Classic Christmas TV Show New Releases
It will be Christmas all over again for fans of television shows from the 70s, 80s and 90s this Christmas. In fact, Christmas will be bursting out all over on DVD:
November 11th will see the release of several new seasonal offerings:
Johnny Carson Celebrates Christmas costs $14.99, and will include 3 “trimmed” Christmas-themed episodes. By trimmed, they mean that they won’t include all the bits and pieces of each, but they will include appearances by guest stars Robin Williams, Garry Shandling, Tony Bennett and Bob Hope. There will also be hilarious holiday sketches, too. The DVD runs 72 minutes long. No extras are included.
For $24.99 you can also get a three-disc set of classic television specials featuring Bob Hope, Donny and Marie, and Sonny and Cher, also due out on November 11th.
Forget Nintendo This Christmas
It is approaching it’s 2nd birthday and yet anyone wanting a Nintendo Wii for Christmas had better start looking now. The Big Guy at Nintendo says the Big Guy coming down the chimney may have a hard time finding them come the holiday season.
“We are really intending to increase the shipments to the U.S., especially compared to last year,” says Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s global president and CEO. “However, I can’t give you a 100% commitment [that you'll be able to find a Wii this holiday season]. What I can commit myself to is that Nintendo is going to do its best to supply as many Wii hardware units as possible in order to meet demand there.”
Iwata says demand for the device in the U.S. is unusually high in contrast to either Europe or Asia. The company is on schedule to produce 2.4 million Wiis this year and will allocate additional units to U.S. retailers. Still, it has been caught off guard by the popularity of the Wii in America.
“We could not imagine it would be that high,” he says.
The shortages haven’t stopped Nintendo from becoming the best-selling console in the U.S and the world. To date, 10.9 million Wiis have been sold domestically, pushing the Xbox 360 from Microsoft into second place.
Is Your Tree Certified Green?
The Coalition of Environmentally Conscious Growers, a 501-C (6) was founded by two Oregon farms in August 2007. Its mission is to certify that the live Christmas trees grown by its members have been and continue to be responsibly grown. Currently, there are four members of the organization, including the largest and fifth largest tree farms in the United States.
Water and soil management, as well as fertilizer and pest management, are examined by a third-party certifying company that is an experienced agricultural organization. In addition to being certified, members are interested in having their retail customers and the public-at-large further aware of live cut trees. Therefore, a significant marketing campaign is conducted nationally which includes radio, television, print and internet media coverage, plus various sales tools such as point-of-purchase materials and hang tags are made available to members of the Coalition.
Members say that their retail customers really like having the trees certified as “green†because the consumer is highly aware of the green movement in America.
Since the introduction of fake Christmas trees in the United States, a stream of misinformation has been disseminated. The Coalition addresses the marketing and awareness aspects of live cut Christmas trees and dispel the false claims through media. Christmas trees are not deforesting the country. Instead, they are grown as row crops, and for every tree that’s cut, another is planted. The misinformation continues and the Coalition continues to bring the truth to light.
Greg Rondeau and Mark Arkills of Holiday Tree Farms (the country’s largest grower) commented that, “Our customers understand how valuable it is to offer their customers certified grown Christmas trees.†Joe Sharp of Yule Tree Farms said, “I think it’s time for the Christmas tree industry to treat our trees as the eco-friendly consumer product that they really are.â€
