More info on what's happening in Iran right now: BBC

There are also links on that page to background information about Iran and the current regime, for those interested. I wish there was an American news agency that catered to adults who care about the world around them.

We're not done yet.

(More info here as well.)

Azadi barayeh Iran!

Does Baltimore have a foot left, after shooting themselves so many times? Ten penalties for over 100 yards, including two cheap-shot personal fouls. Two touchdowns and what could have been a game-winning pick, among other things, dropped or negated by penalties. I can't wait to hear all the bitching from the Bawlmer referee conspiracy crowd.

The Steelers D evaporated during the third quarter, only to make something of an old-time Steel Curtain showing in the fourth. Ike Taylor had a sack and a fumble recovery! Big Ben surpassed 4,000 passing yards for the season, the first Steeler QB ever to do so! And Reed shoved a kick returner out of bounds! IT'S A FESTIVUS MIRACLE.

So, what's up with the offense converting reliably on third and long, and failing hard on third and short? Well, I think I know part of the reason: Arians calling pass plays on like 94% of third downs, usually from shotgun. Shotgun, on third and one! Brilliant, asshole. They'll never see it coming. You have Big Ben in the pocket, not Kordell Stewart. More play-actions and sneaks, damn it!

Oh well, back to packing...

Boxing Day in Britain was originally a day when servants carried boxes around to collect bonuses from their employees; more recently, a day when holiday gifts are given to service people.
***

Boxing Day/St. Stephen/Goddess month of Hestia commences

The custom of wren hunting was once widely observed on this day. The tiny bird, whose slaughter was prohibited at other times of the year, was imprisoned in a lantern or a wren house, then solemnly paraded around the village, hung on a holly branch and borne to its funeral by the "droluns" or wren boys.

***

Dinner was very very late last night-- almost 11 pm. Turkey went in way too late. Everything was excellent today, though!

At Christmas we banquet the rich with the poore,
Who then (but the miser) but openeth his doore?

The first Christmas tree was described in 1605 by a visitor to Strasbourg, who wrote: "For Christmas they have fir-trees in their rooms, all decorated with paper roses, apples, sugar god and wafers".

You are supposed to make a wish when you stir a plum pudding.

In the Middle Ages, the traditional roast boar served at Christmas had rosemary in its ears to represent the returning summer, and a piece of fruit in its mouth to represent the sun at the darkest time of the year.

Boar's head with mustard was the most popular traditional Christmas dish, but it didn't survive the efforts fo the Puritans to repress Christmas. Mince-pie and plum pudding are traditional dishes which still are eaten. One delicacy considered indispensable in early times - furmante (also known as frumenty or furmety) -- is no longer around. It was a concoction of hulled and soaked wheat, "tempered" with almond milk and egg yolks, with sugar added.

Mistletoe was revered by the Druids as a cure for many ailments. Although some parts of the plant are poisonous, modern science has found that it also has properties that can relieve nerve diseases.

Goose is eaten at Christmas-time in France. It is believed that a goose was there to welcome the Three Wise Men.

The Romans called this day, whent he sun was weakest by their calendar, Dies Natalis Invicti Solis -- Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.

Blindman's bluff is a traditional Christmas-time game.

In Scandinavia, it is said that Christmas gifts come from gnomes who live in the attics of houses all year round.

It is a Dutch custom to go to great lengths to disguise Christmas presents, people will go so far as to wrap a package, then coat it with dough and bake it in the overn to make it look like a bread.

Card-playing used to be a Christmas custom; people who otherwise never played would do so at Christmas-time. Sir Roger de Coverley would send "a string of hog's pudding and a pack of cards" to every poor family in his parish.

---------------------

My sister got me a gift. She dropped it offf Wednesday, after I cancelled plans to swing by and pick it up, and called last night to see if I had opened it yet. She was surprised I hadn't, but told me to let her know what I thought of it when I did.

So this morning I get up and open the bag. A bunch of Perlier's La Voglia Matta body lotions and cremes (two huge bottles, tiny little bottles, two little tubes! Cherry, vanilla, cherry and chcolate, chocolate!),handcreme (wisteria) a lip gloss, a bottle of Destiny lotion and body wash, and a wallet. It is purple. I won't be able to miss it.

