Loyal readers -- at least four or five people I know of -- may remember my ignoble December tradition of balancing the paper's annual Top 10 lists (coming next week, on this very page) with a caustic gift list mocking the year's entertainment lowlights.

But this year, Christmas comes on a Sunday. What are the odds? (Oh. Someone just said, "One in seven, if you don't mess with leap years.")

At any rate, it doesn't feel right to be so mean on this day when we set such feelings aside. So let's dredge up these nostalgic memories with a bit more kindness this year, looking at the bright side of things on a day that, like all others, has its saturation points.

Too much eggnog teaches a lesson: Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange "chasing Jack Daniels with Jack Daniels" on Super Bowl weekend at the Hard Rock Hotel, a meltdown that moved the comedian to go on the wagon.

Too much food at the feast creates Tupperware and refrigerator issues: The Comedy Festival, as it presumptuously called itself, packed so many shows into three days before Thanksgiving that it couldn't give away all the tickets.

TV shows that didn't take up shelf space that can now be used for the "Las Vegas" DVD box: "Caesars 24/7" on A&E treated us to a chick fight in the lobby of the place Sinatra and his pallies once called a class joint. "The Entertainer" scoured the country -- or at least the cast of "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show" -- to find the next generation of Las Vegas entertainers who won't find a venue because of all the Cirque du Soleil shows.

The Grinch that stole the Fourth of July: Recaredo Gutierrez, a Miami contractor making his first venture into live stage productions with "Tropical Passions" at the Sahara. He brought 35 Miami-based Cubans to Las Vegas, then cut their salaries and eventually closed the show, stranding them here. It's hard to see the bright side of this one, except perhaps sparing his players the 94 percent humidity of a Miami summer.

The fruitcake that was actually good but nobody bothered to taste it: "Forbidden Vegas," a fun, off-Broadway-style revue that few people discovered during the minute or two the Westin Casuarina had a theater.

Show tickets that got passed around as "white elephant" gifts at Christmas parties, but weren't so bad if you ended up with them: "Le Reve," the Wynn Las Vegas spectacle that created a backlash against Cirque-like stuff. "We Will Rock You," the Queen musical that proved most Americans know only three Queen songs. And the return of comic mook Andrew Dice Clay, who is kind of funny if you're drunk.

The greatest gift to the tabloids (and even stuffy morning dailies): A tie between wack job comedian Gallagher smacking an audience member in Laughlin last May, and the short-lived lawsuit -- now withdrawn -- by former Roy Horn bodyguard Louis Mydlach, which accused Siegfried Fischbacher of going all Bette Davis-in-"Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" on his stage partner.

Rudolph in a ski mask, delivering the goods amid hardship: Mexican wrestlers, aka "La Lucha Libre," displayed their work ethic by going on with the show after headliner Juan Gabriel bailed on a Cinco de Mayo concert at the Thomas & Mack Center, as well as The Comedy Festival, where ushers waved people into the room for free.

The Las Vegas equivalent of a Dancing Santa: Yes, it's kitsch, but "Splash" still makes us laugh. The new edition last summer at the Riviera brought us gauchos, "Phantom of the Opera" on ice, hula hoops, motorcycles, a Viagra-overdosed Tom Jones impersonator and a grotesquely over-endowed stripper named Vanna Lace. Gotta love it.

And of course, the year's biggest turkey (remember, that's a good thing; Scrooge bought it for Tiny Tim's family): "As Worlds Collide," billed as "A Rock 'n' Roll Visual Spectacular" starring SpellBinder -- or, as Artie Lange might say, "Spell-byyyn-dah!"

Paul Haynes, who claimed the tongue-tying titles of both musician and magician, invested his own money on a showcase production at the Aladdin that has Spinal Tap considering litigation for copying the faux rock band's ineptitude.

The audience dog-howled at Hayne's singing and jeered at the misfired illusions. Before they walked out, that is. Most tickets were free but people resented the concession prices.

That's enough for one year. But remember, Vegas is the gift that keeps on giving.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 383-0288 or e-mail him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.