holiday – News Stories About holiday - Page 4

OPINION

Dec 27, 2008 6:50 PM CST

US Phrases That Annoy Brits

"Happy Holidays", and "Have a nice day," irksome Americanisms

(Newser) - Toby Harnden must live among Yanks in his job as a correspondent for the UK's Telegraph, and sometimes American phrases drive him nuts. Here are his worst offenders:

Happy holidays (just say Christmas, please)
Have a nice day (make it stop)
You're welcome (this one's just "Pavlovian" to him)

...

No Christmas
Miracle for Retailers

RETAIL SALES

Dec 26, 2008 1:57 AM CST

No Christmas Miracle for Retailers

Even luxury sector sales in free fall

(Newser) - It was a bleak Christmas and promises to be a less than prosperous New Year for retailers with consumers tightening their belts and spending less, reports the Wall Street Journal. Retail sales dropped 5.5% in November and 8% in December, compared with the same months last year. Luxury goods,...

Xmas Spirit Translates Better in Foreign Tongue: Keillor

OPINION

Dec 24, 2008 7:14 PM CST

Xmas Spirit Translates Better in Foreign Tongue: Keillor

Writer 'feels the religious fervor' at Spanish mass

(Newser) - Garrison Keillor is no Scrooge, but can find it hard to get the Christmas spirit, he writes for Salon. In New York for “the general dazzlement and variety,” and a holiday unbound by obligations of small-town homogeny, Keillor finds Yuletide spirit in a Spanish-language mass at St. Patrick’...

Hawaii Tries in Vain to Cash In on Obama Fame

Dec 23, 2008 4:04 AM CST

Hawaii Tries in Vain to Cash In on Obama Fame

Obama tour operators say business is slow

(Newser) - The Hawaii tourist trade is doing its best to spin some dollars out of Obamania, Politico reports. Tour companies are hyping visits to the president-elect's old Honolulu neighborhood, and the Baskin-Robbins where Obama worked as a teen is selling a new "Swirl of Change" flavor: chocolate, caramel, and nuts...

Hawaii Rolls Out Red Carpet for Obamas

Dec 21, 2008 7:25 PM CST

Hawaii Rolls Out Red Carpet for Obamas

State's fave son arrives for a holiday break before the move to DC

(Newser) - Hawaii bid aloha to the Obamas as they arrived yesterday for a holiday break in a beach-side estate about half an hour from Honolulu, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. Residents of the quiet neighborhood lined the block with beach chairs and waved as Obama’s motorcade rolled by yesterday. “We...

Physics Fuels Santa's Magic

Dec 15, 2008 4:15 PM CST

Physics Fuels Santa's Magic

Nanotechnology, space-time distortions enable Christmas miracles

(Newser) - New research has shed light on the amazing ability of Santa Claus to deliver presents to children around the world in a single night, Reuters reports. Santa is able to distort the space-time continuum, says a North Carolina State expert: "He understands that you can stretch time, compress space...

First Dog Releases Last Video

Dec 15, 2008 2:42 PM CST

First Dog Releases Last Video

Olympic medalists Phelps, Liukin guest-star in 2008 'Barney Cam'

(Newser) - The White House released its final “Barney Cam” Christmas video today, continuing the adventures of the first dog, the AP reports. This year, the Bushes’ terrier dreams of representing America as an Olympic pole-vaulter and swimmer before clinching a US victory in the Ryder Cup. After waking, Barney decks...

A Christmas Story at 25:
Stealth Classic

Dec 14, 2008 7:42 PM CST

A Christmas Story at 25: Stealth Classic

Industry born on collectors items, museum, and conference

(Newser) - After 25 years, devotees of A Christmas Story and its wacky realism still tune in to regular holiday showings, including an annual 24-hour marathon on Christmas Day. Just as Star Trek has Trekkies, A Christmas Story has Ralphies, named after Ralphie Parker, a 9-year-old desperate for a BB gun. CNN ...

Ala. County
Declares
Obama Day

Dec 3, 2008 2:37 PM CST

Ala. County Declares Obama Day

(Newser) - A small, mostly black county in Alabama that delivered Barack Obama 70% of the vote has declared the second Monday of November “Barack Obama Day,” the AP reports. The state itself went convincingly for John McCain, but Perry County wanted to make a point about opportunity and the...

Obamas Off to Hawaii for Xmas

Dec 2, 2008 11:59 AM CST

Obamas Off to Hawaii for Xmas

Islands are favorite getaway for president-elect

(Newser) - The Obama family will head to Hawaii for Christmas and New Year’s this year—and possibly every presidential year afterward, the Atlantic reports. That “would please the press corps, the Secret Service, WHCA and the locals to no end,” blogs Marc Ambinder, "though it must be...

