All right kids good to leave.
Welcome everyone to WFHR's Directors Cut, 43rd episode, special episode, Christmas
edition. Have your host James here. I'm joined by Seth and our special special guest
our favorite member of the band here. Melissa Kay is with us. Mel good to see you. Hello I'm
the favorite. Yes. Oh yeah. By far in a way. You're also the fan favorite. You are the number of
things. We appreciate you being here Mel. Thanks for joining us. I'm not mentioned the rest of those
things though. It's a log list but it's an interesting one. Maybe next year we'll get into that one.
Anyway, Christmas. Christmas time is here. We're gonna get into some fun topics today and we're gonna
have Mel sing as much as possible. I thought that it'd be fun. Last year we took a real hard look at
pop culture and Christmas entertainment-wise movies. That kind of thing. We're gonna dash into
that a little bit because that's the part of Directors Cut we like but or one of the fun parts of
Directors Cut I think but we also have a couple of stories and a couple things that we just weren't
able to get to on our morning shows and that I think are fit the show and our fun to do. So we're
gonna go ahead and dive into a couple of those. We're gonna get into weird Christmas traditions
around the world and some of those. Some of these fun ones. I think there's some new ones that I
hadn't heard of before and that but I thought we'd start with one of our own and I asked around
less I'd say three four weeks. What are some weird Christmas traditions that you think are weird
that you've seen others do? What I thought was funny is that there was at least half of the audience
putting an angel on top of the tree. The other half it was putting a star on top of the tree.
That was really unique to me. I thought that that was different and I never really thought much
about it so I wanted to look into why do we put these things on trees? Where did that come from?
Well we do we put an angel up there or a star because there is so much significance to this whether
it's religious or even warding off evil spirits. That is what a lot of it is about. It's been
through that placing an angel or a star on top of the tree. They're florida clearing the families
you know a side of good if you will and it was scaring away evil spirits from the home around
the holidays. If there's one thing we have learned evil spirits love Christmas cookies.
Well who doesn't really? It's so it's really tough to keep them away. It's really tough. You're
a miser and you need to learn the true meaning of Christmas. They come around then too so you know
it doesn't seem to be that way right. A lot of Christmas stories involving that. A lot of
good look I got a lot of meat off the bone on that one. It's I protect yourself with a tree
topper. There you go. I think that's pretty cool. With that being said though should the angel
have looked tougher because every angel it's usually a baby. It's usually an angelic. Yeah that's true
you know what we need is one of those boxing none puppets. Yeah there you go that's a lot that's
tough that's it that's it I I please if somebody does that please send a notch into your house
said does a picture of that I need to see that. I wanted to get into those traditions now and
we'll dive right into that and the first one up that I see here is an interesting one is this
festival of well this fist fighting festival in Peru. I'm just reading about this briefly.
It's really neat. I think a lot of people might have heard about it before I wanted to get a little
in depth in it. The Christmas day and as Cento Thomas Peru starts off as families make their way
to church but later in the morning and into the afternoon is when you know it's go time. A series
of organized fist fights take place. I don't think I ever thought about how this actually works out
like the logistics of this. Yeah somebody organized it. Yeah yeah what you do is you have grievances
throughout the year and you and me like you know December 25th baby like like it's a big prize
fight or something like that. This December 25th facing off one against Julio. It's it's like that
kind of. It's interesting. The first rule of Christmas Fight Club is don't talk about Christmas Fight
Club. Too late. Each fight lasts like five to ten minutes and it cannot last longer. Ponents
cannot hit each other while one person is on the ground. There are no weapons allowed and a referee
will call the fight if it begins leaning too far to one person's favor. Oh that's good. There's
a ref involved too. Okay that's nice. Yeah this is very official. Yeah no kidding. A lot more than
I would have thought of those who are elderly or have disabilities or otherwise cannot fight can
have someone fight on their behalf. They can have a second. Yes I pick you. Yeah that is that is
a very interesting part of this to be. But afterwards it is almost and it's not it's not a part of
the bylaws if you will or anything but once this is done it's done like you weren't bringing this
conversation up again whatever you were arguing about it is and don't they have to apologize to the
village. Yes that's the one. So the person who loses most publicly apologize to the town. Both
parties must again embrace after the fight a little similar to hockey fighting. Yeah and yeah
Melissa both have to apologize to the the day is punctuated by a big feast. For those that
can chew still. Sorry here's here's your turkey in a in a call. Yeah the bear you just
get ice cream today. Oh maybe that's out. The very beginning of the festival is hard to trace
but we estimates dates back to the 1600s. Wow Contquisa doors began taking over indigenous land
in the Andes Mountains and they them and these indigenous people that's how they would settle
differences that's how they would do a lot of this. I mean you know when you when you're
some fisticuffs. Yeah have a lack of of judges or you know a court system I guess I yourself
think. There you go. It's the thing of it it's other another interesting part of it is of course
this was at a time when there was not a huge population. Now there are around 8,500 people who
celebrate this. Wow. So there's so many more people that are a large group of people. Wow.
It's pretty interesting. That's fascinating. It must be a busy day. Yes. I think here's
another one that many might have heard of before KFC for dinner in Japan. Yes. Yes.
Busiest time of year for KFC is in Japan at this time of year. The tradition started in 1974
but there are a couple theories of when the company within the company about how it began.
One is that a store manager dressed up as Santa Claus and delivered chicken to a Japanese school.
The kids enjoyed it so we launched an advertising campaign. Another is that Japanese people began
buying KFC during the holidays because turkeys weren't easily available. That's the one I've heard.
Oh okay. Interesting. KFC was only founded in Japan in 1970 which is one of the more interesting
parts of this. That right now you go out to Japan on Christmas day. This is going to be huge.
