SANTA SAYS >>>>

With Thanksgiving looming large, you must succumb to the siren song of the approaching Holiday season.

The folks at the Weekly Volcano have posted its first round of holiday events in the South Sound. Yes, they present this list awfully early this year. That's so them!

Click here for the scoop on movies, plays, dance, concerts, outdoor activities and festivals coming your way between now and the end of the year - plus other events that defy categorization and enough Nutcrackers to satisfy even those dance enthusiasts who don't know the difference between a pas de deux and the shag. There's also a searchable database of events here.

The Weekly Volcano will also offering four print holiday guides, the first hitting the street Wednesday.

Once you've baked enough cookies to last until Easter, spent three weeks worth of paychecks, and played all of your Christmas albums backward, break out those wool socks and long underwear and hit the area for something new.

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LINK: Arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

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SANTA SAYS >>>>

I love that large retailers are forcing shoppers into all-night, high intensity shopping to fill out their holiday gift lists.

Remind you people of someone?

Now multiply it by about a million and you get an idea of what my job is like. Think about that next time your kid complains about not getting Madden 2011.

Anyway, Toys R Us is one of these retailers taking Black Friday to a new level. The toy giant, with locations throughout the South Sound, announced it would open at 9 p.m. Nov. 24.

(scratching record sound)

Thanksgiving dinner menus are being altered all over the land. The family now must be alert and energetic after the big meal. ^.

Toy R Us also released its Black Friday shopping deals including a free $50 gift card with the purchase of any Apple iPod touch; LeapFrog Leapsters for $24.99, marked down 50 percent from the regular price; 40 percent off Ultimate Optimus Prime Transformers, which are usually $79.99; and 10 Squinkies packs for $10, which are regularly $2.49 each.

[Toy R Us, various locations, www.toysrus.com]

LINK: Santa Says RSS feed

LINK: Arts and entertainment events in the South Sound

LINK: Give the Weekly Volcano a "LIKE" present