I'd like to wish you all a very happy and safe 4th of July weekend - keep that safe part in mind eh? I want to see each and every one of you back here Tuesday with all 10 (count 'em) 10 fingers.

The weather looks spectacular (if not a little bit hot) - so get out the beach gear, clean up the grill, and get ready for a three day weekend !

Enjoy!

Rob

For those of us in the states, it's not only the unofficial start of summer - it's a 3 day weekend to boot. Cookouts, fireworks, the beach - all you have to do is make it until closing today. That is, if you didn't skip work today too.

I'll be doing most of the above, but the most important thing is I'll be putting this laptop down for a full 3 days - so you won't see any new stuff here until Tuesday.

I hope all my readers have a great holiday - remember to try and be safe, don't mix gasoline with charcoal or anything like that. Remember the sunblock - stock up on ice and beer and bacon -

See ya next week!
Rob

Nothing like a holiday that we Americans celebrate for no other reasons other than we like beer, margaritas and Mexican food. Officially Cinco de Mayo marks Mexico's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Non Officially it's when sales of Corona and limes go crazy. I'll be doing tacos and Coronas myself tonight - and here's some resources for your Cinco de Mayo.

A Margarita taste test for finding the best mixes

Some Food Recipe ideas

Some Drink Recipe ideas

and lastly some surprising facts about the holiday that you could use for office trivia today.

Have a great one amigos - I'll catch you on Sixo de Mayo

Rob

Tomorrow night at midnight the '00's hit the fan. Good freakin riddance.

Link: http://guyism.com/2009/12/what-your-new-years-eve-booze-says-about-you.html

This one's pretty true and funny - and since the holiday is coming up fast you might want to switch drinks to maintain that "image"

Tequila

You are here to get laid. There will be screaming and laughing and quite possibly, body shots. You will be the first one drunk and the first one to puke. You will more than likely be the loudest, slurringist person for the first two hours of the party and after that, people will tire of your act. Then someone will probably have to put you in a bed with a bucket before the night is out. The next day will be awful.

Link: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_ball.html

It's new this year ya know....

The new Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball is a 12 foot geodesic sphere, double the size of previous Balls, and weighs 11,875 pounds. Covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS, the new Ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns producing a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square.

Link: http://japetv-com-bob-rivers-police-stop-my-car-mp3-download.kohit.net/_/235242

One of my favorite Xmas songs free for download. Listen and enjoy at the source.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

Today is Festivus - and for you troublemakers that celebrate it ....

The holiday, as portrayed in the Seinfeld episode and now celebrated by many, includes practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", which occurs during the Festivus meal and in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. After the meal the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is actually pinned.

The original holiday featured more peculiar practices, as detailed in the younger Daniel O'Keefe's book The Real Festivus.

Link: http://www.slate.com/id/2239252/

Kalle Anka, for short, has been airing without commercial interruption at the same time on Sweden's main public-television channel, TV1, on Christmas Eve (when Swedes traditionally celebrate the holiday) since 1959. The show consists of Jiminy Cricket presenting about a dozen Disney cartoons from the '30s, '40s, '50s, and '60s, only a couple of which have anything to do with Christmas. There are "Silly Symphonies" shorts and clips from films like Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Jungle Book.

So We're all missing out on this one - I think it's great ... Count me in!

Link: http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/search/search.php?q=christmas+cartoons&theme=guide

If you're looking for some rather classic Christmas shows - and by classic I mean truly retro - look no further.

To me it's always a trip looking into how the holidays were celebrated 40 years ago. (or more)

I like Television (good htpc site) has 9 beauties for your perusal.

Enjoy!

Oh Jib Jab... I wish you kept this up so I could put my face on it!

Link: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

If you've got kids in the house - on Christmas Eve there's no better way to get them psyched and entertain them. Norad runs a Santa Tracking Site that is live all day -

seriously if you're a parent and you haven't covered this - you should!

For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s Christmas Eve flight.

The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.

Link: http://www.conanyulelog.com/

Oh wow, I don't know about you- but Yule Log Never looked like this - bonus points for the person who puts THIS on the tv Christmas Morning and backs it up with music.

Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7613/friday-fun-holiday-themed-games/

We all know nothing is really gonna get done around the office this week... I'm just helping out by not trying to avoid the fact.

