Ask anyone that grew up in Chicago or Western Pennsylvania about Hardrock, Coco and Joe and you’ll instantly bring a smile to their face. Three black and white Christmas stop motion classics have been airing on television stations since the 1950’s. They still delight kids of all ages to this day. Suzy Snowflake, Frosty the Snowman, and Hardrock, Coco, and Joe: The Three Little Dwarfs are two minute and 45 second short films that were broadcast on only two television stations in the US, WGN-TV in Chicago and WJAC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Johnstown, PA. Originally produced in the early 1950’s, these short films aired annually as part of children’s programming to get the little ones fire up for the Christmas season. These classics were seen by so many families over the years, they have become a holiday season tradition that even adults now look forward to. As the kids grew into adults, and children’s programming dwindled, their airing would no longer be restricted to just kids. On WJAC, they can be seen airing all over the programming schedule from prime time to Saturday Night Live to Channel 6 News 11 at 11. Growing up in Western Pennsylvania as I did, I would watch these over and over every year on WJAC. My grandmother still stops and pause for a moment to check them out, while she’s flipping through the channels. While the stop motion is very low budget and crude by today’s standards, those who grew up with these shorts have a special place for them in their heart. Seeing these as a kid, I knew Christmas is here! Thousands of viewers have checked them out on Youtube. Let’s take a look at each and uncover some little known facts! HARDROCK, COCO, AND JOE: THE THREE LITTLE DWARFS...

I’ve been having a hard time getting in the Halloween Spirit over the last few years, as you may have read. The idea of getting into costume seemed more like an unappealing hassle instead of something fun to do for one night a year. But having a husband whose favorite holiday is Halloween, I had to put my All Hallows Eve annoyance aside, and help him celebrate his favorite time of year. For weeks, my husband had been looking into “fun” things to do for Halloween week. Yes, a whole week of Halloween activities. You can guess my, um, enthusiasm. Our plans for the holiday slowly came together, yet our “couples costume” was still non-existent. We had parties to go to, friends to meet up with, and even tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland, but I was still completely uninspired. Then one evening, two nights before our first Halloween outing, we decided to put the movie Up! on. It’s one of our favorite movies and we can never get through the first ten minutes without crying. It even inspired us to start our own “Paradise Falls” travel fund. And it hit me, we were going to Disneyland as part of our Halloween extravaganza, we might as well go as Disney characters! Carl and Ellie were two characters we could easily relate to, and the clothing they wore when they first met was both iconic AND easy to acquire! We already owned a few of the items, and the rest only took a trip to the thrift store and a Halloween shop. And what is more comfortable to wear than a pair of overalls?! I was actually excited again to get in costume. And once it all came together, it was pretty darn adorable....

Fiercely Anticipating: Presidents’ Day weekend. It’s here! That glimmer of hope right in the midst of our seasonal affective disorder*! The Federal Holiday that no one remembers! The perfect little blue balls-inducing holiday weekend: too short to merit a vacation, but long enough to keep us from realizing we should stop slaving away for our corporate overlords and open a cooperative beet farm in Oregon! This is a nice one because we don’t have to deal with all the tediousness that marrs our other three-day weekends. I don’t have to be proud of my country, I don’t have to remember anyone, and my facebook feed won’t clog with inspirational misquotes and do-gooder cyber shaming. (Our first President was as boring as he was wooden-toothed, and as such, he is not remembered for his pithy sayings. “Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved.” Pull that one out on Monday and see how many likes you get.) There are no parades to block traffic, no fireworks to pretend to care about, no enforced group meat-charring to attend. This is perfect for me, because I hate mandatory fun and I strongly dislike pool parties. As you can probably guess, I have big plans for this weekend. The idea is to drive up to San Francisco, hang out with friends, see Pina in 3-D, and while lingering over artisanal beers, meet a 6 foot tall Indian architect who loves Shakespeare, sandwiches, and casual relationships. What’s going to happen is this: on Friday evening I will don some soft, non-binding sleep wear, open a bottle of wine, and peruse the photo albums of my facebook friends who mysteriously...

Schweddy Balls – the newest Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor based on the Saturday Night Live skit has finally made it to your grocer’s freezer. The name is as hilarious as the skit, but while only available for a limited time, some shoppers are being forbidden from buying it. Schweddy Balls gets its name from the popular “Delicious Dish” sketch that originally aired on Saturday, December 12, 1998. The five minute sketch, starring Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, and guest host Alec Baldwin was a parody of two DJ’s hosting a National Public Radio (NPR) show.  The two clueless hosts are sampling holiday recipes, when they are joined by Pete Schweddy, who runs a local bakery selling Christmas cookies. The sketch is a play on words, giving a sexual double meaning to his holiday treats. The joke at the heart of the bit is when Pete Schweddy says: “There are lots of great treats this time of year. Zucchini bread – fruitcake. But, the thing I like to bring out most at this time of year are my balls.” It’s brilliant writing and is absolutely hilarious. The skit now airs every holiday season on various Saturday Night Live Christmas specials. The Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company of South Burlington, Vermont is always on the lookout to create new and unusual ice cream flavors. To cash in on the popularity of the skit, they created the official Schweddy Balls ice cream. The ice cream is available only for a limited run, and after months of searching, it finally has made its way to my local grocery store. Ben & Jerry’s has been responsible for a number of novelty ice cream flavors over the years. Sold in small pints, the flavor joins a long line of flavors such...

Do you have a favorite holiday memory? I have many, but this is one of my favorites. I also really like cookies! If you liked this post, please do us the further boon of Liking the Fierce and Nerdy page on FaceBook. Also, we’re giving great stream on Twitter, so do give us...