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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

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Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

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Consistently wrong since 2002

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Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

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Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

The willow is too close to the house.

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This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

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You are here: Home / Music / Open Thread: Gods Bless Us, Every One

Open Thread: Gods Bless Us, Every One

by Anne Laurie|  December 24, 201511:46 pm| 120 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads

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xmas eve when animals speak arlo n janis

(Arlo & Janis via GoComics.com)
.


(via Schrodingers Cat)


(via Wenchacha)


… Everybody’s been there, everybody’s been stared down
By the enemy
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is…

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Previous Post: « Christmas Can Go Fuck Itself
Next Post: A Christmas Repast »

Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 12:10 am

    Schrodingers Cat: What a nice little video; the different instruments are so good. Thanks for suggesting it.

    Anne Laurie: The song by the Maccabees is really good. I’d love to have all the lyrics for it. It sort ties in with what we talked about in my group therapy session this afternoon. I have to recommend it the others in the group and our leader.

  2. 2.

    Anne Laurie

    December 25, 2015 at 12:13 am

    @PurpleGirl: I linked to the lyrics: Sara Barielle, Brave

    Let your words be anything but empty
    Why don’t you tell them the truth?

  3. 3.

    JPL

    December 25, 2015 at 12:17 am

    So the big dog I’m taking care of knocked me which caused me to knock red wine on my black pants.. I’m not going to soak them cuz it’s to late but should I wash them in cold water?.

  4. 4.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 12:17 am

    @Anne Laurie: I found the link and went over to it. Thank you. A very meaningful song for me tonight. (I liked the Maccabees video with all the different instruments and the different players on each one. They are a great group.)

  5. 5.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 12:21 am

    @JPL: Yes, cold water and a cold water detergent is best. Hot water sets stains.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2015 at 12:24 am

    @JPL

    Got club soda or tonic water?

    Dampen the stained areas with either and blot with paper towels (may have to repeat process) before laundering.

  7. 7.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 12:32 am

    @NotMax: Club soda/tonic water is a good idea for pre-treatment of the stain.

  8. 8.

    Dork

    December 25, 2015 at 12:39 am

    @JPL: Should I be assured of a female issue, I’d normally recommend the removal of said pants and the recommendation that one struts around pantless. But becuz “JPL” is a crapshoot for gender determination, Im just gunna recc a drycleaner.

  9. 9.

    Frankensteinbeck

    December 25, 2015 at 12:48 am

    Is that Finnish? It has ‘Those aren’t real words’ feel I get listening to my Finnish friend speak his native tongue. It doesn’t look like any variant of Germanic, but it does kinda look European, so ‘Magyar’ would be my other guess.

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    December 25, 2015 at 12:49 am

    O Holy Night may just be my favorite Christmas song.

    No matter the singer or genre of music, I just happen to love that song Ina different way than I do the others

  11. 11.

    JPL

    December 25, 2015 at 12:56 am

    okay.. the pants are soaking in cold water and I’ll deal with it in the morning. I sorta blame myself cuz I put the big dog up during the party and only let him out when I could sit and just enjoy a glass a wine. He really knew I didn’t need that glass of wine.

    good dog.

  12. 12.

    JPL

    December 25, 2015 at 1:00 am

    @lamh36: Many years ago, I was touring the missions in San Antonio and the former spouse and sons were missioned out. I don’t know which one, but I walked in and someone was singing Ave Marie. It caused goose bumps to this atheist soul. They were waiting impatiently outside.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2015 at 1:01 am

    @JPL

    If all you’re doing is soaking them in cold water, would humbly suggest adding salt to the water. Wring them out and change the water a couple of times, too, leaving them to soak the final time in plain water.

  14. 14.

    redshirt

    December 25, 2015 at 1:02 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: Magyar would be a good bet. Also, that’s also what Hungarians call themselves and I’m not sure why we don’t.

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    December 25, 2015 at 1:08 am

    I like this song for this time of year.

    @lamh36: Ever heard it in Icelandic? It’s wifey’s fave too.

  16. 16.

    mbss

    December 25, 2015 at 1:18 am

    Anyone else notice that The Beatles have been added to a host of streaming sites? I was listening to “Beatles A-Z” all day today on Slacker Radio.

  17. 17.

    redshirt

    December 25, 2015 at 1:19 am

    @efgoldman: Was the trip by stagecoach in 1825? What was Andrew Jackson like? And why didn’t Mrs. E get a gig?

