the pod bay door

:: I am stuffed after a series of delicious dinners and breakfasts which began on Christmas Eve, and ended this morning with dim sum. No more food for a while! I am grateful and very fortunate to have food in my belly nonetheless; many on this planet never know what it is like to be full after a meal. Anyway, how was your Christmas?

:: Chris sent a link to the Scared of Santa Gallery. Some of the photos are decades old, and many are hilarious. I suspect more than one photo has been used to embarrass the subject at a later date in his or her life (like, say, a wedding reception.)

:: Consider that this decade is half-over in six days. What has defined the – er – what is this decade called? The Aughts? The Zeros? The Tens? Regardless, in North America, decades tend to be defines based on events and developments in western, or more specifically, American culture, during the ten year periods. Is this the decade of terrorism, fear, and meaningless wars? The Decline of Pop Culture Decade, as represented by “reality tv” and bad lip-synching? The Decade of Aging Baby Boomers? The Emergence of the Millenials? (Remember the “Baby on Board” stickers from the early 80s? The Millenials are those babies.) (Boomers: 1946-1964; Gen X: 1965-1979; Millenials/Gen Y: 1979-2001; ???: 2001-whenever. All dates subject to endless discussion and argument.)

:: Darcy mentioned this site, and it is much fun! Make your own snowflake. Click the scissors when the red dot turns green. There is amazing creativity in the world.

:: Robert sent this pic of how The Rand Corporation, in 1954, envisioned what the home computer might look like in 50 years, i.e., like, right now. Check it out. I wonder what the steering wheel was meant to do?

:: It’s Christmas morning. Last night was spent at the Wests’ home, sharing a delicious dinner with good friends, drinking wine and singing a few Christmas carols, and exchanging gifts. Today’s events include breakfast at my friends’ home, and then later in the afternoon, going with them to their friends’ home for Christmas dinner. Calories be damned!

I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and hope you have a wonderful day as well.

:: This morning, while at dim sum at New Tan Tan, the lights went out. A power failure happened somewhere in the downtown area, perhaps due to the high winds. The staff passed out candles, and also had to deal with the tropical fish tank, which began leaking for some reason, after the power failure.

:: This weekend, I saw Ocean’s Twelve, and Kinsey. Both enjoyable for different reasons, although in discussion with Taras this afternoon, I had to agree that Ocean’s Twelve falls apart in the last 20 minutes. Kinsey contains a set of remarkable performances from a cadre of actors, and also has perhaps the funniest scene in any film I’ve watched this year, including Team America: World Police, which had me howling throughout the picture. I saw Kinsey with my friend Marissa, at the same theatre we saw The Machinist a week earlier. It was déjà vu all over again.

:: For me, the Christmas season brings mixed blessings. I cannot go into details here, but I take great comfort knowing that I have the support and friendship of family and friends who care. In the end, what more can anyone ask at Christmas?

I had planned to be off work from December 18-January 3, but will head in tomorrow to try to clean out my inbox, and finish some paperwork.

:: Last evening my right eye was hurting, feeling like a small foreign object of some sort was under the lid and wouldn’t leave. This morning at the U Health Centre, the doctor confirmed that the cornea has a small scratch right under the pupil. It is quite annoying, so I’m home to rest for the afternoon. I’ve got eye drops, and will pick up some ointment later in the day. Hopefully this will heal quickly.

:: (Warning: use your popup blocker before looking at this clip) – Listen and learn that: the worst Americans move to Canada; we are lucky the US allows my country to share the same continent with it; only Western Canada matters (right wingers, cowboys, and ski areas here); we don’t need an army; without the US, Canada is essentially Honduras, but colder and more boring; Norway would invade my country if it wasn’t for our American neighbours – oops – neighbors; that the US doesn’t need Canada (we’re only the States’ largest trading partner on the planet); and finally, Canadians with ambition move to the United States. Gosh, the things I didn’t know. Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson need to sit down and shut the f*ck up.

I’ll leave the last word to Steely Dan: “That right-wing hooey sure stunk up the joint.”

:: Hey, the Geminids are tonight, and promise to be spectacular. Don’t know if I’ll have the energy to check them out, I am SO tired tonight.

:: Earlier this evening, I broke bread with four fellow co-workers of Hungarian descent at a warm, friendly little Hungarian restaurant in north-west Edmonton called The Goulash. My dad’s parents were Hungarian, and came to North America in the 1920s, settling in Winnipeg. Dinner was paprikás csirke with gnocchi, followed by a slice of Dobos torte for dessert, perhaps the most amazing, multi-layer chocolate cake with a hard carmel icing , and it was the best meal I’ve had in months. The food tasted just like the dishes my Grandma Reichardt made when we were little, which means it tasted home cooked, not like restaurant food. God Bless the cook(s)!