21 Weeks / 149 days until Christmas (Instrumental Christmas Song Battle)

[00:00:02] This is a Bramble Jam Podcast I'm from the North Pole, it's time for Christmas Morning, the daily show where every day is Christmas. Here are your hosts, Brand and...

[00:00:32] Well, well, well, hello everybody! Welcome to another episode of Christmas Morning. Merry Christmas to ya! I'm Brand and I am here per usual with my buddy Scott. Scott, Merry Christmas!

[00:00:43] Merry Christmas, Brandon. I figured out what I need. What do you need? I need to be cozy. Sure. And I don't feel cozy in the summer. But when fall starts and winter, it's a big part of Christmas is just being cozy. Socks, blankets, fireplaces, the whole thing. Right. What's interesting is cozy is warm. Yeah. But warm isn't cozy. No, no. Summer warm is like, ew, get away from me. Right. But warm in fall is like, oh, come snuggle closer.

[00:01:10] Yeah. Summer warmth is like if the blanket was human skin. You know what I mean? That's awful, but sure. Well, yeah. You get what I'm saying. Is the mailbag popping? We just had our party episode. I feel like we're in the heat of summer now. Do we still got people that care? Oh, yeah. I'm only in about the second week of July when it comes to the mail. We got a couple more weeks. Great. Bring it. It's good stuff. Let's open it up. All right.

[00:01:36] Letters. We get letters. We get stacks and stacks of letters. Our first email is from our friend Lenora Gilbert, who I got to spend a lot of time with at Bramble Fest, and it was just wonderful. She's the best. Lenora says, this is not exactly Christmas in the wild, but you can order from True Tone all year round. My office tree topper stopped working last year, and here is a photo of the new retro replacement. I forgot how nice the stuff from True Tone is, Bran.

[00:02:06] I did not know that True Tone had a Christmas tree topper. This is very nice. This is a star, and they have like the classic bulbs. Yeah, it looks like about a C7 or something on the points. Yeah, on each point of the star, and it looks really good. It also didn't get by me, Bran, that she said, my office tree topper. Right. Yeah, exactly. You got to decorate at home. You got to decorate at the office. I don't blame Lenora for that one bit. 100% Lenora. Very nice, Lenora.

[00:02:35] Lenora is the best of us. She is. I have an email from Dave in Utah. Dave says, I was at Hobby Lobby again a couple weeks ago, and the Christmas stash on the top shelves continues to accumulate. My daughter also spotted Christmas fabric, and he sent in a photo of that. Look at that Christmas fabric, Bran. That looks like flannel. Flannel is cozy. That's some good-looking Christmas fabric. I like the one that says there's the reindeer on it. Yep, that's the one I like too, yeah. Ho, ho, ho. I like that.

[00:03:04] I don't know what I want made out of it, but I like it. Maybe sheets? I always see Christmas fabric, and I'm like, yeah. And that's as far as I get with it. Yeah, exactly. I don't sew. But I see it, and I go, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Dave. I have an email from Tierney. Tierney says, hi, Christmas morning people. I've been a faithful listener for almost a full year now, and I can't wait for the dailies to start up again. I went out of town on the 4th of July and stumbled upon a store with a Christmas display.

[00:03:33] They had a full tree set up and a large selection of nutcrackers. I included some photos. Thanks so much for the amazing podcast. I look forward to it every week. And Bran, this looks like a candy store. Yeah. And even though I'm diabetic and I can't really partake in the candy, I still want to be in the candy store. I am a kid at heart, and it looks amazing. Do you ever get reels of this candy store? Just random candy. It's like Logan's Candies or something like that. No.

[00:04:00] And they make the candy canes, and they show you how they do it, and they add the service. But then they also make the candy. This is my favorite part. They do the candy cane bites. They put a long strip of candy cane into this thing. They push it down, and then when it opens up, they just go all over the place. It's just bites everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. I love candy stores. And in this photo, there are mounds of candy on plates. Love it. And look how festive the rest of it is. Those nutcrackers are no joke.

