About the Mainlining Christmas Project
Welcome Back (2019):
Welcome back for the tenth season of Mainlining Christmas!
If you're a long-time fan, you might recall that we made some changes last year. We didn't push ourselves to post so often so that we could concentrate on quality.
At the end of the season, we also announced the impending arrival of our assistant, who was born in due course this past summer.
As you may have guessed, while we will continue to consume large amounts of seasonal fare, we have other ways to challenge our sanity this year. And this is for the best.
Because we have been doing this for so long that we've begun to build up an immunity.
It's no longer hard to listen to only Christmas music for a month or more; in fact, I've been turning it on in the summer when I need to relax. Few Christmas episodes and movies hold surprises for us, for we are masters of holiday tropes; we can see a last-minute Santa reveal coming before the first hint of snow clouds. In short, the mental and physical challenge aspect of the original project has melted away like a candy cane in hot chocolate, leaving a minty residue and the strength to shrug off the worst the season can offer.
Therefore, while we're not going away, we'll concentrate on things that are new or particularly interesting, and maybe we'll revisit and update some posts that were written in the early years before our holly-jolly senses were so sharply honed.
If you're missing the festive firehose of reviews, just remember the archives are only a click away. We hope you'll stick around, and let us know how you've been carrying the spirit of Mainlining Christmas with you all through the year.
Year Nine (2018)
It's Time (2017)
Christmas is CANCELLED (2016)
Year Six and All’s Well (2015)
Another Season Begins (2014)
Welcome Back (2013)
Intro to Year Three (2012)
The Magic Returns (2011)
Original Intro, November 2010:
This is an experiment. And we are the guinea pigs.
This experiment is about Christmas. More specifically, it is about the Christmas season, running from Black Friday through December 25th. It's not unusual to hear people lament that, during this stretch, the commercialism and trappings are inescapable.
This is, of course, untrue.
There are numerous escapes from the holidays. There are shelters in our homes. We can turn the channel when a special comes on. And, no matter how hard radio stations try, no one is actually forced to listen to Christmas music 24-7.
Christmas, while certainly obtrusive, is not all-encompassing. But what if it were?
What if someone went the entire time between Thanksgiving and Christmas listening to nothing but Christmas music? What would happen to the human mind if it were not merely exposed to a scattered selection of Christmas specials, but if it were force-fed hour after hour of Christmas movies, specials, and episodes?
What is the precise breaking point of the human psyche?
For the thirty-one days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we'll be watching and discussing a nearly constant stream of specials and Christmas movies. And, to be clear, these will stretch across the full spectrum of the what the holiday has to offer. We'll certainly be looking at some of the best - The Nightmare Before Christmas, Elf, The Snowman - but there are things out there said to be worse than the Star Wars Christmas Special. We'll be sure to track them down.
In addition, we'll be removing every non-holiday song from my iPod, and listening to Christmas music non-stop - we'll let you know which are enjoyable and which we blame for the season's high suicide rate.
There will be no escape for us. Every room in our apartment will be decorated. Everywhere we look, we'll see Christmas gazing back at us.
It doesn't end there, of course. Oh, no. This is only the tip of the peppermint-coated iceberg. It is our intention to experience Christmas is all its horror. We'll be visiting Macy's, Times Square, and any other temple consecrated to consumerism we can find. New York City offers some of the most impressive decorations and displays in the world... as well as some of the gaudiest. We'll be taking a camera.
This is Christmas. Mainlined.
Be sure to stick around for enough holiday cheer to get you hooked for life.
Welcome back for the tenth season of Mainlining Christmas!
If you're a long-time fan, you might recall that we made some changes last year. We didn't push ourselves to post so often so that we could concentrate on quality.
At the end of the season, we also announced the impending arrival of our assistant, who was born in due course this past summer.
As you may have guessed, while we will continue to consume large amounts of seasonal fare, we have other ways to challenge our sanity this year. And this is for the best.
Because we have been doing this for so long that we've begun to build up an immunity.
It's no longer hard to listen to only Christmas music for a month or more; in fact, I've been turning it on in the summer when I need to relax. Few Christmas episodes and movies hold surprises for us, for we are masters of holiday tropes; we can see a last-minute Santa reveal coming before the first hint of snow clouds. In short, the mental and physical challenge aspect of the original project has melted away like a candy cane in hot chocolate, leaving a minty residue and the strength to shrug off the worst the season can offer.
Therefore, while we're not going away, we'll concentrate on things that are new or particularly interesting, and maybe we'll revisit and update some posts that were written in the early years before our holly-jolly senses were so sharply honed.
If you're missing the festive firehose of reviews, just remember the archives are only a click away. We hope you'll stick around, and let us know how you've been carrying the spirit of Mainlining Christmas with you all through the year.
Year Nine (2018)
It's Time (2017)
Christmas is CANCELLED (2016)
Year Six and All’s Well (2015)
Another Season Begins (2014)
Welcome Back (2013)
Intro to Year Three (2012)
The Magic Returns (2011)
Original Intro, November 2010:
This is an experiment. And we are the guinea pigs.
This experiment is about Christmas. More specifically, it is about the Christmas season, running from Black Friday through December 25th. It's not unusual to hear people lament that, during this stretch, the commercialism and trappings are inescapable.
This is, of course, untrue.
There are numerous escapes from the holidays. There are shelters in our homes. We can turn the channel when a special comes on. And, no matter how hard radio stations try, no one is actually forced to listen to Christmas music 24-7.
Christmas, while certainly obtrusive, is not all-encompassing. But what if it were?
What if someone went the entire time between Thanksgiving and Christmas listening to nothing but Christmas music? What would happen to the human mind if it were not merely exposed to a scattered selection of Christmas specials, but if it were force-fed hour after hour of Christmas movies, specials, and episodes?
What is the precise breaking point of the human psyche?
For the thirty-one days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we'll be watching and discussing a nearly constant stream of specials and Christmas movies. And, to be clear, these will stretch across the full spectrum of the what the holiday has to offer. We'll certainly be looking at some of the best - The Nightmare Before Christmas, Elf, The Snowman - but there are things out there said to be worse than the Star Wars Christmas Special. We'll be sure to track them down.
In addition, we'll be removing every non-holiday song from my iPod, and listening to Christmas music non-stop - we'll let you know which are enjoyable and which we blame for the season's high suicide rate.
There will be no escape for us. Every room in our apartment will be decorated. Everywhere we look, we'll see Christmas gazing back at us.
It doesn't end there, of course. Oh, no. This is only the tip of the peppermint-coated iceberg. It is our intention to experience Christmas is all its horror. We'll be visiting Macy's, Times Square, and any other temple consecrated to consumerism we can find. New York City offers some of the most impressive decorations and displays in the world... as well as some of the gaudiest. We'll be taking a camera.
This is Christmas. Mainlined.
Be sure to stick around for enough holiday cheer to get you hooked for life.