What On Earth?-Column #55, December 2006

Well, here we are in December. The holidays are in full swing, and so is the spirit that goes with it. But as we approach this, the 2nd half of the holiday season, we've a lot to celebrate. We shall do the categories. First category is POLITICS. I'll start by saying that "Changes have come to America." And about time. After putting up with 12 years of the House of Representatives under Republican control, and 4 years of the Senate under that same leadership, Democrats regained control of both chambers of Congress. This comes about a year when the New York Times leaked a story about President Bush's domestic spying program which had many civil liberties advocates raising red flags. Well, that, combined with the war in Iraq and minimum wage increases with no millionaire tax cuts attached were why the American people wanted change so badly, including me. Corruption and scandals have taken this Capitol for too long, not to mention those asking for an amendment banning gay marriage. Even the Terri Schiavo case was reason for change. It was time for a change, and we couldn't have gotten it at a greater time than this. As the proverb suggests, "Change is the only constant in the universe."

We continue with the Politics category with, you guessed it, the War On Christmas. After using Happy Holidays for so long and getting a backlash from the Religious Right, Wal-Mart and other retailers have switched to Merry Christmas. In addition, that means the Holiday Shop is now a Christmas Shop. Other retailers such as Best Buy have kept the Happy Holidays campaign. Still, I'm wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Season's Greetings. And a message to the Religious Right: We are NOT downplaying Christmas, like you think we are. Season's Greetings has just as much significance as Merry Christmas. And the Liberty Counsel, who started a Friend or Foe campaign: We are friends of Merry Christmas as much as we are a friend to Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays. We are foes, however, of your campaign to think we're removing Christ from Christmas. Let's face it. Almost 90% of us celebrate Christmas. But not everyone of us is Christian. So, I say, your "War On Christmas" campaign should hit the brakes.

Next category is NEWS. Now, a lot of news events in the past have made the news YET AGAIN. For example, it was 10 years ago that 6-year old beauty queen Jon-Benet Ramsey was murdered in Boulder, CO; after being reported missing. While there have been numerous articles and books out there that help solve the mystery, the mystery was somewhat solved. In August, John Mark Karr, a former teacher, was arrested in Thailand after he confessed to the crime. He was held in Boulder before heading to CA to face pornography charges. Eventually, there was no evidence to link him to the murder of Jon-Benet, so the charges were dropped. But the saga didn't end there. Back in June, Jon-Benet's mother Patsy, died of ovarian cancer. She had been battling that on and off since the first diagnosis in 1993. 4 years after THAT, we head to my home state of TX. On Christmas Eve 2000, The Texas 7, a group of cons who escaped a San Antonio prison, robbed an Oshman's in Irving. Irving cop Aubrey Hawkins responded to the crime, but was quickly shot dead. A $100,000 reward was then offered to whoever could snare the group of criminals. The reward would climb to $500,000 before the denouement of the escape. You'll hear more about it in the January '07 column. 2 years after THAT, we go to CA. On Christmas Eve 2002, Laci Peterson disappeared. She'd been 10 months pregnant with a due date for her baby Conner of 2-10-03. You'll also hear more about that next year from me.

Next category is FINANCE. A lot of shopping this season, and the cash registers will be ringing. From gift cards to lottery tickets, chocolates to candy canes, and lights to ornaments, there's a lot of gift ideas. The NJ Lottery's gift packs consisting of 6 instant tickets and a top prize of $20,000 for just 5 bucks continues. The Texas Lottery also has a host of holiday-themed scratchoffs, including the first game with a $3 million top prize, $3,000,000 HOLIDAY RICHES! And speaking of gift cards, there are also American Express Gift Cards, which can be redeemable ANYWHERE, and unlike those store gift cards, they can't expire! Remember to stash those gifts into your purse or wallet if they're small, or your car if they're big. Keep them out of criminals' view! And those Salvation Army bell-ringers are back and so is Toys for Tots and so are Meals on Wheels. So, whether you donate your time, money, food, or anything else, check to make sure whoever you make your donations to are LEGIT. That should still be the same case when you donate to the victims of the 2004 Tsunami and the 2005 hurricanes. We took the after-Christmas shopping to new heights when we used our gift cards as donations or used them to buy things for donations. And speaking of the South Asian Tsunami, it was 2 months ago on the day after Christmas that it occured.

While we're on the subject of holiday candy, last year marked the 20th anniversary of M&M's Chocolate Candies for the Holidays, and an article about it is featured HERE, HERE, and HERE. Included is a list of M&M's products, including special Holiday-limited edition Mint Chocolate Candies in Red, Green, and White. Originally, they were marketed under the HOLIDAYS name and came in just the traditional Plain (Milk Chocolate) and Peanut flavors; and instead of the traditional "M" that adorns them today, they had Christmas symbols printed on them. A special Almond flavor in addition to the Mint flavor came out in '92, and by that time M&M/Mars decided that both would be here to stay for the holidays, and at that time, they printed on the trademark "M". It's a festive way to "Grab onto that M&M's Feeling," so "Open your hand and smile" and you shall receive the Red and Green (and possibly White, for Mint) Candies featuring "The Milk Chocolate that melts in your mouth and not in your hand!" They also come in Peanut Butter (which has been around since '92) and Crispy (which has been around since '98). For Hershey's lovers, there's the traditional Kisses (Regular, Almonds, and Hugs; including the new-comers in Cherry Cordial, Peanut Butter, and Dark Chocolate), but there are also Chocolate Mint Kisses and new Candy Cane Kisses (featuring small candy cane pieces in pepperminty white chocolate). Those will add some smiles to the people who dig into your candy bowl this holiday season. The Kisses celebrate their 100th anniversary next year, and their most popular commercial during the holidays is where we see a bunch of Hershey's Christmas Kisses shaped in the form of a Christmas tree. They dance to a hand-bell ringer's rendition of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" while one of the Kisses holds out the last note, wipes its "forehead" and breathes a sigh of relief, as we see the tagline "Happy Holidays from Hershey's Kisses".

