The Joys of Family and Gifts this Holiday Season

With the world seemingly on fire endlessly, I'm going to focus on upbeat and happy topics on my blog. I will do reviews and stuff like always, but I want my blogs to be a relief from all the horribleness that is going on in our world. It is even happening in sports. I can't escape when I read about the sports I love. I am still plugged in, I know what is going on and I follow science and doctors. I am doing all I can to stop this never ending pandemic. I implore others to do the same. Okay, got that off my chest.

What I want to talk about today is the joy my kids had on their faces when they opened their presents this morning. My family does two Christmas's each year. We have an early one with the four of us, and we travel to a house with my extended family for the actual day. We do celebrate Xmas, but not in a traditional way. We do not go to church, we do not watch many Xmas movies, my wife loves Xmas music, but the rest of us are kind of blah on it and it is only required of my extended family to be together on Xmas eve and Xmas morning. My extended family is also fully vaxxed, including the youngest kids, and all of us that are eligible have boosters. I feel pretty safe doing that. But when my family, the four of us and our dog, celebrate, we do it the day before the trip, which is today, the 22nd. We get up, I went for a run at seven and was home by nine, and we open presents and do our stockings. For my wife and I it is all about what we deem essential gifts. I got her a bunch of bath stuff. She likes to pamper herself, she likes to do steamy showers and baths. She is all about that spa life, especially if she can do it in our home. She got me a couple of books I wanted, a pair of running shorts and a new hooded sweatshirt. It was perfect.

Then it was the kids turn to open their gifts. This is where we get the most excited. We love seeing them in this first round of gift opening. And I know it sounds like I am being a material asshole, but the gifts are a humongous deal for my kids. They are nine and six. That is the prime age for gifts. My son has been champing at the bit for his first round of gifts. My daughter lit up when I started to bring them out of our bedroom to the living room. It was the first of many happy faces this morning. We let my daughter go first and with every gift she would exclaim, "I love this!" or "I was hoping I would get this!". It was wonderful. She is so polite and says all the right things when she gets a gift. I adore that quality. She is a good little kid. She got super fired up when she opened her new Play Doh set. This was the biggest smile from her. She absolutely lit up. She was as excited as I have seen her in a long time. Seeing that smile made me so happy. It made me realize that this is why we go out and get these things and wrap them. It is totally worth it. My son was so hype to open his gifts. He was the last one to go this morning, by his own choice. We got him a good amount of basketball gear. He is super into basketball right now, and we ran with this. He got new basketball socks. I know, socks for a kid? Well, he was stoked. He also got a new headband, which he has yet to take off. A family friend got him a new, good leather basketball, which he has been dribbling around the house all day. But the big gift for him was his new LeBron James Lakers jersey. My wife and I worked hard to find this jersey. And seeing the smile and joy on his face when he opened it up made it all worth it. It was fantastic. Seeing him grin from ear to ear was so sweet. Seeing him wear the jersey as I type this warms my heart. It makes me think back to when I was a kid and my folks would buy me the jersey that I asked for that year. It brought me back to that time that I find myself missing. I know it is not good to live vicariously through your kids, but I do not think that is what I'm doing. I am just remembering the joy I had as a kid, and now seeing it through my kids eyes. And it is the best. I love seeing them light up and smile all day long. It is one of the best things about being a parent. And it also makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to do these things for my kids.

I struck gold with my family. I highly recommend watching the joy in your kids eyes when they open their gifts this holiday season. I know some of my Jewish friends have already talked about the joy they saw with their kids opening Hanukkah gifts. It is so wholesome and one of the best things in the world. I am forever grateful that I get to see my kids do this.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 22 - Patton Oswalt talks about The Christmas Shoes

ed note: This article was originally published on December 22nd, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy.Day 22: Patton Oswalt talks about The Christmas Shoes (language NSFW)

Opened doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,

 Eleven Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen,Sixteen,Seventeen,Eighteen,

Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty One

I really love Christmas music. This entire Advent Calendar project is a way to show the people who hate Christmas music that there are great tunes available to the uninitiated. My love for holiday music is directly related to the fact that while I was growing up my parents would regularly take me and my brothers to church. I was never super psyched to go to our little suburban catholic cathedral, except for one time of the year. The Christmas season was the only times of the year I was happy to go to mass, and it was the songs that created my excitement. Many of the best holiday songs come from the religious tunes the congregation would sing. Hope, light, the betterment of mankind. That is the true religious meaning of Christmas, and it sounds beautiful.

A couple of years back I heard the song "The Christmas Shoes" and I was left dumbfounded. I first thought that this "christian" song was some kind of SNL parody. It was atrocious. The basic plot centered on the story of a poor kid who wants to buy shoes for his mom on Christmas. These shoes are very important because the kid's mom is dying, and he wants her to look pretty if she meets Jesus. That plot is dumb enough, but what puts "The Christmas Shoes" into the stratosphere of appalling is that the song is from the point of view of some grumpy dude in line behind the kid. The narrator thinks that "God" sent this kid, and his dying mom, to be in this man's life so he will feel the Christmas spirit. It is a truly disgusting message.

In 2009 comedian Patton Oswalt dedicated part of his stand up set discussing "The Christmas Shoes" Everything he says is spot on. Oswalt talks about how manipulative and downright sinister the message behind "The Christmas Shoes" is. He also imagines a world with a God being pissed about people being grumpy on Christmas and a Jesus who is bitchy about a person's fashion sense. What Patton Oswalt does in the YouTube video attached to this article is take one of the worst Christmas songs ever, and give it a new hilarious life. You can skip the song and get a dose of the Christmas spirit by hearing Patton Oswalt tear this piece of trash apart. His thoughts on "The Christmas Shoes" makes the song listenable, because I hear Patton Oswalt's words behind every horrid verse.

