WEBVTT - The 2023 SYSK Ho-Ho-Holiday Spectacular! 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:19.000 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.840 Hey, sorry, ho, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh. 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:30.920 There's Chuck. Jerry's here too. All the little elves are 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.840 around us, watching us, adoringly waiting for us to begin 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:39.240 this twenty twenty three holiday special episode of Stuff You 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:45.320 Should Know. Hooray, hooray Chuck. Indeed, it's our Christmas episode. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:49.920 Yeah, our ad free Christmas episode, right, yes, it better 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:51.280 be for sure. 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.000 We'll find out after we publish. 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:57.080 Oh goodness, boyd I mean did we even order these? 0:00:57.080 --> 0:00:58.240 Should we just freewheel it? 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:00.160 Oh gosh, we're getting to it all, are you? 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:00.440 Okay? 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.160 I wanted to kind of meander for a little bit, 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:02.880 but sure. 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.560 Now we give me ander. What do you want to 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:05.120 chat about? 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.400 I don't know. How's the family? 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.160 They're doing great? You know. This is actually a I 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:13.120 don't want to say too much, but let me just 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:18.200 say that this is a there's a turning point for 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:21.880 my daughter this year at Christmas, A very big revelation. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.559 Oh my, that's all I'm going to say. I always 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.760 wondered when it was going to happen, and it happened. 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:30.120 Yeah, it is everything. 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.840 Okay, I'm fine. Actually, Emily was a little more upset 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:37.000 than I was. Yeah, and I was just like, you know, 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.479 I mean, well, I'll talk to you offline, but everyone 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:42.800 knows what I'm talking about, right. 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.440 I think, so hopefully just everyone. Yeah, well, let's just 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:47.320 stop this right now. 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.640 It's still going to be a great Christmas regardless. I 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:50.400 all agreed on that. 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:52.640 Good and this is going to be a great Christmas 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:54.560 episode despite that beginning. 0:01:55.360 --> 0:02:01.360 Okay, you know, let's start with I'm gonna go ahead 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:02.840 and call let's just take turns. How about that? 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:05.760 Okay, you're going to call an audible each time. 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.880 Wow, I'm going to call an audible each time on 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:10.040 my own picks. 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.800 Okay, well you go first. How about that? Because yes, 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:15.720 everybody in classic stuff you should know fashion. Chuck and 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.840 I each picked a few Christmas pieces to talk about, yea, 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:22.040 and then we sent them to one another and did 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:23.840 not discuss what order we should do them. And so 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.000 we're going to do that as we go along. That's 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:27.519 what Chuck's talking about right. 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.240 Now, That's right. And so the first thing I found, 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.680 and another fun thing about the Christmas episode is that 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:37.200 it allows us to get our sources, our sources become 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:41.120 a little more relaxed our rigor like where we get stuff, 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.400 because sometimes for Christmas stuff, you just get stuff from 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:48.720 some of the wackiest websites and that's fine. Yeah, this 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.000 one actually wasn't wacky. This was USA Today. That's legit, right, 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.679 it's a little wacky. This is from twenty twelve from 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.000 Craig Wilson. What are you doing on Christmas Day? Yeah, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.240 depends on where you are. And this is just a 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.120 little survey they did because I was always curious about 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.240 different traditions and different parts of the United States and 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.960 how people do stuff. And this is a good little 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:15.720 poll they did eleven years ago. 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.359 Yes, Civic Science did a poll. Well, they didn't do 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.800 a poll. They apparently found a bunch of other polls 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:28.519 that totaled ninety thousand responses of Americans responding to questions 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.120 roughly about what they're going to do around Christmas time, 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.639 and they released it. They put it all together and said, hey, 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.680 get this. It turns out depending on your region, each 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.400 region has a lot of different things that they do 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.480 or don't do around Christmas time. Let's rap about them. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.400 And Craig Wilson said, yes, let's that's right. 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.360 So we're going to go over some of the highlights here. 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.080 If you're in the Midwest, Oh, I don't know, let's 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:58.240 say Michigan or Ohio or what else is in the midwest, Chicago. 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:05.520 Iowa, Kansas, set Midwest. Yeah, Kansas is in the middle 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:07.840 of the country. It's Midwest for sure. 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:10.600 All right, we'll see what our Kansas friends have to 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.680 say about that. If you live in the Midwest, though, 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.440 then you are thirty five percent. You're more likely to 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.719 work between Christmas Day and New Year's Day than any 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.760 other part of the country. Thirty five percent of Midwesterners 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:26.760 say they work that time between the twenty fifth and 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:31.000 thirty first, which is terrible, so sad, very sad. 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.839 They also are the least likely to have a work 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:38.080 Christmas party too. I mean, yeah, I don't know what's 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.359 going on up there, but they when they do go 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.679 to a party, they go to the big ones. Almost 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.680 half of Midwesterners who responded said that they're going to 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:48.800 go to a Christmas party that has ten or more people. 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:52.680 Not bad. And as far as gifts on Christmas Eve, 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.120 we always waited till Christmas Day. But Emily, when she 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:58.640 was a kid, opened some on Christmas Eve. And it 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:01.599 may be a Midwest thing because they're twenty five percent 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.760 more likely than the national average to open at least 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:06.159 some of the gifts on Christmas Eve. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:07.839 We did not when I was a kid. 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:09.799 That was for both Ohio. 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.120 Yeah, for sure, that's where I grew up. That's where 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:14.640 the Christmas gifts were open, was in Ohio, and we 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.839 did not do that on Christmas Eve. What about the Northeast, 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:26.880 the Northeast, including Wyoming and Maine, they apparently party all 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:30.880 the time. Thirty nine percent of people eat Christmas dinner 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.320 at a friend or family member's house. They're thirty percent 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.440 more likely than anyone else or any other region in 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.640 the country to go to a Christmas Eve party, forty 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.479 percent more holiday parties than people from the South or 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.039 the West. So they like to tie one on. 