Not a whole lot to report from the Christmas break, so far. Had a nice time with a from my step-daughter and her father for a few days last week. I think it's great that Donna and I are able to get along so great with Michael, since it certainly makes things easier for Kristina.

They got in late Christmas Eve, so we couldn't do much visiting that night. Christmas morning found us opening gifts and then enjoying a great dinner which Donna had been getting together for the past several days. The rest of the day we simply relaxed and vegged out in front of the television.

Friday we all went to the movies and caught SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, with Diane Keaton & Jack Nicholson. Nicholson is great, playing himself basically, with Keaton absolutely wonderful as playwright Erika Barry. Both actors certainly deserve the Golden Globe nominations and I'd love to see Keaton take it, as this is one the best performances she'd given in years.

Everybody left on Saturday, so Donna and I were able to relax. After some shopping and lunch, we stopped by Tommy K's and picked up CHICAGO, which we'd been hoping to see since it was released. Both of us enjoyed it and can certainly see why it was nominated for so many awards. Gere was surprisingly good in the role of Billy Flynn, with both Zellweger and Zeta-Jones doing nice jobs as the female leads. Personally, I think the best performance in the film was that of John C. Reilly as the unfortunate Amos Hart, who is betrayed several times by Zellweger (as his wife Roxie), but still loves her inspite of everything. His single number 'Mister Cellophane' stands out after many other numbers fade.

A few months ago, Mark Evanier mentioned over on his site (link over on the left) a Game Show Network special "Big Bucks: the Press Your Luck Scandal about the infamous game show incidentl, involving Michael Larsen. The special was rerun last night and we had a chance to finally catch it. It is fascinating both showing how Larsen deciphered the 'random' system used in the games board and what happened to Larsen both before and after his big win. There are no real villains in the piece although Larsen comes closest, but more for his treatment of his family than for 'ripping off' a television network.

GSN did a good job putting this together, combining interviews with Larsen's family, members of the shows production staff and Larsen's fellow contestants that day. Larsen himself passed away a few years ago, but part of his last television interview is included so we get to hear 'his side' of the event. The actual programs are included, with special inserts letting us know what was going on behind the scenes and what the other contestants were thinking as the show went on.