It hasn't been around that long. One of the oddest cultural icons you'll find in Japan is
Colonel Sanders. He will pop up in the weirdest places. Really? Yeah. You'll see him in anime.
People dressed up as Colonel Sanders in manga and stuff like that. I wonder if there was the
connection between Santa and Colonel Sanders. They look sort of alike. You know. I guess so. Yeah.
They've got the facial hair. They've got the whole white dude. Yeah. Right. Right. Right.
Skinny. No. And they love KFC chicken in Japan for whatever reason. Yeah.
It's that's that is not I really want to go down the rabbit hole. I really I really want to look into
that. No. No. No. No. I got to stay focused. Gotta keep focused here. All right. So I keep
you things moving. When it comes to the continuing of this generation after generation doing it,
that's it gets even more interesting there. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. It's not something that's
ever really been talked about. Hey, we're having KFC for Christmas this year. People just do it.
Which is that's pretty cool. Oh, it's easier than cooking. Absolutely. Just I always think of
a finger looking good. Yeah. That's true. That's true. I do love KFC. When it comes to something like
this, though, it to me, it just feels like it's such a, okay, this is something we're going to do
as a family. We're going to do as a unit. You talk it over. I mean, especially here in the states,
everything we talk over as far as plans for Christmas, the weeks before Christmas,
this, this, and this. At least I feel like it always. Yeah. I got to bring the lettuce for
the taco bar. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And in order of I have to bring like an appetizer.
Okay. Well, I got to get on that. I don't know. I'm doing it. You'll get there.
In the two hours, I have to plan it. Sure. I don't make light of that. I just have that kind of
confidence in you plan and make and shop. So good. This is rough. I always think that
it's kind of interesting that we have these, whether we like it or not, these, these
stereotypes are these ideas of other countries and the way they are. And when I think of Japan,
I think of very hardworking people. I think of a very dedicated people and a very thought out
person people. Overall, certainly not everybody, but overall, most of the Japanese people I've met,
whether they're born here in the states or from there tend to keep this kind of tradition going.
Whether is their holidays from what I've been told are not as like this as much. It's, it truly
is a day off. So yeah, you're not just taking a day off of work. You're kind of taking a day off
from yourself in some ways, like of your, your own kind of like, yeah, well, something to
interesting, something you remember too about Japanese culture. It's not necessarily, you know,
accepted, but you do, you do, you do realize that, you know, there's also a very party hearty
culture as well. They work hard, but they also, they're pretty hard, you know, they go to karaoke.
Yeah. That stuff. They drink a lot, you know, and get that, get, you get kind of going there.
You know, I'm wondering about the Christmas thing though, since that's a newer thing for them,
you know, since Christianity has been, was introduced a lot later, you know, that kind of thing.
And it's, it's a more of a Western holiday that they just, they, they celebrate it, but it's not
the same, obviously. And I think they give it more. Maybe it's, they're, it's the American tie,
the Western tie to it, that KFC is a Western company, that kind of thing. Maybe that is something to do.
I don't know, but just speculation in my part. Maybe they just don't sound that far fetch.
If you take away the religious aspect of any holiday, especially Christmas,
it doesn't have as much of a serious tone to it. Right. It doesn't have a holiday. Yeah.
So for fun, right? Valentine's Day or. It's spectacular. I never thought about it like that,
but that's interesting. We're so tied to that part of it, even if you don't grow up Christian.
You know, you always hear the Nativity scene. Listen to the majority of our Christmas songs.
Absolutely. They are about, you know, they're, they're the faith-based songs.
And of course, Japan has their other religious holidays, you know, for chintoism and,
and Taoism and Buddhism, those are the major religions there. So it's, it's more like a
fun day, you know? Yeah. We don't, like, like, you were kind of touching on. It's like, yeah,
we don't have to worry about it. We, you know, we're not, there's the very few Christians in
Japan. So it's like, we can do whatever, you know, have fun. It, KFC. Yeah. I would like to find
a balance with that here. And I think maybe we do in some ways, maybe a lot of families do,
and I just don't realize it. But that, it seems like a good place to be with it,
where you can have both. Yeah. It sounds like fun. You can take it serious and also have fun
with it. I love goats. So that's why we're doing this next one. No, actually, I want to do this one
because we've had recently heard from some listeners out in Finland and Sweden on our morning shows.
So we go to Sweden for our next one. The Yule goat has been a Swedish Christmas symbol dating back
to ancient pagan festivals. However, in 1966, the tradition got a whole new life after someone came
up with the idea to make a giant straw goat, now referred to as Gavelle goat. Gavelle,
according to the official website, the goat is more than 42 feet high, 23 feet wide, and weighs about
3.6 tons. Check out this goat. You guys, check out this goat. I'm going to show a picture to
the listens. Oh, that's impressive. That's a lot of straw goat. It is a pretty cool look and
goat. It's pretty unique look. Wow. But I wouldn't want it on my roof. If you know a little bit
about Scandinavian culture, there's that now I can't remember. I've top my head. Those horses,
those wooden horses that you've seen, you know, that are like knick knacks and stuff. It's very
similar in shape to one of those. So that makes sense. Yeah. And then the horns curve over onto
the back. I think that's cool. It looks really neat. And they're all wrapped in red ribbon.
Yeah, it's very cool. Very, the Christmas colors very similar there seems like.
Each year, the massive goat is constructed in the same spot. I don't know why, but I think that's
really cool. It's spot. It's no problem. It's true. It's true. Would it be anywhere else?
