Posts from — December 2014

It has been fairly quiet around here. There was a ‘rocket attack’ around 8:30pm, but it was over the bayou which is remarkably sensible [must be visitors]. One odd thing that just surfaced as I was thinking about how quiet it has been, is that I don’t remember seeing any of the fireworks tents that usually take over the space that had been occupied by the Christmas tree sellers. I don’t even think I’ve seen any fireworks in stores that have already shifted to Valentine’s Day.

CBC reports that Netflix has a download to con kids. It is a three minute cartoon that features a count-down to midnight to convince the gullible rugrats that it’s time for bed because they made it to the New Year. That’s pretty lame, but then as a rugrat I could outlast any adult when it came to staying awake.

That’s Grandfather Frost [Дед Мороз] and he is the Russian ‘gift giver’. He is assisted by the Snow Maiden [Снегурочка], but ever the jolly, fun-loving people, the ‘gifts’ are a bit different. Threats of coal or sticks would be weird to a people who are trying to stay warm, they would consider them welcome.

Generally there are sweets, maybe salo [salted fatback], and other high energy food.

For the ‘naughty’ list there is the staff. You don’t get beaten, merely touched, which turns you into a popsicle. [I told you they were fun-loving.]

Tonight’s the night – you’ve been nice, right?

Note: There is no picture of the Snow Maiden because this is a ‘family blog’ and when the Soviet Union became Russia et al. the budget for her costume was greatly reduced as yards of fur and silk disappeared.

This is the ABC version of a top story: Toddler shoots, kills mother at Walmart store in northern Idaho

A two-year-old boy shot dead his mother when he pulled a handgun from her handbag and accidentally fired it in a Walmart store in the US, police say.

The only way a two-year-old could have fired a pistol would be if the mother had a round chambered in an auto-loader and the safety was off. The purse must have been in the cart next to the child and the gun was in the purse.

OK, there are reasons you might need a rifle or shotgun in Idaho, where this took place, but not a small automatic. Guns around kids is a tragedy waiting to happen.

While authorities are fairly certain that they have located the area where the airliner when into the water but: AirAsia QZ8501: Rescuers suspend search due to stormy weather; six bodies found so far.

One of the bodies retrieved was a flight attendant and the debris field is relatively small, so the plane was probably intact when it hit the surface.

Veteran pilots looking at the situation think there was a high probability that the pilot was climbing to get over a thunderstorm, but stalled. They think the instruments may have been affected by icing caused by the storm in the area. This is the same situation that affected the Air France flight that went down in the mid-Atlantic on a flight from Brazil to France. A major reason they suspect a stall is because the debris field is not far away from the last radar contact on the plane.

They have taken everyone off the ferry. Currently 10 people are confirmed dead, but the number of people missing is uncertain because they don’t have a firm number of the people on board at the time of the accident. They think it is about 40, but that isn’t certain.

The US is sending a guided missile destroyer to aid in the search for the AirAsia flight off Indonesia. The Indonesians asked for foreign assistance because of the better sonars on the naval vessels of larger nations. The seas are not as deep as those in the areas involved in the search for the Malaysian airliner earlier in the year, but they are beyond the capabilities of Indonesia.

The AirAsia pilot made a course change that should have taken the aircraft to shallower water along the coast to avoid thunderstorms in the area.

An Italian ferry carrying passengers between Greece and Italy caught fire and is adrift at the southern end of the Adriatic off the ‘heel’ of Italy. Because of the stormy conditions they are having to take people off the vessel with helicopters, as the near-by ships cannot approach the ferry safely.

There were hundreds of people on board, and many of those taken off are suffering from hypothermia.

The search officials looking for the AirAsia Airbus off the Indonesian coast have stated their belief that the aircraft crashed into the water. As with the ferry, the weather conditions are impacting the search, with high, gusty winds and large waves in the search area, which limit the ability to spot survivors or debris.

There are floods in Malaysia, and will probably be floods along the Queensland/New South Wales border as they got more than a foot of rain in 24 hours.

Apparently 15,000 people are stranded by snow in the French Alps. Why this is a problem is not clear as this is the end of December and the Alps is where all of the ski resorts are located. Why would 15,000 people be surprised by snow in they area? Isn’t snow the reason for going there in December?

