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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Merry Christmas Open Thread

Merry Christmas Open Thread

by Cheryl Rofer|  December 24, 201711:55 am| 134 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Here’s my Christmas nativity. The figures come from many places and times in my life.

No jackals, though, so peace on earth and good will to all the jackals here.

 

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Previous Post: « Sunday Morning Holiday Stories Open Thread
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Reader Interactions

134Comments

  1. 1.

    Duane

    December 24, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    I intend to fight the Republican’s attempt to steal Merry Christmas from all of us. Damn crooks steal things that are tied down. Merry Christmas, everyone!

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    December 24, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    If you really don’t want jackals, you’d better just turn off comments.

  3. 3.

    joel hanes

    December 24, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    Great-Aunt Marion had a large beautiful full Nativity, acquired over many years,
    carved from olive wood in Italy and subtly colored.
    All the pieces: camels and wise men, sheep and shepherds, angels, donkeys.
    She also had a horrible, spiteful white Persian cat, who one year apparently made off with the baby Jesus from the manger.

    Years passed, Marion passed, and when we cleaned out her house before selling it we found the Jesus figurine under the refrigerator, where it had unfortunately become permanently stained by mildew. We restored it to the set, which was passed on to a new generation, but we love to tease the new owner about Moldy Baby Jesus in the manger.

  4. 4.

    justawriter

    December 24, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    I found this interesting, apparently someone calculated how much Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol and the couple from O Henry’s Gift of the Magi would be in in 2017. Remember that these are characters who were scraping by just a hairsbreadth from poverty. Their current income would be between $25,000 and $26,000 a year.

  5. 5.

    Cheryl Rofer

    December 24, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    @Roger Moore: I meant that there are no jackals in my figurines, so the commenters here are a great addition!

  6. 6.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 24, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    @joel hanes: Catlick kitteh found Jeebus!

  7. 7.

    Eric S.

    December 24, 2017 at 12:38 pm

    Joyeux Noel!

    A week or so ago I was watching Rick Steve’s Christmas in Europe special. The French family he visits is shown making a beef tenderloin baked in a pastry. I declared, mostly to myself, that I’m going to do this.Turns out it is basically Beef Wellington. I didn’t know. But I remain undaunted.

    My family has an aversion to mushrooms. Because of that I found an alternative walnut filling. I completed making the filling and herb butter today. Now, can I successfully make a puff pastry tomorrow?? I purchased my first rolling pin yesterday.

  8. 8.

    Jager

    December 24, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    I called my buddy Nick, a horse owner, asked him to box up some horseshit so we can drop off another “gift” at Mnuchin’s house.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    you’d better just turn off comments

    Wait, you can do that?

    (Not that I’d ever want to.)

  10. 10.

    Feathers

    December 24, 2017 at 12:44 pm

    Realizing that the hardest thing about going home for Christmas is the caffeine deprivation. And buying coffee out is a reckless and wanton expense.

    Sighs and good tidings to all.

  11. 11.

    Eric S.

    December 24, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    Moderation? What did I say?

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    @justawriter:

    hairsbreadth

    Thank you. A day or two ago, Digby committed this sentence

    “We are a hares-breath away from it being true.”

    and it’s been troubling me ever since.

  13. 13.

    Peale

    December 24, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    Just got back from Hong Kong. My Christmas is more sleep deprived and jet lagged than merry.

  14. 14.

    Rex

    December 24, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    While we were getting the Christmas stuff out this year, my 6 year old daughter excitedly remembered the “Jesus action figure” set and was looking forward to playing with it.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    @Feathers:

    Realizing that the hardest thing about going home for Christmas is the caffeine deprivation.

    Clearly you are not a member of my family. Coffee fanatics one and all, we are.

  16. 16.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    @Rex:

    LOL

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 24, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I read at the guardian this AM “they sewed the field”.

  18. 18.

    japa21

    December 24, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    I’ve been following Santa’s journey on NORAD. Have to admit I was a little nervous when he crossed into North Korea, but he made it out without getting shot down.

  19. 19.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 24, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    @Feathers: I get a withdrawal headache without caffeine. Surely you can at least get tea or cola. I’m appalled.