A few weeks back my son was being rude to the checkout person at a store. When we were heading home, my wife and I were scolding him about his behavior. At one point I told him that Christmas is about being nice to your fellow person. My son was not listening and being quite defiant. As I was getting more angry and frustrated I heard the opening notes of "The Christmas Shoes". My wife and I stared at each other and smiled. My son was forgiven. The rest of the car ride was filled with joy and laughter. Patton Oswalt has made "The Christmas Shoes" a holiday tradition. Not the song, it is awful, but his thoughts about the tune's idiotic message is what Christmas means to me. Mr. Oswalt, I owe you a pair of some great Christmas shoes.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of The X Millennial Man podcast. Every year he tries to buy his wife some ugly shoes for Christmas, but he never has quite enough pennies. Help him buy those shoes by supporting SeedSing.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 12 - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

ed note: This article was originally published on December 12th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 12: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Judy Garland

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven

There are a few cultural icons produced by the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis.”  For example, it’s where Judy Garland met Vincente Minelli, thus creating Liza.  I had a film TA in college who theorized that the film inspired “Night of the Living Dead.”  But the one I care about the most is that staple of treacly holiday radio, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

A great many BAD versions of this song have been produced.  James Taylor has brought his special brand of anodyne blandness to it.  I once heard a bowdlerized version of it that replaced the word “fates” with “Lord.”  I guess the original line is just too pagan.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until Taylor Swift yell-sings her way through with her trademark lack of vocal subtlety.  (To whomever decides these things, I would happily pay $1.29 to hear Josh Groban do it.)  But Judy Garland’s lovely, heartfelt original is one of the finest pieces of Christmas music ever produced.

A great many of our holiday standards are unabashedly joyful.  Those are fine, I’m happy to hear “Silver Bells” and “This Christmas.”  But my favorite pieces of holiday art are the ones with a touch of melancholy about them, like A Charlie Brown Christmas.  To me, as a non-religious person, the holiday season is about finding light during the darkest time of year.  Most religions have a similar holiday, usually around the winter solstice.  Christmas, Hanukah, and Diwali, for example, are all about miracles and triumphs that chase away the darkness (metaphorical and otherwise).  Whether it’s baby Jesus born to bring hope, or lighting the way for Rama after his defeat of evil, it’s basically the same idea.

In Meet Me in St. Louis, the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is sung by Esther to her youngest sister Tootie after they learn they are leaving their St. Louis home for New York.  The song is Esther ostensibly trying to comfort Tootie by assuring her they will always have Christmastime to come with their loved ones, in person or in spirit.  But Esther is really singing about her own sense of loss at moving, and trying to remind herself that there will be joyful times in the future, even if all is bleak right now.  We can all use that reminder some years.

A very merry whatever to all!

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest of the X Millennial Man podcast. One time we even let her host the show.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 5 - I Wish it was Christmas Today

ed note: This article was originally published on December 5th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 5: "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" by Julian Casablancas

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four

The conventional wisdom tells us that the winter holiday shopping season peaks on Black Friday. Once the day after Thanksgiving doorbusters are exhausted, the general public falls into a slower holiday shopping pattern. I disagree with this theory. Black Friday does have a large mob of people looking to score off brand electronics for ultra low prices, but the majority of sane people save their holiday shopping for after the mayhem. The first weekend of December is when the holiday shopping season really kicks into high gear. This is when the Christmas spirit starts its full invasion into our culture.

"I Wish it Was Christmas Today" started out as a simple SNL sketch featuring Horatio Sanz seemingly playing a novelty guitar and singing, Chris Kattan head turning and holding a very large keyboard, Jimmy Fallon providing backing vocals and very rarely playing the keyboard, and lastly Tracy Morgan awesomely dancing in place. Every few years the quartet would add a few lyrics, but the singing and dancing remained the same. Tracy Morgan is great in nearly everything he does, but I do think this is the funniest skit that Sanz, Fallon, and Kattan have ever done. Every year I would look forward to hearing "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" on SNL. The simple tune immediately put me into the holiday spirit.

In 2009 The Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas released a cover of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today". The simplicity of the SNL version was replaced by a hyper kinetic ultra joyful new song to celebrate the holiday season. Casablancas version of the song starts at the top and never relents. For just under 4 minutes, the holiday season gets the positive excitement it so truly deserves.

Both the SNL and Casablancas versions of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" celebrate the happiness of Christmastime. There are endless stories on the news of people complaining about the length and commercialism Christmas. Fox News invented the moronic War On Christmas to continue their agenda of splitting the country and feeding the idea of white christian victim-hood. "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" leaves all the negativity behind and says that Christmas kicks ass.

Today I will be out starting my holiday shopping. My house is decorated. my spirit is getting into high gear, and "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" will be on my playlist. The crowds at the stores, the idiots at Fox News, and all the naysayers will not dampen my holiday spirit. I love the awesomeness of the holiday season.  I do't care what anybody says, I wish it was Christmas today.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He is hungry right now and really wishes it was Thanksgiving today. Tell us about your favorite time of year by writing for SeedSing.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 1 - Linus and Lucy

ed note: This article was originally published on December 1st, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 1: Linus and Lucy By The Vince Guaraldi Trio 

Every year my wife and I throw a big winter holiday party. One of my duties is to create the background music. In the first few years we held the party I purchased a few sets of generic Christmas music cd sets. Many of the pieces were from the public domain, and almost all of the songs were jazz. I really dislike jazz. 

A few years back I decided to create a custom playlist from the holiday songs I loved. I wanted the music to reflect the whole season, and I wanted to use songs not widely available. The one song I salvaged from those awful jazz standards was "Linus and Lucy" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. This was the one and only jazz song I needed for my holiday spirit. This was the song that kicked off my carefully curated holiday playlist. "Linus and Lucy" is the best way to start the season.

"Linus and Lucy" is not exactly a Christmas song. It was originally released by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on the 1964 album Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown. The upbeat guitar and drums represent the excitement of the holiday season. There is pure joy and excitement throughout "Linus and Lucy". Once December 1st hits, the holiday season starts moving at a hectic pace. Crowded roads, overpopulated shopping centers, and disorganized homes filled with unwrapped gifts. "Linus and Lucy" embrace this chaos, and makes it joyful. 

The Christmas popularity for "Linus and Lucy" started when A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted in December of 1965. The upbeat tune was used as the music for the greatest dancing scene in television history. Many people will automatically think of the Charlie Brown Christmas pageant dancing when they hear "Linus and Lucy". This scene was shot in 1965 and we have voguing, the zombie, the twin girls doing the same dance, and a variety of incredible dance moves. When I hear "Linus and Lucy" I immediately break out into Linus's thrust movement, even if I am out in public (that does get awkward at times).

Since the debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas "Linus and Lucy" has become the unofficial Peanuts anthem. Most of the Peanuts cartoon specials have used the song, including the 2015 film The Peanuts Movie. The song receives the large majority of its airplay during the holiday season. The popularity of A Charlie Brown Christmas has programmed our culture to associate "Linus and Lucy" with the holidays. The song kicks off It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, yet "Linus and Lucy" makes our mind think of the December holiday extravaganza.