  18. 18.

    redshirt

    December 25, 2015 at 1:20 am

    @mbss: 12:00:01 on 12/25/15 all Beatles music is now streamable, apparently. If you’re into that thing.

  19. 19.

    redshirt

    December 25, 2015 at 1:21 am

    @efgoldman: I’m kinda obsessed about historical nomenclature these days. Ask me about the so called Byzantine Empire!

  20. 20.

    JPL

    December 25, 2015 at 1:25 am

    @efgoldman: What I learned later was the mission I was in was acoustically and used by soloists around the world. Although it was just a fluke, it was a magical fluke.

  21. 21.

    JPL

    December 25, 2015 at 1:33 am

    My dishwasher is loaded for the third time, and now it’s bedtime.

  22. 22.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2015 at 1:42 am

    Watching “The Shop Around the Corner” like we do every Christmas Eve. I finally figured out the instructions for the decreases on the hat for my older nephew, so I need to stay up at least late enough to finish those.

    Pirovich is explaining why he’s looking forward to ruining his wife’s uncle’s Christmas. I love Felix Bressart.

    /Mnemo +1

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    December 25, 2015 at 1:45 am

    I am still sinus-infection-y and fucking sore from falling on my stairs. Fuck fuck.

  24. 24.

    divF

    December 25, 2015 at 2:08 am

    Just got back from our annual Christmas Eve outing with Madame’s family. Late lunch, present exchange, then a Christmas Carol sing at the assisted living facility near my mother-in-law’s. About 30 residents turned up and joined in with the singing, many of them family faces from years past (and of course they all know my 87 yo MIL, who is a pillar of the community). Then the facility provided cookies and lemonade, and we hang out and chat.

  25. 25.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 2:09 am

    @redshirt: I heard that whoever owns the Beatles rights finally came to agreement with the music sites and Apple (IIRC) about putting the music on the web. So yes, the Beatles are all over the place now. (Technical information is an approximation of what I heard on the news.)

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    December 25, 2015 at 2:23 am

    Merry Christmas, Everyone :)

  27. 27.

    divF

    December 25, 2015 at 2:28 am

    @rikyrah:
    And the same to you, good sir !

  28. 28.

    Yutsano

    December 25, 2015 at 2:29 am

    Whoever guessed Magyar gets a cookie.

  29. 29.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2015 at 2:32 am

    @mbss:
    It’s been in all the news. The young people might not understand why, but it’s THE BEATLES so it’s a big Biden deal.

  30. 30.

    ? Martin

    December 25, 2015 at 2:36 am

    @lamh36: Carol of the Bells is my favorite holiday song. Never tire of hearing it and so many arrangements to choose from. Watched Star Wars with the kids – original Laserdisc rip just as I saw it in the theaters when I was 9. Han shoots first. No fucked-up added scenes. Presents under the tree. Anxiously hoping teenagers like their gifts. They are handling their transition to adulthood slightly better than their old man.

    Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday. Best wishes to everyone and to all those around you. It may not feel like it around here sometimes, but we are making the world a better place not in small increments but in huge, rapid leaps. It has never been a better time to be a human being on this planet or in this country, and that will improve again next year. That doesn’t mean it’s roses for each of us every year or along every dimension, but on the whole, we’re getting more and more of this right each year. Just need to keep at it.

  31. 31.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 2:51 am

    @? Martin: When a friend bought DVDs of the edited version of Star Wars a few years ago, I took the VCR tapes of the original trilogy from her. I preferred that to the newer edited version. She was just going to throw them out.

    I also like Carol of the Bells.

  32. 32.

    PurpleGirl

    December 25, 2015 at 2:52 am

    Merry Christmas… Happy Holiday… whatever… to everyone.

    (Time to go to bed.)

  33. 33.

    Mnemosyne

    December 25, 2015 at 3:39 am

    It wouldn’t be Christmas Eve if I wasn’t up desperately trying to finish a knitted gift. At least one is in the washer (it’s superwash wool/nylon) and the other is soaking in the sink, so I’m in the home stretch.

  34. 34.

    Mike in NC

    December 25, 2015 at 3:44 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: We visited Helsinki last year on our Baltic Sea cruise and learned that the Finnish language is related to absolutely nothing else in the region. (Maybe slightly closer to Estonian?) But nowhere close to German or Russian or Hungarian.

  35. 35.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2015 at 5:03 am

    Should I see Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in 2D or 3D?

