Sad City's Guide To Christmas Shopping

We are within two weeks of Christmas which is followed by the most miserable time of the year, commonly referred to as January and February. With only a few shopping days (we aren't sure how shopping days are calculated, nor do we care) left before Christmas, there's always Amazon.com but some insist on personally venturing into the commercial sector. That's cool, that's what we are here for.

We aren't going to get all super boring and tell you to get some gift cards to a local restaurant,  you aren't amoeba, you already know that. Nor are we going to lecture you on buying only "local only, organic only, no animals, no Republicans, no sugar, all natural" you aren't schoolchildren. What we do have is some fine Hartford area selections. Think of anything we missed? Leave it in the comments.

Without further ado, we bring you the Sad City Christmas Guide, the latest installment in the Sad City Guide series.

The Finals: The Beat City Beauties vs. Chion Wolf

Well at long last we have reached the conclusion (and before the NCAA tournament as predicted by good friend Johnny Spigot) as the females have conquered all in Hot In Hartford. In reality, the all-female final match here shouldn't come as any surprise as men have shown a willingness to do almost anything to appeal to women. Heck, if it wasn't for trying to impress women, Jumper and Hakaan would probably be living in their Mom's basement (assuming we don't) endlessly playing "Career Mode" on every EA Sports game.

By now these lovely ladies need no introduction......you need them, you love them, you cannot live without them...The Beat City Beauties and Chion Wolf. For the final time, Who is Hot In Hartford?

Hot In Hartford: Dennis House vs. Chion Wolf

Two great Sad City friends meet each other in the penultimate Hot In Hartford matchup. Chion Wolf, having already won the ultra prestigious Howard Stern Award as the furthest advancing radio personality, will try to avenge the defeat of colleague Colin McEnroe who was bested by Mr. House in the previous round. Will television continue dominance over radio? Will it be an all female finals? Vote to find out!

Hot In Hartford: Chion Wolf vs. The Russian Lady

Hot In Hartford 2012 carries with the a battle between WNPR's Chion Wolf and downton's The Russian Lady. Ironically the last time we saw Ms. Wolf was at The Russian Lady at a Beat City Beauties show. Kind of like a Sad City blender of an evening. We can't choose, while The Russian Lady served us drinks, Ms. Wolf had a drink with us. You can't really have one without the other can you?

Hear Ms. Wolf on WNPR co-producing The Colin McEnroe Show with Patrick Skahill weekdays 1-2. Visit the Russian at 191 Ann Uccello.

Hot In Hartford: Chion Wolf vs Rick Green

We now return to our regularly scheduled "Hot In Hartford 2012" during this very abbreviated week with a match between WNPR's Chion Wolf and the Hartford Courant's Rick Green. So far the two Hot In Hartford matches have been lopsided as the XL Center and The Russian Lady advanced to the quarterfinals. This time a human advance to the next round as these Hartford heavy hitters make their "Hot In Hartford" debuts.

The Lohman Map

We've had our eye on this cartoon style map of Hartford by Phil Lohman for quite some time. We first saw it in the basement of one of our friends and was very happy to have the opportunity to acquire one a couple weeks ago. (Incidentally, this same map hangs in the Pan De Oro chip factory) It seems that the map was distributed by The Hartford Courant to celebrate 225 years in print. Since the map states that The Courant started "on a hard-operated press" in 1764, we did some hardcore number crunching and DNA analysis to date this map at 1989. It's a very cool and unique map and a glimpse at how Hartford was a generation ago. Huge thanks to Sad City friend Chion Wolf for taking the photo of this map for us. If you would like the full size jpeg, email us here.

Lest We Forget

Yes, it has been pretty hot lately. As tends to happen in New England from time to time, in fact all the time, it gets really hot here in the summer. Happens every year and yet always people always seem shocked by this development. Not here. We wait all year for oppressive heat. We love the city in oppressive heat, the smells and sights at places like Albany and Wethersfield Ave on a brutally hot day are what makes the city for us.

Another long standing tradition in New England is that before the summer comes, the winter visits. And this winter was brutal. Just brutal. So while everyone is complaining about the heat, we present this video done by our good friend Chion Wolf, photographer and announcer for WNPR. We suggest you watch the video, grab a Watermelon Ale or margarita and go enjoy the heat. Soon enough there will be eight feet of snow again and the wackys will be yelling about how the city didn't do a good enough job clearing it.