Holiday
Nigerian government borrows over N2 trillion from bond investors in 2020
Leveraging on excess liquidity that persisted in the banking system and the near zero yields on treasury bills (TBs), the Federal Government, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), raised N2.1 trillion from investors in its monthly bond issuance programme in 2020. This represents 33 percent, year-on-year, (y/y) increase when compared with the N1.58 trillion raised by the DMO in 2019. The N2.1 trillion raised in 2020 also represents 31 percent more than the N1.6 trillion funding target for the DMO under the Revised 2020 Budget. Meanwhile, the monthly bond auctions conducted by the DMO in 2020 recorded 275 percent oversubscription, reflecting scramble for the high yielding FGN bonds by investors. Newsmen report on monthly bond auction results show that the DMO offered N1.825 trillion wort...
Millions of Americans risk losing jobless benefits as Donald Trump refuses to sign aid bill
Millions of Americans are about to see their jobless benefits expire on Saturday as U.S. President Donald Trump has so far refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, insisting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on Dec. 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Trump’s signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits, according to Labor Department data. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding bill before then. Af...
Christmas celebrated under pandemic’s shadow
Hundreds of millions across the world celebrated pared-down Christmas festivities on Friday due to coronavirus restrictions, as Pope Francis called for vaccines for everyone, describing them as “glimmers of hope in this period of darkness and uncertainty”. The pandemic has claimed more than 1.7 million lives and is still running rampant in much of the world, but the recent launching of mass vaccine campaigns has boosted hopes that 2021 could bring a respite. Like so many across the globe, the pope was forced to break with normal Christmas tradition, holding his annual “Urbi et Orbi” speech by video from the apostolic palace, to prevent a crowd from gathering in St Peter’s Square. “I call on everyone, on leaders of states, on businesses, on international organisations, to promote cooperatio...
Celebrate the Holidays in Questionable Fashion With the 5 Best Remixes of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”
Social media and modern meme culture are responsible for the resurgence in popularity of many nostalgic songs, movies, and other pop culture motifs. Perhaps none of those resurgences was bigger than that of Mariah Carey‘s polarizing holiday number, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” You hear it in every grocery store. In Tik-Tok videos and tweets. In your mother’s house, on the low-quality, ripped-from-YouTube, burned CD that you made for her in 2003. In your nightmares. Now, hear it five more times, but with 808 drum samples and Eurobeat supersaw synths, too. Get ready to celebrate the holiday season in very questionable fashion with the five best remixes of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” DIMITRI VEGAS & LIKE MIKE VS. BRENNA...
Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass Drops Holiday Charity Single ‘Xmas w/ Devil’
Proceeds for the single will go to ActBlue, the nonprofit tech organization benefitting Democratic candidates, progressive organizations and other non-profits by making grassroots fundraising simpler and easier. While “Xmas w/ Devil” is the debut release of Gass’ latest side project, Tenacious D also unleashed two songs in 2020: single “5 Needs” and a cover of The Rocky Horror Picture Show‘s “Time Warp,” which they recorded as part of Rock the Vote’s initiative to get young Americans engaged in the 2020 presidential election. The comedy duo’s last full-length studio set, Post-Apocalypto, dropped in 2018 and bowed at No. 93 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, Gass released Thundering Herd, his most recent solo album under the moniker ...
Dolly Parton & Willie Nelson Get the Animated Treatment in Christmas-Themed ‘Pretty Paper’ Video: Watch
Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson take a Christmas-themed trip through Fort Worth, Texas, in the new animated music video for “Pretty Paper.” The holiday duet appears on Parton’s latest album, A Holly Dolly Christmas, her first holiday release in 30 years. The track was originally penned by Nelson in 1963 after the country music icon saw a disabled man selling pencils and wrapping paper outside of a department store. In the new animated video for “Pretty Paper,” Parton sings on the back of a wagon, with Nelson strumming his guitar alongside her, as they take a journey through the packed streets of Fort Worth, which are filled with holiday cheer. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begi...
