Tidings (9)

Some festive fingering courtesy of Ms Luna Lee and her mighty gayageum:  

As is the custom here, posting will be intermittent over the holidays and readers are advised to subscribe to the blog feed, which will alert you to anything new as and when it materialises. Thanks for over a million visits this year and thousands of comments, many of which prompted discussions that are much more interesting than the actual posts. And particular thanks to all those who’ve made PayPal donations to keep this rickety barge above water. Ditto those who’ve done shopping via the Amazon UK widget, top right, or via this Amazon US link, which results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you. It’s what keeps this place here and is much appreciated. Curious newcomers and those with nothing better to do are welcome to rummage through the reheated series.

To you and yours, a very good one. 

Comments

[R.Sherman]

Merry Christmas to you and yours, David!

[Hanzo]

.... and a good one to you and yours also David. Thanks for a fun site.

[Captain Nemo]

To you and yours, a very good one.

Thank you and likewise, David.

[XRay]

David, you deserve every one of those visits and many more as well. Your writing is always perspicacious, provocative, and thought provoking.

Cheers and have a great Christmas!

[RY]

Merry Christmas to you and yours, David.
Hope you have a really lovely Christmas.

[brinster]

Merry Christmas to you and yours David. You do valuable work. Thank you.

[[+]]

Have a great Christmas and New Year, David. Thanks for some great blogging. Especially enjoyed this one:

http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2015/08/diary-of-a-hunter-gatherer.html

[sk60]

Happy holidays to our host and his readers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDZu04v7_hc

[Jeff Guinn]

What everyone else said.

Is there any chance of an Amazon Germany link?

[David]

Is there any chance of an Amazon Germany link?

Heh. I’ll add it to the list of New Year chores. Of course then the Canadians will feel left out…

[Liz]

Right back at ya. :-)

[mike fowle]

Although I visit most days, I rarely comment as the standard is so high I don't want to show myself up. But can I say thank you for the enormous amount of pleasure you've brought. Happy Christmas.

[Watcher In The Dark]

Have a diverse Winterval, and if you can't then get into the spirit of the real thing and have a very happy Christmas and wonderful New Year

[David]

I rarely comment as the standard is so high

Heh. Opinions vary. But as a general rule, I think the more people de-lurk and comment, the more fun it is. For me, the point of this place is to start a discussion. And to exchange news stories involving aggressive flatulence, obviously.

[JuliaM]

Have a great Christmas, and here's to you and yours in 2016!

[bilbaoboy]

David

Thank you, not only for the entertainment, but also for subjecting yourself to some pretty dire material to select the 'best' for us.

It is an education that you bring. Just think, if it wasn't for you, I might have been a feminist!

My best wishes for the holiday season for you and yours and may your baubles shine brightly and free you from the dangers of warble gloaming and the Moonbat.

[Joan]

Happy holidays to our host and all his regulars.

[David]

and all his regulars.

See, now you’ve made the place sound like a whorehouse.

[Joan]

:-)

[Steve]

See, now you’ve made the place sound like a whorehouse.

Then what's with the cover charge to get in?

[David]

Then what’s with the cover charge to get in?

It’s to cover the emotional wear and tear. And isn’t it time you bought another $50 beer?

[Cambias]

May you have a merry Christmas, and a new year frustratingly devoid of idiocy to post about.

[Geezer]

At the risk of stating the obvious: Miss Lee is not only a talented musician, but a cutie to boot. I also enjoy the song-appropriate costumes she wears.

Thanks for the entertainment, David. I put a ha'penny in your hat.

Happy Christmas to all.

[Quint&Jessel, Sea of Azof, Bly, UK]

Merry Christmas and Happy Festivus! Let us know when you plan to start The Airing of Grievances.

[R. Sherman]

Loreena McKinnett, Emmanuel.

[Jon Hants]

Have a great Christmas and New Year David. Thanks for all your hard work with your blog.

[John D]

"Spare a thought for people who read The Guardian this Christmas."

https://twitter.com/kristiancarter/status/679715837280915456

[David]

Spare a thought for people who read The Guardian this Christmas.

As the condition is self-inflicted and done largely to signal status, i.e., their imagined superiority over the likes of thee and me, sympathy would be asking a little too much.

[dirk]

Just wondering, can anyone explain why feminist writers are always complaining about people refusing to use "their pronouns" when they meet?

When you meet someone for the first time there is absolutely no reason to be using gendered pronouns in English. The second person pronoun is common to both genders. (Whoops! I should say all of the many genders). In what situation would you meet a stranger and start saying "He" and "she" about them? Are they deluded or just making it up?

[RY]

@ dirk

I can think of two possible scenarios that might throw up this problem.
One is a feminist writer meeting someone new when a third person is also present. And the new person using the "wrong" pronoun while referring to said feminist writer to the third party.
The other is that it might be that the feminist writer could object to a new person they meet using gendered nouns about other people in their initial conversation.
Thus displaying use of language that would be deemed insensitive.
Sorry if that is not particularly helpful.

[kvd]

Just wondering why your post titled "Some festive fingering courtesy of Ms Luna Lee and her mighty gayageum" shows up on my screen with that lady reciting her poem beginning "The first time I fucked someone with the lights on"?

Is this a feature or a bug? It's just that, while the title remains appropriate, the outcome is a little disconcerting.

[David]

More seasonal cheer from our betters at the Guardian.

Ho ho ho.

