As Matt pointed out, when you purchase Sufjan Steven’s box set, Songs for Christmas, you get a few additional goodies. One of the extras is a 23 panel Tom Eaton comic strip titled, It Was the Worst Christmas Ever. Under the title Eaton has drawn a malicious-looking fairy, who we learn is the Evil Sister Winter.

Our story begins as Evil Sister Winter is spotted flying over Santa’s Headquarters on wings of icicles. Her spell throws Santa’s chemical balance into disarray! He now wallows in self-pity and winter funk. Is Christmas ruined?!

It’s a quirky tale, appropriate for this collection of tunes. You can rest easy; Christmas is saved, though not by Sufjan who makes his appearance in the 7th panel. No, deliverance comes from an unexpected source, one that will not be revealed here.

Hanna-Barbera. Conjunction Junction. Do these words mean anything to you? If you were born pre-1980, these words are likely a window into Saturday morning nostalgia. Imagine rising early on a wintery Saturday morning, heading to your living room in your PJs and a brimming bowl of Fruity Pebbles - all to partake in the Saturday morning cartoon experience.

For those unfamiliar, Hanna-Barbera ruled the cartoon airways from the 50s until the late 90s. Classics such as Scooby Doo, The Smurfs, The Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, and The Jetsons (to name a few) were all produced and created via the Hanna-Barbera studio. (Hanna-Barbera is named after animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.) On a similar note, if your Saturday morning ritual found its way to ABC, it is likely that you caught a few School House Rock shorts- where "Conjuction Junction" frequented as a favorite musical segment.

At rednoW we pride ourselves on finding wonder in an eclectic mix of media. Since it's the holidays we'll be taking a weeklong look at an eclectic boxset of holiday songs by one of our favorite musicians, Sufjan Stevens.

For the last few years Stevens has been the darling of the indie music world, though he has not necessarily sought out this fame. He is a brilliant musician but isn't exactly comfortable with celebrity. The music Stevens makes doesn't come from a love of fame or even a love of performing, but rather a love of creating and crafting music. Knowing this it shouldn't come as a surprise to find out that most of the 42 songs that make up the five volumes of Christmas music were originally recorded as Christmas gifts for friends and family.

What is on the pavement is a distortion, but when [people] look through the camera they see it in three dimensions