Merry Greetings!

At what point do we officially say it is the Christmas season? Here in Salt Lake City we've already had our first snowfall, our first fire in the fireplace and we've listened to many of the new release Christmas CDs of 2007. And look at the calendar -- October already! So we're really feeling Christmasy these days. In fact, the signs of merriment are all over:

In this issue:
-- Playing Santa at the Merry Forums
-- Expanded Playlists at Merry Christmas Radio
-- Site of the Week
-- How many Christmas Cards are you sending?
-- Reviewing Christmas Movies
-- Interviewing Santa Claus
-- Ana's Gift of Love to Santa
-- Link 'o the Week
-- Hot Topics
-- Easy-to-Make Santa Gift Tags
-- Christmas and the Constitution
-- Sneak Peek: This Christmas
-- Help Santa Name the Sleigh

The Merry News is brought to you by:

Playing Santa at the Merry Forums

Nothing gets us revved up for Christmas like playing Santa Claus. And this year we're doing it in a big way at the Merry Forums as we celebrate our 2nd year of the Great Christmas Prize Giveaway.

This is just our way of saying thanks to our many active, year-round, fanatical, loveable fans of Christmas by randomly handing out prizes only true Christmas fanatics will love. We have dozens of Christmas CDs, gift certificates, DVDs, candies and giftables to pull out of Santa's Sack between now and early December (everything gets delivered before Christmas!). Here are links to recent posts about our early Christmas gift giving:

-- 2007 Prize Pool Announcement
-- Christmas CDs
-- Live365.com VIP Memberships

Expanded Playlists at Merry Christmas Radio

Over the past weekend we have spent hours reviewing, compiling and indexing 12 more hours of Christmas music from artists across all genres and dating back several decades to expand our offering at Merry Christmas Radio for the 2007 holiday season -- we believe we have one of the largest collections of popular and new release Christmas music now online. Here are links showing our recent additions:

-- New Releases for Christmas 2007
-- The Playlist at Merry Christmas Radio

Keep an eye on our playlist over the next 30 days. By November 1st it will double yet again!

Sites of the Week

When we announced the launch of Chrsitmas Finest as a site featuring the best of Christmas online we never imagined that the response would be this fantastic. We have had literally dozens of Christmas websites, vendors and producers contact us about being featured at Christmas Finest.

As a result, we're learning a lot more that we didn't know about Christmas online. We have big plans for this site going forward and ask for our subscribers to help us out by letting us know your favorite Christmas haunts online so that we can share them with as many people as possible.

Since last we emailed Christmas Finest has recognized the following as sites of the week:

-- Why Christmas?
-- Christmas Recipes
-- Kaboose's Christmas Crafts

2007 Christmas Card Exchange

Just an update for you on our annual Christmas Card exchange: we have about four weeks left to sign up for this year's list. I took a sneak peek at the list this year and was THRILLED to see so many international addresses.

Think about it: what does a Christmas card from Iceland look like? Wouldn't a post mark from the Netherlands be cool in your mailbox this year? How much more Christmasy would greetings coming from Norway be? While I don't have an official tally of the number of names on the list I'd guess right now that it has to be nearing 100!

So if you're on the list you might want to be shopping for Christmas cards right about now -- and lots of them! The list will be distributed to those who signed up at the end of October.

For those of you who aren't clear on what this is all about, this is what we said in our last newsletter about the card exchange:

Last year, dozens of our friends from Christmas Talk.com, Clausnet.com, Talk Christmas.com, and the Merry Forums of My Merry Christmas joined together in sending out Christmas cards. It was fun to get lots of Christmas cards from all over the world!

This year we're doing it again -- and we're certain that our list will be bigger and better than ever. Fill your mailbox with lots of merry mail! (And get some unique additions to your home decorating for the season).

Click here to join this year's exchange

Reviewing Christmas Movies

As weather becomes frightful in the days and nights leading up to Christmas there's nothing like cozying up together by the fire to watch a great Christmas movie. Other than shopping, movie-watching is one of the greatest Christmas pasttimes of our generation. Here are recent reviews of classic Christmas flicks presented to us at Christmas Flick.com:

-- Christmas in Connecticut
-- The Muppet Christmas Carol
-- Elf

Interviewing Santa Claus

Every year we publish Santa's Annual Interview with the media. Santa talks about people who oppose him, why he won't get a new suit, the proper way to send letters to Santa, how he has managed to stay with Mrs. Claus for all these years and the top speed he's ever acheived on the sleigh. Santa is also a wry observer of popular culture and isn't shy when it comes to opinions about Christmas, the blatant overuse of his likeness and the excesses of the season. Kids love him -- and adults are surprised that Santa is such a candid character about Christmas in today's world.

If you could interview Santa, what would you ask him?

This year your question to Santa could be asked. In a special announcement made on the Merry Forums about a month ago, Santa declared that this year's interview would not be conducted by a traditional member of the media and that he instead had selected the editor of a real high school newspaper to interview him. This astute prodigy immediately suggested to Santa that he open the questioning up to the people.

You can go to this link to submit your question for Santa's interview. We have received dozens of questions already. You never know, your question just might be asked!

Santa's interview will be conducted and published this year towards the end of October.

Ana's Gift of Love to Santa

Our good friend SC launched ClausNet.com last spring and I dare you to find a more Christmasy venue online. ClausNet.com is home to real working santas -- old guys with merry hearts who give so freely to believers around the world.