    When I was a kid, my father made the stables that go with a nativity set. He sold them to a store that had the figurines. That was how he raised money to pay for our Christmas.

  20. 20.

    japa21

    December 24, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: That had me in stitches.

  21. 21.

    Duane

    December 24, 2017 at 1:04 pm

    @Jager: Remember to bring gas and a lighter. For the package, I mean.

  22. 22.

    MikeS

    December 24, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    @Feathers: Trader Joe’s instant coffee (by the jar) is pretty good and even the Starbuck’s instant (littlepacket tubes in a box) is ok. Both are far better than going without coffee!

  23. 23.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    @Feathers: Might I suggest bringing your own Aeropress? They are great.

  24. 24.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 24, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    Reposting since the thread downstairs is pretty much dead…

    Sister Golden Bear
    December 24, 2017 at 12:50 pm
    At the airport, off to do my daughterly duties once again. No word from the cousins, so it looks like it’ll be just me and Mom this year.

    Being the spinster daughter, I’ve spend every Christmas with Mom for as long as I can remember. (Not just Christmas, it’s always a multi-day visit.) Just wish I could have a Christmas of my own for once.

    Bah Humbug; no that’s too strong!
    ‘Cause it is my favorite holiday.
    But all this year’s been a busy blur
    Don’t think I have the energy
    To add to my already mad rush
    Just ’cause it’s ’tis the season…

    So deck those halls, trim those trees
    Raise up cups of Christmas cheer.
    I just need to catch my breath;
    Christmas by myself this year

    Merry Christmas; Merry Christmas
    But I think I’ll miss this one this year

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    December 24, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    @japa21:

    Have to admit I was a little nervous when he crossed into North Korea, but he made it out without getting shot down.

    His sleigh is far too maneuverable to be shot down.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    That grauniad, always needling us.

  27. 27.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 24, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    @Feathers: For the future, Starbucks instant coffee is serviceable. I’ve resorted to that for a couple trips.

  28. 28.

    Raoul

    December 24, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    One of the crappiest Christmases in several years just got even sadder. One of our dearest friends, who has had a rough several years, lost her dad this morning.
    She was going to join us in the mountains for New Years – a break we were all really looking forward to. Now she and her sibs are in funeral planning mode and she has had to cancel our quiet little friendly New Years eve.

    This on top of my best friend moving to (eghad) Arizona in a week.

    Bah. Humbug.

    C’mon, 2018. Just gotta get through the next 7 days…

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I guess this is the time to post this:

    Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the style of a 9th century chant (link will take you to Facebook; I don’t know how to work around that):

    https://www.facebook.com/ClassicFM/videos/10156180924659260/

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    I’m having a grumpy Christmas Eve because I foolishly decided not to use the driveable cart at the grocery store yesterday and now my bad knee and my right elbow are both sore, plus my asthma is acting up and trying to trigger a migraine. Bah, humbug,

    But I do have to get up and shower soon because we have to go pick up our chocolate banana cream pie at Republic of Pie that is our contribution to tomorrow’s Christmas dinner.

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 1:17 pm

    @Raoul:

    I’m so sorry. Losing a loved one is always painful, but it seems especially cruel at the height of the holiday season.

  32. 32.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    One fun thing about Christmas in California this year is that we are inching closer to legal cannab#s effective January 1 (not sure if that is a banned word).

    It will be curious to see the impact on the state.

    ETA. I imagine that a few New Year’s Eve parties will have something to smoke to go along with the champagne when the clock strikes midnight.

  33. 33.

    chris

    December 24, 2017 at 1:27 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Something in me resists the calendar expectation of happiness. Merry Christmas yourself! it mutters as it shapes a ghostly grin.

    —J. B. Priestley

    This always runs through my thoughts as I buckle up for another holiday season.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    December 24, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    My problem with Rudolf: if Santa knows who’s naught and nice, didn’t he realize Rudolf was being bullied? Why didn’t he do anything about it?

  35. 35.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    December 24, 2017 at 1:30 pm

    You need to complete your scene with a caganer, the pooping nativity figure from Cataluña.

  36. 36.

    Currants

    December 24, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    You have a dala häst! God jul och gott nytt år!

  37. 37.

