Bad-ass Santas: A handful of actually pretty decent holiday specials

It can be hard to take Christmas seriously, in a pop culture sense at least. At this point, there are probably more parody holiday specials out there than there are sincere ones. Some (say, the classic Festivus episode of Seinfeld) have even taken on a real-world life of their own — not that people are … Continue reading

Holiday cheer

I’m giving the Best Things a break for a couple days, but to tide you over, the (presumably) fine folks at The Line of Best Fit are offering a holiday sampler with some incredibly talented folks (including Snailhouse, Woodpigeon with Laura Leif, and Kris Ellestad, whose excellent No Man is Land is still streaming free … Continue reading

Best Stuff Day 18: World’s greatest headline

Just a quick one today: Back in June, this article appeared in newspapers around the world, and reality officially became a game of Mad Libs

Best Stuff Day 17: Albums 5 through 1

Now 30% more authoritative than other best-of lists. 5. Andrew Downing – Silents (Black Hen) Written as a soundtrack for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Impossible Journey, Downing’s Silents is every bit as angular and expressionist as you’d expect. It’s not music for every day, but put it on next time you find yourself … Continue reading

Best Stuff Day 16: Albums 10 through 6

More 50-word bursts of semi-descriptive musical nonsense.

Best Stuff Day 15: Albums 15 to 11

Telling you what you should be listening to, exactly 50 words at a time.

Best Stuff Day 14: Netflix.ca

The TV selection still pretty much sucks, there’s not much in the way of new release movies, and the lack of a streaming movie queue is a bit frustrating. Aside from those (fairly major) quibbles, though, Netflix’s foray into Canada is pretty impressive. Just don’t try comparing it to the American service… What do they … Continue reading

Best Stuff Day 13: Pixels

It looks like this week is shaping up to be “things that were popular a few months ago on the internet” week in the Best Stuff round-up. That might not be an entirely bad thing. As much as the internet preserves even our most awkward moments forever, for all the world to see, it also … Continue reading

Best Stuff Day 12: Mario Crossover

Your dreams made material

Alright, so this one’s more a blast of geeky nostalgia mixed with a bit of grade-school level “wouldn’t it be awesome if…” wish fulfillment. That hardly distracts from the fact that Mario Crossover is, well, pretty damn awesome. The concept is simple: Take six of the original NES’s greatest heroes, throw them into the world … Continue reading

Best Stuff catch-up: Days 9 to 11

Alright, so school is officially cramping my desire to work on this blog. But I set myself a target, and I intend to hit it. Without further ado, then, come three more contributions to the canon of amazing things that I experienced in 2010: Day9: Comedy Death Ray They have a podcast that I hear … Continue reading