12 Days Until Christmas! (Christmas Instrumental Friday)

[00:00:02] This is a Bramble Jam Podcast

[00:00:12] It's the Christmas Morning Podcast, everyone join if you can Christmas greatest fans Scotty and Bram, here for you and me

[00:00:26] Well hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Christmas Morning. It's Friday, Friday, Friday. Our final episode of the week but it's going to be a good one. Scotty, hi, Merry Christmas.

[00:00:36] Merry Christmas, Brandon. I see you're over enjoying some Popeyes there at the North Pole. They just opened that franchise.

[00:00:43] I know and they are still working out some of the kinks but overall a pleasant experience. I gotta say I love that chicken from Popeyes.

[00:00:51] I love that chicken from Popeyes too.

[00:00:53] Not a paid sponsor but it would take Popeyes money if they're offering.

[00:00:56] Yeah, there's very few people I wouldn't take their money, Brandon. I've got a food related email so let's open up that mailbag.

[00:01:03] Love it.

[00:01:04] Letters. We get letters. We get stacks and stacks of letters.

[00:01:11] Okay, Brandon, this email is a journey. Are you ready?

[00:01:13] Okay. You've piqued my interest.

[00:01:16] So the email is from Sarah Reynolds Booze and Sarah says,

[00:01:20] Good morning, Brandon Scott. I wanted to share a quirky Christmas tradition my husband Devin and I created a few years ago.

[00:01:27] Okay.

[00:01:27] Every December around the second weekend, we always watch the Santa Claus.

[00:01:32] That's right.

[00:01:32] As millennials, Tim Allen is our Santa.

[00:01:35] That's right!

[00:01:37] Before I describe the tradition, I should mention two things.

[00:01:40] Number one, we're vegetarians.

[00:01:43] Number two, we love Bernard.

[00:01:45] Yeah.

[00:01:46] Seriously, how could you not?

[00:01:48] Sarah, are we best friends?

[00:01:50] I knew this was going to resonate with you.

[00:01:52] Did I write this email?

[00:01:53] Bernard in the Santa Claus, if you haven't seen it, is like the head elf or he's like the chief of staff almost, right?

[00:01:58] That's right. He's head elf.

[00:01:59] Okay. So Sarah goes on to say, there's a scene where Bernard casually starts eating Judge Reinhold's pita.

[00:02:05] That's right.

[00:02:06] Inspired by that moment, we now make sure to have pita pockets for dinner while watching the movie.

[00:02:11] It's not your typical holiday meal, but something about pita pockets feels so wonderfully 90s and nostalgic.

[00:02:17] As a bonus, it's a healthy break from all the rich holiday treats.

[00:02:20] The ingredients vary, but we usually include hummus, feta, sprouts, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and tzatziki.

[00:02:27] I love all of those ingredients so much.

[00:02:30] I know this is a bit unusual, but maybe there's someone out there who shares an odd nostalgia crossover between the Santa Claus and pita pockets who would enjoy this tradition.

[00:02:39] Many thanks to both of you for the pod.

[00:02:41] I'm an art teacher to fifth and sixth graders in Asheville, North Carolina.

[00:02:45] And listening to your podcast always puts me in the holiday spirit on my way to work.

[00:02:49] I've included our Christmas card photo from last year.

[00:02:52] I'm still working on this year's because I design and make them, you know, Hurricane Helene, et cetera.

[00:02:57] And I've also included bad photos of our pitas over the years and a video of Santa waving that spreads cheer in my classroom.

[00:03:02] He is a hit with the kids.

[00:03:04] Thanks for all the festive fun you bring each week.

[00:03:07] Bray and I took her photos and I placed them on Instagram there.

[00:03:11] So I want to see if this resonates with anybody.

[00:03:13] I'm not familiar with this scene.

[00:03:15] I've seen the movie a couple times and I just never noticed it.

[00:03:18] So it's really funny.

[00:03:20] Scotty, I can hear this scene in my head as I'm looking at these.

[00:03:23] Wow, really?

[00:03:24] I can hear Bernard start looking at Judge Reinhold's sweater being like, we make this one?

[00:03:31] I can hear it in my mind.

[00:03:33] Wow.

[00:03:34] I could potentially quote that entire movie.

[00:03:37] Just not familiar with it.

[00:03:38] And there's a photo here of Sarah wearing a beret like Bernard eating a pita.