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:48.680 Yeah, they like to tie one on. And they also 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.000 get their shop and done early, or at least some 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.080 of them do. Thirty four percent said they have finished 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.440 their gift buying or at least most of it ten 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:01.279 days by the fifteenth I guess of December, which is 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:01.720 pretty good. 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:05.359 Yeah. And then here in the South, people in the 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.280 South are most likely to host a Christmas dinner themselves, 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.240 but it's usually for fewer than ten people, and they 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.600 like to take car trips if they're going more than 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:17.839 one hundred miles away for Christmas. But also people in 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.560 the South, and I can attest to this, don't work 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.200 during Christmas and New year Like everything's basically shut down. 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.880 Yeah, twenty nine percent, I think work, and I guess 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.680 they just sort of have to. Although it's probably the 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:32.960 same for the Midwesterners. I don't know if they're volunteering 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:33.359 to work. 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.200 I don't know. Midwesterners are odd folk. 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.480 Christmas parties are big, though. Sixty four percent of Southerners 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:41.120 will go to an office party. 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.880 Which means something that means you are not at work, 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.599 but you go to work for the party. That's what 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:47.640 happens in the South. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:49.280 That's what we always did. 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.160 Yeah, I know, apparently it's the Southern thing. 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:54.000 Well, actually that's not true, because they don't work between 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:55.839 Christmas and New Year's. You're gonna have your office party 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:56.640 before Christmas? 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:59.839 Oh yeah, that's right. I just outed us as not 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.000 working long before Christmas. 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.279 Everyone knows we like to bragget about our month off. 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:10.160 It's great. But twenty nine percent they're a little lazier 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.360 with a gift buying. Only twenty nine percent had completed 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:17.000 their shopping ten days before the holiday. And what about Westerners, Well, 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.560 out West, you're going to get people that are maybe 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:23.400 a little more transient. They're more than twice as likely 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.679 to travel more than one hundred miles, and they also 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.360 are more likely to twice as likely to get Christmas 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.239 dinner at a restaurant or a club or something instead 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:34.080 of at someone's house. 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.640 Yes, and I think thirty eight percent of them go 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:41.200 to see a movie in the theaters. So when you 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.520 hear about people going to see a movie on Christmas Day, 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:44.960 they're talking about California. 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:49.080 All right, where are we headed next to my friend? 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.480 Oh jeez, it's my turn again? Or already? I guess. 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.920 Let's talk about Darlene Love Chuck. 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:57.720 Treasure. 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:00.680 But first let's do a little intercitial Christmas music. 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:02.400 I love that part. 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.960 Okay, thanks for that, Chuck, by the way, But we're 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.120 talking about Darlene Love, who was part of the Wall 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:30.360 of Sound, was one of Phil Spector's finds and someone 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.760 Phil Spector took advantage of two. But she's most well 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.840 known for her Christmas song Christmas and in parentheses, baby 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:38.680 Please Come Home. 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:41.959 You know the song, right, it's a great, great song. 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:46.040 She might also if you see her face and you 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.360 did not know that she sang that song. As we'll 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:50.839 get to, I don't want to spoil and where she 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.600 did this every year, but you're like, I know that woman. 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.160 You might know her as Murtaw's wife from the Lethal 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:01.480 Weapon movies. Oh really, Yeah, she was Danny Lover's wife. 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.080 Oh okay, nice, that's a nice link. Another place you 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.600 might have noticed her is on Letterman because every year 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:12.239 from nineteen eighty six to twenty fourteen, when Letterman retired, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.640 Darlene Love came out and sang her Christmas baby Please 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:21.080 Come Home Christmas song on the last show, last episode 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.640 of Letterman before Christmas every year. 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:28.200 Yeah, pretty amazing tradition. And Dave isn't one that had 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:33.800 like three decade traditions like this. Apparently was also a 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.320 little grumpy just about holiday music period. Paul Shaffer said 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.079 that you know, he wouldn't let us play Monster Mash 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:45.320 around Halloween. He just wasn't given to holiday novelty songs. 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.360 So the fact that darn Leed loves song is something 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.600 that he wanted back every year, and Paul says it 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.040 was his idea to begin with, but Dave's idea to 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.400 bring her back. It really means that Dave loved her 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:57.520 and loved that song. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.920 Yeah, and we got this from our friends at far 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.079 mag and they mentioned that the thing that kept us 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.360 fresh every year. I mean, she belts it out and 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.240 it's a really great, great song to begin with, so 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.280 she gave it her best every year. But something that 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.840 kind of kept it fresh over those basically thirty years 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:19.520 twenty eight years was that the CBS Orchestra saxophonist Bruce Kapler, 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:24.360 who was in Paul Shaffer's band. When that saxophone solo 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.320 kicks off, he would come on stage in all sorts 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.320 of different hilarious ways that just like tore the roof 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:31.200 off the studio. 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:33.480 Yeah, it was always fun. I always loved like kind 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.080 of waiting to see how he's going to make his 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.520 entrance every year. I mean it started out fairly low key, 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:41.040 and then it kind of grew into something with that 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:43.920 huge I don't know if that's an actual bass saxophone 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.719 or just a baritone, but it's one of those gigantic 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.480 saxophones and he would come flying in on wire or 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:52.400 be in a snow globe and stuff like that, and 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:54.720 it was always just a lot of fun. The whole 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:56.400 segment is always great. 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:58.840 He came out of a present once a giant president, 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.439 came in on a sleigh, stepped out of a fireplace 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.199 like it was really great. Everybody loved it. And apparently 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.480 this happened every year except for the Writer's Strike in 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:11.120 two thousand and seven, and then when Letterman retired in 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:15.360 twenty fourteen, Darlene Love took this tradition over to the 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.280 View of all places. I'm not sure why. I couldn't 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.120 find why, but now you can find her singing the 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.640 song on the View right around Christmas time every year. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:26.640 I'm sure it's because if you called her up, probably 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.240 we'll pay you money for sure. 