"Linus and Lucy" is the perfect first door to open on our Awesome Holiday Music Advent Calendar. This is the tune that will get your holiday spirit ready. It is chaotic, joyful, and demands to be danced to. If you start your day with "Linus and Lucy" your holiday spirit will never dim.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. His wife has asked him to stop the Linus out in public, the Shermie is ok though. Tell us all about your favorite holiday tune - write for SeedSing.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 22 - Patton Oswalt talks about The Christmas Shoes

ed note: This article was originally published on December 22nd, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy.Day 22: Patton Oswalt talks about The Christmas Shoes (language NSFW)

Opened doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,

 Eleven Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen,Sixteen,Seventeen,Eighteen,

Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty One

I really love Christmas music. This entire Advent Calendar project is a way to show the people who hate Christmas music that there are great tunes available to the uninitiated. My love for holiday music is directly related to the fact that while I was growing up my parents would regularly take me and my brothers to church. I was never super psyched to go to our little suburban catholic cathedral, except for one time of the year. The Christmas season was the only times of the year I was happy to go to mass, and it was the songs that created my excitement. Many of the best holiday songs come from the religious tunes the congregation would sing. Hope, light, the betterment of mankind. That is the true religious meaning of Christmas, and it sounds beautiful.

A couple of years back I heard the song "The Christmas Shoes" and I was left dumbfounded. I first thought that this "christian" song was some kind of SNL parody. It was atrocious. The basic plot centered on the story of a poor kid who wants to buy shoes for his mom on Christmas. These shoes are very important because the kid's mom is dying, and he wants her to look pretty if she meets Jesus. That plot is dumb enough, but what puts "The Christmas Shoes" into the stratosphere of appalling is that the song is from the point of view of some grumpy dude in line behind the kid. The narrator thinks that "God" sent this kid, and his dying mom, to be in this man's life so he will feel the Christmas spirit. It is a truly disgusting message.

In 2009 comedian Patton Oswalt dedicated part of his stand up set discussing "The Christmas Shoes" Everything he says is spot on. Oswalt talks about how manipulative and downright sinister the message behind "The Christmas Shoes" is. He also imagines a world with a God being pissed about people being grumpy on Christmas and a Jesus who is bitchy about a person's fashion sense. What Patton Oswalt does in the YouTube video attached to this article is take one of the worst Christmas songs ever, and give it a new hilarious life. You can skip the song and get a dose of the Christmas spirit by hearing Patton Oswalt tear this piece of trash apart. His thoughts on "The Christmas Shoes" makes the song listenable, because I hear Patton Oswalt's words behind every horrid verse.

A few weeks back my son was being rude to the checkout person at a store. When we were heading home, my wife and I were scolding him about his behavior. At one point I told him that Christmas is about being nice to your fellow person. My son was not listening and being quite defiant. As I was getting more angry and frustrated I heard the opening notes of "The Christmas Shoes". My wife and I stared at each other and smiled. My son was forgiven. The rest of the car ride was filled with joy and laughter. Patton Oswalt has made "The Christmas Shoes" a holiday tradition. Not the song, it is awful, but his thoughts about the tune's idiotic message is what Christmas means to me. Mr. Oswalt, I owe you a pair of some great Christmas shoes.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of The X Millennial Man podcast. Every year he tries to buy his wife some ugly shoes for Christmas, but he never has quite enough pennies. Help him buy those shoes by supporting SeedSing.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 12 - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

ed note: This article was originally published on December 12th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 12: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Judy Garland

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven

There are a few cultural icons produced by the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis.”  For example, it’s where Judy Garland met Vincente Minelli, thus creating Liza.  I had a film TA in college who theorized that the film inspired “Night of the Living Dead.”  But the one I care about the most is that staple of treacly holiday radio, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

A great many BAD versions of this song have been produced.  James Taylor has brought his special brand of anodyne blandness to it.  I once heard a bowdlerized version of it that replaced the word “fates” with “Lord.”  I guess the original line is just too pagan.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until Taylor Swift yell-sings her way through with her trademark lack of vocal subtlety.  (To whomever decides these things, I would happily pay $1.29 to hear Josh Groban do it.)  But Judy Garland’s lovely, heartfelt original is one of the finest pieces of Christmas music ever produced.

A great many of our holiday standards are unabashedly joyful.  Those are fine, I’m happy to hear “Silver Bells” and “This Christmas.”  But my favorite pieces of holiday art are the ones with a touch of melancholy about them, like A Charlie Brown Christmas.  To me, as a non-religious person, the holiday season is about finding light during the darkest time of year.  Most religions have a similar holiday, usually around the winter solstice.  Christmas, Hanukah, and Diwali, for example, are all about miracles and triumphs that chase away the darkness (metaphorical and otherwise).  Whether it’s baby Jesus born to bring hope, or lighting the way for Rama after his defeat of evil, it’s basically the same idea.

In Meet Me in St. Louis, the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is sung by Esther to her youngest sister Tootie after they learn they are leaving their St. Louis home for New York.  The song is Esther ostensibly trying to comfort Tootie by assuring her they will always have Christmastime to come with their loved ones, in person or in spirit.  But Esther is really singing about her own sense of loss at moving, and trying to remind herself that there will be joyful times in the future, even if all is bleak right now.  We can all use that reminder some years.

A very merry whatever to all!

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest of the X Millennial Man podcast. One time we even let her host the show.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 5 - I Wish it was Christmas Today

ed note: This article was originally published on December 5th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 5: "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" by Julian Casablancas

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four

The conventional wisdom tells us that the winter holiday shopping season peaks on Black Friday. Once the day after Thanksgiving doorbusters are exhausted, the general public falls into a slower holiday shopping pattern. I disagree with this theory. Black Friday does have a large mob of people looking to score off brand electronics for ultra low prices, but the majority of sane people save their holiday shopping for after the mayhem. The first weekend of December is when the holiday shopping season really kicks into high gear. This is when the Christmas spirit starts its full invasion into our culture.

"I Wish it Was Christmas Today" started out as a simple SNL sketch featuring Horatio Sanz seemingly playing a novelty guitar and singing, Chris Kattan head turning and holding a very large keyboard, Jimmy Fallon providing backing vocals and very rarely playing the keyboard, and lastly Tracy Morgan awesomely dancing in place. Every few years the quartet would add a few lyrics, but the singing and dancing remained the same. Tracy Morgan is great in nearly everything he does, but I do think this is the funniest skit that Sanz, Fallon, and Kattan have ever done. Every year I would look forward to hearing "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" on SNL. The simple tune immediately put me into the holiday spirit.