[Theophrastus]

Thank you, David, for all your posts on this blog in 2015, which are always beautifully crafted. A very MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours, including Chris and his.

And thank you to all your commenters. My top three this year have been...at No 3 Joan, at No.2 JuliaM and at No 1...*drumroll*...Steve. That said, R Sherman and Watcher in the Dark certainly deserve honourable mentions.

[Chris]

Thankyou Theophrastus, for your kind wishes - which I of course reciprocate.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas.

Recently David and I jointly and simultaneously acknowledged the 24th anniversary of our co-habitation, and as a man exposed to such an unending cornucopia of domestic bliss, I am very grateful to David's internet biker gang, since the time he spends arguing with all of you provides me with some relief from his gentle but persistent nagging.

I consider that any time he spends with you guys is not just a valuable public good, but also means that I get temporary respite from
"You are NOT having a quad bike" or
"Must you keep your crampons in the bedroom?" or
"Why is there 30 metres of surgical tubing in the back of the truck?"

So God Bless you, everyone and keep up the good work.

[Theophrastus]

Chris
24 years is impressive and heartening. So many congratulations. But -- and I'll whisper it quietly, so David doesn't hear -- that quad bike is not a good idea.
And God bless you, too.

[Dom]

Chris, at first I thought a "crampon" was some gay type of tampon. Imagine my surprise when I looked it up.

Merry Christmas to both you and David, and everyone else who comments here. Keep up the good work. I never miss a day's reading.

[wtp]

Merry Christmas, everyone but especially our host and equally better half ;). From sunny Ft. Liquordale and 83 F.

[Hal]

"You are NOT having a quad bike"

Quad???

Oh, no, no.

Go for a nice three wheeler.

[[+]]

More seasonal cheer from our betters at the Guardian.

Don't forget Salon...

https://twitter.com/tomgara/status/680099711991332864

Merry Christmas y'all.

[Hal]

'Morning, David, and if I've gotten the Amazon link to work correctly, you're scheduled to be getting whatever the bonus for the buying of;

A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Reexamined as a Grotesque, Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations,

Colors Insulting to Nature: A Novel,

Caligula for President: Better American Living Through Tyranny

and

Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling American Style

Oh, and also picked up the second season DVD of Vicious.

[Mf]

Merry Christmas, David. Thanks for some great reads. I've left something in your stocking.

[dicentra]

Twenty-four years?

That's remarkable long for any couple: married, hetero, or not so much.

Mazel Tov!

[David]

Morning, all.

I gather Milo has been upsetting feminists with The Great Triggering of 2015.

[David]

And apparently Shoe Jenga is now a thing.

[R. Sherman]

Happy Boxing Day, David.

[mojo]

Tricycles inherently unstable, better if 2 wheels in front.

Just sayin.

[Henry]

At the risk of stating the obvious: Miss Lee is not only a talented musician, but a cutie to boot

Indeed, a cutie to bootie. I was going to drop that into the conversation, myself, but then realised it was objectification.

Congrats on the 24 years :)

[dw]

"Police said the driver told them he was trying to travel through time."

http://komonews.com/news/offbeat/man-trying-to-time-travel-plows-car-into-florida-businesses-police-say

[Geezer]

realised it was objectification

I suspect (I could be wrong) that most cuties rather enjoy being so described. It's the uglies who call it "objectification."

[Watcher In The Dark]

As we lurch towards the future (well, 2016) not everyone loves our modern lifestyle. Or rather, the hippies are back and they are rebelling!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/techno-skeptics-objection-growing-louder/2015/12/26/e83cf658-617a-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Or rather, the hippies are back and they are rebelling!

They are not so much rebelling as they are revolting.

[Hal]

. . .not everyone loves our modern lifestyle . . .

Meh.

Quite correctly, no one loves hipsters or anyone else fantasizing that The New Shiny Toy is a substitute for being an adult.

At some point, somewhere online, I read of someone complaining about the horrible new practice that people were doing that alienated them, made them lose track of time, they would get lost in obscure fantasies, the increasing occurrences were just horrible, and something must be done about it!!!!!

The specific complaint was sometime in the (1100s, 1300s, 1400s???) about the spread of that newfangled thing called reading.

Reading is perfectly fine. Using some recent and very useful tool is fine. Being a hipster and refusing to have a clue is the problem; A frequent gibe is that on Facebook, we’re not the customers, we’re the merchandise. Or to put it another way: If the service is free, you’re the product.

Hipsters are certainly revolting, but then they're the ones described to when the article does totally screw up what is being referred to by claiming that "We" are . . .

We’re constantly distracted. We walk around with our eyes cast down upon our devices. We’re rarely fully present anywhere. . . . .

We haven’t quite learned how to stop ourselves from texting and driving; many of us are tempted to tap out one more letter even if we’re going 75 on the highway.

No, we bloody well do nothing of the sort. A comment of mine a bit back, is that no, I do not merely have a cell phone, I own a cell phone, and I have a life.

Hipsters are the ones that claim that the cell phone, the narcisstick, the internet, are all required, that twitter must be considered a requirement that everyone take part in and therefore Must be subsidised, and who then kill themselves off that way; San Diego man 'plummeted to his death while distracted by his phone'

The internet is an extremely useful tool . . . and will remain only a tool. Any attempt to claim Duh Internet to be a "lifestyle" is an example of failure, where the person remains responsible for the use of the tool . . . . .