T Time: December 2007

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Ouch

Little did everyone know, I was actually taking up a new hobby. CrackedPot indeed.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

Spend Christmas with Mr. Bean:

And here's the rest of the skit:

Monday, December 24, 2007

Surprise Santa

Instead of the usual milk and cookies, this year surprise Santa with tea and truffles, naturally served from a holiday tea set.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Sugar³ and I have a Christmas tradition of driving around town looking at Christmas lights and then returning home to a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate. But the place where we reside now only has a pathetic handful of Christmas displays, with these lurking about. However, through the magic of the internet, we can enjoy excesses like the one below. Snoopy would be proud, but I'd hate to see their electric bill next month.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

How to untangle Christmas lights

This method has always worked for me.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The teapots are back!

About a week ago, the folks at Blogger tinkered with something in the way Headers (where my lovely green floral tea set resides) are set up, and it resulted in the truncation of my tea set, which was cut off at the knees. Last night, Sugar³ kindly pulled up the Html for my Header and fixed the problem. So now my teapots are whole again! In celebration, here's the same beautiful tea set in lilac and blue.

Update: Blogger apparently received a lot of complaints about the Header change, so they reverted it back to the original way they were doing things. I don't believe this made any difference, as Sugar³ manually corrected the Header yesterday. At any rate, the teapots are back!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Holiday travel in Europe

Tired of traveling to Grandma's house every year for Christmas? Always wanted to tour Europe for the holidays? Well here's your chance. Take a virtual holiday tour of Europe. Click on the link and then click "Choose a Destination." Enjoy!

http://downloads.raileurope.com/holidayCard/06_christmas_card.html

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Bah Humbug

A perennial Christmas favorite, Charles Dickens' serial potboiler, "A Christmas Carol", was first published on December 19, 1843. Not only did it help pay his bills, but it was an instant success, and has spawned countless adaptations throughout the years.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

But wouldn't it get sticky?

I stumbled across this website the other day. It sells giant stuffed animals and features a woman standing in line at an ice cream shop. That struck me as a little odd. Is it really advisable to take a giant stuffed monkey with you everywhere? Then again, I suppose it's cheaper than therapy. And when it gets matted and dirty, you can wash it like this. I would imagine it wouldn't freak out quite so dramatically.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Ghosts of venison past

Why are lighted reindeer so popular? By day they appear skeletal, by night, spectral. I keep expecting the ghost of Marley to stand beside them. Yet they infest almost every neighborhood. Some yards even have little piles of green lights for them to graze upon. Then there's Vlad Deer. Vlad Deer are lighted leaping reindeer who look like they've been impaled on a stake by this guy.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Eccentric astronomer

Danish nobleman turned astronomer Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546. His accurate astronomical observations were later used by his assistant Johannes Kepler to derive the Laws of Planetary Motion. But he was anything but another boring scientist. Brahe wrangled with mathematicians, lost his nose in a duel and apparently kept a pet moose and a dwarf. Even his death is controversial. He may have been poisoned by his famous assistant.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Tie one on

Or not. The clip on tie was invented on December 13, 1928. Although eminently practical for law enforcement officers and very young little boys, clip on ties have somehow become regarded as slightly seedy and a little tacky. Of course, with examples like these, I can see why.

Prefer wrestling with a "proper" tie? Here's instructions on how to become fit to be tied.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Tea and cookies

Now that you've made plenty of cookies for those holiday parties, enjoy these gingerbread cookies that won't pack on the pounds. And while you're decorating your gingerbread creation, don't forget to enjoy a pot of gingerbread tea.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Torment your pet...

...by dressing them up as Santa Claus for Christmas. Does this pooch look the least bit happy? No, it looks humiliated!

Monday, December 10, 2007

The long awaited couch

Sugar³ and I ordered this couch back in August. We wanted it in an oak natural finish (shown) with a navy blue cover (use your imagination). After three months, the retailer finally discovered the manufacturer couldn't get their hands on any oak lumber for some reason and asked us if we would accept, for a discount, a couch in birch instead. So we agreed and two weeks later we received a couch...with a red teak finish, and no futon cover. So back it went. In the meantime, the futon cover wholesaler sent a dark burgundy red cover, and continued to send a red cover with each reorder until the retailer switched to another company. Even then we received a royal blue cover, but by that time, we were really tired of sitting on lawn chairs and accepted the royal blue cover. It helped that the retailer upgraded to a nicer cover at no extra cost, and threw in the dark burgundy red one too. Saturday, our new couch finally arrived, in a natural birch finish with a royal blue cover and an extra dark burgundy cover, nearly five months later! Our backs feel better already.

The arms open to hold remotes and small items and the front conceals drawers underneath. Each end also sports a magazine rack.

Friday, December 7, 2007

"A date which will live in infamy..."

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Overview with pictures and more links here.

FAQ's here.

National Geographic multimedia timeline and map with firsthand accounts and narration here.

Account from USS Arizona survivor, Marine Corporal E.C. Nightingale.

Pictures and sequence of events here.

USS Arizona Memorial here and here.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Longest running holiday special

NBC first aired the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas special on December 6, 1964. Painstakingly filmed in stop motion animation, the program took nearly a year and a half to complete. Like most other Hollywood celebrities, Rudolph and his castmates underwent extensive cosmetic surgery over the years in order to retain their youthful countenances. CBS took over airing Rudolph in 1972.

Here are parts two, three, four and five of Rick Goldschmidt's extensive and definitive histories of everything Rudolph.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Hanukkah hounds

Is this really kosher?

Happy Hanukkah!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Soggy felines

Cats are always so smug and self assured, except when they are wet. CrackedPot stumbled across a website that features Damp Cats. Most of the kittys are amusingly waterlogged,but whoever invented the dishwasher style kitty washer should have their head examined. Poor cat.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Bugs vs. Books

Hmmmm...do you think this was a copy of Metamorphisis?

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Cookies Galore!

Fill your cookie jars with just about every cookie imaginable. Just click on the name of the cookie and the recipe is there! But don't tell this guy, he's fresh out of rehab and is now a fresh produce connoisseur.