Fans can even watch a live stream from the first Sunday of Advent until after New Year when
it's taken down. Oh my gosh. In parallel watching paint dries. It apparently it is a little
popular. That's really cool though. I love that. I got a side note for Scandinavian this time of
year. So I believe I believe it's December 17th is St. Lucia Day. And that's a very big celebration
in Scandinavia. At least Sweden I think maybe in Norway as well. It's famous that you have a young
girl and you put on her head like a crown with candles. And then you light the candles and they
kind of process into like the church or something like that. It's very strange to me. Kind of like
the KFC in Japan thing. Yeah. Yeah. St. Lucia was a Spanish saint. I'm not sure how she ended up
being so venerated in Scandinavia. Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. It's all the Scandinavian
countries. So yeah. One of my favorite American girl stalls was Kirsten. She was from Sweden.
And so on in the Christmas book which I think is number three in the series. For every
for every different character. Hardcore. She got to do that. She got to dress up like. Oh wow.
St. Lucia. St. Lucia, yes. With the candles in her hair. I was just thought that was such a cool
thing when I was a little girl. There's actually a pastry in my mom used to make. And I think
she does occasionally now. It's called Lucia braid. Where you actually take like a cup and you wrap
the door around it. And then you bake it. It's so good. Oh my gosh. Well, because the candles in
the hair, you know, they hold it up with the braids. Yep. That's right. At least in that story.
Yeah. And I think that's true. We go to Iceland next where similar to the 12 days of Christmas in
the U.S. Iceland celebrates 13 each night before Christmas Icelandic children are visited by 13
U.L. ads. After after placing their shoes by the window, the little ones will head upstairs to bed.
In the morning, they'll either have received candy if they're good or be greeted with shoes
full of rotten potatoes if they're bad. Oh. Rotten potatoes smell bad. Yes they do. I mean, that's
I guess do they have to wear these shoes after this? Do they have to wear, if they're smart,
they got like specific shoes for this. It's like, no, I wear my regular shoes. As a side note.
These ones don't fit. I'm going to put those down there. Hey guys, as a side note, just between us,
okay, just between the three of us. Am I Icelandic? Am I like like a day? Because I was a knucklehead
as a kid. Did I grow up just with bunch of nasty potatoes in my shoes? Did I just block it out?
I just don't remember. And that's why you have an aversion to mashed potatoes to the stage.
Yes. That's what it is. It's the rotten potatoes. I figured it out. I, not only I, but the people
closest to me that have grown up would be have never been able to figure out my problem with mashed
potatoes. I'm wondering if this is hidden. That is a really fascinating one though, I think.
What are the 13 come from though? That's interesting. Yeah. If not, no, not 12. There's 13 days of
Christmas. I'm going to add an extra one. New Zealand. I thought this would be interesting because
of it being, of course, a summer falls during Christmas for the Kiwis. A number of their
traditions center around a Barbie or grill where families and friends gather for a casual cookout
or for seafood and that kind of thing. The New Zealand Christmas tree is the Pahotua Kawa,
a coastal species that blooms a bright red color in December, providing shade during the sunny days.
I'm going to try to find a picture of this beautiful thing. That's cool. Kind of see a picture
of it right there. It looks like it's got red flowers on the end and the ends of the bush.
Well, that's pretty. It looks like something you see out in California. Yeah. It's very pretty.
It's a very pretty one. And the ocean behind it looks even prettier. I want to spend Christmas in
the New Zealand. That's a Christmas I want. Yeah. I'm good with that. I will definitely do that with
yeah. Denmark, going back to some of what we are saying about some other countries before
Christianity came to the day in Christmas day was a celebration of brighter days. Joel as it
would be art with the apostrophe over the old or something like that. As it occurred just before
winter solstice today, homes are decorated with superstitious characters called Nessir who are
believed to provide protection. On the evening of December 24th, Danish families place their
Christmas tree in the middle of the room and dance around it while singing carols. Yeah, it sounds
like fun. I like that idea. Yeah. Nowadays you'll see a lot of this on social media and it's one of my
I shouldn't say it is become one of my favorite things in the last year or two to kind of see
some of these. Very cool. They get really into it like they have a good time. It seems like a
lot of fun. Well, and then you get to decorate all sides of the tree. Like, you know, when you put
it in the corner of a room. Right. Yeah. The poor backside of the tree feels left out. Lonely and cold.
Yeah. Naked and afraid. Yeah. Exactly that. That's an interesting part of this. I had a lot of
that. That's what you think. In Poland, on Christmas Eve, many families share Opalatika. Opalak.
Each person breaking off a piece as they it's a religious wave. It's an unleavened
unleavened. Leavened. Unleavened. Yeah, you're right. I never read the first. An unleavened
religious wafer. Each person breaks off a piece as they wish each other Merry Christmas.
Dinner may not begin until the first star appears in the night sky. Oh, yeah, I've heard of that. Yeah.
Yeah. It's not cloudy. Yeah. Where's the star we can eat? And traditionally, so hungry. An extra setting
is left at the table should someone show up uninvited. Oh, that's nice. I like that. I think that
may be my favorite Christmas tradition I've heard out of all of these ones around the world. I love
that. I think that is a really beautiful thing, especially. It's time of year we think about a
lot of the people that are with us. And I think even that part of it is kind of a cool kind of
unique part of that. And you had to go all sentimental. It was going to be like, yeah, well,
if I show up with four of my friends and there's only one seat, what are we going to do?
Fight it out. Go to Peru. We're going to edit my part out. That's much better. That's fun here.
I think we'll wrap up in Ireland here where the Irish leave a tall red candle in a front
window overnight, a welcoming symbol of warmth and shelter for the holiday season.
