Merry Christmas!  (English)

Merry Christmas Mates! (Australian)

¡Feliz Navidad! (Spanish)

Sung Tan Chuk Ha! (Korean)

Mo’adim Lesimkha! (Hebrew)

Suk Sun Wan Christ Mas! (Thai)

Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce! (Bohemian/Czech)

Feliz Natal! (Portugese)

Nollaig Shona Dhuit! (Irish)

Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan! (Chinese Mandarin)

Natale hilare et Annum Faustum! (Latin)

Glædelig Jul! (Danish)

Vrolijk Kerstfeest! (Dutch)

Joyeux Noël ! (French)

???? ????????????! (Greek)

Fröhliche Weihnachten! (German)

Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev! (Armenian)

And Happy Hannukah and Kwanzaa too!

[Photo from CW]

OMG report of the day: the most annoying TV couple of the season Serena van der Woosen and Dan Humphrey are apparently coupling up in real life. NY Daily News is reporting that the real life Blake Lively and Penn Badgley are a definite item. They were recently spotted as a definite “couple” shopping outside of ABC Carpet and Home (well at least they have good taste-LOVE that store). The new question on everyone’s minds: are these two going to be as annoying in real life as their characters are on screen?

[Photo from news.co.au]

Apparantly workers at shopping centers in Australia are just realizing that Santa is scary. Westaff, the company that supplies hundreds of santas across Australia has been asked to “tone it down” because of the terror that some kids are experiencing when coming into contact with the big red jolly man. They have, specifically required that no Santa will be allowed to exclaim “Ho, Ho, Ho“, a phrase that is particularly traumatic for the kids to hear because it is so unfamiliar to them. Instead, they can utter “Ha, Ha, Ha” which the they believe will be better recepted. Newsflash: Santa is scary. Always has been and always will be. Changing what he says does NOT change the face that there is a fat old man covered in fur who everyone is coaxing junior to sit on and suck up to…changing what jolly St. Nick says is not going to change this. And secondly, who the hell hasn’t been scared by a Santa at one point or another…or a clown, or a giant Barney, or the Easter Bunny, or the Wiggles, or any other giant character that adults get into to try and manipulate children into enjoying themselves. It is a part of growing up, adds some hair to your skin, and is not going to end any time soon. As “grownups” we just can’t help ourselves, we want to play dress up too and use “it’s for the kids” as an excuse for this silly behavior. Our advice to the Santa managers in Australia: scary santas are the least of your problems, so let them do their thing, because you’re going to need to save all your manpower when those Wiggles characters come to town.

[Photo from Fabsugar]

We love love love Catherine Malandrino….which is why we were pretty excited when we came across her “Tips for Holiday Dressing” at Fabsugar. Some highlights:

How can you dress for a holiday party without looking like every other festive girl in the room?Never wear black, be daring and wear a BOLD color. Always wear heels.

What are holiday dressing “do’s” and “don’ts?”
Holiday Do’s: be sensual, wear textures from feathers to palettes, and mix it with light fabrics such as tulle, chiffon and organza. Always prefer a dress. Holiday Don’ts: no sneakers, no black, and no jeans, never go casual!

What’s a good dress up alternative for girls who don’t like to wear dresses or get all fancied up?
A good dress alternative is mini shorts or Bermuda shorts.

In case you want to peer into the lives of the Park Avenue socialite jetset this holiday season, or piggyback off their plans, or try to find a sugar momma/daddy to fill your piggybank, Park Avenue Peerage has listed some of their travel itineraries for the upcoming weeks. 

Destinations include Bridgehampton, Palm Beach, Thailand, and St. Moritz.  Names of travelers include Plum, Winston, Titus, Heathcliff, and Tinsley.  Sounds about as stuffy as a taxidermed Elk’s head.  Snooze…

For the rest of you stuck on the cold, dreary, granite island of Manhattan, don’t be filled with anguish.  The grass isn’t always greener…right?

Lauren Davis to wed Andrés Santo Domingo in a wedding that could feed an African village [Observer]

Getting a divorce these days couldn’t be easiser or more painless [Jezebel]

Donald and Martha Stewart keep the punches flying [NY Post]

Imus upset that Tom Brokaw didn’t get a brotha’s back [NY Post]

[Source: AP]

Euros here, there, everywhere! With the plunging US dollar, our fag-smoking Burberry clad neighbors across the Atlantic are lining up to buy a piece of the Big Apple. Brokers are humming about the “hot” market which normally goes into a lull during this time of year.

