Microsoft Pulls Plug on Potty-Mouth Santa
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An artificial-intelligence Santa bot operated by Microsoft to talk to children wavered off topic saying: “It’s fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else….”
Microsoft confirmed the bot’s potty mouth and snipped Santa’s Web connection. The corpulent and foul-mouthed artificial Santa was a bot that Windows Live Messenger users could […]

Slightly Odd


Christianophobia to be debated in the UK
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A British politician is to raise the issue, of what he calls, “rising Christianophobia” in “some” local communities, in a parliamentary debate tomorrow.
Mark Pritchard has secured a 90 minute Westminster Hall debate in which politicians of all parties are expected to debate the issue.
Mr Pritchard said, “The roots of Christianity in Britain go back […]

Slightly Odd


Toronto has the Biggest Christmas Stocking
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In case you missed Toronto’s unofficial holiday kickoff this afternoon, it’s official, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts broke the Guinness World Record for Largest Christmas Stocking today on, of all days, the Guinness Book of World Record’s Day. Yes, it’s an actual day.
The stocking’s final length was measured at 27.46 metres (90 […]

Slightly Odd


Other religions for British Christmas stamps?
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Christmas stamps go on sale today: six special editions featuring angels in the snow and portraits of the Mother and Child.
Royal Mail could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief this year after the fuss of 2006 when it was accused of taking the Christ out of Christmas with its secular images of Santa […]

Slightly Odd


Santa slims down for the holidays
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A shopping center in Britain has instituted a Santa Claus Boot Camp to press the importance of getting in shape over the holiday season.
The decision was made after a report was released in early November that said by 2050 more than 50 percent of British people will be obese, The Daily Mail reported Monday.
Fiona Campbell-Reilly, […]

Slightly Odd


The Cold War touched even Santa
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During the height of the Cold War, a little girl from Michigan named Michelle Rochon wrote to President Kennedy. Here is his response from the archives of the Kennedy Presidential Library and included in Caroline Kennedy’s A Family Christmas.
October 28, 1961
The White House
Dear Michelle:
I was glad to get your letter about trying to stop […]

Slightly Odd

$1.44M submarine in Neiman Christmas Book
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A $1.44 million submarine and a $75,000 robot are among the “fantasy gifts” highlighting luxury U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus’s Christmas catalog.
The Christmas Book, which gets much free publicity for offering unusual and extravagant gifts not otherwise sold in its stores, also offers a private holiday concert for 500 people, performed in your hometown by Russia’s […]

Christmas Gifts, Slightly Odd

Winter returns with fake snow in the Cape
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Snow in the middle of Cape Town’s city centre would be a rare sight.
But it became something of a reality on Sunday when a small part of the city was transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with ice-capped cars and snow-covered pavements.
It may only have been the set for the shoot of a television ad, […]

Slightly Odd

Mannheim Steamroller Brings Space to Earth
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There were a couple of late-60s bands whose heavy sounding names fit perfectly with their sound — Iron Butterfly, followed by Led Zeppelin — but this pattern couldn’t be said of a band who, starting in1975, unleashed a new sound under the moniker Mannheim Steamroller. And while only their name sounds heavy, Mannheim Steamroller can […]

Slightly Odd


Xmas Cookies Arrive After Detour to Afghanistan
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A box of Christmas cookies finally arrived at the home of a New Jersey woman about a month late, and it had some unexpected additions.
The misdirected mail was sent from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania addressed to Pittsgrove, New Jersey, but somehow the package ended up in Afghanistan first.
Bonnie Donohue may never again look at a cookie without […]

Slightly Odd


Woman finds bat in Christmas tree
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Sheila Kearns had a Christmas tree delivered to her home on Sunday. She says she thought she’d been pricked by pine needles when she reached into the tree while decorating it. But the next morning, she found a bat hanging upside down in her home.
It turns out that the Christmas tree farm Kearns bought from […]

Christmas News, Christmas Trees, Slightly Odd


Christmas card to neighbour arrives via Middle East
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A pensioner has spoken of her surprise after discovering that a Christmas card she sent to her nephew, who lives just two miles away from her home, had been delivered to Iran by mistake.
Edith Gover, 83, posted the festive greeting card from a post box in Kingswood in Bristol on December 15.
The card was intended […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


Christmas thief steals ‘Nun Bun’
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A cinnamon bun that bears a striking likeness to late Catholic nun Mother Teresa was stolen from a US coffeehouse on Christmas Day.
The owner arrived to find that the famous flaky pastry had vanished from the shop in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bob Bernstein said he thought the culprit was angry over the display.
The “Nun Bun” has drawn […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