[00:03:43] Oh, fantastic.

[00:03:44] Oh, and now I want Tzatziki so bad.

[00:03:46] Sarah, you might be my new favorite listener.

[00:03:48] That was a great email.

[00:03:49] I know.

[00:03:50] Isn't it great?

[00:03:50] So thank you, Sarah.

[00:03:51] You're in from Asheville?

[00:03:52] Come on, Sarah.

[00:03:54] Stop being so awesome.

[00:03:55] Incredible.

[00:03:55] I know.

[00:03:56] You got a joke for us, Scotty?

[00:03:57] I do.

[00:03:58] Let's see if we can end the week on a high note.

[00:04:00] Okay.

[00:04:00] I think I've had a perfect week of jokes.

[00:04:02] Pony Slay Station.

[00:04:05] Trigonometry.

[00:04:06] Yeah.

[00:04:06] It's been a good week.

[00:04:07] All right.

[00:04:08] Overall.

[00:04:08] Why did the Christmas tree go to the dentist?

[00:04:10] Huh.

[00:04:13] Oh, man.

[00:04:14] I don't know.

[00:04:14] It needed a root canal.

[00:04:16] Waka waka.

[00:04:18] All right.

[00:04:19] All right.

[00:04:20] All right.

[00:04:24] No, it's a good one.

[00:04:26] It's a good one.

[00:04:27] It's no Pony Slay Station, though.

[00:04:29] I tell you that.

[00:04:30] You said it, pal.

[00:04:31] Let's do the countdown.

[00:04:37] 12 days until Christmas.

[00:04:42] 12 days.

[00:04:44] Now, this is a very special day when we finally hit this because on the 12th day of Christmas,

[00:04:49] my true love gave to me, Brandon Scott eating a pita on our front porch.

[00:04:54] I'll work on it, but you know.

[00:04:56] Well done.

[00:04:56] We're in the 12 days of Christmas at this point.

[00:04:58] I know.

[00:04:59] A lot of birds.

[00:05:00] A lot of birds.

[00:05:02] I'll have to bring that song by my buddy Adam Kennedy about all the birds in the song, and

[00:05:07] he's getting attacked by birds.

[00:05:08] All the birds.

[00:05:09] Too many birds.

[00:05:10] Too many birds.

[00:05:10] Too many birds.

[00:05:10] I think that's what the song is called.

[00:05:12] Too many birds.

[00:05:13] Too many birds.

[00:05:14] It is too many birds.

[00:05:15] And come to find out, I told you this, but I heard that Five Golden Rings isn't about

[00:05:19] rings at all.

[00:05:20] It's another bird.

[00:05:21] Yeah.

[00:05:22] And Four Calling Birds was originally Four Collie Birds, which is another name for black

[00:05:27] birds.

[00:05:28] Too many birds.

[00:05:28] Too many birds.

[00:05:30] I'm not really into birds.

[00:05:31] They kind of scare me.

[00:05:32] Fair.

[00:05:32] Let's do the news.

[00:05:33] Yeah.

[00:05:38] Today is December 13th.

[00:05:41] I'm doing a bit better.

[00:05:43] Here's the news.

[00:05:45] Wow.

[00:05:45] Thanks for your daily check in there, Larry.

[00:05:47] This is not a therapy session.

[00:05:49] What a journey.

[00:05:52] We have news, folks.

[00:05:54] For those of you that are wondering, NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command,

[00:05:58] is going to be back at it again this year, tracking Santa.

[00:06:03] Their fresh website is officially live.

[00:06:06] It features a holiday countdown games and movies, holiday music, and more in Santa's North

[00:06:12] Pole Village.

[00:06:13] It's a downloadable app that you can get as well.

[00:06:17] But most people know them because on December 24th, you can call 1-877-HIGH-NORAD and ask

[00:06:25] the live operators about Santa's location.

[00:06:30] Now, Scotty, did you know?

[00:06:32] I'm sure you obviously you've used NORAD's Santa Tracker in the past to show.

[00:06:38] Yeah.

[00:06:38] We're more of a Google Santa Tracker family around here.

[00:06:41] But yeah.

[00:06:41] I'm an OG.

[00:06:42] I go to NORAD.

[00:06:43] I don't trust Google.

[00:06:44] I don't trust them.

[00:06:45] I trust the NORAD.

[00:06:48] And NORAD has tracked Santa since 1955 when a child accidentally called-

[00:06:55] Hold on.

