Christmas Links #21

A Little Boy Thought This Muslim Accountant Was Santa And He's Played Along For Four Years:
"A heartwarming Christmas tale."

The challenges of conserving 20th century buildings:
"The work of a conservation architect is always challenging. Securing a building’s future, while staying sensitive to its aesthetic and working within its listed status, is an impressive juggling act."
[Editor's note: This is about the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool and includes an ingenious way they have for dealing with rainfall and leaky stained glass.]

'It's not for 10-year-olds': Guy Pearce on Steven Knight's adaptation of A Christmas Carol:
"Writer Steven Knight and actors Guy Pearce and Stephen Graham explain why their Christmas Carol will strike a chord with a modern audience."

The religious case for Christmas is well known. But there’s a scientific one too:
"Our urge to mark midwinter and celebrate the days growing longer precedes Christianity by thousands of years."

Nope, seeing Cats the musical will not help you understand Cats the movie:
"Three months into my freshman year of theater school, I found myself fake-laughing my way through a raucous parody of Cats—a show I had never actually seen, but one that was apparently being hilariously skewered based on the reactions of everyone around me."

Christmas card delivered to wrong address 5,200 miles away:
"A Christmas card thought to have been posted in south Wales to an address in Warwickshire has been delivered 5,200 miles away - in the United States."

Christmas Links #20

Archived: The Complete Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy HyperCard Expanded Book:
"Phew! That title is quite the mouthful! It would have been longer if I’d included the author’s name (the late, great Douglas Adams, of course) and the publishing company (Voyager) but I figured I’d best truncate it."

Christmas Creamguide 2019: Week One:
"It’s the Christmas Creamguide and it’s the twentieth time we’ve done it! Maybe one day we’ll get good at it, but at least we haven’t put a holiday supplement in the middle of Christmas Day. As in previous years, it’s so big it arrives over two days, with TV, radio and a full film guide. Hope you enjoy it!"

A Merry Tudor Christmas with Lucy Worsley:
"Recreating festivities from Henry VIII's era, Lucy Worsley dresses, eats, drinks, sings and parties like it is 500 years ago - discovering long-lost traditions as well as familiar customs."

This Christmas I Won't Clam Up If My Kids Ask Where Their Grandparents Are:
"Sadness is a human emotion. I should allow my kids to experience it even when it's secondhand."

Cats is a baffling, humourless CGI nightmare—and the people deserve an explanation:
"If society is to move forward from this illogical disaster, we need nothing less than a full and frank inquiry."

Christmas Links #19

The seven most terrifying Christmas traditions around the world:
"Playful Christmas fun, or sinister, skin-crawling horror? You decide."

"The Environment Was Very Toxic": Nudity, a Graphic Photo and the Untold Story of Why Ruth Wilson Left 'The Affair':
"The actress shocked fans of her Showtime drama when she suddenly quit the role that earned her a Golden Globe, then said she wasn't allowed to say why. Now, insiders reveal a complex situation that involved complaints of a hostile work environment, Lena Dunham, and a director and showrunner who sparked a formal investigation."

Not just a Christmas movie: DIE HARD on the big screen:
"It’s been quite a fall season for UW–Madison film culture."

10 Great Christmas-Adjacent Movies That Aren’t Die Hard:
"Whenever we discuss our favorite Christmas movies, there’s always that one guy (and it’s always a guy) who chimes in, “What about Die Hard?” In fact, I’m sure that someone in the comment section of this article will say something like, “Dude, you forgot Die Hard!”"

“WHAT’RE YOU GONNA WEAR?” The Movies with the Most Iconic Going Out Looks, as Envisioned by the Artist Anna Bak-Kvapil:
"Stop it. Campaigning for canceling plans and staying in is—well—getting boring. We propose another ritual. The one where you arrive at your friend’s place and she isn’t ready...not even close."

Christmas Links #18

Christmas With BBC Records And Tapes:
"RESL124 Orville’s Song/I Didn’t – Keith Harris And Orville (December 1982)"

Born again: modernist design icons are given a new lease of life:
"While the hunger for new contemporary design continues, there is still something alluring about revisiting those lesser known chapters of 20th century design to uncover the stories of classic products and their creators."

