the "Connecting, please wait" screen.

Super Mario Brothers Super Show: Volume 1 on DVD: Awesome. I LOVED this show back when I was a kid, and way back when I'd stay up until late, Late, LATE at night to watch it on YTV.

Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess(GCN): Little brother got this game. Lucky little dork.

OTHER STUFF
The original VHS of "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown" complete with Shell gas station logo
A book light
A new computer chair
$50 gift card for Books A Million
$50 gift card for Hastings
Day-To-Day 'Far Side' calender
A new alarm clock
A new watch
A pen with a CRAZY CAT on it

On xmas night, i oredered a belkin wireless g router so i can go on line with my wii and psp.

so, it was like 40 dollars and i got a free Dynex usb adapter with it as a bonus…I chose store pickup and had to go to the one near work to get the adapter, and the one near my house for the router….now I KNOW that Bestbuy only lets you return stuff with a receipt…BUT i really didnt need my usb adapter, so after going to the best buy near my house for the fouter, i ask them kindly if i can exchange without a receipt…they said yeah cause of the holiday. So, I went to my ca an dgot out the FREE bonus adapter, and exchanged for a 45 dollar gift card…

I saw they had a sale on certain tv show box sets, it was buy one get one…they had facts of life, season 1 and 2 set, and i thought the Family one was on sale too, but it wasnt…so i went and got Boondocks season one instead. THEN this morning remembering about the no receipt policy, i went and exchanged Boondocks for the Family Box set. So i got it my own way after all! so all in all, my brothers gift of a 25 dollar bestbuy card ended up with me getting like 115 dollars worth of stuff.

-Pink Floyd: The Wall Movie (DVD)
-Rocky Anthology (First Five Movies, DVD)
-Thundercats Season 1 Part 1 (DVD)
-Halo Graphic Novel
-Transformers Titanium Series Megatron (3' Line)
-Star Wars Mr. Potato Head 3-Pack
-Best Buy Gift Card ($50)
-Cash ($50)

Sorry for being crunchy earlier. I just saw all that cool stuff and I lashed out. Plus, I spent my Christmas money and gift cards today sooooo
1. Original STAR WARS DVDs
2. DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS animated complete series
3. Disney's ROBIN HOOD DVD
4. SIMPSONS SEASON 9
5. SEINFELD SEASON 7

Matt, I'm sure you already know this but those ALF DVDs are a jip. They are the syndicated versions and therefore incomplete. I was so disappointed when I rented them because they cut out some of my favorite parts.

Otherwise, great haul. Lot of cool stuff there.

At the end of the day, I'm just a giant impatient child. But I can throw money at the problem instead of tears, so here we are.

mandy – Congrats on screwing Best Buy royaly. Few retail chains have earned my ire the way Best Buy has. I walked in there last year to buy the Clash's Vanilla Sessions and the douchelord frat boy (my apologies to any fraternity members) A&F reject didn't even know who The Clash was and recommended I purchase a 50 Cent CD instead. I think I ended up spending my two gift cards entirely on batteries and letting the store manager know how much his employees suck.

Jordan: Trivial Pursuit is the shizznit! I would have totally asked for that instead of the Name That Tune game, but my non-nerdy family would probably have killed me if I introduced a third version of Trivial Pursuit into this house (I have Genus V and "Last 20 Years" already).

I can't do anything right on this thread!
First, Invader Norbert calls me out for not mentioning Gerald Ford's passing the second it was announced and now K- is claiming I am misusing slang!
Might as well go to bed and start dreaming about next Christmas…

Just ask your students. They're in that awesome stage where they start their initiation into cliques. It's fascinating on so many academic and scientific levels. Probably why I love subbing in middle schools so much. We listen to the same music

i actually used you and your treks to work using portable video in my communications terms paper.. - Alf is amazing.. - i've watched the first three DVD sets and really fell in love with that show.. - i want to get the fourth, but have heard some questionable reviews online.. including the reuse of episodes from past sets.. - looks like you had a swell holiday.. - i did, too.. including scoring the first DVD set of "the new adventures of he-man" complete with goofy skeletor 2.0..

OMG, I thought there wasn't anything that would make me laugh harder than the original "concerned" comment, but Underwater Sea Adventure White Tiger gel candle just proved me wrong.
Just in case anyone hasn't seen the damage overzealous gaming can do: Wii Have A Problem…

WOW YOU GOT ALOT OF CRAP THIS YEAR! I'm glad your excited about the MOTU book…and a big thanks for the card…im sure your not aware of this but I'm a coaster collector so as far as sending stuf lying around the house that will fit into a card goes you couldn't have done much better. Speaking of tiki heads have you seen this? http://www.amazon.com/Tiki-Head-Tissue-Box-Cover/dp/B0007U8M...
on to my list:
Guitar hero 2 w/ Hammer guitar
Seinfeld season 7
3 bucks in starbucks cards
20 bucks in borders cards
Cat Stevens Greatest hits
The rock documentary -Dig
A year at the movies by Kevin Murphy
Does anything eay wasps?
The Onion vol. 15
a 24 board game
trivial purist 80s
an LP frame
Peyton Manning jersey
a shredder….to shred things
and a beard trimmer
now if you excuse me Danzig and I have an appointment TO ROCK!