Traditional Christmas fare in Ireland often includes homemade roast goose vegetables, cranberries
and potatoes. Yeah. Very good. Sounds good. Roast goose. I have actually had that once. My brother-in-law
is a hunter and a couple of years, he gets goose hunting and he got a couple of geese one year and
we went there for Christmas and he's like, what we're having Christmas goose? And it was very good.
I've never had goose, but it was really good. I've never had goose. I've had duck. Is goose
as greasy as duck? It depends. Well, it depends on what duck you get and whether or not it's wild
or raised tame. Wild ducks are not nearly as greasy as like farm raised ducks. So from what I've
again, because I've had duck, my brother-in-law has made duck too because he ducked. So I've had
that as well. Just like me. When I'm in the wild, I'm not as greasy as now. Yeah, it's true. It's true.
It's actually how we found Melissa. It's actually how we came across of the first time. It was
really interesting. I believe he did a special mistake. It was called it had goode and it's it was
goode goose. It was really it was really good. Yeah. All right, we do have time for one more. All right,
let me throw one more in there and we'll go to Finland for this one. I think this is a fun one.
On Christmas morning, Finnish families traditionally eat a porridge made of rice and milk,
topped with cinnamon, milk, or butter. Whoever finds the almond placed inside one of the poor
puddings wins, quote unquote wins, but some families cheat and hide a few almonds so the kids
don't get upset. You get a prize and you get a prize and you get a prize. At the end of the day,
it is customary to warm up in a sauna together. No, that's everyone.
Saunas are derigger in Finland. That's where they come from. So yes, I'm with that. I'm going
to the sauna. I was 46 when I learned that Saunas come from Finland. Yes, they did know that. I
did know. Oh, yes. That's a big healthy. I've got one that I think is from Germany. At least
that's what my wife has told me. It's the pickle ornament. Yes, you hide the pickle in the tree,
you know, and then the first, if you have kids, you know, they look forward to the first one,
at least in our family. If they find the pickle, that means you get to open the first present.
They find it. So yes, I think actually we have two pickle ornaments now that I think about it.
That works. I don't know. That's a very good question, Melissa. You get a prize and you get a
prize. Yeah, it's like the almond thing. Yeah, it's like, oh, we have prizes.
We will take a short break. We'll be right back with more directors cut here at WFHR.
Welcome back to director's cut, Seth Melissa. James here with you. Thanks so much for joining us
on this special Christmas edition episode. I wanted to get into this one with you guys. I think
it's kind of fun. A website recently suggested various Christmas traditions and then ask people
whether they're really still gung-ho about them if they really like them and not. Are you just so,
so how do we feel about them? So I thought this would be a fun one to go through and basically the
headline is, are these Christmas traditions overrated? All right. We have a director's cut,
home version that we sent out to all of our great listeners so you guys can go ahead and play
along at home. Making Christmas cards, 11% of people not only send out Christmas cards, but they
apparently make them. Wow. This is something my daughter does. Briya, she loves making cards,
like whether it's Christmas cards or any other kind. And I know it's something that that generation
seems to have really taken on and really enjoys doing. So I don't think it even matters.
What we say, I think they're going to do it either way. But I kind of like that. I don't think
that's overrated. I have especially the people who enjoy doing it because I know I get a friend
that we just today got a card that someone who makes their cards and they're just so beautiful.
Yeah. They put them together. Just gorgeous. Man, I just, I can't, I can't even imagine. You know,
it's like the intricately doing that stuff and I'm like I would just make a mess of it. It's just
my mom was really into it that that was her, her last big hobby before she died. She had so much
card making stuff and it brought her so much joy and she really, really enjoyed it. But for me,
personally, I prefer the picture Christmas cards. Yeah. I love getting the, these are the snapshots
of, you know, all the kids, the pets, the stuff we, trips we took this year, the fun things we did.
And it's even better if it comes with a letter that says this is, hey, this is what everybody's
doing. This is where we're at. Yeah, the Christmas letter. Is that, is that something we like?
Or are you? I like it. I guess, you know, within reason, you don't want some of the, like, two
pages, you know, like both sides of the book or something like that. Well, it can be excessive.
Yeah. And, you know, depending on who you get it from, I like it from my family members.
Oh, that's great. I occasionally get one from, you know, former people that I knew a long time
ago or that were friends of my parents that I'm like, okay, well, this is nice. Thank you for
remembering me and including me. It's a little weird. I'm glad your life is good.
I think I'm with Melissa on that one. I like the pictures, you know, because especially
if it's from people, you don't see often. I think I can see the kids growing up. They grow up.
We actually got one from my cousin and the last years is still on the fridge. And he's like,
well, should we throw this one over like, but they're so cute. And look at the difference between
then and now he's like, all right, you're right. We got Roma. Keep it up there. Okay, but okay, but
is speaking of Christmas family photos. Oh, there we go. 14% of people are really into it.
So not a whole lot of people into that one, but I'm with you, Melissa. Like I'm thankful to
the families to do this. We never did anything like that growing up. And my mom always wanted to.
My sister and brother and I have talked about, you know, oh, maybe we should do that someday for mom
and everything. You know, I want us to make it happen. Yeah, whoever is there. This Saturday, my,
you know, tire extended family is going to gather together at the city hall for our Christmas
gathering. And we have the last few years have been taking a picture because my uncle Chuck is
a big photographer. And so he's got the, you know, he just sets it up with the timer and, and all of us
are crammed in the corner. And, and there's like, you know, between 30 and 60 of us, depending on
the year. So that's a lot of us. That that's not bad. Not bad. That's pretty cool though. I love
that. That's a really fun idea. Now I really got to make sure that we do that. Now, man,
that you said it's got me really on my mind now. And yeah, I like this one. That's a fun one.
