Christmas vid: Marine sings Merry Christmas from Afghanistan

I'm not sure why this isn't getting more love around the internets.  It's an instant classic as far as I'm concerned.

Go to the video's YouTube page and scroll down for the lyrics.  And to our armed forces, as always thank you for your extraordinary service.

Jon Bon Jovi is alive and well and has a great sense of humor

Yesterday the internets were abuzz with rumors of the rocker's untimely demise.  Fortunately, the rumors were false, albeit started intentionally.

I can't imagine how creepy it must be to see reports of your own death all over the place, but apparently Bon Jovi took it in stride, posting this picture online to assure his fans that he is still alive and well:

There's definitely a New Jersey/Hell joke in there, 

but in the spirit of the season I'm going to let it go.

Christmas vids of the Budweiser Clydesdales along with some not so great news about them

For the first time in 58 years, the Rose Parade will be without the Budweiser Clydesdales after Anheuser-Busch decided the world-famous event, which is watched by millions worldwide, no longer meets their marketing needs.  Whatever.

To take that nasty taste out of our mouths, here are some ads from Christmas past featuring the beautiful, iconic horses.

As seen in "Mommie Dearest"

Kind of creepy in retrospect.  Christmas with Joan.

"I always see to it that they give up something they really love..."

Your feel good story of the day

Get your Kleenex ready.  Anonymous donors pay off Kmart layaway accounts.

From the article:

• At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
• The benefactors generally ask to help families who are squirreling away items for young children. They often pay a portion of the balance, usually all but a few dollars or cents so the layaway order stays in the store's system.
• In Missoula, Mont., a man spent more than $1,200 to pay down the balances of six customers whose layaway orders were about to be returned to a Kmart store's inventory because of late payments.
• A Kmart in Plainfield Township, Mich., called Roberta Carter last week to let her know a man had paid all but 40 cents of her $60 layaway. Carter, a mother of eight from Grand Rapids, Mich., said she cried upon hearing the news. She and her family have been struggling as she seeks a full-time job. "My kids will have clothes for Christmas," she said.

Love it.  Let's hear it for the holiday spirit!

Christmas vid: Foamy the Squirrel

Since I discovered him online a couple years ago, Foamy's Christmas rant has become required holiday viewing for me, right up there with A Christmas Story, the Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas.  And also apparently required posting.  Here it is again:

Foamy has issues with neo-Yuppie scum.  But, who among us doesn't?

Happy Birthday, Mom! Stay healthy!

My Mom will hit the big 7-0 in a few weeks, which made this all the more disturbing to me:

"I happen to be a brain surgeon..."

There's a complete transcript here in case you'd rather read than listen.

Basically, this neurosurgeon recently attended a conference in Washington DC with others in his field and they got a look at how the treatment they provide will be impacted by Obamacare.  I don't think he liked it.  Here are a few tidbits he provided:

• As our population gets older, the majority of our patients are getting over 70. They'll require stroke therapy, aneurysm therapy, and basically what the document stated is that if you're over 70 and you come into an emergency room... if you're on government-supported health care, you'll get "comfort care".
• ...“ethics panels” or “ethics committees”, would get together and meet and decide where the money would go for hospitals...
• ...and basically for patients over 70 years of age, that advanced neurosurgical care was not generally indicated.
• If someone comes in at 70 years of age with a bleed in their brain, I can promise you I’m not going to get a bunch of administrators together on an ethics panel at two in the morning to decide that I’m OK to do surgery.
• ...we're the most expensive out of all the fields in medicine. And we're the smallest field. But at two, three, four in the morning, we're the ones in the operating room. And we have to wait for an ethics panel to convene, which are not made of physicians -- they're made of administrators. To decide whether a patient should receive our care.
• ...they don't call them patients, they call them units. And if you're a unit above a certain age, you get comfort care instead of advanced neurosurgical intervention.
• You know, we always joke around -- 'it's not brain surgery' -- but I did nine years after medical school, I've been in training ten years, and now I have people who don't know a thing about what I'm doing telling me when I can and can't operate.

He also mentioned that this information is not currently available to the public.  Gee, I wonder why?

We have the best health care in the world (despite its faults) and Obama seems determined to reduce it to third world status.  You think only the rich get the best care now?  Wait until this crap kicks in.  You think HMO's are evil and heartless because they "manage" care to save money?  Obamacare will be an HMO on steroids, and without any competition to keep them in line.

Almost all the women in both sides of my family live to at least 90 and with that in mind I have every intention of having Mom around for a couple more decades.  I also plan on adding myself to the family's list of 90-somethings some day.  I'd hate to think either might not happen only because the American government decides to withhold care.  The American government, withholding available, lifesaving medical care from its own citizens.  Think about that.

Remember, they had to pass it so we could find out what was in it.  And now we're starting to find out.  And it's not pretty.  In fact, it may even turn out to be deadly.

Luck of the draw

I've never been one of those people who seem to have all the luck in the world when it comes to winning contests and prizes, which is why the last few days have been so weirdly wonderful.

Last Friday night I learned that I'd won tickets to Saturday's King's game versus Montreal via a giveaway by Kings Vision on Twitter.  The Brother and I headed over to Staples Center the next morning and except for the final score (Habs 2, Kings 1) we had a blast.  The Kings organization has done a hell of a job making the game a fun experience.  They also did some really nice giveaways for the crowd.  One season ticket holder won a Kings guitar that was autographed by the entire team.  Plus, we continue to be blown away by how nice that part of downtown is.  As an additional bonus, while The Brother was waiting for me to arrive, he got a chance to say hi to Luc Robitaille as Luc was entering the arena.

Today I learned that I'd won tickets to tonight's Kings game via Bailey's (the team mascot) Facebook page.  This one was the result of a "first goal of the game" contest during the ugly loss to Anaheim the other night.  I picked Slava Voynov and he came through.  So we're headed back to Staples tonight, hopefully to see the boys break a two game losing streak.  They're going to have to do it against the Minnesota Wild, currently the best team in the league with 39 points (the Kings have 30).

In addition to all this, the Kings just started a fantasy hockey challenge on their website, giving fans the opportunity to win tickets and autographed merchandise.  I've never done a fantasy league before, but decided to give this one a shot.  What have I got to lose?

And with all this in mind, you're damn right I went out and bought a lotto ticket today!

Christmas factoids from Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable's Music Plus Traditional Holiday Tunes station is beyond awesome.  In addition to the really great music, they also publish onscreen holiday trivia.  Here are some things I've learned from them:

• Christmas carols were created as a way to tell the story of the nativity to people who couldn't read.
• The Christmas classic The Nutcracker was a flop when it was first performed. (Note: This is also true of It's a Wonderful Life - it was a failure at the box office, only to become a "classic" years later.)
• Santa Claus was pictured as an elf until Coca-Cola began picturing him as a full-sized person in their ads.
• The rush for Christmas shopping began in World War II when it was necessary to mail gifts early to troops overseas. 
• According to weather records, the states with the best chances of having a white Christmas are Michigan, Minnesota and Washington. 
• The tradition of tinsel is based on a legend about spiders whose webs turned to silver when spun in a Christmas tree.
• The minimum size requirement for Rockefeller Center's Christmas tree is 65 feet high and 35 feet wide.
• Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has been filmed more than 200 times.
• Jack Nicholson was originally considered for the role of Ralphie's Old Man in A Christmas Story.

Exactly three weeks until the big day!