Uber Happy Hollandaise

These are images from the new Claus advertising campaign promoting the Palm Centro.

I think the campaign is hysterical and very well done, but it doesn't make me want the product.

However, you have to give props to the company that came up with this clever take on updating Santa by having him embrace his German/Euro-centricities.

The energy-efficient sleigh, the weight loss, the new do, dropping "Santa" & just going as "Claus" (complete with an umlaut over the "u"), moonlighting as a rooftop DJ...

Well played, land of commerce.

Anyone else notice (at least in the Midwest) that this season we didn't have the traditional snowfall...then it melts and we have weather in the 50's....then it snows again and gets icy....then it melts again....then we finally get the last snowfall and it sticks? Well, not this year. It just went from 50's sweatshirt weather straight to sub-zero/crazy cold temperatures literally overnight. No respite. No chance to enjoy one last decent day. Mother Nature is not messing around this year, apparently. It was -26 with the windchill yesterday and it's supposed to get colder later this week. Insane.

Have a great Christmafestikwanzisoltstukkah (or whatever it is you celebrate) & travel safely over the holidays!

Photos courtesy Palm.com/Claus

"I got the Dynamo of Volition..."

Headed up to see Jason Mraz at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago prior to Thanksgiving and they put on yet another awesome show. (The photos are from my iPhone that unfortunately doesn't take too great of pics unless you're up close. Sorry.)

As Corey, Mo, & myself can unfortunately attest to first-hand, the Aragon does not provide the best acoustics for performing, as was further evidenced by the opening act & our inability to understand her lyrics. However, the Mraz crew had two walls of speakers that seemed to make up for it & his set was great. He played a ton from We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things and also pulled some old stuff out of the catalog. And he even paid tribute to Barack Obama in a very cool moment. It was a fun set and I even ended up talking the sound guy (who I remembered from Mraz's gig at the Metro a few months back - the guy looks amazingly like Rod Stewart) - into giving me the set list sheet after the show ended. We grabbed 2 a.m. burritos and decompressed from the show with a little Arrested Development, which is thankfully going to be making it's way to the silver screen in the next few years. (finally!)

We got to spend Sunday with friends & family - including Oscar - and spent time at a cool bar called Kirkwood, which you should totally check out if you're in Chicago. It was nice being up in the big city again and I find myself wrestling with the idea of moving back up there everytime I come back...

Also hit up my first Quad City Flames game with some friends as I had yet to see a game since their re-branding from being the Q.C. Mallards in the IHL (the Flames are part of the AHL). Wow - what a difference a league change makes! Despite coming back by scoring 3 goals in the 3rd period, the Flames lost :27 into overtime 3-4, but it still ended up as a pretty exciting game. I'll definitely be going to more in the future.

We've been selling out CSz shows consistently for the past 3 weeks and are hoping that momentum continues. It's amazing what happens when high school football season wraps up...

Wanted to end by mentioning that if you're in the Chicago area, please head over to the Annoyance Theater & Bar to check out Corey & Mo's show entitled The Union: Ward & June Are Dead. It's been getting good reviews so far & not only will you be supporting friends, you'll also laugh your ass off in the process.