Putting Christmas trees up before Thanksgiving, 21% of people just can't wait. So this is something
that is a tradition for them before Thanksgiving. If you're that into it, I guess that's fine. But
I am one that give Thanksgiving its due. Yeah. Yeah, it seems like you're giving Thanksgiving
short trip. If you do that, like, come on. Yeah, do you at least wait till like the weekend after
Thanksgiving? No. If you set it up before Halloween, I say that's fine. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Because then you're at least giving short shift to two holidays. So you're being consistent
in other words, right? Yeah. I like that. Absolutely. That's that's that's off. That's logical in my head.
That's practically just winter decoration. At one point it becomes that. That's true. Yeah.
And you're smart for getting your outside decorations up. Well, it's warm. That's that's another
thing. This is a weird way to show us some of my level of respect for for Melissa and her
intelligence. Because if I had that thought, I'd just pass it on. But since she said it, I'm like,
well, actually, that makes a lot of sense. I have you so bamboozled. Yeah. Just wait till you get
my Christmas list. Baking cookies comes up on the list. 25% of us love doing that. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I have gotten to do it for a couple of years. I hope I hope I get to this year.
Hmm. Man, who can say cookies are overrated? Yeah. So who can who can say that? I don't know.
The person is this. Yeah. Really? I can understand. Not necessarily wanting to make cookies.
They must live next to a bakery. But yeah, smell. I just can't handle the smell.
No, they're just so there is their hand. They're handy. They pick them up there. Why bake them
yourself? But everyone must eat them. Yes. I can't think of people, someone who does not
want to eat a Christmas. Even if they won't, they say, oh, I can't do that. I want to eat a Christmas
cookie right now. Yeah. Right now. Right at this moment. This very second. This is one that I think
has definitely come to people's attention and everything. It started as a niche kind of funny thing.
It's turned into where everybody does it. Ugly Christmas sweaters. Yeah. Yeah. 25% of us are still
obsessed with these and love them and go searching and hunting them down. I just for the heck of it,
like last year around this time, I was, oh, you know, I'm going to look and see if there's
this type of ugly Christmas sweater or, you know, what about this one? Batman, the Joker,
Simpsons, you know, anything. Anything you can think of. There is. And none of these sweaters are
ugly to me. No. Like, I know I don't have great fashion sets, but they've gone against what it
was to be an ugly sweater. The ones that are manufactured, you know, that are sold as this is an ugly
sweater. That does not count. No. You have to go to a resale store, find something vintage
that is truly ugly. Yeah. That is so ugly. It's in fashion again. Right. Right. Yeah. It's good.
It's good. It's good to laugh. Yeah. For me, no matter what way you slice it, it's it's overblown
for me. Well, it has gotten to the point where it's ridiculous. Yeah. So even when it was just
starting out and it was kind of like the hair, you know, we can't nudge kind of thing.
Even then, I was like, I pass. I'm not interested. I'm offended. If someone says they don't like
Christmas, 26% of people take the holiday that seriously. What? Offended. So, I mean, this. But
if it was up to these people, then we'd have no grinched old Christmas or Christmas carol.
We need the didn't we discuss this already? We need a grumpy Christmas person. We need our
Bauhan bugs. Yeah. I think that you never know what's going through another person's head or
heart. Right. And everybody's going to have a reason maybe that this year or maybe they just
don't like Christmas. I was this person. And I think I had some pretty dang good reasons for
quite some time. I got over those and as best you can. But I can get this to a degree. I don't
begrudge people that those 25% of people are are offended by a lot of other things too. I do
a man. It's all likely that you are correct. Yeah. Yeah. Some people just like to be offended by
stuff. Yeah. Some people like to go on to comment threads and and just everybody's building somebody
up about some bad experience they had. And like, well, no, actually, I agree with that person because
you are not my mom. Yeah. You're right. Yeah. I would say one thing to the people that my former
kin of Ebenezer's and stuff out there. You can feel how you feel, but you lose me when you take
it out on other people. No matter how I ever felt about the day, if I was with somebody or I was
with my kids for God's sake or something like that, I was all in. I was all in. I was given my best
to be in. I think you got to do that at least. You don't want to do that. You don't have to be around
people or you know that kind of thing. Yeah. Hosting Christmas parties, 27% want to entertain over
the holidays. I've never had to do anything like this. So I don't even know where to begin with
something like that. I've been to Christmas parties. That's as close as I come to this topic.
Kevin and I have been preparing for a week. Yeah. Well, because we're my brother and his family,
two of my brothers and family are going to stay over this weekend because they have a long drive.
So, you know, we're just they're staying at our house. We're not necessarily. We're not hosting
the party, but we have people coming. We're hosting people for a party. Therefore, Kevin has to move out.
This is my cat for those that don't know. Kevin the cat. Not my boyfriend. I love the idea that they
know I'm here all over. Kevin the cat has to move out to the breezeway overnight or like the
porch overnight. So I've slowly been transitioning some of his stuff out there. So he can be so he
can be ready for hosting family for Christmas. I think we need to divide this into two different
things. There's the family party and then there's the friend party. Those are two very different
kinds of parties. You know, and one, I mean, depending on who you are, one may be a lot less
stressful and more fun than the other one, whichever whichever one it is. I don't know, but
could go either way. It depends on whose friends they are. Exactly. Now, if they're Kevin's friends,
it is going to be real. We're going to be a real. They're going to be a lot less. Get
party. A lot of animals those two those friends. That's why he ended up with us. He doesn't like
friends. No. Christmas decorations comes up next. 29% of people still are enthusiastic about it.
That number is very low to me. I think a lot more people like Christmas decorations than they
realize. I think you'd miss them if they were gone. Well, now, like them, like I like them.
I appreciate them. I don't put them up. Right. Except for the tree that Pam gave me.