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.760 Yeah, we really like this song. There's a bunch of 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:36.960 super cuts too on YouTube if you want to see it. 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.240 That just do a really good job of editing together 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.880 her Letterman performances over the years. It's fun, especially to 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.320 see Bruce Kapler coming in all the different ways. 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:48.920 Yeah, those are great. The Writer's strike here is a 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:50.920 little bit of a bummer because I think it was 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.839 just like three days after Christmas that year is when 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:58.680 Dave struck his own independent deal with the union to 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:02.520 bring the showback, So it was he was three days 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:06.200 late basically from being able to not have that streak 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:07.319 interrupted unfortunately. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.559 Yeah, and she's like, I could do a belated version. 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.440 He's like, no, not this year. 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.600 All right, c you the music Magical Elves. 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:22.640 I'm so happy. 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:32.560 Alrighty, you know what, Let's go with the worst Christmas songs. 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.000 Oh boy, I'm pretty excited about this. I don't know 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.640 if you out there in holiday podcast land can hear 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.000 us shuffling our papers, But. 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.800 That's what we're doing, rare paper shuffle. 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.079 So you found a bunch of different worst Christmas songs. 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.640 Apparently it's a pretty fun poll for people to conduct 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.760 because people love to tell people what Christmas song they 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:54.559 hate the most at that moment. 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.280 Yeah. I mean, we could have included a hundred bulls, 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.000 because there are that many or more, but we just 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:03.840 kind of picked through. I kind of went by year 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.600 of recent years. That was one in twenty twenty one 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:12.920 from the Today Show. I think it was you Gov America, Yeah, 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:17.120 who did this poll? And people responded And this shocks 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:22.680 me that Santa Baby was I think their least favorite 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:24.920 or most hated Christmas song. 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.080 It shocks you. I'm in total agreement. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.680 I don't mind. I don't love it, but I don't 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:32.680 hate it. I wouldn't rank that as the as my 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:33.280 most hated. 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.880 That's the thing, Like, I think the Christmas song you 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.199 hate the most is the one you heard one too 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.200 many times this year, the most recently. That's the worst 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.640 Christmas song of all time to everybody, right, But I 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:47.199 think the problem with that song that people have, if 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:52.040 I'm projecting, it's like it's a sultry song about Santa. 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.319 It's just odd. It goes against everything we know about 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.920 Santa Claus. And I don't like it. It's not a good song. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.320 Not great. No, no, no, I guess I'm with you. I 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.000 just don't know if that would be my most hated. 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.800 We went to Holland Sentinel dot com because we had 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:13.080 to get a poll out of West Michigan. And there's 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.080 a something called local Spins in Grand Rapids, and they 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:20.560 did a survey in twenty twenty, and this time, this 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.720 one really upsets me. I know you don't like it, 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:23.360 but I love it. 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:23.800 I like it. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:25.880 Paul McCart. Oh, I thought you didn't like it, Paul 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.200 McCartney's seventy nine Wonderful Christmas Time. 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.920 If I said I didn't like it before, that means 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:34.720 that that was the one I did one too many times, 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.520 most recently, because I do like that song in general. 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.640 Okay, not the best song, but I do think it's 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.840 pretty good. But there is a B side to that 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.800 called Rudolph the Red Nose Reggae. Yeah, did you listen 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:47.040 to that? 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.560 I did. I didn't realize it was instrumental. I was 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:50.360 grateful for that. 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:54.000 I I was due. And it's not even that reggae. 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:58.000 No, it's got like the Dexys Midnight Runner violin kind 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.760 of playing through it as instead of the lyrics. That's 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:02.480 kind of what does the Yeah, what would you call it? 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:03.880 The harmony? Ah? 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:04.600 This is the melody? 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.760 The melody? Okay, but yeah it was. It wasn't that bad. 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.760 But I could see people hating Wonderful Christmas Time more. 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:13.600 But what about the UK? 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.840 Wait, one more thing about Grand Rapids, Michigan. My family 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:19.760 used to go around Christmas time to Grand Rapids, Michigan 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.080 because they had a dinner theater there and they had 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.840 a puffey with frog's legs. And that's where I was 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.320 introduced to frog's legs, which I wouldn't eat in a 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.720 million years now, but used to love them around Christmas 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:33.480 time every year. From this dinner theater's buffet. 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:34.960 It tastes like chicken. 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:37.840 It tasted a lot like chicken, froggy chicken. 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:42.040 Yeah, of course, what's next? We go to the UK 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.800 my friend far Out magazine, Boy, is that the second 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:45.440 time we've used them? 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:46.680 Yeah? Thanks a lot, far Out. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.520 So they don't like Mariah Carey apparently because her terrific 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:52.840 in my opinion song All I Want for Christmas As 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.000 You was voted as the most annoying. 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.320 That's the UK, that's not far Out opinion, right. 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:00.200 Yeah, yeah, that's the UK as a whole. 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.520 Yeah, And far Up points out that you still have 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.280 to give Mariah Carey props because apparently that song was 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.920 written very quickly. She was like twenty two at the time, 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:11.160 and you can make a really good case that that 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:15.560 is the most recent, genuine, bona fide Christmas song that's 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.800 entered into the cannon. I can't think of that shit, Yeah, yeah, 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.680 I can't think of one that's made it more recently. 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:23.600 Than that, and this is like the mid nineties. I 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.120 was like thirty years ago, I think. But yeah, I 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.800 don't get that one either. I mean, it's not my 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.280 favorite song, but it's not terrible. And I think the 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:33.600 fact that it's in love actually too makes it even 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:34.440 more delightful. 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:37.400 I still haven't seen that. I mean, I'm no huge 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.360 morac Ary fan, but I love that song. I think 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:39.880 it's terrific. 