So it turns out that Christmas Island, a territory of Australia that's considerably closer to Indonesia, is badly misnamed. A recent account of a stay there makes it sound like Crabby Island would be much more appropriate.
With little sign of Santa Claus or any reindeer, Christmas Island is instead home to some 20 different species of crabs. If you're not carefully, a robber crab might sneak up the beach and partake of your picnic, but most of the time you can just ogle the migration habits of the red crab--yep, these crabs look cooked before they're even caught.
Apparently there's other stuff to do on Christmas Island--mostly involving diving, snorkeling and climbing--but we're totally into the crabs. Sounds like the chance of them appearing is much better than the chance of seeing Santa.
Mike Huckabee is glad to remind you that Jesus is the reason for the season. The former Arkansas governor traveled further into Iowa's heartland this week, hitting up the small towns of Dike, Marshalltown, Waterloo and Manchester. While John McCain chose to share a message with audiences in Iowa about a Christmas spent as a POW, Huckabee didn't let his audience forget that he is, after all, a Baptist minister.
Huckabee's latest campaign vid, above, is catching a little heat from conspiracy theorists who say there's a well-positioned cross in the background. We say it's too bad Chuck Norris doesn't show up in this clip, like he has in the past.
If you're not planning a trip to rural Iowa anytime soon [Ed. note: You're not?!], don't despair. You can still see the tech savvy Huckabee during his live webcast on New Year's Day. Don't worry: It's at 7:30 pm, so you'll have plenty of time to recover from the night before.
We already know that Santa is hanging out in Kyrgyzstan instead of the North Pole this year. Now the big man's hosts plan to name a mountain in his honor and put together some real-life reindeer games like chimney climbing and sled racing.
The Central Asian country--just south of Kazakhstan--has lots of remote and unnamed peaks, so turning one into Mount Santa Claus isn't a problem. And it's not an unprecedented move, as the Kyrgyzstanis have already named mountains for Vladimir Lenin and Boris Yeltsin.
Try as we may, we can't determine exactly where Mount Santa Claus is. But maybe that's for the better: Seems like the kind of place that could quickly get overrun by tourists.
This is our last episode of "Gossip Girl" this year, and what a long, immaculately accessorized trip it's been. It's a little bittersweet since next year will bring but two more episodes of the show we love--and love to hate.
It's Christmas Eve, and possibly only "Gossip Girl" is getting what she wants this year. Instead of getting hours of doting attention from her runaway father, Blair gets to entertain him and his model boyfriend Roman on an awkward family ice-skating outing. (They could've used our tips!) At least mom Eleanor gets a new rich boyfriend out of it--who promptly sleeps over on Christmas Eve.
Serena and Dan have a competition to see who can come up with the best $50 gift; Serena wins, but Dan wins too, because her gift is hot sex after-hours in Rufus' gallery surrounded by fake snow. But poor Rufus finally acknowledges his wife Allison is a drag on the series and proclaims his love via voicemail to Lily, while she's getting proposed to... by Chuck's dad?!
We may be a little WASPy, but we think there's been a little too much marryin' talk on the show recently, between the attempted selling of Blair and every adult in the series desperately needing that fifth divorce. So we're going to hand this Prep of the Ep to Serena, because despite her sketchy, only-alluded to past, she's become the re-ingenued girl we're rooting for.
Serena's fake snow scene was incredibly cheesy, but in that warm, "Love, Actually" sort of way. She doesn't even suspect Vanessa--whose gift to Dan was entering him in a New Yorker fiction contest, which of course he wins--of having designs on her man. What can we say? We're cheesy and it's Christmas.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy just divorced his wife two months ago--but that isn't stopping him from enjoying Disneyland Paris without a lovely companion. Sarko was spotted at the theme park, just outside the city, with Carla Bruni, a former model and present-day singer-songwriter who's been linked to Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.
The pair were on hand to take in Euro Disney's Christmas Parade, which continues until January 6. Also on tap for Christmas at the park is Mickey's Winter Wonderland, a kid-friendly musical production, and Belle's Christmas Village, a Disney-approved holiday fair like the ones you find throughout Europe.
Oh, and unlike Sarkozy, Disneyland Paris is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year!
You've been to see the fat man in the red suit, now meet the ones who only get one four-legged animal to carry them around. For reasons known only to themselves, the Canadian Tourism Commission is sponsoring Mountie Mondays, where even the most jaded of New Yorkers can get their pictures taken with the armed guards of Canada in Bryant Park.
Tell the Mounties what you want for Christmas between 11 am and 2 pm, and between 4 pm and 7 pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Food and Christmas seem to go hand in hand--it's the season to eat, drink and be merry, after all. It was only a matter of time, then, that a Slow Food Market made its way to London, in the capital for the first time this year.
From December 20 to 23, the festival comes to Southbank Centre, in Central London on the Thames, featuring more than 25 stalls selling fresh and preserved foods as well as locally and nationally produced sustainable craft products. With everything from poached rabbit and venison suet pudding to tipples from the Somerset Cider Brandy Company to blueberry pate and vegan sweetmeats, it's the perfect place to find an unusual, palate-pleasing Christmas gift.
The market's open from 11 am to 8 pm, and you can also enjoy a meal or snack on site as you browse the stalls. Slow Food is all about counteracting fast food and fast life, and the one-of-a-kind eats at Southbank Centre are the kind we'd be happy to slow down for.
With around a week to go until Christmas hits New York, the city's packed with tourists and shoppers to take it all in. Sometimes we revel in all the action--catching a cute proposal on the ice rink at Rock Center was pretty heartwarming!--and sometimes it makes us want to pull our hair out. (Tourists randomly stopping in the middle of the sidewalk while we're running late drives us nuts.) Either way, it's a cool time of year.
Think you've seen it all, done it all holiday-wise in NY? Think again. There's more to check out than the Rockettes, Wolman Rink and Saks:
If you're a train fanatic or just want to take a step back in time, the MTA is holding a "Nostalgia Holiday Train" special holiday event on the V line. Each Sunday in December riders can hop on the V and possibly catch a ride in a vintage subway car dating back anywhere from the 1930s to the 1970s. Cars will be on the track randomly between 10 am and 5 pm, and are fully authentic inside, meaning all the ads and seats and interiors are exactly how they were. Grab your favorite old-time New Yorker and take them on a $2 holiday trip.
Do you feel an insane amount of pressure to get the Christmas carving done right? Don't screw up when your mom hands you a perfectly done bird and you have zero idea how to carve it. Head to the holiday Knife Skills Class at Camaje, a cute little Village bistro, that will whip you and your skills into place. The class, on Dec 18th ($65), will break down how to slice, carve, dice and chop the right way.
To see some of the season's most-loved furry friends, head to the Bronx Zoo Reindeer Exhibit, and meet up with New York's official reindeer herd. This year's herd includes three generations of a family: grandma Easter (a return visitor), daughter Emma, and granddaughter Linnae. While waiting for the big night, you might catch them rubbing their antlers on zookeeper-supplied branches, or calling their agents about their appearance schedule. They're in an outdoor paddock on Astor Court and $14 will get you in to see them up close.
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by amandak
