Merry Christmas, Everyone!

It's 6am on Christmas morning here. Having a bit of trouble sleeping. It's been like this since I was a kid. I'm not running downstairs top rip open our gifts, but somehow the nervous anticipation of the day is enough that at 6am I can't fall back asleep.

I'll try again after this post.

I did nothing on Christmas Eve. Absolutely nothing. I had all of these grand plans about cooking -- and then realized that nothing I'm making today could really be pre-cooked -- cleaning -- yeah, did the dishes and swept the floors, and even threw in some laundry, so that got about 3/4 done -- reading -- none. Not one full page. Sad, sad reading day for me -- and finally Lost -- I did that. I got about halfway through the last series. Man is that such a great show! Mike got home and he actually wants to go back to season 4, so I'm not allowed to watch 5 around him.

He was actually gone all afternoon shopping. When he got back, we vegged out and caught up on the final episodes of Primeval before delving into one of his presents, the film adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather. It's a sort of holiday story, the Hogfather being similar to St. Nick.

We'd previously watched the mini-series made from Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic, the first two Discworld books. Well, Hogfather was actually made first. It did air here in the US, on the ION channel, but is out on DVD. I figured it would make a great Christmas gift and we could watch it on Christmas. And then I passed out.

What I did see of it was really fun. The assassins guild has been hired to off Hogfather. A trainee hoping to join the guild has been brought in. Teatime (prounounced Tee-a-t-a-may) has actually imagined what it would be like to kill the Hogfather, The Tooth Fairy, and even Death himself. So he's seemingly perfect for the job. Success would mean earning his colors, donning the black, and finally being admitted into the guild. Not to mention having an eye turned with regards to a certain inelegance to his last performance. Death steps in and tries to save the day (and save Hogswatch -- the midwinter festival) with the help of his granddaughter and his manservant.

Silliness ensues.

At this point, I was sleeping. I tried to stay awake, sitting in more and more uncomfortable poses hoping it would inspire me to keep my eyes open. No go. I was sadly too beat to finish out part one. I'll have to try again today, though, 'cause I've not read any of the Discworld books and therefore must finish.

Pratchett, btw, is one of Mike's absolute favorite authors of all time. We were lucky enough to snag seats at Pratchett's last appearance at the Tattered Cover in Denver a couple of years ago. Not sure if we'll ever have the opportunity again, but the man is utterly brilliant. It's my turn to get hooked on the books and if I can ever get the first one back from Mike's friends, I may just do that soon. Or I'll start with Pratchett and Gaiman's collaboration, Good Omens, which I'm told is the best book ever!

Anywho. I'm going to try and get a bit more shut-eye before the cooking and the presents begin. If you're looking for an odd little holiday film for later, or for next year, I'd recommend checking out Hogfather, should be fun for the whole family -- unless you've got some too young to see a "different" Santa Clause (he has tusks, so I'd go with kids who aren't still riding the "he's real" train). And if you haven't read the Discworld books, my understanding is that although there may be two or three with continuing arcs, most of them are standalones within the world.