Ditch the Bells, It's Time for a New Jingle

Six signs that the holiday season has gotten too impatient

(NEWSER) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... even though we're not yet past Thanksgiving. The Week pores through local papers to find six tales of Christmas coming too early this year:

• It's never too early for eggnog lattes: In Seattle , at least one Starbucks started selling seasonal drinks right after Halloween.
• It could, however, be too early for Christmas trees: In South Dakota , trees were already being sold this week—will they even make it all the way to Christmas?

New music video not exactly well-received

(NEWSER) - Justin Bieber teamed up with Mariah Carey for a new version of her '90s holiday classic, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and the results are just about as bad as you'd expect. A sampling of the reactions:

• "Why has the Bieb launched a campaign to traumatize everyone who's old enough to remember the '90s?" moans Margaret Hartmann on Jezebel . His Boyz II Men video was bad enough, but "now he's released a Macy's commercial disguised as a Mariah Carey duet—though we used that term loosely because it sounds like Bieber is just wailing over the old recording of the song."

Fantasy gifts for 2011 unveiled in 'Christmas Book'

(NEWSER) - It’s that time of year again: time for Neiman Marcus to say, “Recession? What recession?” and urge you to purchase a $250,000 mahogany speedboat for your beloved this Christmas. Yes, the Christmas Book was unveiled yesterday. To really get into the holiday spirit, read on for the highlights, via AP :

• $1 million: A cool mil will get you a fountain, apparently with water that dances to music, installed in your home.
• $420,000: Private jet tour of European flower shows.

Also, Santa? Didn't start out being so jolly

(NEWSER) - Cheerful church groups love Christmas caroling, but the tradition was actually started by a bunch of lushes. Back when "Christmas" was actually a celebration of the winter solstice, poor carolers would go from house to house singing ... and also threatening to break windows if they were not plied with food and drinks, a History Channel exec tells AOL News . "They would get very, very rowdy," David McKillop says. More»

Keep the inner spoiled brat at bay with these tips

(NEWSER) - With buildup for the holiday season at fever pitch by Halloween, it’s easy to see how kids are set up for disappointment when it comes time to open gifts. From Julie King and Joanna Faber , some tips to keep the inner spoiled brat at bay, not to mention avoid serious parental embarrassment:

• Talk about disappointment beforehand. Give the kids examples from your life, and figure out polite reactions to that ugly sweater from Aunt Pearl.