This CNN transcript is hilarious [Thanks John]:

SAM SEDER [Host of Air America's Majority Report]: Listen, as far as the war on Christmas goes, I feel like we should be waging a war on Christmas. I mean, I believe that Christmas, it’s almost proven that Christmas has nuclear weapons, can be an imminent threat to this country, that they have operative ties with terrorists and I believe that we should sacrifice thousands of American lives in pursuit of this war on Christmas. And hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.
PHILLIPS [CNN Talking Head]: Is it a war on Christmas, a war on Christians, a war on over-political correctness or just a lot of people with way too much time on their hands?
SEDER: I would say probably, if I was to be serious about it, too much time on their hands, but I’d like to get back to the operational ties between Santa Claus and al Qaeda.
PHILLIPS: I don’t think that exists. Bob? Help me out here.
SEDER: We have intelligence, we have intelligence.
PHILLIPS: You have intel. Where exactly does your intel come from?

SEDER: Well, we have tortured an elf and it’s actually how we got the same information from Al Libbi. It’s exactly the same way the Bush administration got this info about the operational ties between al Qaeda and Saddam.
BOB KNIGHT, CULTURE AND FAMILY INSTITUTE: Well, first I want to compliment him on his dry humor, but this is actually a very serious subject, because a lot of people are waking up to realize that the war on Christmas is really the culmination of a war on faith.

And we’d like to compliment you, Bob Knight, for dry humping this stupid issue to death.

We’ve been long time fans of the Brooklyn-via Austin band The Mendoza Line. Their lastest Full of Light and Full of Fire has been flying too far under the radar. It’s their best release to date. Like a more laid-back Delagados, their blend of country-tinged Americana is great for those late night, reflective scotches.
We keep coming back to the track “Mysterious in Black.” Download it here. It’s a nice departure from Mendoza Line’s typical alt-country sound. The first time we heard it, we thought it had to be released in the Eighties by some forgotten pop one-hit-wonder. It would fit great on a late Eighties party mix. A great and surprisingly funky track.
Other people seem to be digging this record too:
“Full of Light and Full of Fire contains the prettiest protest songs imaginable.” –Entertainment Weekly
“Full of Light and Full of Fire is easily one of the best albums of the decade… Like Born to Run, Pleased to Meet Me, and Being There, Full of Light and Full of Fire is another page in American mythology, an artifact of the withered dreams and fallen hopes of the dispossessed.” –PopMatters

by Cathy Bruneau

Mini Minimarket
We know, we know. By designating this a “holiday” shopping guide, we’ve chosen sides in the big “Holiday Friend or Foe” debate. Truth be told, we could care less about the whole controversy. Call it The Williamsburg Christmas Guide if you prefer. Call it The Billyburg Hipster Guide. Rename Christmas “Freedom Day” if you want. It’s all the same to us. We only celebrate Festivus anyway.
The controversy we do care about, involves the MTA’s shoddy service. Slow weekend commutes and service interruptions are hardly mollified by the fare reductions. We’ll pay the extra dollar, just provide better service.
Luckily, we can get all of our shopping done right here in the ‘hood. Who wants a cashmere sweater from J Crew anyway?
Plus, in Williamsburg, you get the added pleasure of hearing hipsters debate whether to buy Care Bear belt buckles or limited edition Belgian screamcore CDs as stocking stuffers.
Here’s a list of some great local places to do your shopping:
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Clothes and Shoes
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Brooklyn Industries
Brooklyn Industries
www.brooklynindustries.com
162 Bedford Ave at N8th
718.486.6464
Mon-Sat 11-9pm, Sun 12-8pm
One of the first shops to bring life to the neighborhood, this is the Williamsburg Gap. But better indeed, this place is “the” maker of the Brooklyn tee for the masses. Aslan the tiger, the Brooklyn water tower, the L train are among many of its notable symbols. But wait, there’s also cords and jackets for men & women, exclusive messenger bags & wallets, jeans, kids tees – all made by the Industries brand. Leather bags are at 40% off for the holiday season. Promote Brooklyn for Christmas and get those T-shirts for the whole family.
Other Brooklyn Industries location:
184 Broadway at Driggs
718.218.9166

Oak & Brooklyn Flat
Oak
150 1/2 Ainslie Street btw Lorimer & Leonard
718 782 3632
Tues-Fri 1-8, Sat 11-8, Sun 11-6
Need something special for the man in your life? You’ll certainly find fashionable menswear and toiletries with a British bent in this cute little shop. Sweaters, shirts and jackets by Penguin and Ben Sherman, wallets, restrained yet imaginative cufflinks and ties. Modern fashions straight from the British Home Counties. For women’s fashions check out Oak’s sister across the street at Canary.

