ROPE AROUND THE MOON: An unusual version of the holiday classic: It's a Wonderful Life in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies.

IT'S THE MOST... DEADLY DAY... OF THE YEAR...

LAW STUDENTS IN LOVE: Go here, read the comments. So good that I shut up.

REMARRIAGE: Remarried men eat better, exercise less and gain weight. And they drink less.

ROB REINER FOR GOVERNOR? The Daily Kos says probably not until 2010.

RICHARD LACELYN GREEN was way too into Sherlock Holmes.

GIRLS GONE WILD: The CEO plans a pay-per-view special during this year's Super Bowl halftime show with "guaranteed wardrobe malfunctions."

IRAQ: Its main Sunni Muslim party apparently will join in the January election.

HOLLYWOOD TO SUE BIT TORRENT SERVERS, which is sorta what I predicted a day or two ago.

I ACCIDENTALLY COIN THE TERM "TIRE-BLOGGING" at Althouse; it then spreads to Instapundit, where it will be read by hundreds of thousands of people.

BBC RADIO FOUR polled for the novel that "has spoken to you on a personal level; it may have changed the way you look at yourself, or simply made you happy to be a woman". The Guardian is clearly unhappy with the results.

SOAP OPERA DIGEST tackles the abortion issue: "In six decades of daytime television, ...there have been exactly six abortions (one illegal, five legal). To put that into perspective, there were more characters who came back from the dead in this year alone."

TOM WOLFE wins a prize for bad sex. Ouch.

GOOGLE TO DIGITIZE LIBRARIES, though Harvard seems less forthcoming in this project than the others.

CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS is being turned from a potential loser into a modest hit by using endorsements drawn almost entirely from the "700 Club," religious-based broadcasters Good News TV and Family Net, and the Film Advisory Board, whose aim is to promote family-oriented and children's entertainment. The link requires (free) registration or BugMeNot, but worth it for the surprise ending.

MORE RELIGIOUS MARKETING: God endorses Moe's. I'll bet He loves the Flaming Homers.

AND THE CROWS STARE UNAMAZED: Turns out that crows (and other members of the corvid family -- jays, ravens, etc.) may be as smart as chimpanzees and gorillas.

GOLDEN GLOBES: Given that I haven't seen all of the nominated pictures and shows (The Aviator isn't in general release yet), I will say in the spirit of Bill Murray that, looking over the list of noms, I'd say that the Foreign Press did a half-decent job.

Sure, it's bizzare that The Incredibles has to compete with Sideways, Ray, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Phantom of the Opera, but The Incredibles was really good (and probably better than another retelling of Phantom), so this may be a case where it really is an honor to be nominated. Natalie Portman probably will not (and probably should not) win for her supporting role in Closer, but if it encourages her to take more roles as a stripper, all the better. [Note: Do I have a link or two for that Portman comment? You betcha, but that wouldn't be family-friendly, now would it?]

For screenplay, I'd be torn between Eternal Sunshine and Sideways, and would guess it will go to the writer(s) least honored in past Globes.

For TV Drama, 24 didn't hold me this year and Lost may be too new (though the FP may pull a Jenny Garner here). Nip/Tuck was good, but maybe not as good as the first season. The Sopranos marked a return to form. If Nip/Tuck didn't win last year, it could this year; otherwise, I'd pick the mob.

Finally, in Best TV Supporting Actor, I must note that William Shatner was nominated for Boston Legal. He might just win; as Ann Althouse discovered, you don't cross the Shat.

L.A. TIMES: People blamed incoming DCI Porter Goss and his staff for the resignations of some top CIA officials, but the same thing is happening at the FBI.

MY KIND OF TOWN: Chicago police evict a man from the home he built in the underside of the Lake Shore Drive drawbridge -- a lair that boasted a space heater, television, PlayStation video game and microwave. Meanwhile, the Sun-Times continues to report on Mayor Daley's towing program, under which the city of Chicago sells about 70,000 cars each year to an allegedly politically-connected company for no more than the going scrap-metal price, regardless of the car's age or condition.