    MattF

    December 24, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: FWIW, Rudolph is the subject of today’s NYT crossword puzzle. I won’t spoil it much further, but the puzzle itself has a pretty original concept.

  38. 38.

    joel hanes

    December 24, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    @Feathers:

    caffeine deprivation

    Every time I buy plane tickets to go home to Iowa to live with my Mom for a week, I also order a couple pounds of coffee from Jeremiah’s Pick in San Francisco, drop-shipped. She subsists on Folgers when I’m not there, but when I’m home, we make true Mocha Java or Sumatra Mandeheling.

  39. 39.

    El Caganer

    December 24, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: But of course!

  40. 40.

    divF

    December 24, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Also, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

    Does this mean that hares and camels are being sewn (or even sown) ?

  41. 41.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    Well, I’m up and at ’em, all checked in for my 7:30am(ugh) flight to London-town tomorrow. Drinking some coffee and trying to finish my short story draft before I start packing so I can print it out and take it with me to work on it.

    I did Thanksgiving with my parents, who are in Grand Cayman now with the rest of the nuclear family, and saw the in-laws yesterday, so, family, ✅, time for vacation!

  42. 42.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 24, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    @chris: Well put.

  43. 43.

    Roger Moore

    December 24, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    @Feathers:

    Realizing that the hardest thing about going home for Christmas is the caffeine deprivation.

    You could always see this as an opportunity to kick the habit. My personal experience is that getting over caffeine withdrawal takes about five days to a week, but after that you’ll be as effective without coffee as you were with it before.

  44. 44.

    Ruviana

    December 24, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    @Roger Moore: This does prompt the question why would you want to do that?

  45. 45.

    Cheryl Rofer

    December 24, 2017 at 1:44 pm

    @japa21: Santa didn’t do so well over Ukraine two years ago.

  46. 46.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    @Ruviana: Some people are just no fun.

  47. 47.

    Cheryl Rofer

    December 24, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    On the cuter side, this is the family that featured in that BBC interview where the daughter came marching in, with her brother not far behind.

    Merry Christmas. To all the people who follow me because of the video or my children, thank you. We are flattered by your kindness. pic.twitter.com/NmmqzozRWg

    — Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) December 23, 2017

  48. 48.

    Fair Economist

    December 24, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    @Brachiator:

    One fun thing about Christmas in California this year is that we are inching closer to legal cannab#s effective January 1 (not sure if that is a banned word).

    It will be curious to see the impact on the state.

    None, I think, because it’s already de facto legal. It’s trivial to get a “doctor’s prescription” for it. There are pot equivalents to “pill mills” (“pot spots?”) which give a prescription to anybody.

  49. 49.

    justawriter

    December 24, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: That’s all part of the premium level service at ordinary blog prices here at Balloon Juice – Proper English Served Here.

  50. 50.

    Sister Golden Bear

    December 24, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    @Fair Economist: Agreed.

    Although I’m hopeful it’ll cut down on the illegal grow sites, which are environmental disasters, up in the Mendocino/Humboldt areas.

  51. 51.

    randy khan

    December 24, 2017 at 1:51 pm

    We’re way behind, so I’m baking cookies today. I am hopeful that everything actually will be done by the time the Christmas dinner guests arrive (although the cat who pounced on my lap as I opened up my (not-actually-at-the-moment) laptop has other ideas).

  52. 52.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Oh, God, theodicy in Santa Claus.

  53. 53.

    Mary G

    December 24, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    Happy birthday to me, and zinsky, if s/he are around. ?????

  54. 54.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    @MattF:

    They delivered the paper without the magazine, so I’m in a very grumpy mood. I only subscribe in order to get the Sat-Sun puzzles.

  55. 55.

    Walker

    December 24, 2017 at 1:56 pm

    It is 8am Christmas morning here in New Zealand (visiting the in-laws). Off to start the prep for Christmas dinner.

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    December 24, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Jeez.

    I’m trying to forget this in the Guardian story downstairs about the Syrians on the Scottish island:

    [. . .] some media coverage which sought to sew fear and foment division.

    That’s not a blog, it’s a copyedited newspaper of record. (And, yes, I know about The Guardian‘s reputation for typos.)

