If you haven’t had enough of the world being figuratively and literally on fire all year, and your dopamine receptors are still functioning after months of doomscrolling, you might still be able to derive some joy from the simple pleasure of a Yule Log video.
The flickering, homey visual has been a festive tradition since the ’60s, and if you favor a classic hearthside vibe, here’s a roundup of timeless logs we prepared earlier. But if you feel like this unprecedented year deserves something more specific to 2020, the internet has delivered several options.
The team at Full Frontal With Samantha Bee created this half-hour loop that repeatedly zooms out from a blurry fireplace to reveal a room where everything is also on fire, which… yeah. You get it.
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California woodworker Big Poppa Woodworks offers the soothing sight of a crackling blaze, topped with all-too-familiar red caps meeting the same fate as Rudy Giuliani’s legal career.
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Can’t get to your Florida vacation home this year, or not planning to go back once you-know-who moves there for good? Enjoy this beach scene.
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This hour-long video, courtesy of an Alberta ad agency, features a festive IRL version of the go-to metaphor for 2020 in general.
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Actually, a few people had this idea this year. Take your pick! Like this 10-hour version, with the added satisfaction of watching the “2020” on the front of the dumpster blacken as the fire within rages on.
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Or this 10-hour loop of extremely 2020 things — from useless ties, Quibi, and a Joe Exotic jigsaw puzzle to a 2020 Tokyo Olympics shirt and an “I Voted” sticker — being thrown into the (fake) fire.
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Of course, just as 2020 wasn’t all bad, not all the new log content is quite so tongue-in-bleak.
LEGO put out an hour-long one, complete with a napping grandma minifig, that’s perfect for popping on while starting your newest build.
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Some kind islander uploaded this extremely snug little Animal Crossing: New Horizons log — perfect if you feel you’ve lived more on your ACNH island than IRL this year.
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If you’re missing the cosy bustle of your local pizza joint, try this view of the world’s single greatest food bubbling away in woodfired ovens, via delivery app Slice.
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Speaking of food, the internet’s spiciest talk show, Hot Ones, offers this three-hour log, featuring the traditional wing gauntlet laid out for Santa (with a full jug of milk and a note reading “you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” as if Mr. Claus is some kind of little bitch who can’t handle his Scovilles).
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Taylor Swift offers this smouldery visual set to four different mixes of her single “willow,” having (I assume) personally chopped down a tree in the forest where she spent the year writing the two surprise albums that almost saved 2020. Like the song, they’re only three and a half minutes long, but true Swifties live for that repeat button.
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(Swap Taylor out for an hour-long Ozzy break if your dad wakes up from his nog nap at any point.)
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And if a COVID puppy wasn’t an option for you this year, get your fix with internet-famous therapy dog Norbert, who’s blessed his 112,000 YouTube followers with half an hour of what looks like the coziest fireside nap of all time.
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That should take you through to the end of Christmas Day. After that, there’s just a week left of this year, and everything will magically fix itself on the first of January. Easy!