In 2009 The Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas released a cover of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today". The simplicity of the SNL version was replaced by a hyper kinetic ultra joyful new song to celebrate the holiday season. Casablancas version of the song starts at the top and never relents. For just under 4 minutes, the holiday season gets the positive excitement it so truly deserves.

Both the SNL and Casablancas versions of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" celebrate the happiness of Christmastime. There are endless stories on the news of people complaining about the length and commercialism Christmas. Fox News invented the moronic War On Christmas to continue their agenda of splitting the country and feeding the idea of white christian victim-hood. "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" leaves all the negativity behind and says that Christmas kicks ass.

Today I will be out starting my holiday shopping. My house is decorated. my spirit is getting into high gear, and "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" will be on my playlist. The crowds at the stores, the idiots at Fox News, and all the naysayers will not dampen my holiday spirit. I love the awesomeness of the holiday season.  I do't care what anybody says, I wish it was Christmas today.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He is hungry right now and really wishes it was Thanksgiving today. Tell us about your favorite time of year by writing for SeedSing.

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Television Programs: Day 4 - "M*A*S*H: Death Takes A Holiday"

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 4: "M*A*S*H: Death Takes a Holiday"

Original air date, December 15th, 1980

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three

Christmas memories affect people in different ways. Some remember great joy during the holiday season. Some remember anxiety about the financial demand that Christmas puts on people. Most people experience a mixture of these two memories, along with a whole bunch of other happy / sad feelings. Others look at Christmas as a particular special day . We want everyone to be happy, healthy, and think only of joy. We do not want to think about death and starvation.

In December of 1980, M*A*S*H was one of the most watched shows on television and had recently passed 200 episodes. The adventures of the 4077th often time mixed comedy and drama. On the 15th of December, "Death Takes a Holiday" would be remembered as a great piece of television because of the serious nature of the episode.

The staff and doctors of the 4077th are getting ready to throw a Christmas party for a local orphanage. After learning that the food for the party was lost in an enemy attack, the MASH decide to donate their own food gifts from home to the meal. Everyone is a good sport except for Maj Charles Winchester, who donates very little. Charles was always seen as being snooty, so the rest of the unit believe he is just being a typical Scrooge.

What everyone else does not know is that Charles is upholding a family tradition in anonymously donating his chocolate bars to a needy charity. The Major later finds out that the orphanage sold his fancy chocolate on the black market. Charles is upset and confronts the director of the orphanage, but understands that the chocolate was worth a lot of money, and now the orphanage can afford rice and other staples for many meals. Maj Winchester wanted to give the kids joy on Christmas, but is satisfied to know that his gift allowed for a longer survival for the charity.  

The party itself is good fun, but some are absent because a mortally wounded soldier is brought into the MASH. Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret are tending to the soldier, and quickly figure out that the man will not live. The group also find out that the man has a wife and young children. It is assured the man will die, but Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret make a vow to keep the soldier alive until Christmas has passed. They did not want the man's children to remember Christmas as the day their father died.

The surgery is not going well for the mortally wounded soldier, and he dies just before the end of Christmas Day. Hawkeye goes to the clock and moves the hands until it is after midnight. He announces the death as 12:05 am, December 26th. Margaret says she has never falsified a record, and one of the doctors says she should, he informs the group that Christmas should be a time of birth. The group kept their promise to the dying man.

Terrible things happen to people every day. Many of us use Christmas Day as that oasis away from the hurt in the world. Christmas should be a day of birth, and joy, and togetherness. Unfortunately reality cannot use that one day to save starving orphans, or give a young father the chance to watch his kids grow up. What Christmas can give us are happy memories that will carry us through the bad times. The orphans will remember that an anonymous donor gave them months of food, and a family will remember that their father/husband held on for one more Christmas Day. Those memories will make Christmas special.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

SeedSing Classic: Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 1 - Linus and Lucy

ed note: This article was originally published on December 1st, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we are looking back at the great holiday music, movies, television episodes, and food of this great season. Enjoy

Day 1: Linus and Lucy By The Vince Guaraldi Trio 

Every year my wife and I throw a big winter holiday party. One of my duties is to create the background music. In the first few years we held the party I purchased a few sets of generic Christmas music cd sets. Many of the pieces were from the public domain, and almost all of the songs were jazz. I really dislike jazz. 

A few years back I decided to create a custom playlist from the holiday songs I loved. I wanted the music to reflect the whole season, and I wanted to use songs not widely available. The one song I salvaged from those awful jazz standards was "Linus and Lucy" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. This was the one and only jazz song I needed for my holiday spirit. This was the song that kicked off my carefully curated holiday playlist. "Linus and Lucy" is the best way to start the season.

"Linus and Lucy" is not exactly a Christmas song. It was originally released by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on the 1964 album Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown. The upbeat guitar and drums represent the excitement of the holiday season. There is pure joy and excitement throughout "Linus and Lucy". Once December 1st hits, the holiday season starts moving at a hectic pace. Crowded roads, overpopulated shopping centers, and disorganized homes filled with unwrapped gifts. "Linus and Lucy" embrace this chaos, and makes it joyful. 

The Christmas popularity for "Linus and Lucy" started when A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted in December of 1965. The upbeat tune was used as the music for the greatest dancing scene in television history. Many people will automatically think of the Charlie Brown Christmas pageant dancing when they hear "Linus and Lucy". This scene was shot in 1965 and we have voguing, the zombie, the twin girls doing the same dance, and a variety of incredible dance moves. When I hear "Linus and Lucy" I immediately break out into Linus's thrust movement, even if I am out in public (that does get awkward at times).

Since the debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas "Linus and Lucy" has become the unofficial Peanuts anthem. Most of the Peanuts cartoon specials have used the song, including the 2015 film The Peanuts Movie. The song receives the large majority of its airplay during the holiday season. The popularity of A Charlie Brown Christmas has programmed our culture to associate "Linus and Lucy" with the holidays. The song kicks off It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, yet "Linus and Lucy" makes our mind think of the December holiday extravaganza.

