In this Christmas episode, Pete and Chris discuss their holiday preparations and memories. They talk about the difference between alcohol and weed during family gatherings, childhood memories of climbing trees and playing outside, and the transition when siblings find out Santa isn't real. They also reminisce about memorable Christmas gifts, such as a video camera and a Nintendo, and the tradition of stockings filled with treats. Despite the lack of snow in their current locations, they still find joy in the magic of Christmas and the excitement of young children. In this conversation, Chris and Pete discuss their favorite childhood Christmas memories, including memorable presents and the joy of opening them. They then delve into their top five favorite Christmas movies, sharing their personal favorites and the reasons why these films hold a special place in their hearts. The conversation then shifts to their favorite Christmas songs, highlighting the classic tunes that evoke the holiday spirit. They conclude by reflecting on the nostalgia and traditions associated with Christmas and the importance of creating new memories with their own families.
Takeaways
Tick Tok @dadsunfiltered
Facebook Dads Unfiltered
Email 2dadsunfiltered@gmail.com
YouTube https://youtube.com/@DadsUnfiltered
Chris's emotion coaching
Tick Tok @dadding_daily
Instagram @chrisoneilcoach
YouTube @crisoneil
In this Christmas episode, Pete and Chris discuss their holiday preparations and memories. They talk about the difference between alcohol and weed during family gatherings, childhood memories of climbing trees and playing outside, and the transition when siblings find out Santa isn't real. They also reminisce about memorable Christmas gifts, such as a video camera and a Nintendo, and the tradition of stockings filled with treats. Despite the lack of snow in their current locations, they still find joy in the magic of Christmas and the excitement of young children. In this conversation, Chris and Pete discuss their favorite childhood Christmas memories, including memorable presents and the joy of opening them. They then delve into their top five favorite Christmas movies, sharing their personal favorites and the reasons why these films hold a special place in their hearts. The conversation then shifts to their favorite Christmas songs, highlighting the classic tunes that evoke the holiday spirit. They conclude by reflecting on the nostalgia and traditions associated with Christmas and the importance of creating new memories with their own families.
Takeaways
Tick Tok @dadsunfiltered
Facebook Dads Unfiltered
Email 2dadsunfiltered@gmail.com
YouTube https://youtube.com/@DadsUnfiltered
Chris's emotion coaching
Tick Tok @dadding_daily
Instagram @chrisoneilcoach
YouTube @crisoneil
Pete (00:00.682)
Hey fellas, welcome back. This is the aforementioned Christmas episode, where if you listened to last week's episode, as well as the TikTok that I posted today, you would know that we're talking about Christmas. With me as always is my coffee drinking compatriot, Chris. I think it's coffee.
Chris O'Neil (00:17.533)
Atrius... ..ris. Ho ho motherfuckers!
Pete (00:23.595)
Is that coffee Irish'd up?
Chris O'Neil (00:25.949)
Oh yeah. It's not even coffee. Does that forward to you or is it backwards? Because it's backwards to me.
Pete (00:29.555)
Oh, fair enough.
Pete (00:34.966)
It's backwards and fucking blurry, so you'll have to read it.
Chris O'Neil (00:37.829)
Oh, it says, let's keep the dumb fuckery to a minimum today.
Pete (00:42.706)
Oh, good luck to that. Today I had to get some holiday supplies, as it were. Thankfully, I had to go and do that in the backwoods of Maine, so there was no traffic that I had to deal with. It was a good time. So, I got, yes, I got the fun tasks, the dealing with family and the holiday bullshit supplies. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Chris O'Neil (00:54.042)
Mmm.
Chris O'Neil (00:58.337)
Those supplies. Now I understand, yes.
Chris O'Neil (01:08.386)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The the get through the season supplements, right?
Pete (01:17.318)
Yes, yes. Some people choose alcohol. I've always gone another route.
Chris O'Neil (01:27.124)
Yep. See, and I think I think there's an important distinction there because.
Well, and we've talked about this before, but how alcohol is so much more accepted than weed in, you know, normal circles. And it's funny too, because I think if my family had smoked weed instead of drank alcohol in any number of family gatherings, things would have been oh so, oh so much nicer.
Pete (01:39.138)
Mm-hmm.
Pete (01:50.914)
drink.
Chris O'Neil (01:59.829)
No one would be screaming at each other. There's no fistfights. It's like, you know, ah, but this is what you do when you get together. We hide our feelings and then let them all come out when we're drunk. Ha ha ha.
Pete (02:00.091)
Oh yeah dude, oh fuck yeah.
Pete (02:07.234)
Yeah.
Pete (02:11.991)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (02:14.125)
Yeah, whereas like getting stoned, you're just like, hey man, yeah, I'm feeling some kind of way. Oh, okay. Do you want to get a bite? Yeah, let's do that. That's about it. I will have dessert now, man. No, and I, you know, all the stigma aside, I think, you know, if everyone who,
Pete (02:22.124)
Yeah, no. I will have dessert now, man. Definitely dessert. Ha ha ha.
Chris O'Neil (02:36.441)
was a raging alcoholic just smoked weed instead they'd get their addiction fix and uh... the world would be a hell of a lot nicer
Pete (02:44.958)
Yeah, it would be, that's for sure. That is for certain. So, tis the season. You know what's funny is around this time of year, this random quote pops up from a movie, and it's, ho ho, cocktails and mistletoe. I can't remember the rest of it, but it's from the movie, She's Having a Baby?
Chris O'Neil (02:59.997)
Okay.
Chris O'Neil (03:10.577)
Oh, dude, I've never seen it. Kevin Bacon, right? Kevin Bacon, yeah. Yeah.
Pete (03:13.462)
Kevin Bacon, yeah, but the line is actually spoken by a younger Alec Baldwin, who at that time was like in a good rivalry with Warren Williams of being like a hairy motherfucker. Like they were both like fur babies, man.
Chris O'Neil (03:19.649)
Wow. Okay.
Chris O'Neil (03:31.095)
Yeah, yeah, they were, yeah, they were some hairy fellas. Faux show.
Pete (03:36.79)
Yeah, dude. Now I don't know. I don't know. I don't care, but maybe he's manicured that shit down. But back then... Whew. Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (03:45.101)
I don't know. Why, what, is there a shirtless scene or something?
Pete (03:50.01)
Um, he just always had like he had it was always poking out like another Yeah, and he there was I think a scene where he wasn't wearing a shirt in that but again, it was young Alec Baldwin so You know, whatever and it was the 80s John Hughes
Chris O'Neil (03:54.558)
Oh, yeah, whatever shirt he was wearing, yeah. I get that.
Chris O'Neil (04:09.325)
If anything, I would assume you get more hairy as you get older, but that's just me.
Pete (04:14.462)
i don't know maybe that's true but uh... that's either here nor there
Chris O'Neil (04:18.309)
Well, maybe it just migrates, right? Because you get, it moves off your head and goes down to your ears and nose. Ha ha ha.
Pete (04:29.886)
Oh man, the so many different hairs that I find that were never in areas before, it just sucks. It's fucking... that's like a Christmas present, gift that keeps on giving, body hair shows up at random.
Chris O'Neil (04:30.071)
Ugh, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (04:38.205)
It's true. It's weird, man.