Its getting so festive down at the station all the officers have made a video.

Link: http://improveverywhere.com/2009/12/14/guerrilla-handbell-strikeforce/

A flash mob of bell ringers surprise the Salvation Army guy and provide a great deal of holiday cheer in the process. Nice !

For our latest mission, a 13-member handbell choir provided some unexpected accompaniment for a Salvation Army bell ringer on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our report below.

I remember this one, it didn't exactly have the staying power of Frosty, but then neither did the dancing California Raisins.

Link: http://kokoproductions.com/kokocards/

So you got yourself in a little hot water this season? No problem, this site has you covered.

I expect you all to know this for next year when we have our sing along

There are 2 good repositories for Christmas videos online - now mind you all the links won't work as it's always a constant battle to keep these up while the studios try to take 'em down. But a good many do work and that's why they're here.

Repository One - 101 Christmas videos

Repository Two - Another big list

There you go, Enjoy!

Now you have your ammo - and it beats trying to open a beer with a cd case and getting beer on the ceiling (cough) Steve.

Link: http://gizmodo.com/5425395/christmas-lights-the-brief-and-strangely-interesting-history-of

It wasn't that long ago that people were putting candles on their tree, and you can imagine how safe that was. Enter Edison and the electric light and everything changed. Though there's still the occasional fire.

Link: http://www.i4u.com/article29191.html

Toshiba laptop in-stores only. The Toshiba Laptop features 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD and a 6-cell battery sells for $299.
Walmart says that there are a minimum of 10 available per store.
Other specifications of the Walmart Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5974 Laptop deal include 15.4 inch screen, AMD 2.1GHz Sempron SI-42 CPU, ATI Radeon 3100 graphics, SuperMulti DVD drvie, Wifi, and Windows 7 Home Premium.

Also available today at Walmart stores is a $299 Xbox 360 Elite with a $50 Walmart Gift card (minimum 4 per store). If still in stock other deals are available since yesterday.

Minimum 10 per store so there's a chance if you hurry!

Rob

Link: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/christmas/videos/378301/title/yogis-first-christmas

I love Yogi bear , specially the really early ones. Now you can watch his Christmas special before some heavy handed rights holder takes it down. Get it while it's hot.

Link: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/42711

Think your decorations are warped? Think again.

Link: http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/dear-consumer.html

Now I shouldn't have to warn you - but this video is not work or small kid safe

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/home-theater/?p=2081&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZDNetBlogs+%28ZDNet+All+Blogs%29

Just in case you're out there hunting - don't miss out on these ....

Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. As usual that includes a couple of enticing HDTV and Blu-ray specials. On the TV front, you can score a Vizio 32-inch 1080p LCD for just $398. While you can argue that 32 inches is too small a set to even see the 1080p difference, you can’t quibble with the fact that it’s only $30 more than a 720p Vizio of the same size.

For gamers who are coming late to the party on the current platforms, you can score a 46-inch 120Hz 1080p Sony LCD HDTV with a PlayStation 3 bundle for $958. It’s yet another aggressive tactic by Sony to move PS3 units, and you get a Blu-ray drive as part of the bargain. Speaking of which, Wal-Mart is resurrecting its Black Friday deal on a Magnavox Blu-ray player for $78.

Link: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/christmas/videos/452143/title/santa-claus-punch-judy-1948

If you've never seen the actual Punch and Judy this holiday short will give you a taste. This warped little gem takes a while to get going but once the puppets come out that's where the fun starts.

Let's just say there's no way this would fly today.

Link: http://www.zug.com/live/83255/Can-a-Fruitcake-Stop-a-Bullet.html

What do you think ? Follow the link for video goodness.

Ok, this tops 'em - what a massively perfect display. I am so not worthy.

Link: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/christmas/videos/450789/title/johnny-bravo-christmas

It's still up - and I loved this show. I give you Johnny Bravos Christmas Special

Link: http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=45620

What do you do when your cash strapped Geek office is too poor for decorations?

You make do -- and this is way cool

Link: http://www.screenjunkies.com/tvnews/10-most-twisted-holiday-specials

This sites got 'em all.... specials from the odd, twisted or just plain awful (cough) Can we say Star Wars Special?

right, put Santa together with Farts and you got something that'll make you smile for a couple minutes at least.