Monthly Archives: December 2009

A Special Xmas Edition of WTF Wordless Wednesday: Rudolf the Transvestite Reindeer

In the display at our local library for December are dolls, among which is this particularly creepy one:

Rudolf1

My wife says it looks like the Infant Jesus of Prague.

To me, though, it’s this profile photo that I find most disturbing:

Rudolf2

It’s as if he’s either saying, “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?”, which is just wrong on so many levels when you think of to whom he might be asking this, or “I feel pretty, I feel pretty, Oh, so pretty, I feel pretty, and witty and gay.” Again, for all my homosexual friends, all two of you, I just want to say it’s not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, and, digging myself out of hole I just dug myself into with the both of you, it’s not to say that all transvestites are gay as Eddie Izzard claims.

And for those of my friends who are hiding their homosexuality from family and friends..make this Christmas bright and day, come on out for Christmas day.

This is part of the 2nd Annual Christmas Humor Carnival over at Humorbloggers dot com. with apologies to Julia D. of Homemade Hilarity with not presenting this gift to her for Christmas, but hey, I did provide a link to your blog. <– Really, check her blog out, she got some weird-ass crafts over there that she finds via the Interwebs including some particular, and unlike me, she doesn't take the Christ out of Christmas, in fact, she keeps him in it in…um…well…creative ways, shall we say?

Grateful for what online friends have given me, but not necessarily for what I’ve given them

For this week’s Sleeping With Bread post (click on the badge at right for more information about the meme), I’m going to cut right to the chase.

For what am I most grateful this past week?

Online friends and acquaintances, namely three people (or groups) in particular:

1. Traci Davis of Tan Yer Hide and Tone It  Too: Back before the start of November, she challenged me to a 90-day challenge through Team Beachbody. I decided to join and then promptly almost at the very start of the month came down with the flu for the next few weeks. I never got back on the bus, or in words Traci might understand better, on the horse. However, Traci hasn’t gotten off the bus — or the horse, or my case for that matter. Last week she sent me a message on Facebook, asking me how I was doing with my plan. Not well, Traci,  not well. However, because of your perseverance, coach, I am getting back on the bus, horse and my case in the near future. Each year our landlord gives us $100 back, what he calls a “heat rebate.” With that money, we’re getting the membership to help us through the winter months.

2. Bee of Bee’s Musings and Nooter the Dog: Last year Bee began a Secret Santa among bloggers, where the gifts given away were virtual gag gifts. This year I participated in it on my blog Unfinished Rambler and gave a gift to Kevin of Always Home and Uncool, while receiving a gift from Nooter. The gift I gave can be found here; the gift I received, here. Thanks, Bee and Nooter, for reminding me of the joy of the season when for others it can be depressing.

I also want to thank Humorbloggers Dot Com for the same thing: reminding me of the joy of the season with its Second Annual Christmas Humor Carnival.

3. Tara Lamont Eastman of Uphill Idealist: I became acquainted with Tara through Sleeping with Bread. She keeps tagging me in notes on Facebook to remind me about the meme and is one of the reasons I’m writing this post at 2 in the morning (and typing it in at quarter of 4 in the morning).  Thanks, Tara.

For what am I least grateful this past week?

Again, online friends and acquaintances, or specifically the way I’ve let a few of them down, primarily, though, two:

1. Mark A. Rayner, author of the blog The Skwib and the book Marvellous Hairy, of which he sent me a free copy and I told him I’d review by the end of the year. When he contacted me on Facebook last month, I told him I’d review the book by the end of the year.

2. Louisiana Alba, author of the blog Swimanog and the book Uncorrected Proof, who sent me a free copy of her book and whom I also told I’d review her book by the end of the year.

Starting later today, I hope to begin to make good on those promises as I’ll start to read Mark’s book– and this weekend, I’ll begin Louisiana’ s book, with the goal of finishing her book by Dec. 31. I’ll let you know what I think of both of them once I’m finished with them.

