A popular (and quite enjoyable) New Year's tradition in Austria is that of Bleigiessen, meaning "lead spirits" in English. In the waning hours of the old year, each participant melts a lead figurine over a candle and then tosses (individual techniques and strategies vary, but I'm a fan of a violent flick of the wrist) the molten metal into a pot of cold water, where it solidifies into its final guise. This unique artifact supposedly grants good luck to its creator for the new year and some say that a legendary Bleigiessenmeister can even preform metallurgical prognostication based on the item's shape.

For a short time I wondered why Wachsengiessen (wax spirits) wasn't a viable alternative. I mean, wax can be shaped into figures, melts easily, and will certainly solidify when cooled, so why not? Throwing tradition and forethought to the wind I gave it a try and it turns out there is a very good reason no one does Wachsengiessen. Wax floats! A flat pancake is invariably created on the surface of the water by the ritual! I earnestly hope that I am not now haunted by enraged, Germanic spirits.

But before being concerned with what is yet to come, yet us linger on times already passed. Winter's grip on the land intensified in the last few days and so in the spirit of doing as little as possible during the holidays my brother, cousin and I bunkered up in the basement with our woodstove, some videogames and a bunch of terrible movies. We may be the first people to ever watch all three Santa Clause movies in a row (it's a diabolically mind-rending task). Our slack-a-thon also included Christmas favorites Jingle All the Way, Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Believe it or not, these movies were actually a step up from Dungeonmaster/Ragewar and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra that my brother and I watched earlier this week. Between films we enjoyed the masterfully crafted and surprisingly challenging barrel-filled antics of Donkey Kong Country Returns.

I also managed to play through Link's Awakening in the past week. Although its system for assigning but two of the items in your arsenal at a time to buttons now seems barbaric, the game still is quite enjoyable. At first Link's quest in this game seems to be a pretty normal affair wherein he will tromp through a few dungeons and gather a set number of some item (mystical instruments in this case) by smashing a boss in each of these locales in order to achieve some final goal (waking the legendary Windfish). Yet as he goes about this task he receives the cryptic musings of a strange owl and warnings from the bosses (dubbed Nightmares) he slays about "waking from the dream" and the island being an illusion created by the slumber of the Windfish. It's quite poetic. The Windfish himself though looks a bit like a whale whose owners make him wear the most ridiculous clothing and ornamentation that they can find. Look at his eye. Does that look like a happy aquatic mammal to you?

Tal Tal Heights has some incredible music too.

Well, I've been promising him for a while now and he's really only a villain in vaguest sense, but without further ado I present Aresene Lupin III!

Lupin III is an infamous rogue, insatiable scoundrel, and the world's greatest thief. Hounded across the globe by Inspector Zenigata, Lupin seeks out adventure and challenge to his ability as much as wealth and treasure. I may have mentioned that some of my previous villains had some skill in impersonation, but Lupin is the unparalleled master of disguise. His guile is world-renowned and his only weakness is for the beautiful Fujiko, a sometimes-friend-sometimes-enemy who usually attempts to exploit Lupin's soft spot for her by grabbing the goods at the last minute. Lupin can't really be considered evil and his attitude and debonair make him the prince of gentleman thieves. And did I mention his fantastic theme song?