Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe HOLIDAY MOVIES Watching holiday movies is now a season tradition for two-thirds of Americans and helps set the mood for family celebrations, according to a survey by Blockbuster. Advertisement Whether it's "Miracle on 34th Street," "Frosty the Snowman," "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" or "Christmas Vacation," holiday movies have become an integral part of the season's celebrations, the survey found. Top 10 Holiday Movies at Blockbuster (based on top-renting holiday movies at Blockbuster stores in 2000): 1. "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (1965) 2. "Christmas Vacation" 3. "A Christmas Story" 4. "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" 5. "Jack Frost" 6. "White Christmas" 7. "Frosty The Snowman" 8. "Charlie Brown Christmas" 9. "It's A Wonderful Life" 10."Miracle on 34th Street" (Web site: blockbuster.com) THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND Beware of buying one of those trendy sports utility vehicles in Russia. The government has just decreed that all owners should register with the Ministry of Defense, so that the 4-wheel drive cars can be requisitioned in times of war or national emergency. Advertisement Some 9 percent of the Russian cars sold in Moscow last year were the locally produced Niva SUV. Some even come in khaki paint, which will save time when the military tow truck turns up to send it down Chechnya-way. (From UPI Hears) NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS A week after the spectacular Leonid meteor shower, falling space debris put on another fiery show. Last Saturday night, a fireball flew over the U.S. Midwest -- causing automobile traffic to stop and airline pilots to peer out cockpit windows. The show was put on by the remains of a Russian Proton rocket that 10 hours earlier had carried three navigation satellites to orbit. "The rocket... was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan. An 800 kg metal casing from the fourth stage of the rocket was on its third orbit around Earth when it burned up in the atmosphere over southern England and France," explained Alan Pickup, a satellite decay expert who works at the United Kingdom's Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh. (Thanks to UPI Science Writer Jim Kling) TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING A Michigan man faces possible life in prison for beating his estranged wife, stabbing her and then stuffing her into a freezer last March. Advertisement Michael D. Johnson was convicted Tuesday of assault with intent to murder. He is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 17. His wife, Jennifer Myles-Johnson, testified during the three-day trial in Jackson, Mich., about how her estranged husband punched her in the face repeatedly, bound her wrists and mouth with duct tape and kicked her down a flight of stairs. He then stuffed her into a freezer and closed the lid. When she tried to keep the lid open, he slashed at her with a knife and then piled 200 pounds of weights atop the freezer. Her daughter found and freed her five hours later. AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY Singer Tom Jones likely has had more underwear thrown at him than any other pop artist and for decades has been an internationally recognized mega-star. Despite that, he remains a "regular guy," according to gossip columnist Liz Smith, who reports the 61-year-old Welsh-born Jones recently gathered with a group of fellow passengers on a long Virgin Airlines flight from London to Los Angeles. He stood at the bar in first class, generously giving of his time, signing autographs and posing for photographs. He wore a dark shirt and blue jeans and even handled his own bags at LAX and left with no entourage. Advertisement By the way, Jones will be at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 1 and will alternate between that city and Atlantic City during 2002. (Thanks to UPI feature Reporter Dennis Daily)
