Of course, I know it can be great to celebrate and party, but I have been reminded that earth is not our forever home. El Vez’s juiced-up version of the insipid José Feliciano holiday standard “Feliz Navidad” first appeared on his Merry MeX-mas album and has since become the theme song of his holiday-season tours. Millions stationed in far-off lands amid the greatest conflict in human history feared this was their last Christmas in freedom, or their last Christmas alive.

At a hastily arranged Christmas service near the front, a German soldier read the Gospel of Luke to his comrades, and a sergeant who had also fought in the previous world war exclaimed “Amen”, and started singing “Sweeter the bells never sounded”, an old German carol. It’s a good read albeit tough at times with some of the horrific things that occur, but I always appreciate that Harmsen doesn’t shy away from that. With added story elements that include some extremely dark and mature themes, there's no real Christmas spirit to found in this adaptation. Steven Knight might seem like an unusual choice to tackle such a classic and beloved tale, especially considering the content and structure of a show like Peaky Blinders. I thought The Shining would be some cheesy, silly flick about a haunted hotel… but I was wrong on many levels.The all-star B-side, “Stars on 45,” features holiday wishes from the likes of James Murphy, Nelly Furtado, Davey Havok, Black Lips’ Cole Alexander, and 90210‘s Shenae Grimes. Gremlins is a comedy as much as a horror movie (and the sequel, which rules, is a comedy with hints of horror). I have had a couple of takers for my offer of process templates (layman style to show the principles not real life health processes.

The single’s flip side is “Santa Claus Was My Lover,” a hilariously sordid tale of degradation sung along to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean. In his sixth book, best-selling author Peter Harmsen provides a profound account of human resilience at Christmastime in December 1942, in the midst of World War II. Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages.I wonder if a different author could have woven the stories together and incorporated the fates of those whose stories he briefly tells into the narrative as opposed to turning them into an appendix. This new book focuses on how people around the world passed the most important holiday in the Christian world during one of humanity’s most difficult years. In short, The Shining is a movie about a man (Jack Torrence) who is hired for a job as a caretaker for the Outlook Hotel. Fans of the story are sure to be impressed with Scott's on-point performance (despite his poor attempt at an English accent), but fans of the horror genre will also have their own reasons for getting heavily invested in this particular version.

From the islands in the Pacific to the China front, from the trenches in Russia to the battle lines in North Africa, in the skies over Europe and in the depths of the Atlantic, men were killing each other in greater numbers than ever before. Merry Crassmas” is a chirpy instrumental medley of holiday favorites: “Jingle Bells,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Nagasaki Nightmare,” “Punk Is Dead”…most of Crass’ early repertoire, in fact, gets the twinkly Casio treatment between snatches of Christmas carols. His cousins don’t get to play with him in the snow, play boardgames, or help them decipher their toy’s instructions. It seems no matter how much you love in life, death awakens an overwhelming depth of affection which can’t be discovered in life.It isn’t about being pain free, overflowing joy, perfect gifts, candlelit feasting, wonderful family time, or charming traditions. Between 1966 and 1970, the Godfather of Soul made a string of Christmas records, some of them funky (“Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto”), some of them deep (a spectacular soul version of “The Christmas Song”), and some of them totally bizarre.