Holiday

Cartoonist Ben Katchar is profiled in his old diamond district studio. A Big Apple pumpkin patch that's 100% kosher.

A California winter turns the left coast into a brew of foaming festivities while landlubbers leap for joy in the spray of salty slurpings.

In Xmas 1986, George Kuchar’s mother Stella has come to stay with him for the holidays. After a series of dinners with friends, Stella’s repeated discussions about her shingles and Kuchar’s ominous film-noirish narration, Kuchar rescues the morale of a dinner party gone bad thanks to an undercooked ham by presenting his hosts with a very memorable holiday gift.

– Kyle Riley

In this sequel to Rainy Season, George recovers from his depression and experiences a "little joy" during a New Year's Eve of champagne cork-popping. A tree, a carrot cake, a fire in the hearth and a spin at The Wheel of Fortune — it's all here for the viewing.

From the crashing waves of a wintry Pacific to the haunted vestibules of a Bay Area mansion, allow entry to this motley crew of ravished revelers who bring their choppers down on an assortment of improvised bon-bons. The acting talents of those in search of holiday happiness find release in this smorgasbord of seasonal shenanigans that feasts on the bounty of the sea and the booty of the breadbasket to bake a nutty fruitcake of feisty spirits and smoked ham.