It's a Wonderful Life . . . the Dark Side

A. O.  Scott, film critic and editor for The New York Times, has produced a little feature on the dark side of  Frank Capra's classic in Critics' Picks: 'It's a Wonderful Life.' 

By ennumerating everything that's wrong in the world of George Bailey, Scott demonstrates why it's such a comforting film for the holidays.

Christmas in Williamsburg | Then & Now

A little Christmas bonus we created for an early American literature class:

New Year's Customs

The folks at the Urban Legends Reference Pages (a.k.a. Snopes.com) have created a compendium of New Year's Superstitions that's fun to peruse: "Many of the superstitions associated with the event bear the common theme that activities engaged in on that day set the pattern for the year to come. Others have to do with warding off evil spirits or attracting luck."

Take a look at beliefs that relate to kissing at midnight, paying off bills, new clothes, breakage, loud noises, open doors, weather, and more.