That's up here round. I just turn it on at Christmas time.
And it's only about three inches high. But I love driving around and seeing other
people's decorations in the yard. The house that's out here on 73, once you pass that
car dealership or whatever that place is. That is gorgeous. And it's not that big of a yard,
but it looks like so many lights. It's so beautiful. You get on the main road here and
rap. It's past the Aspirus. And there's a house that every year usually has a bunch of stuff up
and you can almost see it from the road. You don't have to get that close. I know when I was a kid,
we first moved up here. We didn't know anybody. And there wasn't we didn't have much.
So one of the things that my family and we started doing was driving around and looking at
houses and everything. We had the gas. It didn't cost anything. And we had fun. We all bundled up
and got to do it. And we felt like we were that we were normal. I didn't want to say it that
way. But I don't know how else to say it. Like regular people. Yeah. Yeah. And we've really
enjoyed that. I love them part of it. I will say I don't own any Christmas decorations in the
apartments I've owned and had and stuff I never had. But I can see as I've I've lost more and more
people as I've gotten older and I think about my mom and how big this is to her. I'll definitely
pick that tradition up. I don't think I'll ever be as great at it as my mother, right? Well, how could
you have a yeah, right? I look hardboard box for everything. But I'm going to do stuff like this.
I want to keep that going. I think that's a fun tradition. Yeah. Yeah. Christmas carols.
36% of people would go out and subject others to their singing to feel the Christmas spirit.
I love singing Christmas carols. Yeah. They're fun. They're fun. And you know what,
mostly touched on something a little earlier about, you know, most Christmas carols,
you know, have like a religious aspect to it for, you know, for all that kind of stuff. But
I know I know that in the end though Christmas carols are just that. I don't think most people
really pay attention. In fact, I know of a person who has raised a Muslim. He's no longer
practicing Muslim or anything like that. But he loves Christmas. And he loves Christmas carols.
He's like, I don't care what they are. They're religious. I love Christmas carols.
Which I thought was that's how universal they really are. Well, and they're
fun to sing together too in harmony. Exactly. Yep. I get to sing with the Clark County
Coraliers this Sunday. We're doing a reprise of our performance that we did at the beginning of
the month at a couple nursing homes in Marshfield. So yeah, it's fun. Good on you. That's awesome.
Have fun. Yeah. And the songs are beautiful. And it's a combination of both. Actually,
which, you know, was weird for me standing in a church and singing jolly old St. Nicholas.
Oh, yeah. I've mentioned this so many times that I think I've kind of made it common. But my
Jewish mother loves Christmas more than anybody I've never known. Right, right. Yeah, I think
that there's something about the holiday that just stands out on its own. Christmas movies.
41% of people need to watch them this time of year. Need to. Yeah, they really stress the
need part in a lot of this. Like it's it's mandatory. You're going to stop breathing if you don't
or something. I think with stuff like this, the music, the movies, a lot of this,
decorations, you're going to see it or be affected by it one way or another. Like you almost
can't avoid it. So whether you like them or not, I think they're they're going to be there.
I would, if you are able, this is something I would recommend to people. If you are able,
and if you can find somewhere around that's showing them, find a classic Christmas movie that's
being shown on the big screen. Yeah. And a theater because it's such a different experience. That would
be a good experience. Beth and I did this several years ago when we lived in North Dakota. So in
downtown Fargo, there's an old theater called the Fargo Theater. And they showed mostly,
you know, foreign films, you know, art house films, that kind of thing. But every Christmas,
they would have a classic Christmas movie. They had a rotation every year. And Beth and I's favorite
movie is White Christmas. That's our favorite Christmas movie. And we got, so with one year,
they were showing it. Let's go. You know, let's check it out. So we wad, we went to their end.
The difference of watching it with a bunch of people and stuff and watching it on the big screen.
And you find different reasons to like it because the people would laugh at different things that
you don't, because you're so used to the movie so many times in your own living room,
in your own living room. But then you're with a group of people and they find other things funny
and you laugh with them. You're like, Oh, I never thought about that sort of thing. So I would
recommend it. Yes. If you can like, it's whatever it is. It's wonderful life, you know, whatever it is.
Try it. If you can try to do that. I don't, we were talking earlier on the morning show when,
I mean, a couple of days ago on the morning show.
Illusion illusion. I, we were talking about Christmas movies. And I mentioned, you know,
how much I love the Charlie Brown Christmas special. That's a great one. I'm an Otter and that and
all those. But honestly, if I, if I was pressed on maybe my favorite Christmas movie,
I think it's Scrooge. The Bill Murray movie. Right. And it's not so much because of the movie,
although I do love the movie. Some amazing performances, great cameos in that carolcane alone,
like, I watch that scene over and over and laugh every single time. It is mixing with a toaster.
It just gets me every time. But when my friend, Chris and I, we're going to, we wanted to sneak
into a movie, our radio movie. We thought we can get into one. And I don't know why we thought
that we had no chance. And it didn't happen. But we were nervous. So we got tickets to the movie,
the other movie that was playing, which happened to be Scrooge. Okay. So we go in to go watch
Scrooge and there's nobody in the theater. And it's just, oh, yeah. It was a Friday,
or no, it was a Nightmare in Elm Street movie. Oh, I wanted to go see that. I only remember because
this, Chris was going to, we're, you know, we're two teenagers. So of course, we're not going to
sit next to each other. That would be out manly. We're here. Yeah. We're here. Yeah.
Chris sits next to me and I couldn't figure out why I look over the seat right that he was going to
sit on had like these like scratch marks in it. And he was like, oh, pretty Kruger Lake.
So bad at me. I brought that up. But that it was such a, like, we had the theater to ourselves.