  57. 57.

    Roger Moore

    December 24, 2017 at 1:59 pm

    @Ruviana:

    This does prompt the question why would you want to do that?

    I find it’s very convenient to be able to get up in the morning and start functioning without needing a cup of coffee to get me started. And when I do feel like I need some help waking up or staying awake, one cup of coffee is plenty to do the trick.

  58. 58.

    James E. Powell

    December 24, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    @randy khan:

    I did my cookie marathon yesterday. Nearly everything worked out well. Only problem was I made gingerbread men for the first time. Last night when I was decorating and noshing on the broken ones, the taste & texture were perfect. This morning, they’re hard as rocks. I don’t think anyone will eat them.

  59. 59.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 2:01 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    It will be curious to see the impact on the state.

    None, I think, because it’s already de facto legal. It’s trivial to get a “doctor’s prescription” for it. There are pot equivalents to “pill mills” (“pot spots?”) which give a prescription to anybody.

    Hmm. I think I disagree. Yeah, you could say it is de facto legal, but there may be a significant convenience factor in not having to do the prescription dance.

    On the other hand, regulations are still being worked out with respect to where retailers can be located.

    Also, you cannot smoke where you cannot smoke tobacco.

    I’ve talked to a couple of business owners and none of them have thought much about reiterating employee rules related to smoking on breaks, etc.

    And during a couple of doctor visits, I was asked about drinking alcohol and using tobacco, but not about using cannab#s.

    Maybe no big deal, even though Attorney General Sessions is promising a crackdown.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Why didn’t he do anything about it?

    Well, in a way, he did. He rewarded Rudolph by honouring him with the much-coveted position of Lead Reindeer. What could be more humiliating to Olive and her pals?

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    December 24, 2017 at 2:04 pm

    @MikeS:

    Yes! I’m not a big coffee drinker—one cup maybe 4-5 days a week—and Trader Joe’s instant (in the jar, as you said) is pretty good coffee, not just good instant coffee. Of course, I load it up with real cream, so that helps.

    Definitely would be good enough for someone suffering in a coffee desert.

  62. 62.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    On the cuter side, this is the family that featured in that BBC interview where the daughter came marching in, with her brother not far behind

    I remember that story. The kids were a couple of cuties.

    The family’s response is low key and gracious. Internet fame can be a pain.

  63. 63.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 24, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    @James E. Powell: Maybe what works with hardened brown sugar will work with the gingerbread men. Put them in a sealed container with a slice of bread.

  64. 64.

    Waratah

    December 24, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    We are having Chilies Rellenos Jose and tamales, a tradition I introduced for Christmas Eve dinner and the family loves.
    My sister in Australia boarded a cruise ship yesterday in Sydney for an eleven day cruise.
    Should be fun for Christmas and New Year with a bunch of fun loving Aussies.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    @MattF:

    Ooh, fun! Thanks for the heads-up!

  66. 66.

    Roger Moore

    December 24, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    None, I think, because it’s already de facto legal. It’s trivial to get a “doctor’s prescription” for it. There are pot equivalents to “pill mills” (“pot spots?”) which give a prescription to anybody.

    I think there will be more effect than you realize. There are plenty of people who are interested in occasional recreational use who haven’t been willing to go to a doctor to get a prescription. Those people are going to buy a fair amount of pot. There’s also the whole thing about non-violent users having a chance to have their records wiped clean, which should help a lot of people’s employment prospects.

  67. 67.

    Waratah

    December 24, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    @James E. Powell: try dunking in hot coffee or tea. That is what ginger cookies are good for.

  68. 68.

    Josie

    December 24, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    @Feathers: When i travel, I always take my coffee setup with me – coffee, cream in a chiller bag, a drip funnel for one cup, a mug, and #2 (small) filters. I set it up in hotel rooms, other people’s kitchens or wherever I go. My kids have dubbed it The Coffee Shrine. I only drink one cup a day, and I want it to be quick to fix and really good.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 24, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Mary G:

    Happy birthday, Mary G! (And Zinaky, too!)

  70. 70.

    debbie

    December 24, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    Just finished a brisk but very nice half-hour walk. Nothing beats flannel-lined jeans (with a Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate chaser) this time of year!