[00:04:30] Those are festive nutcrackers. That's an army of nutcrackers. That's what I need. Did you like the nutcrackers at Bramble Fest? Did you see those suckers? Oh, they were awesome. Great nutcrackers. They were absolutely fantastic. And then I got one more email here from Mike. Actually, it's two emails wrapped into one. It's from Mike Big Spectacle True Lock. I expect nothing else from the big spectacle. Exactly. Mike says, Merry Christmas, Brandon Scott, and everyone at Christmas morning. This past week, the week of July 7th, so you'll know where I am in the mailbag, has presented two different events that have my holiday senses tingling like mad.

[00:05:00] The first one took place at work. As you know, I work third shift for a local Hampton Inn, and one of my several responsibilities is to turn on the music that plays in the lobby at 6 a.m. To my surprise, and confirmed by my manager, the channel we use is currently playing a Christmas song every third or fourth song in honor of Christmas in July. Whoa. It's really helping me smile at the end of my shift. Some guests frown at it, but I just smile and lip sync along. A big spectacle. If you could let us know what that channel is, maybe...

[00:05:28] Well, it's probably like a proprietary one. You think so? Well, they're playing in a commercial environment, so it's probably... The email goes on to say, the second thing is in honor of, in Scott's words, the spooky season. I didn't coin that phrase, but I'll use it gladly. The old party city building here in Davenport, Iowa now has the banners of Spirit Halloween. Whoa. The local store has been revealed. My only hope is that this year it becomes a Spirit Christmas in November. Fingers crossed.

[00:05:55] This one struck me, Brandon, because a Spirit Halloween is a good harbinger of things to come. Absolutely. And I was just thinking about Spirit Halloween the other day as I drove past the building where it has, you know, moved in the past couple of Halloween seasons. And I haven't... I don't see anything yet, so I don't know if your location is just getting a jump on things or if that means that my location is moving. And so if somebody could maybe confirm or deny whether you're seeing Spirit Halloweens pop up in your area, that'd be great.

[00:06:25] Yeah. The building that normally houses my Spirit Halloween now has a crappy furniture store in it, so I don't know where it's going to be. I'm going to have to check the town records or something. Right. Not that you're going to go in there, but it's just... Oh, no. I go into a Spirit Halloween. I like a Spirit Halloween. It's not too scary for you? No, no. Not at all. They've got some fun interactive things. That's what I've heard. Yeah. It's fun. And then the second email from Mike Big Spectacle True Luck says, Something took place last night while I was working.

[00:06:52] I was doing a security walk at the hotel when a song entered my head. Silent Night. But not your basic version. The one where cats are singing it. And it stayed there for quite a while. Long enough to where I was meowing right along with the cats in my head. Luckily, there were no guests up just yet. The song finally left my head about three hours later while I was making breakfast. This made me want to ask you guys, have you ever had an unusual version of a Christmas song or carol get stuck in your head? And if so, what was it? I'm always listening.

[00:07:22] I always enjoy your hard work. Until Big Spectacle Mike strikes again, Merry Christmas to you all. Thank you. I'll let you go first, Brian. Do you ever have a song get stuck in your head like this? Well, when you read it, my first thought was, I don't think I've ever had an animal song stuck in my head. Like the barking jingle bells, stuff like that. The barking jingle bells is the only one I can think of. Yeah. I think I only think about the words version. So I don't think.

[00:07:49] I think if I worked at a kennel, I'd probably get the barking one stuck in my head. No. I also, I don't know. I need to look this up. The cat version of Silent Night. Yeah. I don't know what this is. Is it a version or is it one that just he made up his mind? Either way, it sounds great. There is one that gets stuck in my head, Brian. I would not call it a classic song or carol though. And it's a little baby Jesus is a riding on a turtle. Little baby Jesus is a riding on a turtle. Oh, overflow gets a guy to squirtle.

[00:08:17] Little baby Jesus is a riding on a turtle tonight. An objectively terrible song. But boy, does that thing get stuck in my head. My daughter likes it too. And occasionally we'll just bust out with little baby Jesus is a riding on a turtle. Especially if we hear the word turtle. Absolutely. It's a trigger, you know. Listen, he's got to get around. So great emails, Mike. Thank you. Keep them coming. And we have probably two to three more weeks worth of emails in the inbox. So it'll go into August. But we're all enjoying it.

