Happy Holidays, everyone! And because none of us are on vacation until I share with you the most amazing Christmas video of all time, let’s just get that out of the way:

So soothing, so perplexing, so much feathered hair. As a housekeeping note, Heather and I will be on a relaxed holiday schedule (in part because no one leaves the house during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, but also because I need to lie down so badly), but we’ve got a lot of fun posts coming up between now and 2017, so please check back when you get bored this upcoming week. And get plenty of rest, because as soon as we leave 2016 in the dust, it’s basically awards season. Thanks for being here this year — and every year — and I hope your holidays are peaceful and full of love.

– The New York Times magazine is running an amazing feature called The Lives They Lived, about some of the people the world lost this year — from Bowie and Prince and Ali to Miss Cleo to Dana Raphael, an amazing anthropologist with whom I was previously unacquainted . I couldn’t pick just one to recommend; they’re all wonderful (the remembrance of Bill Cunningham came from Andy Warhol’s diary and it’s LOVELY and the entry was also dated on my birthday, which was lovely specifically for me.) It’s very very well-done and quite moving. Set aside some time.

– Allison P Davis, one of my favorite writers, hung out with Mischa Barton for an afternoon, and her story — at the Ringer — WILL make you feel better about Mischa.

– At Lainey: Mariah Carey never fails to make me laugh, especially when she’s trimming the tree in her undies.

– You can now buy socks inspired by airport carpets. [Traveller]

The Hollywood Reporter runs down The 15 Best Costume Films of 2016

– I always enjoy these: Best of media corrections, 2016 edition [Poynter]

Decider brings us 2016: The Year in Cinematic Smoking. It’s a TV show, not a movie, but I wanted to smoke throughout Stranger Things. And I am not a smoker.

– And Eater has rounded up The Best of Bad Restaurant Reviews.

– At Celebitchy: J Lo and Drake might be dating?!?!?! Honestly, I am INTO THIS — basically for the purposes of gossip, but also because I sort of feel like they might work? I am not a crackpot.

– At Pajiba, in case you’re looking for something to watch over the holiday, WHICH YOU ARE: The 10 Best Movies of the Year Currently On Netflix

– At The New Potato, these are some very cute jackets.

– On a personal note, this is a wonderful remembrance of Jeffrey Slonim, a red carpet reporter and gentleman extraordinaire who Heather and I adored, and who sadly died this year. It’s a hell of a read by one of my favorite writers, Jada Yuan, and I’d recommend it even if I hadn’t known him.  [Vulture]

– Finally, our friend John Ramos — those of you who used to read TWoP know him as Couch Baron — is one of the producers of a documentary called What Lies Upstream, which is an investigative documentary about drinking water contamination (more timely than ever, no?). It’s been chosen to premiere at Slamdance, which is a big deal, and they are currently running a Kickstarter to help finish post-production on the film — check it out, if this seems like the kind of project you’d want to support!

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