To many it officially becomes Christmas once “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is played on the air for the first time. Starting in October the internet is filled with memes of Mariah “defrosting”. Although this song is only thirty years old (this year), it already is a Christmas classic.

Written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff for her first holiday album titled “Merry Christmas”, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was released on October 29, 1994.

It has become a song that one either loves or hates. I like it simply because it just isn’t Christmas without it. It’s one of the most iconic modern Christmas songs and in 2023 Billboard named it the “greatest holiday song of all time based on commercial performance”.

Considering it’s only thirty years old and has already been covered by artists from Michael Buble to Barry Manilow, it certainly has proven it’s not going away anytime soon.

Today UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a New York City hotel where he was going to be attending the company’s investors conference.

They know it was a targeted attack. The person who killed Thompson knew he’d be there, although I understand that Thompson’s schedule was public so anyone could have known.

And we can surmise until the cows come home that it was some patron unhappy with high insurance premiums or poor insurance coverage from UnitedHealthCare. And maybe it was. Or maybe the motive has nothing to do with that at all. For all we know it was a hit man hired by a jilted lover or an employee who got canned. The point is, a man was killed in broad daylight, he shouldn’t have been killed and the killer is still on the loose.

Of course everyone always says “oh CEOs make so much money and insurance companies rip you off, blah, blah, blah”. And some of that may be true. But everyone knows the higher up in a company you are, the more money you’re going to make. Even administrative assistants make more money than people in the mail room. It’s common knowledge. And insurance is something you buy to protect yourself, whether it be for your auto, your home, your health, your life. Whatever. In fact, the least bought insurance, but also the most important insurance, is LIFE INSURANCE and there are so many fools out there without it. But that’s another story for another time. But just because this guy was the CEO of an insurance company that many may not like is not a reason for him to be killed.

I work for an insurance company. It isn’t a health insurance company but it is an insurance company. And I can assure you that there are many customers who probably despise the company, many of the employees, the CEO and the President of the company for whatever reason. And that’s their choice. But it isn’t their choice to kill any of them because they don’t like how their claim was handled or feel that their premiums are too high.

This classic, recorded in 1958 by then 13-year-old Brenda Lee, and written by Johnny Marks, has become a staple of Christmas. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without it. What I like most about it is that it’s a true “feel good” song. Although it’s been covered by countless artists, Brenda Lee’s version, in my opinion, is by far the best.

In 2019 Lee’s recording of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2023 Lee released a music video for the song and became the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100 at both age 78 and79 when the song topped the charts in December of that year.

The song was also notably featured in the movie “Home Alone”.

The reason why I like “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is because it is an anti-war song, mainly protesting the Vietnam War and it was written by one of the Beatles. Although there have been many versions, I’d have to say my favorite version is the original, written and performed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Released in 1971, the song started as a demo in October of that year, recorded in a suite at the St. Regis Hotel in NYC, with Ono singing along, Phil Spector producing and children from the Harlem Community Choir contributing backing vocals. From this mash-up came a traditional tune that has filled the airwaves at Christmas ever since.

A fun fact about this song: at the beginning of the song, you hear Lennon and Ono whispering to each other. What they are doing is whispering season’s greetings to their respective children at the time–Ono whispers, “Happy Christmas, Kyoko”, and Lennon whispers, “Happy Christmas, Julian.” Although consensus says it sounds like they are whispering greetings to one another.

…is to punch him right in the SHITHOLE mouth.