Mystie: WTF is that???? Does that tiger have Claire's super-evil-fireball power (albeit blue?)?

Aw, Manimal, I feel your pain. This is the first Christmas in awhile I haven't felt totally petulant and deprived, and it came as a real surprise.
(Hi to The Chad and other delurkers!)
I almost bought a 1/2 price Spongebob "KEEPSAKE!!!" yesterday, but ultimately resisted considering I already have more SB crap than I'll ever know what to do with. Already wishing I'd bought it though. I love reading about what everyone got, because not only does it say something about yourself, it says something about how your friends and family see you. With the possible exception of the Undersea Tiger Adventure.

K-: I never believed in Christmas bonuses either… I thought they were just some kind of sweet notion left over from the WWII era… But, hey! They're real! And they're in my bank account and that ain't bad.

mandy_Reeves: Bravo! Way to work the system in your favor!! Technicalities are a beautiful thing.

LemurCat: I worked in Media and hated it. They want you to suggest the stupidest things to people to "broaden their musical taste." I couldn't care less about broadening other people's musical tastes–just let them buy what they like! So they fired me for being a bad salesperson. It saddens me that most of the kids that work there know nothing about movies and/or music. And I love the Clash and it pains me that "punks" these days have no clue who they are. (By the way, I don't mention that to spark some kind of punk debate.)

Mystie: I hafta say, that's adorable, but I was hoping for something really weird…

Oh, and I got another Christmas gift today… from five of my closest "friends"… a two-month subscription to an online dating site. *eyeroll* Maybe they're trying to tell me something?

It only took them eight years, but my family finally realized I like Pokemon. X_x I also have this horrible secret where I absolutely ADORE Snorunt, and I'm one of those people who scream that "TEH ORIGINAL 151 ARE TEH GREATEST!" So. Much. Shame.

The haul:
2 Pikachu Pens
2 Pikachu mechanical pencils
2 Six-packs of wooden Pokemon pencils
2007 Pokemon Calendar
2 Pokemon pencil cases
3 Pokemon DS/Cell phone straps
Some sort of Pokemon…picture…thingy. From Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
Pokemon stencil
Pikachu carrying case
Pokemon alarm clock
3 Pokemon sticker & notepads
4 Sparkily Pokemon dual notepads
1 Book of Pokemon graph paper
2 Smallish Pokemon notebooks
3 Pokemon sticker sheets
1 Page of Pokemon sticker buttons
Pikachu's Winter Vacation DVD
Lucario and the Mystery of Mew DVD
Pokemon: Indigo League (1st season) DVD set
Pokemon: Advanced Battle (#2) DVD set
Holiday Pikachu plush
Small Pikachu plush
Pikachu puppet
Small Elekid plush
Small Bulbasaur plush
Large Mew plush
Pokemon Cards w/ tin
The Monster at the End of This Book

My brother got the Wii (With Zelda) 4 games for the DS Lite (Mario Kart, FFIII, Elite Beat Agents, Big Brain Academy), and Guitarooman for the PSP. So…win win.

Norbert, I misread your list, hence my last comment. I wasn't just relaying random factoids. Feel free to call me an idiot.

I'm going to get me one of those wireless routers. To everyone who got FFIII for the DS, expect me to post my code when I get it. We have to send a buttload of letters via Mognet to each other, you know, to get the Ultima Weapon and all the special items for the mastered jobs.

Teh r0×0rz. I can't wait. FFIII looks positively lovely on the DS. However, I did accidentally delete my save file like 3 times already with quick save problems. lol. I was just hyper and excited and too-dumb-to-read-the-manual.

Email me (Click my name) if you add me and let me know your code so I can add you.

"Meg" is a great read, from what I hear. I skipped over it in favor of reading the sequel, "The Trench". Reason? I was taking a loooooong car trip down South with my family, and while we were making a pit stop at some WalMart my keen eyes spotted a book cover that perked my interest. This cover depicted a shark…the size of a fucking building. Hell yes.

That's a pretty impressive haul you got there Matt! As for me I got:
Star Wars original Trilogy DVDs
Lego Star Wars II The Original Trilogy PC game (Sadly my computer can't play the game

It's up for sale on Ebay. Look for Donata05.)
Animanacs Season 2 DVDs
The Devil Wears Prada DVD
V for Vendetta DVD
Microsoft wireless mouse
1 GB flash drive
C3PO Action figure
Hello Kitty T-Shirt
The Smiths CDs
Books
Money
CD rack
Candy
Reindeer slippers
Jewelry
Hallmark ornaments
and various other stuff.