  71. 71.

    debbie

    December 24, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I remember! I think the brother will out-shenanigan his sister before too long.

  72. 72.

    A Ghost to Not

    December 24, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    Bah humbug! Arrestivus for the rest of us. The Airing of Grievances can recommense any time, Bobby Three Sticks.

  73. 73.

    debbie

    December 24, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Jeez, I hated when that happened. I would call the delivery place and make them deliver a second copy. I wouldn’t mind if they had missed other sections, but never the Magazine!

  74. 74.

    scav

    December 24, 2017 at 2:34 pm

    My preferred typo of the day was in a recipe for houska where I’m supposed to punch down the dough with a lightly floured fish.

  75. 75.

    satby

    December 24, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    @Ruviana: seriously! Let me keep one vice at least.

  76. 76.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    Finished my story draft! Time to pack!

    @scav: That’s a pretty good typo.

  77. 77.

    satby

    December 24, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    @Mary G: Happy Birthday to you both! Not only was my mother also a Christmas Eve baby, she was a twin too.

  78. 78.

    chris

    December 24, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Maybe no big deal, even though Attorney General Sessions is promising a crackdown.

    Here in Canada we’ll be watching with great interest as we prepare for legalisation next July. US border guards are already refusing entry to those that admit to smoking the evil weed, dog knows what will happen when the whole country becomes a den of iniquity.

  79. 79.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 24, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    @scav: Are you sure that’s a typo?

  80. 80.

    Eric S.

    December 24, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Have safe and fun travels.

  81. 81.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @chris:

    Here in Canada we’ll be watching with great interest as we prepare for legalisation next July. US border guards are already refusing entry to those that admit to smoking the evil weed, dog knows what will happen when the whole country becomes a den of iniquity.

    Wow. That’s just crazy, a pointless harassment of travelers.

  82. 82.

    Kitty

    December 24, 2017 at 2:43 pm

    I have the same tiny wooden angel band, mine’s a little worse for wear, missing wings, faded paint etc. I remember them from childhood, I’m 60! So nice to see them.

  83. 83.

    scav

    December 24, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): All I can say is it’s not a tradition in our Bohemian village. You never can tell what those Moravians get up to. In-laws.

  84. 84.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    @Mary G:

    Happy birthday!

  85. 85.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    Oh well, we close out the year with some bad science writing about Neanderthals. Nearly everything in this story is confusing, a wrong headed over simplification or just goofy. For example.

    It’s difficult to imagine why our early ancestors would have mated with them. Neanderthals were a different species to us after all, and the thought of it seems distasteful to us today.

    We are learning that Neanderthals may have looked much like any other early modern human. They would not necessarily look out of place in modern society. And the author of the article doesn’t understand modern ideas about species.

    A link from my mobile device.

    https://knowridge.com/2017/12/neanderthals-didnt-give-us-red-hair-but-they-certainly-changed-the-way-we-sleep/

  86. 86.

    Suzanne

    December 24, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    Someone mailed Steve Mnuchin some gift-wrapped horseshit because not all heroes wear capes.

  87. 87.

    ??‍? Martin

    December 24, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    Man, does Santa Ref love NE.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    @Suzanne:

    It apparently was a big thing on local news last night, and the big reveal happened on live TV. ??

    I could drive 2 miles away and get as much horse manure as I wanted because the LA Equestrian Center is right in the middle of the Valley, with zoned-for-horses houses and apartments all around it. It’s not going to be easy to figure out exactly where that load of horseshit came from.

  89. 89.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    @Brachiator: Wait, it’s not already legal? You’d never know walking around this neighborhood.

  90. 90.

    CaseyL

    December 24, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    Happy Birthday to all Juicer Christmas babies!

    I’m going to the neighbors today to watch football, and going to the neighbors again tomorrow for Christmas Open House. We have decided that they are my “local family,” since my actual family is geographically all over the place, and none anywhere near here.

    I should take something, but for some reason I can’t bear the thought of cooking – and in any case haven’t got much food in the house, having neglected to go to the store. (In a strange mood today: despondent for no apparent reason.)

  91. 91.

