A great choice! First animated Christmas TV special in history. Jim Backus was terrific as Mr. Magoo!

Relax...I've got plenty of wine for everybody.

You had my curiosity...now you have my attention.

Cheer up, LZG! Don't let a few people take away from the fact that the majority of people here are friendly and pleasant company.

Nuthin' fancy...tuna salad sandwich with butter chip pickles and avocado on dark wheat bread and a bowl of Campbell's Tomato soup. Glass of milk.

The official start of the Christmas season for me: Darlene Love on Late Night with David Letterman: Let the joy begin!

Ditto! Definitely seeing "Django Unchained" opening day 12-26! Tonight, though, I'm out with some friends going to see two classic Charlie Chaplin movies at the Egyptian. http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/modern-times-city-lights

Why does that make you unhappy?

Snow?!? Where? And did somebody mention scotch?

Thank you Walter. That was right gentlemanly of you; a quality sometimes in short supply here. Oh, and if it's any consolation, it's freaking cold here in L.A., too. More hot cocoa please!

^^^WOOHOO indeed! What a great Christmas surprise for you, Stryder. Hope you put those miles to good use. I'm very happy today...now that I've finally sent out the last of my Christmas packages, I won't have to deal with the P.O. for awhile. Some of my friends in foreign lands probably won't get theirs in time for Christmas, unfortunately.

Glückliche geburtstag Herr Led Zeppelin.com Webmeister! Here's wishing you a rocking Celebration Day! I know nothing's perfect and some people bitch and moan, but you do a helluva job running this site and for that, I salute you, Sam. For all you do, this beer's for you! Cheers!

Wow! How did you find out that info? There's no information on his profile page. Wait...is his birthday on the 20th or 21st? I know you Aussies like to jump the gun.

^^^ Yes, Dee Dee, Neil Diamond still holds the record for most consecutive sell-outs at the Forum. Some ridiculous number like 12 or 14. He has a plaque in his honour outside the Forum. I posted a photo of it over in the Houses of the Holy(landmarks of Led Zeppelin) thread. I didn't see Neil Diamond at the Forum, but I did catch him at the Greek and you're right about the relationship between him and the audience. It was strangely entertaining and easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm. The last concert you went to was over 6 years ago?

^^^ Aha, a His n Her's set, eh?

^^^ I'm glad it was only an inch, Magic. I love your pre-Raphaelite hair. Blimey! How did I miss this auspicious occasion?!? Congrats on Priscilla's success, CP! I also see we think alike...in sex, food, posts, and smoke, it's quality over quantity.

Hey Dee Dee, which of the four nights did you see? I went the first night Oct. 18, then the weekend shows of Oct. 21 and 22. It rained the 22nd, and Axl ran around the entire track at the Coliseum during one song...I think "Paradise City". These were the infamous shows where G n R aired their dirty laundry regarding their drug use and other issues. The first night featured an epic rant by Axl and he called out Slash's heroin use before "Mr. Brownstone", saying these would be the last G n R shows if certain people didn't stop dancing with Mr. Brownstone. Axl then capped the night by falling off the stage. I remember thinking at the time that the pressure of opening for the Stones was getting to Axl. In contrast, the Stones came on like a well-oiled professional band. The third night featured a mea culpa of sorts by Slash, saying drugs wouldn't get in the way of the band...or something like that. They played a little better than the first night but still couldn't overshadow the Stones, who were much better on this tour than they had been in 1981. Much better set list, too. Of course, the ONE night I didn't go, Oct. 19, is the night Eric Clapton showed up to play with the Stones. Oh well, can't win 'em all. Tickets were something like $30. In comparison, the 1981 tour cost $15 and 1972 was around $7.

Sorry Slave...was delayed. I've cleared space now. My inbox had never been full before...my apologies to anyone who attempted to write and couldn't get through.

Ouch! Give the guy a break.