One of them, Montana's Santa (a familiar face on most of our Christmas forums) submitted a story that has garnered a lot of attention and touched many hearts.

Click here to read his story of Ana's Gift of Love to Santa. This story, and other real experiences had by Santas from all over, is typical of the warm, heart-touching kind of experience you'll find on Clausnet.

I personally find the crowd that gathers at Clausnet amusing, wry and surprisingly computer savvy. Clausnet itself is a wonder to behold, a literal Christmas feast for the eyes. You've got to make a regular stop at Clausnet a part of your Christmas online!

Link 'O the Week

Link Christmas is our attempt to build the World's Biggest Christmas Link Directory. Each week, all year long, we scour the Internet for new Christmas sites. Here are some recent finds posted to Link Christmas:

-- Christmas Lore.com
-- Rather Be Shopping.com
-- Feels Like Christmas

Hot Topics

What's the buzz on all the Christmas forums as we head into October? Here's a brief rundown of hot topics:

-- Merry Forums -- Take religion out of Christmas?
-- Merry Forums -- The Magic of Christmas Memories
-- Merry Forums -- Does it snow where you are?
-- Talk Christmas -- How to hang ornaments
-- Talk Christmas -- What is your favorite Christmas drink?
-- Talk Christmas -- Name that tune
-- Clausnet -- Santa's Red Suit
-- Clausnet -- Santa's Start at Macy's
-- Clausnet -- When is your first appearance of the season?
-- Christmas Talk -- Countdown to Christmas '07
-- Christmas Talk -- Desserts
-- Christmas Talk -- Christmas On-the-Tube

We're also pleased to announce the opening of a whole new section at the Merry Forums dedicated to Christmas Shopping. Drop in and see what's hot for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2007.

Easy-to-Make Santa Gift Tags

It's a hands-on project both Moms and Kids enjoy making in advance of placing presents under the tree -- Santa Gift Tags. Click over to Jinglebell's place to see how this easy project is done.

Christmas and the Constitution

It is that time of year again where the debate over Christmas and how to celebrate it in public rages. At what point is Christmas a religious observance that should not be recognized in public forums and at what point is it a secular celebration common to everyone?

Those daunting questions usually tie school boards and city councils up in knots. But did you know:

-- Christmas Myths & Realities in Public Schools
---- YES, you can say "Merry Christmas" in public schools
---- YES, religious Christmas carols can be sung in public schools
---- YES, you can distribute Christmas cards at school
---- YES, schools don't have to mark every holiday as they do Christmas
---- YES, a manger scene is "ok" at public schools
---- YES, it is constitutional to say "Christmas" on school calendars

-- Legalities of Public Christmas Displays
---- The 1st amendment protects the right to display Christmas in public
---- The Constitution does NOT forbid religious displays on public property

Recent News in the War on the War on Christmas:
Illinois School District Bans Christmas
Christmas Left Off New York School Calendars
California City Removes Christmas From Parade

Sneak Peek: This Christmas

Two Christmas movies being released this fall are getting the lion's share of publicity in advance of their release: This Christmas, a drama/comedy starring Chris Brown. Here is a story synopsis:

This year, Christmas with the Whitfield's promises to be one they will never forget. All the siblings have come home for the first time in years and they've brought plenty of baggage with them. As the Christmas tree is trimmed and the lights are hung, secrets are revealed and family bonds are tested. As their lives converge, they join together and help each other discover the true meaning of family.

The other flick getting a lot of attention is Fred Claus, a new comedy starring Vince Vaughn. Here's the rundown on it:

Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) has lived almost his entire life in his little brother's very large shadow. Fred tried, but he could never live up to the example set by the younger Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), who was just a perfect...well...Saint. True to form, Nicholas grew up to be the model of giving, while Fred became the polar opposite: a repo man who then steals what he repossesses. Now Fred's dirty dealings have landed him in jail. Over Mrs. Claus's objections, Nicholas agrees to bail his big brother out on one condition: that he come to the North Pole and work off his debt making toys. The trouble is that Fred isn't exactly elf material and, with Christmas fast approaching, this one bad seed could jeopardize the jolliest holiday of the year. Has Fred finally pushed his little brother to the brink? This time, what Fred may have stolen is Christmas itself, and it is going to take more than Rudolph to set things right.

Help Santa Name the Sleigh

The Research and Development Department at the North Pole is giving Santa a new sleigh this year -- an ultra light, high-speed wonder of Christmas wizardry that will take Santa around the world.

Tradition never takes a back seat to technology and tradition is that Santa always give his sleigh a name before he flies. This year, however, he is having a difficult time figuring out what to name the sleigh and he is asking for your suggestions.

Have any ideas? Submit them at this link.

Catching Snowflakes on Your Tongue

We caught a short blast of winter here in Salt Lake City the last weekend of September and it was with giddy enthusiasm that my kids rushed outside to throw snowballs, build snowmen and revel in our first sign of the season. I posted a picture on the Merry Forums of my daughter Madelyn trying to catch a falling snowflake on her tongue.

It was one of those pictures that flooded my inbox with comments. From folks sharing memories and longing for a snowy day of their own to Santa Claus himself sending Madelyn a quick note in response (which she was THRILLED to receive, by the way) -- lots of people, it seemed, connected with the image of a kid enjoying a seasonal minute of joy.

What a simple, delightful thing.

It served as a reminder to me that all that is best and brightest about the season ahead are the little simple things that make Christmas so magical -- like catching snowflakes on your tongue.

-- All the best,
Jeff