Happy Holidays and, more specifically, Merry Crimbo! We know that most folks (atheists included) are spending Christmas day unwrapping presents, eating massive amounts of food and assembling shit for their children. If you feel like spending part of your day listening to our podcast, you will hear us talk about our favorite and least favorite Christmas stuff. We also tell Christmas stories. Molly shares how old she was when she finally stopped believing in Santa Claus. All that and we even manage to read another listener’s answers to our five questions!
Show notes below the fold:
Here’s a picture of Tim’s present (photographed with Indiana Mickey, Indiana Potatohead and Indiana Kermit):
If you are interested in Roger Ebert’s take on A Christmas Story, you can read it here.
Here’s a link to the video Molly referred to: Oh Holy Crap.
Here’s Patricks Rothfuss’ Amazon page if you want to know about his books.
We mentioned Birdchick Sharon Stiteler. Here’s her web page.
And finally, here’s a picture of a tray featuring all twenty-four difference confections Pat made this year:
Businesses can legally allow sporting event tickets or playbills as coupons, of course they can allow the program of a church as a coupon. Businesses are allowed to favor clients based on any reason they want, religion included, although that is probably a terrible business decision in the long term. This brings up a interesting contrast to another thing you talked about; denying service entirely to a specific group.Harrassing hotels into not allowing WBC douches to stay anywhere will not work. Public accomodation is considered a right, and was included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Hotels are not allowed to discriminate or segregate “on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin” http://www.citizensource.com/History/20thCen/CRA1964/CRA2.htm This does include WBC, because they somehow do maintain status as an actual church, in spite of being essentially a lawsuit machine rather than a religious group in any standard sense of the word. This is also the reason that other borderline hate groups are able to hold conventions, nobody wants the bad press of denying codified Civil Rights.
Thanks for the clarification!
On the subject of Xmas/holiday songs…
I think of Xmas songs as being primarily in two broad categories:
1. religious/liturgical/classical-based
2. non-religious/modern-ish
Some songs fall close to the line which is kind of subjective; for instance, “Good King Wenceslas” isn’t terribly religious other than a message of being good to each other but I’d still put it in the first category. And many of the ones I consider in the second “modern-ish” category are as old as being written in the early to mid 20th century.
I have a favorite in each of the two categories, here’s the first. The Wexford Carol is an Irish song that goes back many centuries but is a lesser-known carol. It has a lovely, deceptively simple sounding melody and this arrangement adds a depth in the harmonies that is just gorgeous:
And then the second: when I was a kid my parents had a bunch of Xmas albums and many of them were compilations with songs performed by many different artists. This is Sammy Davis Jr. doing a song I’ve never heard anywhere else. It’s pretty cheesy but to me it’s “good” kitsch, not the painful or awful variety, in part because it’s sorta like the Animaniacs song teaching ways to say hello that was done decades later. I also recognize that my nostalgia is likely coloring my perception but I think it’s a lot of fun:
It dropped my embedded videos so you’ll have to click on a regular link like some kind of caveman.
The Wexford Carol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAc5UeKAwCw
It’s Christmas Time All Over the World:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW8WyWkV-Gk
This is also pretty wonderful, and I think written from an angle all three of you will appreciate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q
Since you were discussing Christmas music; I thought you might enjoy my posse’s plan for next year: Atheist War on Christmas: Frontal Wassault!
This consists of a bunch of atheists going wassailing, singing secular Christmas carols. Because nothing says atheist more than bringing cheer to people in this life (since it’s the only one we got.)
Hooray for the idea. Boo for the pun!
Tim’s crazy. That pun RULES.
Ever since I heard the snippet on Transylvania Television whenever the weather is bad I catch myself throughout the year singing
“The weather outside is frightful,
But I drank a bottle full of NyQuil…”
HA! I love TVTV.
I’m listening a bit late, but I thought you might like to know that your most-hated bird call is probably a chickadee. (Listen to the “typical song” recording here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/sounds)
Oh, that’s totally it. The “Typical Song” is the worst.
Chickadee, to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!
Aren’t they the ones that also go “chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee” as their other call? I didn’t see that one on the page.