I saw this at a festival a bit ago. The most interesting aspect for me was how the film refused to pass any judgement on Sarno. I felt that a lot of his actions where incredibly selfish and I'm not sure if the filmmakers would have a problem with that.

That's where I saw it. High five for CIFF.

I saw it at a festival last Spring and really liked. I bumped into the director at a nearby bar. He seemed really nice, but he was wrapped up in a basketball game. It was the Knicks. So, he clearly has a lot more sadness in him to share.

Man, what happened to Zwigoff? Crumb, Ghost World, and Bad Santa are all great. Even Art School Confidential was more an interesting near miss than a disaster. I haven't even seen his name brought up in regard to a new project.

The Pirates are currently are one of the best teams in the MLB and have a real shot at the World Series this year. What's there to complain about?

Swensons is legitimately great although I slightly prefer Skyway. So, plan accordingly when you're planning your next Akron-area vacation.

You sound a lot like me a decade ago. I met my wife in an improv class when I wasn't really looking to date anyone. Luckily my friends encouraged me to date the girl I had incredible chemistry with during scenes. The key is just keep doing what interests you and make friends in those those areas. Eventually this might…

Yep. We had that one too. I think we may have played it once before deciding that it didn't add anything to actually just playing the board game version. It's certainly moldering away in some closet at my parents' house.

I love it. It has one of the single saddest scenes of any movie or television show ever, but it's balanced out by Roger Miller.

The one that doesn't get brought up a lot that I love is Nestor, The Long-Eared Donkey. It's pretty straight forward for the Rankin-Bass specials and is one of the few (only?) one's that are explicitly religious. It also has a scene that wrecks me emotionally. If you've seen it, you know which one.

All the Rankin-Bass specials basically add a ton of odd, new mythology to every holiday. When it works it's a ton of fun like the heat miser nonsense and the island of misfit toys, but sometimes it just gets overwhelming. I usually can't even finish Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. The Rudolph sequels almost feel like…

That's Rudolph's Shiny New Year, which really is odd. My wife is a Rudolph super fan and hates Shiny New Year. I kind of admire it's insanity while admitting that it lacks the heart that makes the original special.

The Year without a Santa Claus

Aside from Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, he comes off like a jerk in most of the Rankin-Bass specials. In The Year without a Santa Claus, he's ready to quit all together.

Ehhh, Cleveland's not so bad. I can afford to own a big, spacious house. I have a super short commute to my job downtown. There's enough to do to keep me happy. If I want to visit new York or Chicago, it's a reasonable drive for a weekend.

Taking Mrs. McDoogle to this show tomorrow and this only makes me wish I didn't have to wait another full day.

Another thing that always gets me: how do we even know the guy holding the other end of the chain is at the right spot? Is there some system that allows him to plant at the precise line? It seems like he could be off at lest a few inches every time.

Christmas Eve at my in-laws's house usually ends with a few hours of games and often includes an ancient home version of Pyramid. Mr. Aukerman is welcome to stop by if he finds himself in suburban Cleveland for the holidays.

This is definitely true to an extent. A number of my wife's friends have found their way to Columbus which seems to be growing and a tremendous rate. I know a lot or people in Cleveland who are trying to retain these young people here, but it's an uphill battle.

I kinda got lost in my own argument. You're 100% correct. The NFL is head and shoulders above everything else in the U.S. and baseball and basketball are a close 2nd and 3rd in some order. As mentioned elsewhere, MLB definitely makes more money. I think I was just trying to note that as an individual, LeBron is the…