    KS in MA

    December 24, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Someone (a Published Writer!) wrote in the NYT this morning that she has “a pit in my stomach.”

  92. 92.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 24, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne: You could, but you didn’t……Right?

  93. 93.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    @Mary G: Happy b-day!

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    December 24, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: go you! Merry Christmas to all!

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Wait, it’s not already legal? You’d never know walking around this neighborhood.

    Ha! I know what you mean.

  96. 96.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): I could drive 2 miles from the other direction and be at the same place…the plot thickens.

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    December 24, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @Rex:
    Jesus action figure ????

  98. 98.

    trollhattan

    December 24, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    We’ve been practicing for the part for years/decades!

    “And lo, from the east appeared a pack of jackals in Bethlehem, singing ‘Louie, Louie’ unto he heavens. Amen.”

  99. 99.

    Ruviana

    December 24, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    @Roger Moore: Different strokes. I love my morning coffee-drinking ritual.

  100. 100.

    rikyrah

    December 24, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Impact on the state?
    Mucho dinero for the California coffers

  101. 101.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @Brachiator: I’ll certainly avail myself of it and never signed up for the prescription nonsense.

  102. 102.

    SgrAstar

    December 24, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    @Eric S.: hi Eric: even the Food Network suggests store-bought, frozen puff pastry…just saying. Bon appétit et Joyeux Noel!!

  103. 103.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @scav: it’s certainly not how the Moravian side of my family does it.

  104. 104.

    trollhattan

    December 24, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @rikyrah:
    I suspect it’s being grievously over-estimated but one thing for sure, since the legit growers, distributors, dealers etc. can’t use the banking system, we have a literal cash problem on our hands. Envision them all going to city hall to pay their dispensary taxes and permits, in cash.

    Gonna be an interesting year.

  105. 105.

    Ruviana

    December 24, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @Brachiator: Peeps like the exotic at times. What would’ve been more exotic than flame-haired folks from a variant species? Neanderthals represent!

  106. 106.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 24, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @trollhattan: I imagine they’ll do whatever it is people do in Colorado (which going by the look of the store involves large safes).

  107. 107.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    December 24, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: In that case, we want pics.

  108. 108.

    BruceFromOhio

    December 24, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, and everyone have a great Boxing Day.

  109. 109.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): No pics today, I’m a cook today.

  110. 110.

    Fair Economist

    December 24, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I suspect it’s being grievously over-estimated but one thing for sure, since the legit growers, distributors, dealers etc. can’t use the banking system, we have a literal cash problem on our hands. Envision them all going to city hall to pay their dispensary taxes and permits, in cash.

    Hunh, a legitimate use for cryptocurrency. Is there one not subject to wild valuation swings?

  111. 111.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):

    ?

  112. 112.

    Fair Economist

    December 24, 2017 at 3:51 pm

    @Ruviana:

    Peeps like the exotic at times. What would’ve been more exotic than flame-haired folks from a variant species? Neanderthals represent!

    I’m not surprised that red hair isn’t Neanderthal because I recall (hopefully correctly) an analysis of gene variation that indicated it was a fairly recent mutation.

    I am surprised at the claim that 2% of non-African DNA in Neanderthal. I remember as recently as 10 years ago people we looking hard for Neanderthal DNA (via gene variation; Neanderthal DNA should show up as genes of relatively ancient origin absent from Africa) and very little was being found; more like 1 in a 1000, and that only possibly. Maybe the genes mostly came over from single-transference events and so had no variability in extant population to identify it?

  113. 113.

    Brachiator

    December 24, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I suspect it’s being grievously over-estimated but one thing for sure, since the legit growers, distributors, dealers etc. can’t use the banking system, we have a literal cash problem on our hands.

    Also already problems with robberies and break ins of places with a lot of cash. I jokingly tell people that armored car business might be an interesting investment play.

    Meanwhile, the state of California has set up a web site to provide assistance.

    Search for California cannab#s portal

  114. 114.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    December 24, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    @Brachiator: They had a story on the news of our former AG getting a piece of the action.

