Just a very interesting historical fact I was made aware of very recently.

It seems that the legendary Viking known as Erik the Red had a son who not only inherited his father's trademarked red hair and beard, but also his bloodlust and combative nature.

His warlike disposition extended even to his domestic life, for although he adored his wife, the two of them couldn't agree on anything. Not even the weather. It was just that ridiculous.

One day, he looked out his window and noted that it was raining outside. His wife also looked and informed her husband that it was snowing, not raining. He insisted it was rain, while she remained just as vehement that it was snow.

Finally, Erik the Red's volatile son slammed his fist down on the table and thundered, "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!"

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Wishing you a "happy whatever doesn't offend you" holiday.

Oh, who am I kidding? Merry effin' Christmas!

And you should give George's eggnog recipe a whirl.

https://www.almanac.com/content/george-washingtons-christmas-eggnog

Rand Paul on Syria, Afghanistan.

https://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/12/how-about-you-just-admit-you-hate.html

And Now, it shall be known— "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is the finest Christmas carol.

Firstly, because it's not really a carol, it's just a mid-20th century pop song from Hollywood. Its handsome melody accompanies lyrics which are neither prissy nor demanding of devotional observance. You can relax when you hear it. It's not asking you to dress to go out and pray with Grandma or anything.

Specifically: Those lyrics include, at the crest of the verse, perhaps the most poignant single line from Depression-era pop culture in the United States:

Until then, we'll try and muddle
through somehow

The published version, the one with "Muddle through," was perfectly fine, though. It assured us that It's okay to have imperfect feelings at Christmastime.

And then... Frank Sinatra fucked it up.

Yes, that's right... THAT Frank Sinatra. Banging Ava Gardner in her prime didn't distract him from this nefarious debasement.

But if you poke around on YouTube, you can find the right version. Look, I'm not going to do your research for you on this holiday, my family's about to have the big meal.

But I defy you, on a lonely or grim holiday, to listen to the original version without sniffling.

Therefore: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is the finest Christmas song.

So Affirmed on this day, December 25, 2018, 12:38 EST. ✓

Carry on.

Crid:

Its handsome melody accompanies lyrics which are neither prissy nor demanding of devotional observance.

"Make the Yuletide gay..."

The fashionable coinages or your lifetime are neither eternal nor darling. The world is not all about you.

So be good for goodness' sake.

Yeah BeeBee, let's stay indoors... And write things.

Not content with stealing Twinkies from everyone on the planet and all future generations, they now steal entire paychecks of people forced to join them

https://twitter.com/lujlp/status/1077683290008473600

Drove through over some lonely, fragrant (even in December!) Midwestern hillsides over the weekend... Alone! In my own carbon-spewing motor vehicle! Inefficient! Thrilling! With decadent music & podcasts from my supercomputer/smartphone!

Let's not kid ourselves: The Big Green Slice is best.

Jlp is in fact correct at 3:39 PM.

I work for a size/jyy-normoe telecommunications company, and they made us listen to an anti-union lecture a few months ago. By which I mean, they paid us our best rate to sit through it.

At this point, it's an intelligence test on the order of 'Gravity: Up or down????'

I was amazed that there were people in the room, old enough to vote and licensed to drive, who still wanted to quibble, as if the boundaries of economic reality were negotiable (for a fee).

They are not.

Some people can hold a grudge for so long

https://twitter.com/jellispants/status/1076919860695752706

This is funny
https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1077733504358572032

I thought self care was code for masturbation?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHi0X3pLMLs

Also why does she need a break from not having done any work?

The fashionable coinages or your lifetime are neither eternal nor darling. The world is not all about you.

The use of the word "gay" to mean "homosexual" predates my life. It probably even predates yours, as hard as that might be for you to believe.

Just because you've never heard of something, it doesn't make it not true, or insignificant. Example: Alex Jones. Your towering rage at the very idea that he might be fairly well-known, despite your never having heard of him was quite memorable.

And Judy Garland, who popularized that song was, I'm quite sure, familiar with the meaning of the word "gay," considering how much the tittering media hounded her about the preponderance of gay men in her audience. As early as 1935, the term geycat was used to refer to homosexual young male. The ghettoization of the word "gay" was pretty much inevitable at that point.

A Time Magazine article, for instance, wrote:

Curiously, a disproportionate part of her nightly claque seems to be homosexual. The boys in the tight trousers roll their eyes, tear at their hair and practically levitate from their seats, particularly when Judy sings: If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow,why, oh why can't I?

Psychiatrists offer multiple explanations for the phenomenon. Manhattan's Dr. Leah Schaefer claims that homosexuals gravitate toward superstar because "these are people they can idolize and idealize without getting too close to. In Judy's case," she adds, "the attraction might be made considerably stronger by the fact that she has survived so many problems; homosexuals identify with that kind of hysteria.

Agrees another Manhattan psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Hatterer: "Judy was beaten up by life, embattled, and ultimately had to become more masculine. She has the power that homosexuals would like to have, and they attempt to attain it by idolizing her."

In a 1965 press conference, when informed (AGAIN!) about the large numbers of gay men in her audience, she famously replied, "I couldn't care less. I sing to people."

> predates my life

Not in common parlance across America... Remember the turn quite clearly.

Why are things always about you?

Crid: Not in common parlance across America...

Goodness. My every word is not a cliche. Surely, there's a tenth layer of hell reserved for me.

Much as I enjoy tripping the light switch of your irritation, I sometimes bemoan the fact that you make it so easy.

Or did you really think I was arguing that Esther was telling Tootie to make the yuletide homosexual?

Okay, back to holiday good cheer...

Amy, in addition to best wishes for the holidays, here's my annual plea for you to make an appearance at Dragoncon - for Michael Z Williamson will be there, and Larry Correia is likely. Wonderful characters!