Here we are at the LAST weekend of 2014...my, how the time passed.And "time" will be figuring in to this post a bit later, but first, let's see what the weather has in store for us this today.
Our Hoosierland weather will see us starting out below freezing, but temps will rise back into the upper 40s today.
Is that the SUN I see out there? My God...what did we do WRONG?
Looks like we might have much more sun than in days past - been a very dreary week, hasn't it?.
A good day to just kick back...or take advantage of some after-Christmas sales for related items like wrapping paper, gift tags, lights, tinsel, and what not.
So, let's all get comfy with a nice hot cup of morning fortitude and see what else has been going on elsewhere...
*** First out from under the Christmas tree is the answer to Wednesday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!"This was spoken by none other than a persosn responsible for MANY Christmas movies with various takes on a similar theme, on Charles John Huffman Dickens ( 7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) and here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens
Yes, the short story A CHRISTMAS CAROL has become the stuff of legend, and iconography
The story of Dickens life is one of those of the good kind of controversy, as he as not only an author, but a social critic.
He was one of those writers whose works enjoyed popularity when he was alive, and he was touted as a literary genius by the following century, often regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
Not bad for a boy that had to leave school, to work in a factory in order to help get his father out of debtor's prison in England.
He was quite the philanthropist in later life, and founded "Uranina College", a home for the redemption of fallen women of the working class. It is said that 100 women graduated between 1847 and 1859.
He honored the figure of Christ, yet denied his divinity, but his son once said his father "possessed depp religious convictions'.
When you stop to consider that such works as Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, A Tale of Two Cities and many others we recall from school are STILL being taught, you might say that his is a lasting legacy to not only literature, but of mankind.
Not bad at all...
Moving on...
*** And yes, it's also time for the "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
December 26 -
--- Today is NATIONAL CANDY CANE DAY...
--- It's also NATIONAL THANK-YOU NOTE DAY - again...says it all.
Maybe the nation's "black community leaders" will be out whining THEIR asses off?
It would keep them from inciting more rioting, that's for sure.
Then again, perhaps not.
The whining is much of the CAUSE
--- And, it's BOXING DAY in Canada - now, before you lace on some Spaldings, take a look at the WIKI:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day
See?
It really DOESN'T have anything to do with stepping into a ring and having someone wail the snot out of you.
It's a pretty interesting thing, actually.
Getting a "Christmas box" (gifts) from a boss or employer.
(Boy, sure miss THOSE days)
Give it a read...can't hurt, right?
*** And let's not forget what's going on during this weekend:
December 27 -
Saturday has only one thing going on - it's NATIONAL FRUITCAKE DAY...'nuff said there.
--- Sunday is NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY
Pass me a Baby Ruth...will 'ya?
--- And, it's NATIONAL CARD PLAYING DAY, ...
--- It's also HOLY INNOCENTS DAY (Batman)...here's the WIKI for the lowdown:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents
--- Last, it's PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE DAY...recite it proudly.
*** Next up, Seems one Ft. Wayne perp didn't have AS merry a Christmas as he intended...
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/Driver-in-crash-tries-to-escape-at-hospital-4174399
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| MerCrimmus, dumbass! |
He was involved in a crash and when police arrived on scene was believed to be intoxicated, so they followed the ambulance to hospital.
During the "handoff" at the hospital, Crosby tried to escape...notice I said "tried".
He was caught after a brief foot chase and is NOW charged with battery (against an officer) and resisting arrest.
(on top of the DUI).
Crosby, 26, of the 6500 block of St. Joe Center Rd is now enjoying the "holiday hospitality" of the Allen County lockup.
*** And in a somewhat "relates" story, FOX News played a clip of a black community leader speaking out over another shooting of a young BLACK male (who was armed during a gas station robbery attempt) and a WHITE police officer (who killed him) in Berkeley, MO, a suburb of St. Louis.
This "leader" proclaimed:"...Another black man gunned down by a white police officer...when WILL this end?"
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| Truth don't lie...! |
Ever think of speaking out on THAT aspect of these police-action shooting???
Is obeying the LAW too PRIMITIVE a concept to wrap your brain around?
This chronic rhetoric spewing forth from the mouths of the uninformed to even more of the uninformed is getting way out of hand - it's like some idiot yelling "FIRE" in a crowded theater (IMHO).
