12 Days of Christmas Cassettes: 10 A (Not Quite) Very Special Christmas 2

Welcome to the Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks 12 Days of Christmas celebration extravaganza!!! (Don't send me messages telling me that the 12 days of Christmas actually BEGIN on Christmas and end on January 6th, with the Epiphany. I know. But I'm not celebrating that way... so let us quickly move along.)

Today is another solo tape, and so I am taking advantage of this post to share not only a Christmas cassette, but also a Christmas-y surprise I found at Goodwill just a few days ago. But first... Today's Cassette!

I desperately wanted to find the original "Very Special Christmas" on cassette tape to share with you here. This one is not as good. BUT it still has some very notable tunes included nonetheless. Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again" is an absolute favorite of mine,

and Sinead O'Connor's cover of Bob Dylan's "I Believe in You" while arguably not a Christmas song is another great listen.

But the winner for most bizarrely awesome song on this tape goes to Mr. Frank Sinatra and Ms. Cyndi Lauper for their duet to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"

At the time, it was a move that would have "broken the internet" or whatever bulls**t thing it's called these days. A blue-eyed, classic, classy crooner from the gin-soaked rat-pack like Sinatra, teamed up with flighty, rainbow-muppet-come-to-life, "girls just wanna have fun" screeching Cyndi Lauper? 

Yes please. And it comes off sounding pretty damn great! Honestly! The rest of the tape is a mess really. Either artists I can't imagine anyone liking, or songs that did NOT need a remake of ANY kind (No one but Stevie Wonder is allowed to sing "What Christmas Means to ME"!!!) or artists we LOVE doing stupid songs (Aretha singing "O Christmas Tree"? Really?) 

-Side A- 

1. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Christmas All Over Again

2. Randy Travis - Jingle Bell Rock

3. Luther Vandross - The Christmas Song

4. Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

5. Boyz II Men - The Birth of Christ

6. Jon Bon Jovi - Please Come Home For Christmas

7. Paul Young - What Christmas Means to Me

8. Aretha Franklin - O Christmas Tree

9. Ronnie Spector/Darlene Love - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

10. Michael Bolton - White Christmas

-Side B- 

11. RUN DMC - Christmas Is

12. Extreme - Christmas Time Again

13. Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown - Merry Christmas Baby

14. Tevin Campbell - O Holy Night

15. Debbie Gibson - Sleigh Ride

16. Vanessa Williams - What Child is This? 

17. Ann & Nancy Wilson - Blue Christmas 

18. Wilson Phillips - Silent Night

19. Sinead O'Connor - I Believe in You

And now on to something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!

So while looking around at Goodwill the other day I found a bag of colorful cookie-cutters in the toy section. I gave them a cursory glance (there were some giant Halloween cutters in there, bats and Jack o' Lanterns, and I have a weird cookie-cutter thing going on) and since they were a buck and appeared to be ones I didn't already own, I grabbed them. I saw a reindeer in the mix, and it looked like Rudolph, so I figured a buck was worth it for a licensed cookie cutter of that character alone. But what I discovered when I got this home was that they weren't just ANY cookie cutters, there was a nearly-complete set of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 3D cookie cutters in there! The only character missing is Sam the Snowman... and I have his butt. Just no body.

Each cookie cutter comes with a body and a leg cutter. You cut out two legs for each character, and then stand the cookie up on the leg pieces. the top of the cutter is a stamp for making the character look how they're supposed to. This one is Santa Claus (These are all from the Rankin and Bass stop-motion TV special btw).

I was VERY excited when I found Yukon Cornelius in the bag... it was at this moment that I realized I had a set of Rudolph-themed cutters.

This is either adult Rudolph or Blitzen, Rudolph's father. the expression on his face makes me kind of think Blitzen... but I can pretend whatever I want.

Herbie! The dentist elf! Have you ever noticed how un-elf-like Herbie is physically as well? Is this where the inspiration for the movie Elf came from?

Santa's sleigh. Meh. I'd rather have had Sam the snowman. But oh well.

Rudolph himself! Why they made Blitzen but not Clarice I will NEVER KNOW. They didn't even need to make her her own set of legs. She could have just shared Rudolph's!

Once I figured out I had a set of Rudolph cookie cutters, I only really cared about one thing: Did I have Bumble? Turns out I did. Relief washed over me like I'd just urinated after a long car ride. It was that satisfying to find this guy in the bag. Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. 

I'll be going right up through Christmas day itself posting more, so be sure to join me back here tomorrow for more of the 12 Days of Christmas Cassettes celebration!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Hunting!