  36. 36.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    December 25, 2015 at 5:08 am

    @Mike in NC: This is incorrect. Finnish and Hungarian aren’t especially close, but they are related. Both are Finno-Urgic languages, and not Indo-European, and share about 600 core words. However, the last common ancestor of both dates to about 5,000 years ago and there has been divergence since. In particular, the Urgic peoples migrated in a different direction and came into contact with Turkic central Asians, which influenced the Magyar language.

  37. 37.

    Keith P

    December 25, 2015 at 5:21 am

    I just woke up a few minutes ago (just in time for 4:20, yay Jesus!) and went into the bathroom only to come out to have both cats sitting outside the door wanting breakfast. So I set them some dry food plus wild salmon and some other mushy feast. Put it outside so the feral living under my deck can have a xmas treat as well. Then I go back to bed.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    December 25, 2015 at 5:22 am

    @Mike in NC

    Norway to make a gift of a mountain to Finland in honor of Finland’s upcoming centennial anniversary of independence.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 5:40 am

    @NotMax: Saw that on TRMS, it would be Finland’s highest elevation.

  40. 40.

    Mike J

    December 25, 2015 at 5:46 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Should I see Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in 2D or 3D?

    I was going to see it in 0d, but I didn’t see the point.

  41. 41.

    Mike J

    December 25, 2015 at 5:46 am

    @Mike J: And at the 1d theatre, there was too much of a line.

  42. 42.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 6:17 am

    @Mike J: Ladies and Gentlemen: Mike J will be here all weekend, remember to enjoy your waitress and tip the veal.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    December 25, 2015 at 7:03 am

    Remember Juicers,

    The easiest way to defeat Christmas is to infiltrate it from the inside. So have a very Merry Christmas, everybody.

    And to our Finnish friends, hyvää joulua!

  44. 44.

    maeve

    December 25, 2015 at 7:04 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    @Yutsano:
    @redshirt:

    Google Translate says

    Boldog Karacsonyt es lsten aldjon meg minket mindenkinek

    Translates to

    Merry Christmas and God will bless us everyone

  45. 45.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 7:24 am

    @Baud: Bah Humbug!

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 7:27 am

    @maeve: What’s Finnish for “Bah! Humbug!”?

  47. 47.

    Frankensteinbeck

    December 25, 2015 at 7:29 am

    EDIT – Removed, as I don’t feel sufficiently confident of my facts.

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 7:30 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: or did Baud already answer the question?

  49. 49.

    Baud

    December 25, 2015 at 7:31 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Ilmapallo Mehu

  50. 50.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 25, 2015 at 7:34 am

    I’m at a Holiday Inn Express near Cincinnati where I’m spending Christmas and a few more days with my parents, my sister and her son and D-I-L and their 8-month old, and my older brother and his wife. Brother #2 is in Seattle with his family. We had dinner at my sister’s house last night and will reconvene there at 9 for coffee cake and stockings, then over to my parents’ place for Christmas dinner. The weather is the talk of the town; I had to have the A/C on in the rental car yesterday afternoon and it’s supposed to continue like this through the weekend, returning to normal just in time for me to go back to Miami.

    My favorite piece of Christmas music is this collection by Gustav Holtz called Christmas Day. This version is by a concert wind ensemble, which somehow seems more yule-tidy than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

    In Wales they say “Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda,” which is basically Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 7:36 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: Never stopped me.

  52. 52.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 25, 2015 at 7:40 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Someone needs to buy the Welsh some more vowels.

  53. 53.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 7:44 am

    Since the song was mentioned upthread: Carol of the Bells performed by Stephen Colbert and Henry Rollins.

  54. 54.

    maeve

    December 25, 2015 at 7:45 am

    Just got a link to this from elsewhere – Dylan Thomas reading A Child’s Christmas in Wales in 1952

    https://youtu.be/Hv4-sgFw3Go

    “One Christmas was so much like the other, in those years around the sea-town corner now, out of all sound except the distant speaking of the voices I sometimes hear a moment before sleep, that I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve, or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six.

    All the Christmases roll down towards the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hands in the snow and bring out whatever I can find. In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen.

    ….”

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    December 25, 2015 at 7:49 am

    Happy Christmas morning, BJ peeps.

    Here are some baby bats in festive sacks, with holiday music, to go with your morning coffee and tea. They’re all about Christmas.

  56. 56.

    Raven

    December 25, 2015 at 7:49 am

    Merry Xmas ya’ll. We’re in the in laws Airbnb in Blackburg. We’re going to head off for a drive through the mountains and the hit the wonderful xmas dinner at the Hotel Roanoke. It wet and warm here too.

  57. 57.

