Christmas Timewasters

Some excellent timewasters on the Advent Calendar and all with a Christmas Theme. Once you get bored with those there is always drunk Santa to steer about.

Linkage 11 Dec 06

Feeling Listless takes apart some of what is wrong with Torchwood he explains why I don't like most of the characters.

Flouncing Tenor - oh how many stereotypes does storming off stage of La Scala in a huff fulfil?

John Denver and the Muppets - Go one you know you want to.

And if you are not already subscribing to this here's the best on-line Advent Calender you'll find this year.

Has Anyone Else Seen This?

Radio Five Live's blog about blogs is looking for nominations for unsung blogs you know, the ones you enjoy but don't get the limelight like say Random Acts Of Reality does (and deserves too.)

Anyway here's the link mind you I'm not giving it because I want to be nominated, I really don't I'm not good enough for that sort of exposure, mind you neither is Dooce but that's another blog post I will write one day.

Pinochet Dead

And all I can say is good, it's the end of an evil man. A dictator whose regime disappeared people and tortured and murdered with impunity.

Bananas

I like bananas but bananas don't like me. I've known that I have an allergy to them for a while now and I've had to reluctantly avoid them.

Yesterday lunchtime I had my lunch in the canteen of one of the contractors I deal with. By mistake I took a pudding that had bananas in it, instead of leaving the pud when I discovered this I thought, "ack, it will probably be OK as they've been cooked or something" It wasn't I had the usual symptom a burning feeling in my mouth and my lips and tongue feeling funny which I've had before and it's dealable with. What was not dealable with was the stomach cramps and diarrhoea that hit that evening and I had cramps for the rest of the night and woke up with them today. So although it now seems to have passed, I was up to work today and I've been feeling more than a bit sorry for myself.

Tis the season to be jolly?

Now that December has started the party season has too, and for the first time ever, I'm dreading it more than looking forward to it. Normally my inner four year old is running round screaming "It's Chrismiss" but this year someone seems to have chloroformed her.

I cancelled going out on the big group Christmas lunch, mainly because it is one expense too many, but also if I'm gonna spend my hard earned cash on going out I would rather do it where I know I'm going to get a decent meal instead of the dried out slops that pass for Christmas Party Lunches in the hotels in Fenlandshire. I would also rather spend the money drinking with people who are not going to talk about work, who hates who and the imminent disappearance of all our jobs.

I haven't withdrawn from my office party because well, it would get all a bit too political if I did and young Ady wouldn't like it. The organisers were discussing the seating plans the other day, they have hit on the "bright idea" of making everyone swap round seats for each course. A recipe for chaos and my idea of hell. I did suggest that the idea wasn't that brilliant, it was said that you don't get a chance to talk to everyone at the meal. That we all work in the same small office, will be mingling before and after the meal so it's only going to be 2 hours at the most and that by the time the coffees come round people start moving about anyways doesn't seem to have hit them. I have no faith in wiser heads prevailing on this one.

I am still looking forward to the Christmas Ball though because for one thing the drink is free. Also I don't have to mingle with people I've spent all year with. This is why I'm also looking forward to Si's Office Christmas meal because I don't meet his colleagues that often but when I have, I've had a good time. Perhaps it's just a case of familiarity breeding ennui or I've lost the Christmas Enjoyment Fairy.

So Here It Is Merry erm... Winterval, Holidays erm Yule

Of course it's the holiday season, there is Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, Bohdi Day, Kwanzaa which is a cultural festival rather than religious, Winter Solstice and Eid Al Adha for starters all in December. So while the UK may be majority "Oh I suppose I'm a" Christian it isn't exclusively and really it isn't polite to wish someone a happy Christmas when you know full well that they actually celebrate Bohdi Day, so if you are not sure what if anything someone celebrates saying "Happy Holidays" although an awkward construction is a safe way of acknowledging there is a holiday in the offing.

But on the flip side we are a multicultural society but to assume that non Christians would take complete offence at being wished Happy Christmas is daft. Most people don't I'm an atheist to my knowledge I've never thrown a strop at being wished happy Christmas. I've never met someone who complains about a free day off. When I lived in the states Yom Kippur was a day off from school, I wasn't offended.

Often, rather than actually talk to someone who is different from ourselves we make assumptions about what will or will not offend them, because it's easier than actually engaging with people who might actually be a bit different from ourselves. That is the truly daft thing.