<p>Multiculturalist or Not: You decide. </p>
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<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/us/20santa.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/us/20santa.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>LOL. “It’s not a Muslim country.” Let’s hear it for the land of the free.</p>
<p>Did you know in Israel you are also free to celebrate Christmas?</p>
<p>Only in most Muslim countries are you not free to openly observe Christian or Jewish holidays.</p>
<p>Worth noting.</p>
<p>The article states she has "a life-size Santa perched on the edge of the roof of a house, attached to a microphone and bellowing, “What is this Hanukkah you speak of?” " That sounds almost as if she is mocking Haunukkah. Maybe that’s what has some neighbors upset? Then again, one cranky neighbor took away Halloween pumpkins because they posed “hazards” to his kids, so it may just be a party-pooper.</p>
<p>Hey, it’s private property & if there are no codes in place to prohibit such an exhuberant display, I think neighbors can deal with the overkill for a few weeks. I’m more subdued in my decorating, but I do drive the kids around to see the tackier displays & we get a kick out of them. Loomis-Shrier should learn the first rule of Christmas decorating, though: Rake up the autumn leaves first. Her son is adorable in his snowman costume, but that picture may come back to haunt him in high school.</p>
<p>Rake up the autumn leaves first? In Los Angeles? I don’t know what that stuff in the picture is, but I doubt it is unraked autumn leaves.</p>
<p>Los Angeles: If something’s too stupid to believe, it will probably happen there.</p>
<p>Oh my. I just clicked on the link. The excerpt posted on CC didn’t do justice to the extent of her, um, passion for decorating. I can laugh from a safe distance but I must admit I wouldn’t love living next door to her house!</p>
<p>PostScript: The only Santas that I know who ride in yellow school buses on Christmas Eve are in a small Jordanian town near the shores of the Dead Sea. We live in a splendid world of surprises. I live in a town that didn’t know what Christmas decorations were nigh on 15 years ago. Wouldn’t know that now!!! Something about Santa Claus. :)</p>
<p>JHS: Check it out. There are dead leaves all over. And you can see a few still hanging from almost bare tree branches.</p>
<p>I might have to borrow her idea of draping rolls of fake snow on the lawn. It’s been in the 60s this week & I’m longing for the real stuff.</p>
<p>mommusic: The homeowner runs a Hollywood store called “Trashy Lingerie.” Her decorating taste kind of makes sense once you realize that.</p>
<p>Dang if you’re not right, SS. I saw the leaves in the picture, but hadn’t noticed the almost-bare tree branch. Who woulda thunk it?</p>
<p>Anyway, I’ve seen way more elaborate, and tacky, Christmas displays in and around Philly. Not usually by Jews, though.</p>
<p>One very cranky neighbor.</p>
<p>I don’t like the “What is this Hanukkah you speak of?” bit. That is an inappropriate and insensitive comment from a plastic Santa.</p>
<p>And OP, if you are going to quote an article and strategically omit a paragraph, you should indicate within your quote where parts of the original article have been omitted.</p>
<p>Part of the omitted text that makes the neighbor seem like a nutcase:</p>
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<p>Her house looks like Disneyland but it is in her rights to put up what she wants on her property. It is unusual for a Jewish family to put up a Disney-like Christmas display but that is her business. Hanukah simply doesn’t have elaborate decorations and all the fanfare and perhaps she just likes this stuff. As a Jewish person, I would never choose to decorate with Christmas stuff as she has, but she is free to do what she wants. Luckily we are free to worship as we choose in our country. There are no rules whether you only observe your own religious observances or choose to observe ones of others or none at all. You can do what you want. In this case, it is private property.</p>
<p>I get the sense there are neighborly feuds and this excess is just another manifestation of that.</p>
<p>Good point, mommusic. I’m guessing that an Orthodox Jewish family that dresses the daughters in long skirts is not thrilled to live across the street from the owners of Hollywood’s Trashy Lingerie shop. And if a neighbor she is feuding with takes down his tennant’s Halloween decorations because they violate Jewish law, going overboard with Christmas lights is sure to drive the man nuts. </p>
<p>I guess the Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men message didn’t get communicated.</p>
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<p>What? Are you suggesting that trees in Los Angeles don’t shed their leaves? I live in SoCal, and I can assure you that deciduous trees in LA shed their leaves every year, just like trees in more northern climes. The two trees in my yard certainly do.</p>
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Yes, coureur. I can buy that but being as it is SoCal do y’all have personal tree trainers to tell them when and how to shed those leaves? Are there special personal tree trainers to the stars? 
I mean, how would they ever manage on their own?</p>
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<p>Robert Faggen might enjoy the irony of people following the road less traveled when celebrating Mr. Frosty.</p>
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<p>No, they don’t have trainers but they could sure use them. The trees around here just drop their leaves wherever they happen to be standing, leaving us to clean up the mess. Whatever happened to littering laws? Those trees are as irresponsible as a bunch of kids.</p>
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<p>They could use a trainer. The big mulberry in our Huntington Beach backyard frequently had brownish leaves still clinging to the branches as new leaves were budding. I always thought that it simply didn’t get cold enough to cue the old leaves to fall. The temperature range in HB is from around 50 (brrr) to 78, year round.</p>