Stefon meets Norman Rockwell (via Mediaite)

By far, the best thing Saturday Night Live has brought us in the past two years has been Bill Hader's "Weekend Update" character Stefon: the club promoter/city correspondent whose ideas for "family fun" usually involve some combination of terrifying dungeon imagery, punny drag queen names, and politically incorrect uses for "midgets." (Their word, not ours.)

That's why this holiday season, the best gift you could get is one sent to you by the cast and crew of Saturday Night Live, featuring Stefon in the set of the Norman Rockwell "Freedom From Want" painting.

This was first put online (to the best of our knowledge) by theater publicist Aaron Meier, who received one of the cards and put it on Tumblr, where it was subsequently picked up by Mediaite.

For a larger photo, check below. And then forward to all your friends and family, because this picture definitively answers the question "Buh-whaaa?"

We like to imagine this is what Stefon goes home to every year, and that shocked reaction is realizing that the hottest club in the world is the one you find at the holiday table. (Awww!)

(Photo via Aaron Meier's Tumblr)

I'm told that Blackstone's HR and IT departments have spent the past couple of weeks trying to sniff out the culprit. One rumor I heard was that they were successful and had fired the guy, but that is untrue.

Unclear what the eventual punishment would be (assuming conclusive evidence is uncovered), except that there would be some sort of punishment (or at least a stern talking-to). After all, why else spend time investigating.

In true hard-hitting journalistic fashion, Mr. Roose told Mr. Primack he won't be giving up his source. Still, to the good-humored private equity honcho who was brave enough show a little pizazz, watch your back; Steve Schwarzman is hunting you down.

mtaylor [at] observer.com | @mbrookstaylor

Santa isn't skipping over every address on Wall Street, though. Credit Suisse and Barclays are both having parties, albeit with caveats. Credit Suisse's party will be somehow related to charity, and Barclays is having a party for children. Presumably, the latter affair will fall short of bacchanalian.

Without holiday parties to cheer them up and with their year-end bonuses in jeopardy, what are investment bankers to do? Oh, maybe just spend a lot of money anyway?

mtaylor [at] observer.com | @mbrookstaylor

Behold TSA Blog, penned by pseudonymous yuckster Blogger Bob in order to "facilitate an ongoing dialogue on innovations in security, technology and the checkpoint screening process."

From Holiday Travel Tips, 11/22/2010

Travel Advice for Domesticated Turkeys: Stay away from humans.

Foods: Pies are permitted, but they are subject to additional screening if our officers see any anomalies. (Additional screening of pies does not include our officers tasting the pie, no matter what they tell you…)

Travel Advice for Meleagris Gallopavo: Stay away from humans.

Snow Globes: We are not in cahoots with the Heat Miser, but snow globes are not permitted in your carry-on luggage

Travel Advice for Tofu Turkeys: You are not real.

Travel Advice for Pilgrims: Leave your muskets at home and refrain from wearing clothing with large buckles.

Doesn't seeing this human side of the TSA make the prospect of being scanned and frisked much more agreeable?

A new study from Xobni and Harris Interactive found that 60 percent of people check their work email over the holidays, and a third of those folks will check in multiple times a day.

True, 41 percent of people said they were annoyed that they felt the need to check in with work during turkey time.

But amazingly, another 19 percent said they were relieved to have the distraction. Anything to avoid hearing Uncle Mort tell that pilgrim joke for the third time. 

bpopper [at] observer.com | @benpopper

Mr. Kiernan also suggests going to Duane Reade to pick up some Delish chocolate chip cookies, "known in Canada as the President's Choice 'Decadent' cookie." We hear that reading Time magazine and dreaming of distant places is a very Canadian thing to do as well.

A few lucky contest winners will get to retroactively celebrate this day of confederation with Mr. Kiernan over poutine.

Hoping to challenge not only New Yorkers' notions about sukkahs but also the world's, Joshua Foer has launched Sukkah City for this coming Sukkot. From September 19-21, a dozen experimental sukkahs will be constructed in Union Square Park, created by what Foer anticipates will be a mix of the world's foremost architects and artists, though the competition is open to anyone, goyim included. "The idea is to take this ancient architectural identity and reinvent it and really see what we can do with it, to really push the boundaries," Foer said.

Ideally, Sukkah City will resemble "a fusion of the early days of the Venice Biennale and the P.S.1 summer pavilion competition" and will evolve into an annual event—"not unlike the holiday itself."

This photo shows the Hudson River just north of Albany, with chunks of ice floating south. Bad weather continues in the Capital Region today, providing even less incentive for people (like, say, me) to head to the Capitol on Christmas Eve. Like in much of the state, there's about a foot of snow on the ground from this weekend.

The forecast is for freezing rain, then rain.

Higher monthly mortgage payments and tougher lending standards when borrowing against a home's value will likely prevent many homeowners from buying holiday presents like they used to, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning.