In today’s NPR/Monkey See post, I’m arguing why it’s exhausting to learn that Ricky Gervais may host the Golden Globes again… and why it may permanently damage his validity as a comedian.

My friend Jim is an amazing guy. He and his company Art Meets Commerce designed and host The Critical Condition, which is just one way he has improved my life.

But now, he is improving the lives of hundreds of children. A few weeks ago, he and his partner Dylan mysteriously started receiving hundreds of letters to Santa. And then they started fulfilling the requests in them. The New York Times produced this video about their amazing story, and I had to share. Whether we celebrate Christmas or not, I’m sure we can all find the lesson here. Thanks, Jim and Dylan, for teaching it to us.

I can’t get the video to embed for some reason, but you can watch it here.

Happy Thanksgiving, American readers! And if you aren’t in the US… well… happy day before Thursday!

One thing I’m intensely thankful for is the ongoing conversation we have on The Critical Condition. Every day, someone leaves a comment that makes me think, laugh, or smile. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. I’m grateful for the community we’ve created here.

Hey y’all. So, I’ve gotten about ten squillion e-mails, blog comments, and tweets letting me know that I made some typos in my Sucker Punch recap. Therefore, I would like to make the following corrections:

(1) Lafayette’s mother calls him “La La,” not “Fay Fay.” But, um, Fay Fay is better.

(2) Russell ripped out the newscaster’s spine, not his heart.

I hope that in making these corrections, I can bring us closer to world peace.

Yours,

May-May

By DOUG STRASSLER

Chances are, you’re reading this at some point as I celebrate my 31st birthday. (That’s right, on Friday the 13th!). And as I do so, I’ve taken pause to reflect on the last year. I’ve said numerous times to people that being thirty has been one of the best years of my life – easily better than the entirety of my twenties. Gone are so many of the minor hassles and silly frustrations that go along with “adolescent adulthood,” replaced instead by far more fulfilling pursuits with the right kind of people.

And you know what? This site has played a huge role in that.

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Hey everyone! Other than the True Blood Sucker Punch, which will arrive tomorrow, The Critical Condition is going to be dormant this week… because I am moving to Manhattan. Woo-hoo! But I’ll be back next week, full of tales of my new borough.

Sometimes, a pop song is more than just a delicious sound nugget. Sometimes, its’ a learning tool. I mean, I think anyone who was sentient in 1989 had his or her knowledge of 20th-century history tripled by “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” and if you want to know about Belgian painters or the gases of the sun, then you’d better get some They Might Be Giants in your ears.

And then there are songs that teach us to spell. Here are my five favorite spelling moments in pop music. What are yours?

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Hey guys… I just couldn’t wait until Monday to share this with you. You must read this interview that Nicholas Sparks and Miley Cyrus gave USA TODAY to promote The Last Song, the movie that Sparks wrote for Cyrus.

Did you realize that Nicholas Sparks is writing work that stands up next to Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Aeschylus? Did you know that he’s better than Cormac McCarthy?  I sure didn’t but I’m so glad Sparks told me.

Here are my immediate reactions to the Oscar nominations. What are yours?

* Wow! Maggie Gyllenhaal! Was anybody expecting that? Biggest surprise of the acting categories, though certainly not a disastrous choice. And now Jake isn’t the only one in the family with a nomination, which will make the holidays a lot more comfortable.

* Lee Daniels is the second African-American director nominated (after John Singleton for Boyz n the Hood), and I’m really glad he got tapped. His work on Precious was great. Kathryn Bigelow is the fourth-ever woman nominated. The directing category is a rainbow coalition, y’all!

* Have we finally reached the point where acting nominees of color are no longer unusual? Ever since the Denzel/Halle year, it seems like there are always multiple non-Caucasian nominees, and this year, we’ve got Morgan Freeman, Gabourey Sidibe, Penelope Cruz, and Mo’nique.

* An animated film nomination for… The Secret of Kells? What in the hell is that? A best song nod for… Paris 36? Has anyone heard of that one?

* They used the expanded Best Picture category to embrace both big, popular films and films from perennial Academy favorites. I doubt that A Serious Man would have made the list of five, but Oscar loves the Coens. And lord knows that THE BLIND SIDE wouldn’t have made it, which… blech. That’s the Scent of a Woman nomination. But on the other hand, hooray for Up! And I’m happily intrigued by the District 9 nomination. Oh, and no Best Picture or Best Director nod for Invictus. Holla!

* I’ve seen 19 of the nominated performances, which means I’m… a geek? Yeah, kind of. Of all the ones I’ve seen, I’d say Penelope Cruz for Nine is the only one I’m super-sketchy on, though it’s only my general affection for Sandra Bullock and not my deep commitment to her work in The Blind Side that keeps me from protesting that one. I don’t have any desire to see The Lovely Bones, but Stanley Tucci is one of those actors who’s been in so many movies that this was probably his “long-timer” nomination. Too bad it couldn’t be for Julie and Julia.

* Overall, this is a cool slate of nominees. Diverse, worthy of argument, and generally representative of quality films. And I’ll admit… it is kind of cool that a few super-popular movie made the cut. It makes the conversation feel more rounded. Now begins my earnest rooting for Inglourious Basterds.

Mandy Moore released her new album Amanda Leigh yesterday, and if I hadn’t happened to notice it being advertised on the iTunes homepage, I would have had no idea it existed.

And that got me thinking… why isn’t Mandy Moore more popular? She’s proven herself as both an actress and musician, yet despite kicking around for ten years, she’s never broken through to superstardom. She’s an HBO talent with, at best, a Style Channel profile.

Does anyone have theories on this? Is it because she’s not a freak? I know we Westerners often like our young female stars to be damaged, so we can  experience both horror and delight as they subvert of our unfair standards of feminine propriety. Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse… they’re all trainwrecks, so we scold and gawk and go crazy for them.

Mandy Moore, meanwhile, has never spazzed out. In fact, I don’t know anything about her, except that she seems polite, hard-working, and talented. Maybe she’s a little conservative, sure,but not so conservative that she won’t star in an awesome movie like Saved!.

In other words, Moore’s the kind of celebrity I prefer, because she’s not up in my face. But maybe that’s  what’s keeping her from becoming a bigger star.

Yet even as I espouse that theory, I can contradict it. For every Winehouse flameout, there’s a Kate Winslet or Carrie Underwood success story that lets us focus on a young female artist’s talent more than her personal life.

So again… why the lack of Mandy Moore love, especially since she’s demonstrated awesomeness in two media? As an actress, she’s reasonably good in bad movies (A Walk to Remember, Because I Said So) and very good in good ones (Saved!), and that’s just her sideline career.

It’s her music that merits the most enthusiasm. After the jump, I’ll explain why…

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