gotta say, this comic says it all for me.
especially since it was just after labour day that the first "holiday" items started to appear for sale in the seattle area...
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
09 November 2009
24 July 2009
What an Entrance!
This has to be one of the coolest wedding entrances I've ever seen.
Honestly.
Even though I have never met them, I would love to be part of something Like This, and would love to be part of whatever they were planning for their 50th :)
14 July 2009
2006: Bastille Day
14 July
Johan has been delivered safely and efficiently to Leuven. After a very long drive, I find myself in Chartres this morning. It has been a while since I've been awed by the size of a church. However, Chartres comes pretty darn close. When you can easily see the church (and nothing else of the town) from over 7 miles away, that's pretty impressive. And inside, so many things to see.
# Coincidentally, I've recently read two books that describe the Labyrinth
located within the nave. Nothing quite prepares you, though; it's one thing to read about, quite another to watch pilgrims walk its path. Admittedly, I was tempted.
# Numerous side chapels, some with their own individual stained glass "stories". I think someone once said stained glass was the Middle Age equivalent of the cartoon
# Numerous Rose Windows. Most churches have one. Chartres has several
# On the horseshoe-shaped outer wall of the Chapelle du Saint-Sacrement are incredible carvings detailing a storyline probably available at the gift shoppe in a variety of trinkets and books, as well as the internet itself. My fault; I failed to pick up documentation to augment the tale here. However, among the more interesting is a man on horseback,
surrounded by what appear to be peasants, and two headless religious leaders, one on either side. Headless Guy Stage Right may have lost his head due to erosion, age, accident, etc, but Headless Guy Stage Left is this way by design. It has been suggested by a friend in Buenos Aires this may be Saint Denis, beheaded for being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, and he seems always to be portrayed quite calmly holding his mitred head in his hands as if it were a perfectly-normal "thing".
Two hours or so west of Chartres, and the landscape is sunflowers...
Another two hours on, and the town of Domfront on the N176 has been left behind. While the heat isn't horrible, the humidity has become North Carolina in August. I'm looking for a reason to stop and what I find is much humbler than Chartres, but at least as human in its way:
The lighting would have been perfect very early in the morning, but you have to admit it's not too bad now... Mortared stone out-buildings, slate roofs, timbered framing, and even though there is more than a little wear and tear, it feels like these buildings have been loved since day one.
The heat and humidity calm down a bit as the car and its inhabitant get closer to the English Channel, and the two-hour theme continues as Mont Saint-Michel appears. This is the first time I've actually encountered the prophesied summer crowd, and it's impressive. Land yachts and tourist buses everywhere, hundreds of cars parked legal and not, and people walking or rolling slowly away from the tourist trap towards the medieval town.
This is one location I'd love to spend a few days given its apparent size. I'd probably want to come on the off-season, when May or mid-September should be perfect for weather and crowds. I will try not to think about the fact I was here in May this year and didn't visit...
Oh, and today is Bastille Day. It's been interesting finding open petrol stations, markets, restaurants, and hotels while tooling around the backroads of rural France.
Johan has been delivered safely and efficiently to Leuven. After a very long drive, I find myself in Chartres this morning. It has been a while since I've been awed by the size of a church. However, Chartres comes pretty darn close. When you can easily see the church (and nothing else of the town) from over 7 miles away, that's pretty impressive. And inside, so many things to see.
# Coincidentally, I've recently read two books that describe the Labyrinth
located within the nave. Nothing quite prepares you, though; it's one thing to read about, quite another to watch pilgrims walk its path. Admittedly, I was tempted.