  115. 115.

    donnah

    December 24, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    @joel hanes:

    The parents of my best friend in college had a traditional small Nativity set with the figures made from a chalky plaster and all painted. Every year they set it up, and every year their beagle Spunky would steal away with one of the figures and promptly bite the head off. By the end of the collection, only the Baby Jesus survived with head intact. He was apparently too little for Spunky to grasp with her evil, evil paws.

  116. 116.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2017 at 4:04 pm

    @KS in MA:

    That one drives me crazy. It’s in the NYT quite frequently.

  117. 117.

    Feathers

    December 24, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    Thanks for all the coffee commiserations. Even the cola is caffeine free. I did just find a stash of Irish Breakfast Tea, so the immediate danger has passed. I think I will bring some of the TJs coffee next time I come, thanks for the suggestion.

    Just baked oatmeal cookies, going to wrap my siblings and nephlings presents. Found a recipe from King Arthur’s flour for almond flour brownies. Apparently my mother had plans to bake with almond flour, never did, because there are several bags of it.

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    IANA scientist or geneticist, but I seem to remember reading that one of the reasons DNA testing for ancestry is kind of bogus is that it can only go back 1000 years at best. The Neandertals died out long before that, so wouldn’t any genetic evidence have faded out of the gene pool by now? ?

    I was kind of hoping that the “red hair = Neandertal genes” thing would pan out now that white supremacists are latching onto Neandertals as the true “white race” since red hair is fairly common among Ashkenazi Jews.

  119. 119.

    Another Scott

    December 24, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    No embiggen? I’m disappoint.

    ;-)

    BBC – Christmas in Naples (complete with Michael Schumacher nativity figurine)) (2:16 video)

    Best wishes to everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  120. 120.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2017 at 4:07 pm

    They’re showing Christmas in Connecticut on TCM. We watched the first half the other night and will join in the for the second half today. “Just flip one flapjack, Mrs. Lane!”

  121. 121.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 4:14 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    It’s not one of my all-time favorites because I find Dennis Morgan to be really dull, but the supporting cast is stellar. I think the jaunty (Black) deliverywoman who brings Barbara Stanwyck’s fur coat may be her costar from Baby Face, but I haven’t been able to confirm that.

  122. 122.

    zhena gogolia

    December 24, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    No, I wish it were (Theresa Harris), but I’m pretty sure it isn’t. But for some reason I love that moment in the film.

  123. 123.

    scav

    December 24, 2017 at 4:22 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Slovaks then? Ain’t the Ruthenians: I’ve helped with one of their Christmas feasts for years. All 12 courses.

  124. 124.

    Fair Economist

    December 24, 2017 at 4:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne: The DNA ancestry tests look for linked gene sets – genes so close together that they are rarely broken up by recombination and can travel together for many generations. As you point out, they’re useless in deep time (and also not as precise as they pretend even in recent time, but that’s another story). The tests for Neanderthal genes in the Aughts were looking for genes where the sequence of the genes had diverged – which happens very slowly, over generally hundreds of thousands of years. Those, by contrast, would be nearly useless for analyzing human ethnicity, because there’s too few recent mutations. Different methodologies for different purposes.

    You wouldn’t be able to say much definitive about a single gene with the Aughts methods because an individual human gene can have preserved deep time variation by chance, but there should have been an anomalous high-variability not-in-Africa group of genes, and they weren’t finding them.

  125. 125.

    joel hanes

    December 24, 2017 at 5:14 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    one of the reasons DNA testing for ancestry is kind of bogus is that it can only go back 1000 years at best.

    That was when it was thought and expected that DNA would degrade too extensively after a 1000 years to be reliably sequenced.

    Turned out it wasn’t true, and they keep finding better and better Neanderthal DNA samples. By now, cross-comparision has clarified the picture a bit, and it looks as if people such as myself are 2% or more Neanderthal. Also, turns out there was at least one other reproductively-isolated population that interbred with Neanderthals and humans, and contributed a bit to the genetics of modern humans : the Denisovans.

  126. 126.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 24, 2017 at 5:17 pm

    @Fair Economist: I assume you’re talking about the various ethnicity tests, which I’ll agree are best considered a “just for fun” application. They’re only as good as the testing company’s reference population set. A company called LivingDNA has been compiling an interesting set of reference populations, though, and anecdotally has been doing pretty well at identifying which part of Britain a given tester’s ancestry is from.