    Mustang Bobby

    December 25, 2015 at 7:49 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: “Y” and “W” are considered vowels in some respects, but since the only Welsh I know is “Bore da” (Good day), don’t take it from me.

  58. 58.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 7:50 am

    @JPL: My (adult) kid once dumped 1/2 a bottle of Merlot on my mostly beige Oriental rug. While sleeping after passing out, so it had hours to soak in. Oxiclean got all the stains out and didn’t damage the rug at all. FYI.

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 7:50 am

    Christmas is ostensibly the time of year where we’re all supposed to forgo our petty differences, our prejudices and our micro-aggressions to come together as one human race – assuming you are Christian, well-to-do enough to afford presents and free of communicable disease. If you qualify in at least two of those three categories, you can be a part of our fun-time holiday jamboree!

    That sense of good cheer and fellowship is great and all, but it’s fleeting and artificial. Why waste your time with a transitory moment of disingenuous kindness when you can double-down on the same misanthropy and petty score-settling that defines you the other 11 months of the year?

    My relationship to Christmas is far less Hallmark Movie of the Week and more Richard Nixon’s enemies list. To me, this is a time to take stock of all the people who have wronged you in the last year, to reflect on their repugnance and plan for their eventual demise. In that spirit, here are the 12 biggest dicks of Christmas – the dozen most reprehensible, unforgivable tools of the holiday season.

  60. 60.

    maeve

    December 25, 2015 at 7:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    According to Google Translate “Bah Humbug” is “Pyh Humbug” in Finnish.

    To find google translate just Google “translate”

    It apparently is seeded with common phrases (rather than word by word translatation) because when I sent a greeting in Norwegian to a friend (who is an American but currently living in Norway) it translated “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” the same way it translated “Happy Christmas and a Good New Year” – both to ”
    God jul og et godt nytt år”

  61. 61.

    Baud

    December 25, 2015 at 7:57 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    free of communicable disease.

    Including STDs?

    And # 9 on the list is crap. Among the top 12 worst for the year? Then it’s been a better year than I thought.

  62. 62.

    Schlemazel

    December 25, 2015 at 7:58 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Now there’s a holiday tradition I can get behind!

    EDIT: Just read the article, I may disagree with a couple or think there are notable absences but I can live with the tradition.

  63. 63.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 8:02 am

    And in Irish Gaelic we say Nolliag Shona. Which I wish to all of you.

  64. 64.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 8:03 am

    @Elizabelle: Thank you! I love bats!

  65. 65.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 8:05 am

    @Baud:

    Including STDs?

    Not among this crowd.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    December 25, 2015 at 8:10 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, there hasn’t been a meet up in a long while.

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 8:10 am

    @Baud: It’s the thought that counts.

    @Schlemazel: We all have our own petty grievances, but like you I think I have a new holiday tradition. And right now I think 12 foot 6x6s are at the top of my list.

  68. 68.

    Schlemazel

    December 25, 2015 at 8:14 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    A 12 foot 6×6 might be a little too heavy for me use in the manner I want with the people on my list

  69. 69.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 8:20 am

    I’ve spent most of yesterday and tonight recovering from the Win10 Threshold2 upgrade on my Intel Compute Stick. I ended up doing a clean install, and that only worked after multiple failed attempts and I figured out that I needed to update the BIOS.

    Thanks Obama.

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 8:20 am

    @Schlemazel: Apparently it was a wee bit too heavy for me too.

  71. 71.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    December 25, 2015 at 8:21 am

    @NotMax: I’m torn as to whether the best sentence in that article is:

    “Some people have noted how it is a bit sad to walk downwards to Finland’s highest point if you come from the Norwegian side.”

    or:

    “One guy said he thinks the whole thing is ludicrous, but he seems to either be trolling or a bit weird,” Lund said.

  72. 72.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 25, 2015 at 8:21 am

    Miracle stain remover

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 8:24 am

    Where are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen when you need them?

  74. 74.

    Schlemazel

    December 25, 2015 at 8:25 am

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym:

    “One guy said he thinks the whole thing is ludicrous, but he seems to either be trolling or a bit weird,” Lund said

    So, pokie posts there too?.

  75. 75.

    FlyingToaster

    December 25, 2015 at 8:27 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: They should drop the two fictional characters and replace them with Ted Cruz and David Cameron. IMNSHO.

    ***
    We’ve survived our early morning of wretched excess and WarriorGirl is watching CartoonNetwork on her new iPad mini. HerrDoktor is horrified by the idea of a $450 backpack — for $500 he expects a Bag of Holding, dammit! I am mystified by the breakfast sandwich maker we received.

