Friday, December 21, 2007

Christmas Movies, TV, Toons & More !



And so, here we are again. Be patient and do not worry - Christmas comes in just a few days (and for those hum buggers, Christmas comes just once a year, relax). For those filled with joy - Alleluia! The holiday is celebrated in many different ways - my favorite is a Catholic tradition, which feels compelled to spread it out over 8 days, the Octave of Christmas. Oddly enough, the 25th day of Decemeber, the day chosen on around 337 AD to celebrate Christmas was picked in an attempt to get rid of a Pagan holiday celebrting the Sun God, Mithras. Since I suspect 99.9% of you had any clue about this, so...i can safely say - they were successful! But - what a lovely holiday it has become, a day to celebrate God coming to be with us. Immanuel or Emmanuel is really 2 Hebrew words [ עִמָּנוּאֵל }, meaning God is with us. So relax, and get ready to rejoice.

Rest assured, we do not have any creepy political and commercial type of ads for the season, I believe we have been blessed with enough of those already from all the challenged Presidential challengers. Here's some fun videos for the holiday season. Some are sweet, some are poignant, but most are pretty light and silly.

1) Dragnet - Big Little Jesus. It's Christmas Eve, and Sgt. Joe Friday is under major pressure, because he has to solve a difficult case in less than 24 hours. It seems someone has stolen the baby Jesus statue from Father Rojas' Catholic church. Excellent TV viewing, back in the day (1953) when no one cared if you mentioned Jesus' name on a TV show.

2) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - check out Frank Random's preview.

3) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Killer 1944 Fleischer cartoon of the oddball cervine with the halogen proboscis.

4) Beverly Hillbillies - Home for Christmas Granny takes her first plane ride. She thinks it is a bus, going real fast on takeoff. Pre homeland security airplane fun. Flying back then was actually really fun.

5) One Step Beyond Ordeal on Locust Street Sorry no details, I don't want to spoil the fun.

6) Caste in Bronze a band with a carillon plays Christmas bells live onstage. This is really cool. Feel pity for the roadies.

7) Jack Frost - just a cool cartoon, perfect if it is freezing cold outside.

8) Short History of Christmas Learn why the date December 25th was selected for the date we celebrate Jesus' birthday.

9) The Shanty where Santa Claus Lives Another charming early Fleischer animation.

10) Christmas at the Clampetts Another hilarious Christmas special at the Clampett's Beverly Hills mansion.

Ok - how could leave out, Larry K, who played the hammer dulcimer live in our studio, Little King, in Christmas up north, or for all of us Linux Geeks, check out Peeking Penguins, where Tux makes his film debut. The debate was heated folks, but those were the top 10 for this year. Got more free Christmas videos too if you like. Merry Christmas! Watch all these online videos free.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Watch the Office



Like most corporations, LikeTelevision's corporate office is kinda weird and funky. Doesn't every office have the inept boss who is living proof of the Peter Principle? and the young cute girls like Pam who make the day to day grind easier to bear... and on and on. Well, ok - none of that applies to LikeTelevision, except maybe the inept manager stuff, but i digress. Of all the current shows on TV today, my favorite is The Office. Would you like to watch an episode right here and right now. Ok. Here you go. This full episode is called Money and comes to you via Hula, which is still in private beta - and only for US users. (if you are from out of town, please send us an email- I am curious to see how it plays in London or Deli or Munich or Prague. I think it will still work outside of the USA, despite the warnings. Please advise, tee hee).