Another Malaysian aircraft is apparently in trouble on a flight from Indonesia to Singapore. The aircraft lost contact with Indonesia traffic control and disappeared from radar coverage. It was an Airbus 320 with 7 crew and 155 passengers.

Time again for my annual rant about a Christmas carol, but first the good news on the Gävlebocken – it made it through Christmas! Now back to the rant…

While December 26^th is celebrated by a lot of people in the US in shopping malls returning gifts or taking advantage of inventory clearance sales, there are other celebrations.

It is the first day of the Kwanzaa celebration, which is explained at the link.

It is Boxing Day, a celebration of noblisse oblige when the upper classes bestow gifts on the lower and the contents of the poor boxes are distributed. Under the feudal system this was part of the “contract,” the mutual system of obligations that tied the system together.

As the feast of St. Stephen it honors the first Christian martyr, but Ireland’s Saint Stephen’s Day celebration is a bit different and is the reason for the wren on this post.

However, this post is really my complaint about “Good King Whatshisface.”

[Read more →]

Merry Catmas!

HO! … Ho? … Whatever.

[Editor: Sox, Dot, and Ringo being as merry as they were ever likely to be.]

Friday Ark

Ho Ho Ho!

Happy NODWISH
С Рождеством Христовым
Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
Nadolig Llawen
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Joyeux Noël
Buon Natale
Feliz Navidad
God Jul
Rauhallista Joulua
Koli Sana Wa Anta Tayib
Happy Christmas

At 6AM CST Christmas arrives in Asia, and the excitement is building among the “rug rats” that will burst forth at any moment to waken their poor parents who have probably had about two hours of sleep after dealing with “some assembly required” and/or “batteries not included”.

To avoid any bad feelings: it is an official requirement contained in the “Manual for Childless Adults” that some form or type of device that makes loud and obnoxious noises must be included in all Christmas parcels for children [of all ages].

So it’s time to get everything in line so that there will be smooth sailing tomorrow.

Obviously you need the text of A Visit from St. Nicholas [AKA Twas the night before Christmas] or one of the variations.

But now that you’ve finished putting up enough lights to match the total electrical consumption of a third world nation, you can sit back and watch the North American Air Defense Command’s annual attempt to take out that red-suited commie’s attack on the capitalist system by giving stuff away. [Don’t worry kids, they are using the anti-missile defense system, so there’s no danger to anyone but taxpayers.]

This year Google has a tracker, if you don’t believe the government is up to the job.

The live broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is available on the web site at 9AM CST in the morning.

The British have some wonderful Christmas customs that have survived the incursion of Christianity, especially the Puritan party poopers. Stealing customs from the Celts, Germans, and Scandinavians, they have created a wonderful holiday that I fondly remember from time spent there.

The bird is a European robin that is featured on British Christmas cards, as it is a Winter bird in England, unlike the fair-weather laggard of the same name in America. It is bracketed by holly and mistletoe. All go back to the druids and solstice celebrations.

If you read the Harry Potter books you will get a taste, but not the full effect of a British Christmas. A full-on Christmas dinner is wretched excess to the n^th degree – Thanksgiving on steroids.

The BBC has the background on Father Christmas.

To put the Florida Panhandle in the ‘spirit’ the weather has provided us with: Tornado Watch, Flood Warning, High Surf Advisory, Coastal Hazard Statement [Rip Tides], Flash Flood Watch. You can’t have Christmas without Donner and Blitzen 😉

[For non-German speakers: Donner and Blitzen are thunder and lightning in German.]

Despite three attempts on its existence the Gävlebocken is still standing. There must be a lot of angst in Sweden for three different groups to attack a Christmas decoration. If they put their names up on the ‘Net I could tell them about some really offensive decorations that deserve to be eliminated, along with the factory that makes the plastic atrocities on display. If you think I’m being harsh, you haven’t lived next door to someone who has one of those inflatables with a pump that drones 24/7 from Halloween to the Super Bowl [the official end of the holidays for some people.] 😈

Yes, today is the celebration of the very untraditional Festivus.

If you celebrate I hope all of your grievances were aired and the airing did not involve the Festivus pole being used in an inappropriate fashion.