I picked up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for David. Which made him exasperated because we weren't supposed to get each other anything this year. XD

God bless the master of this house,
The mistresss bless also
And all the little children
That round the table go;
And all your kin an dkinsmen
That dwell both far and near
I wish you a merry Christmas,
and a happy new year.

In the Middle Ages, a carol was not a song but a ring dance, danced by the family at Christmas time around the crib of a baby.

Some believe that on Christmas Eve: Animals have the gift of speech, cattle bow to the East, bees hum the 100th Psalm in their hives.

The Yule log is an emblem of good luck. It should be only half-burnt, the remainder kept to light the new log on the next Christmas Eve. It is back luck if a squinty of barefoot person, or a flat-footed woman, enters the house while the fire is burning.

----- ---------------------------

I made chocolate chip cookies tonight. The last load of my laundry is in the dryer. Dinner, because we were both finishing up housework and/or last-minute chasing, was macaroni and cheese and ham sandwiches. David bought three hams (they were on sale); he's also making a turkey tomorrow, and right now he's peeling apples for an apple-raisin pie.

The glitterati I ordered from Vermont Country Store hasn't arrived. I'm going to have to email them. Bugger.

"Our sailing men finally come to terms with their feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Mary Ann shares illicit delights with... Mrs. Howell."

We closed on the house today, and it only took like 20 minutes. The former owner was pretty cool, and the guy who led us through all the paperwork signing had a nice sarcastic sense of humor about it.

We own a house. We own a house!! *cavort, prance, skip*

Also, my guess as to Tomlin's rationale for the onside kick was dead on. Go me...?

Holy. Shit.

Thanks to yet another lead-destroying fourth quarter meltdown, the Steelers found themselves down six points with 2:00 to play. The game came down to one pass, as time ran out. Ben scrambled out of the pocket and let fly. With 0:00 on the clock, Mike Wallace caught it for a TD, making a tremendous effort to keep his feet in bounds, and the extra point put the Steelers on top. Big Ben has a record passing day with a monstrous 503 yards, and this marks the first time in NFL history that a game ended with a final score of 37-36.

All from the team that got their asses handed to them by CLEVELAND last week. That's my team!

The announcers expressed surprise at Tomlin's late onside kick, but I think I understand where he was going with it. He knew our D wouldn't be able to make a stand. A Packers TD was inevitable. If the attempt failed (which it did), better to spot the Packers yardage and get the ball back with more time left on the clock. Not saying it was a great call, but I think that's what was going through his head.

At any rate, the Steelers playoff hopes are not totally dead yet. Just about every team we needed to lose, did lose. Who would've thunk it?

Oh well. Here's my Xmas wish list for the Steelers:

1) Either train Jeff Reed's ass off, or go shopping for a new kicker. They need someone who can hit the end zone, and who isn't afraid to make a block now and then.
2) Send William Gay packing, even if they only get a moldy potato for him. Upgrading the rest of the secondary wouldn't hurt either.
3) Chris Johnson or Drew Brees on the cover of Madden '11, so that Polamalu can start again.
4) A rush-intensive offense. While it's cool to see Big Ben throwing for zillions of yards a game, it's not Steeler football. Better to be so good with rushing and passing that the other defense has to stay on its toes with us.

Ray's mom died very early this morning. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to various community projects in the area which she lived. I'll definitely chip in for that.

"Hey guys! Let's make a branded URL shortener and not actually check what URLs people shorten with it! There's no way this could possibly blow up in our faces!"

::checks watch:: ...and, fail.

From the article: "GOP.am includes a toolbar at the top of the screen that follows users as they click through to see whatever pages the links go to. It also sports an animation of RNC chairman Michael Steele walking around on the lower right as if he’s showing off the website — particularly awkward when that website is the alt.com bondage site."

Minna's first (unofficial) law of web development: If you give end-users a chance to behave like malicious jackasses for the lulz, end-users will behave like malicious jackasses for the lulz.

The Red Death finally strikes.

The last couple episodes show the corrupted attomons going berserk, and the most recent episode is really graphic. Well-done, but graphic.

****
On a lighter note, cards went out in the mail today. Go me -- I was productive!