[00:08:47] If I haven't gotten your email yet, don't worry. It's there. We're getting there. We don't have any new reviews. It's still stuck at 315. But something happened. Johnny iTunes lost a couple weeks. There were no new reviews for a little while. So then one popped up. And it's not just our show. There's all sorts of shows that are just getting random reviews weeks later. We don't know how it works. We don't know how it works. It's like a drip irrigation line. It just, every once in a while, a little bit will squirt out. Okay.

[00:09:16] Maloney Tom says, All the Christmas samples you can handle. Okay. Who loves going to the big warehouse clubs on the weekends? Not me. Who loves the free samples that they offer during that time? I do. Oh, yeah. The Christmas Morning Podcast is like getting all the free samples without having to deal with the big crowds. It offers Christmas samples all year long. It's the best way to keep the spirit of Christmas with you all year long. It's the best Christmas podcast hands down.

[00:09:45] Keep up the great work, Scott and Brian. I like this review, not only because they said we're the best podcast, but also the idea of us being like Christmas samples is a pretty good way to put it. Yeah, this is one of the stranger reviews that I've ever seen, but I love it. Thank you, Maloney Tom. It really works. It really works. Be like Tom, everybody. Absolutely. You got a joke for us? I do. We're still in the knock-knock phase. Are you ready for it? Yes. All right. Knock-knock. Who's there? Wooden Shoe.

[00:10:14] Wooden Shoe like to... Okay, go. Wooden Shoe who? Wooden Shoe like to know what I got you for Christmas, Bran. What go? What go? This is a tough... We are in a tough season right now, folks. It's a drought both for water and for jokes. Yeah, man. If you have good Christmas jokes, send them in. Send them in. Most of the time, I'm going to be honest with you, we've already done them. Yeah. But I don't ever mind checking. I love it when people think of us. That's right. Christmaspointing.com. Please keep them coming. Christmaspointing.com slash jokes. The largest online library of jokes.

[00:10:44] It's massive. It's absolutely massive now. Probably close to over 400, I would say, Bran. Yeah, I don't think that's accurate. We've done 400 episodes, so there should be at least 400 jokes. Let's do the countdown. Yeah, let's do that. 149 days until Christmas! That's pretty big, Scotty. Under 150. Yeah, it's a giant meaningless number that I love.

[00:11:14] Yes, it's under 150. 150 has no bearing on anything to do with the calendar or the year, but it seems like a milestone that we've passed. I will absolutely take it. And I saw one of those Instagram posts that I was telling you that I see a lot of, Bran, with such and such number of days until such and such, and it's usually Christmas. 21 Sundays until Christmas. Very good. I like that. And I said that to my daughter, and she said, wow, that makes it seem really close. And we started thinking about it.

[00:11:42] That's still the majority of the year. No. Well, okay, it's under half. It's the minority. It's under half, sure. That's right. But it's still a lot. But I'll take it. I'll take every little drip that I can to make me not think about summer. So, and I've got some other good news for you, Bran. It's only 64 days until October 1st. And that's only nine weeks. That's right. And we were talking about it yesterday in the office. We are assuming that things happen as they normally do.

[00:12:12] We're less than two months away from getting the Hallmark Christmas schedule, because that usually happens mid-September. So, we're getting there, baby. We're getting there. You're on pins and needles this year, right? Because last year, Hallmark did a tiny amount compared to normal, like 24 movies instead of like 40 plus. Yeah. And I'm just interested in if that's an outlier or if that's the new norm. And I think that the number will, it'll tell us a lot. Whatever number comes is going to tell us what their plan is going forward, probably, right?

[00:12:39] And if you were a betting man, you'd probably say close to 25. Yeah. There are plenty other networks. We can diversify. It's okay. It would not surprise me if it was 24 last year. It wouldn't surprise me if it's about the same. I do think that the days of 40 plus are behind us. But I also wouldn't be surprised if they inch closer to 30. I think 30 is a nice compromise. 30 seems like the right number. 40 plus movies is not a sustainable number. And honestly, you get a lot of junk in there.

