THE THREE WISE GALS?

   What would have happened if it had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men? They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, brought practical gifts and there would be Peace On Earth.  (From Canyongirl)

"As they say at failed internet startups, there's no such thing as a free launch."
- Jon Delfin

THE "X" IN XMAS

   "What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?" So begins an e-mmunication that has graced many a screen this holiday season. I got mine first from (appropriately) Jack Angel.
   "From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly, so someone during that era wrote the carol as a catechism song for young Catholics and accordingly it has a hidden coded meaning.
   The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus - The two turtle doves, the Old and New Testaments - Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love - The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John - The five golden rings recall the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah or Law - The six geese a-laying are for the six days of creation - Seven swans a-swimming, the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit (Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy) - The eight maids a-milking are the eight beatitudes - Nine ladies dancing, the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control) - The ten lords a-leaping, the ten commandments - The eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples - And the twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed."
   And now - let us sing!

   "They started to produce meat like they produce cars - it's not good."
- French butcher Denis Moron on Mad Cow Disease, L.A. Times

THE 12 DAZE OF L.A.

   And here's how Christmas card designer David Price sees the lyrics:
   "A Seagull in a Palm Tree - Two Plastic Surgeons Yachting - Three Mouse Ears in Motion - Four Agents Avoiding Actors - Five Golden Rings from Rodeo Drive - Six Swimming Pools A-Sparkling - Seven Surfers Surfing - Eight Earthquakes Shaking - Nine Commuters Cursing - Ten Tourists Swooning - Eleven Cell Phones Ringing - and - Twelve Actors Waiting Tables . . .
   " Fa la la la la, la la, Oy vey!

   "The only advantage of George Bush being president for the black community is that it would resoundingly debunk the myth of white intellectual superiority."
- Chauncey Bailey, San Mateo Sun-Reporter

PRESIDENT-SELECT SELECTS POST-ER BOYS

   President-elect George W. Bush today announced the nomination of his father, former President Bush, to a new Cabinet post tentatively titled "Secretary of Government." Aides claim that this action will free President Bush from the details of the office, allowing him to focus on "The Big Picture."
   (Third Place winner in a contest held by "Chatterbox" to parody "beat-sweetener" profiles written by Bush-kissing D.C. writers.)

   "George Double-You Bush is five syllables. If we call him 'George Walker Bush' we could save an extra syllable; and with a possible recession looming, this is a prudent saving of national resources."
- Martin Lewis

THE DEVIL MADE ME

   In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And Satan said, "It doesn't get any better than this."
   And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb-yielding seed, and the fruit-tree-yielding fruit," and God saw that it was good.
   And Satan said, "There goes the neighborhood."
   And God said, "Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every thing that creepeth upon the Earth." And so God created Man in his own image, male and female created he them. And God looked upon Man and Woman and saw that they were lean and fit.
   And Satan said, "I know how I can get back in this game."
   And God caused to grow on the earth broccoli and cauliflower and spinach, and green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long, healthy lives. And Satan created McDonald's. And McDonald's brought forth the 99-cent double cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"
   And Man said, "Super size them." And Man gained 5 pounds. And God created healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair. And Satan brought forth chocolate. And Woman gained 5 pounds. And God said, "Try my crispy, fresh salad." And Satan brought forth Ben and Jerry's. And Woman gained 10 pounds.
   And God said, "I have sent thee heart-healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them." And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained 10 pounds and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.
   And God brought forth running shoes and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds. And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And Man gained another 20 pounds.
   And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat-fried them. And he created sour cream dip, also.
   And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips that were full of cholesterol. And Satan saw it and said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest. And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.
   And Satan created HMOs. (Uncredited)

"Good Coffee for Your Office? Call 1-800 TEA LEAF"
- L.A. Truck Ad

SING ALONG WITH THE KIDDIES!

More "hidden meanings" revealed by kids brainwashed by our culture:
"- On the first day of Christmas my tulip gave
    to me
- Good tidings we bring to you and your kid
- Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly
- We three kings of porridge and tar
- He's makin' a list, chicken and rice
- Oh, what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap
   and hay
- Noel, Noel! Barney's the king of Israel
- Come, froggy faithful
- With the jelly toast proclaim
- Frosty the Snowman is a ferret elf, I say
- In the meadow we can build a snowman,
  then pretend that he is sparse and brown
- Later on we'll perspire, as we dream by the
   fire
- Olive, the other reindeer
- You'll go down in Listerine!"

[Go to next column to continue reading]

"The movie '102 Dalmatians' was released in Florida as '97 Dalmatians'. Palm Beach County eliminated five, since the dots were in the wrong place."

