Notes on Pop Culture, Christmas Edition: Fallon as Pattinson, Ferrell & Reilly as Bowie & Crosby, Conan's Eccentric Decorator

Jimmy Fallon Strikes Again with Robert Pattinson ‘Bothered’ by Christmas Shopping



This ongoing spoof of Twilight vampire Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, can be goofy and silly at times, but I like Jimmy Fallon’s Pattinson impersonation where he was sitting in a tree and complaining about all things Christmas shopping, particularly when it comes to venturing out at 5:30 in the morning.

FYI: The video is NOT for kids.

Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly Do David Bowie & Bing Crosby’s Drummer Boy



Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

This video – a parody on the real duet sung by David Bowie and Bing Crosby -- has a substantial creep factor to it. I think it’s Ferrell’s make-up and God awful hair. Um . . . Merry Christmas?

Here’s the real Bowie/Crosby video. Come to think of it, the original video feels a bit off too, can’t put my finger on precisely why though.



Which is creepier, the actual Bowie/Crosby version or the Ferrell/Reilly version?

Conan's Got an Eccentric Yuletide Decorator



First, Team Coco spoke with this eccentric "holiday decorator" about what kind of Christmas and Hanukkah decorations they should put on Conan's set. After some consulting -- as seen in the video above -- this was the insane result:



Who says Godzilla holding a candy cane, King Kong with Santa's sleigh aloft over his head, a UFO, a giant sandwich and a robo-rabbi don't go together as naturally as tinsel and a Christmas tree?

Jon Stewart Rips US Intelligence Community a New One

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Terror 2.0 by Yemen
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Jon Stewart used the opening minutes of his first 2010 episode of The Daily Show to eviscerate the U.S. intelligence community for failing to stop the guy with the "Doomsday underpants" who attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane on Christmas day.

As he detailed the information that various intelligence officials had in hand prior to the alleged underpants bomber setting foot on the plane, Stewart was incredulous, particularly about the fact that the alleged bomber's father went to U.S. authorities to warn them that his son had become radicalized and posed a security threat.

"I too have a tendency to ignore messages from Nigerian bankers who wish to help me," Stewart quipped, "but when they show up in person and aren’t asking for a money order but instead turning in their own son maybe that conversation doesn’t get filed under 'spam.'”

Saying that the one-way, paid-with-cash plane ticket coupled with no checked luggage should've been an obvious "hey dudes pull me out of line" clue to security officials, Stewart added, "It’s December, he’s going from Nigeria to Amsterdam to Detriot without a coat? With a one-way ticket? Do you think he’s going to Detroit to start a better life? What do you think he’s going there because he thinks there are lots of jobs?"

To illustrate the horrific absurdity of the situation, Stewart used an action figure to dramatize how not much has changed in the eight years since a man -- who also had a one-way ticket paid for with cash and checked no luggage -- used the same type of explosives as the Christmas day underwear bomber, only the explosives were moved up from the shoes to the underwear.

When I read that officials apparently think that the answer to underwear and shoe bombers is to take quasi-naked images of airline passengers and make everyone sit in their seats for the last hour of a flight, I know I feel super-safe. Not.

Where's Jack Bauer when you need him?

Does 'It's a Wonderful Life' Irritate You or Lift Up Your Spirits?

As I wrapped a gazillion Christmas presents today, I was listening to a Boston area talk radio host trash It's a Wonderful Life as being a depressing movie with a lousy message. Shortly thereafter, the mailman delivered a new DVD copy of It's a Wonderful Life that I'd ordered. (We only owned it on VHS and this year decided it was about time we upgraded.)

The talk radio host was going on and on about how it sucked that George Bailey was taken advantage his entire life, cheated by his greedy brother who took George's college money and never took the reigns of the Bailey Building & Loan as he promised he'd do, left vulnerable to possible criminal charges after Mr. Potter kept Bailey Building & Loan money that Uncle Billy had foolishly left in the folds of his newspaper, being assigned a bumbling guardian angel in training as George contemplated suicide, and then his wife had to go all around town begging for money.

About half of the callers to the radio show thought the host was off base and called it a beautiful film about family and the power of community. However there was a vocal group which agreed with him, saying that it was a shame that George was guilted into giving up on his potential and his talents, that he was railroaded by people who didn't have his best interests at heart.

My husband always complains whenever we watch the film -- I consider it one of my favorites -- about how poorly George is treated, about the martyring choices George made. But watching the old Saturday Night Live skit -- where the gang at George's house learns the truth and then stormed over to the bank and beat the hell out of Mr. Potter -- never fails to bring a snarky smile to his lips.


What do you think about It's a Wonderful Life, does the film irritate you or lift up your spirits? Or both?

For the Mad Men Fans on Your Holiday List

I've written several times on this blog about my admiration for the Mad Men-inspired illustrations by Dyna Moe. She expertly translates pivotal moments of the show into illustrations.

Now she's not only added to her repertoire -- selling notecards and T-shirts with her Mad Men images -- but now she's crafted a 2009 calendar.

I'll certainly be dropping hints to my near and dear hoping to find this calendar under the Christmas tree.