# Numerous side chapels, some with their own individual stained glass "stories". I think someone once said stained glass was the Middle Age equivalent of the cartoon
# Numerous Rose Windows. Most churches have one. Chartres has several
# On the horseshoe-shaped outer wall of the Chapelle du Saint-Sacrement are incredible carvings detailing a storyline probably available at the gift shoppe in a variety of trinkets and books, as well as the internet itself. My fault; I failed to pick up documentation to augment the tale here. However, among the more interesting is a man on horseback,
surrounded by what appear to be peasants, and two headless religious leaders, one on either side. Headless Guy Stage Right may have lost his head due to erosion, age, accident, etc, but Headless Guy Stage Left is this way by design. It has been suggested by a friend in Buenos Aires this may be Saint Denis, beheaded for being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, and he seems always to be portrayed quite calmly holding his mitred head in his hands as if it were a perfectly-normal "thing".
Two hours or so west of Chartres, and the landscape is sunflowers...
Another two hours on, and the town of Domfront on the N176 has been left behind. While the heat isn't horrible, the humidity has become North Carolina in August. I'm looking for a reason to stop and what I find is much humbler than Chartres, but at least as human in its way:
The lighting would have been perfect very early in the morning, but you have to admit it's not too bad now... Mortared stone out-buildings, slate roofs, timbered framing, and even though there is more than a little wear and tear, it feels like these buildings have been loved since day one.The heat and humidity calm down a bit as the car and its inhabitant get closer to the English Channel, and the two-hour theme continues as Mont Saint-Michel appears. This is the first time I've actually encountered the prophesied summer crowd, and it's impressive. Land yachts and tourist buses everywhere, hundreds of cars parked legal and not, and people walking or rolling slowly away from the tourist trap towards the medieval town.
This is one location I'd love to spend a few days given its apparent size. I'd probably want to come on the off-season, when May or mid-September should be perfect for weather and crowds. I will try not to think about the fact I was here in May this year and didn't visit...Oh, and today is Bastille Day. It's been interesting finding open petrol stations, markets, restaurants, and hotels while tooling around the backroads of rural France.
09 April 2009
Not Sure What This Means
But, because Easter approaches, it must be time to fire up a few holiday-related funnies:
I have to ask my pastor friends and family if this is the norm for the holiday :)
I have to ask my pastor friends and family if this is the norm for the holiday :)
18 March 2009
Travel Lacks Common Sense
A travel article appeared in today's UK Telegraph, talking about the strangest complaints made to Thomas Cook (a large UK tour company) or the Association of British Travel Agents.
I'm not sure this list should be accepted as strictly British; yet, far be it from me to cast aspersions on tourists of other not-as-well-traveled countries. Feel free to ask when next we speak if I knew of possibilities that could have been posted here. Regardless, many of these nits are both strange and wonderful. These are some of my favourites:
I'm not sure this list should be accepted as strictly British; yet, far be it from me to cast aspersions on tourists of other not-as-well-traveled countries. Feel free to ask when next we speak if I knew of possibilities that could have been posted here. Regardless, many of these nits are both strange and wonderful. These are some of my favourites:
- A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate"
- No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled
- It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home
- My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked
- I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller
- There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners
- On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all
- We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels
19 January 2009
06 January 2009
Uncle Jay's 2008 in Review
If you haven't heard of Uncle Jay, you are in for a wonderful treat... Here, he disassembles 2008 for those who may have been sleeping last year... :)
24 December 2008
Stupid Season, Part 001
at one time in the '70s and '80s, news rooms started to notice (and document) "the silly season." given the availability of news gathering tools we have today, i'm prepared to start calling for a name change to "the stupid season."Witness:
- We take them with us to the dinner table, the bedroom, even the bathroom stall. But in recent years, some of us have started taking our beloved cell phones someplace really startling: the grave.
“It seems that everyone under 40 who dies takes their cell phone with them,” says Noelle Potvin, family service counselor for Hollywood Forever, a funeral home and cemetery in Hollywood, Calif. “It’s a trend with BlackBerrys, too. We even had one guy who was buried with his Game Boy.” - Get Ready for an AudioVisual Assault on Your Mind. And Your Poodle
"She doesn't know yet that she has been married," the lawyer said then of the girl who was about to begin her fourth year at primary school.