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:44.520 Okay, good, what's next? We're gonna go over to Old 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:49.760 Street Solutions dot com. And this is a twenty twenty 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.520 two pole. I didn't see where the poll was, but 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.840 the clear winner, I mean, fifty three percent. That's really 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:01.160 saying something like, usually your most Christmas song is hitting 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.439 in like the thirty percent. Fifty three percent of people 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:10.199 pulled so that they hated Justin Bieber's Missiletoe song. Have 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:11.720 you heard that one? 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:13.960 Well? I have now I had to listen to it 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:14.240 for this. 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:15.240 Yeah, me too. 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.200 And I think we should read a portion of the lyrics, 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:20.080 can we? 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:22.080 I mean we're kind of have to. 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:26.320 I think, all right, here's the selection. This is called 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:37.240 Missletoe by Justin Biber. Everyone's gathering around the fire, chestnuts 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.600 roasting like a hot July. I should be chilling with 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.639 my folks, I know, but I'm aa be under the missletoe, 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.920 word on the street, Santa's Coming tonight, Reindeers flying through 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.600 the sky so high. I should be making a list, 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.000 I know, but I'm gonna be under the mistletoe with you, 0:17:55.160 --> 0:18:03.520 shoddy with you, with you, shoddy with you. 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:04.400 You're not gonna do the rest. 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.920 I can go. Wow, I think you know the rest. 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:08.920 So yeah, And the whole thing is set to this 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:16.480 super lame Jack Johnson acoustic guitar beat. It's a really 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.560 bad song. Like, it's a bad song even as far 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.160 as Christmas songs go. It's just a genuinely bad song. 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:27.240 And I think Christopher Dunford from Old Street Solutions points out, like, yeah, 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:29.800 people like to hate on Justin Bieber, but that this 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:33.960 song is like objectively a bad song. So it definitely 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.680 does deserve that fifty three percent of votes. I think 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:38.360 anyone who's heard it would agree with that. 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:41.920 And this last bit we're gonna include is not a poll, 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.560 but Rolling Stone magazine put out their very snotty top 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:49.600 twenty Worst Christmas Songs list. Yeah, and I just wanted 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.720 to read a couple of selections from this because Rob 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:55.919 Sheffield of Rolling Stone really just brought the smarm to 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:59.679 a new level when he was dissing Jessica and Ashley 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.040 Simpson and little the Little drummer Boy version. 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:02.720 He definitely did. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.200 Here's a couple of lines from his review, you've heard 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:08.600 of the War on Christmas? Well, this song is the 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:15.040 sinking of the Lusitania. Not bad. No, each pump pum 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:19.560 is another drop in their musical waterboarding. And finally he 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:24.800 closes the review with Christmas you chose violence? Did you 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:25.760 listen to this one? 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:28.800 I did. It's it's not bad, but it's also not 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:29.840 good at all. 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:33.440 I mean it's a straight ahead version of that song, 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.480 which Rob Sheffield makes an argument that that song is 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.320 just not good. Sure, I don't hate that song, but 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.440 I do there is something about their parump pump pums 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.800 that are just grating. I don't know what it is. 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.000 It's not just that, it's also the way they go 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:52.399 little baby. Yeah, it's pretty bad too. If you if 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.520 you're listening, if you're not listening to the song, you're 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:56.920 just it would come and go without you paying attention 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.800 or noticing. But if you focus in on that song 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:02.359 and the singing they're doing. It is not a great 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:03.280 song at all, for sure. 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:05.639 Yeah, there's some enunciation problems, I think. 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.240 Yeah, I think it's surprising that he chose that as 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.080 the number one out of all the songs. I mean, again, 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.840 we're talking Justin Bieber put Missletoe out there, and this 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:17.920 is not worse than Missletoe, but yeah, it's not good. 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:21.639 What's your favorite? Going the other direction, what's your favorite 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:23.120 of all time? Or right now? 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:24.919 I should say I haven't got a ton. I mean 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.160 we've talked about this over the years here and there, 0:20:27.160 --> 0:20:30.000 and I think I mentioned Tom Betty's song I love, 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:34.000 I really love Elton John's Step into Christmas. I love 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:34.800 the Wham song. 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:36.159 Oh it's a great one. 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:40.000 I like a lot of the waitresses. I love that song. 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.040 There's a bunch of them. I like Christmas music a lot. 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.080 Emily loves it and tries to start playing at the 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:49.840 day after Thanksgiving, but I try and make her wait 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:52.840 till December first at least, and then I have a 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:57.679 hard house rule that it stops at midnight on December 0:20:57.840 --> 0:20:58.439 twenty fifth. 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:02.040 I'm sure I've asked you this before, but do you 0:21:02.960 --> 0:21:05.400 guys listen to instrumental Christmas music at all. 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:09.359 Yeah, I like it all. I mean piano classics. I 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.440 found a good R and B soul playlist. That's great. 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:14.560 I like it all. What about you? 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.720 Okay, Well, I found something recently. I think I found 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:22.639 it a MetaFilter. Somebody posted eight hours of vintage department 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:28.840 store Christmas music, my music's competitor, custom music tapes, and 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.960 it is exactly what you think. It's really really good 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:35.919 background Christmas music. Good stuff. 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:38.480 Yeah, I'll check that out. Sinatra, I love that one. 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:39.800 I like all that stuff. 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.520 I think my favorite vocal Christmas music would be Johnny 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:48.240 mathis probably far and away, and then my favorite instrumental 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:50.520 Christmas music. I'm sure I've said this on every single 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.359 Christmas episode we've ever done is Faranti and Tiker and 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:58.080 they're dueling pianos. Although it's not really dueling. I would say, 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:01.240 what's the opposite of doing holding hand? Yeah, they're holding 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:02.280 hands pianos. 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:04.240 Yeah. I think you should say that every year because 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:06.920 people drop in and listen and they should always get 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:07.480 their shout out. 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.960 Yeah, Fronte and Tiker definitely deserve their shout out every year. 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:12.480 Thanks for that, Chuck All. 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:14.400 Right, let's hop in that sled and get going. 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:25.480 Okay, Chuck, I am up, and I'm going to go 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:29.160 with Gosh is only my second pick so far, I think. 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:31.360 So well, let's have a nice little interlude in case 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:34.840 everybody wants to start getting buzzed at this point. Oh okay, 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.840 because we like to do a cocktail of some sort 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:45.000 of Christmas drink every year, and we blew through like 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:49.320 all of the famous ones pretty quickly, so we've had 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:51.600 to really kind of start looking around. And this year 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:53.600 we found what I think is a pretty good one 0:22:54.320 --> 0:22:57.439 that I'd never heard before, and I think it's worth sharing. 