Some Christmas trees shed drug needles
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Convicts in Berlin cannot decorate their cells with Christmas trees, which could be used to bring drugs as well as festive cheer into prison, a court ruled Monday.
The city’s highest legal authority overturned a decision by a lower court, which had granted a prisoner the right to deck out his cell with a tree of […]

Christmas News, Christmas Trees, Slightly Odd


Chrismtas decorations illegal by March
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Christmas decorations are everywhere. Inflatable Santas are perched on lawns. Red and green bulbs dot window frames.
But, if Aurora’s mayor has his way, those ornaments will be gone by March — or become illegal.
Mayor Tom Weisner and 2nd Ward Alderman Juany Garza plan to introduce an ordinance in January that would forbid residents from displaying […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


Christmas service DVD brings sermon to sofas
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After unwrapping gifts or before eating brunch, members of the River Crest Church can get their Christmas morning sermon by pressing “PLAY” on their DVD players.
Their pastor, Jim Pelletier, has recorded a DVD with a six-minute sermon, animated videos of carols like “Silent Night” and 30 minutes of a burning fireplace for their entertainment.
“I don’t […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


Giant Paris Hilton Christmas display shakes up Cranston
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See Paris Hilton in all her seductive splendor, striking a provocative pose for passing motorists and spreading hot Christmas cheer in a chilly Rhode Island winter.
Blown-up images of Hilton and strings of pink Christmas lights adorn the front lawn of a home in a middle-class neighborhood of this city, part of a head-turning holiday display […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


Daily christmas costs man half million dollar in 12 years
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Christmas fanatic aims to top festive charts
A MAN who has spent £250,000 ($430,000 US) celebrating Christmas daily for 12 years is releasing a single.
The new song by hit-hungry crooner Andy Park, aka Mr Christmas, is fittingly called It’s Christmas Every Day. [Christmas Every Day - the book]
Since “becoming Mr Christmas” in 1993, the 45-year-old electrician […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


$1.5 million bet rides on one snow flake
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A WHOPPING £1million (1,741,563.73 USD) could be riding on a single flake of snow falling this Christmas.
Bookies are reporting more bets than ever on festive- season snowfalls. William Hill have already taken £100,000 and say punters will stake out £1million by Christmas Eve.
Their biggest single bet so far is a £1000 wager on snow in […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd


Town could change its name to SecretSanta.com
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What would old St. Nicholas say?
This small northern Idaho town has been asked to change its name to SecretSanta.com for a year to promote a new Web site.
It’s the latest advertising ploy by Philadelphia consultant Mark Hughes, who five years ago persuaded the town of Halfway, Ore., to change its name to half.com to promote […]

Christmas News, Slightly Odd

Kids want Santa to get a bling-style makeover
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Kids are fed up with Santa’s traditional image and want him to get a bling-style makeover before he comes down their chimneys this Christmas, a survey shows.
According to a survey of over 350 children between three and 13, Santa Claus should trade in his old fashioned pointed hat and dona trendy beanie to keep his […]

Bah Humbug, Christmas News, Santa Claus, Slightly Odd


Santa Claus gets code of conduct
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LONDON: It’s the Santa Clause and its aim is to root out sub-standard Santas.
Jolly, bearded Father Christmas has been ordered to clean up his act or be forced to hang up his trademark red suit.
“We are trying to eradicate shoddy Santas,” James Lovell of the Ministry of Fun agency said the day after a […]

Bah Humbug, Christmas News, Slightly Odd

Santa not responsible for child alcoholism
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The holiday season seems to come earlier every year.
Halloween isn’t even over yet, but twinkling Christmas trees already line shop windows, PBS is airing late-night Christmas carol performances and Connecticut, brimming with Christmas cheer, is picking a fight with the distributors of holiday-themed beer.
The beer, called Seriously Bad Elf, defies state regulations that bar alcohol […]

Bah Humbug, Christmas News, Slightly Odd

Upside-down trees turn Christmas on its head
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Has your holiday imbibing gotten out of control so soon?
Maybe that Christmas tree you saw really is upside down. Upside-down trees are, well, turning the upcoming holiday on its head.
Hammacher Schlemmer can’t even keep its $599.95 pre-lit model in stock. It’s already sold out.
“We increased the amount we ordered from last year, but ended […]

Christmas News, Christmas Trees, Slightly Odd

Scrooge council to dim town lights
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More than a dozen towns and villages could lose funding for their Christmas lights because a council deems them offensive to non-Christians.
A Conservative-controlled district council in East Anglia will consider a report later this week that states that the annual grants it hands out to 13 towns and villages do not “fit with the council’s […]

Bah Humbug, Christmas News, Slightly Odd