Chris O'Neil (04:46.321)
Well, and it's funny too, because I joked. I joked to my wife at some point. And now it's going to be out there for the world, because I'm about to say it. But I said, this is probably shortly after we got married. And I was like, do you want to see something I've never shown anyone before in my life? She goes, yeah. And I was shaving at the time. And I just turned back towards the mirror, and I went.
Chris O'Neil (05:13.933)
I just shaved this, the unibrow that, it's not like I got a full bang in unibrow or anything, but definitely a few black hairs right here that if I just let them go would show up after a while.
Pete (05:17.758)
Yeah, the unibrow.
Pete (05:29.319)
Yeah. I suffer the curse of the unibrow. Man, at one point in my younger days, I think somebody asked me if it was eventually just going to wrap around my whole head. So I started shaving it. And then, uh.
Chris O'Neil (05:45.085)
That's actually a pretty good question.
Pete (05:49.862)
I started shaving it and then I remember I was trying to impress this girl. I think I was trying to impress her I don't know at that age. Are you really impressing anyone? I wish went to shave it for the first I think it was like the first or second time and I Pushed a little too hard on the razor. No, I didn't miss I pushed too hard on the razor and I cut in between
Chris O'Neil (05:57.293)
Yeah, as we do. Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (06:08.679)
I know, you missed.
Chris O'Neil (06:16.093)
You filade. Eeeerrrr.
Pete (06:18.634)
Yeah, there's a scar there now. But forever is that story. Yeah, is that, it's not as interesting though as the scar that I have on my arm from my brother's toenail when we were kids.
Chris O'Neil (06:22.057)
Oh jeez. Forever and ever.
Chris O'Neil (06:35.589)
That's like just saying that out loud is a recipe for a story. Damn.
Pete (06:42.014)
Oh yeah, you know, it would be, but it's not really. We were just arguing and he, we were, I think just in the house and he just kicked me and it caught my arm and just scratched me. In a neat shape too. Well yeah, I mean that was back when we were kids. You need him for grips so you can climb things as children, like wild animals, remember?
Chris O'Neil (06:56.401)
fucker needs to trim his toenails man
Chris O'Neil (07:02.873)
You need him for grips, he can blind things. That's right, right. Back when we would just go outside and come home when the street lights came on, we'd just be climbing trees like feral fucking cats.
Pete (07:15.142)
Yeah, oh man, I can still hear my neighbor's mother calling the kids in. Like, that shrill voice. I can, it's, it's one of those memories. I don't know if it's like, just because it was over and over, if it's just traumatizing. Um, it's just like hearing that. Like, I remember at one point. Yeah. Oh, when she thought that they were too, too far away, she also had like a fucking air horn too.
Chris O'Neil (07:23.873)
Oh yeah. It's one of those memories. I don't know if it's like just.
Chris O'Neil (07:31.525)
And that hard ass New England accent too, right? Whatever their names are.
Pete (07:44.098)
So, whoop, you know. Ha ha ha. Oh man.
Chris O'Neil (07:46.105)
Yep, yep. My grandmother had a bell, a giant fucking bell. It was like this big around, and it had a handle that came off to the side, and she just, yeah, she just walked out of the porch and clan It wasn't like, tick clan really fucking loud. But my mom, my mom just did the, whoosh. I can't actually do this. I could do it, whoosh, like that, but she would full on, you know, fingers in my mouth, whoosh, that would be our, oh, time to come in.
Pete (07:53.866)
like an old school bell.
Pete (08:17.39)
Yeah, no When I wouldn't listen My parents would say that
Pete (08:28.894)
A storm was coming. Like if I wouldn't come home or if I refused to, they would say that they heard. I had this aversion to thunder and lightning.
Chris O'Neil (08:31.101)
Okay.
Chris O'Neil (08:35.545)
Oh, and they were able to use that more than once? Because you were just that young? Yeah, and you didn't remember the previous time they used it? That's why I can't remember.
Pete (08:41.222)
Yep, I Why just hate I'm not really a fan of thunder and lightning even to this day But now I'm obviously a little bit more mature about it Yeah, they would use it to fucking oh my god we heard that there's weather storms coming when I was really little like as a Younger kid and I tried to hang out with the older kids
Chris O'Neil (08:47.834)
Mmm.
Also they were scaring you home.
Chris O'Neil (09:04.785)
Hmm.
Pete (09:05.478)
If they heard a siren, they would also use that. They would say that the police were coming to get me, because I wasn't listening. So that one worked. I was a stubborn little bastard, apparently. I don't know.
Chris O'Neil (09:14.037)
Oh yeah. Yeah, I get it, I get it. See, now I'm immediately thinking of that song from Ted. Fuck you, thunder, you can suck my dick. Ha ha ha. Oh.
Pete (09:23.65)
Yep. Yeah, it's uh, but yeah, still even to this day, I'm still a little scared of it. Uh, I was-
Chris O'Neil (09:30.321)
Fellas, if you haven't seen the movie Ted, you need to go see, just pick it up and watch it. If you're a fan of Seth MacFarlane, and you like Family Guy, you will love this movie. Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane as a bear, Teddy Bear, go watch it.
Pete (09:38.94)
Oh
Pete (09:51.605)
So, speaking of movies and stuff, it is Christmas. This is our Christmas episode. Let's talk about...
Chris O'Neil (09:57.505)
It is. Christmas is on Monday. We are recording on Friday. So yeah, yeah. And we have some lists.
Pete (10:02.759)
Yep.
I dashed some alcohol orders today. That was fun for the drunks to get ready for the holidays. Yep, yep, yep. So.
Chris O'Neil (10:08.969)
Oh, lovely, yes. I put in an alcohol order. Actually, my wife did last night, but you know. Apparently, there was a... Total wine and more? No, no, no
Pete (10:17.814)
from Total Wine and More.
Chris O'Neil (10:38.277)
It was kind of like a door dash type of thing where this dude just picked it up and dropped it off at our place. I was like, fucking hey, I'll take that.
Pete (10:39.786)
Oh, nice.
Pete (10:47.216)
This time of year, man, places like that are nuts. Like, I don't... it's unhinged. Un-fucking-hinged.
Chris O'Neil (10:50.706)
Yeah, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (10:54.989)
Agreed. Yeah, yeah, you gotta get your shit. Unless you have to get something, you know, cause it'll go bad close to the day. Yeah. Anything, anything I can possibly get that's, that's gonna last, I get like at least a week before, if not sooner. Or, or, yeah, further away.
Pete (11:02.421)
Yeah.
Pete (11:10.998)
Yeah. So, let's start the episode really like, with the fact that you still have young kids, so that's like, cool for you. I have older kids that no longer believe, so the magic has been gone for quite some time.
Chris O'Neil (11:24.473)
Right. From an actual Christmas Santa Claus thing. Yeah, I totally get that. Yeah.
Pete (11:31.722)
Yeah, it's the... The curtain has been pulled back. I've seen the wizard as just a little wrinkly old dude. Like, it's disappointing.
Chris O'Neil (11:36.261)
wizard is just a little wrinkly old dude. Right. Yeah, and I have to say, because I loved, I still love Christmas. It was just one of those things. I joke about the fact that I'm one of those psychos that actually like the holidays. Because.