[00:13:09] Well, that's the thing though, Scotty, is we had 24. They didn't exactly improve the quality when they went down. There was a lot of good ideas, but not necessarily a big quality bump. Yeah. But you know what? I really enjoyed all of the Up TV movies that you covered, the Netflix ones that you covered. There was a great diversity of movies. The plan is, Scotty, is without finding Mr. Christmas, which it doesn't seem like it's coming back this season, it might be time for us to finally dive headfirst into Lifetime Christmas movies with Patrick,

[00:13:38] which will be a lot of fun. Which I love. Patrick is wonderful. We haven't done all the Lifetime movies before. And they're weird. They're weird compared to your standard, I'm saving the Christmas ranch or we got to play a ball. Saving the Christmas ranch. Christmas ranch. How about some news? Let's do the news. Today is Wednesday, July 29th. Here's the news. Scotty, this is fun. In celebration of Christmas in July, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation,

[00:14:08] MSGE, if you are playing along at home, announced today that the Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes is now even more spectacular. What does that mean? Let's see if we can find out. Let me guess. They're probably adding AI to it, right? Possibly. Let's get to it. Oh, no. With the addition of a brand new Rockettes number and immersive new technology. I told you. We don't know what that means yet.

[00:14:38] That will expand how audiences experience America's most beloved holiday show. What does that mean? I hope this is like the 4D ride at Busch Gardens where it sprays you in the face. Here's what we got here. This is from Jessica Tuttle, who is the EVP of productions for MSG Entertainment. On the heels of a record-breaking 2025 season that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Rockettes,

[00:15:04] we are excited to step into the dance company's next century with the addition of a brand new scene that will showcase the versatility of the Rockettes while honoring the dance traditions that are foundational to their legacy. That sounds good, right? Okay. Yeah. This year, in addition to the new scene, fans will experience a whole new perspective on the Christmas spectacular, bringing them closer to the magic than ever. What does that mean? Come on, Jessica Tuttle.

[00:15:33] We need some info here. Let's see if we get more answers here. The new immersive technology will allow audiences to see the Rockettes' precision closer than ever before via a variety of different perspectives and builds upon the production's recent innovations, which have already extended the show beyond the stage via expansive digital projections, holographic technology, and fairy drones. You added a lot more words and told me a lot less. I don't know, man.

[00:16:03] Okay. Apparently, last year, the Christmas spectacular had new sound technology, which used next generation 3D audio. Sure. Which I guess is good. Nobody's complaining about 3D audio. So what I think, and I'm doing a lot of work here because I don't have any more information. It seems like they're going to use drones that can create hologram projections

[00:16:31] to showcase just how precise some of the kicks are to really put it right in your face. I hope somebody kicks a drone. That would be great. I wish I had more information here. The thing that I don't understand, though, Bran, this is Madison Square Garden Entertainment, not the Radio City Music Hall. Do they have something at Madison Square Garden? No, I think MSGE owns the whatever it is. All right.

[00:17:00] Yeah, I guess that's it. That's all that I got for you. All right. Well, if anybody has more information on kicking drones, let us know. All that to say, it's coming. The Rockettes are coming back for the 101st season with one new number and apparently immersive tech. Okay. And I don't know what that means. Great. The thing we didn't ask for. I just present the news. I present the news. I don't know what to tell you. Yeah. All right, Scotty. Let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll get to the TV listings and today's Christmas Music Battle Instrumental Edition here on Christmas Morning.

[00:17:33] Welcome back, everybody. It might be the last couple days of July, but that doesn't mean that there's not still Christmas TV for us to enjoy. TV Scotty, what do we have? Yeah, this Christmas in July has been like an oasis in the desert and we get a lot of stuff. Yeah. And this is probably the last week of it. Yeah, probably. So here's your last curated batch of mostly Hallmark Christmas movies in your Christmas TV Minute, courtesy of MostlyChristmas.com.