“The exchange rate is like a gift from God for Europeans,” said Danielle Grossenbacher, the broker for Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy who showed the Millers around. “Everybody is feeling they have an opportunity to purchase a piece of Manhattan.” [NY Times]

Wallstreet Bonuses are also down, which means that the cash influx that normally props up the market is missing, creating even more buying opportunities. In between shopping at FAO Schwartz, Abercrombie, and Gap Kids; Fabio and Sven’s avarice for real property is bailing us out from a glut of condos and new developments.

Foreign buyers are helping shield Manhattan from the housing slowdown that has plagued the rest of the nation and are providing a ready market for thousands of newly built condominiums. [NY Times]

So, while owners are certainly happy, those of us who were hoping to buy into the market in a downturn, or get a little bit shaved off our already poverty-inducing rents, are out of luck.

Numerous reports have proven over and over again that sex is healthy for you (yes, even if it’s with yourself). This week, the ever conservative FoxNews decided to step outside of their comfort zone a bit with an article titled “Sex Your Way to Better Health: A Dozen Reasons Why You Should Have Sex Tonight.” It was some of the best work they’ve done. This New Year’s, why not make a resolution that’s good for your health, and one that you might actually KEEP. Sex is good for:

Weight loss and control: 200 calories in 30 minutes of sex! um hello sign us up for a double session.

Pain management: what better way to cure your post-holiday blues.

Stress relief: by increasing your levels of oxytocin NATURALLY, so you can ween off that Paxil in no time.

Immune booster: because we’ve been sick one too many times this year

Sex also helps your heart by lowering cholesterol, will help you look younger by promoting the hormone DHEA, will help regulate your cycle (for women), and loads of other things…including increased self esteem (well, that may depend on the circumstances). Go get ‘em tigers.

[Source: AP]

Having trouble figuring out what get someone for the Holidays? Well if you’ve already exhausted Guitar Hero, Halo 3, or Rock Band as gift options, why not try a Rock Star biography? This season Eric Clapton, Slash, Nikki Sixx, and several others have decided to pen their stories of what it’s like to live on the edge in pure excess. [CNN]

[Source: AP]

Replete with sex, drugs, and rock & roll, these books definitely won’t disappoint. With so many options to choose from, it will be hard to pick which medium we will be choosing to live vicariously through these guys.

Putin is Person of the Year [Time]

Italian fashion giant Prada decides it’s time to go public. [Fashion Week Daily]

Morgan Stanley posts it’s first quarterly loss EVER. [Herald Tribune]

Blue Man seeks acceptance [Consumerist]

There is still a line out the door at the 2nd avenue deli reopened on Monday [Eater]

Underwear models are NOT undernourished [NY Post]

Union Square Scare [Gothamist]

We came across something very disturbing in today’s Metro.  In an article titled “A Soldier’s Suicide: Did He Have to Die?” we read about the story of soldier Jason Scheuerman.  Jason took his own life in Iraq after numerous displays of suicidal characteristics and behaviors.  What was more horrifying was this statistic, imbedded halfway down in the article:

“At least 152 U.S. troops have taken their own lives in Iraq and Afghanistan since the two wars started, contributing to the Army’s highest suicide rate in 26 years of keeping track.”

This is so, so sad.  Not only are we loosing thousands of troops to the enemy (whoever that may be at the time), we are loosing hundreds of sons and daughters to despair.  And it doesn’t end when they return home.  America is suffering an epidemic of suicides among traumatized army veterans.

“More American military veterans have been committing suicide than US soldiers have been dying in Iraq. At least 6,256 US veterans took their lives in 2005, at an average of 17 a day.” [TimesOnline]

As a nation, we need to step things up.  Jason is an example of several military leaders failing to take action.  On a mental health questionnaire he had admitted thoughts about killing himself, also that he was uptight, anxious, depressed, and had feelings of hopelessness and despair.  He had also made calls home saying goodbye, and spoke several times about wanting to kill himself.  His leaders many of the times played these claims of his off as exaggerated jokes by the soldier, and even gave him back his gun after serving him with 14 days of extra duty as punishment (minutes later they found him dead in his room).  Imagine the angst of his parents, who were soldiers themselves, and feel this should have been prevented.  His dad Chris:

“We will not see a statistical decrease in Army suicides until the Army gets serious about holding people accountable when they do not do what they are trained to do.”

It IS time for our leaders both in the military and back home to step up and start aiding in the mental health of our troops and our veterans.