    Now for showers and off to the SIL!

  76. 76.

    Rashi

    December 25, 2015 at 8:27 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Thanks. I’ve been looking for a way to keep my balls dryer.

  77. 77.

    Schlemazel

    December 25, 2015 at 8:30 am

    Her are a couple of my favorite Christmas stories
    David Sedaris
    6 to 8 Black Men

    SantaLand Diaries

    Being up early after the kids are grown & gone these are a perfect starter for the day – Merry Christmas to you all & may we all be touched by His noodley appendage in 2016

  78. 78.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 25, 2015 at 8:35 am

    @FlyingToaster: $500 backpack? I’m looking to get a camera bag and only looking at $50 tops.

  79. 79.

    Rashi

    December 25, 2015 at 8:39 am

    The real song about Christmas

  80. 80.

    JPL

    December 25, 2015 at 8:40 am

    @Satby: haha, It’s difficult getting upset with dogs but my reaction wouldn’t be the same for my son.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

  81. 81.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 8:41 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Thanx. My wife makes our laundry detergent out of the ingredients used in this young ladies recipe with the additional ingredient of lavender crystals that can also be had at Wallie World. Works very well, is good to my skin, and smells great. Cheap too.

  82. 82.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 25, 2015 at 8:43 am

    @Schlemazel: I love SantaLand Diaries. It’s often on the car radio when we’re driving to Chicagoland for the holidays. Crumpet rules!

    They could play that and Squirrel Cop repeatedly and I’d still listen.

  83. 83.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 25, 2015 at 8:46 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I figured if I could get an old mustard stain out of a cotton tee with the stain cleaner recipe, it might work on the spilled wine from upthread.

    I’m gonna try the laundry detergent after I’ve cleared out my detergent stash. Good to have another positive review. :D

  84. 84.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 8:55 am

    Anybody else catch the “Gangsta Carolers”?

  85. 85.

    debbie

    December 25, 2015 at 9:11 am

    @Satby:

    There’s an Oxy spray, Max Force, which is as strong as it sounds. You can spray and wait for several days before laundering. Miracle stuff, especially with grease.

  86. 86.

    debbie

    December 25, 2015 at 9:15 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Squirrel Cop cracks me up every time I hear it!

  87. 87.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 9:16 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: The only caution I would apply to this is dishwasher cleaners have bleach so it could affect colors.

  88. 88.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 9:18 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I did, that was great.

  89. 89.

    geg6

    December 25, 2015 at 9:19 am

    Merry merry to all of BJ!

    No presents opened yet, but the pups are very interested in the stockings under the tree with their names on them.

    Right now, my John is heading to pick up his brother to go place a Christmas wreath on their parents’ grave, a ritual they have every Christmas. While he’s out (he’s taking Koda with him), Lovey will lay on my feet while I prep my part of the family meal, the veggies (carrots roasted in olive oil, honey and sea salt and asparagus roasted in olive oil and sea salt–yes, I got off easy!). Sister who is hosting is making prime rib and salad, youngest sister is making twice-baked potatoes and oldest sister is making a variety of her spectacular desserts. Should be a good day. Oldest niece is adopted and just found her older brother, who was also adopted. He is coming to our family celebration (with his fiancée) where we will meet him for the first time. What a lovely thing!

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Moved downstairs, where more appropriate.

  91. 91.

    sharl

    December 25, 2015 at 9:30 am

    Merry Christmas to the Balloonkateer Juicertariat Collective!

    Or, something like that…

    Have a good day, everyone!

  92. 92.

    jurassicpork

    December 25, 2015 at 9:31 am

    We are truly in need of a Xmas miracle to stave off eviction right after the holidays.

  93. 93.

    sharl

    December 25, 2015 at 9:33 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: So sorry to read this SD. My best wishes for your cousin to get better soon, and for all of you to be able to make the best of things under such unfortunate circumstances.

  94. 94.

    Glidwrith

    December 25, 2015 at 9:35 am

    Happy Day to all of you! Currently munching an apple while the rest of the family is getting cleaned up. Visiting with Kentucky in-laws that are marginally more sane than my side of the family, we will be indulging in the blizzard of torn Xmas paper in the afternoon.

    And just to twist the knife concerning those that don’t like fruitcake, these folks are stealing the fruitcake that I made from each other. It’s. Just. That. Good.

  95. 95.