Yule Love The White Stripes’ Rocking 90-Minute Greatest Hits Holiday Treat
The band’s animated holiday video is packed with their greatest hits. The White Stripes are here to sprinkle a little Christmas cheer on the darkest holiday ever. As we all hunker down this week, the Jack White-led group has released a 90-minute Yule log video that cycles through tracks from the defunct Detroit duo’s recently released 26-track Greatest Hits album, as well as acoustic tracks, rare B-sides and the pair’s original Christmas song, “Candy Cane Children.” The Noah Sterling-directed animated clip features arresting drawings of a little princess getting a marshmallow roasted by a fire-spitting dragon, creepy drawings of demonic creatures gathered around a fire pit lying in wait for Santa, demons dancing, aliens prepping plates of cookies and a Ye...
Radiohead Are Here to Help You Make Some Grim Digital Holiday Cards
“THIS FESTIVE CARD IS FOR YOU TO MAKE AND SEND TO ACQUAINTANCES NEW AND OLD,” reads a message from the band on their website. “NO ELEMENT OF DATA PLACED ONTO IT WILL BE STORED BY RADIOHEAD. PLEASE DON’T RUN. THIS IS STILL A LIBRARY.” As reported by Pitchfork, guitarist Jonny Greenwood wrote a holiday message to fans in which he said, “Right now, I just feel this: I hope you are all safe and well and not too scared, or too bored. I also hope that somehow we can be part of making music for you soon, and that the pleasure of making music, and hearing music, whether in a gig, concert hall, church, or at home with friends—is not forgotten in this desolate year.” You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins ...
All the Things Mariah Carey Has Turned ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Into
Children’s Book The song’s lyrics brings the holiday spirit to readers of all ages in an adorable picture book about a young girl’s Christmas wish for a new puppy. The yuletide book features a special letter from Carey plus sweet illustrations by Colleen Madden of family, friends, presents and of course, Santa Claus. All I Want For Christmas Is You is available in Kindle, hardcover and paperback versions here. Animated Movie The adorable film based on the book finds Carey narrating the sweet tale of little Mariah’s Christmas wish for a furry friend. It’s available for rent and purchase here. Coloring Book The 8.5″ x 11″ coloring book features a series of festive, fun illustrations from the All I Want For Christmas Is You film that can be ...
Mariah Carey Can’t Get Enough of This Toddler Matching Her Whistle Tone in ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
While “All I Want For Christmas Is You” may have been released a full 23 years before the pint-sized singer was even born, it’s currently sitting at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for its second Christmas season in a row. The song marks four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the chart dated Dec. 19 after first summiting the singles chart in Dec. 2019. The track’s record-breaking ascent last Christmas after 25 years was made even more historic as it earned the songstress the designation as the first, and so far only, act to have a No. 1 single across four separate decades — the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Elsewhere, classic holiday songs abound on the Hot 100 hits this week, with Brenda Lee‘s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Bobby Hel...
Watch Gwen Stefani & Carter Rubin ‘Make It Feel Like Christmas’ With Their Duet on ‘Voice’ Finale
Gwen Stefani and her 15-year-old mentee on The Voice Carter Rubin performed a seasonal duet of “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” for the season 19 finale Tuesday night (Dec. 15). Stefani’s ornate Christmas tree-like dress complemented Rubin’s velvet green tuxedo for their performance on stage, which transformed into an elf workshop. Her fiancé and fellow coach Blake Shelton‘s heart likely skipped as Stefani serenaded him with the verse, “I never thought I’d find a love like this/ But I found forever in that very first kiss/ I wanna thank you, baby/ You make it feel like Christmas.” “How big are the shoes, ’cause I’ve heard he’s really tall,” Rubin teased Shelton earlier about filling in his shoes f...
Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel Perform ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ During ‘Elf’ Reunion
Ferrell, who played as Buddy the Elf in the movie, and Deschanel, who played Jovie, reprised their rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” during the event. Other original cast members who took part included Bob Newhart as Papa Elf, Edward Asner as Santa and Mary Steenburgen as Emily. Other original cast members included Amy Sedaris, Kyle Gass and Andy Richter. Meanwhile, other roles were filled by “special guests,” including Lithgow, who performed James Caan’s role of Walter; Sykes, who played the manager of Gimbel’s department store Christmas display; and Danny Woodburn, who played Peter Dinklage’s role as children’s author Miles Finch. Jeong, Ed Helms and Busy Phillips also joined the event in various roles. In a twist, Pod Save Ameri...