The next category is ENTERTAINMENT. Last year, a piece of Price Is Right history popped up in the "Happy Holidays from CBS" promo, based off of the famous Rudolph special. You guessed it, the ever-popular Big Wheel. And this Christmas will be the 3rd with new announcer Rich Fields, and why not? Christmas isn't Christmas without Rudolph or Frosty, or even the Charlie Brown Christmas. And it sure wouldn't be a Wonderful Life without me talking about the 60th anniversary of the ever popular movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. This 1946 film, directed by Frank Capra, the movie is the story of the life of everyman George Bailey (played by the late James Stewart), as told to his guardian angel Clarence Oddbody, who has been recruited to save him in his moment of need. Various parts of the movie show how Bailey can keep the spirit of Christmas in his heart by giving to people in need, much like Scrooge from The Christmas Carol. However, Oddbody is an "apprentice" angel, and to really earn his wings, he must go down to Earth and help Bailey, who is a suicidal. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Next category is SPORTS. 4 years ago, after many years on NBC, ABC picked it up. In addition, some of the annual college football games such as the Blue-Gray Classic and the Aloha Bowl are no more. With that, the NBA has come to ABC, and this will be the first MNF Christmas on ESPN. For the past 35 years, we've seen it on ABC. With that being said, put some sports into your Christmas Day. Get the chicken wings and pizza and put that along side your turkey and ham and such. Also, that same Christmas Monday will mark 6 years since the inaugural championship game of the ESPN game show 2-Minute Drill, hosted by Kenny Mayne. When all was said and done, the 3 finalists were Jim Jividen from Florida ($100K), Willy Gibson from Ohio ($65K), and Larry Glickstein from NY ($35K). In the end, Willy Gibson won $115K even after missing his bonus round question. Anyone who's seen the show on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN Classic should know how this show works.

Next category is MUSIC. As you can tell, when the decorations hit the store shelves, the music hits the store intercoms. It doesn't matter whether you're into the wintery type songs such as Jingle Bells or the religious type songs such as Silent Night, there's a carol for every person who celebrates Christmas. Last Christmas, I got an MP3 player (not an IPod, unfortunately) and loaded some Christmas stuff on there. And the best of all Christmas music is that of the Nutcracker Ballet, and whether you see it in person or on TV, or even listen to it, you can't miss it. Some of the new stuff, such as Thank God For Kids (Oak Ridge Boys) and My Only Wish This Year (Britney Spears) is also available. And even the A-Teens, like us, say that they Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.

Final category is GAME SHOWS. While this year marks one year since Deal Or No Deal came to the US, last month had a Turkey Day special, and we'll get a Christmas special this year, not to mention other NBC newcomers in 1 vs. 100 hosted by Bob Saget, and Identity hosted by Penn Jillette (one half of Penn & Teller). Price Is Right, as I said earlier, will do Christmas again, the 3rd with new announcer Rich Fields. Family Feud will have their first with new host John O'Hurley. Jeopardy will have its first Christmas on the new HDTV set, not to mention Wheel Of Fortune. Millionaire will do it, too. And you better be nice and smart if you expect to win any cash and prizes.

Well, that does it for the final column of 2006. December 31 will be on a Sunday this year, and we're hoping that Dick Clark will be back to full speed for his annual New Year's Rockin' Eve show. In '04, Regis Philbin had to take over since Dick was still in the hospital with that stroke that he suffered a while back (he helped countdown to 2006 over on FOX, with his wife Joy). In '05, Dick himself did help us with the ball drop and countdown but that was pretty much it. Ryan Seacrest of American Idol, who became co-executive producer of the show along with Dick, had to pretty much take the show the rest of the way (from what we've heard, he's slated to take over for the show should Dick decide to step down permanently). We'll see how "America's Oldest Teenager" (yes, that's his moniker) does this time. And this year marks 4 years since he returned to the legendary Pyramid game show (Donny Osmond hosted the 2002 version, but we know Dick Clark as the Pyramid maestro) as a partner. He even demonstrated his skills to play the game when Bill Cullen did one version of the $25,000 Pyramid back in 1980. John Davidson aired an unsuccessful '90's version of the $100,000 Pyramid. But just as we associate him with Pyramid (for the game show lovers like myself), we'll always associate Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with him, just like we would to American Bandstand (for the music lovers). Other than that, we shall close the book on 2006. This is John Lee sending my wishes for a very, very, very, very, very, very, very Happy Holiday Season and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Now, "Go HOME!"