Sharing The Only True Currency In This Bankrupt World With Uncool Kevin

Well, I said yesterday that I was giving my family “nuttin’” for Christmas. However, that doesn’t mean I’m getting nuttin’ for everybody, especially since I got something special for Kevin McBeaver of the blog Always Home and Uncool as part of Bee of the blog Bee’s Musings’ Secret Santa event.

Plus, bonus, it didn’t cost me a dime so fit in with my going along with Buy Nothing Christmas too (well, at least in theory, going along with it as I already bought something for The Wife, my nephew and aunt…ahem).

So for you, Kevin, because I was sick of looking at your sad face on your header and thought perhaps I and other readers of your blog might like to look at the sad face of Phillip Seymour Hoffman instead, I present you with two new headers:

Always Home and Uncool new header

And/Or

Always Home and Uncool new header alternate

What I’ve Read So Far For The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge

I joined Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise with her Agatha Christie Reading Challenge back in February of this year. I thought it would be good, since it’s close to the end of the year and I’m unlikely to read any more of Christie’s novels until after the beginning of the new year, to take a look back at…

What I’ve Read So Far

  1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie 5/5
  2. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie 3/5
  3. Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie 4/5
  4. The Man in The Brown Suit by Agatha Christie 3/5
  5. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie 4/5
  6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie 5/5
  7. The Big Four by Agatha Christie by Agatha Christie 4/5
  8. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie 3/5
  9. The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie 3/5
  10. The Murder at The Vicarage by Agatha Christie 5/5
  11. Murder at Hazelmoor by Agatha Christie 3/5
  12. Peril at End House by Agatha Christie 3/5
  13. Thirteen at Dinner by Agatha Christie 4/5
  14. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 5/5
  15. The Boomerang Clue by Agatha Christie 3/5
  16. Murder in Three Acts by Agatha Christie 4/5
  17. Death in The Air by Agatha Christie 4/5
  18. Murder In Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie 3/5
  19. Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie 4/5
  20. Poirot Loses A Client (aka Dumb Witness) by Agatha Christie 4/5
  21. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie 3/5

My rating system:

5- Classic, must read
4- Worth owning a copy
3- Worth picking up at library
2- Worth skimming at the bookstore
1- Worth being a doorstop

I did review The Secret Adversary, but somehow copied over it with a previous review and so lost the review. As for the last one, I just haven’t had the energy to write one because to be honest, I wasn’t that thrilled with it. I thought I would be with it being one of the “classic” Christie novels, but I knew who committed the murder very early in the book, so it lost the lustre that I thought it had from when I had read it years ago.

Even though I gave it a 4 out of 5, probably my favorite out of the Christie novels I’ve read this year was The Big Four because of the international intrigue laced throughout it. It reminded me a little of the Doc Savage novels. I read many of the Kenneth Robeson/Lester Dent novels as a preteen/teen and that Christie novel had the same general feel as those, with a large conspiracy at the center of the story.

My second favorite probably would have to be Murder on the Orient Express, because even though I knew who did it (because I had read the book years ago and watched the movie), I liked the premise. I won’t tell you what it is. Otherwise, I’d give away the whole shebang, but let me just say that it’s worth it.

The ones which I rated 5 out of 5 were rated either because they were the first (Styles, obviously, and Vicarage, being the first Miss Marple) or because the story was recognized as a twist in the genre (Ackroyd).

Out of all the books, the ones I enjoy the most are those with Hercule Poirot. He is my favorite detective, with  Tommy and Tuppence being my last favorite, and Miss Marple falling somewhere in between, although definitely closer to Poirot than the Bobbsey twins (oh, wait, I mean, Tommy and Tuppence).

I’ll admit only 21 books in, I’m losing a little bit of steam. However, I’ll still persevere because I am enjoying them and seeing how Christie develops her characters, especially Poirot. One thing I can say is that her writing is getting better as she goes, so I look forward to next year reading more of her work.

I’ll leave you with a link to a video by the Russian band Agata Kristi that I first referenced in a post back in September during Agatha Christie Week celebrating Christie’s birthday: