On the Sixth Day of Christmas

a) “I Wish It Was Christmas Today” by Julian Casablancas
I can't begin to explain the joy I receive when bands take silly songs and turn them serious. The National did it with the Thanksgiving Song from Bob's Burgers. Julian Casablancas's take on SNL's “I Wish It Was Christmas Today” just seemed right. I mean, why wouldn't the frontman of The Strokes take a ridiculous ditty about Christmas, add some synths, and make it his own? The rock-ness of it doesn't dismiss the childish lyricism, but it certainly compensates for it.

Also, even with the drums and guitars, it's so hard to not picture Tracy Morgan doing his hand thing and Jimmy Fallon trying not to laugh as usual.

b) Elf

My crush on Zooey Deschanel started with Elf. When I saw her later in (500) Days of Summer and other indie-ish things, I didn't think it was the same person at first. Maybe she wore contacts or something. I totally saw what Buddy the Elf saw in her: she was quiet, closed-off, and had a really good singing voice.

I'm really happy this movie exists, mostly because it's a Christmas movie that parents can enjoy as well. It's not something stupid (or awesome, if you're 5 years old) like Air Bud 5: Puppies Save Christmas 2 with thin plot vaguely revolving around a broken family and a kid wanting nothing more than to have just one special thing for Christmas, a puppy or a day of snow or for daddy to stop drinking so much.

Elf instead caters to all ages, providing quality slapstick of Will Ferrell jumping on a Christmas tree and getting drop-kicked by a little person, with some drinking-in-the-mail-room jokes for adults. Everyone wins! ...except maybe for small people who find elf jokes less-than-funny.

c) Xmas

Some things just need to be abbreviated. Time is so important these days and no one wants to spend precious seconds reading that you're laughing out loud. Even bands like Rapid Eye Movement and Let's Make Fucking Awful Omusic (the O is silent) caught on to this trend.

Writing out “Christmas” can be so time-consuming, so I'm glad that we can use Xmas instead. It gives one of the most underappreciated letters a time to shine like tinsel next to the fireplace (Mr. X in kindergarten, representin'!). Some people may be offended, saying that the X replaces Christ and that Jesus is the reason for the season, but that is simply not true. The X isn't looking to take Jesus's job. In fact, it just wants to hang out, have a party, get a little crazy! Just make sure it gets enough water or it could die.