My best present of all was the 135 dollars spent on DVD's and VHS's on Amazon including The Toxic Avenger Parts 1 and 2, From Beyond, Halloween 4, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, My Mom's A Wearwolf, A Pup Names Scooby-Doo Season 1, and Slime City. I ordered a lot more, but that's all that I can remember for now.

Almost forgot, 2 other major highlights for me were Scarface: The World is yours, and the 3 Star Wars posters (Return of the Jedi, A New Hope, etc.) from when they were re-released.

I've had about 10 wii parties since my 4 of my friends and I have gotten them on launch day — all of them have been a blast. No one can consistently beat me in Tennis doubles or Boxing for that matter.

Nintendo Wii
Zelda
Trauma Center
Elebits
Tons of Wii Points
27" TV
Wireless Adapter
15 month pass to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
Subway giftcard wtf
My aunt got me some shitty cologne and a bottle of expired Hydroxcut (I'm 6'1, 160 also wtf).
Moneyyyy

formaldehyde_fayth (mentioning you since you would probably care the most), When I was drunk last night, I recited the pokerap in it's entirety.

Just so you know, the ALF DVDs have material cut out. The publisher only had rights to the syndicated version of the show, and any series that runs in syndication has been cut for time.

PSP
XBox 360
Thriller Jacket
White Vinyl Pants
80's Records
Beta Player
80's Betas
16 MM Projector
80's 16 MM Films & Trailers
Money

Sucks that I already have a list that long, and it hasn't even been a week since Christmas…

Seems as you get older, the gift list grows inverse to that.

Enjoy it while you can.

I got, so far (my brother and sister have held off their gifts until I see them in January):
A single towel set
A handmade bar of soap
chocolates
3 homemade CDs of stuff my birthson picked for me
1 homemade CD of a song written for a friend plus a bunch of songs written in Cree
1 pair of boots
1 Classics Starscream, which is on its way from a friend
$25 for Christmas dinner, which I ended up spending on gas and food for home.

If I knew about Darth Vader on a chopper, that would have been the only thing on my list. Oh well, the haul is as follows

The Squid and the Whale
Arrested Development Season 3
The Office Seasons 1 and 2
Simpsons Season 9
Major League 2 (The original Major League seemed to be out of stock most everywhere people looked)
The Rock
21 Grams
Clone Wars Seasons 1 and 2
Wayne's World 1 and 2
Venture Brothers Season 1
Jurassic Park (I know about the big ass trilogy set, I just hated the sequels with a passion)

Books
Hardcover copy of Catcher in the Rye (my girlfriend is amazing like that)
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel (which is great because her first books have been out of print and mega expensive for years)

A new Molskine journal
Pens
A baseball autographed and personalized by Brandon Inge (Detroit Tigers third baseman)
Detroit Tigers calendar
Candy
A mixing bowl and spatula
New sheets and comforter
A kickass velourish car coat (Zapp Brannigan would be proud!)

With next Wednesday being a National Day of Mourning, is your place of work open?

I'm hoping to Christ mine isn't. That would make for a 5 day weekend, which is one of the best kinds. I know that makes me a ghoul, but I really did like Gerry Ford regardless.

Not only will we be open, but we'll probably have a lot of crap to do. My business can't afford to shut down just cause the president says we should all mope around and be sad.

This has nothing to do with politics, so please don't try to start a flame war over it, but I don't understand all this "national day of mourning" and other stuff. The man was 93 years old. He lived a good life and did some good things. Why should we mourn his passing? It's just the way of the world…

Manimal, your tale reminds me of the Christmases of my youth. More than once, I remember opening gifts on Christmas morning and asking my parents what they got only to get a response like, "We decided that the new water heater was our gift to each other." When I was really little, I thought it was because adults just didn't care about Christmas anymore, but as I got older I realized it was out of necessity. The first Christmas I had my own money (and was still living at home, which meant very few bills), I filled their stockings with candy (I always noticed that ours were the only ones that ever got filled) and bought them whatever I could afford. I still remember my dad sitting in shock when he opened his PDA. I know it sucks when you end up on the "adult" side of Christmas, but know that, once she gets a little older, your sacrifices will not be lost on E. Claire.

My own haul doesn't make a good list - mostly a lot of little things that are only cool to me and some handmade stuff that I appreciate because it was made out of love, yet at the same time leaves me with a "what the heck am I supposed to do with this?" feeling. My parents did shock me by giving my husband and I season passes to Kings Dominion. They got one for my sister too. KD is half way be