    Patricia Kayden

    December 25, 2015 at 9:36 am

    Merry Christmas to all — especially those who run this wonderful blog. It’s unseasonably warm but I’ve grown to mostly hate snow so that’s fine with me.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 9:44 am

    @Glidwrith: Recipe is demanded.

  97. 97.

    The Golux

    December 25, 2015 at 9:51 am

    Merry Christmas all!

    My favorite.

  98. 98.

    FlyingToaster (Tablet)

    December 25, 2015 at 9:53 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Exactly. AFAIK, he was looking at somebody’s wish list and wondering if they were going trekking in the Gobi Desert or something.

    My daughter’s lower-grade school backpacks run about $17. My Olympia travel backpack ran about $50. The most expensive multi-day pack at LLBean is $309. I don’t want to know where these people shop.

  99. 99.

    Germy

    December 25, 2015 at 9:54 am

    CHRISTMAS AMONG THE DAMNED
    (ca. 1963)
    By Arnold Schnabel

    Their eyes blear,
    their voices coarse,
    they wander from tavern to bar,
    full of fear
    and cheap remorse;
    they know death is not far,
    and that the Lord on high
    will not come for them;
    He would rather drop
    a bomb on them;

    He does not heed their grumbling,
    He does not hear their curses,
    He does not hear them mumbling
    as they scrabble through their purses
    and their wallets made of plastic
    for the price of a glass of Ortlieb’s
    or, tripping the dark fantastic,
    perhaps also a shot of Schenley’s.

    These are the damned, these
    who seek but know not pleasure,
    damned once,
    damned twice,
    damned thrice,
    and damned once again for good measure.

    Their eyes bloodshot,
    their noses bulbous and red,
    their flesh carbuncular,
    where it is not the color
    of the belly of a week-dead
    flounder,
    yes,
    these,
    these are my friends.

    I see them at Pat’s,
    at the Huddle,
    and at the Green Parrot;
    I see them at the VFW,
    and at the Knights of Columbus;

    Some of them even have wives
    or husbands as the case may be;
    many of them have children,
    even grandchildren
    (unlike bachelor me);
    they all have homes of some sort
    a rowhome, apartment, or rented room,
    most have jobs of some kind,
    working at the Heintz factory
    or at Philco or Tastykake,
    but this is their real job,
    sitting in a bar, staring at
    the TV playing I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster,
    sitting silently,
    or talking petulantly,
    this is their calling
    and their place,
    in the legions of the damned.

    Yes, some sit silently on their stools
    but most will talk at the slightest
    provocation, or even if there is none,
    even if they have nothing to say
    which is nearly always,
    because the hell they carry within
    loves to overflow into the hell
    outside them.

    At last the bartender, last call
    long called, stands in his coat by
    the door. “This is not a hotel,”
    he yells. “You don’t have to go
    home, but you can’t stay here.”

    One by one they shuffle through the
    door and out into the cold,
    into the night, from one hell
    into another, and off they stumble,
    to rowhome, apartment or rented room.

    Gay colored lights are strung
    outside the windows of the modest homes,
    and along the shops on Fifth Street,
    for it is Christmastime,
    the anniversary of the birth
    of the Savior, of someone’s savior,
    but not theirs, not these,
    who are beyond saving;
    no.
    It’s Christmas on the streets of Olney,
    and a gentle snow begins to fall,
    on these the damned who have
    nothing to look forward to
    but another hangover.

    It’s the eve of Christmas Eve,
    the cold wind licks their faces,
    the snowflakes find their way into
    the collars of necks whose scarves
    have been left in the sawdust of the
    barroom floor.
    A shortcut is taken through Fisher Park,
    but the scrubby grass is slick and wet;
    a fall is taken down Dead Man’s Hill
    where the children love to sled
    on their Flexible Flyers:
    down, down he tumbles, down and down,
    until finally he lands at the bottom,
    in the slush and jagged ice,
    where, in pain,
    which means at least not dead,
    not yet, he lies on his back,
    howling at the universe,
    the snow rushing down
    heedlessly into his face,
    and somewhere among the rowhomes
    on Nedro Avenue, a dog replies,
    howling also, and then another on
    Sixth Street, and yet another on Spencer,
    and soon a whole chorus of dogs join in,
    drowning out the screams of the human,
    or of what once was human.
    Yes, it’s Christmas,
    for God and man and dog,
    for those who are heaven bound
    and for those forever banned
    from paradise.
    This is Christmas,
    Christmas among the damned.

    (A TIP OF THE HAT TO DAN LEO)

  100. 100.

