They don't make 'em like they used to...

You should read this article before it goes to the pay portion of the site. It gives you an idea of just how much:00 AMerica's problems pale in comparison to other nations.

Smack in the middle of a crazily busy weekend I enjoyed a rare, quiet night at home by myself. Lacking anything better to do, I found myself watching clips from The Andy Williams Christmas Specials in between interruptions by TPT's pledge drive. It got me thinking about how common those used to be when my parents were younger. Not only were they common, but people seemed to like them quite a bit. What has happened to the Television Christmas Special? I remember seeing a few when I was younger. Disney had one where they redid Dicken's Christmas Carol. There was also a claymation one where these two dinosaurs MC a bunch of what basically end up being claymation music videos (one of which stars the California Raisins). Heck, even Garfield had a Christmas Special. But these were all pretty kid-oriented. I don't remember any of the ones that would star some sort of A-list entertainer performing with either a bunch of other A-listers or family members. Of course, the real conundrum is that, supposing we were to plan a new version of these sort of shows, who would you get? Considering that most "A-listers" these days are nothing but cardboard cut-outs that spew self-satisfying drivel (in both verbal and musical formats), we'd have to rethink this a bit. I think part of the problem is that most of the "celebrities" I'd be able to tolerate on TV wouldn't be popular enough to really draw in the crowds. I mean, it'd be cool to see, say, Beck or the Flaming Lips do some holiday tunes. Probably not Radiohead...unless Tim Burton is hosting. As you can see, this dilemma is nigh unsolvable in today's society. And that's not even addressing the multicultural aspect. I guess it will have to remain unsolved, so I'll leave you with this little nugget.

"Christmas is a time when people of all faiths come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ."

- Bart Simpson