First, allow me to say to Ally, Knebby and others who seemed to have had enough and decided to leave: Merry Christmas to you and I hope you'll come back. You might have noticed that I have only posted in that shooting thread a grand total of ONE time...and that was on the first day, on page 4. You might find this hard to believe, but I don't post just to hear myself talk...especially on something I know nothing about. Maybe it's the inner-journalist in me, but when incidents like Sandy Hook happen, my instinct is to just watch, observe and listen. If you're too busy talking instead of listening, you're going to miss the story. Plus, the first hours and days of a tragedy are always going to be filled with rumours and misinformation. After I woke up Friday and first found out about the shooting, I posted my brief message and left it at that. After watching an hour or so of the news, I realized that all the facts wouldn't be known for some time, and so I turned it off and went about my day. I vowed not to return to the thread until after the weekend. There was nothing to say that wasn't said at the Columbine, Virginia Tech, Dark Knight Rises, and other shootings. I could pretty much predict all the gun arguments pro-and-con that would happen, all the misinformation posted, so it would be a waste of time and psychic well-being to dwell on it over the weekend. On Monday, I checked out the thread(it had grown from 4 pages when I posted to around 15 or so)...and my suspicions were confirmed. Although, to my surprise, some people I usually disagree politically with actually posted much that I agree with. TypeO and SAJ, for instance. But after reading only 5 or so pages, my brain started to hurt and the thread started to become the RH echo chamber. It's like he has 10 posts to everyone else's one...and it seems to be the same argument over and over. No matter what Knebby, Old Shep, SAJ, Melanie, Sagittarius Rising, Ally, fdm posted in rebuttal, RH would either ignore it or call people idiots or crazy. A rule of thumb in debates is the first person to resort to name-calling is the loser. So, after reading a few pages of that, I washed my hands of it. Knebby and everyone else are smart enough to argue their viewpoints for themselves, so I'm not adding my voice to the fray. I see it is now up to 30 pages...page 16 is where I left off...I'm not reading 14 pages of that. As another saying goes...better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak and remove all doubt.

Sorry, StZ...I'll clear it out ASAP. Regarding turkey, I usually do either a ham or prime rib or some kind of roast for Christmas. Since my time on Thanksgiving is split between my vegan dinner and my regular dinner, it's all become too much for me to handle, so I let my friend handle the turkey. But from my experiences, the length of cooking time comes down to the size of the bird and the method: roasting, deep-frying, etc. That bacon idea from Gordo sounds like a good one; I hadn't thought of that before...will implement it the next time. One tactic we've been using for the past decade is to turn the turkey upside down on the roasting rack halfway through, letting the juices seep down into the breast area. And yes, letting the bird sit is important...although I generally let it sit for 1/4-1/3 the total cooking time.

It must require an epic amount of self-delusion to care about Axl and co. these days. Out of respect for Izzy, Duff, Slash and Steve, I refuse to call what Axl is doing 'G n R'.

How old is he now? Happy birthday Keef!

Just watch out for Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. Regarding the cake, Kate...did you forget to line the pan with foil? Did you have leakage? Any photos you wish to share? Cost Plus World Market made me happy today...this is a great place to pick up interesting presents for any kids or quirky friends on your Christmas list. I knocked off a whole bunch of people on my list...nephews, nieces, friends. And, as a bonus, after you're done shopping for others you can get yourself some wine and chocolate, as they have an amazing selection of good wines and chocolate from around the world...at very affordable prices. I've bought great French Bordeaux for $15 or less that would be $40-80 somewhere else. I'm rewarding myself right now with some Lindt Swiss chocolate.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I DO NOT shop online. I go out and shop in real stores, where I can see and feel the merchandise I'm buying. It amused me to read about everybody pre-ordering their "Celebration Day" online, only to have it not arrive on time, or for it to be damaged or defective or the wrong format. Meanwhile, I got it the day of sale with no hassle. I've seen too many of my friends and favourite stores struggle to survive against the monster that is Amazon.com. I refuse to be part of the problem by joining the herd. I will always support my local shops...especially during Christmas. Awww...thanks jb126 and Slave to Zep for your concern. You're right, it really isn't like me to be morose, but it's getting better. The rain stopped and I was able to get out and get some shopping done. Crossed a few names off the list. Melanie passing up coffee!?! Maybe the Mayans were right and we really are at the end of the world.