Dr. Caligari's cabinet is now so crammed that he had to stow stuff in the Cupboard. Time may wound all heels but once in a while you need a cup of tea.
OK bunkies, national inflation levels are on the rise, and that is reflected in the cost of celebrating Christmas in the style of the classic 12 Days of Christmas song, which has increased significantly this year. PNC Bank's annual survey reveals a 4.5% increase in the price of the items featured in the song, totaling $51,476.12 for 2025—an increase of $2,212.65 from last year. This rise in cost largely mirrors the increase in service prices, as inflationary pressures have mainly impacted services rather than goods like birds, which have remained fairly steady.
The price of gold, unfortunately, surged by a soaring 32.5% year-over-year. Interestingly, while purchasing the items online still costs more, the price gap between in-store and online shopping has narrowed compared to previous years. In 2025, buying the entire set of items online would cost $55,748.05, a $4,271.93 premium over in-store purchases. This represents a 3.1% increase from the 2024 online total of $54,073.69.
If you were to buy all the gifts from the entire song - every single repeat of all 12 items - the “True Cost of Christmas,” when doing your own shopping (as opposed to shopping online), would be a staggering $218,542.98, reflecting a 5% increase from the 2024 total.
So it stands to reason that today's holiday theme is - The Twelve Days Of Christmas
The 12 Days Of Christmas -
12 Drinks of Christmas Fay McKay -
Christmas Countdown Frank Kelly-
The 12 Days of Christmas A Tale of Avian Misery -
The 12 Gifts of Christmas Allan Sherman -
The Twelve Days of Yaksmas -
Simon's Cat 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS -
Tonight is the unofficial start of London’s holiday season, when the annual lighting ceremony of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is held on the first Thursday in December.
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The tree is a gift given to Britain by the people of Norway as a thank you for support during the Second World War. The tradition has been ongoing since 1947. The Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg will be hosting the Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe, and the Norwegian Ambassador, Tore Hattrem.
(They also light the tree in Boston Commons tonight. The tree is a gift from the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has been sent every year since the 1970s. It is in recognition of the swift and sustained relief effort the people of Boston put together to aid Halifax after the explosion in their harbor in 1917. )
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 93rd or 94th 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, Reba McEntire, Marc Anthony, Kristin Chenoweth, Brad Paisley, Gwen Stefani, and more, as well as, the refugees from overbooked ancient hotels in the holy land are involved this year.
Exert extreme caution!
It’s the holiday season, so let’s get lit - Christmas Light Shows:
According to recent surveys, approximately 90% of Americans celebrate Christmas in some form, includes both religious and secular observances, such as family gatherings, gift exchanges, and holiday traditions that are not necessarily tied to Christian beliefs. This means there are approximately 100 to 120million households households in the United States that celebrate the holiday. While not every home in the U.S. that celebrates Christmas decorates with extravagant lighting, many of them do.
Electricity use in the United States in 2024 was more than 12 times greater than electricity use in 1950. The amount of electricity used by holiday lights is determined by the type of light used. The most common include 100-light mini lights. These lights use 0.039 kWh of electricity per hour, which is around 0.95 kWh per day. Ceramic C7 lights are also widely used. A 100-light strand uses 130 watts, which is around 0.13 kWh per hour, resulting in a daily use of around 3.15 kWh.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average cost for electricity in the United States is about 17 - 18 cents per kWh, in 2024. Based on that cost and the known wattage for typical bulbs, you can do the math to determine how much it costs to power a standard 100-bulb strand. The bigger the bulb, the more juice it takes to make it sparkle. For those big old-school C9 bulbs that are used most often for outdoor displays (and popularized by Clark Griswold, you can plan on paying for 175 watts of power for a single 25-bulb strand. Run that strand 12 hours a day for a 45-day period, and you’ll pay around $16.06 per strand over the holiday season. Prefer mini lights instead? A 100-light strand of incandescent minis runs around $16 per season. Some extreme household decorators can spend an extra $2,125 to light their displays!
It’s nice to see that the public is helping support the public utilities. You know that they are barely eking out a living.
ACME commemorates the anniversary of St. Elvis' comeback with their annual tribute -
Touch but his sweat soaked leather raiments and be made whole again:
Today's holiday theme - It's an Elvis Christmas today
If Every Day Was Like Christmas -
Merry Christmas Baby -
I Believe -
Santa Claus Is Back in Town -
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem -
Christmas Duets -
If you find yourself all tingly in your bulbous naughty bits;
Along with I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, this was one of the first Christmas novelty songs. Christmas songs written at the time tended to be nostalgic looks at the holiday or kid's songs, but this one took a different approach, with Eartha Kitt singing about how she's been good all year and expects some very expensive gifts to appear, including a fur coat, a new coat and even a yacht. This girl has expensive taste.
(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays -
The song was recorded twice by Perry Como. Once in 1954, and released as a single for Christmas. The second time was in 1959 and has appeared on many compilations records.
Silver Bells
This Christmas classic was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 Bob Hope movie The Lemon Drop Kid. The song was inspired by the Salvation Army bell ringers around the city. The following year Bing Crosby, together with Carol Richards recorded the first recorded version.
I'll be Home For Christmas -
This song quickly became one of America's most popular holiday songs along with White Christmas, which Bing Crosby had also recorded. The song particularly struck a nerve with overseas GIs and their families awaiting their return from serving their country in World War II. The GI magazine said Crosby accomplished more for military morale than anyone else of that era.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year -
Over the years, this song has become an enduring holiday standard with covers by several artists for their Christmas albums, including Johnny Mathis, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Paul Anka, and Chicago, to name a few.
Remember, there is no prize for guessing the theme, except for the pride you can have within yourself
Don't fear the enemy that attacks you, bad the bad family that hugs you.
Some of the most poisonous people come disguised as friends and family - (the Motown edition)
Our second Christmas countdown - A Jackson Five Christmas
Up on the Housetop -
Up on the Housetop is a Christmas song written by Benjamin Hanby in 1864. This song is the second-oldest secular Christmas song, outdone only by Jingle Bells, which was written in 1857.
Give Love on Christmas -
Give Love on Christmas Day was written by Berry Gordy, Deke Richards, Fonce Mizell, and Freddie Perren for the Jackson 5 in 1970.
This is one of the first Christmas songs with a social and political message. This was written by Motown songwriters Ron Miller and Bryan Wells, the team that also wrote Stevie Wonder's songs A Place in the Sun and Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday.
Little Drummer Boy -
We here at ACME are wishing you time to enjoy the simple pleasures of this holiday season.
And if don't enjoy yourself, Joe will be coming by to give you the beating of your life.