    And no, they can’t tell you what Indian tribe your great grandmother the Indian Princess belonged to.

    I was thinking that the Neanderthal DNA was identified by comparison with the ancient genomes that have been sequenced. If you’ve tested at one of the major companies, you can get a comparison with the ancient genomes easily enough.

    The databases are reaching critical mass for identifying recent migrations. I personally find the Genetic Communities on Ancestry more useful — and more accurate — than the ethnicity estimates.

    Some interesting statistics on DNA test results and recombination probabilities.

  127. 127.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 24, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I think you’re confusing the degradation issue joel is talking about with the recombination issues that plague genetic genealogists. There was a recent study that estimated that about 20% of the DNA segments of 20-30 cM are older than 20 generations. That’s a segment length we generally associate with 5th or 6th cousins, but there are Maori who match Hawaiians at that length.

  128. 128.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    I probably am — as I said, I’m no geneticist, just a layperson who tries to make sense of the stories that come out in popular science.

  129. 129.

    laura

    December 24, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    @Fair Economist: None, I think, because it’s already de facto legal. 
    Got to disagree. It’s going to have a large impact. First and foremost, medicannabis is not subject to tax. Recreational comes with a 15% state sales tax. In the City of Sacramento alone, the department of Finance has received over 8 million dollars as business have pulled permits for dispensaries, grow operations and delivery services months before the first recreational sale. A medicannabis using g friend reported that his retail establishment was stacking product to the roof in anticipation of January 1st. Law Enforcement and the enforcement industrial complex are already designing equipment to determine motorist impairment.
    Unions are conducting industry organizing -which is GREAT news for workers.
    It’s going to have a very big effect-not all positive. I’m going to pay attention to areas that are prohibiting activity to see what effect the absence of green economics have on the community, and what happens in repsonse.

  130. 130.

    Mnemosyne

    December 24, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    And no, they can’t tell you what Indian tribe your great grandmother the Indian Princess belonged to.

    Anecdotally, I thought that a fairly large number of people have been discovering that their “Indian princess” ancestor was actually a Black woman who was passing for almost-white and got transmogrified to a more acceptable ethnicity by family legend.

  131. 131.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 24, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Anecdotally, I thought that a fairly large number of people have been discovering that their “Indian princess” ancestor was actually a Black woman who was passing for almost-white and got transmogrified to a more acceptable ethnicity by family legend.

    Or a mulatto who claimed to be Indian when she moved into town. Some of them turn out to be Melungeon or East Asian. *cough*Burr*cough*

    And a lot turn out to have no Native American at all.

    The stories are so common that the Indian Princess a genealogist joke. What’s not a joke are the scam DNA testing companies who claim to be able to identify a specific tribe 5+ generations back. Or a specific African tribe for the African-American community. LivingDNA is the only company that’s even close to reliably identifying ancestry at less than a sub-continental level, and they’re only working on England at the moment.

  132. 132.

    Duane

    December 24, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @Brachiator: If all that cash becomes too big a problem, there’s people in Missouri willing to lessen the burden.

  133. 133.

    Fair Economist

    December 24, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    I was thinking that the Neanderthal DNA was identified by comparison with the ancient genomes that have been sequenced. If you’ve tested at one of the major companies, you can get a comparison with the ancient genomes easily enough

    Yes, that’s how they are doing it now. I’m just surprised at the differences between the divergence methodology of the Aughts (estimating very little and maybe none) and the results from direct sequencing (estimating 2%). It’s a big difference – enough to make me wonder if maybe there’s some modern contamination of the Neanderthal sequences, although a number of the identified genes have functions that at least look like Neanderthal introgressions. If it’s a matter of very occasional hybridization from which occasional genes spread by selective advantage, it could make sense.

  134. 134.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 24, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    @Fair Economist: Makes me wonder if it’s just a matter of the much larger databases available. It would be interesting to tabulate the origins of the people who have that 2% Neanderthal DNA vs those who don’t.

    It has just struck me that I have never seen anything about the segment size of the matches to the ancient genomes. The largest match I have (that I know about) is 5.5 cM to BR2. That’s too small to trust that it’s identical by descent.

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