MADAME TUSSAUD'S CELEBRITY WAX CRECHE, mentioned here a few days ago, has been attacked -- literally.

HOWARD WOLFSON, one of Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign managers, delivers his Top Ten Albums of 2004!

MARC RICH, the fugitive Swiss-based billionaire commodities trader who received a controversial pardon from President Bill Clinton in January 2001, has emerged as a central figure in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal and is under investigation for brokering deals in which scores of international politicians and businessmen cashed in on sweetheart oil deals with Saddam Hussein, according to the New York Post.

SWARMSTREAMING: Hollywood is already freaking about BitTorrent's ability to ease movie file-sharing; swarmstreaming may turn out to be more powerful and robust.

FILE-SHARERS have already begun to hijack the second-generation version of the internet.

WHAT IS LIFE? "Astrobiologists will tell you honestly that this question has no simple or generally accepted answer." But at least George Harrison wasn't sued over that one.

GARY WEBB, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter whose controversial series of stories linking the CIA to crack cocaine trafficking in Los Angeles were largely discredited, has died at age 49. Conspiracy theorists are undoubtedly on red alert.

KOBE BRYANT accuses Karl Malone of hitting on his wife. Too. Many. Glass. House. Jokes.

GOIN' MOBILE: Mozilla is readying the next version of Minimo, its browser for PDAs and set-top boxes.

iTUNES now accepts PayPal.

JERRY SCOGGINS, who sang The Ballad of Jed Clampett, has died at 93.

PAGE SIX harshes on the Pixies reunion.

MICHAEL CRICHTON: His new book, State of Fear, questions global warming, which is an unexpected stance from the author of The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park.

RADICAL MOROCCAN PIZZA COURIER arrested after the police were tipped that Islamic extremists were allegedly planning an attack on the Red Light District in Amsterdam. This story, following the murders of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and, more recently, filmmaker Theo van Gogh (who made movies about Islamic treatment of women and about Fortuyn), are prompting the Dutch middle classes to leave the Netherlands. And perhaps worst of all, it looks like Amsterdam is going to have a a Charlie Brown Christmas.

TOP 11 WAYS GEEKS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS: It's like a "Top 10" list, except this one goes to... eleven.

WHAT'S THAT SONG? A streaming version of the old game show, in which you can play by band or decade. Sadly, Claude Pate is not in the database, which causes the server to put up some decidedly un-Claude choices.

MY ALMA MATER (Barrington High School) is pioneering "while you wait" college admissions.

IOWA CAUCUSES: Their first-in-the-nation status is threatened by a Democratic Party commission.

LEMONY SNICKET FANS (and their parents): Count Olaf has a blog.

I used to have shoes sorta like these, but they don't make them in my size anymore.

THE REV. BERNICE KING, MLK's daughter, joins a march that in part opposes same-sex marriage, causing tension in the traditional civil rights leadership.

SAME-SEX DIVORCE comes to Massachussetts, months after legalizing same-sex marriage. For one such couple, most difficult part of the settlement appeared to be custody of their three cats; one man ended up with sole custody.

COOKING WITH GOOGLE and other fun Google hacks.

FILE-SHARING: The Supreme court will review a lower court ruling in favor of Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. over their liability for copyright infringement. Meanwhile, BitTorrent, a more robust file-sharing method, threatens Hollywood, as some of the software-based methods record companies have used against Grokster, KaZaa, etc. do not work with BitTorrent. That fact will push the entertainment more toward lawsuits, I think. At issue before the Supreme Court will be the scope of their prior decision that VCR makers were not assisting violations of the copyright laws.

PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL may bar adults from bringing children under 6 to a movie after 7 p.m. unless it is G-rated.

THICKBURGER: The Hardee's sandwich is a as big a hit as its 1,420-calories delivers to your waistline. The usual suspects have attacked the contrarian burger as "food porn" and suggested that Hardee's list the calories on their menu board. That might be nice, but it shouldn't be required. In the UK, governmental diet advice was followed by incresed sales for cake, chocolate, biscuits, fats, yoghurts, lager and wine.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Surprisingly popular with kids in Damascus.

