Judith Shapiro's holiday greeting, with its fancy Roger Rabbit-style animation over actual photographs, has seemingly one-upped Columbia's card, which only shows people drawing lions. Are the lions not able to leap off the page and slowly fade into a photograph of Roree? And if they are, what's the hold up?

In terms of music, accolades to Columbia for modeling itself in the vein of Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas. Classy and understated—while still economically avoiding to pay Guaraldi royalties. In addition, Bwog awards Barnard's card Points for Trying, because it must have taken a long time to record a chorus of "Morningside Heights is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful" without anyone laughing.

Best lampshades ever.

Do you have favorite decked out neighborhood establishments? Bring us joy: bwog@columbia.edu

In spite of this busy time of year, Bwog did manage to get away for a few moments and witness Chowdah and Sweeps' self-proclaimed "Very Special Holiday Special" in Furnald Lounge tonight. Sweeps performed a domino chain of improv skits complete with reference to broken families, broken chia pets, peanut butter blasphemy, and linear references that would have put The Geometer in fits. Hilarity also ensued in Chowdah's performance, which joyously embraced the arrival of Comikkah season. While the show included an array of candy-addict rabbits, Bad News Bears and partial nudity, in the end the troop proved that no holiday sketch is complete without the arrival of Charlton Heston in his magic sleigh -- quite possibly in the likeness of Moses from The Ten Commandments.

And you thought everyone at Columbia was Jewish!

More photos after the jump.

A band of revelers led by a wildly gesticulating Santa Claus made waves across Columbia this afternoon, prompting several tipsters to ask "wtf?". The possibly drunk, underweight Saint Nicholas and his six disciples marched across campus twice today, interrupting classes, being mistaken for CUMB, and playing, among other things, a rousing rendition of It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing). We may never be intended to understand their full purpose, but we do know that they are part of the Bread & Puppet theater group, based in Vermont and currently on tour in New York for three weeks. They just started their second week of performances, all of which are at 8:00 pm at the Theater for the New City downtown.

- DHI, photo by ZVS

Tonight marks the first night of Chanukah. We have the Maccabees and their defeat of Seleucid Empire to thank for 8 nights of presents, gelt and latkes beginning in 25 minutes. (And our friends in states with agriculture-based economies to thank for sunset at 4:28pm tonight.)

Chabad house is celebrating by lighting an outlandishly-sized menorah (the press release claims "8ft!!") on the steps of Low every night of Chanukah. Chabad's combating the bitter, freezing cold with promises of free hot cider and donuts.

A happy Chanukah to all!

Meanwhile, the cycle of life and death continues to play out in front of Furnald. Reports are circulating of large bird ("hawk/falcon," says a source) perched in front of the dorm and causing a disturbance within Furnald lawn's regular crow population. Perhaps the "8ft!!" menorah will frighten the hawk/falcon back to the wilds and rectify the unbalance in Morningside Height's ecosystem. It would be a Chanukah miracle.

UPDATE 5:14PM: Bird expert and Bwog tipster Courtney identifies the hawk/falcon as a juvenile red-tail hawk. And in the grand tradition of Maccabees vs. Antiochus IV and other battles of Chanukahs past, thus commences 8ft!! Menorah vs. Red-Tail Hawk.

Today was the HSO's big Holi bash, and for those who missed the fun, here are some photos from the spring holiday, which featured more than 700 lbs. of paint, lots of water, and general mayhem.

Thanks to Ramya Pratiwadi and Sumaiya Ahmed for the photos!

Bwog is signing off for awhile to stuff our faces with sweetmeats and to relax Frankie Goes to Hollywood-style. But before we do, we asked several campus figures to tell us what they want for Chrismakwanzikkah or the other non-denominational winter holiday they celebrate. We got a few responses, starting with Sumaiya Ahmed's interview with...

Antonio, a security guard at McBain who says he wants a silver watch, a tuxedo, and the other half of his orange.

"You know what I mean don't you?"

"Umm, you mean your wife?"

"Yes," he says. "Well, a girlfriend, my ex-wife...."

Tao Tan: "Either the repeal of the capital gains tax, or the Battlestar Pegasus (with 4 squadrons of Mark VII Vipers)."

Professor Carl Hart: "Hmmm, let's see...For Christmas, I'd like justice for those with limited resources. I hope this answers the question."

Tim, the bearded violin player outside Lerner says, "I would like that the world be more like the people in New York, how they have been to me, taking care of each other. It is astounding. It is not like that everywhere, you know."

He is from Wisconsin, though he says the people there are nice too.

"I have hope for us," he says. "I think we'll figure it out. You young folks, you're pretty bright. Pretty and bright! Though of course, I don't wanna make any big generalizations."

As promised, we've reviewed those silly holiday sandwiches for the benefit of the consumer- you! Correspondent Dena Yago offers the following appraisal.

Religious culinary politics, a pre-eminent topic this time of year, has revealed itself not so subtly on behalf of the $5.50 Holiday Sandwiches sold around campus. My experience with these creations left me unscathed, if eleven dollars poorer in my much-guarded freshman points.

