It's that time of year again!!

Donr: Do you have your hoofs all shined up for your annual trip with Santa?

BTW, where are you in the line-up of reindeer?

Grateful Heart

10 Comments

GH, you are trying to lead me into...

by donr - 2015-12-24 01:12:48

...trouble - again.

Do you REALLY think I'm dumb enough to take the bait?

Does a bass eat minnows?

Does it snow in NY in the winter?

Does the OTHER Donald, from NYC, have a spare dollar to spend?

Is that Rolex watch you are offered by a guy in Times Square in NYC for $50 a fake?

Do black bears make smelly piles in the woods? (Except for the ones who do it in my back yard - that's "Garden," for Ian.)

Gotta go work on Daughter's new medical clinic this AM. That'll give me time to dream up something completely outlandish that'll torque off all the stuffed shirts among us before they get to the second paragraph.

I'll especially dream up some little tidbit that will once again prove to Ian that he is more like me than he thinks.

Heh, heh, heh (Evil laugh)!

Thanks for the bait. I've been bored!

Don

Tracking Santa (and Donr)

by Grateful Heart - 2015-12-24 04:12:21


For those of you with young children.....or young of heart. ;-) You can track Santa on his journey at this site.

http://www.noradsanta.org/

Our guys loved it when they were little. Fun for the family before bedtime.

Grateful Heart

Thanks for the reminder G.H.

by IAN MC - 2015-12-24 09:12:03

I must buy some presents ! They've kept it quiet this year . Wouldn't you think that Xmas would have been mentioned in the shops and on TV , why do we have to rely on the PM club for everything ?

All readers should hang some tinsel on their pacemaker bulges

Have a great Xmas everyone !

Ian

Wish I had this last night!

by donr - 2015-12-25 02:12:00

I have a college classmate friend who suffered a stroke several years ago while on a cruise off the Spanish Med coast. He was med-evaced to a Spanish hospital by helicopter (I think) & after stabilization, air-lifted back to New York City for further treatment/rehab. He has now advanced as far as any 80 year old man can after such a stroke. Lost most of the use of his right side, so he spends most of his time in front of his computer sending info & nonsense to a looooong list of friends & others. His mind was unaffected.

Awoke to find this on in my e-mail:

http://www.ba-bamail.com/content.aspx?emailid=18711&memberid=1047319

In my comment above, I alluded to the variety of Christmas traditions that were dumped into the pot called USA. Little did I realize how bizarre some were. The link I cited is a site that has an oleo of topics from shear nonsense to serious topics. The link was safe this AM when I went there - as it has been for several years now. This article has 15 weird (well to me, anyway) Christmas traditions.

I know a lot of you live in the countries listed - a comment from you would be appreciated & put this into better perspective.

Donr

Merry Christmas- Everyone

by donr - 2015-12-25 06:12:57

Ah, reindeer, snow, Santa Claus, Christmas, sleighs, decorated trees - & don't forget the NOG!

We here in the US of A are a huge melting pot - which means our holidays are mixture of all cultures, traditions & celebrations. Christmas is no different.

I have sad news for the history revisionists around - we were founded for religious reasons. The first successful settlement by outsiders was a religious group from England - the Pilgrims. Several of the groups who followed came here for religious reasons. In particular, the colony in what is now our state of Rhode Island was an off-shoot of another colony. Maryland was also created by a religious group - Roman Catholics - mostly out of England. MOF, the tip of the staff bearing the Maryland state flag has traditionally had a cross, as opposed to a spear tip.

By the time of the formal start of our revolution in 1776, we were a polyglot of religious denominations and sects, and we still are.

So what does all this have to do w/ reindeer? I'm about to tell you!

Each of the national cultures brought their own traditional ritual, lore and ceremonies to our land, none more varied, yet following a common thread, than Christmas. Stop for a moment & think - throw English, Scot, Irish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finn, Russian, Danish all together on a strange land w/o the individually unifying forces of the homeland and you have a bit of an oleo! Something's gotta give & eventually all those folks start adopting & adapting bits & pieces of one another's traditions. Even the pagans get into the act - after all the decorated tree came from them.

Anyway, let's start in 1779 in what was now New York City - (It started out as a Dutch Colony called new Amsterdam) a rather wealthy land-owning family named Moore begat a son, named Clement. Clement lived till 1863. Kind of interesting - he was born at about the mid-point of our Revolutionary War that created us as a nation, and died at about the mid-point of our Civil War that confirmed that we were to stay a single nation. Clement was an educated man & became "...a writer and American Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature, as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning, at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in New York City. The seminary was developed on land donated by Moore and it continues on this site at Ninth Avenue between 20th and 21st streets, in an area known as Chelsea Square. Moore's connection with the seminary continued for more than 25 years." (from Wikipedia)

Enough of that pedagogical drivel - let's get to Reindeer before the kids get restless!
Ta Da!!!!! here it is. In about 1823, Moore wrote the one piece of literature that is his magnum opus - "A Visit from St. Nicholas." (Also currently called "Twas the Night Before Christmas.")

That classic solidified St. Nick in American lore, & he has changed very little since. It also introduced the reindeer - or at least solidified them in the American lore & gave them names that remain till this day - apparently universally. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen; Comet, Cupid, Donner & Blitzen.

Don't you ever wonder how Moore came up w/ those names? I mean, after all, here was a staid professor of literature & religion writing a poem for his kids at Christmas. He invents FLYING REINDEER, pulling a sleigh containing an elf dressed in red & white fur, carrying a sack of toys. (Note - the elf carried the toys, not the fur.)

