It will be the 30th anniversary of Boney M's immortal tune Rasputin.

The Dead Kennedys officially formed in June 1978, but they didn't start to hit the relative big-time (in the context of being a snarly, snotty, highly political underground punk band) until 1980.

That year, the group released its debut LP - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.

And my world was never the same again. :)

I just phoned for a cab and had the following exchange:

Dispatcher: Where you going? 9 Channel Nine? (i.e. CTV)

Me: You read my mind.

Dispatcher: Well, I used to work for a psychic line.

Bremerton, Wa. appears to be the Scarborough of Puget Sound.

Forbes.com's Matthew Kirhady looks at Santa's positives and negatives as a 21st century business leader.

From AP:

Art Conrad has an issue with the commercialism of Christmas, and his protest has gone way beyond just shunning the malls or turning off his television. The Bremerton resident nailed Santa Claus to a 15-foot crucifix in front of his house.

"Santa has been perverted from who he started out to be," Conrad said. "Now he's the person being used by corporations to get us to buy more stuff."

A photo of the crucified Santa adorns his Christmas cards, with the message "Santa died for your MasterCard."

If you guessed being accused of criminal harassment, you win a restraining order!

Sacha Baron Cohen has announced he will no longer perform his signature Ali G or Borat characters.

Shannon Rupp looks at the origins of Christmas and how it may have been an attempt to steal people away from paganism.

Montrealer Daniel Lemay has been selling Christmas trees on the streets of Manhattan for the past nine years, cultivating a regular clientele in the process. However, the U.S. kept him out this year on the grounds that he's taking jobs away from Americans.

From the AP via IHT:

A man dressed as Santa Claus was knocked unconscious by a thrown object while he was riding in a parade on the back of a truck decorated as a sleigh.

"One second I was up there waving to people, and the next minute I wasn't," Kevin Smith said.

The blow Saturday broke his nose and gave him a concussion and two black eyes.

Other volunteers realized something was wrong after they had not heard from Smith for a few minutes. They stopped the truck and found him lying unconscious.

"It pretty much cold-cocked him," fire Lt. Scott Himelspach said.

Gate House at Victoria University on the U of T, reportedly an inspiration for the toga party scenes in the 1978 frat classic Animal House, is going co-ed after going one prank too far.

As some might have noticed, I'm on something of an oddball Christmas news binge.

I'm not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with the time of year.

Anyway, more inside.

From the BBC:

Drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have opened fire on a helicopter carrying a Santa Claus to one of the city's shanty towns.

No one was hurt and it is thought the gunmen believed the helicopter belonged to the police.

The helicopter was taking an actor dressed as Santa Claus to a Christmas party in the favela of Nova Mare when it came under fire. ...

The Santa later returned to Nova Mare by car to deliver his presents, where more than 1,000 children and parents were still waiting for his arrival.

The BBC Radio One will leave in a particular word in the old Pogues song Fairy Tale of New York.

And what word is that? It starts with 'f'' and rhymes with 'maggot'. (Thanks, Kevin S.!)

My favourite oddball story of the day, from AP via CTV.ca:

Police say a woman has been charged with sexual assault after a Santa at the Danbury Fair mall in Connecticut complained the woman groped him.

"The security officer at the mall said Santa Claus has been sexually assaulted,'' police Det. Lt. Thomas Michael said of the weekend complaint.

Sandrama Lamy, 33, of Danbury, was charged with sexual assault and breach of peace. She was released on a promise to appear in court Jan. 3.

Police quickly found and identified Lamy because the suspect was described as being on crutches, said Capt. Bob Myles.