Growing up, especially when I was still young and naive, and I didn't realize how everyone were alcoholics and had all these problems. And you know, because most of the time it was hidden, right? It's just the kids are over here, and the adults are over here. And the reason I liked Christmas so much.
Pete (12:08.726)
Oh yeah.
Pete (12:15.382)
Well, we had that veneer of Santa Claus, the expectation of presents. We didn't give a fuck about the adult problems. Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (12:20.381)
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, goddamn right. It was just, it's like, when is Christmas coming? But it was always just a, I enjoyed, because I had so many cousins. So around Christmas time, it was family time. And all the, we all kind of lived in similar.
close, relatively close areas. So we were able to get like huge swaths of the family together. And I would have like eight to 10 cousins I could play with over the holidays. So it was always cool. You were never without a playmate and you know, the older, I could hang out with the older cousins instead of your younger siblings. So that was cool. So moving into adulthood and now having young kids of my own.
You know, the veneer of waking up and getting presents is obviously, you know, old hat now that I'm an adult, and it has been for a long time. So I appreciate the fact that being able to kind of live vicariously through your young kids is an enjoyable thing if you like.
the holidays, especially a holiday like Christmas, because it's so big and the tree and the presents and everything and just coming down on the day and watching the kid get so excited. And I still remember when Charlie was, I wanna say two, cause she's...
Pete (13:34.24)
yeah
Chris O'Neil (13:49.977)
Maybe it was like about two, two and a half, because she was born in August. So it's probably been like two and a half when Christmas came around. And she had those little spit curls because her hair had just started to grow. And she wakes up and just comes out of her room. It's like, good morning, daddy. I was like, hi, kiddo. Do you know what today is? She's like, what? No fucking clue, even though we just talked about it the night before.
Pete (13:58.166)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (14:19.041)
And I say, it's Christmas today. She goes, oh. Like just eyes huge, big mouth. You know, it's like, should we go downstairs and see what there is? And she stopped, because the way our stairs are, it's one flight down and then there's a landing and then you turn and then you go another flight down. And she stops on the landing because you can see the living room with the tree and everything. And she goes, oh.
Daddy, it's so beautiful. And just stood there in awe of the beauty of the tree and the presence and everything. And I was like, God damn it, man. This would just be another day if it wasn't for this kid. I'm grateful for sure that I'm still in that zone of young kids. And the fact that I now have a coming on eight month old who will be there soon as well. And I'll get to enjoy that time.
Pete (14:51.4)
Yeah.
Pete (14:59.373)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (15:13.535)
for her also.
Pete (15:14.814)
And then you get that awkward point in time where the older sibling knows the truth. And you have to be like... Yeah, and you have to be like, Oh, motherfucker, I will get you the biggest shit in the world if you don't ruin it.
Chris O'Neil (15:23.384)
Oh, that transition when one nose and the other one doesn't. Oh, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (15:30.161)
Just don't say anything No, seriously cuz that is a big fucking deal man, but that's like your entire childhood like this
Pete (15:37.582)
Oh yeah. It's like losing your childhood virginity, man. Like that whole, like, innocence is, like, fuckin' ripped away like a bandaid on a hairy arm.
Chris O'Neil (15:42.675)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (15:48.241)
Well, yeah, god damn it. Because it's not just like the innocent child thing. It is, excuse me, this whole world of magic that just all of a sudden doesn't exist anymore. And I do remember learning, because I was one of those kids that would go looking for presents. And I found, because we lived in a.
Pete (16:14.426)
Oh, fuck yeah, dude.
Chris O'Neil (16:17.305)
We lived it and honestly, and I will readily admit it, I learned about Santa Claus way older than all the kids that I knew. And strangely enough, it just never, yeah, I don't remember how old I was, but I think I had gone into double digits. I was at least 10, if not 11.
Pete (16:30.718)
Well you're lucky then, truthfully, to be able to ride that out for as long as you could.
Chris O'Neil (16:45.357)
uh... no one ruined it for me which i do have to say looking back is actually kinda cool but i'd i was the oldest there was no one above me to kinda clue me in you know uh...
Pete (16:48.81)
That's commendable.
Chris O'Neil (16:59.325)
And my parents were like, well, why the hell would we ruin this? Let's just keep it going for as long as possible. And I remember sneaking down in the basement and looking behind the water heater and all this stuff. And I found a present. I didn't say anything, but on the day it said From Santa. So I was like, and then I pulled my dad aside when all the other kids were preoccupied. And I asked him. And he was like, no.
Pete (17:05.794)
Fuck yeah.
Chris O'Neil (17:29.119)
that's true, that he's not real, blah, don't tell your siblings. And that was the entire conversation.
Pete (17:36.066)
Yep. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, it's funny. It's like, as a kid, it's, it's not that it's funny, but it's just crazy that you don't see it coming. Like, for the longest time, it took me forever to figure out how my parents negotiated the whole Easter bunny scam.
Chris O'Neil (17:53.19)
No.
Chris O'Neil (18:01.852)
Mm-hmm.
Pete (18:02.654)
Like, because we would leave and go to church and like, eggs would be hidden and baskets would be there waiting for us. And it's just like, how did you do that? But then, you know, when you realize it and you're like, oh, that's why my mother was like, late coming out, because she was setting everything up inside. You know? But it's like those fucking jokes in a Muppet movie.
Chris O'Neil (18:07.353)
uh... i remember this yet yeah you told you how you told the story
Chris O'Neil (18:22.299)
Right. And you just know this, like, mom's taking forever. What the fuck? Yeah.
Pete (18:28.542)
your parents are laughing at the jokes in the movie like i don't think that's funny and then you realize later when you're watching it you like of
Chris O'Neil (18:32.353)
right well and now in modern day version of that is toy story right where all the parent jokes well and i have to say to like i think it's the magic aspect of it and
Pete (18:41.47)
Yeah, without a doubt.
Chris O'Neil (18:54.189)
I think it helps when you want to believe it. You know? Like how it sticks around. It sticks around so long because it's fun. It's cool. It's an enjoyable thing to believe in these things. And it rounds the edges of life.
Pete (18:58.623)
Yeah.
Pete (19:09.686)
You know what else doesn't help is the lack of fucking snow.
Chris O'Neil (19:14.331)
What?
Pete (19:16.55)
The lack of snow also kinda, it doesn't make it as cool. It doesn't give me that Christmas feeling. I mean, I know you're in California where you don't get fucking snow anyway, but it's not like it used to be, dude. Like when we were kids, like they would be like fucking mountains and mountains. It would be like, it was like we lived on the desk at the end of fucking Skyface. You know what?
Chris O'Neil (19:17.873)
What about it?
Chris O'Neil (19:24.125)
Oh, the fa- Oh. Cause, are you not getting any snow out there? I mean, I know you're in California, but you don't get snow. Yeah, we don't get snow anyway.
Chris O'Neil (19:36.895)
Mmm.
Chris O'Neil (19:45.382)
Yeah.
Pete (19:46.018)
Pacino puts his fucking head in the mountain of cocaine. That was like our childhood. Not so much the coke, but that was like the snow.
Chris O'Neil (19:48.7)
Oh yeah.
Chris O'Neil (19:53.113)
Yeah, the pile, oh dude, I remember. I remember snowing on Christmas Day, I remember going out and playing, and yeah.