    Glidwrith

    December 25, 2015 at 9:54 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: It is Emeril Lagasse (sp?) recipe though I don’t bother with the whisky sauce, so the alcohol can’t be claimed for its yummy goodness.

    I vary the fruits and nuts from year to year. Don’t ever make the mistake of using peanuts as one of the nuts.

    I often use Amaretto instead of Grand Marnier called for within the cake.

    I have an ex-professional chef rave about it. Follow the recipe and you too will have folks eagerly asking when will you make it again.

    ETA: I am hoping the recipe is online so you can find it. I’m not at home and it is rather long. If not, I will try to get it posted in a few weeks.

  101. 101.

    delk

    December 25, 2015 at 10:05 am

    Wesółych Świąt
    &
    Feliz Navidad
    From my childhood Christmases

  102. 102.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 25, 2015 at 10:13 am

    @Glidwrith: The google is my friend, is this it? He’s posted it 3 times with variations in the wording.

  103. 103.

    Amir Khalid

    December 25, 2015 at 10:13 am

    The Guardian‘s football feature You Are The Ref normally features serious questions for fans of the beautiful game who can’t get enough of second-guessing match officials. But not this week.

  104. 104.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    December 25, 2015 at 10:26 am

    obDyingOpenThread: Dean Baker has a righteous takedown of the WP this morning:

    CEPR:

    For example:

    Lesson Four: We Hand Our Children a Whole Economy, not Just a Government Debt

    One of the most bizarre inventions of the Very Serious People is the idea that somehow generational issues can be measured by government indebtedness and taxation. We expect people to get wealthier through time as technology advances, and we become better educated and have a better and more advanced infrastructure and capital stock. The well-being of our children and grandchildren will depend on the whole economy and society we hand them, the tax burden associated with the government debt or even the cost of Social Security and Medicare benefits is a trivial part of the picture.

    If that sounds hard to understand, let’s try a simple thought experiment. Suppose we snap our fingers and eliminate completely every tax burden for the young associated with us old-timers. That means we not only get rid of the government debt, but we also zero out their Social Security and Medicare tax liability. Sounds great, we’ve really done right by our young now.

    Okay, now let’s also get rid of all the technological breakthroughs of the last thirty five years. There are no smartphones or even cell phones. There is no Internet and only the most clunky of personal computers. (Apple wasn’t even cool back then.) Music is still available only on cassettes and vinyl records. Life expectancy is much shorter as we don’t have many of the treatments that have been developed in the last three decades. And, there is no Uber.

    So, are our kids better off now? I doubt most people would say yes, especially not the twenty somethings.

    If we want to seriously discuss whether we are making things better or worse for our kids then we have to ask about the whole economy and society we pass on to them. When we force many of our kids to grow up with parents who are unemployed and/or in poverty because the Very Serious People won’t let us spend the money necessary to make them employed and let them have decent jobs, this is a huge issue of generational equity. The same applies to inadequate spending on infrastructure and education. Also, messing up the planet with greenhouse gas emissions is a really huge deal (addressed more below). But none of these factors gets picked up in the national debt.

    There is one more point that the Very Serious People need to have beaten into their heads. Tax dollars are only one way in which the government pays for things. We pay for a large and growing number of items with government granted monopolies in the form of patents and copyrights. These monopolies raise the cost of everything from drugs and medical equipment to seeds and recorded music by many hundreds of billions of dollars above the free market price.

    From the standpoint of our children, it makes no difference if we impose an $80,000 tax on a drug like Sovaldi, and use the money to finance drug research, or if we give Gilead Sciences a patent monopoly that allows it to charge a price that is $80,000 above the free market price. Media outlets like the Post (which gets lots of advertising dollars from pharmaceutical companies) have been very effective in focusing attention exclusively on tax dollars and ignoring all the other ways in which the government directs money and resources. (On a related matter, do you recall any discussion of the $4 billion given to Jeff Bezos by exempting Internet retailers from the requirement to collect the same sales tax as their brick and mortar competitors?)

    This, this, this.

    1000 times this.

    We buy things with our taxes and our tax preferences. The money doesn’t get buried in a hole somewhere.

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  105. 105.

    Scapegoat

    December 25, 2015 at 10:29 am

    @Amir Khalid: Sadly, neither will be satisfying, I suspect. Terribly derivative, with a paucity of (highly predictable) new ground. Looking forward to your (and others’) thoughts if/when you see it.

    Has the spoiler thread been posted (been moving household, so may have missed it)?

    Saw it in 2D. 3D is kind of fun, in general, but the inability to focus on background items can be annoying.