Where to begin? Unaware of the conflict I was about to incite, I simultaneously purchased the Chanukah sandwich, made of corned beef brisket on a potato roll with "Jewish" mustard and pickled cabbage, and the Kwanzaa wrap, made of roasted sweet potatoes with caramelized onions and cranberry chutney. The Christmas sandwich could only be eaten a day later, as Cafe 212 ran out of the hot commodity, and it refused to comment on its — ahem — segregation.

There is way too much going on in Butler these days to be remotely bored. A sampling of the cracked out goings on:

Elevator Dance Party! At around 8:30 PM, four kids rocked out with their iPod speakers to standard indy and classic rock favorites, riding the rightmost elevator next to the computer lab to different floors where they picked up and dropped off fellow unorthodox study breakers.

Seasonal Sandwiches! You may have noticed a new offering in the Butler cafe: for $5.50, you can purchase a Christmas Sandwich (honey baked ham with grilled pineapple and sweet red peppers) a Kwanzaa wrap (roast sweet potatoes, caramelized onions and cranberry chutney), or a Chanukah wrap (corned beef brisket on potato bread with jewish mustard and pickled cabbage). Bwog contributor CML suggests something less God-fearing: "An atheist sub might contain shredded meats to represent what is being done to the moral fiber of our country, and large amounts of tofu to symbolize the lack of any ethos implicit in said doctrine. It would be nasty, short, and brutish, with nothing at all at the end."

CML also expresses the hope that one of the pre-packaged repasts would exhibit an image of the Virgin Mary or Koranic symbol, similar to the one he discovered in the a slice of Koronet's recently.

Reviews will be posted soon!

- LBD

UPDATE 3:36AM: Apparently, Bacchanal Events paraded through Butler around 11:30, cheerfully distributing candy and stressballs while wearing Santa hats and shouting "Happy Finals!" The masses roared studious approval.

If you are a typical broke college student — you know, the one who has reached the point of sneaking Tupperware into campus study breaks and gotten into the habit of scrounging for paid psychology experiments — chances are you're having trouble fulfilling the financial obligations of the holiday season. Luckily, our very own Columbia Bookstore is a burrow of cheapness just waiting to be explored (conveniently, most parents don't check whether your Flex dollars are going towards textbooks or trinkets). Not exactly Bloomingdales, but who has the time to fight the Madison Avenue matrons? Here are a few of Bwog holiday contributor Maryam Parhizkar's suggestions on what to check out in the holiday treasure trove below Lerner Hall.

Window decals. Last holiday season I thought my father was being generous when he gave me a hefty sum of cash for Christmas. I found out a week later that this was his very subtle way of saying, "Guess what you got this year: another semester of a college education!" This year, I am buying my father a Columbia University decal to put on the back of his car as a way of thanking him for his very considerate gift last year. These babies go from $2.48 to $5.98, depending on size and quality.

Neuhaus Chocolate Bars. These 45-gram chocolate bars from Belgium are a bit of a splurge at $3.50 if you're on a tight budget, but they are quite the treat for that special person in your life. There's a wide assortment of gourmet flavors, but I personally recommend the crispy gianduja (hazelnut) white chocolate bar. If you're feeling especially generous, take your pick of three and stack them together with a ribbon on top. Find them at the front of bookstore by the cashier's desk.

Columbia Pencils (3-pack). What better way to initiate that recent applicant into Columbia life than with their very own set of old-school wooden Columbia school supplies? Besides, they're much more subtle than a sweatshirt, so if April notifications don't go their way at least you won't feel as awkward. These are also ideal for that kid in your Calc class who always asks you for a writing utensil and never returns it. Columbia fat pens also available. $1.98.

Bwog correspondent Addison Anderson was there.

I couldn't stay for the whole thing, but Dean Quigley read an (the best) excerpt from Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas in Wales" for about fifteen minutes to a rapt audience, and repeatedly told us to keep an eye out for friendly ghosts of Columbia's past. Then some administrators started giving each other awards so I grabbed a truffle from the truffle man and left.

More lovely photos from Sumaiya Ahmed after the jump.

Tomorrow night, Enya, X-tina, and a small army of tourists will converge on Rockefeller Plaza to watch Al Roker waste a lot of electricity and, as usual, freeze his ass off. Though we mildly recommend that everyone to go watch in person, NBC has been gracious enough to shift their blockbuster Wednesday line-up to make way for a one-hour TV special on the event (which will also include performances by John Legend and Bette Midler, as well as an inestimable number of plugs for 30 Rock and Heroes). Alternatively, you could keep refreshing Bwog, where music critic/holiday enthusiast Bryan Mochizuki will be blogging minute-by-minute updates. Tune in here at 8 PM for good tidings and Taylor Hicks jokes.

Bwog is ready for vacation. And after Thanksgiving, it's a race to the finish--might as well start buying your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa presents now, because you're not going to have time in three weeks. Let the season begin!

- Learning experiences that will be funny in 20 years

- Great men come, go, salvage Columbia's honor, wish us happy thanksgivings, and tell us how to avoid death this winter

- Shameless plug department: because Men in Black is awesome, because we like their aesthetic sensibilities, and because we can

- New media department: a botched attempt, and the Bulletin boldly faces the new century!

- Lyricism department: the chosen ones, verses of love, and verses of...yeah.

- What you should take and who should teach you