The great vegan Christmas taste test: mains, desserts and party food:
"From root vegetables en croute to pigless blankets and festive jellies, vegans are spoilt for choice this Christmas. Just steer clear of the fake-meat roasting joints …"
[Editor's Note:  With a few exceptions, vegan food in supermarkets is unremittingly awful especially when it's trying to pretend to be meat.  Tonight I had the Spinach and Squash Lasagne from M&S and it was fine although the cheese was a bit sickly.  Full vegans, you have my sympathies.]

The Best Music Videos of 2019:
"Featuring bodybuilding, pole dancing, Terry Crews, John Early, and more Haim x Paul Thomas Anderson."

A brief history of the BBC Christmas Tapes:
"The BBC Christmas tapes make interesting, infuriating, amusing and depressing viewing… But are they any good?" [via LinkMachineGo]

UK weather: 70mph winds and rain to cause transport nightmare before Christmas:
"The Met Office is forecasting powerful gusts to develop across the South West, alongside heavy showers."

The 9 most commonly misheard Christmas carol lyrics:
"‘Joy to the World’, ‘12 Days of Christmas’ and ‘Deck the Halls’ have been found to be among the most misheard Christmas carols – and we can totally relate."

Christmas Links #17

Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas’ Is Finally No. 1, 25 Years Later:
"Although most pop fans probably assume it reached the milestone years or decades ago, Mariah Carey’s holiday staple “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is the No. 1 song in the country by official acclimation for the first time in its 25-year history, topping both the Rolling Stone songs chart and the Billboard Hot 100 this week."

The Terror Queue:
"These moderators help keep Google and YouTube free of violent extremism — and now some of them have PTSD."

Pre-Christmas shopping discounts 'could hit 50%':
"Sales discounts on clothing and products in the lead up to Christmas could be the biggest in almost ten years, according to one consultancy."

My grimly inappropriate boyfriend dumped me in the pub – I gave him his Christmas present anyway:
"I was 17. He was a thrillingly older twentysomething. I was heartbroken and drowned out the pain with Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine."

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Prepares For A Second Season With California Tax Credits:
"This shouldn’t surprise anyone that’s seen the outpouring of interest in the return of Jean-Luc Picard, Deadline is reporting that CBS has secured the California film tax credits for a second season of Star Trek: Picard."

You Might Be Surprised to Find These Christmas Markets Around the World:
"Sorry, Germany. You don’t hold the Rudolph nose on quintessential Christmas markets, as wonderful as yours are."

Christmas Links #16

Essex church hides 1,000 baby Jesus rocks 'to bring joy':
"A Baptist church has hidden 1,000 rocks painted with an image of the baby Jesus to "bring a little bit of joy" to their local community."

Christmas at the National Gallery:
"From putting up our 16ft Leonardo-inspired Christmas trees to celebrating the winter highlights in our collection, see how we're getting ready for Christmas."

5 Easier Ways to Water Your Christmas Tree:
"A decorated Christmas tree adds instant holiday cheer to any room—for a few days, at least."

‘SNL’ Spoofs Hallmark Channel’s Christmas Movies, Addresses Brides Kissing Ad Controversy:
"Two years after Saturday Night Live skewered Hallmark Channel’s Christmas movies in a cut-for-time sketch, NBC’s program this holiday season aired a new parody of Hallmark’s signature franchise."

Families get on board with fast, easy games for Christmas:
"Classics such as Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly make way for pick-up and go options such as Dobble and Bananagrams."

Christmas Links #15

Netflix's Christmas movie universe is the new MCU:
"Move over Avengers."

Longleat Safari Park chipmunks sent hundreds of socks:
"A wildlife park has been inundated after putting out an appeal for "chipmunk worthy socks" to help keep the rodents warm over Christmas."

10 of the UK’s best tiny theatres and cinemas:
"Audiences at these little independent theatres and cinemas can be sure of an intimate experience, especially in a venue on wheels that seats just eight."

James Frain on playing Spock’s dad and wearing the biggest fangs on True Blood:
"Can we go way back to the Walmart-baby movie? Your accent was spectacular in that."

Walmart Pulls Tasteful Sweater Depicting Santa at Bushwick Loft Party:
"A festive holiday sweater depicting a jolly Santa enjoying himself at a friend’s boyfriend’s podcast party in Bushwick has been removed from the Walmart Marketplace website."