THE NADIR OF NADER

   A third recount by Florida election officials has "definitively determined" that Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader, was defeated in the state. "There was a very significant 25,603-vote discrepancy between the first two counts, with Nader losing by respective margins of 2,812,339 and 2,837,942, so we decided to conduct a hand recount," Florida Attorney General Jim Smith said.
   "We now know that Nader lost by precisely 2,821,278 votes."
   It is not yet known whether Nader lost to Gore or Bush.

   "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
- Pablo Picasso

MORE THAN SHE COULD CHEW?

   The London Daily Telegraph reports that a newly-wed bank supervisor had a testicle bitten off by a colleague's wife during a drunken party to celebrate his wedding. Police found the testicle under a picture frame on the sitting room floor.
   Doctors told Neil Hutchinson, 29, that the shock and pain could have killed him had he not consumed so much alcohol. He spent four days in hospital during which surgeons were unable to re-attach the severed organ, and then he learned that his new bride had left him.
   That's gotta hurt a guy . . .
  (Submitted by Larry Belling)

   "We have sterilized and contracepted our families down to sizes so small that the children we do have are so spoiled with material things that they come to equate the receiving of the material with love."
- Rep. Rep. "The Hammer" Tom Delay

LIFE IS SHORT

   For a little person, late entertainer Billy Barty, 76, left a huge legacy after performing for seven decades in every aspect of the Biz. Born William John Bertanezzi in Pennsylvania to normal-sized parents, the 3'9" powerhouse got his first film job in "Wedded Blisters" by spinning on his head. I had the pleasure of working with him in the cult classic "Lobsterman from Outer Space" and can testify to his indomitable spirit and great heart. He leaves behind two foundations dedicated to "raising" public consciousness concerning dwarfism - the Little People of America and the Billy Barty Foundation.

   "You're basically killing each other to see who's got the best imaginary friend."
- Rich Jeni on religious wars

ZZZZZZZZZ - PPPPT!!!

   Victor Borge, born Boerge Rosenbaum, a classically-trained pianist who became famous as the "clown prince" of Denmark, passed away peacefully in his sleep at 91, after returning from a visit to his hometown, Copenhagen for a family "Jul" in Greenwich, CN.
   For decades, Borge delighted audiences by mocking the pomposity of classical music; falling off his bench, (having once seen a concert pianist slide off), playing music upside down and inventing classic routines like "phonetic punctuation" where sounds indicate commas, periods, exclamation points and question marks; he even introduced Rock Cornish game hens to American palates. In 1953, "Comedy in Music," his one-man show (which I saw), established the Broadway record for a solo show; and his longtime agent, Bernard Gurtman, said he was booked for the next two years.
   "I never have to get 'up' for a performance," he affirmed. "The moment I walk on the stage, no matter what my mood, if I have any regrets or feel sick or in pain, all that disappears. That is when the climax of my day occurs." He said, "The smile is the shortest way between people."

    "If I drop dead tomorrow, at least I'll know I died in good health."
- Ex-NFL coach, Bum Phillips

WHAT A CARD!

   The cue card was born in 1949, delivered by NBC usher Barney McNulty, who died at 77, when popular comic Ed Wynn feared that being on cold medication might make him forget his lines on live TV; so McNulty wrote the script on white cardboard panels for the performer to read.
   Over his lifetime, his unique talents were employed by Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, V.P. Hubert Humphrey, poet Carl Sandburg and Western icon John Wayne, who enticed him into a game of poker with the quip, "Now we'll see how good you really are with cards." Barney also "held the line" for Hollywood's greatest entertainers including George Burns, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Lucille Ball and Bob Hope - whose life he saved on a USO tour of Vietnam, when the task of transporting over 5,000 pounds of "cheat sheets" delayed a motorcade that was the target of a time-bomb.
   "Saved by the idiot cards, again!" cracked the invincible Hope.

   "Doc," the patient says, "I keep seeing talking crickets, talking dogs, talking birds, talking cats - what's wrong with me?"
   "Nothing at all," the doctor answers. "You're just having Disney spells."

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

   It's curtains for cartoon music composer Hoyt Curtin, 78, dubbed "the king of jingle-makers" but you can evoke his antic spirit every time you sing the themes from "The Flintstones" or "The Jetsons." In fact, he penned the music for Mr. Magoo and also for most of the 250 Hanna-Barbera classics including Scooby Doo, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Magilla Gorilla and The Smurfs where I was "King Gerard" among other roles, in my early voice-over career.      "We'd all have a good time, and I think the music shows it." he said.
   And finally, The West Hawaii Today newspaper reported the death in December of Hy Hoe Silva, 41, of Waimea.

   "The quickest way From Beverly Hills to the Valley? Marry a musician!"

   "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."
- Justice John Paul Stephens

**MERRY CHRISTIANS AND A HAPPY JEW YEAR! - G.W.'s Xmas Card**

12/27/00