Pete (19:58.634)
Like Christmas vacation. I lived in like this neighborhood off the highway, right? It sucked to get into and the plows would come and I lived on a corner and they would put all the snow in the corner by my house. So we had this giant fucking hill in my front yard and everything that we'd sled down. We'd build snow forts. Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (20:11.729)
Yep.
Chris O'Neil (20:15.877)
Yeah, you make snow forts and sledding and yeah, dude. Yeah, of course. Yeah, and it's and I was just saying, too, it's like it. Yeah, it just it doesn't even get cold out here until January now. I remember when it used to get cold in October.
Pete (20:23.87)
And now it just rains and it's gray.
Pete (20:32.158)
Yeah, and your version of cold is what's the temperature of cold out there, Chris?
Chris O'Neil (20:37.389)
Yes, the temperature of cold out here is in the 40s.
Pete (20:42.349)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (20:43.181)
It does not, on a rare occasion it gets below 40, but I don't think it has reached below 35 degrees since I've lived out here. And I've been out here almost 20 years.
Pete (20:56.702)
We get like frozen ball hair here. Like that still happens. No snow, but we definitely, you can feel like that the ball hair is brittle. Like you have to thoroughly dry before leaving the house.
Chris O'Neil (21:09.57)
Ah yeah.
Chris O'Neil (21:13.433)
Well, and you know, it's funny is I remember thinking when I was a kid, if it's going to be this goddamn cold, it might as well snow so I could at least enjoy the cold. And then I realized when I got older and actually learned about temperature and weather and all of that, it can't snow when it's that cold. That's the problem. Yeah. So. Right. It has to be just below freezing and, you know, in the 30s, it can't if it's in the teens, it's not going to snow.
Pete (21:23.277)
right.
Pete (21:32.03)
Yeah, has to be like just right.
Chris O'Neil (21:42.073)
But yeah, I think it is weird that has changed for sure. But going back to what in the transition, saying about the magic, I think that because that includes the snow, the snow and the magic of Santa Claus and the presence and everything. It was just it rounded the edges of life. It just made it that much more enjoyable. And I think connecting that experience.
Pete (21:57.71)
Mm-hmm.
Pete (22:09.406)
It was the Vaseline on the camera. The Vaseline on the camera lens of life.
Chris O'Neil (22:11.933)
Yeah. Of life, yes. And it was, being able to experience that from the other perspective as a parent with your young children, I think allows that experience to come full circle. And I'm appreciating that as the father that I am now. So.
Pete (22:34.818)
Yeah, it's a weird ride, I'll be honest with you. I mean, Zach still gets excited and everything, but I don't know, sometimes I think he's just playing along. Like, oh yeah, Christmas, but when the fuck is Halloween coming back, Dad?
Chris O'Neil (22:37.681)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (22:50.553)
Hey, you like what you like, right? You know, but seriously and I had this I had this experience this year big time Because it's the first year that my wife is involved with her new business so she's been like head in the sand focused like, you know all year on top of the fact that she had a challenging pregnancy with obviously our second child and like it's just been it's been a challenging year and
Pete (22:53.428)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (23:17.017)
We didn't do the Christmassy type stuff we normally do right at the beginning of the season, like right after Thanksgiving. We didn't even get our tree up until weeks after we used to, or we usually do. And it's that interesting awareness as the adult, especially in a place where you don't have a ton of...
Well, I don't have any family out here, but you don't have a lot of influence from other people Where if you don't set it up if you don't initiate the Christmas stuff, it doesn't get initiated, you know, like our tree still has like a Third of the ornaments on it and they only go up about halfway because they're as high as my daughter could reach Because
Pete (23:55.351)
Thank you.
Chris O'Neil (24:07.761)
We didn't finish doing it because we were so busy with us. Like I'm busy with our new daughter. My wife's busy with building this other business that she just got involved with this last year. And so we haven't had the space, the mental capacity to really dig in and decorate the way we tend to do.
So that was a part of the thing tonight, hopefully, after we finish recording. We're going to go downstairs, have a cocktail, put some Christmas music on and actually finish decorating the tree like three days before Christmas. Yeah.
Pete (24:43.582)
have a cocktail. This means that you're going to get drunk and pass out in front of the tree with the ornaments all around you.
Chris O'Neil (24:53.383)
accept your proposal.
Pete (24:56.182)
I'm not like proposing anything, I'm just predicting the future like a magic 8-ball. So since we're talking about like the way the magic happened and all that, what was like the most memorable gift that you got? Do you remember any like profound fucking thing that was just like, this is the best Christmas ever.
Chris O'Neil (25:00.288)
Mm-hmm
Chris O'Neil (25:05.434)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (25:14.359)
I don't remember anything really profound or necessarily but and it's funny too because we talked about we're gonna use our favorite you know top five Christmas songs presents we remember memories all of that and this kind of ties into memories as well I had I still to this day I have a VHS tape of a home video from 1989
And it's right before Christmas. And then further down the tape, there's actually Christmas morning and all that. And it's just that sticks in my head more so than anything, because I've watched it more than any other memory of my life. And I will never forget, because my brother got a bike. And the way our house was.
Pete (25:59.234)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (26:08.757)
was the living room was here and then there was a doorway that went into the kitchen slash dining room. And so the tree was always in the living room and the bike was in there and he got on it and rode into the kitchen. And when he did, my mother said, hey, what's that over there? And he and I both look and there was, you remember those old racetracks.
the plastic racetracks with two different lanes on them. And it had that gun style controller, slot cars, there you go. I just never remember what they were called. And the cord, it wasn't wireless, it was connected to the racetrack. And then the car had that little plastic pin in it that you slid in the slot of the racetrack and it connected to the battery and then you pull the trigger and it would go around the track. That.
Pete (26:40.874)
Yeah, the slotcast. Yeah, slotcast, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (27:05.801)
There was a huge track. Awesome. You can explain that to me. Yeah. Ha ha ha. Yeah, god damn right.
Pete (27:06.486)
It's so awesome that you mansplain that toy. Ha ha ha!
Chris O'Neil (27:17.025)
There was there was a huge track that was set up on the kitchen table Because we had already opened all the presents in the living room and that was one that We didn't even see when we came downstairs Because we have to go through the kitchen to get the living room. All right laser. There's the tree. Let's go You know, it was right there
Pete (27:24.255)
Nice.
Pete (27:30.462)
Oh yeah, because you're fucking laser focused on that tree.
You know the other unfortunate side effect is the fucking stockings. Nobody gives a fuck about the stockings. Like my parents used to make it enticing for the stockings. They'd put all the fucking batteries that you needed for the other shit. So you have to go there and they'd always put the batteries at the bottom of the stocking.
Chris O'Neil (27:41.523)
Oh
Chris O'Neil (27:49.945)
Smart.
at the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you know, it's funny is I was gonna add that as a memory, the stockings, because I honestly don't remember a single thing that was in the stocking beyond these two things, because these two things were in every stocking, every single year, no matter what else, because there was always like little, yeah.
Pete (27:57.22)
Oh, yeah.
Pete (28:16.238)
Well, can I guess before you say it?
What was one of them batteries and the other one was those fucking chocolate coins, right?
Chris O'Neil (28:24.601)
No. No, neither one. No. No, we had, I mean, we might've had it up top, but there was always like a few things up top, and then one thing in the toe of the stocking, and then another thing above it. Always, every single year. A bag of pistachios and a tangerine.
