A classic Christmas movie about a classic Christmas tale:

It’s that most famous group of puppets: The Muppets,
characters from whom at least 43 percent of my humor is inspired from.
They are joined by brilliant British veteran actor: Michael Caine.
Fun for children AND adults (who understand more of the jokes).
A movie that will show you the true spirit of Christmas…
in fact, THREE of them. (You’ll understand when you see it).

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Here’s another poster of the same film:

I just finished reading this book:

This is an incredibly well-told story. I highly recommend reading it. The author, Yann Martel, was born in Spain but his parents are Canadian. He currently lives in Montreal, I believe. He recently came to give a talk at my University, but I learned of this today: about 10 days after he was here. *sigh* But being able to read this book has kept my mind interested for many days and nights now, and traces of it still linger in my thoughts. That is the sign of a truly good book: it stays with you. I like to think that like in Farenheit 451, we (in some ways) become the books we read, or at least they become a part of us. Certainly when we write something very personal, we are sharing a piece of our heart and/or mind. We might even be sharing a piece of our soul and/or spirit. 

This book shares some of the soul/spirit of it’s protagonist, Pi Patel. (Hence the title…) It is questionable whether he is a real person or not, but reading this book I believed in him, so at least in my mind he is quite real. Plus I think people get too bogged down in the whole fiction vs. truth debate anyway. In storytelling (outside of the courtroom), what does it really matter? Read the top heading of my website for my view on this. This book explores that question as well, and I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Patel’s views on it. But what is the story really about?? The back cover says alot, so I will share a little less in my summary:

This is the story of an Indian boy, Pi Patel: his childhood growing up around a Zoo (that his father owned) and his sudden developing interest in 3 different religions: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.
His family decides to move to Canada, and together with the animals, embark upon a journey across the ocean to their new home.
Unexpectedly, Pi finds himself separted from his family and in a life boat, with 4 unlikely companions:
a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger.
What follows is a tale of struggle and survival, that literally contains both seperate elements of magical-realism and somehow binds them together until one cannot take them apart. 
An enjoyable read for adolescents, adults, and literate tigers.

There is an illustrated version of the book has beautiful pictures. Here are some of them:

Lastly, for those of you who dislike reading because of it barely resembles television, I have some short random videos to share to keep you entertained. Here they are:

-A funny but useful instructional video:

How To Give a Man-to-Man Hug

-The best reply I’ve seen to those annoying Mac. vs. PC commercials, featuring Mr. Bean:

Mr. Bean in Mac. vs PC Commercial

-A clip from a clever & creative Japanese TV show, courtesy of my friend Ewout:

Japanese TV Show Clip: Ninja March!

I think that’s enough to keep you busy.

Enjoy!

As we enter into the Holiday season, let’s get into the Holiday spirit with a classic Christmas film:

This is one of the best Christmas movies ever made, in my opinion.
I’ve seen it almost every year, and it never seems to lose its charm.
It’s not one of those glossy, overly colorful tales about Santa Clause, which focuses more on
his bag of goodies than him.
Instead, here is a story about ordinary people…and…well, I’ll say a suprise guest.
It’s something you can enjoy as a child or as an adult,
and it’s a film which captures the true meaning of Christmas.
(MOST Christmas films say they do this, but I find that very few actually succeed).
Heartwarming, Insightful, Romantic, Easygoing, and Fun:
If this film were a person, that’s how I would describe him or her.
I’ll end with a quote from the film:

“The main trouble is there are too many people who don’t know where they’re going
and they want to get there too fast!”

(Bonus Points to whoever can tell me which character says this.)

For more pics from the film, I recommend this site: http://www.homevideos.com/movies/bishopswife.htm

Here is the trailer (Note its unique style):

Trailer