0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:01.080 It's from our friends at Olive Magazine, and it's they 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:03.960 call it a Christmas degrony, and it sounds pretty boss. 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:06.240 I'm all in on this. This sounds really good. 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:07.840 We'll tell him about the spiced gin. 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:11.040 Well. I mean, that's the key to this thing, I think, 0:23:11.520 --> 0:23:15.439 because otherwise you have a fairly traditional negroni, but you 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:19.399 have to spice that gin. My good friend Eddie, he 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:21.040 hasn't done a with gin yet, but every year he 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:26.440 makes his own little infused holiday boozes and it's a 0:23:26.480 --> 0:23:28.640 really nice treat and he brings them around and gives 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:31.320 bottles out to people. But I'm going to request gin 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:33.200 from Eddie this year because this sounds great. 0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:35.680 Yeah, So for the Christmas de grony from all of 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:39.400 magazine there're spiced gin is five hundred milileaders of gin. 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:42.080 That's right between a half pint and a pint, so 0:23:42.119 --> 0:23:47.480 I guess three quarters of a No, it's between. It's 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:50.280 half of a leader, now that I think about it, Well, it. 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:51.879 Depends on how much genuine. You know, how many these 0:23:51.960 --> 0:23:53.600 drinks you want. You can get any kind of bottle 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:55.000 of genu wint for sure. 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:57.760 So let's just say you take half a lider of gin, okay, 0:23:57.760 --> 0:24:01.560 and you put two centnamon sticks, two stars, four cloves, 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:05.920 four cardamom pop pods crushed, that's very important, two bay 0:24:06.000 --> 0:24:08.879 leaves fresh if you got them, and two strips of 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:13.600 orange peel, and if you've got some cheese cloth. You 0:24:13.800 --> 0:24:15.760 might want to put everything in there. It'll probably make 0:24:15.760 --> 0:24:17.600 the whole thing a lot easier. But if not, don't 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:19.800 sweat it. You can put it all in that gin 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:22.760 in a big old mason jar, half liter mason jar 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:26.800 and leave it for about two days, maybe less than 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.639 two days, one to two and then you strain it 0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:31.880 out and what you have there is your spice gin, 0:24:32.160 --> 0:24:34.240 and like you said, that's kind of like the main 0:24:34.400 --> 0:24:36.560 ingredient of this Christmas Negroni. 0:24:37.240 --> 0:24:40.280 Yeah. I mean from there you go fairly traditional negrony 0:24:41.240 --> 0:24:45.959 with the campari and the sweet vermouth, but instead of 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:50.120 you can do your little orange twist, which I believe 0:24:50.240 --> 0:24:53.720 is a traditional Negrony garnish. Yeah, but since you've spiced 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:56.520 it up, you can also add another cinnamon stick or 0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:59.800 another little is it star annis or anise? I never 0:24:59.880 --> 0:25:00.640 know how to say that. 0:25:00.800 --> 0:25:02.800 I think both are fine, all. 0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:05.600 Right, put both in there and that'll just add it 0:25:05.640 --> 0:25:07.960 even a little more pop there at the end, for sure. 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:12.199 I mean, nothing says it's the Holidays better than handing 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:15.640 somebody a cocktail with a cinnamon stick sticking out of it. 0:25:15.840 --> 0:25:17.320 That really drives the point. 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:18.560 Home, right, Yeah, I love it. 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:21.600 And also Negroni's are super easy to make. You just 0:25:21.640 --> 0:25:26.040 pour equal parts of the gin, campari and sweet vermouth, 0:25:26.280 --> 0:25:29.680 usually about three quarters of an ounce or twenty five milliliters, 0:25:30.359 --> 0:25:32.480 and you just pour that over ice in the glass, 0:25:32.640 --> 0:25:35.000 stir it up a little bit, and you've got a nigrotny. 0:25:35.280 --> 0:25:37.280 And if you've ever had a negroni and you've been like, 0:25:37.520 --> 0:25:41.320 this is all bit boozy for me. I found also 0:25:41.680 --> 0:25:44.960 an alternative negroni I think also from all of magazine 0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:48.080 that they suggest just take out the gin and put 0:25:48.080 --> 0:25:51.040 in prosecco instead, and you've got yourself a much lighter 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:53.640 negroni that also would do really well with a nice 0:25:53.640 --> 0:25:55.200 cinnamon stick sticking out of it. 0:25:55.800 --> 0:25:58.640 Yeah, I've seen. I've had quite a few cocktails over 0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:03.320 the past year that have prosecco or a white wine 0:26:04.240 --> 0:26:07.480 as the boozy ingredient to what would ordinarily be just 0:26:07.520 --> 0:26:09.719 a cocktail, and it's interesting. I like it. 0:26:10.280 --> 0:26:13.159 Yeah. Same here. Also, I think I said on our 0:26:13.280 --> 0:26:16.800 tomorrow episode that I was going to try Capelletti, which 0:26:16.840 --> 0:26:20.080 was supposedly like a better version of Campari. Well I did, 0:26:20.240 --> 0:26:22.920 and I'm here to tell you just use Kampari. It's 0:26:23.000 --> 0:26:25.119 so much better, so much better. 0:26:26.160 --> 0:26:29.919 I went into, Uh, there's an amazing spirit store here 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:33.280 in Atlanta, and I went in and asked for which one. 0:26:33.600 --> 0:26:36.880 It is, the Elemental Spirits Company, and it is right 0:26:36.920 --> 0:26:41.040 across from Buddies and Videodrome there at North Avenue. You 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:44.720 know where that is. Yeah, sure, next to Emmanuel's Tavern. Okay, 0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:48.359 and it's great. They're they're very highly curated, really good, 0:26:48.400 --> 0:26:52.040 good stuff like that you don't find in regular liquor stores. 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:55.400 But I went in and asked for an tomorrow. I said, 0:26:55.560 --> 0:26:57.320 gimme a couple. I said, give me, gimme one really 0:26:57.359 --> 0:27:00.680 accessible and give me the bitterest thing that you have. 0:27:00.960 --> 0:27:02.840 Oh yeah, and I can't remember the name of it. 0:27:02.840 --> 0:27:04.919 I'll have to post about it later. But this stuff 0:27:05.040 --> 0:27:09.040 is it's almost like melort. It's so medicinal and. 0:27:08.960 --> 0:27:11.639 Bitter, Like you say why after each sip. 0:27:13.200 --> 0:27:16.720 I mean, I like it, but it's really like I've 0:27:16.760 --> 0:27:20.680 leapt into the bitter zone and this one's testing my limits. 0:27:20.760 --> 0:27:24.080 Okay, Well, if we're shouting out incredibly well curated liquor 0:27:24.080 --> 0:27:26.320 stores in Atlanta, I definitely want to shout out Eah 0:27:26.359 --> 0:27:29.480 and F Bottle Shop over by Peachtree Battle. It's so good. 0:27:29.880 --> 0:27:31.360 Oh, we'll have to check that one out too. 0:27:31.400 --> 0:27:33.080 That's also the kind of place you could just walk 0:27:33.080 --> 0:27:35.199 into and say I want to try something like this, 0:27:35.280 --> 0:27:36.159 and they'll give it to you. 0:27:36.640 --> 0:27:38.560 Yeah. I love stores like that where you just sort 0:27:38.600 --> 0:27:41.800 of trust in their expertise. Yeah, it's the best. I 0:27:41.800 --> 0:27:46.719 also want to shout out if you are big on like, 0:27:46.760 --> 0:27:48.840 you know, cocktail syrups and stuff like that to spice 0:27:48.920 --> 0:27:50.920 up a drink. Sure, I bought one the other day 0:27:50.920 --> 0:27:53.040 that I'd never heard of. It was a sweet potato 0:27:53.440 --> 0:27:57.720 oh syrup, and it is so good with whiskey. 0:27:57.960 --> 0:28:00.000 That sounds good just to drink on its own. 0:28:01.080 --> 0:28:03.960 It's great. It doesn't taste like, oh, like I'm drinking 0:28:03.960 --> 0:28:06.520 a sweet potato. It just it makes it more, you know, 0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:09.720 because there's other spices that just it's like a nice 0:28:09.720 --> 0:28:13.760 holiday whiskey cocktail basically. Man, it's just really yummy. 0:28:13.840 --> 0:28:14.720 Where'd you find that? 0:28:15.760 --> 0:28:18.720 This was a Decatur package on Clairemont, so like. 0:28:18.680 --> 0:28:20.520 You can find it probably nationwide. 0:28:21.119 --> 0:28:23.080 Yeah, I mean, you know, people are local. I think 0:28:23.119 --> 0:28:24.639 it's a local one, so I wish I had a 0:28:24.680 --> 0:28:27.360 bottle in front of me, But you know, locally, there's 0:28:27.400 --> 0:28:30.040 probably all kinds of people in your urban center that 0:28:30.080 --> 0:28:32.360 are making their own shrubs and bitters and syrups. 0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:35.359 Well, I gotta find that one because it sounds pretty delish. 0:28:35.560 --> 0:28:36.639 Yeah, maybe I'll send you some. 0:28:37.200 --> 0:28:39.440 I'd love that, Chuck. I love pre presents from you, 0:28:39.520 --> 0:28:43.560 especially around Christmas time. All Right, great drink great drink 0:28:43.600 --> 0:28:46.440 agreed thanks to our friends of Olive Magazine. And here 0:28:46.480 --> 0:28:49.560 we go, hopping along back in the sleigh, out in 0:28:49.600 --> 0:28:54.240 the snow, putting on our white faux fur fringed frocks 0:28:54.880 --> 0:28:57.240 and going on to the next section. 0:29:09.480 --> 0:29:11.360 I guess we'll go with how to make your Christmas 0:29:11.360 --> 0:29:15.840 tree last longer. That this is a personal one, because 0:29:15.920 --> 0:29:18.640 I have had bad luck to past couple of years 0:29:18.640 --> 0:29:22.280 with our trees dying way too early. And I think 0:29:22.320 --> 0:29:24.880 it's because I was sort of stuck on using the 0:29:25.000 --> 0:29:29.440 Christmas tree stand I grew up with mm which, compared 0:29:29.440 --> 0:29:33.640 to today's stands, had not much room for the tree 0:29:33.680 --> 0:29:38.800 trunk itself and certainly didn't hold that much water. So 0:29:38.920 --> 0:29:41.120 I finally my mom got me one of those gigantic 0:29:41.280 --> 0:29:44.800 things that holds gallons of water. Yeah, and I think 0:29:44.840 --> 0:29:47.640 it was the right choice because it's doing much much 0:29:47.640 --> 0:29:48.280 better this year. 0:29:48.520 --> 0:29:51.640 Well, that's definitely one of the keys that Better Homes 0:29:51.640 --> 0:29:54.880 and Gardens recommends is getting a stand that fits. 0:29:55.360 --> 0:29:57.720 Yeah, you got it. You gotta those old school ones 0:29:57.720 --> 0:29:59.440 that hold like three cups of water. 