Marathon Christmas
Countdown to WPRBXmas!
| MARATHON STARTS | MARATHON ENDS |
|---|---|
| 12/24/22 | 12/25/22 |
| 5:00pm EST | 6:00pm EST |
Welcome
This site is dedicated to Jon Solomon's annual 25-hour holiday marathon on 103.3FM WPRB and its worldwide community of devoted listeners!
You'll find a little bit of everything here, including archives of old marathons, updates about this year's marathon, submissions guidelines, and an assortment of other odds & ends we've created to enhance your listening experience, connect you with other fans, and keep your WPRBXmas spirits riding high all year long.
Much like WPRBXMas, this site is a perpetual work-in-progress. Please e-mail elves @ marathon dot christmas if you discover any bugs or want to suggest an addition to the site.
What's New
-
marathon.christmas has been refactored in Astro.
This site got a fresh coat of paint, just in time for WPRBXmas! Please note that archival material is still in the process of being (manually) moved over from the legacy site. -
WPRBXmas XXXIV tees are available for purchase!
The artwork for this year's WPRBXmas tees was designed by Ryan Godfrey and Patrick Rapa. -
Submissions for WPRBXmas XXXIV are officially open!
The deadline to submit material for this year's marathon is December 19, 2022. See "2022 Submissions" below for more detailed information. -
We lost Mimi Parker (1967 - 2022) of Low this year.
RIP Mimi. We'll have a blue WPRBXmas without you.
Now Playing
This card pulls in live playlist data from WPRB's Spinitron feed.
Use this to keep up with the WPRXmas playlist.
Obviously, if it's not WPRBXmas right now this card will show the current WPRB DJ's playlist. Jon is great, but there are lots of other great DJs on WPRB too! You should definitely consider browsing WPRB's current broadcasting schedule and listening to (at least) a few of them.
Please keep in mind we don't control Spinitron's API (yet). We've fiddled with the incoming data to make it easier to read, but there may still be the occasional track or two that look a little wacky.
If you're having trouble viewing this data in your browser, you can click here to see the current playlist on Spinitron's website.
Current Track
Current Playlist
Click here to scroll the current playlist!
Make A Request
If it's WPRBXmas, you can use the form below to send Jon a listener request.
Once your request has been submitted, you'll receive a confirmation e-mail and your request will be automatically added to the listener request queue.
If you accidentally send Jon incorrect data, please don't submit another request!
Instead, use the link provided in your confirmation email to edit your request. Your corrections will be automatically merged into the listener request queue.
If you have trouble accessing/using the site's request form, you can submit your request directly through Google here.
Click here to open the Listener Request Form!
WPRBXMas Stream
Jon live streams the entire WPRBXmas marathon.
During WPRBXmas, you can click the embedded video below to tune into Jon's holiday live stream. Alternately, you can click here if you'd like to open the stream in a separate tab or window.
Listener Chat
Every year, WPRBXmas listeners gather in a listener chat room to connect, reminisce, and keep Jon company during the marathon's lonelier hours.
Click here to join the WPRBXmas Listener Chat!
A new window will open in your browser and, if you have a valid Facebook or Google account, you'll be able to start chatting with other music-lovers right away!
Important note for the privacy-minded! Please keep in mind that many WPRB DJs archive their show chats, so your handle & comments will likely be discoverable via search engines.
#WPRBXmas Feed
WPRBXmas listeners are a pretty tech-saavy bunch...which means that, for as long as it's WPRBXMas, lots of people from all over the world will be sharing their thoughts, memories, jokes, & pictures of Jerry the Christmas Snail ornaments across the inter-webs.
During WPRBXmas, this card aggregates WPRBXMas-related content across several social media platforms, including Twitter (#WPRBXmas) and Instagram (#wprbxmas). It also pulls in all content from Jon Solomon's Facebook page, Keeping Score At Home.
Jon Solomon's Tweets
Jon Solomon is the human behind WPRBXmas.
Until November of 2022, he tweeted regularly from @jonsolomon, especially during WPRBXmas.
Solobot misses him terribly, and has archived his old tweets here for posterity.
Jon Solobot's Tweets
Jon Solobot is the robot behind MARATHON CHRISTMAS.
He is Jon Solomon's electronic dopplegänger! He is also a Twitter bot we created using TensorFlow & the 30,000+ tweets the real (& presumably non-robotic) Jon Solomon's pumped out since June of 2009.
He tweets intermittently year-round, except during WPRBXmas, when his #WPRBXmas programming kicks in & he tweets as much as his robot heart desires.
When he's not tweeting, Solobot is busy trying to figure out how to (a) survive being immersed in water & (b) pass a Turing test. He also runs MARATHON CHRISTMAS' YouTube & Spotify accounts.
Jon Solobot is doing his best to live up to the high standards set by trail-blazing c0m3d1ans like @dril_pt2, @w0a0i0f & @SuperBowlBot.
If you're a giant nerd who wants to learn more about the tech keeping Jon Solobot alive, check out this, this & this.
Ghosts of Marathons Past
Each year, Jon broadcasts hundreds of off-the-beaten-track holiday gems, including (since 2011) original contributions from WPRBXmas listeners!
This part of the site archives as much material from previous WPRBXmas marathons as we can find. There's quite a bit here but we've done our best to try and organize it all so that browsing the archive is easy and fun. Use the link menus below to start exploring the sights & sounds of marathons past.
We're always looking to expand the archive!
Please e-mail us if you have a piece of WPRBXmas history you'd like to share.
👻 WPRBXmas Stories
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
👻 WPRBXmas Songs
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
👻 WPRBXmas Playlists
- 2002
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
2022 Submissions
Background
For the last twelve years, Jon Solomon's invited WPRBXmas listeners to submit their own original Christmas stories & songs for airplay alongside marathon touchstones like Snaildartha: The Story of Jerry the Christmas Snail; all-Misfits-inspired sets; Ramones-o-Clock; Lindstrom’s epic 42-minute-long rendition of “Little Drummer Boy”; the all-Fall Christmas set; the all-Sabbath set; new VU/Lou Reed mixes; Joel Phelps’ myriad pieces; the Sonics, the Wailers, and the Galaxies; and other annual favorites.
The addition of listeners' stories & songs has brought a new level of excitement to the program and made the marathon that much more special for all of us.
This year, listeners are again invited to submit an original Christmas story or song of their own. New pieces and old favorites alike will be broadcast throughout the marathon at the top of each hour.
What does "an original Christmas story or song" sound like?
That's really up to you! In the past, listeners have submitted readings of their favorite holiday tales, covers of popular (or obscure) holiday tunes, insane mash-ups (Slayer & Wham anyone?), as well as completely bespoke work.
You can find many of these songs & stories archived on this very website! Navigate to the GHOSTS OF MARATHONS PAST section if you're in need of a little Yuletide inspiration.
Guidelines & Rules
OH NO! SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS YEAR'S WPRBXMAS MARATHON ARE CLOSED!
The deadline to submit your story or song to Jon for inclusion in WPRBXMAS XXXIV was Monday, December 19th.
Jon usually opens WPRBXmas submissions sometime around the end of November. Check this site around then to find updated information about how to submit your work to next year's WPRBXmas marathon.
Friendly reminder to everyone who submitted an original story or song to WPRBXMAS XXXIV: there's really only one rule Jon asks all WPRBXmas creators abide by, and that's do not publically share work before it airs on the marathon!
Afterwards, though, go nuts! Just be be sure to mention (or, better still, link back) to WPRBXmas when you upload your submission to Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Quibi, or your sub-orbital swarm of beat-boxing drones.