what did everybody get?

[avi]

combined haul for me and the wife:
$300 in amazon gift certificates
~$200 cash
dog-opoly
multi-picture frame thingy
lots of frosted dog treats
some tea-candle-holder dealie
hand-woven throw pillow
one estranged mother-in-law (long story, has to do with my wife, not me)

but really, I'd rather not get anything than a bunch of crap that keeps filling my house. only a little of this stuff is all that worthwhile and the cash n stuff really just went into presents for other people.

 

[Helm]

No gifts from family. Christmas successfully dodged.

I bought myself Mackie's "Inventing Right and Wrong" and "Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grind" from amazon for 20 bucks.

 

[IanDork107]

This is everything I got between Christmas and Hanukkah:

A bunch of DVDs:
Ultimate Matrix Collection (AWESOME set, even if the second two movies aren't as good as the first)
The Bourne Identity and Supremacy
Napoleon Dynamite
Shaun of the Dead
I'm Not Scared
Family Guy Vol. 1 and 2
Sex and the City seasons 1 and 2
The OC season 1

Video Games:
Mortal Kombat Deception
Need For Speed Underground 2
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Prince of Persia Warrior Within

Books:
One on the history of Hollywood
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie

Giftcards:
Gap
Old Navy (spent today on some boot cut jeans)
Best Buy
Burdines (soon to be spent on some new cologne)

Odds and ends:
Food dehydrator (making my first batch of beef jerky right now )
"Doing my best to piss off the religious right" button
Spotted Dick sponge pudding
Soap in the shape of a frog
a CD case with sushi-related design (i don't know either...)
some random cash, and a few cards from friends that've moved away.

I'm also getting something in the mail from my best friend who sent it from england where she was last semester. She says it's one of those perfect gifts that she stumbled upon and had to get for me. I have no idea what it is, but she mailed it a week and a half ago from london so it should be in the mail tomorrow.

my family is strange. no one is religious at all, but we're all about giving awesome presents.

 

[coelacanth_M]

Spotted Dick sponge pudding

please explain.

 

[IanDork107]

 

[NAD]

The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie

The only relatively uninteresting Rushdie (that I've read), but it's still pretty good. Name of the Rose rules, good movie too.

 

[mindspell]

-Espresso coffe machine and accessories
-Clothes
-Cooking classes at best cooking institute in Quebec
-Trip to the Detroit Auto Show with my father and brother
-Various cooking utensils
-Frying pan
-Wristwatch

 

[Draft Dodging Scarecrow]

With some of the money that I got for christmas I bought Phillip Glass' Music in Twelve Parts (for $43 from B&N) and Napoleon Dynamite.

 

[Baliset]

i was trying to explain to myself why i find napoleon dynamite so fucking funny and i honestly can't figure it out.

its not humor like the simpsons or airplane or any other type of humor i find funny but yet i laughed my ass off even more the second time through.

 

[IanDork107]

It's so deadpan. I think the film makes me a little uneasy because they don't examine Napoleon with any fondness. Rather, it seems like the filmmakers genuinely didn't like him. Personally, I find his complete ineptitude endearing and hilarious.

 

[Draft Dodging Scarecrow]

i was trying to explain to myself why i find napoleon dynamite so fucking funny and i honestly can't figure it out.

its not humor like the simpsons or airplane or any other type of humor i find funny but yet i laughed my ass off even more the second time through.

I read "its not humor like the simpsons or soulplane..." and got really scared.

Another funny thing about the movie is that they never make it exactly clear as to when it takes place. Some of the things in there (like the bracelet things that Deb sells) were big in the early 90s and they all kind of dress 80s/90s-ish. But it's just really weird.

I'm about to watch it again.

 

[TrevJ]

Napoleon Dynamite felt very Wes Anderson-esque to me, and that's probably why I liked it so much. It's that somewhat dry humor that relies almost entirely on exaggerated characters and off-kilter dialogue, but without any obvious punchlines or blatant gags. Unlike most comedies, it didn't stop to make sure everyone got what was supposed to be funny; if you missed the joke, it's long gone, and that in itself is funny to me.

 

[IanDork107]

I don't think I would want to give it as much credit as to call it Wes Anderson-esque. I think that all four films Wes Anderson have done are full on cinematic masterpieces, where Napoleon Dynamite is a more low key kind of enjoyable. If anything, it's like a far less sophisticated version of Wes Anderson's deadpan humor.

 

[TrevJ]

Agreed, but I was reminded of Anderson while watching it. I didn't mean to imply that Dynamite was on par with Anderson's movies, but a lot of the overall sense of humor seemed derived from Anderson's style (minus his ingenious mise en scene), with more obvious slapstick stuff thrown in.

 

[Firedwarf]

I really did not think Napoleon Dynamite was funny at all except for the part where the farmer shot the cow when the bus drove by.

 

[Firedwarf]

The rest of the time I was sitting in the theatre rubbing my face thinking "why did I pay for this movie." The whole thing reminded me of bad Nickelodeon humor (or maybe I get this impression from the opening credits), and I don't know if that makes sense to anyone. Everyone else I know loved the movie.

 

[Firedwarf]

And as long as we're talking about Anderson, The Life Aquatic is so good.

 

[inkybmistro]

what a relief

 

[AndICried]

A couple of those mini flashlight things and Murakami's Norwegian Wood. Also bought Ulvers Kveldsjanger or whatever its called, and am slightly disappointed with it.

 

[minxnim]

i am way too lazy to list everything i got.