0:29:59.600 --> 0:30:02.920 No good, no, because your tree is still alive even 0:30:02.960 --> 0:30:05.480 though you've cut it down, so it drinks up the water. 0:30:06.080 --> 0:30:08.320 And in addition to having a tree that holds a 0:30:08.360 --> 0:30:11.200 bunch of water and that fits the trunk, you want 0:30:11.200 --> 0:30:15.400 to keep that water level like basically high every day. 0:30:15.480 --> 0:30:17.640 You want to check it basically every day because the 0:30:17.640 --> 0:30:20.640 trunk needs to be pretty much submerged in water to 0:30:20.760 --> 0:30:23.560 keep that tree going for the month of December. 0:30:24.360 --> 0:30:26.760 Yeah. And I always heard, you know, pour some sprite 0:30:26.840 --> 0:30:29.280 or some sugar in there, and I never was sure 0:30:29.280 --> 0:30:32.960 if that was true. But there are tree people who say, 0:30:33.000 --> 0:30:35.600 if you put like a half a cup of granulated 0:30:35.600 --> 0:30:38.719 sugar to about five gallons of water and a half 0:30:38.760 --> 0:30:42.600 a cup of vinegar, yeah, then that's gonna nourish that tree. 0:30:42.640 --> 0:30:45.640 It's going to preserve the sap, and that vinegar is 0:30:45.680 --> 0:30:49.160 going to be a pH stabilizer that's gonna ward off 0:30:49.160 --> 0:30:50.240 bacteria and rot. 0:30:50.720 --> 0:30:53.040 Yeah, because that's the thing. You've got a reservoir of 0:30:53.160 --> 0:30:56.080 water in your living room and your living room has 0:30:56.080 --> 0:30:58.960 its heater on. That can be a bad combination. I've 0:30:58.960 --> 0:31:00.920 also seen you can throw some pennies in there too 0:31:01.360 --> 0:31:03.960 to help adjust the pH as well and keep bacteria 0:31:04.000 --> 0:31:04.560 from growing. 0:31:05.080 --> 0:31:06.240 But you want to pennies? 0:31:06.280 --> 0:31:08.360 Do you want to mix us all up? Five gallons 0:31:08.400 --> 0:31:10.840 of water. Just so happens that those orange home depot 0:31:10.840 --> 0:31:13.280 buckets are five gallons. You go out in your garage, 0:31:13.600 --> 0:31:15.680 put five gallons of water in there, half a cup 0:31:15.680 --> 0:31:18.040 of vinegar, half a cup of sugar. Mix it all 0:31:18.120 --> 0:31:21.440 up and you use that to top off your Christmas 0:31:21.480 --> 0:31:23.000 tree stand water every day. 0:31:23.680 --> 0:31:25.760 I love it if you got a kid, assign them 0:31:25.760 --> 0:31:29.000 that task because they are much more apt to be 0:31:29.040 --> 0:31:32.000 able to crawl under that tree. And it's special and fun. 0:31:32.040 --> 0:31:34.480 And they think they are helping. They think they're helping, 0:31:34.480 --> 0:31:35.200 and they are helping. 0:31:35.400 --> 0:31:37.880 They definitely are helping. What else? Man like? A lot 0:31:37.960 --> 0:31:41.520 of people also have ill fitting Christmas tree stands that 0:31:41.560 --> 0:31:44.760 are too small, and they carve off some of the trunk. 0:31:44.800 --> 0:31:46.840 They shave off some of the sides to make it fit. 0:31:46.960 --> 0:31:51.120 Jam it in there right, No good, No, apparently you 0:31:51.160 --> 0:31:53.640 need the sides of the trunk that helps it stay alive. 0:31:54.720 --> 0:31:56.560 You do want to cut, you know there is something 0:31:56.600 --> 0:31:59.520 too trimming some just off the bottom of the trunk. 0:31:59.560 --> 0:32:02.479 They'll usually do that for you where you buy your 0:32:02.520 --> 0:32:05.720 Christmas tree. If they say I love this article from 0:32:05.720 --> 0:32:08.920 Better Homes and Garden says, shave off two centimeters like 0:32:08.960 --> 0:32:11.680 that that's like it's barely the width of a chainsaw blade. 0:32:12.080 --> 0:32:14.040 It's three quarters of an inch. I looked it up. 0:32:14.880 --> 0:32:16.640 Oh okay, well I guess that's bigger than I thought. 0:32:16.880 --> 0:32:20.000 Yeah. No, I know, we're not super metric here everybody 0:32:20.000 --> 0:32:21.080 in the United States. 0:32:22.120 --> 0:32:23.560 But you do want to cut a little bit off 0:32:23.600 --> 0:32:27.600 the trunk, not too much. But you know that sap 0:32:27.640 --> 0:32:31.400 starts forming. It's like a scab almost right within hours 0:32:31.440 --> 0:32:34.200 of cutting the tree down. It tries to form a 0:32:34.240 --> 0:32:36.760 scab and that's gonna seal it up on the bottom. 0:32:36.800 --> 0:32:39.600 So that's why they trim it up for you at 0:32:39.600 --> 0:32:42.040 the Christmas tree place, because it's going to be much 0:32:42.080 --> 0:32:43.240 easier to suck water up. 0:32:43.640 --> 0:32:46.400 Yes, Also, this is a great excuse for you to 0:32:46.440 --> 0:32:49.240 buy a bow saw too and take that home, and 0:32:49.280 --> 0:32:51.880 then you can cut the little two centimeters off the 0:32:51.920 --> 0:32:54.360 bottom of the trunk yourself so it'll be as fresh 0:32:54.400 --> 0:32:57.520 as possible. So the key is trim somem off the bottom, 0:32:57.760 --> 0:33:00.320 but not off the sides of the bottom of the trunk, 0:33:00.520 --> 0:33:03.160 because that bark is really good at sucking up water, 0:33:03.400 --> 0:33:04.880 and you want to make sure this thing can take 0:33:04.920 --> 0:33:07.480 as much water as possible so that it stays fresh 0:33:07.480 --> 0:33:08.520 as long as possible. 0:33:09.240 --> 0:33:11.080 Yeah, and also be discerning when you go to pick 0:33:11.080 --> 0:33:13.880 out that tree to begin with. Don't don't just fall 0:33:13.920 --> 0:33:16.200 for what looks the prettiest you got to You gotta 0:33:16.240 --> 0:33:18.880 feel those branches a little bit. If it's getting crispy 0:33:18.920 --> 0:33:22.400 at all in the lot, then you're in big trouble already. 0:33:23.160 --> 0:33:24.880 So give it, you know, run your hand along it, 0:33:24.880 --> 0:33:26.720 give a little hug, give a little feel, give a 0:33:26.720 --> 0:33:31.840 little tug, and make sure everything smells really fresh, make 0:33:31.880 --> 0:33:35.479 sure that bark is very smooth, and make sure that 0:33:35.680 --> 0:33:39.280 you know the branches themselves feel not breakable but pliable 0:33:39.320 --> 0:33:40.560 at that point exactly. 0:33:41.320 --> 0:33:45.080 So, Also when you get at home, drying out the 0:33:45.160 --> 0:33:48.040 tree is not good. You don't want to accelerate drying 0:33:48.040 --> 0:33:51.520 it out. It's already getting dried enough being indoors, out 0:33:51.520 --> 0:33:54.600 of any humidity that might be around, and then near 0:33:54.640 --> 0:33:58.600 heat sources, so you want to not only just keep 0:33:58.640 --> 0:34:00.720 it topped up with water, you want to keep it 0:34:00.720 --> 0:34:03.600 away from heat as much as possible. And apparently even 0:34:03.640 --> 0:34:07.400 going with led lights will have a substantial effect on 0:34:07.680 --> 0:34:10.239 keeping the tree from drying out because they put out 0:34:10.280 --> 0:34:14.000 so much less heat than traditional incandescent lights. Doe. 0:34:14.200 --> 0:34:16.839 Yeah, good idea, and most of them these days are 0:34:16.960 --> 0:34:17.600 led I think. 0:34:18.560 --> 0:34:21.439 And then yeah, they're definitely easy to come by at least, 0:34:22.080 --> 0:34:25.439 and then chuck afterward, after the holidays have gone, after 0:34:25.480 --> 0:34:28.640 the last ornaments put up, and the last piece of 0:34:28.680 --> 0:34:31.640 tinsel that you're going to bother taking off has been 0:34:31.719 --> 0:34:34.239 taken off, even though there's a few strands left. What 0:34:34.280 --> 0:34:36.600 are you going to do with that tree to help 0:34:36.640 --> 0:34:37.879 your local wildlife? 0:34:39.040 --> 0:34:43.759 Well, your township or your county probably has a recycling 0:34:44.480 --> 0:34:47.560 situation going on. That is certainly a great way to 0:34:47.640 --> 0:34:51.799 dispose of your tree. But you can also if you 0:34:51.840 --> 0:34:55.399 live in a wooded area, you can just put lean 0:34:55.480 --> 0:34:57.400 that thing up against another tree in the woods and 0:34:57.440 --> 0:35:01.040 that can become a little shelter or a home for wildlife. 0:35:01.480 --> 0:35:03.279 For sure. You don't even have to live in a 0:35:03.320 --> 0:35:05.480 wooded area. You can throw it in your backyard on 0:35:05.560 --> 0:35:09.120 that side, Yeah, and rabbits would be like, thank you 0:35:09.239 --> 0:35:10.480 very much, I appreciate it. 0:35:11.120 --> 0:35:12.879 Or you can strip it, you can like trim off 0:35:12.880 --> 0:35:16.279 the branches and lay those downs as mult at the 0:35:16.280 --> 0:35:19.120 base of garden plants and stuff like that. Yeah, or 0:35:19.160 --> 0:35:21.120 do what I do already gave myself away is that 0:35:21.920 --> 0:35:23.400 my friends throw them all in the back of my 0:35:23.440 --> 0:35:26.000 pickup truck and we let them dry to a crispy brown, 0:35:26.360 --> 0:35:29.799 then throw them on campfires for quite a fireworks show. 0:35:30.239 --> 0:35:34.400 Very nice, indeed, but do it safely, oh for sure, 0:35:34.920 --> 0:35:38.080 And make sure you haven't already invited the rabbits in 0:35:38.440 --> 0:35:40.759 to live there. You want to stomp the tree a 0:35:40.800 --> 0:35:42.920 few times on the ground to shake out any rabbits 0:35:42.920 --> 0:35:45.200 that might have taken up residence before you throw it 0:35:45.239 --> 0:35:49.520 on the campfire. That's right, Okay, Well, I say it's 0:35:49.600 --> 0:35:53.120 time to move on. We got a couple left. Both 0:35:53.160 --> 0:35:54.719 of them are mine, it turns out, so I'm going 0:35:54.800 --> 0:36:00.080 to share one with you. So you pick the last one. Okay, okay, 0:36:00.160 --> 0:36:01.920 I'd be picking the last one for you by picking 0:36:01.960 --> 0:36:03.080 the second to last. 0:36:03.560 --> 0:36:04.919 I was waiting for you to catch on here. 0:36:05.520 --> 0:36:07.880 But Chuck, let's get back in our sleigh and go 0:36:07.920 --> 0:36:09.839 on to the next segment where we'll talk about an 0:36:09.880 --> 0:36:23.279 alternative Christmas movie. Okay, Chuck, So there are plenty of 0:36:23.360 --> 0:36:26.480 Christmas movies out there that are straight ahead Christmas movies. 0:36:26.840 --> 0:36:29.960 The point is about Christmas, about maybe learning the spirit 0:36:30.000 --> 0:36:32.400 of Christmas, about getting a toy, about running into Santa 0:36:32.480 --> 0:36:36.120 who knows. But there's also alternative Christmas movies that take 0:36:36.160 --> 0:36:41.960 place around Christmas and just Buy Proxy are technically Christmas movies, 0:36:42.440 --> 0:36:45.440 and at least one of them is a classic horror movie, 0:36:45.680 --> 0:36:51.280 which arguably gave us the slasher horror genre. Nineteen seventy 0:36:51.280 --> 0:36:52.680 four's Black. 0:36:52.440 --> 0:36:59.400 Christmas, Yeah, from Bob Clark, who has made three classic films, 0:37:00.080 --> 0:37:02.840 Black Christmas, A Christmas Story, and Porky's. 0:37:03.320 --> 0:37:05.680 Yeah. He made two Christmas films. One of them was 0:37:05.680 --> 0:37:08.000 a Christmas Story, the other was a slasher film called 0:37:08.000 --> 0:37:08.600 Black Christmas. 