[00:06:56] Hold on.

[00:06:56] Go ahead.

[00:06:56] Let's test my Christmas credibility here.

[00:06:58] Okay.

[00:06:59] What happened in, say, 1955?

[00:07:01] That's right.

[00:07:02] Was that I believe it was a Sears ad.

[00:07:05] They put the wrong phone number and it was NORAD.

[00:07:07] Oh, that's funny.

[00:07:08] And the person who answered didn't want to disappoint a child and went along with it.

[00:07:12] And that's how the whole thing started.

[00:07:14] Now, I might have it wrong about the Sears ad, but it was some sort of ad and it was

[00:07:17] a misprint of the phone number.

[00:07:19] That's funny.

[00:07:19] I don't have that information.

[00:07:21] I do have that an on-duty commander took the call and guaranteed the child that Santa

[00:07:26] would have a safe journey.

[00:07:27] And then every year, beginning in 1959, they've been doing this.

[00:07:33] 1997 is when the tracker first became available online.

[00:07:37] 1997.

[00:07:37] They were ahead of their time over there at NORAD.

[00:07:40] 1997.

[00:07:41] Yeah, we're talking about the GeoCities days.

[00:07:43] How about that?

[00:07:44] Under construction gifs and stuff, yeah.

[00:07:46] This is fun, though.

[00:07:47] On Christmas Eve, volunteers answer the phone calls from people around the world.

[00:07:51] While members of the Colorado Springs community bring food to those that are working in 2022,

[00:07:59] I guess it's the most recent year that we have the data, they answered 260,000 calls from

[00:08:05] around the world.

[00:08:07] And Colonel Elizabeth Mathis says that people call in and they are surprised to find out

[00:08:13] that they are real people working and they go speechless because they didn't actually think

[00:08:18] they were going to talk to somebody.

[00:08:20] So it's a very fun tradition.

[00:08:22] But the big news is their website has been updated and it is fresh for the 2024 season

[00:08:29] and they will be ready to track Santa once again.

[00:08:32] Well, I had no doubt that they would be doing it.

[00:08:34] They're not going to just pull the plug, right?

[00:08:36] No, we're done.

[00:08:37] We're done.

[00:08:37] We broke up with Santa.

[00:08:38] The contract, it was tough.

[00:08:40] Yeah.

[00:08:40] I prefer the Google Santa tracker.

[00:08:43] And if you've got kids, check out Google.

[00:08:46] I think it's Google.com slash Santa, but you can just obviously search for Google Santa

[00:08:51] tracker.

[00:08:51] They have like a whole series of games and stuff as well.

[00:08:54] So lots of fun stuff for kids to do between the NORAD site and the Google site.

[00:08:59] Weigh in on this issue, everybody.

[00:09:01] Email in.

[00:09:02] Are you a NORAD family or a Google family?

[00:09:04] And why?

[00:09:05] I don't know.

[00:09:05] For me, NORAD was the OG and it's hard for me.

[00:09:09] Like I just, I trust NORAD.

[00:09:11] I trust NORAD with this information.

[00:09:13] Yeah.

[00:09:14] I know what you're saying there, but the NORAD site has always been so crappy.

[00:09:18] It looks like some sort of like Bing thing, you know, like, and then Google's is all slick

[00:09:23] and nice looking and has real art and stuff.

[00:09:25] I think the NORAD, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by where NORAD is at these days.

[00:09:31] I think it looks pretty good.

[00:09:32] You know what?

[00:09:33] There's room in my life for two Santa trackers.

[00:09:35] I could have two.

[00:09:35] If people could have like four TVs on Sundays to watch different football games at once,

[00:09:40] I could have two Santa trackers up at the same time.

[00:09:43] But also you're working with information that's behind.

[00:09:46] Google's just a scraper.

[00:09:47] They just scrape.

[00:09:48] They're just scraping the information.

[00:09:50] By the time it gets to Google where Santa is, NORAD's already been on it for who knows

[00:09:55] how long, a whole minute.

[00:09:56] That's demonstrably false.

[00:09:58] Google and NORAD have different information.

[00:10:01] I know because Google's behind.

[00:10:05] Google doesn't do anything themselves.

[00:10:08] That is absolutely not true because there were people who work year round on the thing.

[00:10:15] Lies, Scotty.

[00:10:16] Email him.

