http://cache.io9.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png http://io9.com/tag/christmas http://io9.com/tag/christmas

You may have heard how a portion of the Soyuz-2 rocket destroyed some poor guy's house in Siberia. That wasn't the only shenanigan Soyuz debris pulled last weekend. A portion of the Soyuz rocket that transported three astronauts to the International Space Station flared up the skies over Germany, Belgium, and France on Christmas Eve, leading confused observers to assume that Santa Claus had fed his reindeers napalm. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871116&view=rss&microfeed=true

For their latest X-Mas film, design firm 39 Degree Studios has put together a 5.5-minute homage to the buddy cop genre in the vein of Man's Best Friend. If you're going to run with a single insane visual gag, run with it until you see the whites of the audience's eyes. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871072&view=rss&microfeed=true

Here's another burly Christmas tradition to complement the Krampuslauf (and the even more obscure veneration of Japanese Robotic Velociraptor Santa Claus). In Guatemala, effigies of Satan are burned on the evening of December 7 to kick off the Christmas season. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871042&view=rss&microfeed=true

Here's further proof that basically everything goes better with Portal. Check out Ryan Kelly and his coworkers' Portal-fied Christmas tree, which certainly beats the hell out of the 20 years' worth of musty tinsel I festooned all over my folks' Tannenbaum this very evening. Also, learn how to make this Aperture Science-infused arbor for next year. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871036&view=rss&microfeed=true

IN 1989, Neil Gaiman and Sandman artist David McKean collaborated on a 100-word Christmas card story titled "Nicholas Was." Since then, this story has been transformed into a short animated feature and this hyper-detailed pop-up book by Vimeo crafter Nomsa. Here's the full text of the story: More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871017&view=rss&microfeed=true

December brings along the hiatus of several current cartoon series (I miss you, Young Justice & Star Wars: The Clone Wars), but we can always look to the past (and particularly the 1980s cartoon explosion) for some amazing holiday specials. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869765&view=rss&microfeed=true

The annual Venture Bros. X-Mas track is here, courtesy of the mellifluous voices of Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer. Listen to supervillainy's premier couple argue their way through a rendition of the creepy holiday staple "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The henchmen learned to play jazz! You can download the MP3 with but a right-click here. You can find a full list of past Venture X-Mas singles at A Site Called Fred. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870535&view=rss&microfeed=true

In this heartstring-tugging short, singer and Star Wars fan Darren Hayes recalls the Christmas of 1980, when times were lean for his family. When you're eight years old, an Ugnaught can mean the world. Hayes grew up to be the lead singer of this band, so things worked out pretty well for him. Hat tip to Jeff Newelt. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870407&view=rss&microfeed=true

This letter to Santa, written in 1911, was discovered by John Byrne while puttering about inside his home in Dublin, Ireland. Penned by a pair of siblings (10-year-old Hannah and 7-year-old Fred), the letter miraculously survived inside a fireplace without being burned to bits. For 100 years. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870108&view=rss&microfeed=true

In this short animation for the pre-Monty Python TV series Do Not Adjust Your Set, Terry Gilliam cut up treacly Christmas cards and transformed them into deranged scenes of yuletide chaos. Here's Terry's method for creating these animations, in case you were wondering. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870031&view=rss&microfeed=true

For their latest art challenge, the illustrators at the website Draw2D2 (previously: 1, 2, 3) placed characters from the Marvel Universe in the cherished hellhole-Americana X-Mas flick A Christmas Story. Witness Ralphie's pajamas and Flick's telephone pole shenanigans reenacted with the Marvel Universe's stalwart gang. Top image by Alex Ryan.

More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868518&view=rss&microfeed=true

Being a millennia-old Sphynx isn't always easy. Sure, people don't generally bother you because they're too busy running away in terror. But what if you actually want to buy a Christmas gift for a friend, but you don't know much about the newfangled holiday or modern trends in gift-giving? In the new Subnormality, the Sphynx explains how she found the perfect Christmas present in just 12 days. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868906&view=rss&microfeed=true

For many of us, the Calvin and Hobbes newspaper strip was a gateway drug to comics and fantasy pop culture in general. And there was nothing greater than all of Calvin's twisted snowman torture scenes. This video Christmas card plays homage to each of Calvin's snowpocalypses. Do you remember them all? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868950&view=rss&microfeed=true

What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a parade? What I mean is, a parade honoring Santa's long-tongued beast buddy who gobbles up all the really bad children? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868042&view=rss&microfeed=true

A little while back, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programmed its emergency automated voice service to warble a yuletide staple. Here's your cyber-chanteur's biography: More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5867748&view=rss&microfeed=true

Did you know that the candy cane you're probably dipping into your coffee in an attempt to jumpstart your morning came from a huge, hideous candy log? Find out how that candy was made, how it became whitened, and what that ultra-thin red stripe is. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5866845&view=rss&microfeed=true

I never understood why they celebrated Christmas in the Harry Potter novels — I always assumed wizards would go apeshit on Merlin's Birthday or Talking Flag Day or some other arcane bacchanalia lost to the ages. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway, Canadian crafter Gabrielle offers an easy step-by step on how to build a golden snitch to hang from that special location you like to hang stuff. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5867006&view=rss&microfeed=true

Jackie Blevins of Carter County, Tennessee has a singular dream: to display his automobiles dolled up in pure Satanic majesty at local car shows. But when his customized cars were kicked off the lot, Mr. Blevins protested the way aggrieved folks have been doing for decades — by adorning their homes with blinking Satanic missives: More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865503&view=rss&microfeed=true

Something tells me the Ewoks may have gone over better if the forest moon of Endor (and all of its denizens) were made out of gingerbread and a metric ton of fondant. Also, the Empire's machinations might have actually worked if they constructed the Death Star entirely out of Rice Krispies Treats. This ridiculously complex edible village by Canadian baker Infinite Yums turns our minds to such missed narrative opportunities. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5864857&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've seen plenty of proper screwball depictions of Kris Kringle previously, but history is ripe with examples of magical pensioners who trespass down strangers' flues. Here are 10 of the more egregious examples to throw on this Yuletide bonfire of weirdness.