0:37:08.640 --> 0:37:10.680 Isn't that Nuts and Porkies? 0:37:11.239 --> 0:37:13.760 Yeah. I never saw Porky's. My mom would have died 0:37:13.880 --> 0:37:16.520 before she let me see Porky's and I still have 0:37:16.600 --> 0:37:17.200 never seen it. 0:37:17.920 --> 0:37:19.840 I saw it years later because I just felt I 0:37:19.880 --> 0:37:23.600 had to to make up for my restricted childhood. And 0:37:23.280 --> 0:37:27.319 it's not great. But what is pretty great is Black Christmas. 0:37:27.719 --> 0:37:31.840 It is It's subtle in a lot of ways, as 0:37:31.880 --> 0:37:33.960 far as a slasher movie can go. It's about as 0:37:33.960 --> 0:37:37.200 subtle as it can get. Bob Clark has said a 0:37:37.280 --> 0:37:39.520 lot of people have written film crit on this, like 0:37:39.560 --> 0:37:43.480 people consider Black Christmas a masterpiece an a plus. Some 0:37:43.520 --> 0:37:46.719 people think it's their favorite movie of all time. And 0:37:46.760 --> 0:37:49.160 the reason why is because rather than going with like 0:37:49.239 --> 0:37:55.080 straight ahead gore and like traditional horror that would come 0:37:55.360 --> 0:37:59.520 years later in the slasher genre, Bob Clark went with 0:37:59.719 --> 0:38:04.680 more suggested stuff and eeriness, and he went with terror 0:38:04.800 --> 0:38:07.640 over horror and building up dread and fear in like 0:38:07.760 --> 0:38:10.320 legitimate ways. And what's more, one of the things he 0:38:10.360 --> 0:38:13.920 did that really differentiated Black Christmas from the slasher films 0:38:13.920 --> 0:38:18.520 to come is you never actually see the killer the 0:38:18.680 --> 0:38:21.680 entire movie. You see his eye in one scene and 0:38:21.719 --> 0:38:23.879 that's the most you see of them. And then even 0:38:23.920 --> 0:38:26.600 more than that, he never gets caught. He's still around 0:38:26.640 --> 0:38:27.160 at the end. 0:38:28.200 --> 0:38:30.440 Yeah, I mean, it's a I really liked it. I 0:38:30.440 --> 0:38:33.160 covered this on movie Crush. It was either it was 0:38:33.239 --> 0:38:35.960 either our like a horror movie roundtable with some of 0:38:36.000 --> 0:38:40.719 our colleagues, or it may have been a Christmas episode. 0:38:40.880 --> 0:38:43.040 But that's when I watched it. I hadn't seen it 0:38:43.080 --> 0:38:46.040 before that, and it is It is really good. And 0:38:46.320 --> 0:38:49.040 it was also sort of a landmark movie in that 0:38:49.200 --> 0:38:53.359 it established a couple of things. I mean, first of all, 0:38:53.400 --> 0:38:55.640 like you said, some people, you can make an argument 0:38:55.680 --> 0:38:59.320 that it is one of if not the first slasher movie. 0:39:00.280 --> 0:39:03.560 Some people say like Psycho and stuff like that, or 0:39:03.640 --> 0:39:09.440 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was released weeks before this, But 0:39:09.600 --> 0:39:11.560 you could you can make an argument that the kind 0:39:11.600 --> 0:39:16.880 of prototypical slasher movie in that like one person dies 0:39:16.960 --> 0:39:19.879 after another, you know, very slowly working his way through 0:39:19.920 --> 0:39:22.920 a group of friends that you know, Black Christmas was 0:39:23.040 --> 0:39:25.680 nineteen seventy four, and that was, you know, four years 0:39:25.680 --> 0:39:26.839 before Halloween came out. 0:39:27.120 --> 0:39:30.640 Yeah, So the premise of the movie is set in 0:39:30.719 --> 0:39:33.360 a sorority house over Christmas break, So there's a limited 0:39:33.440 --> 0:39:35.560 number of people not only at the sorority house but 0:39:35.640 --> 0:39:38.520 on campus in general. And that's definitely part of the 0:39:38.640 --> 0:39:42.000 eeriness that that Bob Clark uses, just that feeling for 0:39:42.000 --> 0:39:44.600 anybody who's ever been on campus like during the summer 0:39:45.080 --> 0:39:48.880 or during a holiday break. It's just strange how quiet 0:39:48.920 --> 0:39:51.799 it is, and that's part of the whole thing. But 0:39:51.840 --> 0:39:55.600 they're stalked by an unknown phone caller who's calling them 0:39:55.640 --> 0:39:59.800 with like deeply obscene phone calls. Ye that they typically 0:39:59.880 --> 0:40:02.880 like in typical seventies fashion, just kind of like like 0:40:03.200 --> 0:40:05.640 laugh off or dismiss or like you know, they say 0:40:06.040 --> 0:40:09.040 lude things back to the guy. H yeah, but slowly, 0:40:09.080 --> 0:40:11.640 but surely they all start to be murdered one by 0:40:11.680 --> 0:40:12.640 one in this house. 0:40:13.440 --> 0:40:16.600 Yeah, and it was also speaking of those calls, it's 0:40:16.920 --> 0:40:20.000 one of the other big landmark things is And I 0:40:20.040 --> 0:40:22.879 hope I'm not wrong, but I think this was the 0:40:22.920 --> 0:40:26.919 first movie where they said the call was coming from 0:40:26.920 --> 0:40:27.640 inside the house. 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:30.520 Yeah. I think the urban legend existed already, but this 0:40:30.640 --> 0:40:32.120 was the first movie to do that. 0:40:32.400 --> 0:40:35.120 Yeah, yeah, yeah, the movies didn't invent that trope, but 0:40:35.239 --> 0:40:38.520 the movies made use of the urban legend trope. 0:40:38.680 --> 0:40:40.600 Yeah, far as I know, it was the first one. 0:40:41.080 --> 0:40:43.480 I think so, because When a Stranger Calls was after this, 0:40:43.560 --> 0:40:45.799 and that was the other big one where they said 0:40:45.800 --> 0:40:46.320 that line. 0:40:46.360 --> 0:40:50.120 Man that movie. Few movies have meandered more than a 0:40:50.440 --> 0:40:53.160 When a Stranger Calls? Have you seen When a Stranger 0:40:53.200 --> 0:40:58.680 Calls back? No, it's even more meandering than the first one. 0:40:58.760 --> 0:41:00.600 Oh yeah, yeah, but. 0:41:00.680 --> 0:41:03.400 It's a good movie. Black Christmas is if you're interested 0:41:03.400 --> 0:41:06.439 in a horror movie. And again, like the I don't 0:41:06.440 --> 0:41:08.319 want to call them prank calls, the obscene phone calls 0:41:08.360 --> 0:41:10.640 are very obscene, So don't watch this movie with your kids. 0:41:10.640 --> 0:41:14.120 But if you're interested in something that is definitely set 0:41:14.160 --> 0:41:17.000 around Christmas, and Christmas is kind of an extra character 0:41:17.080 --> 0:41:21.360 in the movie. That's not your typical Christmas movie. And 0:41:21.400 --> 0:41:23.920 you're into horror, this might be right up your alley. 0:41:24.640 --> 0:41:27.560 Yeah, then seventy four version. There have been two remakes. 0:41:28.120 --> 0:41:32.760 The two thousand and six one was very gory and terrible. 0:41:34.200 --> 0:41:36.520 I didn't see it, but I did see the twenty nineteen. 0:41:36.560 --> 0:41:37.440 I thought it was pretty good. 0:41:37.840 --> 0:41:39.840 Oh really, Okay, yeah, I haven't seen either. I've just 0:41:39.880 --> 0:41:42.640 seen the original, And I said, some people say it's 0:41:42.680 --> 0:41:46.760 their favorite movie. At least two pretty big celebrities counted 0:41:46.800 --> 0:41:50.439 it as their favorite movie, didn't they. That's right, man, Yeah, 0:41:50.600 --> 0:41:51.520 Elvis was one. 0:41:52.120 --> 0:41:54.360 You know. I actually around Grace Lamb man. Watch that 0:41:54.440 --> 0:41:56.279 movie about those schrority girls is pretty good. 0:41:57.320 --> 0:42:00.000 Wow, that was really good, Elvis. Can you do it 0:42:00.000 --> 0:42:04.160 really good? Steve Martin? No, I can't either. 0:42:04.880 --> 0:42:07.520 Steve Martin loves it though. That's pretty wild and crazy. 0:42:07.680 --> 0:42:10.319 Yeah, Olivia Hussey's in it. Apparently he met her years later. 0:42:10.360 --> 0:42:11.960 He's like, oh my god, you're in one of my 0:42:12.000 --> 0:42:14.400 favorite movies of all time, and she thought he was 0:42:14.440 --> 0:42:17.680 gonna tell her Romeo and Juliet like the nineteen sixties version. 0:42:18.160 --> 0:42:21.680 He said, you're in Black Christmas and she was like, what, Yeah, 0:42:21.719 --> 0:42:22.760 one of your favorite movies. 0:42:22.800 --> 0:42:24.000 So yeah, that's amazing. 0:42:24.680 --> 0:42:27.960 So that's it, everybody, Black Christmas, and we're gonna get 0:42:27.960 --> 0:42:30.759 in that sleigh one last time this episode for this 0:42:31.320 --> 0:42:35.120 Christmas Spectacular and go on to the last segment, which 0:42:35.239 --> 0:42:36.839 Chuck is going to pick for us. 0:42:46.200 --> 0:42:48.000 Hey, thanks for driving. By the way, I've had a 0:42:48.040 --> 0:42:51.359 couple of too many negronies. That infused gen has hitting 0:42:51.360 --> 0:42:53.200 me hard, So thanks for taking the reins. 0:42:53.440 --> 0:42:55.879 That's all right. I don't mind being the DD. Sometimes 0:42:56.120 --> 0:42:57.560 next year it's you though. 0:42:59.120 --> 0:43:02.680 Yeah, you found this great thing about Christmas card etiquette 0:43:02.840 --> 0:43:07.279 from the Merrily McKee Etiquette School. And we may have 0:43:07.320 --> 0:43:09.879 talked about this before. I've never we have never sent 0:43:09.920 --> 0:43:11.720 out a Christmas card as a family. 0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:13.040 I don't remember you saying that. 0:43:13.880 --> 0:43:16.120 Yeah, we just we never did it. I don't know why, 0:43:16.320 --> 0:43:19.759 Probably because we're lazy. Emily was always her very very 0:43:19.800 --> 0:43:23.200 busy during the holiday season with her business, for sure 0:43:23.160 --> 0:43:24.879 the busiest time of the year, and so that would 0:43:24.880 --> 0:43:28.080 have fallen to me, and I never have really had 0:43:28.160 --> 0:43:30.560 much of an interest in doing it myself. But I 0:43:30.600 --> 0:43:32.600 love getting them and I'm one of those people that 0:43:32.680 --> 0:43:33.840 likes to display them. 0:43:34.080 --> 0:43:38.760 Okay, So if you ever decided to start sending Christmas cards, 0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:43.120 after you hear this Merrily McKee's Etiquette School's list of 0:43:43.239 --> 0:43:47.520 Christmas Card etiquette, you will be well prepared for how 0:43:47.560 --> 0:43:51.120 to navigate the travails of Christmas card sending. 0:43:51.239 --> 0:43:53.880 Chuck, all right, get us going. When should we be 0:43:53.920 --> 0:43:54.720 sending these things? 0:43:54.800 --> 0:43:58.360 So you want to send a Christmas card technically for 0:43:58.440 --> 0:44:02.560 it to arrive by January fifth, because you have until 0:44:02.600 --> 0:44:04.480 the end of the twelve days of Christmas for your 0:44:04.560 --> 0:44:07.440 Christmas card to arrive in the twelve days of Christmas, 0:44:07.719 --> 0:44:10.600 start on Christmas and go till January fifth, which is 0:44:10.640 --> 0:44:14.279 three Kings day. That's the traditional way, like if you 0:44:14.320 --> 0:44:17.279 were sending a card in nineteen oh three, that was 0:44:17.320 --> 0:44:21.280 your time limit. Now it's like much more abbreviated because 0:44:21.320 --> 0:44:24.719 people like you like to display Christmas cards. So you 0:44:24.719 --> 0:44:28.840 want to get them to people by I think December fifth, fifteenth. 0:44:28.280 --> 0:44:32.480 Right, Yeah, if you're getting if you're purposely sending your 0:44:32.520 --> 0:44:36.240 Christmas cards, so they go out by January fourth, everyone 0:44:36.280 --> 0:44:41.560 that gets that Christmas card will say a little late huh. 0:44:40.640 --> 0:44:43.920 Kind of January fifth, you know. I mean it's like 0:44:44.200 --> 0:44:45.560 literally the next year. 0:44:46.280 --> 0:44:49.239 Yeah, so that's sort of like you said the old school, 0:44:49.280 --> 0:44:52.480 like by January fifth. They also say sort of back 0:44:52.480 --> 0:44:55.920 in the day that you didn't typically send them to 0:44:56.000 --> 0:44:59.520 your close friends and neighbors or colleagues that you will 0:44:59.520 --> 0:45:02.239 see right over Christmas. It was sort of a way 0:45:02.760 --> 0:45:04.799 to say like, Hi, I don't live near you and 0:45:04.920 --> 0:45:08.360 we aren't in like regular touch, so here's our family. 