Take this tip from your ole pal

Avoid Midtown Manhattan today –

Thousands of poor souls will gather to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree be lit for the first time this holiday season tonight. Remember to bundle up and bring a polo mallet with you if you, unfortunately, find yourself in midtown.

If you think I'm bad with remembering season dates: The Rockefeller Center website can't seem to agree with or not it is the 91st or 92nd annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting.

The first tree was put up by the construction workers at the Rockefeller Center site in 1931 - the workers pooled their funds to purchase a 20-foot balsam and decorated it with a string of cranberries, a few tin cans and homemade paper garlands from their families. Another tree was put up again by the construction workers and lighting may have been involved.

According to their website: The Rockefeller Center made the Christmas tree an annual tradition and held the very first tree lighting ceremony with a 40-foot evergreen that was strung up with 700 lights.



Do you really want to be stuck in the middle of potential Darwin Award winners and their children who should be forced to play in traffic? So once again, I’m giving native New Yorkers a gentle reminder – watch last year’s lighting here.



This year, Kelly Clarkson, the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, the country duo Dan + Shay, Broadway star Megan Hilty, Thalia, and more, as well as, the refugees from overbooked ancient hotels in the holy land are involved this year.

Exert extreme caution!

Our second holiday feature - the true cost of Christmas)

OK bunkies, national inflation levels may be on the decline, but the cost of celebrating Christmas in the style of the classic 12 Days of Christmas song has risen significantly this year. PNC Bank's annual survey reveals a 5.4% increase in the price of the items featured in the song, totaling $49,263.47 for 2024, which is a $2,533.61 increase from last year. This rise in price largely mirrors the increase in service costs, as the inflationary pressure has mainly impacted services rather than goods like birds, which have remained fairly steady in price. Interestingly, while purchasing the items online still costs more, the price difference between in-store and online shopping has narrowed compared to previous years. In 2024, buying the entire set of items online would cost $54,073.69, a $4,809.70 premium over in-store purchases. This is a 3.9% increase from the 2023 online total of $52,024.03.



If you were to buy all the gifts from the entire song - every single repeat of the 12 items - the True Cost of Christmas would be a staggering $209,272.00, reflecting a 3.6% increase from the 2023 total.

So it stands to reason that today's holiday theme is - The Twelve Days Of Cristmas

The 12 Days Of Christmas Mabel Mercer -




12 Drinks of Christmas  Fay McKay -




The Twelve Days of Yaksmas -




The 12 Days of Christmas A Tale of Avian Misery -




The 12 Gifts of Christmas Straight No Chaser -




Maybe we've played this song too much




Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree   Brian Sibley -




And finally, complaints about the number of gifts-

Demand Euphoria!