Scuttlebutt

Rumors and unsubstantiated semi-facts

Rumor mill
I have a normal eared brother that lives way down south. He’s a Christmas amateur, meaning he only thinks about it in December. His decorations consist of a predecorated tree from the discount store and an inflatable snowman in the front yard (with coffee stains on it, for some reason.) The good news is he knows to be a good dad to my super-cute niece that very much believes in what we do up here at the North Pole. My brother did his annual ‘Christmas Lights Tour 2011’ after extensive research on displays found via the Internet and made an…
Read More »
Rumor mill rumors
I’m a Christmas dude. Always considered Halloween people to be way-too-weird for this normal-thinking elf. Zombie movies, haunted houses and a fascination for anything gory is just not normal. But, there’s that viral video of a house in the UK decorated for All Saints Day with giant pumpkins singing to the music. Not a drop of blood anywhere in sight. All of a sudden I’m seeing Halloween decorating potential. Kind of a warm-up to the real deal we call Christmas. Checkout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfcNoMnKjrY. At last check it had over seven million views. Watch out Carson Williams! Word on the street is…
Read More »
Here we go with the rumor mill
This can’t be good. There’s been another data-dump onto the world from WikiLeaks. I just did a quick search for “Scuttlebutt” and luckily the government doesn’t mention me, this time. I’m on pretty thin ice as more secrets are revealed, at least when it comes to Christmas. With the price of copper trying to catch up with gold, this might be the year for non-traditional Christmas lighting. Less wire means less copper. What we thought was high priced in the past might look pretty cheap this year. I’m starting to see color changing tape light hit the shelves. It looks…
Read More »
The rumor mill again
Government overthrows, earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns. What in the world is going on with everyone down south? Sounds like the earth is falling apart. Head to the North Pole where everything is doing just fine. Hearing some disturbing rumors about LED pricing. Seems Christmas light production is moving to Vietnam where labor is cheaper yet the overall price of LED strings are going up 15% this year because of the never-ending shortage of copper. I’m sensing some sort of conspiracy similar to the pricing of gasoline. How can trouble in the Middle East yesterday end up with the price of…
Read More »
The rumor mill grinds on
When Santa isn’t looking we sneak off to the elf lounge and surf the Internet so we can keep up with everything happening south of us. Santa can’t come in because he won’t squeeze through the door. Us elves didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, you know. I really hate to admit this, but I’m quite impressed with all those Christmas display pictures and videos we’ve been seeing. We watched some show called “Invasion of the Christmas Lights 2” and easily recognized some of you PlanetChristmas characters. If I was to believe everything on TV it seems you put…
Read More »
The Rumor Mill
We get satellite TV in the workshop up here at the North Pole. Ernie (the super-geeky elf: think thick glasses, pocket protector and odd social skills) figured out how to tune into the local channels of all the big cities across the USA. We can’t help but notice the local news out of Orlando is much the same as Seattle or Denver. Crime is up, the economy is tough and kids do the craziest things. We even noticed the negative political ads, no matter where they were from, used the same voiceover talent so we’re convinced there’s not an honest…
Read More »
The Rumor Mill (again)
Labor Day. It’s typically when the politicians kick into high gear. How can you tell when one isn’t telling the truth? Their lips are moving. Sorry, but it’s a really old joke that still works. What most people don’t realize is Labor Day is also the opening day of the selling season for most Christmas vendors. People are now at least willing to think about Christmas instead of summer vacations. As for us elves, we keep working, even on Labor Day. Too much to do and not enough time. We get Christmas off only because it’s the one day Santa…
Read More »
The rumor mill
I dragged my wife to the last performance of the Trans Siberian Orchestra 2009 concert tour. Jiminy Christmas! I’ve never seen so many stage lights, lasers, light curtains and flame throwers so amazingly choreographed to the music. On occasion I could even see one of the band members on the stage through the haze. My wife was worn out after the first tune but TSO didn’t get to Wizards in Winter until two hours later. They say you can never get too much of a good thing. Idunno. My overly large ears are still hurting from that in-your-face sound system.…
Read More »
The rumor mill
Ahhhhh. The sound of wedding bells were recently heard in the Christmas decorating world. Our very own Melissa at Christmas Done Bright found her high school sweetheart from 20 years ago thanks to Facebook and they were married last month. A special congratulations to the new Mrs. Davis! A southerner (that’s anyone living below the North Pole) mailed me a video where some guy was saying to replace all your Christmas light fuses with nails. Hook as many strings together as you want and save big money not having to buy extension cords. This guy has figured out a quick…
Read More »
The Grinch again
Mrs. Grinch conned me into watching “Invasion of the Christmas Lights” on some cable channel last weekend. What is wrong with you people? So much stress and drama! I get the impression you think about decorating year-round, start putting stuff on the house in September and then can’t get it all done by your lights-on ceremony in December. Good gosh. The one year I decorated for Christmas involved putting a Bah-Humbug sign in the front window and it took me maybe a minute. Jesh. I’m quite proud of my fellow Grinches out there, though. We have a gathering every September…
Read More »