[00:18:03] Wednesday, 9 a.m. on TV Land, Mashed, was the day after Christmas, 4 p.m. on Hallmark, Maple Valley Christmas, 6 p.m. on Hallmark, Christmas on My Mind, and 8 p.m. on Hallmark, Love Under the Mistletoe, which is a replay of a new 2026 movie. Thursday, 2 p.m. on Hallmark, Sugar Plum, 4 p.m. on Hallmark, Hall Out the Holly, Lit Up, 4.30 p.m. on Ovation, Midsummer Murders, Ghosts of Christmas Past, and then 8 p.m. on Hallmark, Hall Out the Holly, the original one. Wow. Why are they playing the sequel before the original?

[00:18:32] Good job, Hallmark. I have no idea. Friday, 6 a.m. on Antenna, The Jeffersons, The Christmas Wedding, 12 p.m. on Hallmark Family, A Song for Christmas, 2 p.m. on Hallmark Family, A Joyous Christmas, 2 p.m. on Hallmark, The Nine Lives of Christmas, 4 p.m. on Hallmark Family, The Christmas Parade, 4 p.m. on Hallmark, Christmas with Holly, that's from back in 2012, and 10.30 p.m. on Pop, While You Were Sleeping. Saturday, 6 a.m. on Hallmark Family, Little House on the Prairie, Blizzard, 7 a.m. on Ion,

[00:19:02] Law & Order, SUV, Silent Night, Hateful Night, and Sunday, 12 a.m. on Star TV, The Gilmore Girls, Santa's Secret Stuff. Can't wait for the Gilmore the Merrier podcast to review that one. 7 a.m. on Rewind, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Christmas in Jail, 11 a.m. on MeTV+, Family, Tis the Season, and finally, 8 p.m. on MeTV+, The Twilight Zone, Night of the Meek. And that was your Christmas TV Minute, courtesy of MostlyChristmas.com. Nice. Yeah, and I watched my first ever episode

[00:19:32] of The Gilmore Girls while I was at Bramble Fest with you, Bran. What'd you think? It's not really for me, but I sure love your podcast about it. Oh, there you go. Very nice. All right, let's get to last week's Christmas Music Battle results. It was a battle of this Christmas, and I hypothesized after hearing the three versions that it could be a tight battle. It could be anyone's week, and boy, howdy was it, Scotty. I'm not sure we've ever seen one this close. Have you? This is as close as it gets.

[00:20:02] It is literally one vote separating three from two, and then one vote separating two from one. 22 votes, 21 votes, and 20 votes, so absolutely wild. Last place is This Christmas by Fair, which was brought by me. I'm actually surprised this got as much as it did because this was a big swing version. It's not for everybody. I really enjoyed it because it's so different, and that's what I'm always looking for. Yep, I brought this one,

[00:20:32] so taking my lumps over here. I gotta start turning things around. Yeah, but you lost by two votes. Like we said, it couldn't be closer and it wasn't. Right. In second place, it's This Christmas by Trey Daniels, which was brought by you, Scotty. That's right, an instrumental version, but I just love a saxophone. Really good. This is the exact tone of saxophone that puts me in a calm mood. Yeah. If we were in an elevator brand, I would just keep riding. I'd say, no, I'm not getting out here. I just gotta keep listening until it's over.

[00:21:01] That's good. Yeah. You can see me, Scotty. I got my eyes closed. I'm just loving it. It's good. I just want to be under a cozy blanket with this. Not right now, but soon. No, no. But by one whopping votes, first place this Christmas, featuring Durin Jones by the Night Owls, the listeners brought this one, Scotty. Yep. This was brought to us by Mary Pulte and Mike Big Spectacle Trulock. I said it while we were listening to it, Bran, that this was gonna win.

[00:21:31] You did? No, only by one vote, but it has what I'm looking for. It has the nod to the original. It has some skanky reggae feel to it. And it's not, I think yours was a little on the slow side. This is still perfect. What a great version. Yeah, very fun. And that's a big win for the listeners and a big win for all of us because we are entering August with a three-way tie. Wow. I can pretty accurately guarantee

[00:22:00] that we have never had a three-way tie before. No, no. I don't think, I don't think we've ever entered March with it being remotely close, much less August. Absolutely incredible. We're gonna stick with the randomizer because this is, this is making a real contest out of stuff. It is, it's been a lot of fun. All right, let's get to the instrumental battle for the week, shall we? Are you ready for this? Yeah, how was your, how was your experience with instrumental this week? It's always a good time.

