The Snowman

“One winter morning a little boy named James wakes up to find that everything outside has turned snow-white. Overjoyed, James rushes downstairs and into the garden, where he begins to build a snowman. James sleeps fitfully, and at midnight he wakes up and decides to check on his snowman. He opens the back door... he can't believe his eyes... The snowman has come to life! James finds himself face to face with a smiling snowman, who with a polite doff of his hat introduces himself and marks the beginning of magical friendship and marvelous adventure.”

I was introduced to The Snowman sometime last winter. My friend had a video of the wonderful animated film of the same name, which is based on the children's book by Raymond Briggs.

Though I have not yet read the book, the film is great in its own right. Drawn with colored pencils and featuring a highly effective rotoscoping technique for its beautiful flying scene, the movie contains no dialog. Save for a short introductory narration by David Bowie, the entire film is set to music. It's an enchanting story and has quickly become a personal Christmas-time favorite.

Here, as a modest gift to anyone who may be reading this Christmas Eve, I present to you an excerpt of the film's soundtrack, composed by Howard Blake, recorded from the original vinyl record. This is more or less the theme to the movie, a song entitled “Walking In the Air,” which plays during the aforementioned flying sequence. Hope you enjoy it. Best wishes to you and yours.

Download “Walking In the Air”

Have a Porkchop Sandwich, That Punk Shit Sucks

Bored at work?

+ Planet Krulik has all of Jeff Krulik's documentaries online and ready to stream, including the legendary Heavy Metal Parking Lot.

+ Love 'em or hate 'em, Pitchfork posts their top 50 albums of 2004. Good luck getting to the site. I haven't been able to load it all morning.

+ If you haven't yet witnessed the ridiculous genius and copyright-infringing wonder of the GI Joe PSA's from FenslerFilm, you're totally missing out.

+ Heavy.com has those PSA's too, as well as Stella videos, Cartoons Gone Bad, and a bunch more goofy shit.

How are you wasting yr time on the clock? Share it with me!

Five Fun Newsies

“A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found solid majorities believe that the Iraq war is being handled poorly and that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld should lose his job.” [W. Post, 2]

It's funny 'cause it's true, right? Um, how many mistakes must this guy make before he loses his job? Let's quit licking on this and bite right the fuck in.

Woman charged over 'womb theft' [BBC News]

Hey psycho, not satisfied with the two fat ass kids you already have? There's this thing we have where you can sign up for taking care of and/or owning a kid no one wants. Oh right—you're a psycho. Well, I guess the thing to do is pretend to be pregnant, then kill someone who really is pregnant and cut her baby out of the womb and bring it on home.

“To the Indian schoolboy, it must have seemed like an ingenious if indelicate use of new technology. But when the 17-year-old used his mobile phone camera to record his girlfriend giving him oral sex he could have had little idea of the far-reaching global consequences.” [Guardian]

I take it the Kamasutra hasn't yet been updated for the Information Age, eh? Wink, wink.

Mobile phones 'alter human DNA' [BBC News]

I knew it. My brilliant hypothesis: Changes in DNA will eventually lead to the birth of humans entirely incapable of real life, face-to-face interpersonal communication and, as an added bonus, promote the growth of cute little nub antennas located somewhere near their ears.

'Art of Modern Rock' Details Poster Revival [NPR via largehearted boy]

I almost bought this book last time I was at Atomic, but I was already getting a little too greedy, so I put it back. The thing is HUGE. It will rock my coffee table.

Feels Like

It was so cold last night on the way to the Rock-n-Shop thing at the Black Cat, I am now almost certain I will move to the West Coast and into the arms of its more temperate climes. I may have to endure yet another swampy DC summer, but I hope to hell I'm out of here before next Winter. For one thing, snowfall, which I consider one of the few significant pays offs of Winter——in addition to the holidays and the clothes——ranges from negligible to non-existent here. I guess I would miss the possibility of snow, but it's a small price to pay for keeping my appendages intact. I like having fingers and toes, for instance, and while I might make due without them, I also favor keeping my testicles.

And what good is Winter without someone to snuggle with, anyway? Not. Very. Good.

I've finished my xmas shopping early for once. Thank you, Internet. Wally's presents arrived today: a laser pointer and a CatDancer™™. A can of tuna to split with Pretty Girl is yet to come. My family members are getting books/DVD's/video games/gift cards. A few friends will receive secret homemade gifts. Since no one reads this, I am at liberty to reveal that they may or may not be hand-crafted mix CD's.

Three more days of werk to go before I am on a five-day vacation. Aside from Christmas day crap and a visit to my grandmother's the day after, my plans include relaxing with Wally, catching up on my reading, brooding in a darkened corner of the house, playing my new video game, working on the music section, suddenly becoming interesting, “laughing and scratching,” developing new personal traditions, weeping openly, and feeling good about life when all is said and done.