Christmas Totally Needs Krampus

My co-worker, Dan, recently informed me of something that I really want to start working into my Holiday season.

Apparently in Germany there used to be a tradition in early December that, in order to get little kids to behave in the Holiday seasons operated on the "more stick, less carrot" model. Germans, being Germans, had cooked up a surefire way of managing their kids by scaring the bejeezus out of bad kids with a fellow named Krampus (complete with horns, fangs, etc...) who came by in early December with Santa to warn little bad kids about how rotten they were, and apparently rattle chains and pop them with birch branches.

I'm not clear if an early December birch-thwacking was it for the kids, and if they still got apples in their shoes on December 25th or whatever the little stone age German kids used to get for Christmas, but I think we could work something out if we wanted to bring Krampus into the modern American Christmas.


Wouldn't this look awesome as an inflatable lawn decoration?

I like the idea that Santa and this Krampus guy can operate on a good cop/ bad cop model in a way that kids can wrap their heads around. It certainly puts a whole new spin on Santa when you consider that he seems to endorse Krampus's @#$%ed-up shenanigans.

Anyway, I guess in some parts of Alpine Germany, people still do this Krampus thing.


You know St. Nick thinks its totally hilarious to have a jack-ass side kick who makes those ungrateful little miscreants sweat a little

Oh, Germany. You are a font of never-ending old-school terror.

Charity Opportunity

Hey Leaguers.

I am now beginning to recall that last year's charitable efforts went largely unnoticed here at The League. I'm giving it 24 hours more and then we're pulling it down. This is just sort of sad.

If you want to participate, click on the links on the left.

Just checking in

Every week Jamie watches "So You Think You Can Dance?", the American Idol of dance shows. Despite the fact I found lots of American Idol chatter in my early posts, I've not watched the show since the second season or so, and I don't normally watch reality competitions.

I have no real knowledge of dance other than that I grew up in a household where it wasn't considered strange to go to musicals or watch them as movies. So I really have no idea if what I'm looking at is any good or not. The style is hardly Gene Kelly or Cyd Charisse in most dances, but I don't find it as embarrassing as I find the typical, hackey cover of a Queen song on American Idol (it does not matter who you are. You aren't Freddy, so stop it.).

This week has been very busy. My office Admin is out, so I'm doing parts of her job and trying to do my own. Today a major screw-up was uncovered, and so I spent the middle of my day sweating bullets around whether or not I was going to be able to fix that situation (it resolved itself imperfectly).

Its also been a week of announcements for DC Comics. Little things most of you guys won't care too much about, I guess. But stuff I believe is healthy for comics with one foot in the past and an eye on the future.


Superman Earth One

Mostly, I'm kind of tired. Which is why I don't think I have it in me this evening to say a whole lot.


An upcoming cover for Wonder Woman #600. New George Perez art!

DC's Earth One Initiative

I'm guest blogging over at Comic Fodder for Travis while he travels. Wrote my three-page navel-gazing missive on what it means to put out new, original graphic novels hard rebooting Superman and Batman.

Go here.

Happy Birthday to Dug!

Happy B-Day, B-Dug.

P-Squared, if you need help saving Christmas, we're your buddies!

Unnecessary meme

Calvin posted this meme. And I hadn't done one in a while, so here you go.

1. What is the color of your toothbrush?
Gray. It is a fat Colgate toothbrush with a gray strip on the handle. I prefer fat-handled tooth brushes with a "medium" or "regular" head.

2. Name one person who made you smile today.
My co-worker Pete has a kid, Alex. Alex is about 3 months old. Babies are cute. I smiled at him during the office Holiday party. Also, The Admiral made me laugh several times on the phone.

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Sleeping off the "celebrating" I did during the Horns game.

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
Talking to the Admiral and watching football.

5. What is your favorite candy bar?
Probably the Hundred Grand or whatever they call it now. Although if its just a chunk of chocolate, I prefer dark chocolate.

Bonus Question: What no-longer-available candy would you bring back?
Grape bubble gum. How the hell did that disappear from the candy aisle?

6. Have you ever been to a strip club?
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud?
"That looks good". Jamie was showing me a printout of the annual Christmas letter to the family.

