Real Christmas

You only need to look as far as this summer’s movies to figure out what could be hot in toys for Christmas:

Woolworths has tipped Dr Who, Spiderman and Transformers to top the Christmas sales charts.

Announcing its top ten forecast, the chain predicts that the hit 80’s robots, Transformers, will be among the big sellers following this summer’s movie release, which has thrust the brand back into the spotlight.

If things were only that simple.

Back in the day, kids were told by toy companies — not necessarily the movies — what would be the hot toys. Remember Cabbage Patch kids? They were a toy before they were a cable television series. Furbies were really popular one Christmas. We even saw them on eBay selling for hundreds.

But things are more complicated for parents and kids today.

Transformers in the 1980s were marketed to boys mostly under the age of 8. Sure, there were video games back then to compete with but they were more appealing to older kids. These days toy companies have to compete with high-powered video games designed for kids of all ages. Recent toy industry reports indicates that children as young as 3 are playing video games 70 per cent more often than 3 year olds just a decade ago.

So Spiderman and Transformers may have a more difficult time of it this Christmas than some think.

The summer movie-going crowd can be fickle. Superman was suppose to revitalize an entire toy franchise — and it never happened because the movie flopped. And this is the more common story of toys built for Christmas madness.

For Christmas 2007, there is really only one sure-fire, no-doubt-about-it, must have toy and it is expensive: the Nintendo Wii. But it has had nearly a year on the market and they have whipped demand to such a frenzy by keeping it in short supply that by Christmas we will see news stories about how hard they are to find and how much they cost.

If you’re worried, get it now.

A blog to reflect the “modern Christmas”. The phrase makes you wince just a wee bit doesn’t it. At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be much “Christmas” about the modern version.

Commercialised to the point where some people have washed their hands of the entire Season. Anti-Christmas sites (and blogs too no doubt) are easily searched on the Web. Mention Christmas to 20 different people before November 1st and watch the range of negative sentiment pour out. Mention it 24 hours before The Day and I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts, you’ll get at least a few rolling eyes, great sighs and the distinct impression that someone is counting the hours til New Years Day.

So, dear reader, at first glance, there doesn’t appear to be much “Christ” in “Christmas” any more. Except as a profanity.

But I would put suggest to you that Christmas is like anything else in Life. Exactly what you make of it. Human beings are both blessed and cursed with forward thinking brains. Life isn’t lived by committee. While everyone is entitled to an opinion, including the retail sector who, it would seem, thinks its sound business practice to base your business plan largely on the profits of the last quarter of the year, that doesn’t mean you have to do anything but smile and nod.

Christmas, modern or otherwise, hasn’t a blessed thing to do with commerce. Its a celebration of faith, hope and salvation. Oh, there’s no harm in tarting it up with a bit of over-eating, sometimes questionable decorating taste and a dash of budget busting. But keep in mind there’s no obligation!

To those who say the modern Christmas is a farce, I say, be audacious enough to take it back. Back to their hearts and out of their wallets. You want the True Spirit of Christmas? Go volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen during the Holidays. Take your family with you. Let them see how the gift of time is something that can’t be advertised on prime time tv. Give the wad of cash you complain you “have” to spend this year to a charity instead. And don’t use the receipt next tax time. Take your Christmas dinner to that neighbour who seems to be struggling. Open your home and your heart to those who are as poor as the Christ Child ever was in that barren stable.

The modern Christmas is every bit as meaningful and wonderous as that first one, so long ago. So long as your mind and your heart are in the same place.

Welcome Christmas, come this way!  Christmas Day is in our grasp, so long as we have hands to clasp!

You gotta see this:

This comes from Lloyd Darrow, Phd of T. E. R. D –

T.E.R.D. is an organization dedicated to discovering, documenting, and providing, TANGIBLE evidence about REAL discoveries. It’s the definitive resource to explain the unexplainable, prove the unprovable, and make the mysterious unmysterious.

I’m glad to know I’m no longer alone in these pursuits.

I’m somewhat of a political junkie. I read a couple of newspapers each day, browse various websites and even listen to cable news programs on satellite radio. My wife is trying to get me to cut back but so far hasn’t found the patch.

