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by Sven Triloqvist Fri Dec 24th, 2010 at 05:46:01 AM EST
well, here's today's open thread! afew
Our father Xmas is 'Joulupukki' (Yule buck). He comes after dark on the 24th and taps on the windows outside, driving the kids into a frenzy, if not scaring the shit out of them. Then inside with the standard sack, the offer of a stiff drink and then gift distribution. The banquet can be eaten before or after Joulupukki's visit - depending on the age of the kids.
Sauna is enjoyed in the afternoon today.
Lunch on the 25th tends to be a bit boozier and extends into the rest of the tomorrow. You can't be me, I'm taken
Here is what the term today refers to in Sweden:
Probably goes back to the old gods, what with Tor having goats pulling his wagon.
Celebrating everything on the evening before the main event goes back to the days when you spent the main day in church, so you could just as well be hung-over, thus the evening before was party night. So 24th is the day in Sweden too. Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se
Have fun, hack good. You can't be me, I'm taken
The day should have been half snowboarding,
Well, blogging is a perfectly acceptable alternative to shredding, isn't it?
No, I guess not. Still, think of how much more time you have for eating. ;) The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
The day should have been half snowboarding
If the snow melts, you can do some waterboarding instead... "People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognize necessity when a crisis is upon them." - Jean Monnet
You can't be me, I'm taken
Today we are flying the gold, blue and white pennant (Husbondsvimpel) of the Swedish speakers of Uusimaa in Southern Finland. More here.
Contrary to popular knowledge, the Finnish flag can be flown on any day, but not at night - not just on official flag days. You can't be me, I'm taken
Sweden's bizarre tradition of watching Donald Duck cartoons on Christmas Eve. Three years ago, I went to Sweden with my then-girlfriend (now-wife), to meet her family and celebrate my first Christmas. As an only partially lapsed Jew, I was not well-versed in Christmas traditions, and I was completely ignorant of Swedish customs and culture. So I was prepared for surprises. I was not prepared for this: Every year on Dec. 24 at 3 p.m., half of Sweden sits down in front of the television for a family viewing of the 1958 Walt Disney Presents Christmas special, "From All of Us to All of You." Or as it is known in Sverige, Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul: "Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas." Kalle Anka and the Aracuan BirdKalle Anka and the Aracuan BirdKalle Anka, for short, has been airing without commercial interruption at the same time on Sweden's main public-television channel, TV1, on Christmas Eve (when Swedes traditionally celebrate the holiday) since 1959. [...] The show's cultural significance cannot be understated. You do not tape or DVR Kalle Anka for later viewing. You do not eat or prepare dinner while watching Kalle Anka. Age does not matter--every member of the family is expected to sit quietly together and watch a program that generations of Swedes have been watching for 50 years. Most families plan their entire Christmas around Kalle Anka, from the Smörgåsbord at lunch to the post-Kalle visit from Jultomten. "At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, you can't to do anything else, because Sweden is closed," Lena Kättström Höök, a curator at the Nordic Museum who manages the "Traditions" exhibit, told me. "So even if you don't want to watch it yourself, you can't call anyone else or do anything else, because no one will do it with you."
Three years ago, I went to Sweden with my then-girlfriend (now-wife), to meet her family and celebrate my first Christmas. As an only partially lapsed Jew, I was not well-versed in Christmas traditions, and I was completely ignorant of Swedish customs and culture. So I was prepared for surprises. I was not prepared for this: Every year on Dec. 24 at 3 p.m., half of Sweden sits down in front of the television for a family viewing of the 1958 Walt Disney Presents Christmas special, "From All of Us to All of You." Or as it is known in Sverige, Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul: "Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas."
Kalle Anka and the Aracuan BirdKalle Anka and the Aracuan BirdKalle Anka, for short, has been airing without commercial interruption at the same time on Sweden's main public-television channel, TV1, on Christmas Eve (when Swedes traditionally celebrate the holiday) since 1959.
[...]
