In my ranting, I didn't get to a quick review of the holiday weekend. Hope you all had a good one. The wife and I enjoyed our first warm and sunny Christmas in . . . our whole lives.

Quick rundown:

• Watched Shaq and the Heat bust up Kobe and the Lakers. Well, actually, we watched Dwayne Wade do it. Shaq was on the bench, and Kobe wasn't passing to anyone except Odom.
• Saw Spanglish. Really nice job by Adam Sandler. He's come a long way as an actor, and he was always pretty fun to watch. The movie's not much to speak of, though.
• DVD front. Watched a Christmas double feature of Bad Santa and It's a Wonderful Life. I could maybe do that every year. On Sunday, we continued the Capra theme with It Happened One Night.
• Read some books and comics. Nearly 10 years after I was supposed to read it in grad school, I read 100 Years of Solitude. Now I'm about halfway through Billingsgate Shoal by Rick Boyer. Next on the list is Ross MacDonald's Black Money. Oh, and I checked out Volume 3 of Brian Michael Bendis' "Alias" series of graphic novels. It's not based on the Jennifer Garner TV series - it's a comic book detective set against the street level of the Marvel Comics Universe. One of the funniest, smartest books out there.
• Got some crazy good gifts. Batman: the Animated Series, Fellowship of the Ring, and Two Towers on DVD. The Art of the Incredibles book. Cool new clothes for work and play. The new U2 CD.

That's a lot of it. Steph's got the week off, so we'll be seeing some flicks (Million Dollar Baby, Kinsey, Aviator, Sideways), and she'll be getting a long-needed rest from the grind of Kaplan. Meanwhile, I'm writing, getting geared up for a new quarter at UCLA.

Happy Holidays one and all.