Australia Items 2015-2016 - Part 1

Yeah- I know - It's been quiet. Too quiet.
Time for a photo review review from my stint Down Under.
2015-2016 was my fourth year spending the holidays in Sydney.
Due to the way the holidays fell, I basically had the week between Christmas and New Year's Day off...
So THIS year I was able to plan ahead and got The Woman a ticket to Sydney on points.
(After missing Christmas at home for three years, I needed to do something to assure Domestic Tranquility-
-And let me tell you, a rewards ticket over the Christmas and New Years holiday was really expensive, points-wise.)

Lots of people were traveling on Christmas Eve-

I did manage to get spotted easily (duh) and we were on our way-
The Woman had been traveling for 20+ hours, so the only thing she wanted to do after arriving was to relax and recover from the flight.

Christmas morning over Olympic Park-

She was up at 4am (as most US travelers are on the first day or so...)

We headed out to Royal National Park and went on a nice hike out in the Wattamolla area.


Last year I about killed myself out here by overestimating my stamina.
(Read the tale HERE)

I saw great locations during my hike last year but the clock was running so I didn't have time to stop. This year we were able to take our time out at Wattamolla Falls.
We were the first ones into the park that morning, and took advantage of the peace and quiet...

Beautiful place. We really enjoyed it...

- More -

TBG - - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

From the Mail Bag

While researching CC Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas" I came across some versions I hadn't seen before, some which I sent off to various friends that I thought might find them interesting...

I got one back (thanks RC!) that I don't remember reading before. Based on it's vintage, some of you might have seen it before... If not- please read and take to heart the message.

Merry Christmas, My Friend
(a perennial military favorite)

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney with presents to give,
And to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about, a strange sight did I see,
No music, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle, just boots filled with sand,
And on the wall pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kinds,
A sobering thought came to my mind.

For this house was different, so dark and so dreary,
The home of a soldier, now I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in this one-bedroom home.

The face was so gentle, the room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured a United States soldier.

Was this the hero of whom I’d just read?
Curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed?

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.

The very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a tough voice,
“Santa, don’t cry. This life is my choice.

“I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more,
My life is my God, my country, my corps.”

The soldier rolled over and soon drifted to sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours, so silent and still,
And we both shivered from the cold evening’s chill.

I didn’t want to leave on that cold, dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.

The the soldier rolled over, with a voice soft and pure,
Whispered, “Carry on, Santa. It’s Christmas day. All is secure.”

One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
“Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night.”
                                   - Lance Corporal James M.Schmidt, 1998

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

They Are Ruining Christmas...

Ah, the ubiquitous "they"... 
Who, you may ask, are "they"...

Radio station programming directors, big box merchandisers, all those folks that want to hasten us into the gift-buying mentality/behavior.

The ones that are particularly galling right at this moment are the radio stations and Muzak-analogs that run in-store and in-restaurant background music systems...

It starts just after Halloween... an occasional Holiday Hit stuck in amongst the regular airplay. Now it's all Christmas, all the time- from Thanksgiving morning to New Years Day...
And it's starting to piss me off.
(Untrue- I've been pissed off about this for a long time.)

Back when I actually had a say in the matters I tried to issue a moratorium on music & decorations at the Estrogen Palace...to no avail.
The Woman Who Knows Most Things and the Perfect Child used to love digging out all the foofaraws and paraphernalia for The Season on the Saturday after Thanksgiving...
I would try to get them to delay to at least the 9th or 10th...(arbitrarily picked date, anything to delay the inevitable)
I figure two weeks of festivity was plenty for anyone.
Not that I'm a Grinch or anything, but a month or more of anything is too much.

Two weeks keeps it all fresh through the end of The Season- otherwise, hearing the 200th rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" makes me want to grab the .270 and look for a rooftop or a clock tower.

I've been on the road since Thanksgiving day, and will be for for the next 2 weeks-
and it seems like every hotel lobby, restaurant and airport I've been in has been blaring Jingle Bell Rock and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus cranked to 11.
I'm already tired of it.

Fortunately for me my Rental Car du Jour has an iPod interface, so I can listen to Warren Zevon, Tom Waits, Jimmy Buffett and Leon Redbone ad infinitum... This way, when I feel the need for Seasonal Festivity, I can flip over to MY Christmas playlist and listen to my favorite sounds of the season like Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or perhaps even a little Bob Rivers:


(I know... It's kind of a drag...)

Meanwhile, back to the problem at hand-
Overdosing the general public on Christmas music...
Uncle Jay's suggestion:
No Christmas music before or on Thanksgiving. None.
Stop screwing up the holidays by rushing things.
Play all you want on Black Friday.
(Maybe it will calm the Rabid Horde down a bit and cut down on the pepper-spray incidents.)
Then wait until December 1st; play one every hour or so...
Ease us into it.
In the 2nd and 3rd week, bump the carols-per-hour up gradually until the 20th-
Then go whole-hog...

Wait. What am I thinking?

Expecting sanity and restraint from the American Merchandising Machine?

That be like Congress enacting Election Reform...

It's a lost cause.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Is That A Christmas Wish?

I wish you were a little bit smarter.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

I Thought The Silver Aluminum Ones Were Bad

Per TWWKMT: "Well. Falalalala."

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Non-Threatening Seasonal Greetings

To All of my Liberal Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. 
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. 
(Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country, nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.)


To All of my Conservative Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year! May God Bless You and Your Families and May God Bless America.

Sincerely,








(Thanks to ZC at TWW for this one. I think I'm going to use it for next year's Christmas card... )


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

There Oughta Be A Law

I am tired tired tired of the stealthy advancement of holiday decoration, holiday music and other signs of the season- it's getting earlier and earlier every year.
I was over at TownCenter on November 19th...
The Christmas decorations were up and they were piping the festive carols through the sound system at the promonade...
On NOVEMBER 19th.
Now, I enjoy the holiday season as much as the next guy, but please...
In a year or three we're going to start hearing the Deck the Halls and seeing the garland getting strung up just after the 4th of July.
This is really getting out of hand.

We anticipate it all year long...That waiting is what makes the Christmas season so special...
Retailers are stretching out the Sale Season as far as possible...

We have Halloween Sales, Post Halloween Sales, Fall Festival Sales, Pre-Thanksgiving Sales, Ready-For-Black-Friday Sales, Thanksgiving Day Sales, Black Friday, Day-After-Black-Friday Specials, then 3 weeks of Christmas Countdown Sales...
Enough already.

Wait until one holiday is over and done before decorating and promoting the  next one... 
No Thanksgiving promos until after Halloween.
And no Christmas music or decorations until December 1st.
Give it a rest already...
After more than four weeks of Jingle Bells I'll definitely ready for a Silent Night.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

It Has Begun...

Nov 22...
96.1 FM is playing Christmas music. And there is one house in the neighborhood with their lights up already...

Tis the season...

Only in the South...

Appalling.

Wish I'd thought of it first. Heh.

Famous, out-

MY favorite Christmas carol...

...Yes... it's that time of year again.
When we drag out the same old wheezy stand-bys to sing along with,
everyone in their own key, of course, to bring joy and happiness to all.

Carol of the Bells, by Skippy.

As the old saying goes, "Everyone brings joy to others...
Some when they arrive, others when they leave."

Famous, out-