[00:22:30] I always end up finding stuff that I'm like, yeah, this is really good. I feel like I'm always finding instrumental when I'm looking for regular versions. Right. And then I can't find them when instrumental week comes along. There, there, there isn't a way to add it to multiple, I need lists, multiple lists, Bandcamp. Yeah, there you go. An original list, an instrumental list, and then a whatever list would be great. It's the elusive instrumental track. All right, let's get to it. Three different instrumental tracks. Up first is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Christian Sands.

[00:23:04] What an instrumental track

[00:24:01] that was. That, I didn't know what to expect. Every next bar was, during the intro there, was like, well, what's coming now? And when it got into that nice, mellow piano, oh, I was soothed. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is just such a, it's such a good song. It just lends itself to everything. It really is. What a great song. Everything. All right, up next, we got Deck the Halls by Funkustra.

[00:25:20] All right, Bran, this is not the first time Funkustra has shown up in the music battle. They've never won, though. All right. Maybe this is the week. Who knows? It sounds like, I don't know, in a sitcom somewhere. Yeah, it does. Could be the intro for a Seinfeld episode, sure. All right, last but not least, this is Green Sleeves, What Child Is This? by Mike Diabo.

[00:26:34] Bran, we haven't heard a surf version in a while. The problem with, I've heard a surf rock version of Green Sleeves before. They all sound alike. That's the thing about surf rock versions is once you've heard one of them, you've by and large heard all of them. You've heard all of them. That's right. There's only one scorebook to play off of. It's not like with instrumental jazz where you never quite know where the musicians are taking it. Yep. Surf guitar players typically keep it pretty close to what it was. That's right. You play on the bottom two strings

[00:27:03] and you turn up the spring reverb. But it was still very fun there by Mike Diabo. So three very fun tracks for you to choose from this week. You can vote right now. Link is in the description and it looks like we got quite a handful of submissions this week, Scotty. Well, quite a handful is relative because this is probably the lightest batch of submissions we've had all year. But, you know, it's kind of the peak middle part of the year. We got submissions this week from Michelle Byerly, Lance Garman, Mary Pulte, John Rice, Kim Gazarek, and Jesse Jackson.

[00:27:33] And we have another first that happened with the listener submissions this week, Bran. What happened? It was not chosen by the randomizer. You know why? Why is that? Because of all of those, only one of them had not been played before. Really? Yep. Wow. It's been a week of firsts for everybody around here. All right. Let's get to next week's battle. It's your pick, bud. Oh my goodness. It's me? Yep. What are you in the mood for? It's going to be August. It's going to be August.

[00:28:03] You know what? Green Sleeves is on the list. Is it? Yep. Down there. Yeah, it is. Yeah. I kind of want to see what people can do with it. Like, can you do a truly creative original version of Green Sleeves? I love Green Sleeves so much. And let me, it's only been battled by you and me. So great. Go to bandcamp.com. Find a version of Green Sleeves that you like that has not been played. There are only two of them. So it shouldn't be too hard. If it just says,

[00:28:33] if it's just called What Child Is This? Does that count? Or does it have to have Green Sleeves in the title? I think, no, I think it's okay because it's the same melody, right? Right. I just want to get ahead of it. If we're going to accept submissions that are called Green Sleeves, What Child Is This? I'm fine accepting What Child Is This? Very good. All right. So go to bandcamp.com. Find a version you like and email it to me at christmasmorningpodcast at gmail.com. Very good. All right. Another week in the books. Another week closer to Christmas. You better believe we're going to be back next week

[00:29:02] with another Christmas sampler for you. A little sample platter. Yeah, I hope it's taquitos. Okay, very good. I always get taquitos. Visit Costco for some reason. We got to. Until next week. Merry Christmas. You're about to hear some ads that help pay for our trip back and forth to the North Pole. Feel free to listen. Feel free to bail now. But either way,

[00:29:32] thanks for being here. Ho, ho, ho. Ho, ho. Ho, ho.