I’m one of those shake-your-fist at the television types who has an opinion about anyone with an opinion. I have fiercely kept my voter registration as an independent for more than 25 years because that makes me an equal opportunity heckler. Living in Utah, being independent makes me something of a maverick. But it isn’t because I’m a non-conformist. I’ll go with the crowd as long they are headed in my direction. I can be a good sheep under the right circumstances. But I like to keep my options open.  I guess you could say I have a fetish for being critical of politicians of all stripes.

I’m also a huge fan of Christmas music and I’ve really enjoyed the project undertaken the past 18 months in building Merry Christmas Radio. I’ve expanded my personal collection of Christmas CDs for the benefit of the station and it has been a great enterprise.

Until today.

I made a bulk purchase of more than 100 Christmas CDs and they showed up on my doorstep today. I plan to sell the ones I have duplicates of and add as many of the others as I can to the library at MCR. But as I was gleefully going through the stacks of CDs that came in today’s shipment I came across one that immediately put a frown on my face: Barbra Streisand.

Let me first say that she has two strikes against her before I’ll ever crack the plastic on this CD. The first of which is as it should be: her so-called artistry. I have detested her as a performer since I was a little boy. When Mom would put her on the old Victorola, I’d cry.

Ok, I’m not that old and we never had a Victorola.

But I didn’t care for her.

At all.

She always seemed to be singing not only to herself but for herself and about herself. I have a real problem with people who have a bigger ego than me, I guess.

I was musically trained as a child and pursued it through young adulthood. It’s not like I’m ignorant on all things musical. I had enough training to admit that my knowledge of music was always greater than my talent. That’s why you’ll never see my mug gracing the cover of my own Christmas album. I think her so-called talent is exactly that: so-called. That’s strike one against her.

Strike two is evident right on the cover. Now, I know it’s not charitable to comment about a woman’s looks but we have to be honest here: Barbra…has a face made for radio.

That’s not the only critieria for liking or disliking a musical product though. Let’s face it: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty are much better on the speakers than on any type of screen.

But when you have the one-two punch of a lack of talents and looks, well, just how charitable do we have to be?

The kicker though is her voice. I don’t care if she is speaking or singing, the result is the same. Put that on speakers in my neighborhood and cats kill themselves.

Anyway, that’s three strikes and I digress. My point isn’t about Old Big Mouth. There is a point about Christmas in here, I promise.  

In running the Christmas radio station I have learned that I have to relinguish some of my good taste for the requests of the listeners. That’s why you’ll hear artists like Cyndi Lauper or the Squirrel Nut Zippers on Merry Christmas Radio. Christmas is for everyone, after all. And I have to admit that I’ve had some requests for B.S. — er, I mean Barbra.

But when my worlds of Christmas and politics collide I have a hard time. In the spirit of Christmas, I know I should just let it be and give old Noodle Nose a spin. But her politics are a very serious strike four in my book. Last I saw three strikes meant you’re out. Four means you’re ejected.

There are other whose political views are similar to Barbra’s that I’ve kept on the air. I’m sure there are many who are even more militant-rabid-feminist-chowderheads than old Babs is crooning away on my airwaves. I just don’t know about them because they haven’t cashed their checks of celebrity at my expense. If they keep it to themselves, there is no strike against them for it.

Take Bette Midler, for example. I can’t stand her politics either. But, for pete’s sake, the woman has talent. Her 2006 release of her long awaited Christmas album, Cool Yule, is terrific and I’m giving it a lot of play time. That should be proof enough of my Christmas cheer, right?

Christmas and politics don’t mix. I realize that. But politics are a part of the modern Christmas. Christmas means arguing over what carols you can or cannot perform in a school. It is about what is sacred and what is secular in a public display. It is why the term Happy Holidays has become nearly a curse to those who fervently espouse Merry Christmas.

But PC doesn’t belong to Barbra Steisand’s Christmas album on my Christmas radio station. It’s only fair. Maybe she could drum up some interest on tour with the Dixie Chicks.