That was fun eh?

But now we’re back… with avengeance!

WATCH THIS SPACE!

In the mean time, watch this video! (sorry, the BBC wouldn’t allow me to embed it… bastards)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVVroi8q0Y0

Playing it over and over again makes me feel a little happier that it’s already 2009…

Need more leftovers, a tub of ice cream, and the first season of 30 Rock.

Deck the halls with jingle bells on a silent night while the Herald Angels sing! It’s Christmas dang it!

I love Christmas, I really do. I’m the kind that needs Christmas to be extravagant, to be shamelessly ostentatious and over-the-top awesome. Why? Because it reminds me of being 5 years old, when Christmas was at its best. And let’s face it, while Christmas is a time for family, traditions, too much food, and joy, it really is a time when you allow yourself to feel like a child again.

It’s about getting in touch with that long lost innocence… or the beauty of experiencing awe and wonder as we once did.

So, here are some tips for you to get in touch with your inner child at Christmas:

1. Candy! Sweets! The Works!
Seriously, I am not trying to promote over-consumption of sugar (which, as you know boys and girls, will lead to endless dentist visits, diabetes, glaucoma, obesity, depression, hallucinations, paranoia, shivers, babies crawling on the ceiling as you are trying to kick the habit… OK, no… but whatever). Anyway, it is a known fact that candy makes you feel like a little kid, so stock up on all the colors of the rainbow.

2. Watch Christmas movies
These are generally targeted towards the whole family, but most have very kid-friendly undertones, especially the animated ones: The Polar Express, The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Nightmare Before Christmas (not for the VERY young), Home Alone 1, Home Alone 2, Home Alone 3-18, etc

3. If it’s snowing, make a Snowman
I dare you to find a person who doesn’t enjoy this, who won’t feel like a kid again… I dare you!

4. Actually, if it’s snowing, have a snowball fight, ride a sleigh, go iceskating. Go outside and play my children!

5. Dress up as Santa
Do you remember when you still believed? Do you remember when Crazy Uncle John would come over (slightly tipsy I might add) dressed as Santa and Aunt Janice would be an elf? Well, it’s time for you to don the jolly red suit. There are a lot of websites where you can do the necessary research and even buy a costume yourself (I mean, let’s face it, if you’ve dressed up once, you’ll end up making it an annual tradition!).

6. Don’t drink too much
Uhm… yeah… because kids don’t drink.

7. Get up early on Christmas Day (unless you didn’t follow Tip #6)
Get that feeling of glee in your stomach, wake up early, open presents, eat some cookies, wolf down leftovers from the night before… You know you want to.

8. Actually, that’s it. I’m out of ideas. Let me know if you got some more!

And while the Beast fights to regain his bachelor looks that his human life as royalty so gracefully has given him, when Princess Fiona (also royalty and equally beautiful) in Shrek is turned into a female ogre, sure she fights it, but in the end chooses to remain a female ogre. The Prince in Beauty by The Beast returns to his human shape in the end and Princess Fiona does not. Does anybody else see a little male-female conendrum here?

Why should the Beast not be accepted and loved for who his is rather than what he looks like. The underline in Shrek is much more “come as you are” when Princess Fiona simply chooses to ignore or even starts to like here look as a female ogre.

I guess what it comes down to – the mayor difference in both these stories – is that Shrek and Princess Fiona discover love in their similarities, the fact that they are both ogres. The Beast and innocent Belle however, find love in each other’s differences,which makes the Beast’s tranformation back to the Prince at the end a simple and useless “Disney-ending”.

But can it be that Belle and the Beast simply would not have been able to live happily ever after with him looking like a werewolf? In a fairytale world where anything is possible, love always lasts and the rainbow always so beautiful – are we that shallow?

1. Martha Washington (Mrs. George Washington)

2. Abigail Adams Smith (Mrs. John Adams)

3. Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson (Mrs.Thomas Jefferson)

4. Dolley Payne Todd Madison (Mrs. James Madison)

5. Elizabeth Kortright Monroe (Mrs. James Monroe)

6. Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (Mrs. John Quincy Adams)

7. Rachel Donelson Jackson (Mrs. Andrew Jackson)

8. Hannah Hoes Van Buren (Mrs. Martin Van Buren)

9. Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison (Mrs. William Henry Harrison)

10. Letitia Christian Tyler (Mrs. John Tyler)

11. Julia Gardiner Tyler (Mrs. John Taylor)

12. Sarah Childress Polk (Mrs. James K. Polk.)

13. Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor (Mrs. Zachary Taylor)

14. Abigail Powers Fillmore (Mrs. Millard Fillmore)

15. Jane Means Appleton Pierce (Mrs. Franklin Pierce)

16. Harriet Lane (niece of James Buchanan, only president never to get married)

17. Mary Todd Lincoln (Mrs. Abraham Lincoln)

18.Eliza McCardle Johnson (Mrs. Andrew Johnson)

19. Julia Dent Grant (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant)

20. Lucy Ware Webb Hayes (Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes)

21. Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (Mrs. James A. Garfield)

22. Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur (Mrs. Chester A. Arthur)

23. Frances Folsom Cleveland (Mrs. Grover Cleveland)

24. Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison (Mrs. Benjamin Harrison)

25. Ida Saxton McKinley (Mrs. William McKinley)

26. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt (Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt)

27. Helen Herron Taft (Mrs. William Howard Taft)

28. Ellen Louise Axson Wilson (Mrs. Wodrow Wilson)

29. Florence Kling Harding (Mrs. Warren G. Harding)

30. Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge (Mrs. Calvin Coolidge)

31. Lou Henry Hoover (Mrs. Herbert Hoover)

32. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt)

33. Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman (Mrs. Harry S. Truman)

34. Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower (Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower)

35. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy (Mrs. John F. Kennedy)

36. Claudia Taylor (Lady Bird) Johnson (Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson)

37. Patricia Ryan Nixon (Mrs. Richard M. Nixon)

38. Elizabeth Bloomer Ford (Mrs. Gerald R. Ford)

39. Rosalynn Smith Carter (Mrs. Jimmy Carter)

40. Nancy Davis Reagan (Mrs. Ronald Reagan)

41. Barbara Pierce Bush (Mrs. George Bush)

42. Hillary Rodham Clinton (Mrs. Bill Clinton)

43. Laura Bush (Mrs. George W. Bush)

44. Michelle Obama ( Mrs. Barack H. Obama)

What we desire and aspire to look like has today turned into something that isn’t even real. Back in the days, the ‘super models’ signified a beauty that still was given only a lucky few, but could still be reached through training, staying in shape and lots of make-up.

Today, as a result of digital modernisation what we look at, the celebrities and models on posters and in magazines aren’t even real. Photoshopped till the break of recognition, necks are elevated, mole erased, hair color and volume changed and skin smoothened to a silky clean surface.

Photoshopped super models and celebrities – Before and After

Cameron Diaz – Before

After

Before

After

As you can see the beauty we grace in every magazine, poster, TV-commercial and newspaper has been altered. Yet another clear testament to our distorted view on beauty. But then again, now thanks to photoshop and the art of retouching – even I can be beautiful

And this year, I had a really “unscary” Halloween. My office threw a Halloween party and round these here parts it’s become a tradition to try to outdo everyone else, costume-wise. The person with the most over the top costume wins movie tickets, or a free dinner, or a gift voucher or something. That’s not what it’s about, of course. It’s about having the most kick-ass costume ever and thus finally gaining the respect of your colleagues! At least for one night…

Last year, I couldn’t make it because I got the flu. This girl from accounting won – she came decked out as Jessica Rabbit… Not enough commitment, you protest? Well, she is 5’2″, skinny, and has black hair. That’s right, for one night at an office party, she dyed her hair cartoon-red, wore the mother of all push-up bras, added padding on her hips to become more voluptuous, and balanced on 6 inch heels.

So this year? My costume sucked, I went as a punk: spikey hair, Doc Martens with red laces, ripped tight jeans, an Exploited t-shirt, and fake “punk” tattoos. No way I could have won. And I didn’t. Sasquatch won. Yes indeed, one of our IT guys got the most realistic BigFoot costume ever on TheHorrorDome.com and now he is the coolest guy at work.

It’s funny how people always find something to compete in. We all want the praise and attention from our peers, but in most instances, this admiration is for superficial attribute: nice haircut, cool jeans, love the new dress… or awesome bigfoot costume Jim.

Damn Jim and his tickets to Quantum of Solace… Next year, the prize shall be mine!

Attitude, being able to bite back, self-respect and not letting anybody put you down. These are all highly contributing factors to feeling beautiful. Insecurities are often the gateway to being pushed around, mocked, bossed around and looked down on. Being able to say no, react, not letting anybody having a laugh on your behalf or better yet saying Fuck you!, will not only give you the feeling of self-respect and security. It will also put those arrogant people in place, showing that it is not ok to make fun of other people.

Be strong, know your uniquess and worth. Be beautiful and fuck anybody who tries to make you feel different.

This title is based on my opinion that being happy all the time and loving everything always is simply not healthy. The Coen brothers portrays this forced and constant obtimistic view on life in their latest movie ‘Burn After Reading‘ where two gym-employees finds a disc with top-secret CIA stuff, and decides to blackmail its owner. These two characters, including the personal trainer named Chad, played by Brad Pitt, are immensely stupid and naive. But they are also always positive when it is obvious that they really aren’t.

A little hate never hurt anyone – what I mean by this statement is that it’s ok to have a bad day, silently cursing people in the subway or squinting your eyes when somebody is overly happy. To be less like Chad and realize that the world’s won’t end just because you allow yourself to be ‘negative’. But keep away from cynicism, bitterness and envy, these are destructive emotions that will take over and make you all about the negativity.

You’re human and are entitled to form your own opinion and hold your own, and not feel like you have to put on a smiling face for everyone. Try to be angry and negative about something. Balance is important and if you are an optimistic person by nature a little hating from time to time will only be good for you.