0:45:09.320 --> 0:45:12.000 But that certainly has gone away too, because you can 0:45:12.040 --> 0:45:16.239 send Christmas cards to anybody at any nun at any time. 0:45:16.320 --> 0:45:19.080 But sent them in July that would be really weird. 0:45:19.160 --> 0:45:20.840 But send them to anybody. You can send them to 0:45:20.840 --> 0:45:22.840 your next door neighbor and it's not like they'll think like, 0:45:22.840 --> 0:45:24.239 well that's weird. I see them every day. 0:45:24.520 --> 0:45:27.239 Yeah. Merrily mckithays, these days it's not rude to give 0:45:27.320 --> 0:45:30.960 anyone who celebrates Christmas a Christmas card, even if you 0:45:31.000 --> 0:45:35.800 see that person regularly. And I would argue the people 0:45:35.840 --> 0:45:38.279 you see regularly are the ones you would most want 0:45:38.280 --> 0:45:40.719 to send a Christmas card to these days, because everybody's 0:45:40.719 --> 0:45:42.080 so neurotic and insecure. 0:45:44.239 --> 0:45:48.400 I know, I well, I mean, would this make you insecure? 0:45:48.440 --> 0:45:51.239 What if you get a Christmas card every year from us. 0:45:51.360 --> 0:45:54.120 Let's say we were sending them to you and Momo 0:45:54.200 --> 0:45:56.919 and you me, and all of a sudden we didn't. 0:45:58.960 --> 0:46:01.759 I okay, I'm just playing a part here because I 0:46:01.800 --> 0:46:04.799 actually wouldn't do this. I would come to you and say, hey, 0:46:05.120 --> 0:46:07.240 we didn't get a card this year? Is everything okay 0:46:07.320 --> 0:46:10.120 between us? And what would you say in return? As 0:46:10.120 --> 0:46:12.640 far as Merrily McKee's Etiquette school. 0:46:12.440 --> 0:46:15.719 Suggests, well, I would say. I could say a number 0:46:15.719 --> 0:46:17.520 of things, but one thing I could say is, well, 0:46:17.560 --> 0:46:20.520 you know what, my friend money's little tighter this year. 0:46:20.560 --> 0:46:22.799 We had to cut down and send about half as 0:46:22.880 --> 0:46:24.400 many Christmas cards as usual. 0:46:24.560 --> 0:46:27.359 And I say, oh, okay, I was part of a 0:46:27.520 --> 0:46:28.920 huge culling of people. 0:46:29.120 --> 0:46:32.959 I can live with that exactly. That's supposedly the nice 0:46:33.000 --> 0:46:35.400 way if you want to drop someone from your list 0:46:36.040 --> 0:46:39.319 is to not just drop one person, but you know 0:46:39.360 --> 0:46:41.279 you're probably dropping a lot at once. 0:46:41.880 --> 0:46:44.200 Well, I think if you read between the lines, Merrily 0:46:44.280 --> 0:46:47.239 McKee's saying, even if you're just dropping one person, tell 0:46:47.239 --> 0:46:49.719 them they were tell them like half the list that 0:46:49.800 --> 0:46:52.360 you cut. So if somebody tells you are part of 0:46:52.440 --> 0:46:55.160 half the list, now that you hear that, you'll know 0:46:55.280 --> 0:46:57.640 that there's no telling whether you were half of the 0:46:57.680 --> 0:46:58.200 list or not. 0:46:58.560 --> 0:47:01.520 Yeah, kids, that's called a lie to spare someone's feelings, 0:47:01.560 --> 0:47:02.799 and that can be Okay. 0:47:02.600 --> 0:47:05.319 That's right. So if you want to cut somebody from 0:47:05.360 --> 0:47:08.000 your Christmas card list, how do you go about cutting them? Chuck, Like, 0:47:08.520 --> 0:47:10.359 what decisions do you need to make? 0:47:11.040 --> 0:47:14.040 Well, I mean, I guess you wouldn't put their name 0:47:14.080 --> 0:47:15.240 on an envelope. 0:47:15.960 --> 0:47:18.200 Okay, how would you decide? I think is what I'm 0:47:18.200 --> 0:47:18.839 trying to say? 0:47:18.880 --> 0:47:22.080 More specifically, Well, I mean I wouldn't do that to 0:47:22.160 --> 0:47:29.120 any senior member of your extended network because oftentimes our 0:47:29.320 --> 0:47:32.319 older friends maybe a little lonelier, and this card might 0:47:32.400 --> 0:47:33.680 really be a big deal for them. 0:47:33.920 --> 0:47:37.440 Yeah. Merrily McKee makes a really great point that some 0:47:37.480 --> 0:47:40.959 of your older adult friends or family members probably aren't 0:47:40.960 --> 0:47:43.040 on social media, or there's a good chance they're not, 0:47:43.800 --> 0:47:45.799 so getting a Christmas card in the mail is a 0:47:45.840 --> 0:47:49.080 big deal to them. Yeah, and they're probably don't have 0:47:49.160 --> 0:47:50.960 they probably don't have emails, so they're not going to 0:47:50.960 --> 0:47:52.799 get an e card. So not only do you want 0:47:52.840 --> 0:47:56.560 to keep the older people on your list, you also 0:47:56.600 --> 0:47:58.360 want to add in their Christmas card like an extra 0:47:58.400 --> 0:48:03.200 special note. Maybe, Yeah, Christmas drawing from your kid, because 0:48:03.400 --> 0:48:05.120 it is going to mean a lot more to them 0:48:05.120 --> 0:48:09.120 than you're you know, forty year old go go go, single, 0:48:09.440 --> 0:48:13.239 childless executive brother is going to it's going to mean 0:48:13.280 --> 0:48:15.560 to him. 0:48:16.600 --> 0:48:19.759 You maybe, you know, maybe if someone doesn't send you 0:48:19.800 --> 0:48:23.319 a Christmas card and not as like a revenge, but 0:48:23.400 --> 0:48:25.280 if you're just looking to cut back on the number, 0:48:26.840 --> 0:48:28.319 maybe you don't want to do it to the people 0:48:28.360 --> 0:48:31.160 who like every single year they send you one, but. 0:48:31.160 --> 0:48:33.360 You could do it as revenge too. I mean that works. 0:48:34.120 --> 0:48:35.120 I guess. There are no rules. 0:48:35.880 --> 0:48:39.080 Yeah, so, I mean that's there's there's some If somebody 0:48:39.200 --> 0:48:42.680 stops or if you send somebody a card also and 0:48:42.760 --> 0:48:45.239 they don't send you a card in return for two 0:48:45.320 --> 0:48:48.360 years in a row, they're off. They're done dead to 0:48:48.440 --> 0:48:50.319 you for sure. You don't even talk to them when 0:48:50.320 --> 0:48:53.680 you see them during the rest of the year. Yeah, 0:48:53.880 --> 0:48:55.960 Because that's the thing that people don't realize is when 0:48:56.000 --> 0:48:58.520 you take someone off your Christmas card list, you're not 0:48:58.600 --> 0:49:00.920 allowed to talk to them any longer. So really you 0:49:01.000 --> 0:49:05.520 need to decide pretty pretty you really need to give 0:49:05.560 --> 0:49:07.400 us some thought, I guess is what I'm saying do 0:49:07.480 --> 0:49:09.320 you want this person out of your life forever? 0:49:09.520 --> 0:49:10.640 Yeah? Absolutely? 0:49:12.000 --> 0:49:12.120 Uh. 0:49:12.360 --> 0:49:15.440 And you said earlier something very key that you can 0:49:15.480 --> 0:49:20.239 send a Christmas card to anybody these days who celebrates Christmas, 0:49:20.640 --> 0:49:24.120 And that is very key because unless you know that 0:49:24.200 --> 0:49:29.839 your Jewish or Muslim friends really enjoy the Christmas card thing, 0:49:30.320 --> 0:49:33.000 then probably don't send them a Christmas card. Maybe a 0:49:33.600 --> 0:49:37.080 high how you're doing it's it's winter card. 0:49:37.600 --> 0:49:40.240 Sure, Or you could send your Jewish friends a Hanika 0:49:40.280 --> 0:49:44.240 card or your Muslim friends an idolph a tier card, 0:49:44.360 --> 0:49:47.239 which is the last day of Ramadan. I'm probably not 0:49:47.280 --> 0:49:48.280 pronouncing that correctly. 0:49:48.400 --> 0:49:50.600 Yeah. Would they appreciate that? Or would they be like, 0:49:50.680 --> 0:49:51.200 oh please? 0:49:51.719 --> 0:49:53.920 I think they would appreciate it. I think most people would. 0:49:54.719 --> 0:49:57.880 Maybe your your cynical Jewish friends or your cynical Muslim 0:49:57.920 --> 0:50:00.120 friends might might be like oh please, But I think 0:50:00.120 --> 0:50:01.560 for the most part we'd be like, wow, that was 0:50:01.640 --> 0:50:02.360 really thoughtful. 0:50:02.560 --> 0:50:06.040 Yeah, Or maybe they think you're like, just oh, I 0:50:06.080 --> 0:50:07.120 see what Chuck's doing here. 0:50:07.719 --> 0:50:10.280 He's buttering me up to hit me up for money. 0:50:10.360 --> 0:50:10.840 In June. 0:50:10.920 --> 0:50:11.640 Something's going on. 0:50:11.760 --> 0:50:16.919 Yeah, something's coming. So that's it for Christmas cards, and geez, Chuck, 0:50:16.960 --> 0:50:20.640 I mean that's it for the whole holiday episode, isn't it. 0:50:20.680 --> 0:50:22.680 I'm starting to talk slowly because I don't want it 0:50:22.719 --> 0:50:23.120 to end. 0:50:23.440 --> 0:50:25.680 I know, and you know what, I am a little 0:50:25.680 --> 0:50:31.360 worried about next year because the Christmas reservoir is genuinely 0:50:31.360 --> 0:50:31.919 getting thin. 0:50:32.320 --> 0:50:35.839 Well, we'll have to send an alert out to our 0:50:35.960 --> 0:50:41.080 Christmas idea helper Elves Robert Paulson and Alex Stock, who 0:50:41.200 --> 0:50:43.680 usually send us ideas they need to step it up 0:50:43.880 --> 0:50:44.480 for this year. 0:50:44.800 --> 0:50:46.600 Robert sennis one this year? Which one did he send it? 0:50:46.640 --> 0:50:47.200 Did we use it? 0:50:47.719 --> 0:50:48.920 I didn't see one from him. 0:50:48.960 --> 0:50:51.840 No, Oh I may have used it. Oh, let me 0:50:51.880 --> 0:50:54.400 look while you wind things down with glad tidings. 0:50:54.480 --> 0:50:58.200 Oh okay, well everybody, well Chuck does that. I want 0:50:58.200 --> 0:51:00.719 to say from all of us, it's if you should know, 0:51:00.800 --> 0:51:06.640 from Chuck and me, from Jerry, from Dave, from Ben, 0:51:07.080 --> 0:51:10.239 from everybody who's ever been involved with stuff, you should 0:51:10.280 --> 0:51:13.200 know we wish you the happiest of holidays, The merriest 0:51:13.239 --> 0:51:16.239 of Christmas is the happiest upon it because the happiest 0:51:16.280 --> 0:51:19.440 of everything. We hope this is a wonderful season of 0:51:19.800 --> 0:51:26.640 plaid tidings, joy, super boozy eggnog and just goodness in general, 0:51:26.880 --> 0:51:29.960 even just for a few days around the Christmas time. 0:51:30.320 --> 0:51:32.880 So thank you very much for joining us and sitting 0:51:32.880 --> 0:51:36.400 with us. Hopefully this sets you off. I'm the greatest 0:51:36.480 --> 0:51:37.200 Christmas ever. 0:51:37.600 --> 0:51:40.160 Boy, you did a great job killing time. Thanks Ma, 0:51:40.880 --> 0:51:44.560 that's genuine. We actually did not use Robert's suggestion this year, 0:51:44.600 --> 0:51:47.120 so we have one in the hip pocket for next year. 0:51:47.120 --> 0:51:48.440 I'm not even gonna say what it is. Okay, it's 0:51:48.440 --> 0:51:49.000 a pretty good one. 0:51:49.200 --> 0:51:50.960 Well, I have a list too. I'll send you. If 0:51:50.960 --> 0:51:54.360 you're really low, check it twice. I will, and I 0:51:54.440 --> 0:51:56.800 know that you're nice, so you will get that list. 0:51:57.080 --> 0:51:58.920 Happy Holidays, everybody. We love you. 0:51:59.280 --> 0:52:02.200 Yeah you guys, thank you so much for listening, and 0:52:02.239 --> 0:52:04.080 we'll see you next year. 0:52:25.880 --> 0:52:28.759 Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 0:52:28.840 --> 0:52:33.000 more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:52:33.120 --> 0:52:34.920 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.