Well, it's the week of Christmas, so it's time for the main Christmas thread! Christmas is my favorite holiday, by far. I still love the ideal of the "Christmas spirit", good will towards humankind, the special emotional feeling and positive attitude of the season, all the things that a number of people seem to have lost sight of.  The atmosphere of peace on earth in general still resonates with me during this magical time of year. Decorations, Christmas lights, food, presents, family coming together, being kinder to strangers, the music, the movies, the wonder, the spirit of giving, all of it is just a great thing to be a part of.  We also cannot forget the reason for the season (even though the time of year has long been debated), the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Sure, maybe the story around it and the timeframe is contested, but to those nitpickers and naysayers I say "Bah, humbug".  Let it stand for what it stands for. Anywho, there are many traditi...

 Well, we have a three topic Christmas thread this week.  Food, decorations, and miracles. First off, Christmas food.  There are so many different Christmas foods, recipes, and candies, it would be difficult to make a satisfactory list.  I mean, you have the staples from Thanksgiving like turkey, ham, stuffing, etc, but also roast goose, Christmas cookies, cakes, pies, gingerbread, eggnog, figgy pudding, regional fare, the list goes on and on.  Heck, you even have entire baking and cooking show episodes dedicated solely to Christmas themed recipes (insert Great British Baking Show plug here). I'll just let the comment section handle the specifics.  Moving on to decorations, this is a longstanding holiday tradition. Of course you have the traditional Christmas tree, ornaments, stockings, and such, but you also have houses and yards adorned with lights and lawn ornaments of all types, and even local businesses dedicating their grounds to drive through Christm...

 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...