I’m the king. Christmas present highlights-

-I always get some Star Wars crap, but Star Wars Operation is gonna be dope. Also, I’ve wanted to read The Making of Star Wars for a while now, and Shadow Games, despite having a terrible cover, is about Dash Rendar from Shadows of the Empire, his first significant appearance since, and, because he’s one of my favorite expanded universe characters, that makes it worth reading. The calendars are also pretty cool.

-The original Planet of the Apes novel, as well as the animated series Return to the Planet of the Apes.

-I Am Better than Your Kids by Maddox- Wasn’t a huge fan of his first book, but I’ve flipped through this, and it’s already the funniest thing he’s written in ages (though I find he’s almost always still a good source for amusement).

-Chas: The Knowledge- a minor Hellblazer storyline. Should be fun.

-Roger Ebert’s memoir Life Itself.

-Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonder Struck- I loved Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, so I’m expecting greatness.

-The Autobiography of Mark Twain and The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain- Mostly unread (by me) work by the king.

-Orbiter by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran- Already read this—it’s pretty amazing. Full write-up coming soon.

-The Time Machine Did It by prolific Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder- If the first chapter is any indication this is pure Swartzwelder craziness. Every other line is a joke and pretty much all of them land.

-The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman- Although I prefer his non-fiction, I did really like Downtown Owl, so I’m looking forward to Klosterman’s second novel.

-Community season 2- My favorite current sitcom’s (so far) best season. Started listening to the commentaries- they are fun and informative, but I wish Dan Harmon was on every one like he was for season one.

-Habibi by Craig Thompson- Can’t wait to dig into this beast. Love Blankets to death, and I’ve heard this is better.

As you can probably tell, I mostly asked for books, and I look forward to a great deal of reading.

The Twilight Zone- “Night of the Meek” (1960)

“A word to the wise, to all the children of the twentieth century, whether their concern be pediatrics or geriatrics, whether they crawl on hands and knees and wear diapers or walk with a cane and comb their beards. There’s a wondrous magic to Christmas and there’s a special power reserved for little people. In short, there’s nothing mightier than the meek.”

Art Carney plays a department store Santa Claus named Henry Corwin who gets fired for being drunk on the job (though not before delivering an eloquent speech about the commercialization of Christmas). He finds a magical bag which will produce anyone’s heart’s desire. Henry spends the rest of the episode giving out gifts to homeless people and children, bringing holiday cheer to those who need it. This classic Christmas story, written by Rod Serling (who, at the end of the episode, delivers that wonderful monologue quoted above), follows the familiar Twilight Zone arc of redemption through some supernatural means. It’s not one of the series’s highs, but it is a gripping and emotional holiday episode, one that should be thought of as one of TV’s finest Christmas moments.

I got a great haul of shit for Christmas.

-Foundation by Isaac Asimov

-Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury

-Angel: The Casefiles Volume 1 (from Dan)

-Mega Man X: The Complete Works

-The complete set of 2008 Burger King Simpsons toys (also from Dan)

-America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (cumming everywhere)

-Chasing Amy blu-ray (for the new features)

-Chasing Amy DVD (for the old features)

-BOP! More Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson

-Dollhouse Seasons 1 & 2

-Something Like An Autobiography by Akira Kurosawa (!)

-Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Collection

-Scenes from a Mall VHS (also from Dan)

-Conquest of the Planet of the Apes VHS (also from Dan)

-Raymond Chandler: Early Novels an Stories by Raymond Chandler

-The Woody Allen Collection Volume One

-A French Planet of the Apes poster (not pictured)