Boxing Day Blog
Critic at work, New York Times
“The Christmas morning yule log special on WPIX - a four-hour tape of a log blazing brightly in a fireplace - is not for the fainthearted. The unextinguishable electronic hearth is a beloved New York tradition, but it would be a stretch to call it soothing. Even with Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby crooning carols on the audio track, the pulsing flames mesmerize, but less like a snifter of brandy than like a double dose of methamphetamine.”
Sex scandals
The sex scandal in India has provoked high-level government resignations. British Home Secretary David Blunkett has resigned, partly as a result of a sex scandal. A sex scandal is brewing in the Congo, involving
pornographic videos shot by a United Nations logistics expert. Hey, I thought the United States was the world leader in this sort of thing! Paris Hilton, Dr. Laura, Pamela Lee Anderson, come on! We’re lagging behind!
Last Christmas news for 2004
Two from AFP:
Little white lies - The British medical journal "Psychiatric Bulletin" argues that children's belief in Santa Claus "encourages their moral development as they believe he knows which children are good or bad." Psychiatrist Lynda Breen says the myth "is a useful ace up a parent's sleeve."
Another shrink freaks out - "The imagination which created Father Christmas is being destroyed by a society which holds rationality above anything else," says English psychiatrist Mark Salter.
And from the London Times…
If you see Santa, run - The "world's biggest gathering of Santa Clauses", a charity run of 4,250 people dressed as Father Christmas in Newtown, Wales, took a wrong turn when some of the Santas stopped by a pub, leading to a street brawl, involving 30 perhaps-too-jolly old elves. Police had to break it up with tear gas and clubs.
Who said it?
“They are like panda bears. Everybody’s just watching them, waiting to see if they’ll survive.”
Okay, one more Xmas story….
The AP informed me that when a church group put up a nativity scene on public property in Bartow, Florida, officials warned that it might lead to other religious displays. Well, displays since went up honoring Zoroastrianism and Festivus, the holiday featured on “Seinfeld.”
Conservatives are right! Christmas is going to hell in a handcart! Watch for the hell/handcart display next year on a county fairground near you.
“The Christmas morning yule log special on WPIX - a four-hour tape of a log blazing brightly in a fireplace - is not for the fainthearted. The unextinguishable electronic hearth is a beloved New York tradition, but it would be a stretch to call it soothing. Even with Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby crooning carols on the audio track, the pulsing flames mesmerize, but less like a snifter of brandy than like a double dose of methamphetamine.”
Sex scandals
The sex scandal in India has provoked high-level government resignations. British Home Secretary David Blunkett has resigned, partly as a result of a sex scandal. A sex scandal is brewing in the Congo, involving
pornographic videos shot by a United Nations logistics expert. Hey, I thought the United States was the world leader in this sort of thing! Paris Hilton, Dr. Laura, Pamela Lee Anderson, come on! We’re lagging behind!
Last Christmas news for 2004
Two from AFP:
Little white lies - The British medical journal "Psychiatric Bulletin" argues that children's belief in Santa Claus "encourages their moral development as they believe he knows which children are good or bad." Psychiatrist Lynda Breen says the myth "is a useful ace up a parent's sleeve."
Another shrink freaks out - "The imagination which created Father Christmas is being destroyed by a society which holds rationality above anything else," says English psychiatrist Mark Salter.
And from the London Times…
If you see Santa, run - The "world's biggest gathering of Santa Clauses", a charity run of 4,250 people dressed as Father Christmas in Newtown, Wales, took a wrong turn when some of the Santas stopped by a pub, leading to a street brawl, involving 30 perhaps-too-jolly old elves. Police had to break it up with tear gas and clubs.
Who said it?
“They are like panda bears. Everybody’s just watching them, waiting to see if they’ll survive.”
Okay, one more Xmas story….
The AP informed me that when a church group put up a nativity scene on public property in Bartow, Florida, officials warned that it might lead to other religious displays. Well, displays since went up honoring Zoroastrianism and Festivus, the holiday featured on “Seinfeld.”
Conservatives are right! Christmas is going to hell in a handcart! Watch for the hell/handcart display next year on a county fairground near you.
posted by Merle Kessler at 6:31 PM
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