Pete (28:26.71)
Really? You never had those chocolate coins in your stocking? Really? I thought that was like a fucking must-have for everybody.
Chris O'Neil (28:52.177)
There was always a tangerine at the bottom of the stocking every single year. And it's just, I don't remember. Yeah, gun to my head, I could not remember anything that I ever got in a stocking, but those two things were constant every single year. And the idea was.
Pete (28:56.523)
Why?
Pete (29:10.026)
Because you were like, why?
Chris O'Neil (29:12.453)
Well, no, the idea was that I'm gonna be having so many treats and candy and chocolate and stuff on Christmas with desserts and pies and all that shit. My mother wanted us to have at least something healthy, so she always put a tangerine at the bottom of the stock. Yeah, that's why. Eh.
Pete (29:31.63)
Fair enough. You didn't have those chocolate coins though. You know what I'm talking about, right?
Chris O'Neil (29:35.854)
I know exactly what you're talking about and I did have them on Christmas a number of times but they weren't always in our stocking or something like that.
Pete (29:43.994)
Oh man, they were always in my stock and it was like they were, like they gave them away free with something. Because every year it's like what the fuck? And they were never good. No, it's just like you know you could try a little bit harder, get something better, you know. How about a Toblerone? Those are good.
Chris O'Neil (29:53.345)
Oh what, you were pissed that you got him?
Chris O'Neil (30:04.701)
Dude, you were a fucking kid. Did you actually care that much, or you were looking back on it now saying you wanna tell the truth? Yeah, see, that's the point, of course you didn't. Of course you didn't care. You were seven. Yeah. No, man, but we...
Pete (30:08.586)
No, I know. I know. No, I didn't. I reflecting now. I was like, yeah.
Going back in time and I'm like, dude, I'm going to shake my five-year-old self and be like, ask for bigger shit.
Pete (30:30.091)
But some of the things that I remember getting, I got this video camera, right, that recorded on regular audio cassettes, but it recorded video. It was like the greatest thing. Just as like black and white. It was like this weird, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (30:47.899)
How do you even play the video?
Pete (30:51.474)
In the thing, you plugged it into the TV. It was like, remember the high eight camcorders where they had the smaller cassette? But this was a regular audio cassette that you put in and you'd plug the player in, just like Doc Brown plugged in the fucking, the JVC player. Yeah, yeah. That was one of my favorite things, but I think it ended up breaking. I mean, it was weird and gimmicky, but.
Chris O'Neil (30:58.634)
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Really? Oh, you do the AV cables, yeah, yeah. Yep, yep.
Pete (31:20.366)
I loved it. I've always loved that sort of shit. And then, I mean, I remember the Nintendo. But that was a thing that was meant for me and my brother. So it was a shared... Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (31:20.554)
Hmm.
Chris O'Neil (31:26.885)
That was on my list too. Oh yeah, that was for all of us. I have three siblings, so it was, yeah. And we didn't get it when it came out. Like we always got, and I'm not complaining, I got gaming systems as a kid, but we never. Yeah, no, seriously, because it was one of those things that's like, when everyone got Nintendo, we didn't get anything. Then when everyone got Sega Genesis, we got Nintendo.
Pete (31:45.023)
As long as I got it, I'm fine.
Chris O'Neil (31:56.881)
You know, it was kind of like we were a generation behind of whatever was out. So when Nintendo came out, I think two years later, we got it for Christmas, which was still awesome. But I always remember that. It was always after that. And especially as an adult, I appreciate that much more because you never buy the first iteration of anything. You let the new stuff get trouble shot first. Then you buy it.
Pete (32:01.988)
Oh, yeah.
Pete (32:10.751)
Yeah, right.
Pete (32:26.338)
Yeah, that was, I remember that, I mean, that was crazy shit. And then, but that's like, those are the only two that I really like, I really, really remember. Like after that, you know, as I got older and finding out what the presents were, I think that's really where it started to lose itself. Because once I started looking and guessing, it was like it didn't matter and it didn't have that impact when you were as surprised. But my mom used to wrap them.
Chris O'Neil (32:27.781)
But yeah, that was a big one.
Chris O'Neil (32:49.301)
Yeah. Well, and I think that's...
Pete (32:55.13)
Already and we got to a point me and my brother would like we'd learn how to cut the tape exactly and how to Re-put it so you couldn't tell oh dude, we were like Oceans 11 type shit. We were like making videos of her bedroom and like no man. We weren't in there at all
Chris O'Neil (33:00.853)
Oh damn, you were like... You really got into it.
Hahaha
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We weren't in here at all. Yeah, oh, Jesus, yeah. So and see to that, like it's one thing to just kind of look. It's another thing to be that conniving about it because you're shooting yourself in the foot like you were saying. It's like once you do that shit then the magic is gone. You're not surprised and it's like, eh.
Pete (33:26.177)
Oh yeah.
Chris O'Neil (33:30.353)
You know, because that's, I think, that's part of the magic of Christmas is the surprise of what you're getting, regardless of how much you like it or not. It's not knowing and then finding out on the day. Like, that's a huge aspect of it, for sure. But to that point, I have one more. That was just insanely cool that I remembered. One was one was the Nintendo. One was the racetrack. And the last one. Was.
Pete (33:39.368)
Exactly.
Chris O'Neil (33:59.149)
And I, you know, I might be misremembering the size of the box because I was little. So it was probably smaller than I thought it was. But yeah, yeah. But I remember it at least it was at least like two by two by two. Like it was a decent sized box. But I'm thinking it was it might have been three by three. Anyway, it was it was a it was a big box.
Pete (34:08.102)
Yeah.
I could have lived in that box for years.
Pete (34:22.72)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (34:29.933)
and it was filled to the brim with He-Man figures. So they weren't brand new out of the box, but it didn't matter. There was Castle Grayskull, I had Cringer and Battle Cat. Um...
And it was pretty much like to this day, it would probably be worth thousands of dollars if I had kept those figures. But I just remember opening the box and it was because my grandmother was just like psychotic about yard sales. It didn't matter where she was or what she was doing. If she saw a yard sale, she'd stop. And that's where we got most of our presents.
Pete (34:55.677)
Oh yeah.
Pete (35:12.994)
Yep.
Chris O'Neil (35:13.765)
But it was like, she wouldn't get the shitty shit. Like there was quality stuff there. She just didn't buy it new, you know? And so this one year, and I honestly, I thought it was from her, but I really don't remember where it came from. I just remember the memory of opening it and just seeing this entire box filled with He-Man figures. It was super fantastic.
Pete (35:20.907)
Right.
Pete (35:38.914)
Nice. Yeah, I mean, the appearing in came as we got older, but. Yeah. Now onto the big thing, Chris. Movies. Christmas movies.
Chris O'Neil (35:50.649)
Of course.
Chris O'Neil (35:56.162)
Okay, we do in top five, yeah?
Pete (35:58.73)
Yeah, you give your top five and I'll tell you why you're wrong. How about that? Huh? Mm-hmm. Ha ha ha.
Chris O'Neil (36:04.715)
Yeah, sounds about right buddy. Sounds about right. Yeah. Hey, I know this is your opinion, but you're fucking wrong.
Pete (36:12.11)
I thought about that joke last night before I went to bed. I kind of laughed myself to sleep a little bit.