8. What is your favorite ice cream? How to choose?
I am lactose intolerant. I choose "no" when it comes to ice cream. As a kid I liked Peppermint and Bubble Gum. As a teen, coffee.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?
I am drinking "Canada Dry", a delicious Ginger Ale. I understand that in Canada, its just referred to as "Us Dry".

10. Do you like your wallet?
Yeah. Begrudgingly. Its the first wallet I've had in years without a Superman logo on it, but I got tired of placing my wallet face down when I was in mixed company. This wallet is a fairly standard folding affair from "Fossil". However, you can remove the ID holding part, which is nice when I want to just carry my ID and a credit card.

11. What was the last thing you ate?
Taco Cabana. I'm not proud.

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
I bought slippers at JC Penny this morning because they were half off and had a UT logo on them. Also, I owned no slippers, and we have concrete floors, and it was in the 30's this week.

13. The last sporting event you watched?
I am watching NFL football. Cards vs. Vikes. Cards are winning.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
Plain with salt is fine. But I do not turn my nose up at caramel corn. Last year I realized I no longer care for cheesy corn.

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to?
The aforementioned co-worker Peter, who I texted at the end of the UT game last night. He is an Aggie thrice-over (undergrad, Masters, PhD), and was hoping UT would lose.

16. Ever go camping?
Not really. Last camping trip was Spring Break 1994, and it was a disaster. I sprained my ankle when I got out of the car, and the camp site was across the lake from a power plant, and somehow I neglected to actually bring food. It was awful.

I also love indoor plumbing. Call me crazy.

17. Do you take vitamins daily?
No. I try to eat as many foods as I can each day so that I absorb vitamins the old fashioned way.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?
No. And it makes certain people sad, so we shall discuss it no further.

19. Do you have a tan?
No. I inherited the ghastly pallor of my Finnish forebears and have no ability to brown up when exposed to El Sol. I just go red and get cancer-y.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza?
That's like asking Archie if he prefers Betty or Veronica.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?
Driving: yes.
At the movies: sometimes.
At home: Never.
At restaurants: no, but I constantly worry I'm sharing spit with the last person who drank from that glass.
From a bendy straw: I'm not ready for that part of life.
From a crazy straw: As often as I can find one.

22. What did your last text message say?
Incoming: Your Horns are looking a little rough tonight.
Outgoing: That game was RIDICULOUS.

23. What are you doing tomorrow?
Working. Why?

24. favorite color?
Blue.

25. Look to your left; what do you see?
A TV remote. Beyond that, Jamie.

Bowl Schedule 09-10

Well, the Bowl schedule is up, and UT did manage to land in the National Championship. Pretty cool that two teams I follow (UT and OU) have each had a shot in back to back years.

I am, of course, a Longhorn by academic and professional affiliation. But these days I work with 17 other universities, and so my professional affiliations spread a little outside of that particular scope. But as a sports fan, I bleed orange. Just don't tell anyone.

Its sort of cool to know I will want to watch all five BCS games and a load of non-BCS bowls.

The Rose Bowl on New Years will be the scrappy Ducks versus the Buckeyes, and I think the Ducks stand a darn good chance of winning that one.

The Sugar Bowl (also New Year's Day) will feature the former National Champs and team who was ranked #1 all season against Cincinnati. I watched Cincinnati play three times this year, and I think this could be a surprisingly even match-up.

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 4) will feature Boise State (who I don't care about) versus TCU (whom we should ALL care about). TCU will spend the next month whining about how they should have been in the Championship Bowl, so its a chance to see what they've got against a serious challenge.

The Orange Bowl I'll be watching mostly because its on, but GT and Iowa...? Could be fun.

And, of course, my Longhorns in the National Championship. Versus Alabama, who seems superior in so many ways. It's my sincere hope that the Longhorns will embrace their underdog status, just as UT did in the 06 Championship, and play against an over confident Alabama. Or... Alabama could just walk all over my pals Colt and Kindle.

C'est la vie.

Some other bowls I'll consider watching:

12/22 - Oregon State in the Maaco Bowl.
12/26 - Pittsburgh in the Mieneke Car Care Bowl
12/28 - A&M in the Independence Bowl
12/31 - Houston in the Bell Hleicopters Armed Services Bowl
12/31 - Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl
1/2 - Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl
1/2 - Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl

That's a lot of football, but I have a lot of time off from work.