More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863793&view=rss&microfeed=true

We love those crazy old kaiju anatomy diagrams (see here and here), and so does comic artist Brad McGinty. In fact, the Minnesota-based illustrator recently "discovered" a box of old Christmas cards his drunk dead grandfather tried to sell decades ago. According to his family lore, Grandpa McGinty collaborated with a Japanese soldier he met shot during World War II for an ill-conceived X-Mas card venture:

More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862614&view=rss&microfeed=true

Seeing as Halloween lands on a Monday this year, for many of us the most debaucherous festive parts of the holiday came and went this weekend. But Halloween is far from over. Tonight, an estimated 41-million trick-or-treaters will take to the streets en masse to demand candy from you, egg your house, and TP the trees in your front yard. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5854413&view=rss&microfeed=true

We weren't terribly sure what to make of the holiday movie Arthur Christmas with its impressive list of UK talent and giant Santa space ship.. But once we saw more of it, we found ourselves won over, thanks to a strong dose of clever grown-up humor. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5846719&view=rss&microfeed=true

Santa's Secret Ops team provokes a Polar Bear in the trailer for Arthur Christmas, the movie about Santa's idiot son from the makers of Wallace and Gromit. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5820634&view=rss&microfeed=true

For decades, militaries have weaponized Christmas songs, symbols, and sentimentality for psychological warfare and propaganda purposes. Here are some bizarre tales about ersatz Christmas cards during World War II, controversial Christmas trees, and decking the halls in the Colombian jungle. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5717113&view=rss&microfeed=true

In this amusing excerpt from the Dr Who Annual 1974, the reader is flung to the faraway future of 2003, where our ovens are all computers and everyone gets a spaceship ride for Xmas. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5718059&view=rss&microfeed=true

Each year, Scratch Fury (Destroyer of Worlds), the pink genius cat of Scott Kurtz's webcomic PvP tries to defeat Santa and learn all his Christmas secrets. This year, the only person who can save Christmas is the meme-powered superhero Lolbat. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5717552&view=rss&microfeed=true

The notion that an immortal toymaker circumnavigates the planet every December 24 using nothing but caribou defies all logic, but Anassa Rhenisch of Science In My Fiction is determined to make St. Nick make sense. Maybe he uses ion shields? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5717897&view=rss&microfeed=true

Which smells make people think about summer, and which evoke thoughts of the holidays? A hundred people were locked in a science museum and asked to smell a dozen different odors in order to answer this vital question. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5717190&view=rss&microfeed=true

2010 has set the bar pretty high for holiday-themed art. And now it's our turn to share that joy with you. Here's a collection of the best and the freakiest holiday cards, prints and illustrations. From stuffed Rudolph to Bigfoot. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5717128&view=rss&microfeed=true

Watch this eerie video retelling of Neil Gaiman's holiday poem "Nicholas Was..." You know it's going to be a very Gaiman holiday when the first stanza talks about Santa's desire to die. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5716063&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've all heard of The Star Wars Holiday Special, but have you ever seen The Tron Holiday Special? Jefferson Starship was in this too! Funny or Die has dug up scenes from this lost classic. Will RAM save Cyber-Christmas? More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5715437&view=rss&microfeed=true

What would happen if the famously grizzled German director Werner Herzog was allowed to reinterpret the legend of Santa Claus? You would get a consciousness-shattering tale of an omniscient dwarf who judges us from afar, tabulating our sins. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5715198&view=rss&microfeed=true

News reaches me from Chicago that a Klingon Christmas Carol is being performed. Indeed, the show's so well-received that The Wall Street Journal sent a journalist to cover it, who returned with a great article and fascinating video. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5714979&view=rss&microfeed=true

Screw Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. I've found a new holiday mascot to burn gingerbread effigies before. His name is Raptor Santa Claus, he's from Japan, and he's a damn robot. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5714939&view=rss&microfeed=true

Eureka's holiday episode was a shameless celebration of all things Christmas, giving us an Australian lunatic searching for the secret science behind Santa, a shrinking town threatened by giant runaway Christmas ornaments, and dangerously high levels of magic and whimsy. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5711061&view=rss&microfeed=true

We kind of adore the idea that Santa has a dim-witted son named Arthur. But more than that we love the new flying saucer sleigh Santa is sporting. Check out the trailer for Arthur Christmas. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5707428&view=rss&microfeed=true

Check out this amazingly geektastic wrapping paper — your gifts of DVDs and memorabilia shouldn't come wrapped in anything else. All we need now is a claymation Chainsaw Maid riding zombie Rudolph, and we're good to go. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5690556&view=rss&microfeed=true

Watch this terrifying clip from the horrific live-action Nutcracker adaptation, in which an evil wooden boy feasts on the entrails of Father Christmas. Or something. We're not sure because we started crying and ran away. Christmas is canceled, everyone. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5687938&view=rss&microfeed=true

Just because we've crossed the threshold from Christmas to Boxing Day doesn't mean that you can't retain the holiday spirit. And The Venture Bros. are here to help, with classic holiday tunes sung by your favorite villains and henchmen. More »
]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5434448&view=rss&microfeed=true