Chris O'Neil (36:18.802)
Okay, so I would say what? I was just going to say I would say this is in order of like favorite. So number one is favorite and then down the line. So my thousand percent go to and this is not original, but it.
Pete (36:22.154)
Wait, wait, wait. Is this in any particular order?
Pete (36:32.471)
Okay.
Chris O'Neil (36:44.89)
There were two relationships in my life, especially the one with my wife now, where it's just a part of our interactions. Like.
And this movie has just been ingrained in Christmas time since it came out. It's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Like, it's just, it is the epitome of Christmas to watch this movie. And it is just never-endingly quotable. Almost everyone has seen it. So like to be able to, you just throw out a line and someone knows it. It is just this.
It's this movie that will just forever be connected to that part of the season for exactly the reason why we all have the stress of the holidays. And I think just the humor of it has its place all through your life because as a kid, you just get to laugh at the immediately funny stuff, the obviously funny stuff, and then as you become an adult, you realize Clark wasn't that crazy.
Pete (37:46.743)
Right.
Pete (37:52.659)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (37:52.817)
And you know, all the shitter was full and like it was just, there's just so much there. Like I even laughed my ass off at the Santa, the animated Santa at the beginning when he jumps, he jumps on the couch and tries to hit the skylight but he goes through the fucking roof. Like, yeah, it's just, it will never not be funny to me because I've had so many memories from different.
Pete (38:08.066)
Oh yeah.
Chris O'Neil (38:18.645)
experiences and friends and relationships watching that movie. And there there's so many memories connected to it. So that's definitely number one. Number two is Elf. And what really fucks with my head is the fact that movie was like. Over 20 years old, that just it's like, how the fuck is that movie that old already? But what was it, 2000 or was it 2001 that it came out? I don't remember.
Pete (38:22.987)
Mm-hmm.
Pete (38:47.827)
I don't remember.
Chris O'Neil (38:48.717)
Might have even been 2002. For those that I don't imagine you wouldn't know but Will Ferrell, James Kahn
Chris O'Neil (39:02.073)
Mary Steenburgen, that's her name. I always forget that. But that's one of those, like National Lampoon and Elf, I will guarantee watch those movies at least once every Christmas. This third one is kind of cheating a little bit because they are movies, but the original was a TV series, The Grinch.
Pete (39:29.218)
Fair enough.
Chris O'Neil (39:29.549)
So like, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the original 1960s animated, it was for television. So it was like a series of small clips that, boards crawl off, yeah. But I would certainly take the Jim Carrey, you know, 2000 version of that as well. I think that was fantastic. Ron Howard, Jim Carrey, can't go wrong there. Fourth, because this was a classic for me growing up, was Home Alone.
Pete (39:35.658)
Yeah, Boris Karloff, yeah.
Pete (39:58.935)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (39:59.205)
and just the hilarity ongoing. Oh, that's just one of those timeless movies that happens to be associated with Christmas and I love throwing it on. The last one is definitely controversial, but I think the controversy has become fun. Die Hard.
Chris O'Neil (40:23.745)
Um, but I will say, I feel like the honorable mention that I have really needs to be switched with that because I kind of just enjoy jumping on the bandwagon of calling that a Christmas movie, but I don't watch it every year. So I feel like I have to switch that with White Christmas. Do you know that one? Because that's the honorable mention. Well, some people don't. That's the honorable mention. Like...
Pete (40:47.806)
Yeah, dude, who doesn't know White Christmas?
Chris O'Neil (40:52.977)
Danny K. Bing Crosby, the irony of that, of course, is that Clark Griswold mentions that movie in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. And White Christmas is one of my wife's absolute favorite movies, her definite favorite Christmas movie. And because I've watched it so much since being with her, it has kinda become one of mine. So I enjoy watching that as well.
Pete (41:18.414)
Fair enough. So, I mean, I have some of the same stereotypical ones that you have. Obviously, Home Alone, like you said, was a huge one growing up.
Chris O'Neil (41:30.181)
Yep.
Pete (41:31.726)
Um, so I'm not even gonna, since you already included it, I won't even bother, because obviously it's a generational thing, clearly. It's huge. You already mentioned Christmas Vacation, again, same fucking thing. Another one for me, though, that would fall into that same kind of category would be A Christmas Story, though, where TBS for the longest time played at Ad Nauseam for like fucking 24 hours straight.
Chris O'Neil (41:41.981)
Sure. Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (42:00.498)
Oh yeah.
Pete (42:01.454)
It lost its shine for me a little bit, but it definitely was, and still is, a Christmas favorite. A newer one for me that me and my lady friend found a couple years ago.
is this fantastic musical. It's a zombie apocalypse Christmas musical called Anna and the Apocalypse. It is fucking phenomenal. It is one of the best things I had ever seen. Like, we had heard about it on a whim and I think we took my oldest son, Cameron, with us.
Chris O'Neil (42:18.118)
Oh yeah, I know what you're gonna say. Musical. Yeah.
Ha ha ha!
Which, all of those words should not go together. That's so good.
Chris O'Neil (42:44.722)
Mm.
Pete (42:44.986)
and um... we all had a fucking blast and i made sure that when it came out i bought it so we have it and we watch it we just listen to the soundtrack just the other day it's fantastic i mean your kids are probably a little too young for that but you and your wife would probably get a kick out of it for certain
Chris O'Neil (42:56.989)
Your kids are probably a little too young for that. Yeah.
Pete (43:06.91)
There was another one that actually I just watched yesterday or the day before was Jingle All the Way with Swartzenegger and Sinbad. And a young Jake Lloyd. You know, I, oh yeah, he played Swartzenegger's kid, man. He was the one looking for the fucking superhero.
Chris O'Neil (43:14.461)
Oh yeah. Yeah. I feel like I saw parts of that, but I don't know that I ever watched the whole thing. Oh, Young Jake Lloyd, really?
Chris O'Neil (43:26.613)
Oh yeah, see, I never saw it, so.
Pete (43:31.242)
And Phil Hartman. That was another reason, that was actually a big reason as to why I watched it. I always loved Phil Hartman. And I get weird, like, if I really support, I'll watch and try to find anything that people have been in. For like the longest time, I had a big collection of Johnny Depp movies, like I would just buy them all. Because I really appreciated the work that he was doing up until a certain point. And then it was just like, ehh, ehh. I'm getting sick of your ass.
Chris O'Neil (43:39.385)
Yeah, he's fantastic.
Chris O'Neil (43:58.173)
Thanks for watching!
Pete (44:02.134)
But another Christmas one that's non-traditional, Gremlins. And that takes place in the same downtown area as Back to the Future and the Christmas perennial favorite for the old folk, It's a Wonderful Life. So there's that little tie-in. I mean that's really kind of
Chris O'Neil (44:09.146)
Oh yeah, there you go. That's a good one.
Chris O'Neil (44:23.222)
Mmm.
Chris O'Neil (44:26.641)
There's some good trivia there.
Pete (44:29.27)
where I stand. I don't really like, um, I don't know. I like to be, I like the funny side. I like the non-traditional, um, lately anyway. Actually, now that the kids are older. Zachary watches Home Alone so much now that, again, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I mean, we all watch those
Chris O'Neil (44:40.24)
Mm-hmm.
