I'm Dreaming Of A Weird Christmas

You've all seen the normal Christmas decorations, now check out the weird side of Christmas... From wacky, yet mesmerizing Christmas light shows, to creepy Christmas ornaments, to nerdy Nativity scenes...

I know Christmas is supposed to be a time to remember Jesus' birth, but I think that the baby Jesus has a sense of humor as well. In that spirit, I bring you my Top 10

WEIRD CHRISTMAS!

(brought to you by... The Internet. Open these in a new window or tab, so you can come back and enjoy all of them!)

1. Creepiest Christmas ornament (A fetus soldier to adorn your tree this year. Very anti-choice, pro-military chic.)
2. Krampus is the evil demon anti-Santa - from Birmingham's own Mental Floss Magazine.
3. DIY Geeky Nativity Scenes - mostly lego, but how about the Simpsons, or mine ("All God's Creatures" edition)!
4. BetaMaXmas - Kindof cool actually... for an 80's kid. Watch 80's Christmas sitcom clips and vintage commercials on a virtual TV. You can even adjust the antenna for better reception!!!
5. Scary Santa Compilations - There's alot of these floating around, but this is the best compilation. Also check here and here for some good crying babys pics.
6. The Ugliest Christmas lights - Some of the most hideous holiday decorations ever!
7. 17 Jaw-Dropping Christmas Light Shows - the best of the best... really cool and weird.
   
   
   
8. Seasons Greetings Machine Maze... Thingy - created by Roy Doty see if you can follow it all the way to the end.
9. Robot Gift Guide - Robots... nuff said.
10. Wierd and disturbing Christmas Cards

Well, that's it for now. Hope you guys enjoy these!
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Have you found anything funnier or weirder than these? Leave me a comment and I'll add them to the list.

Top 10 Christmas Songs you love to hate while shopping and eating

<---(This is our Nativity Scene this year with all God's creatures!)

It always happens around this time of year. This year it started 3 days before Thanksgiving. You know what I'm talking about... Those darn Christmas songs. Especially the songs that you are forced to listen to as you are out shopping and eating in restaurants. I am especially sensitive to this because I work in a restaurant and am blasted with the same 10 - 20 songs ALL DAY! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Scrooge or a hater and I'm all about singing praises to the Lord about the birth of His Son Jesus, just mix it up a little! So, in that spirit here is a list of my top 10 most annoying Christmas songs:

1. Jingle Bells - Barbara Strisand (the caffeinated version)
   
2. Hey Santa - Wilson Phillips (uhhggh! I hear this at least 7 times a day!)
   
3. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
   
4. Baby, It's Cold Outside (Vanessa Williams' version) - Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer (I agree with everyone who calls it the Christmas date-rape song)
5. Rockin' Around The Chirstmas Tree - Brenda Lee (1958) (Nobody "rocks" around the Christmas tree... what does that even mean? Annoying nonsense)
   
6. Happy Holiday - Bing Crosby (1942) (More annoying nonsense: "whoop di doop and dickery dock..." nuff said)
   
7. Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney (I just hate this song because of bad song structure...it doesn't have a chorus. Just "Siiiimply haaaaaaving a wonderful Christmas time" over and over...)
   
8. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause - Jimmy Boyd (1952) (from Wikipedia) The song was commissioned by Neiman Marcus to promote their Christmas card for the year, which featured an original sketch by artist Perry Barlow, who drew for the New Yorker magazines for many decades. Jimmy Boyd's record was actually condemned by the Catholic Church in Boston when it was first released on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas.^{[citation needed]} Boyd, aged thirteen, was widely photographed meeting with the Archdiocese to explain the song.
9. Marshmallow World - Darlene Love(?) (more nonsense that has nothing to do with Christmas)
   
10. My Favorite Things - The Von Trap Family (I actually like this song but, is this really a Christmas song?)

What are some of your "love to hate" Christmas songs? Lets see if we can get some more interesting ones. Also comment on a few that are your favorites!

Family Christmas lists with Cloud Computing!

I had been reading about cloud computing a little this past month, so I thought I would test it out. The guinea pigs? MY FAMILY!



So, basically what I decided to do is put our family's Christmas wish list in a central place so everyone can access it anytime they need it. In the old days you would create a mass email and just keep "Replying to all" everytime someone added something or had a question. This could be done more easily with a web page on the internet, but then each person had to:

• know HTML
• have access to the FTP site
• have an FTP program
• know the password and login for the FTP site

etc, etc... which was fine for me, but there's no way my Luddite dad or my mom (who's still learning but getting there ;-) could ever do anything like that without a long list of procedures and hours of training. So, first I decided to try it on Facebook by creating a Group. BUT, my mom hates social networking sites. She doesn't have time for them and "stalkers will jump you on a street corner and beat you senseless" if you have a profile on MySpace. But she DOES check her email and visits webpages for news and photography. SO...



...introducing Cloud Computing and Google Docs. I created a simple Google Docs word processing document and saved it in the Google "cloud". Then I gave each family member sharing privilages so each person can type in what they want for Christmas and even put a link to a store where others can buy their gift, making it easy for everyone to buy something fun instead of the same ole same ole, underware, ties and giftcard to Wal-Mart.



Needless to say... IT WORKED! As of today everyone finished their wish list and we can all go shopping for Christmas... with money we don't have...
We're actually keeping it pretty conservative this year (under $20 or a handmade "Crafty" item).

Try it out next time you have a wishlist for multiple people. There are other cloud document platforms you can use besides Google Docs but I like Google Docs because all you have to have to sign in is your Google password. (Which everyone? has).

What do you guys think about this solution? Can you improve it? Suggestions? Please comment!