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Various odd things, juxtaposed

At the place where I go to physical therapy, they have satellite radio and they listen to different channels depending on their mood. Sometimes it's all eighties, sometimes it's "lite" mix, and sometimes it's the station with strange commercials. Last week they were doing all Christmas songs, all the time. I don't know whose idea it was, but my therapist wasn't thrilled. She sort of hissed through her teeth whenever she mentioned the music. Today I forgot to ask her how she held up, but since she hadn't gone all wall-eyed, I guess she did okay.

Anyway, today it was the station with strange commercials. This one commercial was for breast enlargement cream. "Guaranteed to increase your bust by two cup sizes without the pain and risk of surgery." Immediately up after that commercial? "She likes me for me."

In that vein (or maybe we should just open one), the TV at the pizza joint was running MSNBC the other night. The promo for a news story about eating disorders was immediately followed by a commercial for a diet plan.

So, I guess the message is, as usual, for ladies to be busty and thin, but not too thin, and to like their men for themselves, not for any superficial reasons like their BMI or the size of their man parts.

This is a stupid message.

Something less stupid and much cooler is my neighbor's Christmas yard art. She does yard art all year round, but she's really outdone herself this holiday season. I haven't been able to get a satisfactory photo because there's just so much of it: lights of many colors, tinsel garlands, evergreen garlands, glowing plastic nativity scene, glowing black Santa, black Santa heads (I just made a brief digression to see what I could turn up about the ethnicity of Saint Nicholas. He was from what is now Turkey.), a penguin, all in addition to the other stuff she has up all the time. The crowning glory is an animatronic deer head, draped with a silver tinsel garland, attached to the wall on her porch.

It sings.

It does not sing Christmas carols either. The other day when I walked past on my way to the post office, it was singing "Rawhide." Today (another trip to the post office), it was singing "Proud Mary." It also tells bad deer jokes.

I'm wondering if the deer is going to be a permanent part of the installation.