I enjoyed another wonderful Christmas this year. Although I have many nieces and nephews to spoil, and a wife, siblings and parents I enjoy exchanging gifts with, I received much, much more than I could ever hope to give. I try, I really do; but my limited budget keeps me from overdoing it. With me, it's always been quality over quantity. Seems to work. Anyway, some of the cool presents found under my tree this year were: Goldmine record guide (which I'm going through page by page, highlighting each vinyl gem I've managed to collect over 35 years); the book See No Evil, which was turned into the film Syriana this year; 2 wonderful dress shirts that fit me to a tee, look nice, and hide my belly; cash from my mom (she likes to keep it simple and agrees with my gift preference philosophy, "cash works"; and perhaps my favorite gift of all, the DVD of Sideways, simply one of my favorite films of 2004. I can and will write more about this little gem later, but do yourself a favor, watch it. I guess I identify with the lead character, Miles, played with an understated brilliance by Paul Giamatti, because, like me, he's an English teacher, (well, I used to be), he occasionally drinks too much, he's not the most confident guy on the block, and he longs to be a novelist. All the main characters in the film intrigued me, from Maya, Miles' future sole mate and fellow wine afficianado, to Jack, the former actor and wanton sex-machine, to Stephanie, the hot single mom who, temporarily, falls under Jack's spell. Do yourself and favor and check it out. You won't be disappointed.