The show's cultural significance cannot be understated. You do not tape or DVR Kalle Anka for later viewing. You do not eat or prepare dinner while watching Kalle Anka. Age does not matter--every member of the family is expected to sit quietly together and watch a program that generations of Swedes have been watching for 50 years. Most families plan their entire Christmas around Kalle Anka, from the Smörgåsbord at lunch to the post-Kalle visit from Jultomten. "At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, you can't to do anything else, because Sweden is closed," Lena Kättström Höök, a curator at the Nordic Museum who manages the "Traditions" exhibit, told me. "So even if you don't want to watch it yourself, you can't call anyone else or do anything else, because no one will do it with you."
the same english show is watched on the 23rd in Norway. Now you can watch it yourself, and i dare you not to split your sides.
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
(I regularly got 2/10 for Latin, so don't hit me) You can't be me, I'm taken
But the weirdest thing is if you ever try to cancel your subscription to the Duck. It's practically impossible!
At a guess, we're probably having our ham with carrot box (casserole), turnip box, rosolli (salad from boiled beetroots, carrots, potatoes, apples and pickled cucumber), roast potatoes - but starting with all types of pickled herring. And perhaps Marskinryyppy (schnapps named after Mannerheim and always filled to just over the brim. A simple military test of nerves).
After that it's every man for himself... You can't be me, I'm taken
But this year we started the meal with a delicious appetizer that was similar to caviar, and served the same, and was made from muikku roe. Funny, the Swedes don't eat muikku, but they consider the roe a delicacy. The Finns eat lots of muikku, but throw away the roe. Go figure. I like both. And the muikku roe definitely goes with schnapps.
The only food I ate over the holidays that I'm pretty sure I still haven't developed a taste for was lipeäkala. It just doesn't taste at all.
From in-laws to snowed-in-laws... The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
Now, it's just me, my wife and my mother-in-law, and we have unanimously declared it time for a celebratory dose of cabin-fever medicine.
Sliante! The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
We French do the thing on Christmas Eve. Here in this multicultural household (five members, four nationalities) we will not be doing a big sit-down dinner (no avians roasted), but what we call an "apéritif dinatoire" with lots of little bits & pieces. (In New Zealand we would have naively called it a smorgasbord. Don't hit me.) Smoked salmon will be prominent (smoked by a friend, retired restaurateur). We haven't bought any oysters yet but it's not too late.
Then we will amuse ourselves until midnight, when we will attack the alarmingly big heap of packets under the tree (three adolescents in the household).
Then it will be time to ring the family in NZ, if we can get a line. They will presumably be dealing with pre-dinner drinks before the Christmas day lunch, which is the main event in my tribe. Probably an indoor/outdoor buffet affair, though the weather forecast is only middling (cloudy, 22°). It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
The bad news is that our heating oil is down pretty much to danger level, and the tanker was forced to turn back yesterday by the icy track (a private road) which leads to us. There is a thaw forecast beginning Sunday, and hopefully by Tuesday the tanker will be able to make the trip.
To add insult to injury, the water outlet to the bathroom is frozen solid as well, so any bath, wash or use of washing machine has to be disposed of by decanting buckets of water down the loo.
The joys of rural life! ......and Scottish standards of insulation and energy efficiency. "The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson
That is my Christmas Wish. "Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne
There was an ugly rumour that the giant red star, Betelgeuse, that is the right shoulder (on the left as you look at it) of the constellation Orion is "about to" go supernova. The rumours seemed to have started earlier in the year when observations suggested that Betelgeuse had changed shape, a sure sign of imminent explosion. Phil Plait apparently debunked the claims on his BadAstronomy blog. But what difference would it make to us if the star whose name is derived from the Arabic phrase "armpit of the white-belted sheep" were to explode?
There was an ugly rumour that the giant red star, Betelgeuse, that is the right shoulder (on the left as you look at it) of the constellation Orion is "about to" go supernova. The rumours seemed to have started earlier in the year when observations suggested that Betelgeuse had changed shape, a sure sign of imminent explosion. Phil Plait apparently debunked the claims on his BadAstronomy blog.
But what difference would it make to us if the star whose name is derived from the Arabic phrase "armpit of the white-belted sheep" were to explode?
And after the raising of temperatures it now started snowing again.
