Well, it's time to move on from one mainstay of the holidays to another, from Christmas movies to Christmas music. I loves me some Christmas music.  Christmas music is as synonymous to the season as mistletoe and jolly old Saint Nick himself.  Most of them are great and never get old, but there are one or two that people have admitted they are tired of hearing (cough Mariah Carey cough cough). One of my personal all time favorites is the Jimmy Durante Frosty the Snowman.  That version rules. Now I could sit here and list songs all day, from White Christmas to Hark the Herald Angels Sing to Jingle Bells to a Christmas in Hollis to the album A Twisted Christmas.....  but instead I'll simply post a few tunes. What are some of your favorite Christmas tunes?  Drop some of em here, and also talk about errything else. 

 Well, it's that time of year, so we're going to start the season off right with a Christmas movie thread. Christmas movies are a seasonal staple.  For as long as one can remember, the television fills up with holiday movies, and more keep being made year after year.  We'll start with the Rankin-Bass classics such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, the Year Without a Santa Claus, Cricket on the Hearth, the Little Drummer Boy, and Jack Frost.  From there you have your classic family Christmas movies such as A Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, White Christmas, a Charlie Brown Christmas, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  I'm not much of a fan of Wonderful Life or Xmas Story, but I do like Miracle on 34th. Next you have your more modern classic contributions, such as Elf, Home Alone (and Home Alone 2), The Nightmare Before Ch...

 Thank Jim for reminding me I hadn't done a Thanksgiving specific thread.  Thanks, Jim! So the Google AI overview gives a nice little history of Thanksgiving.  It actually has a long history that can be traced back to harvest festivals celebrated by Native Americans and the Pilgrims.  Before Europeans arrived in the Americas, Native Americans celebrated harvests with dances and rituals, such as the Green Corn Dance of the Cherokees.  Then, in 1621, the Wampanoag people and the Plymouth colonists shared a harvest feast in what is considered the first Thanksgiving. The feast celebrated an abundant harvest of wild turkeys, duck, geese, fish, corn, green vegetables, and dried fruits.  Even before the Pilgrim's celebration, Europeans held several Thanksgiving services in America, including one in Newfoundland in 1578 and another in Jamestown in 1610.  Then, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. T...

 What makes people rabidly and unhealthily obsess about things? Take the obsessions about this site, for instance.  3 months ago we washed our hands of some undesirable elements.  We do our thing and enjoy ourselves. Yet, for some reason, these elements obsessively rant and rave on a daily basis, lurk 24/7, and even go so far as to frame their actual site threads on us.  This is after they obsessed over doxxing some dude for two whole years and counting, calling his house, his work, harassing his family, etc.  Insanity, huh? Why is that? Are they that insecure and miserable in their own existence they have to obsess about others, even so far as resorting to racism, sexism, lies, and libel?  Do they constantly need that much reassurance in order to exist? Can they not manage their site on their own without us? Are they so threatened by our existence that it makes them raging psychopaths?  They claim to be professionals, but like other things they claim ...

 So, since we're between major holidays, I decided to go with a general holiday theme this week. Always remember, this is just a general topic suggestion and it's not set in stone.  Talk about what you will.   Holidays are the time to have a little fun, get together with family and friends, and hopefully enjoy a positive spirit in the air that you might not get any other time of the year.  They're not positive for some people for various reasons, but the general idea is one of positivity and good cheer. I like all major holidays, like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day (I feel it's underrated; I like to see couples happy and enjoying themselves on that day, even if I don't have a valentine myself at the time), and even other "non major" ones like St. Patrick's Day.   I've never really been into things like 4th of July, or Labor Day, or Columbus Day, or whatever, even though some - like Memorial day and Veteran's Day...

So the topic for this week is simple.  Sweets. I love sweets. Probably too much, because I'm always buying candy and desserts.  I'm sure I'd shave off a few pounds if I'd lower my intake of sweets.  Anywho......  There is such an endless array of sweet treats all over the globe. Cakes, pies, pastries of all kinds, candies, syrups, ice creams, spreads, you name it.  It's even a common staple of breakfast as you can get pancakes and waffles with all types of sweet toppings, crepes, cinnamon rolls, French toast, donuts, pastries, etc. I love cake. You show me a free cake and I'm gonna be making sure I get a piece. The frosting is my favorite part, and I have to have ample amounts of it on my cake.  Pies are not as high as cake on my list, but I love them just the same, too.  There are times when a good piece of pie just hits the right spot.  Different countries have different types and "taste levels" of candy.  For example, the US has been known...

 So.... it's the spooky season, and we're gonna make that the general thread topic of the week. Always remember, this is just a general topic suggestion and it's not set in stone. Talk about what you will. Ghosts, skeletons, bats, vampires, witches, and all manner of spooky entities take center stage.  Horror movies and scary stories, Jack o lanterns and haunted houses.  And you can't forget the partiers, those people who dress up in costumes and use them as an excuse to excessively drink, dress like sloots, and generally act nutty. I'll even throw in a little bit of history courtesy of https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween.  "Halloween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31, and Halloween 2024 will occur on Thursday, October 31. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November ...