I may be garbage but I assure you Darlene Love is not.

Duck and rajas con queso tamales. Shot of tequila and beer.

Bully for Walter, Jr.! Swimming is great fun...one of my favourite activities and I loved being on the swim team when I was a kid. Good luck to him in future meets. Already been to three Christmas parties myself in the past week...with one more to go. Bon Voyage, Holly! Sincerely, Fred.

A reminder to those who haven't made all their picks to at least get your picks for Saturday's games in by morning. You can pick Sunday's games later if you are pressed for time, but get your Saturday game picks in before kickoff.

Bloody English. I guess the BBC was too busy shoving Cliff Richard down your throat. Bloody Aussies. The people who gave us the didgeridoo. Finally, someone who knows a classic when he hears one. Sure, much of the holiday music played in offices and on the radio is treacly garbage. But Phil Spector's Christmas album "A Christmas Gift For You" is a stone solid classic, along with "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and the Christmas albums from Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald. It is a shame Darlene Love and the Ronettes and the Crystals and other artists that were in the Phil Spector stable aren't more known outside the U.S. But that is what is great about the documentary "20 Feet from Stardom". It shines a light on those like Darlene Love who have been out of the spotlight for too long. And Jay Thomas once again knocked the meatball off the Christmas tree! Most excellent, indeed, ebk...and fortunately, I also caught the last Craig Ferguson show with that great opening bit (with Sex Pistol Steve Jones on guitar). I wasn't even aware that it was Craig's last show...I knew he was leaving but I thought it would be next year around the same time as Dave. I'll miss the wacky Scot...and his robot Geoff. Jay Leno once again showed he is much better as a guest than a host of a talk show. It was reminiscent of his funny appearances on Dave in the 1980s when Dave was on NBC. Oh, and thank you, ebk, for posting Darlene's first performance on Letterman from 1986. Love how bare and stripped down it is compared to now...and Sid's and Will's hair. The end of an era.

You mean our Sam? Well, hip-hip-hooray and glory be. Happy Birthday to the Webmaster Sam! For all you've done and continue to do, this birthday toast is for you. May you have a most excellent Celebration Day, eh!

You're awesome dude! Now I have something to listen to while wrapping Christmas presents later tonight.

This thread is dedicated to ebk, who shares my passion for Darlene Love. For those of us that have been watching for the last 30 years, Darlene Love's annual performance of "Christmas(Baby Please Come Home)" on David Letterman's Holiday show the Friday before Christmas is just as much a treasured Christmas ritual as "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "It's A Wonderful Life", and Glühwein. Tonight is the Friday before Christmas, which means it is time to set your tivo or dvr for the Late Show with Letterman on CBS tonight. Alas, David Letterman is retiring next May, which means this will be his last Holiday show and Darlene Love has intimated that she won't do this for anybody else's show. http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/12/15/watch-darlene-love-sing-christmas-baby-please-come-home-on-letterman-over-the-years/ CBS has posted a nice tribute video to Darlene Love comprising all her past appearances on Dave's show: http://youtu.be/RfurmGiKZ5k I can guarantee you I will be crying buckets tonight.

I haven't even heard the Tempe '77 show and yet it has been ingrained in my brain as being terrible so I avoid it, haha. I don't like many of the 1980 shows because I hate the stage gear the band was using at that time and the coldness of the soundboards...and the raggedy "White Summers" that kill all momentum. Jonesy's Alembic basses and Yamaha keyboards really sound cheesy and dated...but not as dated as Plant and his harmonizer. Cringe. Horror. Bonham's drums sound the best out of all four musicians...his technique was really tight by this point. When he wasn't falling down-drunk, that is.

Fleetwood Mac's legendary Boston Tea Party shows of February 5, 6, and 7 1970 have had various releases over the years since first coming to light in the 1980s, most of them only partial and incomplete. Finally, a three cd box set has been released by Snapper that collects all the known tracks in the proper order and with great sound. http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/fleetwood-mac-boston-3cd-set/ I am listening to disc one right now, which has stunning versions of "Jumping At Shadows" and "Rattlesnake Shake". I have said it before and I will say it 'til the day I die...if all you know about Fleetwood Mac is the mid-70s pop era when Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band, then you don't really know the real Fleetwood Mac. The Fleetwood Mac of Peter Green and his guitar cohorts Danny Kirwin and Jeremy Spencer. Out-of-this-world playing. http://youtu.be/ZTBppNm1tKc

