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No long winter’s nap for us but as we take time out for the holidays, please enjoy this dazzling Christmas tree—or alternatively, this Yule Log. Happy holidays!

very merry

PfRC would like to extend season’s greetings and salutations to all that have visited. Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. Thanks for stopping by and have yourselves a merry little Christmas time.

tolerance and withdrawal

From the news bureau of Weird Universe comes reports that the United States Air Force has been forced to recall hundreds of tubes of promotional lip balm due to trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol in the hemp oil component of the salve’s ingredients.
Though airmen and family members that were potentially exposed to this reefer madness at an Alaskan base were not at risk of getting even a mild high from this tiny, tiny amount—nor even risked showing up hot a drug-screening, although some argue that lip-balm can become habit-forming and lead to dependency—it would not have been in keeping with the armed forces zero-tolerance policy nor in the spirit, I guess, of the office and service that this give-away was endorsing—the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response coordinator, otherwise known as the installation SAPR.

mister fezziwig

Dangerous Minds shares a holiday tradition that channels a recitation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas (to wit) to be enjoyed by in whatever medium one prefers—though I’d agree that this séance with the venerable narrator Vincent Price ought to be one’s first resort.
It’s been argued that Dickens’ novella created and established the holiday in its received customs—nearly with a single, resonating stroke that elevated the celebration to his current status, but the classic story that gave Christmas and charity new leases (apparently both under attack) was originally envisioned as a pamphlet. The draft whose working title An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child encapsulates Dickens’ motivation and concerns was penned in response to the network of crushing debt, obligation to work and dehumanising competition among employers sprinting towards efficiency. Realising that such a petition would only reach a limited audience (perhaps persuaded by spirits himself), Dickens decided he could possibly affect more social change by telling a story.