Home Alone 2: Behind the Scenes.

Knocked a few items off of my traditional Must Do Before Christmas list:

1) Went to Toys “R” Us, which is no big deal usually, but I always try to get there at least once when it’s all Christmassy and insane. It’s even nicer when I have no intention of buying anything, because then I don’t have to deal with the lines, or worse, trying to push a cart through the crowded store.

Course, I’ll need to get back there one more time, because no Christmas season is complete until I’ve been at TRU during its late night holiday hours. (I think they’re open until midnight now? If not, they will be soon.)

2) Earlier tonight we went on our first official “Get Starbucks & Drive Around Looking at Christmas Lights” drive, which has become one of my favorite traditions.

My hometown isn’t so great for a lot of things, but the people around here sure know how to decorate for Christmas. Despite the many houses with a thousand bucks’ worth of lights and animatronics, I’m more moved by the families that just throw a few strands of obviously ancient lights up and call it a day. Those houses always feel so oddly sincere.

Have you done anything holidayish yet? I get the feeling that this is kind of a “whatever” year for lots of folks, but man, I’m determined to not let it get too whatever. Pretty soon it’ll be January, and January sucks, y’know?

Tonight’s video choice was inspired by my buddy Chad, who just randomly found the VHS version while hunting at thrift stores. Imagine my surprise to find Home Alone 2: Behind the Scenes on YouTube!

It’s exactly what it sounds like: A BTS look at Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, a movie that I saw in theaters and still adore today. I guess it doesn’t hold a candle to the original if we’re judging them objectively, but the sequel is just a damn fun movie. Every time I see it, I want pizza, Tim Curry and big cookies, in that order.

(And yes, I of course consider Home Alone 2 a Christmas movie. Turtle doves are a major plot point, for Christ’s sake.)