"Linus and Lucy" is the perfect first door to open on our Awesome Holiday Music Advent Calendar. This is the tune that will get your holiday spirit ready. It is chaotic, joyful, and demands to be danced to. If you start your day with "Linus and Lucy" your holiday spirit will never dim.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. His wife has asked him to stop the Linus out in public, the Shermie is ok though. Tell us all about your favorite holiday tune - write for SeedSing.

Ty Watches The Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies

I know that I have been spending a good amount of my time talking about football this week, both college and the pros, but today I want to go in a totally different direction and talk about some movies my wife and I have been enjoying lately.

My wife has an unrequited love for Christmas movies. She loves them all, good or bad. She likes to sit down, escape into a snowy landscape and watch these movies unfold. She digs this stuff. I like Christmas movies myself, but I like more of the odd ball ones. I'm not so much into the corny ones. I do like classics like "Elf" and "Home Alone", but give me some weird, independent movie that happens during the holiday season, and I am usually on board. But this year I have decided to fully buy into the season. I love this time of year, I do truly believe it is the most wonderful time of the year, and I just want to take it all in. We went out and got new lights for the front yard, we added décor to the inside of the house, we are taking the kids to see Santa tomorrow, as opposed to our normal time of closer to the holiday. I'm going full bore.

What does this all mean? It means I have been joining my wife when she is watching any random Christmas movie that has been on since about 2pm on Thanksgiving day. I watched "A Christmas Prince" with her the other night, but I am saving my review of that until we watch the sequel. The particular movies I want to talk about today are the ones they show 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the Hallmark Movie Channel.

I saw a few moments of some of the Hallmark Christmas movies last year and was taken aback at how awful they were. But, in watching them with my wife lately, I have grown to enjoy how awful and corny and schmaltzy and laughably bad they truly are. I have also grown a newfound respect for the actors in these movies because a lot of the actors were once famous, and now, it seems like they are just sitting back, enjoying their time on these sets and making money for a short amount of work. I cannot imagine these actors have to spend more than 4-5 hours a day for maybe a week making these movies. Don't get it twisted either, I do not think these movies are good. Quite the contrary. But, they are bad in an enjoyable way. They are bad like "The Room" or "Birdemic" or "Troll 2" are bad. I watch these movies with my wife and we crack jokes the entire time. We make fun of the stories. They are so clichéd and hackneyed, but in a fun way.

I don't remember many names of the movies, but I can always get pretty close with a guess. For example, we watched one the other night that had Donald Faison, Christina Milian and, this year's Hallmark Movie star, Alicia Witt, called "A Snow Globe Christmas". I'm not one hundred percent certain that is the title but, Witt get hits in the head by a snow globe and is transformed into the snow globe world. While in there, she learns the meaning of the holiday, how important family is and that work is not the end all be all. Also, she realizes that the mean guy she is dating might not be right for her. She should maybe be with her high school boyfriend who still loves her, and knows her better than anyone else. This is basically the plot of every single Hallmark movie. Someone gets some form of amnesia, or goes back to their hometown and meets an old romance. Through this old flame, they learn about love, life, family, but most importantly, the true meaning of the holiday. It is hilarious.

I cannot get enough of these movies now. They are so ridiculous and poorly written and cliché and I love them. I highly recommend watching, at the very least, one of these movies. You will greatly enjoy it. It is a good time, and none of them run more than 80 minutes. It is not a big time commitment. I never thought I would enjoy one of the these movies. I now look forward to watching one a day. They are bad in all the right ways. Hallmark Channel has done it. They have made me buying into the holidays as hardcore as I have even easier by showing these movies constantly. They are great to laugh at with your whole family. Do it. You won't regret it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is currently writing a movie for SeedSing called “The Christmas Blogger”. it is about a blogger who gets hit in the head with their Macbook and gets amnesia. Hijinks will then ensue. Give us a call Hallmark.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Let Me Respectfully Explain Why Children's Toy Packaging Absolutely Sucks

The final resting place of holiday joy

Yesterday my family and I celebrated Christmas. And by "celebrated" I mean we went to my folks house, got very little sleep, had some drinks(not me, ed note: I had a few drinks), talked and opened presents in the morning. None of my family is religious, so we do not celebrate Jesus or anything like that. Also, if you want to celebrate the birth of a fictional character, celebrate it in April, not December. That's another topic for another day though.

Having two young kids, they got a bunch of new toys that my wife and I had to open. This is where I begin to get into my topic for today. With these kids toys, why is there so much non essential shit attached to these toys? First off, you get the box and it is just superfluous cardboard covering up one smallish toy. For example, my daughter got a Beat Bugs toy that was a small submarine and a insect dressed as a Beatle. Just 2 things, probably about one foot tall total. But, with the amount of cardboard attached, you'd think it was 6 or 7 toys all in this one box. It was a nightmare. When I went to open it as my daughter napped, I literally just ripped into the cardboard so I could get to the small toy. It was a god damn mess. Just scraps of cardboard strewn about my floor everywhere. It really made my OCD come to the forefront. After finally getting most of the cardboard ripped, I assumed that I just had a few more steps before my daughter could play wit this toy right after she woke up.

I was very, very wrong.

There were many, too many, more steps before I even got the insect toy out. The cardboard that was still standing had plastic wrapped around said toy. So, when running into this problem, I grabbed some scissors thinking that would easily solve this problem. Well, the plastic was wrapped so tight around this mini character, I kept scratching the insect toy. I could not get at it from a proper angle, so I just dove straight ahead and whatever damage happened, my daughter would have to deal with. When I finally got the plastic circles off the insect and the submarine, I thought I was done.

Well, I unfortunately was not.

I went to pull the toys out to set them down, and they still wouldn't move. I searched and found that there was some kind of hard core shoelace style wrapping on the bottom of the still leftover cardboard. When I tried to just untie it, it only seemed to get tighter. So again I had to use the scissors. That marks 3 times I had to use sharp scissors to open a toy for a 2 year old. That is insane. I get that you don't want toys to be stolen from the store, but Jesus Happy Birthday Christ, this is getting to be too much. When I finally, and mercifully, got the string cut off, the toy was free. It basically sprung out of my hands, almost like it was jumping for freedom. So, what used to take me maybe 5 minutes to get done, open a very small toy, took me about 20 minutes yesterday.

That is my problem. Why is there so much shit that is nearly impossible to open with just your bare hands? I get the shop lifting theory, but that is it. There is no other reason than to infuriate parents as to why they put all this nonsense on kids toys. It is getting to be way too much. There is too much stuff that just goes in either the trash or recycling. There does not need to be this much stuff for such small toys. It is overkill. It is wasteful. It is stupid. It is frustrating. It can be maddening. It starts arguments. I yelled audibly for no reason while opening these toys yesterday. It just flat out stinks.

