I actually did hear this song at the grocery store where I work ... once.  About an hour after the store closed. Haven't heard it since, and I spend a LOT of time at work; enough time to hear the Muzak track loop and start playing the same songs over again.

Perhaps it's because the words of the song lead one to believe that Christmas isn't found in any of the boxes on the shelves...and can never be taken away. Not even by the Grinch.

For lots of reasons, this is my favorite Christmas song this year.

Where Are You Christmas? by Faith Hill

( But first some generalized whining about my life... )

So I'm in a rather grumpy, un-Christmas-like mood. Fortunately, Ray Davies of The Kinks was pissed off about Christmas way before I was. Therefore, I give to you the first song you won't hear at the mall this holiday season: Father Christmas by The Kinks*



*Disclamer: You actually might hear this song in certain parts of the mall this year. Specifically, the movie theater part. A pretty good cover of it by OK Go (of dancing on treadmills fame) is in the new movie Unaccompanied Minors. A good try, but the requisite "punkness" just isn't quite there for me. Maybe after a couple more hours on the treadmills, except in hot, wool Santa suits this time ....

Mmmmm boy! Turkey day! My favorite part is when everybody gathers around the ravaged turkey carcass like vultures around a wildebeest on the African savanna and sings those old favorite Thanksgiving carols, like this one:


or this one:


and of course, who can forget this classic?



Ummm...OK. So, why aren't there Thanksgiving carols, anyway? Couldn't the Pilgrims sing?

War on Drugs
 Steven Page

She likes to sleep with the radio on
So she can dream of her favorite song
The one that no one has ever sung since she was small

She'll never know that she made it up
She had a soul and we ate it up
Thrown away like a paper cup
The music falls

The only flaw in her detailed plan
Is where she wins back the love of her man
Everyone knows that he's never coming back

He took her heart and she took his name
He couldn't stand taking all the blame
He left her only with guilt and shame and then she cracked

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

In the dream I refuse to have
She falls asleep in a lukewarm bath
We're left to deal with the aftermath again

On behalf of humanity
I will fight for your sanity
How profound such profanity can be

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

Won't it be odd to be happy like we
Always thought we're supposed to feel
But never seem to be

Near where I live there's a viaduct
Where people jump when they're out of luck
Raining down on the cars and trucks below

They've put a net there to catch their fall
Like it'll stop anyone at all
What they don't know is when nature calls, you go

They say that Jesus and mental health
Are just for those who can help themselves
But what good is that when you live in hell on earth?

From the very fear that makes you want to die
Is just the same as what keeps you alive
It's way more trouble than some suicide is worth

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

Won't it be odd to be happy like we
Always thought we're supposed to feel
But never seem to be

Hard to admit I fought the war on drugs
My hands were tied and the phone was bugged
Another died and the world just shrugged it off

To help set the mood for the season -- an excellent video reading of The Cremation of Sam McGee!

Halloween is almost here ....

Want some candy?

Bwahahahahaha...=koff, koff, gasp= Damn. Gotta work on that evil laugh.

I don't mind where you come from,
as long as you come to me.
But I don't like illusions I can't see
them clearly.
I don't care though I wouldn't dare
to fix the twist in you.
You've shown me eventually what you'll do.
I don't mind.
I don't care.
As long as you're here.



This video tells the story of "Juan Mann" (not his real name, from what I can tell) who started a campaign in Sydney to give out hugs. He ended up being banned from giving out hugs in a public place and had to start collecting signatures in order to be allowed to start again.

Yes, this appears to be true. I found an article about him in the Sydney Morning Herald and I found a discussion thread started by his fiance on a Star Wars fan site (O_o ?!) that seems to validate the story.

In any event, I've watched this video more times than I can count since I discovered it yesterday and I love it! I want to make a bunch of signs, grab a couple of friends and go down to the Inner Harbor or maybe the Washington Mall! This is how the world should be!

Lookie what LJ lets you do now! Video embeds from YouTube or Photobucket! Woo Hoo!

And yes, that's really Stevie Wonder gettin' funky for nearly seven minutes on Sesame Street back in the '70s. (I wonder what "Balcony Girl" is doing these days? She looks pretty funky herself!)


video credit: ShuckOwens

Can you say "sexual harassment"? Won't somebody please give this guy a BJ so we can impeach him? Somehow, I don't think we'll be able to talk Chancellor Merkel into it ....

Click on the image for video while it lasts.



(Photo montage via theweaselking)

This had to involve beer. It just had to.

Watch 15,000 bottle rockets fired off in under 1 min at The Vulcan Project!

There are definite pluses to being total incapable of any type organization. I find things all the time that I had forgotten I even had. Take this site I found in my bookmarks ... please:

Flora Bush // The Child Left Behind