Man, there were a lot of hard picks this week. Thursday Dec. 18 Jacksonville...which team will tank the the best to assure them of the #1 draft pick? Saturday Dec. 20 San Francisco...come on, San Francisco, show some pride! Philadelphia...wouldn't it be something if Philly goes into a tailspin and loses their last 4 games of the season? Sunday Dec. 21 Carolina Detroit...these are the games Detroit has to win if they want to be in the playoffs. Baltimore Miami New Orleans New England...trap game for the Patriots? Ummm, maybe for a quarter or two...but then, the Brady Bunch will storm back. Pittsburgh Green Bay St. Louis Dallas...like San Francisco and New Orleans, Dallas has been surprisingly beatable at home this season. If Murray is definitely out for this game, I might change my pick to Indy before game-time. Oakland...Oakland has nothing to play for except the role of spoiler, so how sweet it would be if we could help keep Buffalo out of the playoffs. Get ready for pain, Buffalo. Hehehe. Seattle...H-U-G-E game this Sunday night in prime time...not a good time for Arizona to have to break in their third-string quarterback. Monday Dec. 22 Denver...Cincy is one of those teams that are up-and-down from one week to the next...last week they were up so now it is down.

Oooh, my ears. Good god, it is like bad Asia. Oh wait...that's redundant.

A 3-piece? I guess that eliminates Kansas, Electric Light Orchestra, Shooting Star, and Dexy's Midnight Runners. It's not Jean-Luc Ponty, is it?

^^^Me too, Deborah...Elvis Presley's Christmas Album is a perennial on my stereo. Christmas is also Nutcracker time...as in Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" ballet. Yes, that is Kevin Kline narrating.

Not all of it...mainly the post-DLR Van Hagar era. And they were a total force of nature in concert at their peak, which ended around 1982. But yeah, this guy is hilarious. Reminds me of the websites and bloggers that will write any gibberish, no matter how outlandish or inane, just to generate page views and chase "controversy".

And neither is your guitar. Treat her well, young grasshopper. Nice to see you, Andy.

You mean the new "Hobbit"? I'm in the theatre myself right now...5 minutes away from "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies". Not sure if I am excited or just glad this whole drawn out affair is finally reaching its conclusion. I haven't really enjoyed these Hobbit movies as much as I liked Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies.

zepscoda, I just fixed your season numbers. Haha, in my bleary state I put in your week 15 numbers by mistake.

Totally forgot to look for YouTube clips. A friend sent me this yesterday. The climax of the night...last song of the Roxy show.

Pay attention everyone...there are games on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday this week. Week 16 Schedule Thursday Dec. 18 Tennessee @ Jacksonville (Huh?!? Who in their right mind would watch this exercise in tedium? Ratings should be an all-time low.) Saturday Dec. 20 San Diego @ San Francisco Philadelphia @ Washington Sunday Dec. 21 Cleveland @ Carolina Detroit @ Chicago Baltimore @ Houston Minnesota @ Miami Atlanta @ New Orleans New England @ New York Jets Kansas City @ Pittsburgh Green Bay @ Tampa Bay New York Giants @ St. Louis Indianapolis @ Dallas Buffalo @ Oakland Seattle @ Arizona Monday Dec. 22 Denver @ Cincinnati

All hail zepscoda, who won the week with a whopping 14-2 record. I'll have to check the books, but I believe that is the highest picking percentage anyone has had this season. Way to go zepscoda! After starting a week late and way behind you have been coming on strong of late and are now only two behind LedZeppfan77. As for the top 3, it remains unchanged as jb126, Walter, and Anjin-san all had 13-3 records. In fact, more than half of our contestants finished 13-3 or better for Week 15. Week 15 Results zepscoda: 14-2* Anjin-san: 13-3 apantherfrommd: 13-3 ebk: 13-3 jb126: 13-3 paul carruthers: 13-3 Walter: 13-3 Bong-Man: 12-4 Strider: 11-5 mack: 10-6 in_the_evening: 9-7 jabe: 9-7 LedZeppfan77: 9-7 Season Standings After 224 Games 1. jb126: 155-68-1*** 2. Walter: 151-72-1**** 3. Anjin-san: 149-74-1***** 4. Strider: 145-78-1** 5. apantherfrommd: 144-79-1*** 6. paul carruthers: 143-80-1* 7. Bong-Man: 141-82-1** 8. in_the_evening: 140-83-1** 9. ebk: 139-84-1** 10. mack: 136-85-1 11. jabe: 135-88-1* 12. LedZeppfan77: 132-91-1** 13. zepscoda: 130-92-1**

Two more Christmas albums loaded in the CD carousel... A Motown Christmas A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra...ring-a-ding-ding!

Smart woman. My co-worker tortured me with that Dylan Christmas album the other day.