"BIG IN '04 AWARDS:" VH1 handed them out, but its own site makes them sound like you wouldn't want one.

UKRAINE UPDATE: Doctors confirm that presidential candidate Yushchenko was poisoned with Dioxin. However, Airbag Industries thinks it may have been cosmic rays.

BLOGCRITICS: It's a little old, but I enjoyed the treorizing over the meaning of Bono's Spanish "1, 2, 3... 14" count-off on U2's "Vertigo." The Lilywhite theory seems most likely, but the one involving the late John Ritter is my favorite.

MOM BROKE LAW BY EAVESDROPPING ON DAUGHTER'S PHONE CONVERSATION, as decided by the Washington Supreme Court. That may be a correct reading of Washington state law, but that won't stop people from finding it wacky.

THERESA HEINZ-KERRY: "The job of a political spouse is to say, 'Hey, idiot . . .'" Ouch.

NEWS IS DEPRESSING, so leave now.

JANE GALT has penned a poem: "My Tivo has died, and I am sad."

SECRET SPY PROGRAM DANGER TO NATIONAL SECURITY, according to some Senators. But they can't tell you what it is: it's a secret, y'know?

NYDN cites the National Enquirer for a story that police found Michael Jackson's fingerprint and a fingerprint from the boy accusing him of sex abuse on the "same page" of a porno mag seized from the pop star's home. If true, Jacko's lawyers will probably argue: (1) so Jacko and the kid both read Barely Legal magazine -- it doesn't prove they read it together; and (2) Barely Legal may be a little creepy, but it's not gay porn, yer honor!

ALEXANDER THE TERRIBLE UPDATE: Maybe more people would go see it if this scene had been included. Maybe Ollie Stone is saving it for the DVD.

DAZED AND CONFUSED: Wooderson, Slater and Pink are suing filmmaker Richard Linklater because they're sick of people thinking they're stoners.

STARBUCKS: selling hundreds of thousands of Ray Charles CDs.

TARA REID - LINDSAY LOHAN CATFIGHT, with a faked orgasm. But only in print. Lohan's mother, however, is a different story.

MARY-KATE AND ASHLEY have a Kathie Lee Gifford problem?

PICTURES OF ELVIS hold up anthrax cleanup in Florida.

INDIE LABELS OF THE WORLD UNITE: TVT, Artemis, Spinart, Lookout and more form trade group to try to boost payments from online services like Apple's iTunes.

GORILLAS hold a wake for their alpha female.

ADULT SUPERSTORES: Proof that size matters?

IF IT'S THURSDAY, IT MUST BE THE O.C.: The show which brings out the best at Low Culture -- here and here and here, for example.

FAHRENHEIT 9/11: Its online video-on-demand premiere netted 89 viewers. Ouch.

WHAT IS HIP? Rock critic and author John Leland thought he knew where the word came from; Slate debunks the story.

HOT LAPTOPS may reduce male fertility.

END OF THE WORLD UPDATE: The locusts reach Mexico.

PIXAR'S CARS TROUBLE? The release of the movie teased before The Incredibles is pushed from November 2005 to June 2006, prompting rumors of problems with the script. "Audiences were somewhat underwhelmed by the Cars trailer, which was released in theaters and online last month, further fueling fears of a Pixar bomb." Sadly, I was underwhelmed myself. But if anyone can work it out it's Pixar, which had similar rumors floated around Finding Nemo.

INTELL REFORM: There was much sound and fury leading to the passage of the intelligence reform law. "But some experts say it is not at all evident how, or even if, the changes will help America's spies obtain secrets and help analysts determine the intentions of terrorists or worrisome nations developing weapons of mass destruction." How about the creation of a National Intelligence Director? Will that help stop terrorists and WMD proliferation? "On that question, even some supporters of the overhaul acknowledge their own skepticism. Apparently, Congress wanted to pass (and the President wanted to sign) something, if only to avoid the political fallout from another terror attack had they done nothing.

HOLIDAY STRESS? Have you considered trepanation?