- The Sugar Grip Fairies
and
15 December 2008
Xmas Contract
MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):
Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice (but with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or for their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all) and further for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated onset of the generally accepted calendar year (including, but not limited to, the Christian calendar, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures). The preceding wishes are extended without regard to the race, creed, age, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee(s).
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS:
Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.
A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter. The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.
Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as ("I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g., kerchief and cap.
Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.
At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.
Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co- conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)
The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.
Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items.
He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.
Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)
Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.
However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.
Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice (but with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or for their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all) and further for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated onset of the generally accepted calendar year (including, but not limited to, the Christian calendar, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures). The preceding wishes are extended without regard to the race, creed, age, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee(s).
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS:
Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.
A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter. The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.
Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as ("I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g., kerchief and cap.
Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.
At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.
Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co- conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)
The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.
Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items.
He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.
Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)
Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.
However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.
13 December 2008
1986, December
A couple wanted to keep their Christmas tree from the clutches of their 14-month-old daughter who "gets into everything," so they hung it from the ceiling --- upside down.
The noble fir is suspended from an S-hook anchored in the ceiling at the home of Steve and Corrina Atterton.
"The idea began as kind of a joke," said Atterton, a Portland photographer. "But it grew to reality as we worked the bugs out."
They even figured out how to get water into it from a special can caulked around the base.
"Our daughter gets into everything. We didn't want to say, 'No, No,' all the time, so we selected a tree that would hang down to a point she could barely touch it"
The noble fir is suspended from an S-hook anchored in the ceiling at the home of Steve and Corrina Atterton.
"The idea began as kind of a joke," said Atterton, a Portland photographer. "But it grew to reality as we worked the bugs out."
They even figured out how to get water into it from a special can caulked around the base.
"Our daughter gets into everything. We didn't want to say, 'No, No,' all the time, so we selected a tree that would hang down to a point she could barely touch it"
09 December 2008
Define: Well-Adjusted
Is there anyone who better exemplifies what the holiday season is REALLY all about?
08 December 2008
scooped!
given the weather weasels in the seattle area are calling for the possibility of snow in a few days,
it's time to start harping on EVERYTHING about the season :)
it's time to start harping on EVERYTHING about the season :)
28 November 2008
Americans, Take Notice
Concerned about too many carbs and calories in your diet?
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all conflicting medical studies:
1 The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
2 The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
3 The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
4 The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
5 The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Being American is apparently what kills you
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all conflicting medical studies:
1 The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
2 The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
3 The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
4 The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
5 The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Being American is apparently what kills you
27 November 2008
Ribs, 'Taters, Squash, Pie...
stolen from a website that borrowed it from another website that... :)
Happy US Thanksgiving!
Happy US Thanksgiving!
22 November 2008
I AM NOT READY!
wasn't it yesterday that little mermaids and tiny goblins were haunting our work hallways and side streets, looking for THE sugar rush that parents dread? isn't NEXT week thanksgiving?
so, and i ask this with all sarcastic flair: why the hell have seven homes in a three-mile stretch of "my drive home from work" already hung LIT holiday lights? none of these homes are small, and one is locally-famous for the over-the-top displays... at the same time, a local radio station (106.9) is already 24-hour holiday music... i'm guessing you can bet it's a station i won't listen to for another five weeks...
am i the only sane person left who believes that presidential elections should be six weeks MAX, that holiday celebrations and marketing should be limited to the week or two before the event?
it probably won't be so far into the future that we see four-year-long election cycles, and holiday marketing that never ends. it's not difficult to find some large box retailers with holiday reminders in july, though who they think they are marketing to i have no idea.
so, in the spirit of the holidays, follow me:
if you should know of other cartoons and photographs with the same sentiments, please feel free to share them with everyone. i will endeavour to post as many as i can.
Year-long holidays must stop.
25 October 2008
24 October 2008
20 October 2008
17 October 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)