[00:10:17] I will fight for the dominance of Google in this all day long.

[00:10:21] Christmas morning podcast.

[00:10:23] Christmas morning podcast at gmail.com.

[00:10:23] Let us know your thoughts on this very important conversation.

[00:10:29] Let's do this, Scotty.

[00:10:30] Let's take a break.

[00:10:31] Compose ourselves.

[00:10:32] Got heated there.

[00:10:33] I apologize.

[00:10:34] We'll come back.

[00:10:35] We'll do the Christmas TV specials in today's instrumental Christmas music battle here on

[00:10:39] Christmas morning.

[00:10:44] I felt like I yelled a little bit there, Scotty.

[00:10:46] I apologize.

[00:10:47] That was too much.

[00:10:49] That was too much.

[00:10:50] You're just going to feel so silly though.

[00:10:52] You're going to feel so silly when people cut my back.

[00:10:54] Let's get to the Christmas TV specials.

[00:10:58] Find out what we can watch this weekend.

[00:11:00] Lots to get to.

[00:11:01] I almost forgot to do this.

[00:11:02] Lots to get to.

[00:11:04] TV's got to take it away.

[00:11:05] Here are your Christmas TV specials for the next three days, courtesy of MostlyChristmas.com.

[00:11:10] Friday, 915 a.m. on AMC, The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold.

[00:11:14] 945 a.m. on AMC, Pinocchio's Christmas.

[00:11:17] 11 a.m. on AMC, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

[00:11:21] 1215 p.m. on AMC, The Story of the First Christmas Snow.

[00:11:24] 1245 p.m. on AMC, Rudolph's Shiny New Year.

[00:11:28] 2 p.m. on AMC, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.

[00:11:31] 4 p.m. on FX, Jingle All the Way.

[00:11:34] 430 p.m. on AMC, Jack Frost.

[00:11:37] 545 p.m. on AMC, Frosty's Winter Wonderland.

[00:11:40] 6 p.m. on Hallmark, Sugar Plumbed.

[00:11:43] 615 p.m. on AMC, Twas the Night Before Christmas.

[00:11:46] 645 p.m. on AMC, The Year Without a Santa Claus.

[00:11:49] 8 p.m. on AMC, The Polar Express.

[00:11:52] 8 p.m. on Bravo, It's a Wonderful Life.

[00:11:54] 8 p.m. on FX, Home Alone.

[00:11:56] 8 p.m. on Hallmark, Hanukkah on the Rocks.

[00:11:59] 8 p.m. on Movies, Black Christmas.

[00:12:02] 10.01 p.m. on Hallmark, Leah's Perfect Gift.

[00:12:05] And 10.30 p.m. on FX, Home Alone 2, Lost in New York.

[00:12:08] Saturday, 12.01 a.m. on Hallmark, Scouting for Christmas.

[00:12:12] 12.30 a.m. on Freeform, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.

[00:12:15] 2.01 a.m. on Hallmark, Christmas with the Sings.

[00:12:18] 4.01 a.m. on Hallmark, The Five-Year Christmas Party.

[00:12:21] 6 a.m. on Hallmark Mysteries, A Reason for the Season.

[00:12:23] 10 a.m. on Freeform, Disney's A Christmas Carol.

[00:12:26] 10 a.m. on Hallmark, Believe in Christmas.

[00:12:29] 10 a.m. on TBS, How the Grinch Stole Christmas from 1966.

[00:12:32] 11.05 a.m. on Movies, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

[00:12:36] 2 p.m. on Hallmark, Jingle Bell Run.

[00:12:39] 2 p.m. on Lifetime, Sincerely, Truly Christmas.

[00:12:41] 4 p.m. on Hallmark Mysteries, A Dance in the Snow.

[00:12:44] 6 p.m. on Hallmark, Santa Tell Me.

[00:12:46] 6 p.m. on Lifetime, Christmas in the Spotlight.

[00:12:49] 7 p.m. on AMC, Elf.

[00:12:51] 7 p.m. on Up, A Holiday Hideout.

[00:12:53] 8 p.m. on The CW, The 92nd Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.

[00:12:58] 8 p.m. on Hallmark, The Santa Class.

[00:13:00] And 8 p.m. on Lifetime, The Holiday Junkie.

[00:13:03] Finally, Sunday, 12 a.m. on OWN, Mistletoe and Matrimony.