*** Last back to the "Fortress" today...I spoke about Wifey arriving before her luggage, and she was in a bit of an undie-bunch over the airline apparently "misplacing it" - it had around $1200 of clothes and sundry items in it, and she was making a list of what needed replacing.
I had said to her to go drive out to the airport and see IF the suitcase showed up...it had been a whole DAY later.
Yesterday, she gets a call FROM the airport(FWA)...the bag was THERE (finally)...been there for a whole day, too.
So, another "Christmas miracle" taken care of...always nice to receive those UNEXPECTED gifts, isn't it?
--- Along those lines, we here at the "Fortress of Reason" did rather well, considering.
I got Wifey some nice warm slippers, which she wore ALL day yesterday...lol
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| She SAYS they're comfy... |
She also got a Whitman Sampler...great chocolates.
--- Now, MY "swag" had a specific "theme" to it...and that was planned by the Lovely Mrs. Bobby G.
Suffice it to say, almost everything was related to my favorite traveler in TIME and SPACE - DOCTOR WHO...lol.
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| All WHO'd out - and everyplace to go. |
Make a nice addition to the others I've compiled over the centuries...I mean YEARS (not THAT old yet)
I suppose I'll have to create a complete SECTION of "WHO"-related tomes in our "library" (without any "Vashta Nerada" nosing about - that's a Whovian reference)
(makes a nice addition to the 10th doctor's sonic)
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| Well, the sonic WORKS fine. |
I will say that the way to change out the batteries in the "sonic" is a bit of a chore, especially when you DON'T bother to read the instruction sheet included...HA!
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| Rassie got "All Christmased Out"... |
See, it's (simple) things such as THESE that have kept me from becoming like the aforementioned Mr. Crosby...
I would much prefer Bing to Lorenzo anyway...Bing sings better with Danny Kaye.
But, it always comes down to how well you CHOOSE in life.
Making the GOOD or RIGHT choices in life is not only referred, but almost always ensures that YOU come out better on the other side of whatever issue it pertains to, hmm?
Christmas time is not only a time of giving or receiving...it can be a marvelous time of LEARNING.
And life should never have any of us wanting to halt that process.
If anything, we should be seeking it out, and embracing it.
The alternatives to such self-denial are obvious.
The ability to overcome under various conditions is makes us WHO we are (pun not intended), and the better we define ourselves, the better we are at helping others define themselves.
Something to ponder...
Stay SAFE out there, America.
2 comments:
First, glad you had a great Christmas! Offered your wife that we should do "sonic screwdrivers at 20 paces..." I have scanned most things in the house, used it to ward off farts, looked for brains in my son's head, and many other things. It is rarely out of easy reach...
Second, National chocolate candy day- so kids can honor chocolate without the sexual innuendo...
Third, "How about when BLACK MEN stop committing CRIME for the hell of it, Bub?" Don't you know that the gun, and the cop that it has mentally enslaved, is ALWAYS at fault? That we are being racist if we don't accept the right of African Americans to rob and rape us with a smile?
Fourth, probably put up our gift haul tomorrow.
Fifth, I happened to get on BBC News yesterday (stupid me) and got a head's up on Jenna staying before the show played here. Then watched this year's finale again... Danny's last speech still gets to me.
SAnd when I saw the title to the next episode "The magician's apprentice", two things came to mind. The first was how one of the characters in the Christmas show described the Doctor as wearing "a magician's suit". The second was an old What If that had Doctor Doom and Nathaniel Richards in the days of King Arthur, with Richards posing as Merlin.
Chris:
---Yeah, it wasn't all that bad, as Christmases go...glad things worked out as they did.
---Wha? ONLY 20 paces?
Mine simply WILL NOT disable the BRAVO channel...LOL.
(what about yours?)
---(scanned your son for BRAINS...ROFL!)
That's both cruel AND hilarious at the SAME time (and space).
---AHhh, well that explains it nicely...it's a KIDS thingy.
---Yeah, that mindset of THEIRS has got to change if THEY are to move FORWARD, hmm?
---Waiting to see it.
---I always say to expect the UNexpected...the writing is stellar, and I agree about Danny's speech. Very moving.
---I don't know how to take that title...past, present or future?
Anything is possible in the mythos.
Thanks much for taking time to "transmat" over today & comment.
Have a great weekend, and stay safe (and ever-scanning) up there, fellow renegade timelord.
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