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 25, 2015 at 10:31 am

    @sharl:

    Thanks, Sharl. Dinner will be good whatever day we eat it, and gifts are just stuff. More worried about some of the hard decisions that are going to have to be made about round-the-clock care at home vs. assisted living in a facility. And naturally, lots of dysfunctional family dynamics simmering under the surface, because why should this family get a pass?

    It will happen as it happens. Good holidays to you!

  107. 107.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    December 25, 2015 at 10:40 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Thanks for the pointer.

    Probably doesn’t work on antiperspirant buildup on T-shirts though. :-( I haven’t found anything that works on that yet. (I’ll have to give this a try though!)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  108. 108.

    Glidwrith

    December 25, 2015 at 10:53 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The instructions and ingredients are roughly correct, but the balance between ingredients (eggs and butter) looks off. I make a double recipe of 24 mini-loaves and I can tell that one doesn’t look like it would scale properly.

    The main secret is wrapping the cakes in the cheesecloth after poking them full of holes (use a fork, don’t bother with a toothpick) and taking the time to hydrate them with the fruited syrup. It can take up to three weeks to do this, depending on how rushed you are for time. It is truly a work of love, as Emeril would say.

    Since you have the directions, it will be much easier to post the recipe later on, or you could look for his Creole Christmas book.

  109. 109.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 11:00 am

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Man, I needed a cigarette after reading that. And I don’t smoke.

  110. 110.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 11:05 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: sorry to hear that and adding my hopes that your elderly relative recovers. Time-shift Christmas can still be a good Christmas, and I hope it turns out that way for you all.

  111. 111.

    Satby

    December 25, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: There’s an old fashioned product called “White Brite” that’s reputed to do just that.

  112. 112.

    Ben Cisco

    December 25, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Cyrus Chestnut – A Charlie Brown Christmas

  113. 113.

    Germy

    December 25, 2015 at 11:39 am

    “I think the whole concept of monotheism is a gift from the gods.”

    – Emo Phillips

  114. 114.

    Steeplejack

    December 25, 2015 at 11:40 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    The consensus on an earlier thread was 2D. The 3D was added in post, and someone said there was only one scene that really used it.

    I saw it in 2D Tuesday night and don’t see that 3D would have measurably improved it.

  115. 115.

    Germy

    December 25, 2015 at 11:42 am

    “How many people here have telekenetic powers? Raise my hand.”

    – Emo Phillips

  116. 116.

    Germy

    December 25, 2015 at 11:52 am

    xmas will break your heart
    A new song by LCD Soundsystem

  117. 117.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    December 25, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    @Satby: Thanks muchly!

    Best wishes to you and yours. I know next year will be a challenge – here’s hoping it marks the beginning of great things. :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  118. 118.

    danielx

    December 25, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    Merry Christmas* to all. About to make breakfast, daughter unit is digging through presents. No snow, 49 degrees. The upside is no snow, downside is no snow, although I confess that I could happily wait until February until we receive that form of precipitation.

    *Substitute deity or personage of your choice, YMMV.

    Edit: it appears that Cole has definitely got his Scrooge going on.

  119. 119.

    randy khan

    December 25, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    @Yutsano: Well, I’m glad somebody else thought of Google translate.

    For the record, that’s something a dog would say; a cat would be more likely to have a complaint.

  120. 120.

    J R in WV

    December 25, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Those are such pretty babies! Reading all the comments, it’s obvious that they have a procedure for raising them to adulthood, dehumanizing them, and releasing them back to the colony they were lost from. Amazing.

    Hope white-nose doesn’t get all the North American bats, we used to have tons of them on summer evenings, flitting about the farm house eating flying insects. Now we’re lucky to see one or two, instead of a whole flock of them every eve.

    The habitat locally changed as the pump houses throughout the woods were torn down 15 or so years ago. Many bats hung in the rafters of the little pump houses, now they have to go elsewhere to roost for the day.

    Years ago I visited neighbors two farms away, and by the time I headed home it was quite pitch dark, and my flashlight was so dim it was useless for walking. As I got onto our farm, there was an odd little fluttery sound, and a tiny splash in a shallow puddle. I used the red, dim flashlight to see a tiny fuzzy shape kind of thrashing in the edge of the puddle. It was a tiny bat!

    I worried briefly that it might have rabies, and briefly considered killing it, when one of them flew away, and then the other. They had been mating on the wing, and fell to earth when the experience got too strong for them to keep flying! So glad I hadn’t interrupted their brief bliss! This was probably 1979-80 something like that, when bats were very common here.

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