Chris O'Neil (44:52.786)
uh... yeah those are movies
Pete (44:57.506)
No, but it's their... I mean, they're classics. They're... If you put them together, like Rudolph, the Grinch, the fucking, um, Frosty, um, A Year Without a Santa Claus, you... Yeah, if you put those all together, that would consider, I guess, a movie. You know, we watched those with the kids. Well, now just Zachary, who has this crazy obsession with Rudolph right now.
Chris O'Neil (45:02.255)
Oh for sure.
Chris O'Neil (45:09.281)
Yeah, the snow miser or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Pete (45:26.946)
So, that's a good time. Hehehehe. Um... What the fuck was I saying? I don't even remember now.
Chris O'Neil (45:37.405)
We're talking about movies.
Pete (45:38.51)
Shit. Yeah. I know. But yeah, I mean, I tried to, uh, keep it fresh and real.
Chris O'Neil (45:46.981)
You were saying you like the funnier stuff. You don't like the traditional stuff. Was it something else?
Pete (45:52.67)
Yeah, it's... I don't know.
No, I don't think so.
Chris O'Neil (45:59.185)
Well, I have to say, I never grew up watching A Christmas Story. It just never... I didn't come across it until much... That's true. Especially with the leg lamp and all that stuff.
Pete (46:07.978)
Well, I had that kind of content that I don't think your parents would approve of anyway.
Pete (46:16.114)
Oh yeah. The soft glow of electric sex in the window. Ha ha ha. Oh.
Chris O'Neil (46:16.993)
Yeah, and it just... Off-road, like, sex and all that. Yeah, I never... I didn't watch it until I was much older, and by then, the novelty wasn't there for me, so it didn't stick, you know? But I do have to say, two that I didn't even think of until your list, which is funny, because, like...
Pete (46:32.177)
Yeah.
Pete (46:40.938)
I actually just thought of another one too. Fuck you.
Chris O'Neil (46:43.493)
See see this always gonna be more well And this is why I said we should only do top five and then honorable mentions because we could just keep going and going and going But a Christmas Carol like that's a classic But my two my two favorite iterations That's my first one. That's my first one a muppet Christmas Carol is fucking hilarious. I Love it but honestly one of the best like that's still my top choice, but
Pete (46:57.723)
Aw, see, Muppet Christmas Carol, dude.
Chris O'Neil (47:13.089)
a close second. And probably the best musical version, not that they're all musical versions, I suppose, but was just Scrooge on Netflix. It was an animated one that came out, I think, either last year or the year before. It was fairly recent. And Luke Evans played Scrooge.
Chris O'Neil (47:42.589)
And it was just like really well done, really well done, really entertaining for kids and adults. The music was phenomenal as a singer, like just some of the some of the notes that were hit and how they were it was just it was very well done version one of my favorites of all the Christmas carols that I've seen but Muppet Christmas Carol is definitely a first.
Pete (48:03.564)
Yeah.
Pete (48:08.23)
Oh dude, Without a Doubt is one of my favorites, yeah. But the movie that I was thinking of actually was Emmett Audit's Jug Bane Christmas. Jim Henson, you remember that?
Chris O'Neil (48:22.133)
I watched that one time with my friend Amy, who this is probably her favorite Christmas movie of all time. It is the slowest, driest, like, I mean, it's like, it's going back and playing Atari now, and trying to be entertained by it. Like you could blast maybe about 30 seconds per game, then you're like, all right, I need something else.
Pete (48:34.632)
Oh yeah, without a doubt.
Pete (48:46.198)
But back then I really, it was something I watched with my mom, so it was nice then. Yeah, but now you watch it and it's just like, oh man, move it along, motherfucker. But, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (48:51.291)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (48:54.701)
Yeah, it drags for sure. But yeah, definitely, yeah, that old school classic for sure. Wow, yeah.
Pete (49:03.963)
oh yeah man without a doubt and jim henson alright so uh... christmas songs chris what are your songs
Chris O'Neil (49:04.173)
You can't go wrong with Jim Henson. Yeah.
Songs.
All right, I got you. All right, I have my top five and then an honorable mention. I have, for my part, the number one, my go-to is the Christmas song by Nat King Cole. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I just like.
Pete (49:27.454)
Yeah, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, huh?
Chris O'Neil (49:31.481)
It is my go-to number one Christmas song. It always has, it's this huge nostalgia there too, because I grew up listening to it. Like the Christmas classics will always make me think of Christmas, because that's what I remember listening to when I was a kid. White Christmas, Bing Crosby, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Silver Bells, and Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives.
Pete (49:46.72)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (49:58.501)
Like it has to be by Burlives, like that dude singing that song. And then the honorable mention would be the most wonderful time of the year. Those are my songs.
Pete (50:02.166)
Oh yeah, dude. Yeah.
Pete (50:09.678)
Fair enough. So, I'd have to say my favorite is Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee. Even before they had all the hubbub this year about the original, dude, that rockin' good time, Phil Spector type, Wallace sound.
Chris O'Neil (50:22.144)
Oh, that version, yeah.
Chris O'Neil (50:30.25)
What was the hubbub?
Pete (50:34.03)
It finally hit number one. It knocked Mariah Carey off. So now... Yeah, so now there was a big hullabaloo. But I've loved it since my parents had fucking the Oldies 103.3 Christmas CD. That was one of the songs on there.
Chris O'Neil (50:37.814)
Oh really?
I didn't hear about that. Okay.
Chris O'Neil (50:52.069)
Yes, the East Coast oldies 103.3.
Pete (51:01.755)
Another Christmas favorite is Sleigh Ride by The Ventures. It's surf guitar Christmas music, which is just fun. There is a version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that I love. It's a live version.
Chris O'Neil (51:08.345)
Okay.
Chris O'Neil (51:25.069)
Oh, you love that one, huh? Oh yeah, I know that one. I hear it every year.
Pete (51:27.91)
and it was on a very special Christmas album. Yeah, I like it because he's talking to the crowd and asking the band what they want for Christmas and shit. And yeah, it's just playful, it's fun. And again, that was another CD that my parents had that, well, not my parents, my dad. My mom was not a big musical influence on my life much. Her taste was terrible. But...
Chris O'Neil (51:31.609)
where he's talking to the crowd beforehand.
Chris O'Neil (51:39.247)
Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (51:53.665)
Yeah.
Pete (51:58.774)
That was definitely a big favorite. I like, I never get, The Drifters. What the hell is that song? White Christmas by The Drifters, that one. They, it's from Home Alone. Well yeah, they use it in Home Alone. How many was that? I didn't write it down. I had them fucking from memory. Four.
Chris O'Neil (52:21.53)
I think.
Pete (52:25.614)
Uh, so I think the last one, you know, honestly, I don't know if I really have a last one because there are so many that Maybe I like simply having a christmas time with paul mccartney Or maybe I like that. Do they know it's christmas after all the band-aid there? Um, do they know it's christmas after all the 80s you know, you'd know it it's like
Chris O'Neil (52:33.329)
Well, that's the thing too, it's really like versions of them. Okay.
Chris O'Neil (52:53.732)
That's the thing.