These companies need to lay off all the unnecessary cardboard, plastic and whatever the shoestring stuff is made of. The planet is already consumed by trash, and this only adds to the insurmountable amount we currently have. Also, knock it off so parents don't have to struggle to get the toys ready for their kids. The kids hover over you, at least my kids, and just wait and ask you a million times when their toy will be ready. I understand this is a first world problem, but it just irks at me. Yesterday was the most frustrated I have ever been opening my kids presents. The Beat Bugs toy was a nightmare, but so was her Teddy Ruxpin, my son's pogo stick, his 2 big new Imaginenext toys, my daughter's dress up clothes and shoes. Hell, it even leaked into mine and my wife's stuff. All those tags on clothes, get rid of them. The shoe boxes filled with paper, that is way too much paper. The boxes with candle holders and whatever else may be in them, too much cardboard inside and out.

It is just too much. Knock it off, especially with the kids toys. It has gotten way to out of hand.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is usually the jolliest of fellows on Christmas Morning, by Christmas lunchtime he makes the Grinch look like Scrooges pissed off drunken uncle.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Happy Christmas from the Gang at Seedsing

Merry Christmas to all.

We have already shared our holiday joy with family and friends, but we have yet to share the holiday spirit with those we do not get along with. That is wrong. Christmas Day is the one time of the year we should engage with our less liked members of society. 

In the spirit of Christmas we want to raise a toast to President Donald Trump, the Democratic Party, The Republican Party, the US Congress, NFL Owners who are cowards, Papa John's, Arby's, the political media, Roger Goodell, the people behind Justice League, the entertainment industry awards groups, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cris Collingsworth, Pj Masks, and any other person or entity we have been harsh on.

Long life and God Bless.

We will toast you on this day.

Merry Christmas to all.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Happy Birthday Santa

Santa has been a very good boy

ed note: This article was originally published on December 24th. There have been some changes to update the dialogue.

In case you did not know, today is Christmas.

For my blog today, I want to focus on said fat man. To steal a line from "The Simpsons" and Bart, "aren't we all forgetting the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Santa". That's what I want to talk about. Sure, some people will say it's the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but not me, this, the birthday of Santa, deserves the celebration. He's the one that's provided me with gifts my whole life and now gives me and my wife and our kids our presents. I know, Santa isn't real, but he's just as real, to me at least, as Jesus is. Why can't I believe in Santa like Christians believe in Christ? It's basically the same thing.

I just want to thank Santa for all the great gifts I've gotten over the years. The Pirates hat my brother and I spoke of on a recent podcast. My guitars, the many baseball gloves, footballs and basketballs. The computers, iPods and many, many CDs. The clothes, the candy and all the Michigan gear. Thank you Santa, you're the man. I'm so happy you were born many, many years ago on December 25th and now you celebrate your birthday by handing out presents to everyone in the world. You rule and you deserve to be celebrated.

Here's to you Santa. Drive that sleigh carefully tonight and deliver those presents to all the deserving people out there. I can't wait to see what you've given me, my wife and our kids. Thanks again Santa.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He has made the Head Editor confused by saying Santa is not real. Who puts the presents under the tree, Ty? Who? Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 12 - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

ed note: This article was originally published on December 12th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 12: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by Judy Garland

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven

There are a few cultural icons produced by the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis.”  For example, it’s where Judy Garland met Vincente Minelli, thus creating Liza.  I had a film TA in college who theorized that the film inspired “Night of the Living Dead.”  But the one I care about the most is that staple of treacly holiday radio, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

A great many BAD versions of this song have been produced.  James Taylor has brought his special brand of anodyne blandness to it.  I once heard a bowdlerized version of it that replaced the word “fates” with “Lord.”  I guess the original line is just too pagan.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until Taylor Swift yell-sings her way through with her trademark lack of vocal subtlety.  (To whomever decides these things, I would happily pay $1.29 to hear Josh Groban do it.)  But Judy Garland’s lovely, heartfelt original is one of the finest pieces of Christmas music ever produced.

A great many of our holiday standards are unabashedly joyful.  Those are fine, I’m happy to hear “Silver Bells” and “This Christmas.”  But my favorite pieces of holiday art are the ones with a touch of melancholy about them, like A Charlie Brown Christmas.  To me, as a non-religious person, the holiday season is about finding light during the darkest time of year.  Most religions have a similar holiday, usually around the winter solstice.  Christmas, Hanukah, and Diwali, for example, are all about miracles and triumphs that chase away the darkness (metaphorical and otherwise).  Whether it’s baby Jesus born to bring hope, or lighting the way for Rama after his defeat of evil, it’s basically the same idea.

In Meet Me in St. Louis, the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is sung by Esther to her youngest sister Tootie after they learn they are leaving their St. Louis home for New York.  The song is Esther ostensibly trying to comfort Tootie by assuring her they will always have Christmastime to come with their loved ones, in person or in spirit.  But Esther is really singing about her own sense of loss at moving, and trying to remind herself that there will be joyful times in the future, even if all is bleak right now.  We can all use that reminder some years.

A very merry whatever to all!

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest of the X Millennial Man podcast. One time we even let her host the show.

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 7 - The Man in the Santa Suit

ed note: This article was originally published on December 7th, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 7: The Man in the Santa Suit by Fountains of Wayne

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

I am embarrassed to know how much actual money Santa makes, and that real beard Santa makes the most money (nothing celebrates the season by shamelessly ripping off the great film Snowpiercer). I have this knowledge because my first professional job was to book performers for parties, including Santa. Many the performers I worked with were semi-normal, professional people. In the sea of clowns, magicians, and Elvis impersonators, the Santas were not quite as normal.  There was an air of desperation and sadness to the group. I paid Santa well, but money does not always buy jolliness. My theory was that these men could only make really good money a few weeks out of the year. To make this extra income these men had to endure a grueling gauntlet of uncooperative kids, demanding parents, and childless adult idiots that wanted themselves (and their dogs) to sit on Santa's lap. I paid Santa well because he had a tough and thankless job.