Canary
Canary
145 Ainslie Street btw Lorimer & Leonard
718.782.0521
Tues-Fri 12-7pm, Sat 11-8pm, Sun 11-6pm
This lovely shop and friendly staff will help you peruse through its unique collection of womenswear by local designers at affordable prices. Enveloping tube scarves made from Alpaca wool nestle next to imported French jackets and tops. Lovely belts and bags available too. The owner has a second shop in Park Slope of the same name.

Lawanna’s
Lawanna’s
196 Bedford Ave btw N7th & N6th
718.302.0006
Mon-Sat 1-7pm, Sun 1-6pm
Yet another Bedford Ave local, this small shop will satisfy the rock star in you. You will find a huge selection of brass belt buckles and unique belts as well as T-shirts and a vast selection of shoes and sneaks. You’ll find something new every time you wander in.

Otte
Otte
132 N5th Street inside mini mall
718.302.3007
Mon-Sat 12-8pm, Sun 12-6pm
A small and tidy shop, this is a great place to find contemporary fashions for women. Designers such as Wrangler, Seven, and Velvet line the racks along with many other Californian designers. You will find one of a kind designs great for all your hipsters as well as shoes and bags. Maybe you could buy yourself that Christmas gift you always wanted.

American Apparel
American Apparel
www.americanapparel.net
104 N6th Street btw Berry & Wythe
718.218.0002
Mon-Thurs 11-9pm, Fri-Sat 11-10:30pm, Sun 11-9pm
If you hipsters have never been into an American Apparel, then you are missing out on a T-shirt layering paradise. Recently added to the streets of Williamsburg, this American staple is your shop to get every cotton possibility in every color you can think of. You never know when you’ll need that long sleeve tee for your awesome I Love Bush iron-on. Show your artistry and make your family silk screen T-shirts for Christmas with AA tees.

Pema
Pema
225 Bedford Ave btw N4th & N5th
718.388.8814
Daily 11-8pm
A shop started by Pema Kongpo who sells her brother’s hand-made designs and other various well cut clothing lines for men & women at affordable prices. For those who love all things Hippiesque, nothing seems to be over a $100. Great use of silk, cute handbags, knitwear, hats, beaded shoes, and lots of imported Indian style jewelry.
If you are searching for more designs made by her brother, try their sister shop Tibet Boutique in the mini mall opposite. Here you will find the complete Pema line along with beautiful jewelry, stationary and other silk items and dresses.

Tibet Boutique
Tibet Boutique
www.tibetboutique.com
218 Bedford Ave inside Mini mall
718.302.8830
Mon-Fri 12-8pm, Sat-Sun 11-8pm

Triple Five Soul
Triple Five Soul
www.triple5soul.com
145 Bedford Ave Entrance on N9th
718.599.5971
Daily 12-8pm
Yet another small chain exclusively from New York, this brand has managed to keep a selective profile among the urban gang. You’ll find sweatshirts with the embroidered Triple Five logo, a great selection of shirts and cords for men and wooly sweaters, shoes and bags for the women, all at affordable prices. Take note of the Holiday coat sale – 25% off this season’s must have: furry hooded parkas.

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The White House Christmas card, according to WaPo, fails the “Christmas Friend or Foe” litmus test.

President Bush sent out cards with a generic end-of-the-year message, wishing 1.4 million of his close friends and supporters a happy “holiday season…”
“This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture,” said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
Bush “claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn’t act like one,” said Joseph Farah, editor of the conservative Web site WorldNetDaily.com. “I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it.”
Religious conservatives are miffed because they have been pressuring stores to advertise Christmas sales rather than “holiday specials” and urging schools to let students out for Christmas vacation rather than for “winter break.” They celebrated when House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) insisted that the sparkling spectacle on the Capitol lawn should be called the Capitol Christmas Tree, not a holiday spruce.
Then along comes a generic season’s greeting from the White House, paid for by the Republican National Committee. The cover art is also secular, if not humanist: It shows the presidential pets — two dogs and a cat — frolicking on a snowy White House lawn.
“Certainly President and Mrs. Bush, because of their faith, celebrate Christmas,” said Susan Whitson, Laura Bush’s press secretary. “Their cards in recent years have included best wishes for a holiday season, rather than Christmas wishes, because they are sent to people of all faiths.”

