NORAD Santa tracker just one of many diverting holiday sites

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 5, 2004 | by JIM BAINBRIDGE THE GAZETTE

This is the 50th anniversary of NORAD's Santa Claus tracking project, and you can follow the Christmas Eve drama online, from Santa's mounting in the (north) pole position to his very last delivery.

It's a match made in cyberspace, a boon to us all if it does nothing more than remove the need to watch those unusually cheesy TV reports.

The NORAD site delivers information in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese, and gives background on NORAD and Santa, including "declassified photos" of St. Nick from the 1960s.

Keeping a sharp eye on Santa is just the tip of the arctic icepack when it comes to enhancing your enjoyment of the holiday season online. Whether it's shopping, picking out a Christmas movie, listening to music, keeping your pet safe from holiday hazards or learning to say "Merry Christmas" in scores of languages, the Internet has got you covered.

www.noradsanta.org

As you might suppose from the name Christmas.com, this Web site is a big ol' clearing house of information on the holiday season.

It hooks you up with links where you can give money to charities, listen to Christmas music, order a personalized letter from Santa, get personalized Christmas cards, download a holiday screensaver and learn how to wish a happy holiday to your neighbor if they are from Tunisia (Mboni Chrismen) or Ghana (Afishapa).

www.christmas.com

Of the many Christmas Web cam sites on the Net, none gives you more options that emailsanta.com, which has links to cams all over the world, including 13 in the United States.

www.emailsanta.com/Christmas_WebCams.asp

If you have ever toyed with the idea of becoming a professional Santa Claus, be aware that there is a Santa Claus boot camp right here in El Paso County. Naturally Santa Inc. has placed jolly, red- clad guys in 72 shopping centers nationwide this year and is always looking for a few good men.

To inquire about becoming a Santa next holiday season, call or e- mail from Dec. 26 through the first week of January.

www.naturallysantainc.com/ pages/949272/index.htm

For those people who enjoy a good Christmas movie to get them in the right spirit -- and yet feel like they may have seen "It's a Wonderful Life" one too many times -- there is a comprehensive list on the Auburn University Web site.

Some of them might not immediately strike you as holiday films ("Diehard" or "Ghostbusters II," for instance), but all have some connection to the season and you can click on each title to get a plot synopsis and reviews through the Internet Movie Database.

www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/christmas_movie.html

Christmas Time is sort of a hybrid Web site, independent in the sense that all the material was collected by someone who identifies himself only as "Al" and commercial because it has links to online shopping throughout.

It's the Words and Music section that makes this site worth visiting, providing pages on Christmas poetry, history, comedy, prose, music, food, graphics, quotations, traditions and stories.

www.christmas-time.com

Petco wants your pets to have a safe holiday season and has launched a campaign to warn owners about the dangers of Christmas tree needles, mistletoe, yew, poinsettias, tinsel and chocolate, any one of which could do great harm if ingested.

www.petco.com/pressrel/pressrel21_04.asp?webt=0&

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0126 or bainbird@gazette.com