Why did he pick EIGHT reindeer? Why not ten, twelve, six, or even 7? In one tradition, there are 10 of the beasts. Why not FOUR? After all, most stagecoaches of that day had four steeds pulling them.

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer - proud, energetic, eager, fluid motion, snorting, trembling in anticipation to get the show on the road. Suddenly, the 4th animal is "Vixen." Now there's a shift in character - sly, enticing, alluring, crafty, tricky, controlling - but stuck in the middle of the pack.

Then, on to the second set of 4 - Comet - flashing across the night sky, tail blazing w/ light.

Cupid - a fat cherub, flitting around the world & sinking arrows into unsuspecting buttocks, turning strong men into blubbering, poetry spouting imbeciles w/ skulls full of mush.

Donner & Blitzen - THUNDER & LIGHTNING. How appropriate for the "wheel-horses" of the team. Power, endurance, strength, symbols of violence and unstoppable force.

But look at the silly names that revisionists give additional reindeer - Chet, Clyde, & worst of all - RUDOLPH! Worst of all that - Rudolph became a hero w/ a glowing red nose & replaced Dasher as the leader of the team.

And GH asked where I came into this team? It should be immediately obvious - I follow the sleigh w/ a super duper pooper scooper. After all, someone has to insure that the roofs of the houses Santa visits are left clean.

As a bit of interesting commentary - This epic was written a scant 50 years post Revolution. The final line is "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight." I was born in 1936 & have never heard the "Happy Christmas" line here on this side of the Atlantic. Somewhere in that time, a gradual shift to "Merry Christmas" took place. More of the evolution of our separate languages.

It matters not, other than a minor item of curiosity. What matters is that this is a time for all mankind of good will to seek peace on Earth & good will to all.

The oldest tradition of Christmas - the giving of gifts - began when three wise men from "the East" presented gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh & gold to a new baby in a manger in a small town in what is now Israel. This tradition is followed even by those who choose not to believe.

From me to all of you, wherever you may be, whatever you choose to believe, I wish you a "Merry Christmas" and my hope for peace in your lifetime.

Donr

DON !!!!!!!!........

by Tattoo Man - 2015-12-25 09:12:44


.....You have kicked off Christmas in good style...and I thank you for that.....

Mrs Tattoo Man and I are just back from Germany where we greatly enjoyed the Christmas Market in Nurenberg...a joy to watch the crowning of the ' Christkind '...Barbara Otto...

A very Happy Christmas to all at Pacemaker Club...to the Old Hands ..keep on ticking away ...and to The Newbies, welcome and all the best for a good New Year in the knowledge that you have a reliable friend to keep you on the straight and narrow..

Best wishes

Tattoo Man

Hot

by Alma Annie - 2015-12-25 11:12:03

It is now boxing day here in Oz. We survived Christmas Day in 40C heat. Where is the snow that everyone here is talking about ?? We don't even have snow int the winter.
However we all had a lovely day. and I met many new people on my daughter's extended family side. She coped very well the first Christmas without her husband.

As for Santa and his troops, the dept. of aviation (OZ) tracked his route and kept all other planes out of the way. Did you, Donr do the Australian run with Santa or was the Northern hemisphere enough for you, bearing in mind that our run always comes first, after New Zealand due to the time zones.!!!

Good wishes to everyone here.
Alma Annie

I leave the Oz run to...

by donr - 2015-12-26 03:12:11

...someone in that time zone. I can only scoop so much poop. Especially w/ the Christmas temps you have in that great big desert by the sea. Odor gets overpowering!

The Int'l dateline does weird things. I've spent 5 yrs on your side of it - 1 yr in Viet Nam & 4 yrs on Okinawa.

Living on one side or the other makes no difference if you stay there, but traveling back & forth can be weird.

Back in 1975 I was flying from Hawaii back to Okinawa after a short business trip. First stop was on Guam where "Tomorrow begins for the USA." We crossed the Dateline right at midnight on Sat night . The next day, Sunday, would have been Easter, but when the calendar skipped a day forward it went to Monday. I never saw Easter Sunday of 1975.

Does that make me a day younger than I think I am?

Boxing Day

by donr - 2015-12-26 03:12:19

I've spent two Christmases in the UK & understand Boxing Day. It is a tradition particular to much of the old British Empire.

It is totally foreign to anyone in the US who has never lived in a country that celebrates it.

It is the day after Christmas. Would someone who celebrates it please come on line & explain it to the uninitiated?

Donr

DON..........

by Tattoo Man - 2015-12-28 08:12:24


...OK , Don ,...you asked for it....

BOXING DAY has nothing to do with sticking presents back in their boxes so you can give the back to others next year.

Boxing Day is a unique, class driven convention, largely the device used by the ruling classes of the UK...

The day after Christmas there developed a kind of benign patronism towards ..Staff..Servants..Suppliers..Bakers..Butchers..You name it...

Throughout the year these people could be taken advantage of...often being paid on the ' 30 Day Rule'....A few shillings just after Christmas was how these retained people were kept to guarantee another years service..

Sometimes suppliers would actually approach the main door to beg for the 'Christmas Box'.....the tradition goes back a very long way,...even mentioned by Samuel Peyps in his chronicles...

I am deeply proud of my native country but having a tiny bit of education, can not ignore our past ,that was born of privelidge and preferment...

SO...this year we gave our window cleaner a 'Box'..

Because he is a good bloke and the least we can do is buy him a pint at this season of good will

I wish you all out there in Pacemaker Land a fine End of Year....not everyone celebrates 'Christmas'....

Tattoo Man

You know you're wired when...

Bad hair days can be blamed on your device shorting out.

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