Fountains of Wayne, one of the Greatest American Bands, included "The Man in the Santa Suit" on their 2005 B-sides double album Out of State Plates. The tune perfectly captures the sad inner life of a mall Santa. Starting with the acknowledgment of "Santa" being a union laborer with a significant other who works at the hair salon. Mr. and Mrs. Claus seemingly live paycheck to paycheck. There is no holiday spirit to uplift Fountains of Wayne's protagonist, he just needs the money. What follows is a list of troubles Santa always has during the Christmas season. There are snot nosed kids who make fun of Santa's appearance (if that Jerry Garcia beard is real, Santa is making double this year), younger kids are throwing up on Jolly Old Saint Mall Nick, and all the older kids are commenting on Santa's beer for breakfast. Being  Santa is not as joyous as popular culture may have led us to believe. 

Santa's troubles are not just with the kids. The fellows at the local tavern also get on Santa's case. After a day of dealing with kids, barf, and attitude, Santa gets called names by the grownups. The world is filled with superficial jerks, and Santa is not immune to their attacks. Being overweight and harry in December may pay some bills, but it does not get one away from ridicule. The cruelty of people does not take a holiday during Christmastime.

"The Man in the Santa Suit" is on point for why any grown man would go through these troubles, it is all about the money. The name calling, the kids, the indignity of it all is worth the money. Fountains of Wayne's protagonist is zen about his current place in the world. He is getting paid for his looks. That is the hairy fat man's victory. He needs the money, and he has an opportunity to enhance his bank account. The bills will be paid up in Santa and Loretta's house this December. Merry Christmas to them.

On your way to the mall give "The Man in the Santa Suit" a listen. Understand what Jolly Old Saint Mall Nick is going through. Be nice to Santa. Every man who puts on the red suit this year will deal with more trouble than any one person deserves. In November my office used to be a revolving door of chubby hairy men looking for work. In January I was being sent a lot of small gifts as thanks. I paid Santa, and Santa needed the money. Santa deserved the money.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He is chubby enough to be Santa, but his jolliness needs some work. Any Santas out their that want to give us a gift - Support SeedSing.

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 6 - (When Is) Hanukkah This Year?

ed note: This article was originally published on December 3rd, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 6: (When Is) Hanukkah This Year? by Melee

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four, Five

When I was in college I decided to find religion. I was raised a catholic boy, yet the experimentation of my college years led me into looking for a new religion. I went to a mosque, Hindu temple, a variety of the Protestant churches, and a Jewish temple. On the particular day I decided to attend temple was in early December, and much to my delight they were celebrating the third day of Hanukkah. I had no idea it was Hanukkah time when I entered the temple. It was awesome.

The Jewish Festival of Lights has always been overshadowed by the large presence of Christmas. Nearly every person in the Western World is aware that Hanukkah is around Christmas time, yet almost no one knows when the holiday actually starts. I had such a great time at temple during Hanukkah that I wanted to come back every year. The problem is the next year I completely forgot to check when Hanukkah was being celebrated and I missed out on the festivities. The same date from last year was after Hanukkah of the past year. Oh well, I know that Christmas will always be on the 25th.

In 2009 Orange County based band Melee released "(When Is) Hanukkah This Year?". Melee used the biggest question Jewish people get during the holiday season, and made it rock. Very few people want to know what Hanukkah is about, we just want to know what day the celebration is held. Forget for a moment that Hanukkah lasts for eight days, we need to know the one day to associate for the holiday. We are comfortable with the idea of Christmas owning the same day every year. All the holidays that own a single day every year get way more attention. Some may say that Easter gets plenty of attention, and it is a holiday that does not own a day. The mostly christian religious community does put forth a big celebratory effort for Easter, but the secular community does not care that much. Everyone knows about "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas", but not many are familiar with "It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown". The holidays that own a day, own the full public interest. The holidays where we have to question what day it is on, will always have an uphill battle. Melee embraces this idea with their great tune.

The boys of Melee use "(When Is) Hanukkah This Year?" to inform the listener of what a typical American Jewish boy goes through during those eight days and nights. Reading from the Torah, lighting the Menorah, Manischewitz, golden coins, kugel, worried mothers and grandmothers, and many days of presents. The song is a rocking tour of the Hanukkah season. Once the dialogue of the first minute ends, Melee builds until the song ends in an incredibly rocking way. The only song people hear this time of year in relation to the Festival of Light is Adam Sandler's "The Hanukkah Song". There is nothing appreciative about the holiday in Sandler's tune. You learn about many fine people with Jewish heritage, but there is no information about the eight days and nights of Hanukkah. There was the animated movie by Adam Sandler Eight Crazy Nights, but the less said about the film, the better. Melee uses "(When Is) Hanukkah this Year?" to actual share the joy of Hanukkah. It is a song that made this gentile remember that great night at the temple.

To answer Melee's question, Hanukkah starts on December 6th this year. Enjoy the beginning of this joyous time of year. Light some candles, have some great Jewish food and drink, call your mother. Make these eight days and nights rock. By the way next year Hanukkah will start on December 24th, mark it in your calendars. Please do not ask your Jewish friend in 2016, hey, when is Hanukkah this year.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor of SeedSing. He does not really recommend Manischewitz, but a good kugel is awesome. During these eight days of gift giving, keep SeedSing on your mind.   

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 5 - I Wish it was Christmas Today

ed note: This article was originally published on December 3rd, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 5: "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" by Julian Casablancas

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three, Four

The conventional wisdom tells us that the winter holiday shopping season peaks on Black Friday. Once the day after Thanksgiving doorbusters are exhausted, the general public falls into a slower holiday shopping pattern. I disagree with this theory. Black Friday does have a large mob of people looking to score off brand electronics for ultra low prices, but the majority of sane people save their holiday shopping for after the mayhem. The first weekend of December is when the holiday shopping season really kicks into high gear. This is when the Christmas spirit starts its full invasion into our culture.

"I Wish it Was Christmas Today" started out as a simple SNL sketch featuring Horatio Sanz seemingly playing a novelty guitar and singing, Chris Kattan head turning and holding a very large keyboard, Jimmy Fallon providing backing vocals and very rarely playing the keyboard, and lastly Tracy Morgan awesomely dancing in place. Every few years the quartet would add a few lyrics, but the singing and dancing remained the same. Tracy Morgan is great in nearly everything he does, but I do think this is the funniest skit that Sanz, Fallon, and Kattan have ever done. Every year I would look forward to hearing "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" on SNL. The simple tune immediately put me into the holiday spirit.