Pete (52:54.478)
Uh, like phil Collins, I think plays the drums on it and it's also it's the english Yeah
Chris O'Neil (52:57.433)
Oh yeah, well he would in the 80s. Yeah, it is funny. It's one of those things where it's really not even like what's your favorite Christmas song It's like who's your favorite? Person who sings that song because it's really all the same shit. It's just who's singing it right so Well no that and not to say they're
Pete (53:11.466)
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, I definitely can't see it. I mean, the Mariah Carey song is good, but I can't stand it. It's like.
Chris O'Neil (53:18.813)
Yeah. Well, when it's so overplayed like that, I mean, come on. But really, like the classic Christmas songs, there's really only like eight or nine of them. And then it's just whoever the hell's singing it. It's not to say that there aren't plenty of other Christmas songs, but there are a handful of them that just. There's nothing new, it's just singing someone else's version of that same song. So that's the difference.
Pete (53:45.746)
Yeah, it's true. It is very, very true. Another one that I do like to hear is Fairy Tale of New York from the Pogues. I do like that. And even though it's not music, you have to look it up. It's a good time. Another one is not music, but it's Santa Claus and His Old Lady by Cheech and Chong. I can't not get enough of that one.
Chris O'Neil (53:49.789)
It's like jazz standards.
Chris O'Neil (53:59.141)
Don't know if I know that one by title. Yeah. All right.
Chris O'Neil (54:15.017)
No, I don't know that one. I'll have to look that up.
Pete (54:18.966)
Oh, it's so funny. So fucking funny. But yeah, I mean, it's those little things that.
Chris O'Neil (54:21.529)
Well, and before we get...
Chris O'Neil (54:25.973)
Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think regardless of whether you grew up with Christmas or, you know, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whether it was some other holiday tradition around this time of year, this particular time of year is just one of those that, I think, no matter where you come from and how you celebrate it.
it was more potent memories for this time of year. Because just societally, this is just kind of how it is. And you just can't escape the nostalgia of your version of that. And I do my best not to, I wanna introduce those things to my kids, not force things on them. And.
Pete (54:54.518)
Hmm.
Chris O'Neil (55:15.489)
It can be hard sometimes, you're like, come on, let's do this thing. I'm like, I don't want to do that. It's like, what do you mean? This is what we do at Christmas. It's like, that's what you do at Christmas. You know, it's not like they, you know, my five-year-old has said that to me, but at the same time, I have that little twinge of like, aw, really? It's like, yeah, I don't like that one, daddy. Ah, son of a bitch. Like you want them to be able to enjoy, but it doesn't have the same novelty as it did for you because you don't have the nostalgia attached to it. You know? So.
Pete (55:42.894)
Yeah. Well, it's funny that you say that with them not liking it and stuff. I have this thing now where Cameron is liking a lot of the music that I used to like. So now I know what my parents felt like when I listened to my music loud. Because even though I like it, it's still like, what the fuck? So aggravating.
Chris O'Neil (55:59.12)
Yeah, I know you mentioned this.
Chris O'Neil (56:04.489)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, and that's it. And that's par for the course of being a parent, right? It's just your thought process about how your child is doing something or dealing with it or enjoying it or lack of enjoying it or whatever. Ha ha ha. You're supposed to like this shit. Come on. Come on, man. But yeah, I think.
Pete (56:18.85)
Like, that's not right. You pot me, you're supposed to like this shit, come on!
Chris O'Neil (56:29.013)
And to that point, we all have those traditions and those memories. And for me, and I know not everyone has a good experience and I'm sorry for that, but for me, there is so much connected to this time of year. So for all you fellas listening, we gave you ours. Head over to the Facebook group and list what are your top five Christmas movies and or your top five Christmas songs.
Pete (56:46.57)
Mm.
Chris O'Neil (56:59.407)
And what's one present you remember getting that really knocked it over the like hit it out of the park like Really was such a good memory for you that you still think about that be good. That's something good to share
Pete (57:12.354)
Yeah. I would like to say you did bring up the Jim Carrey Grinch movie before we go. I saw that movie in the theaters. I was tripping on mushrooms when I saw that movie in theaters in the middle of Christmas. And then we sat, it was like two days before Christmas, and then we sat at the mall, tripping balls.
Chris O'Neil (57:18.557)
I did.
Chris O'Neil (57:23.217)
Mm-hmm.
Were you really? HAHAHAHA! Oh damn.
Chris O'Neil (57:36.945)
Mm-hmm.
Pete (57:39.162)
Watching people scurry about Christmas shopping. It was the best time of my life
Chris O'Neil (57:42.045)
Mm-hmm. It was the best time of the year. There is something to be said about chervin on mushrooms.
Pete (57:50.81)
It was so good. I mean, that was pre-kids. I was in my early 20s maybe, maybe late teens, early 20s. For those listening at home, I was in my early 20s. Ha ha ha. Mom and dad, if you're listening, it never happened. Ha ha ha.
Chris O'Neil (57:54.889)
Oh yeah. What, 20s? Yeah.
Chris O'Neil (58:06.017)
Hahaha
Chris O'Neil (58:11.633)
Yeah, right, right.
Pete (58:15.242)
But yeah, it was a good time. I remember going into that snowflake. Oh my god, it fucking blew my mind. Mm-hmm.
Chris O'Neil (58:15.514)
Yeah, dude.
Chris O'Neil (58:20.469)
Oh yeah, I bet. I bet. Yeah, shit man. God, I haven't done shrooms in like 20 years.
Pete (58:28.898)
too bad. I grew someone during COVID.
Chris O'Neil (58:33.277)
Yeah. Well, I am curious about, honestly, about microdosing. But that's a conversation for another episode.
Pete (58:36.302)
Uhuh
Pete (58:41.194)
Yes, not for Christmas. Although with all the lights, it would be awesome.
Chris O'Neil (58:46.032)
sure it would.
Pete (58:48.106)
Well, on that note guys, we'll let you get to your families and your friends and your unwrapping and your throwing out all the trash and vacuuming up pine needles and all the things that go along with Christmas.
Chris O'Neil (58:52.346)
Yep.
Chris O'Neil (59:00.221)
I'm going to go ahead and turn it off.
Enjoy, yeah, enjoy the time. I hope you all have at least a moderate, decent family time. I know it can be tough with families, but hey, honestly, I hadn't even thought to do this. This is just off the cuff right now, but I put together something a couple years ago called Holiday Help. It's an audio program.
Pete (59:02.85)
Have a Merry Christmas.
Chris O'Neil (59:25.121)
with some emotional intelligence techniques and ways of getting through the holidays while dealing with all of that emotional stuff. If you're interested, post something on the Facebook page. Shoot us an email on twodadsunfiltered at gmail.com. And I will happily.
share that with you guys. And there's been a discount for it since I put it up there two years ago. So it's only like 15 bucks. It is well worth your time and effort to be able to share these techniques with your fellow man, your fellow adult, and your kids. Because that's the big thing, right, is no matter how stressed it may be for us, add kids into the mix. And it's like, holy shit. As we said in the beginning,
usually why most of us drink. But there are tools available to make it easier without the sauce, without the sauce. But even so, if you guys are interested, hit me up and I'll happily share that with you.
Pete (01:00:26.72)
It's called weed. What?
Pete (01:00:38.247)
Excellent. Enjoy your Christmas.
Chris O'Neil (01:00:40.481)
Indeed, happy holidays, fellas, and we'll catch you next year.