Well said, Susan. Not surprisingly, Falwell, who spearheaded the campaign, proves to be a flip-flopper when it comes to his beloved presidential puppet:

The current Bush has straddled the divide, offering generic greetings along with an Old Testament verse. To some religious conservatives, that makes all the difference.
“There’s a verse from Scripture in it. I don’t mind that at all, as long as we don’t try to pretend we’re not a nation under God,” said the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

But he meant it as constructive criticism:
“Forgive me for using the term ‘fat little brother’ ” Castro said. “It is not a criticism, rather a suggestion that he do some exercises and go on a diet, don’t you think? I’m doing this for the gentleman’s health.” [from Miami Herald]

So Much Noise has MP3′s from an Arcade Fire concert on Sept. 29 and another live set from Calexico and Iron & Wine. Grab ‘em all here.

by Dave Thomas

Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen’s Match Point
It’s that time of year again, when studios shove anything they think has a hope in hell of an Oscar nod into the final 31 days of eligibility. That, and “Cheaper by the Dozen 2.” This month brings us new movies by Woody Allen, Terence Malik, and Peter Jackson [whose King King was just reviewed here]
December 2
AEON FLUX
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand reunite from their “North Country” days to tell another story of sexual harrasment, this one set 400 years in the future, involving skimpy clothes and gun battles, and no actual sexual harrasment charges of any kind.
WILL IT SUCK?
Well, they picked the right director. Karyn Kusama helmed “Girlfight,” and there’s certainly going to be a lot of that. When it comes to the writers, however, I would have shot higher than the duo behind “The Tuxedo.”
The addition of “Hotel Rwanda’s” Sophie Okonedo to the cast should enusre and all-around waste of talent.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Should see halfway decent numbers. Has a significant following and no direct action competition for miles. $67mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
Not even with three nominees in the cast.
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TRANSAMERICA
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Road trip flick with Felicity Huffman as a post-op M2F transsexual taking her son to California.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is strong, and with Huffman in the lead, that’s no surprise.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
The following week, a bigger sexual coup will take the stage, but the following Huffman has garnered from “Desperate Housewives” might come in handy. $10mil.

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While Falwell continues his inane “Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign,” whoever owns this house has enough Christmas spirit for us all. [Thanks Catch.]

The New York Times just announced their top 10 books of 2005. We’re delighted to see our favorite author, Haruki Murakami make the list. Read Robert Lanham’s review of the book, which appeared in Nylon, afte the jump. And feel free to add your own selections in comments.
Fiction
KAFKA ON THE SHORE
By Haruki Murakami.
Alfred A. Knopf, $25.95.
This graceful and dreamily cerebral novel, translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel, tells two stories – that of a boy fleeing an Oedipal prophecy, and that of a witless old man who can talk to cats – and is the work of a powerfully confident writer.
ON BEAUTY
By Zadie Smith.
Penguin Press, $25.95.
In her vibrant new book, a cultural-politics novel set in a place like Harvard, the author of ”White Teeth” brings everything to the table: a crisp intellect, a lovely wit and enormous sympathy for the men, women and children who populate her story.
PREP
By Curtis Sittenfeld.
Random House, $21.95. Paper, $13.95.
This calm and memorably incisive first novel, about a scholarship girl who heads east to attend an elite prep school, casts an unshakable spell and has plenty to say about class, sex and character.
SATURDAY
By Ian McEwan.
Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, $26.
As bracing and as carefully constructed as anything McEwan has written, this astringent novel traces a day in the life of an English neurosurgeon who comes face to face with senseless violence.
VERONICA
By Mary Gaitskill.
Pantheon Books, $23.
This mesmerizingly dark novel from the author of ”Bad Behavior” and ”Two Girls, Fat and Thin” is narrated by a former Paris model who is now sick and poor; her ruminations on beauty and cruelty have clarity and an uncanny bite.

Nonfiction
THE ASSASSINS’ GATE
America in Iraq
By George Packer.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26.
A comprehensive look at the largest foreign policy gamble in a generation, by a New Yorker reporter who traces the full arc of the war, from the pre-invasion debate through the action on the ground.
DE KOONING
An American Master
By Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan.
Alfred A. Knopf, $35.
A sweeping biography, impressively researched and absorbingly written, of the charismatic immigrant who stood at the vortex of mid-20th-century American art.
THE LOST PAINTING
By Jonathan Harr.
Random House, $24.95.
This gripping narrative, populated by a beguiling cast of scholars, historians, art restorers and aging nobles, records the search for Caravaggio’s ”Taking of Christ,” painted in 1602 and rediscovered in 1990.
POSTWAR
A History of Europe Since 1945
By Tony Judt.
The Penguin Press, $39.95.
Judt’s massive, learned, brilliantly detailed account of Europe’s recovery from the wreckage of World War II presents a whole continent in panorama even as it sets off detonations of insight on almost every page.
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
By Joan Didion.
Alfred A. Knopf, $23.95.
A prose master’s harrowing yet exhilarating memoir of a year riven by sudden death (her husband’s) and mortal illness (their only child’s)

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