And that's when things got weird

I don’t want a lot for Christmas, except maybe to not hear Mariah Carey belt out All I Want For Christmas on repeat everywhere I go for the few hours remaining in this holiday season. And it seems, I’m not alone in my sentiment. After 21 years of topping the holiday music charts, the modern yuletide classic is no longer the most-played Christmas song in stores. A report released by PlayNetwork, a company that compiles the holiday playlists for hundreds of retailers every year, revealed that the megahit was pushed out of the top spot this year and into the number 2 ranking by The Shins’ cover of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime . But Mariah fans out there need not worry – All I Want For Christmas still reigns supreme on Billboard’s Holiday 100 list (which explains why I am hearing it on the radio at least twice every morning during my four mile drive to work). While admittedly I am not much of a Mariah Carey fan regardless of what season it is, I do love holiday mus...

Shotgun deer hunting season opened Monday in Massachusetts with much louder of a bang than in previous years, largely due to the state’s decision to allow a controlled hunt in the Blue Hills Reservation. It marked the first time in more than a century that deer hunters will be prowling the 7,000 acre reservation that stretches from Quincy to Dedham, Milton to Randolph.  The hunt is an attempt at reducing the overcrowded population of deer in the reservation, which according to state officials measure as many as 85 per square mile. It is seven times higher than the state recommends, and presents unmanageable risks to animals, to the ecosystem of their habitat and to humans alike. Animal-rights activists have been picketing at the reservation’s gates and protesting the decision by several state agencies and local communities to control the overpopulating deer. They claim it is cruel, unjust and there are far more humane ways to control the herd. Two protesters have been arrested in t...