Write-in: December 24.
(I hate Christmas)
How can you possibly hate Christmas? Is it the snow? I hate that too. Don't know what I was thinking when we moved to northeastern Iowa four years ago. But, it's always warm inside. And anyway, a cold day with an excuse to drink too much is better than a regular cold day.
Or is it the commercialism? Dude, we're a consumerist society. And this is our chance to bask in the glory of our materialism.
Or are you religious and don't like the US-style Christmas, because it has nothing to do with anyone's birthday, and is celebrated by atheists, the Japanese, the Chinese, and others who have nothing to do with Christianity. Well, I got news for you, Jesus (of Nazareth) may or may not even have been born in Bethlehem. That little grotto of the nativity is built upon a random site that some clever arab told Emperor Constantine's mother when she showed up there as a Roman tourist looking to spend some cash. And Jesus was almost certainly not born in December, but probably around March or April according to several modern analyses. The date in December was chosen when Constantine decided to become nominally Christian (because the Christian god helped him win a battle), and it was a festival date already in existence for the Romans. It was a celebration of the time just after the winter solstice, when the days started to become longer, and it was devoted to the sun, and it was a time of drunken debauchery and singing and dancing--Not unlike our US-style Christmas--and, just like our own irreligious version of Christmas, has little to do with anyone's birthday. So, historically, it is less accurate to say that American de-Christianized Christmas, and more accurate to say that the Americans simply got back to the basics.
Or, are you just a frumpy old fart with no one to share the holidays with? At least that I could respect.
Well, not me. I spend money with abandon, and it's the one time I can drink too much cognac and wine and vodka without my wife nagging me about drinking too much. If only it weren't so damned cold. I've actually been thinking about doing Christmas in the tropics this year.
Anyway, the thread just asked about the music, not about celebrating Christmas. We play Christmas music all year long. And we sing and dance all year long. We like "There's a hole in my Christmas stocking" and "Jingle Bells" and "My two front teeth" and especially the chipmunk song. Nothing depressing about that.
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