We got to see that movie in the big screen. Like what you're saying and everything. Whenever I see
it now, I, I immediately brought back that moment. Christmas music. 41% think it's great. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Like our classics, you know, I think James and I were talking a little earlier today,
or, I mean, earlier this week about our favorite Christmas, writing a Christmas song and then
making popular and then it's like being like a royalty machine. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you're going to
think of how much money Irving Berlin got for writing white Christmas. Think about that. It was
a hit every year from when he was alive. His estate must still be getting everything. Exactly.
Imagine. I hope so. Someday, you never know. I don't know anybody. I know plenty of people who say
they don't like Christmas music. But I ask everyone of them, what's your favorite Christmas song
and immediately they got some. Yes. I mean, I feel like it's one of those things. It's almost
become niche to say you don't like Christmas music or something. Well, what I don't like is
walking every into every store at this time of year and hearing pop Christmas. Oh, yeah, yeah.
I like the traditional Christmas music, whether it's religious, whether it's, you know, Santa
Claus is coming to town, although that one I don't like all that much. But like those types of
songs. Yeah, Jingle Bells. That's roasting an open fire. Right. The Christmas song.
Yes, get it right. It's the Christmas song. I know, but you're not going to know what I'm talking
about. I would know. Yeah, yeah. I started singing along with you guys when I was listening
to you on the morning show the other day. Talking about chestnuts. Oh, that's true. That's true.
That's right. All presents must be opened on Christmas Day. No exceptions. 41% are hardcore about
this. Ooh, the old debate. The old debate. Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. When you open your
presents, kind of thing. Or whenever you get together for Christmas. Yeah. I think they're talking
more like the immediate family kind of thing. Yeah. Right. And the truth, you know, you're talking
about years back when you had one family Christmas. Exactly. I mean, so many kids now have two,
three or four, yeah, would you have them at your grandparents or you're, you know, wherever.
At that point. Yeah. I know that we, like one of the best times we had as a family was when we
get to go to Nana Papa's on Christmas Eve and get those presents. And on Christmas Day,
we got presents. Yeah. It happened very often. But that was pretty cool in that. Yeah. Yeah.
I think that's fun. I know what we incorporated a little of that with my little kid, my little
bambinos, with them we, we would let them choose. Okay. The presents are under the tree.
I can pick one open tonight. The rest you got open tomorrow that's that before. You know,
they pick the biggest one or something like that and everything. Or poor is well. We had to pick
four because you couldn't decide. No. No, no. It was poor kid, was tortured. No. Indecision.
Uh, oddly enough, her father was the guy that would, my papa would take me to the shop,
go to pick out a GI Joe guy. I'd be walking that guy. I got two of them and I can't decide
between the kids. And it would never fail. I would go running back and like, no, I changed my mind.
I go running back and everything. When I was a kid, um, mom would let us open our stockings on
Christmas Eve. And then we got to open our presents on Christmas morning, which is counterintuitive
because weren't they supposed to be filled by a certain someone? Yeah, that certain someone
didn't exist when I was a kid. I was going to say I'm not surprised for what you've told me.
Yeah. So yeah, snow comes up on the list. Uh, snow, apparently they're being very loose with
traditions. Like we have a choice. Right. Around here, we don't. I will say we, I think we've
referenced this a number of times throughout the month here and everything. But is, is it, does
it feel like Christmas without snow, you know, even here in the Midwest? For us here in the Midwest,
it doesn't as much for me if there's no snow, because usually there is. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
we spent a few years here and there throughout my life. Dirk Spentley was talking about
Christmas in Arizona. Yeah. I was actually saying I've been friend Paul Trombley from
the right center. He gave us the stat the other day of 74 or something. Yeah. It's about quarter
of the time. We don't have a white Christmas run here. And I thought that was that wow. That's
a prize me. Yeah. That is, it's actually more than you'd think. I would not have guessed that.
No way. I'd have gotten that really wrong. Like 90% we had snow. But no, I guess not.
The final one on this list, thousands of people believe that secret Santa is overrated. 54% of
people are still enthusiastic about it though. I think it's fun when you're into it. Yeah.
It's not bad. I'm doing one with the producers here at Civic Media. We're going along this
year. So that's kind of fun, a little different. So we'll see how it goes. But we, you know,
because it's a we're kind of like a technology company in a way, I guess sort of we had what
Elfster, I think there's a website called Elfster where you can do this where everything's anonymous
except for the name you get, you know, you can give up a wish list of stuff you want and
the person can look at it and that kind of thing. It's cool. First time I've ever done it. It's
really interesting. So we'll see how that goes. But yeah, I should be surprised that there's
something out there like that. But I've never gotten to do anything like this. So I kind of,
I guess I kind of always wanted to. But I don't know if I did joy. I don't know if it's overrated
or anything like that. That's true. I've never done it before. How would you know?
You know, now that we're talking about this, I remember as a kid in the church that I grew up in,
they had secret sisters. Wasn't a secret sandwiching and it wasn't a Christmas thing. It was a year
round thing. Oh, okay. Yeah. And you had a secret sister for a year and you would leave her gifts
at church now and then it wasn't like, it's like, almost like when you get one, you'd give one.
But everybody would exchange and then at the end of the year, whenever it was, they'd have
like a secret sister party and everybody got together and you revealed who your secret sister was
for the year. It was kind of cool. Now that I remember, I totally forgot about it. So we started
talking about secret sandals. I have sister's been theater companies do that for productions.