In 2009 The Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas released a cover of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today". The simplicity of the SNL version was replaced by a hyper kinetic ultra joyful new song to celebrate the holiday season. Casablancas version of the song starts at the top and never relents. For just under 4 minutes, the holiday season gets the positive excitement it so truly deserves.

Both the SNL and Casablancas versions of "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" celebrate the happiness of Christmastime. There are endless stories on the news of people complaining about the length and commercialism Christmas. Fox News invented the moronic War On Christmas to continue their agenda of splitting the country and feeding the idea of white christian victim-hood. "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" leaves all the negativity behind and says that Christmas kicks ass.

Today I will be out starting my holiday shopping. My house is decorated. my spirit is getting into high gear, and "I Wish it Was Christmas Today" will be on my playlist. The crowds at the stores, the idiots at Fox News, and all the naysayers will not dampen my holiday spirit. I love the awesomeness of the holiday season.  I do't care what anybody says, I wish it was Christmas today.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He is hungry right now and really wishes it was Thanksgiving today. Tell us about your favorite time of year by writing for SeedSing.

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Television Programs: Day 4 - "M*A*S*H: Death Takes A Holiday"

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday television program for every day of Advent. This is the greatest tv of the season. Enjoy.

Day 4: "M*A*S*H: Death Takes a Holiday"

Original air date, December 15th, 1980

Opened Doors: One, Two, Three

Christmas memories affect people in different ways. Some remember great joy during the holiday season. Some remember anxiety about the financial demand that Christmas puts on people. Most people experience a mixture of these two memories, along with a whole bunch of other happy / sad feelings. Others look at Christmas as a particular special day . We want everyone to be happy, healthy, and think only of joy. We do not want to think about death and starvation.

In December of 1980, M*A*S*H was one of the most watched shows on television and had recently passed 200 episodes. The adventures of the 4077th often time mixed comedy and drama. On the 15th of December, "Death Takes a Holiday" would be remembered as a great piece of television because of the serious nature of the episode.

The staff and doctors of the 4077th are getting ready to throw a Christmas party for a local orphanage. After learning that the food for the party was lost in an enemy attack, the MASH decide to donate their own food gifts from home to the meal. Everyone is a good sport except for Maj Charles Winchester, who donates very little. Charles was always seen as being snooty, so the rest of the unit believe he is just being a typical Scrooge.

What everyone else does not know is that Charles is upholding a family tradition in anonymously donating his chocolate bars to a needy charity. The Major later finds out that the orphanage sold his fancy chocolate on the black market. Charles is upset and confronts the director of the orphanage, but understands that the chocolate was worth a lot of money, and now the orphanage can afford rice and other staples for many meals. Maj Winchester wanted to give the kids joy on Christmas, but is satisfied to know that his gift allowed for a longer survival for the charity.  

The party itself is good fun, but some are absent because a mortally wounded soldier is brought into the MASH. Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret are tending to the soldier, and quickly figure out that the man will not live. The group also find out that the man has a wife and young children. It is assured the man will die, but Hawkeye, BJ, and Margaret make a vow to keep the soldier alive until Christmas has passed. They did not want the man's children to remember Christmas as the day their father died.

The surgery is not going well for the mortally wounded soldier, and he dies just before the end of Christmas Day. Hawkeye goes to the clock and moves the hands until it is after midnight. He announces the death as 12:05 am, December 26th. Margaret says she has never falsified a record, and one of the doctors says she should, he informs the group that Christmas should be a time of birth. The group kept their promise to the dying man.

Terrible things happen to people every day. Many of us use Christmas Day as that oasis away from the hurt in the world. Christmas should be a day of birth, and joy, and togetherness. Unfortunately reality cannot use that one day to save starving orphans, or give a young father the chance to watch his kids grow up. What Christmas can give us are happy memories that will carry us through the bad times. The orphans will remember that an anonymous donor gave them months of food, and a family will remember that their father/husband held on for one more Christmas Day. Those memories will make Christmas special.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

SeedSing's Advent Calendar of Awesome Holiday Music: Day 3 - Last Christmas

ed note: This article was originally published on December 3rd, 2015

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a new awesome holiday song for every day of Advent. This is the greatest music of the season. Enjoy.

Day 3: "Last Christmas"

Opened Doors: One, Two

Christmas is filled with memories. We remember the great gifts of years past. We never forget he food and drink that highlight the season. We also remember the our loved ones that we spend the holidays with. Sometimes the pressure of the holiday season takes a toll on couples, people separate, and we take Christmastime as a chance to move on. Christmas may be filled with memories of holidays past, but the season also represents hopefulness in creating new lasting memories.

"Last Christmas" released in 1984 by Wham (Andrew Ridgeley and his singing partner) is not a romantic song. The singer (George something) had his heartbroken last year on Christmas. He spends most of the song letting this heartbreaker know that he was in love, and the feeling was not mutual. Christmas Day is often filled with romance, and Wham acknowledge as much in "Last Christmas". The receiver of George's heart seemed to let the romance of Christmas take hold, it was not until the next day was George's heart given away. This betrayal has left a large scar on George's mind, he alludes to the fact that he was bitten by love, but is now twice as shy. He tries to stay away, but will steal a glance from afar. It pains that his love affair from a year ago might not recognize him. He feels foolish for giving his love, but he is confident if his past lover kissed him right now, he would be fooled to love them again.

With all the heartbreak, there is some hopefulness in "Last Christmas". George does not understand how his love can be given away by this person, but this Christmas he is determined to find that someone special. George's problem is that last Christmas he was a bit to hasty in giving away his heart. This year he is determined to find that special person who will give him something in return. Last year's Christmas was a learning experience for George.

Like all great holiday songs, "Last Christmas has been covered by many people. Taylor Swift just yell sings through her tone deaf money grab version. Jimmy Eat World does their Jimmy Eat World like version. Florence + The Machine once did a slow acoustic version for BBC Radio 1. "Last Christmas" has been well covered, but the original recording by Wham! still has no equal.

The first week of December is the time most people put out their holiday decorations. As we hang lights and trim the tree we are filled with memories of previous Christmas times. The strongest memories stem from the lovers lost, and gained, during the winter holidays. As you start to dress your home up for the festive year, give "Last Christmas" a listen. The bad times of Christmas past may come to mind, but the hopeful ideals of this Christmas will carry through the season. Last Christmas is over, find something special to remember this Christmas. 

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Next Christmas he is looking forward to all the great posts on SeedSing from this Christmas. Are you someone special? Write for us.