[00:13:06] 2.01 a.m. on Hallmark, Twas the Date Before Christmas.

[00:13:09] 7 a.m. on Freeform, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas.

[00:13:12] 8.30 a.m. on Freeform, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You.

[00:13:17] 10 a.m. on Hallmark, Debbie McComber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle.

[00:13:21] 12 p.m. on Hallmark, To Have and To Holiday.

[00:13:24] 2 p.m. on Hallmark, Private Princess Christmas.

[00:13:27] 4 p.m. on Hallmark, The Christmas Quest.

[00:13:29] 4 p.m. on Hallmark Mysteries, Five Gold Rings.

[00:13:32] 4 p.m. on Lifetime, How to Fall in Love by Christmas.

[00:13:35] 6 p.m. on Hallmark Mysteries, All I Need for Christmas.

[00:13:38] 6 p.m. on Turner Classic Movies, Christmas in Connecticut.

[00:13:41] 7 p.m. on Up, A Novel Christmas.

[00:13:44] 7.20 p.m. on Freeform, The Santa Claus.

[00:13:46] 8 p.m. on Hallmark, Following Yonder Star.

[00:13:49] 8 p.m. on Lifetime, Christmas on the Alpaca Farm.

[00:13:52] 8.15 p.m. on AMC, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

[00:13:56] 9 p.m. on Up, A Holiday Hideout.

[00:13:58] And finally, 9.25 p.m. on Freeform, The Santa Claus 2.

[00:14:02] And those are your Christmas TV specials for the next three days,

[00:14:05] courtesy of MostlyChristmas.com.

[00:14:07] Thanks, TV Scotty. Great job.

[00:14:09] It's time for the Christmas Music Battle.

[00:14:11] It is Friday, which means it is Instrumental Music Day.

[00:14:15] It's always a fun battle.

[00:14:16] Let's find out what we got today.

[00:14:18] Up first, we have Sleigh Ride by Los Straight Jackets.

[00:14:23] I wonder who brought that one, Brian?

[00:15:22] Could be anybody.

[00:15:23] It's a Los Straight Jackets.

[00:15:24] Could have been in.

[00:15:25] Up next.

[00:15:25] Lots of people were doing stuff.

[00:15:26] That's right.

[00:15:26] Everybody's doing it.

[00:15:27] Up next, we got the Christmas song by Angelo Outlaw.

[00:15:31] What a name.

[00:16:35] Well, Brian, that was the version I didn't know that I needed in my life.

[00:16:38] I really liked that.

[00:16:39] Was that a marimba?

[00:16:41] All his band cam says is he is a mallet percussionist.

[00:16:46] Okay.

[00:16:46] So xylophones, marimbas, glockenspiel maybe?

[00:16:50] One of those for sure.

[00:16:52] That was nice.

[00:16:53] That was real nice.

[00:16:54] Oh, it looks like a vibraphone.

[00:16:57] A vibraphone.

[00:16:58] Oh, I think we're just doing different sizes of the same thing here, aren't we?

[00:17:01] That is.

[00:17:02] With apologies to mallet percussionists, I'm trivializing your work.

[00:17:07] I apologize.

[00:17:08] For all those mallet heads out there.

[00:17:10] I don't want to be canceled by the mallet people.

[00:17:12] Dude, they are ruthless.

[00:17:14] They really are.

[00:17:15] You will hear from them.

[00:17:17] We did, everybody, another day, another week in the books.

[00:17:21] And that is.

[00:17:22] Congratulations to us.

[00:17:24] I know.

[00:17:24] But we're going to be back next week.

[00:17:26] Another full week.

[00:17:27] The final full week.

[00:17:29] In fact.

[00:17:30] I know.

[00:17:31] A lot going on here, everybody.

[00:17:33] Not ready for that.

[00:17:34] It's big.

[00:17:35] We'll be back then.

[00:17:36] Enjoy the weekend.

[00:17:36] Go do something fun.

[00:17:37] Maybe go start a new tradition and tell us all about it.

[00:17:40] Whatever you do.

[00:17:40] Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

[00:17:42] Until Monday.

[00:17:43] Merry Christmas.

[00:17:54] You're about to hear some ads that help pay for our trip back and forth to the North Pole.

[00:17:58] Feel free to listen.

[00:17:59] Feel free to bail now.

[00:18:00] But either way, thanks for being here.

[00:18:03] Ho, ho, ho.