If it's like a bigger cast, someone you just give little gifts to, you know, a little nice things
to keep them up, you know, pick them up or something like that until the production's done. Yeah,
right. That's really cool. It's an interesting list. I don't know how much of it I agree with,
but I did, I did like the list. It's a fun list. The air consensus is, most of that stuff is not
overdone. Yeah, overhyped. I think I think we're all, we're all, we're all at least three of us
are okay with most of it. Christmas tradition. Yeah, that's not the wrong with it. Because it's all
about joy and giving each other, you know, bringing and gift giving, you know, and thoughtfulness.
I don't know. Well, I think it's all good things. I was just going to go to commercial because I
thought that was a perfect way to wrap up the segment. That was great, Melissa. I didn't
be to leave you hanging there. I was just waiting. I didn't want to interrupt you. That's perfect.
Well said. We'll go to break here. Just nice. Or I'll stay on an open fire. Welcome back to
a Christmas edition of directors. Cut Melissa, Seth and James here with you. Thank you so much for
joining us during this time of year. We hope you and yours are having a great holiday season.
Thought we'd wrap up in the last couple of minutes with a poll that I came across about holiday
classics. And which one is not just so much America's favorite, but our favorite to rewatch.
That's kind of an interesting take on this and everything. I know which one I think it is.
Nice. Okay. Okay. We're going to get into it with number 10 diehard.
We're not starting that again. We only have a couple of minutes to show. So we're not going to
just move on, but I couldn't help myself. Slide right past that. And number nine, Miracle and 34th
Street. 21% of people still love to rewatch that whenever I could do that every year. It makes
you grow. It's such a sweet movie. It talks to Dutch to the Dutch girl. Yeah. Oh, that is a
beautiful. Oh my god. Made me cry on the RWRTC stage last year. You're right. Oh, good call.
I haven't seen it so long. I forgot all about that. Yeah. Oh, that got me. Yeah. That's a beautiful
scene. The Santa Claus 24% with that one. Yeah. That one. I don't think I could watch. That's a
Tim Allen. Yeah. I've never seen it. Never seen it. It was all right. The first one was all right.
Yeah. Number seven. It's a wonderful life. 24% with that. That'd be number one. That's a good
one. For a long though. It also makes me cry. Every time that bell rings, it just rings. Yes.
I like that. I like that one. Number six Christmas vacation at 25%. I actually thought that
would be very high on the list. But that's watched all the way through the little bit though. It's
made some pieces. But I am shocked by that. I know more people now that because I grew up thinking
that everybody watched that movie. It was on WG at all the time. Oh, sure. Yeah. Half the time
it wasn't even edited for TV. So you just felt like you're, you know, you're gonna get the best
sneaky watch this stuff. Oh, yeah. Elf at number five. Also, I haven't seen it. Yeah, that
one's become a much more recent one. It's kind of interesting that way. Yeah. I boycott
popular things. Check out the musical. It's cool. The musical is good. I really, I think that
part of the reason that's become a modern classic is about like a lot of things that we're looking
for now where we want something new and we want something to push us the envelope a little bit
but not too much. And it has those good feelings. Yeah. And good feelings. Yeah. And you need,
like it's a perfect cast for that. As weird as it may sound, James Khan is, has got a warm
spirit to him, even when he's playing a grumpy character. Will Ferrell, so additional,
everybody loves them. And I love them. And I think it's pretty obvious that they would work. But
the, the, the, the grandpa, I'm not grandpa, Santa. Yeah. You've got so many great, lovable older,
old school actors. Yeah. You got, uh, uh, uh, uh, Bob Newhart. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's good
cast. Ruined up the red nose reindeer next. Yeah. The cartoon. Yeah. That, that one is, I love that
one. I think the thing that really makes that is the songs. Those are really good songs in
that. Yeah. Oh, good one. Yeah. My relative, uh, Brawlives. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Always got to point out. Uh, I would too. Um, I, I, I root up the, the actual song,
root of the red nose reindeer is one of the most catchy songs I've ever heard of my life.
And again, stuck in my head, but it's not an earworm. It doesn't bother me really. Oh,
it doesn't really bother me. I don't know why it just doesn't. Uh, a Charlie Brown Christmas
comes in at number three. I'm glad that one's holding steady. That's good. Every year I got to watch
it. Every year. I've got to love it. When Linus puts the blanket around the body every single
time, Alyssa, you just happened to mention my, my favorite part. That's, uh, that's so cool.
It wasn't, it's not such a bad tree. Yeah. Uh, I can't even say the line. And that gets me all
kind of, uh, uh, a Christmas story at number two. Wow. Yeah. That's higher than I thought.
Try out. Try out. This is going to say you should try out. Uh, and at number one, any guesses,
any guesses for number one? Yeah, it's hard. I would have had a difficulty. I wouldn't have had
any. We've gone through all the ones that were the Grinch. Uh, home alone. Yeah. Home alone.
We're just the one. Yeah. Uh, the Grinch does not show up on here. I would have said the Grinch
for sure was a top five. Yeah. But there's multiples of, uh, I would usually talk about the original
one, the 66 one. Yeah. But I wonder if that's why because there are so many versions. That's
an interesting point because you would think for sure the Grinch would show up. Yeah. Uh, that is
going to do it for another Christmas edition. This goes by way too fast. Um, we got to bring
Melon more. We got to bring her on with you guys. You keep saying that. But here yet. Yeah. It's
been a year and that's been a year. That's right. All right. I know how you really feel. You just
got to get more shows or something that we have. We have a slide. We have a reason to, you know,
it's ugly. We need a reason. Uh, I heard this suit as I said. Merry Christmas to y'all.
I'm going to go try to make up to Melissa. Uh, you guys, uh, thank you so much for joining us.
Have a great holiday season, everyone. Uh, from all of us here at WFHR, we appreciate you.
Enjoy yourselves. Enjoy your loved ones and have a great holiday season.