Christmases Chokes Australia at Box Office

Nov 30, 2008 5:06 PM CST

Christmases Chokes Australia at Box Office

Comedy tops box office, curbing Twilight sensation

(Newser) - Four Christmases iced the competition over the long Thanksgiving weekend and raked in $46.7 million, Variety reports. Box office numbers stayed strong overall—up 2% to 3% over last year's holiday—as Twilight ($39.5 million), Bolt ($36 million), and Quantum of Solace ($28.1 million) filled out the...

Just in Time for
Holidays: No Job

Nov 30, 2008 5:03 AM CST

Just in Time for Holidays: No Job

Families struggle to save traditions on Tiny Tim budgets

(Newser) - Few things ruin the holidays like losing a job. Yet that's what's happening to thousands of Americans just as they were planning to treat friends and families to gifts and holiday gatherings. The turnaround is excruciating as families struggle to save traditions on extremely tight budgets, reports the New York ...

Guess Where A-Rod's
Spending Thanksgiving?

Nov 25, 2008 6:03 AM CST

Guess Where A-Rod's Spending Thanksgiving?

Wife blasts his decision to ditch kids

(Newser) - Alex Rodriguez will be spending the holiday with family—just not his own, the New York Post reports. The Yankee slugger’s wife told a friend, “My soul-less, soon-to-be ex-husband is abandoning his kids on Thanksgiving to be with Madonna.” Cynthia went on to describe the singer in...

Airfares Dip
on Last-Minute
Holiday Trips

Nov 24, 2008 12:14 PM CST

Airfares Dip on Last-Minute Holiday Trips

Ugly economy pushes demand down, along with price of fuel

(Newser) - With many consumers too concerned about their wallets to make pricey trips, airlines are, for the first time in memory, lowering prices before the holidays, the Chicago Tribune reports. The reversal of convention is allowing late buyers to scrounge tickets for as much as $200 less than travelers who locked...

Flight Delays Decline Ahead
of Holidays

Nov 24, 2008 10:40 AM CST

Flight Delays Decline Ahead of Holidays

Feds' new rules, fewer planes in air keep travelers moving

(Newser) - While flights will be packed during the Thanksgiving travel week, travelers can at least look forward to fewer delays, USA Today reports. Delays have plummeted this fall amid troubled airlines’ reduced flight schedules and government measures to reduce New York air traffic. In early September, flights were over 15 minutes...

Learn to Live With Less

OPINION

Nov 23, 2008 12:44 PM CST

Learn to Live With Less

Couple pledged to buy only necessities for 12 months

(Newser) - Light wallets may seem particularly woeful around the holidays, when cheer often comes with a retail pricetag. But shopping binges, while they may be satisfying, ultimately just add to overconsumption problems worldwide, Judith Levine writes in the Washington Post. So she and her partner tried something new: They went a...

Even Santa's Getting
the Old Heave-Ho-Ho-Ho

Nov 23, 2008 7:00 AM CST

Even Santa's Getting the Old Heave-Ho-Ho-Ho

Gigs cut, pay slashed, big elf not so jolly

(Newser) - St. Nick is already doing some serious belt-tightening in New York City as cash-strapped stores and malls head into the not-so-jolly season, thanks to the economy. Far fewer jobs and slashed pay rates are leaving wanna-be Santas with little clause to celebrate.

How to Wine as
You Dine on Turkey

WINE REVIEW

Nov 12, 2008 12:03 PM CST

How to Wine as You Dine on Turkey

A panel of the Times' best and brightest drinks a bunch so you don't have to

(Newser) - With all the potential stress implicit in the Thanksgiving family feast, wine is one arena that shouldn't leave the host sweating bullets, writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. The rules "couldn't be simpler": Like the food, Thanksgiving wine selection is all about "versatility and plentitude,"...

If Twilight Bites, So Will Holiday Box Office

Nov 8, 2008 3:23 PM CST

If Twilight Bites, So Will Holiday Box Office

Season's hopes on vampire's back

(Newser) - The holiday season’s best hope for a blockbuster is a teen vampire romance flick from an obscure studio, MarketWatch reports. With Harry Potter pushed to next summer, this holiday season is pretty much bereft of a proven franchise. But Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer’s mega-selling books, has the...

Tomorrow's
Obama Day
in Kenya

Nov 5, 2008 7:53 AM CST

Tomorrow's Obama Day in Kenya

Step-grandmother, others hit streets to celebrate

(Newser) - Kenya has declared tomorrow a national holiday to honor Barack Obama’s presidential victory, the BBC reports. “We the Kenyan people are immensely proud of your Kenyan roots,” President Mwai Kibaki said. Obama’s father was Kenyan; his step-grandmother danced and cheered outside her home after the family...