[onlooker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', 'T')hese holidays pay homage to our families and friends and cut through all the digital junk and worries. We need more rituals like this that really forms the bedrock of what holds us all together as a society. On a daily basis we are bombarded with far too much information that is divisive and threatening. We are capable of self sacrifice and reverence toward each other and toward a kinship with all life. We just don't have enough rituals and reminders to nourish this.

[onlooker]

The timeless song White Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJSUT8Inl14

[Plantagenet]

Great post, onlooker.

For those of us who aren't Christians or maybe even not religious at all, the Christmas season is still a wonderful time. Check out this Christmas song for non-Christians

The Christians and the Pagans (sing along version


Happy Winter Solstice!

[Pops]

Atheists don't have no songs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wogta8alHiU

[onlooker]

Another timeless Christmas song "Silent Night"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T4WB2zfmps

[onlooker]

Just taking the time to wish everyone on this site and yes that means you also Cog a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for making this site interesting and enjoyable with your posts.

[Newfie]

Hope you all are having as much fun as we are!

image.jpg

[WildRose]

You two are cute, Newfie! And look at that blue sky!

[WildRose]

This is fun.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY9r9dg ... e=youtu.be

[Newfie]

Thanks, that was neat.

[Shaved Monkey]

This one of my favourites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0hlbWpa1w

and he got new teeth for xmas too
http://www.contactmusic.com/shane-macgo ... as_5073007

[ROCKMAN]

And the Rockman is extra happy this holiday because he just picked up a great present at the airport yesterday...his stepdaughter. She spent the last 2 years posted in Greece with the State Dept. A fairly nice gig but too close to various troubles for her mom to rest easy. At least for the next 6 months she'll be in DC (that actually worries me a tad more the Greece. lol) and then to her next gig in Africa. More anxiety for mom then but for the moment she's a very happy camper.

Cheers all!

[Keith_McClary]

US Christmas lights use more energy than entire countries
December 23, 2015
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')merican household Christmas lights, a favorite holiday tradition, use up more electricity than some poorer countries—such as El Salvador or Ethiopia—do in a year.
Bright lights strung on American trees, rooftops and lawns account for 6.63 billion kilowatt hours of electricity consumption every year, according to a recent blog post by the Center for Global Development.

[Cog]

[Newfie]

A self portrait?

[Cog]

Hardly. I are a high-tech redneck.

[Pops]

Being a graphic designer I thought this was pretty cool.
The NORAD Santa Tracker was started by a typo!
In 1955, Sears in Colorado Springs ran an ad, but the designer typoed the NORAD number instead of Sear's!
The surprised guy answering the phone said he wasn't santa but that he could track him...

I've made lots of typos, none that cool!

http://www.noradsanta.org/

(it also shows the number of presents delivered but don't believe it, it is surely just a model and politically influenced)

[onlooker]

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season. Though I have gathered that for some this time of the season is rather distasteful. Just enjoy every day as best as we can.