Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

So far... I have the Rifftrax Live Christmas show and Guillermo del Toro's Cronos, both on DVD.

Oh, and my Granny gave me some of her old Christmas decorations that I've loved since childhood.


...but the greatest gift of all: my mother recieving a "Shake Weight," and the enormous bouts of laughter from myself when everything my perplexed grandmother said came off as a Shake Weight derived double entendre.

Hey everyone, just checking in while away from home/work for the weekend, and having a sleepless couple hours here.

Merry Xmas, everyone, hope it's going swell for everyone do far.

This weekend is about as traditional as it gets for me all year long. I love it, I love everyone here....but I'm glad it's not an everyday thing. I drove an hour south toward San Diego (with the top down in my new car, that's my present to me, and the weather is great ) to spend the weekend with my best friends Mark and Michele and their grown up sons who all consider me an uncle. One of them has 2 little kids.

I make it a point to let people know NOT to get me anything, and the only thing I get is for the kids, really....a 2-year old girl and a 4 year old boy that I love as if they were my own. For everyone else, though, I've brought tons of food, drink, a few doo-dads, some glowy Munny's or other things....and for the kids I got:

for Tristan, a Lost in Space Lunch Box that I picked up at Comic Con,(which threw all the adults into geeky fits of envy ), a glow-in-the-dark Batman action figure (with rubber cape) and a huge plushy Great White Shark from Ikea.

(Ikea has a GREAT kids section with wonderful toys and things).

For True (the 2 year old girl), I bought (all from Ikea) a stuffed alligator and a few sets of miniature dishes and things to go in her toy kitchen that she opens up today.....little colorful stoneware plates/bowls/saucers, goblets and cups, little stainless steel pots and pans, and some colorful plastic cutlery (Ikea 's miniature stainless steel cutlery set was sold out).

So much fun watching them play with their things. True was serving empty dishes to everyone all day, and color coordinating everything and Tristan was loving on the Batman figure the most. They left the shark in the guest room here for when the kids visit, and the house cat is cuddled up with the shark tonight.

During the gift exchange I got some great books, movie tickets and a lovely studio pic of Tristan and True.

Earlier in the week I was invited to a departmental lunch at the company I've worked contractually for since August.....it was also a White Elephant gift exchange/stealing party, and I scored a nice portable heat-up (plug in to cig lighter in car) drink cup, and a Starbucks gift card.

I also have a few DVDs on the way to me in the mail, including a few old John Waters comedies.

So Xmas Eve Day was when we did all the gifting, visiting and food. After the kids left, the rest of us went to have drinks at their country club and closed it down, sitting outside on the patio and warming up at a cozy fire ring, and listening to thousands of frogs croaking and the coyotes yelping, while enjoying the slightly drunky laughs and conversation.

What's in store for today, not sure....mostly kicking back and maybe a movie in the evening. I have a few more visits once I return home, and it's back to the grind....a contract job that probably wraps up in January, but scope-creep has kept me in the black for a few months, and this job may continue for awhile. Best gift I got this year. Got me out of old debt, got me a car, got me a new computer. Loads to be grateful for, especially in these times. (So yeah, the coolest loot I'm getting is stuff I am buying for myself).


VERY Merry Xmas to all of you.
~Bill

I won't be opening most of my present until later, but:

- Inception DVD
- Amazon Kindle

I gave Tony Abou-Ganim's cocktail recipe book to my brother and a new blender to my mother.

I got the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" six-disc set (I'm watching the documentary right now) and a pair of sandoku knives.

I wanted Katy Perry or Holly Madison to sit on my face, but we can't have everything, can we?

I got my sister a Hello Kitty plush, my Dad an old Conan the Barbarian paperback with a Frank Frezetta cover (which he loves), and for my Mom a DVD of Jesus Christ Superstar - her favorite movie in her teenage years.

I got all kinds of great stuff: latest season of Doctor Who, Looney Tunes set, all sorts of comic collections, books of folklore, a set of all the old Thin Man films, Cinematic Titanic Live DVDs...


best thing of all: SNOW! Significant accumulation in north Alabama for the first time in decades, and a complete Christmas morning suprise!

Haven't gotten to see my family yet, but my *awesome* wife gave me these (Gigabrain metallic Gigan & a CRJ 900):

Quite a bit (too much, in fact--not that I don't appreciate it). Two MST3K box sets, The Host, two nice pairs of pants, a plaid jacket, a bunch of gift cards. and a hefty sum of cash, among other things. I was also able to expand my gift budget this year and buy for a few more people than usual.

I just got back from my family's. Got some really nice stuff. Highlights include:

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back huge hardback book. I need to finally read the Making of Star Wars I got last year so I can tackle this one...

Finemolds 1/144 scale Millennium Falcon model kit. Super awesome but it'll be a while before I build it. I'm currently working on an Aurora King Kong & then I have a Creature from the Black Lagoon and an F-16 to build, plus I wanna make sure I'm well practiced before starting this as it's a rather pricey kit & I really want to do the thing justice (it's a *fantastic* sculpt).

Revoltech Rodan. Really like this one.

Gamera vs. Gyaos/Viras/Guiron/Jiger dvds from Shout! Factory.

Sideshow 1/6 Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The Bourne Supremacy & The Bourne Ultimatum novels from my sister who gave me The Bourne Identity for my birthday this fall.

And now the work begins... I've totally run out of space in my man room so I'll be doing a complete overhaul of my display & it looks like I'll have to put a fair amount in storage to display the new stuff I've gotten over the last 4 months or so. I could conceivably just cram everything closer together & eek out enough space but I prefer to keep a neater, more organized look to my display. I've been having to rotate a small amount in and out of storage for a while but now I think it's really going to begin in earnest. It'd be really nice to get some new shelves too but that'll have to wait for now...