And the award for Kingston's best float goes to ...

Who's in charge of marketing at K-Rock 105.7?
Give that kid a candy cane!

We all know it's teens and 20-somethings who are the important consumers.

They know what's hip before us old fogies do. Do you know who Rocky, Tessa, Kyndra and Cami are? If you do, you're probably under 25 years old.

The kids know what websites are hot and which ones are not: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube.

They do the fashion thing way ahead of us. Skinny jeans, anyone?

And when it comes to music, they rattle off names of in bands long before they make the pages of People magazine (if, in fact, they ever do.)

The kids in Kingston also listen to K-Rock and the radio station does a good job of promoting itself to them. Every year, they hold BandSlam, a competition that pits local rockers against each other. The concerts have packed downtown bars on cold, rainy Monday nights. Now, that says something.

They've also got G and Shadoe, two very affable and easygoing guys (who, btw, are also popular with the ladies.)

K-Rock also has a rockin' float. Now, what I'm about to say could get me more snotty posts than Santa gets letters but it should be pointed out: Just because you pull a dead pine tree in a wagon covered with a string of red lights and you stick your three-year-old niece with a winter hat on in the car pulling the tree, doesn't mean you have a Santa Claus parade float. It means you have a pine tree in a wagon covered with a string of red lights and your three-year-old niece in a car wearing a winter hat.

If I had a nickel for every child who waved to me on Saturday night at the Santa Claus parade with a look of "Huh. I wonder if I'm missing reruns of Laguna Beach tonight. What did mom say we were having for dinner? Spaghetti. Must remember to wash my school uniform. Oh crap, forgot to smile. And wave" well, I wouldn't have to apply to be on Deal or No Deal, would I?

Good on you for being in the parade but let's put on our parade faces next year, shall we?

But K-Rock? Those crazy radio folks had a massive float, packed with a drummer drumming, a singer singing, a backup band, well, backing and a bunch of people there waving to the people - with enthusiasm.

Rocking around Princess and Regent streets, the band was doing AC/DC's TNT - but with festive Christmas lyrics.

So, to you hip folks at K-Rock, I'll say this: Santa knows if you've been bad or good. And you've been very bad - but in a good way.

Isn't that what the cool kids say these days - that bad is good?