Jingle, Jingle... here comes Kris Kringle -  Can you believe we're in the final stretch of 2023? We are having a hard time wrapping our heads around it. We hope you've enjoyed the newsletter and we're happy to say that we're going to do it all over again in 2024 - with fresh content and a new look.  

We also wanted to leave you with something special for the festive season, so keep scrolling down ... In this issue, you'll find:  

• Roy's loopy Christmas cassettes 
• Nick's grocery store performances
• Recommendations ... and so much more! 

Senior climatologist at Environment Canada, David Phillips, returns to the airwaves to educate and entertain us with his favourite weather stories.  

Many years ago, I owned video rental stores in the Bronx. Nick used to come in frequently to check out the new movies - but mostly to bother me while I was working.  The more things change, the more they stay the same!  Anyway, one year, Nick had the crazy idea of playing Christmas music in the stores to get people into the shopping mood. He offered to record 90 minutes of Christmas music on one cassette that was set on a loop, and we also added commercials about the video store.  

I decided to start piping the music through the audio systems on December 1st right through to Christmas Eve.  Nick was right - the customers did like it, but my staff ... oh my poor staff!   They had to listen to the same songs, the same commercials and the same jokes four or five times a day for 24 days. Think about that for a minute ... Could you stand wanting a hippopotamus for Christmas 5 times a day for 24 days straight?!  As we got closer to Christmas Eve, some said that they were ready to jingle themselves all the way into the Bellevue psychiatric ward.

Since Christmas is all about traditions, we started one of our own at the video stores:  one staff member was chosen every year to put the cassette tape out of its misery at the end of shift on December 24th. Sometimes they would burn it; sometimes they would stomp on it; sometimes they would unravel the cassette ribbon and twist it until it resembled tangled tinsel. It became the running gag for years.  

And what did I find in my stocking every year?  You guessed it ... another 90-minute Yuletide headache. 

Did you know that men's suit jacket lengths have to be just right? They shouldn't be too long or too short; ideally, they should end at the second knuckle of your thumb and cover the rear end. 

I've played many different characters over the years. Although I've never intentionally sought to be a character actor, I've never turned down opportunities when they presented themselves. In 2010, for example, I was hired by Conagra Foods to play the famous Italian-American Chef Ettore Boiardi, better known to everyone as Chef Boyardee. The job had me donning the chef's classic white hat, coat, and neckerchief to promote new pasta sauce products in grocery stores across the GTA and in Montreal. 

Newtalk 1010 Host, Jerry Agar, stopped by to support me and to sample the products at Sobey's. 

One afternoon, while I was at the counter of a Walmart in Vaughan, a senior walked up to me. His hands were clasped behind his back and he leaned forward to inspect the free samples.  "Listena," he said, removing his eyeglasses ever-so-slowly. "U no putta da pasta inta can."  His eyes pierced with such seriousness as if I had insulted him personally by serving pasta in a non-traditional way.  He declined the sample that I offered him and walked away, muttering something under his breath. 

I continued to talk with other customers, and brushed off the incident. To my great surprise, the same senior reemerged twenty minutes later. He walked back up to the counter and plunked a jar of his homemade tomato sauce right in front of me.  "Dis issa da gudda stoff," he said. "But itsa notta for you!"  It felt like a pseudo-Seinfeld episode with the tomato sauce Nazi. 

It turns out that beer may add shine and body to dull hair — thanks to the vitamin B, proteins, and natural sugars in the beverage. Just before blow-drying and styling, try giving your wet hair a spritz with flat beer at room temperature. The flat beer won't smell like alcohol. This technique can give your hair extra shine and bounce. - courtesy of hairstylist, Debra Locascio.  

Here are some interesting stories and facts that we collected, but didn't make it into the show this month:    

• Does walking backward have health benefits?
• How do you decorate a Christmas tree in 10-seconds flat? Joseph's Machines has the answer.
• Why did NORAD start tracking Santa Claus on December 24th?   
• Dreidel spinning has become a competitive sport
• How much will the gifts from the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" cost you in 2023?  Find out here: PNC Christmas Price Index. 
• 5 Things You May Not Know about Kwanzaa
• Are you a Grinch?  Compare your tipping habits with those of the average American

For comments and queries:  editor@nickandroy.com