Hope you all have a happy and peaceful Yuletide. :-)
nature's way of slowing things down, along with the snow!
here it's passably clement, 12C or so outside, humidity 80%, cloudy drab grey skies, mushy mud/rotten leaves underfoot.
this evening i am going to my partner's house 5 minutes away, and we are going to have a big dinner for 6 friends and family, so i am cooking up a storm, home made seitan, and apple/date/sunflower seed/hazelnut/sesame/almond/raisin crumble.
the internet is slow as pitch today, good thing as i want to run off some mp3s of studio projects for collaborators and get them emailed for baby geesuss bee-day tomorrow,
may you all have playfully intelligent festivities, and a good rest to peacefully acknowledge all the good things that happened this year...
which as we all know, were merely the aperitivi for 2011!
auguri di natale e felice anno nuovo
♥
melo 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
i only took it internally once, a monodose after a pretty gruelling dentist visit, and was quite impressed how it calmed me and made the pain seem less. i would take it this way after anything shocking to the whole system, like an accident.
externally, i use a 2% or 5% strength cream, and find it extremely helpful for bruises and sprains, i've used it for decades with reliable results. the sooner you get it onto the affected area, the better and quicker it seems to work.
a tiny little alpine flower, with such an awesome ability to make pain evaporate... it's nice and cool too.
i wouldn't bother with the crushing and mixing routine, iirc the cream's quite easy to find in the pharmacy in the USA.
yay thai food! (tho a little rich in the satfat from coconut.) 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
But we're here to keep you company. :) The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
(I propose that from this year onwards, this becomes the official ET Christmas Show soundtrack.)
Here's a Real© one, with lyrics so everybody can sing along ...
She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
bad. idea.
;) 'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty
Guardian - Ed Miliband's offer to the young: join Labour for a penny
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, today sought to woo the youth vote by offering membership for a penny to anyone under the age of 27. Miliband said the "Christmas invitation" would secure young people a political voice as he launched the party's "Speak out for your generation" campaign.
Miliband said the "Christmas invitation" would secure young people a political voice as he launched the party's "Speak out for your generation" campaign.
I think the young have found a political voice of their own; on the streets. Quite what NuLab, the unashamed voice of plutocratic interests, could criticize about the results of the neoliberal solutions it advocated when in power is beyond me. When Milband has an economic policy that actually challenges this status quo he might find his party having more relevance, but at the moment they just look desperate in their attempt to insert themselves into the situation keep to the Fen Causeway
eg
went to a disco last night, they played the twist so I twisted. They played jump, so I jumped. Then they played come on Eileen and that's when they kicked me out.
I told him I don't have an Uncle Derek and that he has the wrong number and he replied to say "piss off. hope you get sunburn."
So should I attempt once more to tell him he has the wrong person, ignore him until his real niece gets in touch or pretend I am on holiday and make stuff up to tell him?
Lining up now for the main event - 'El Gordo'. You can't be me, I'm taken
I mean, for real.
next year maybe stream video, that way you won't have to keep sloping off to update...
There's so many fine ones in that compendium, wow. Danke. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
A pun is a moment when the beautifully knitted cardigan of language catches on the nail of reality and ever-so-slightly unravels - Gareth Edwards
http://www.wimp.com/animalvoiceovers/
(you've likely all seen this already, but me not. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Morris's ability to create a world which children could relate to through his mimicry led to his best-known role, that of the presenter, narrator and 'zoo keeper' for Animal Magic. For more than 400 editions, from 1962 until 1983, and with inserts shot at Bristol Zoo Gardens, Morris would carry out a comic dialogue with the animals, whom he also voiced. His regular companion on the show was Dotty the Ring-tailed Lemur. When the idea of putting human qualities and voices to animals fell out of favour the series was discontinued.
Here's Johnny Morris narrating 'Tales of the Riverbank', which always had me spellbound as a child. "The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson
Explanation: Top pitchers in the Bundesliga need that extra feeling only given through toe socks in your cleats. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
Crazy Horse has gone into a period of cognitive dysfunction until Feb 1st, when Spring Training begins. We needs must be kind to him during the interim, treat his posts here with patience while understanding he will not be able to fully communicate over the next 6 weeks, or so. She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010
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