Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, December 19, 2014

Happy Friday everyone! Here's your picture of the day.

Well, well, well. We're back to basic blue on blue.

No second shot different enough to show today, so let's just go back a couple of days and look at rain-swollen Malibu Creek which passes under Malibu Canyon Road at Piuma Road.

Had I caught this picture two weeks ago, you would have seen a lot of orange and yellow leaves here, and a pretty dry creek bed. Looks like a tagger was enjoying this scene too at one time. Yes, you don't have to drive too far from urban L.A. to find scenes like this.


CHRISTMAS? BAH HUMBUG! - Part 1

Nast's versions of the American Father Christmas:
The original articulation 

This posting is up late because I was hauled into a meeting (yes I have a job, but this only takes a few minutes to post, and it comes off my coffee break ...).

Parents of small children struggle with advancing the myth that Santa Claus is real knowing that someday, they are going to have to tell those kids that they lied to them all those years.

The way I dealt with it is that if my kids ever asked me directly if Santa was real, I just denied his existence as a figment of the imagination and left it at that. Of course, they'd ask where these surprise toys and candy that showed up Christmas Morning came from (that they did not have to thank anyone for--BIG PLUS!) I'd just tell I didn't see anyone come in, and after a while they stopped asking. Problem of parental lying solved.

Clement Moore's poem said nothing
about a red suit. "He was dressed
all in FUR, from his head to his foot."

Did you like Santa Claus? What about when you figured out he was a favoritist and brown-noser who served the wealthy, when you found out the rich kids got better toys than you... hunh? Am I bitter? But I digress.

My favorite poem about Santa-atheists is Ogden Nash's "The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus." Of course, it turns out badly for our hero Jabez Dawes in the end because, we Scrooges are outnumbered by the Santa-nistas. But so it goes.

I post it here, so that I'll always have a place to find it in the future. If you've never read it, enjoy!

The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus  by Ogden Nash

In Baltimore there lived a boy. He wasn't anybody's joy. Although his name was Jabez Dawes, His character was full of flaws. In school he never led his classes, He hid old ladies' reading glasses, His mouth was open when he chewed, And elbows to the table glued. He stole the milk of hungry kittens, And walked through doors marked NO ADMITTANCE. He said he acted thus because There wasn't any Santa Claus. Another trick that tickled Jabez Was crying 'Boo' at little babies. He brushed his teeth, they said in town, Sideways instead of up and down. Yet people pardoned every sin, And viewed his antics with a grin, Till they were told by Jabez Dawes, 'There isn't any Santa Claus!' Deploring how he did behave, His parents swiftly sought their grave. They hurried through the portals pearly, And Jabez left the funeral early. Like whooping cough, from child to child, He sped to spread the rumor wild: 'Sure as my name is Jabez Dawes There isn't any Santa Claus!' Slunk like a weasel of a marten Through nursery and kindergarten, Whispering low to every tot, 'There isn't any, no there's not!' The children wept all Christmas eve And Jabez chortled up his sleeve. No infant dared hang up his stocking For fear of Jabez' ribald mocking. He sprawled on his untidy bed, Fresh malice dancing in his head, When presently with scalp-a-tingling, Jabez heard a distant jingling; He heard the crunch of sleigh and hoof Crisply alighting on the roof. What good to rise and bar the door? A shower of soot was on the floor. What was beheld by Jabez Dawes? The fireplace full of Santa Claus! Then Jabez fell upon his knees With cries of 'Don't,' and 'Pretty Please.' He howled, 'I don't know where you read it, But anyhow, I never said it!' 'Jabez' replied the angry saint, 'It isn't I, it's you that ain't. Although there is a Santa Claus, There isn't any Jabez Dawes!' Said Jabez then with impudent vim, 'Oh, yes there is, and I am him! Your magic don't scare me, it doesn't' And suddenly he found he wasn't! From grimy feet to grimy locks, Jabez became a Jack-in-the-box, An ugly toy with springs unsprung, Forever sticking out his tongue. The neighbors heard his mournful squeal; They searched for him, but not with zeal. No trace was found of Jabez Dawes, Which led to thunderous applause, And people drank a loving cup And went and hung their stockings up. All you who sneer at Santa Claus, Beware the fate of Jabez Dawes, The saucy boy who mocked the saint. Donner and Blitzen licked off his paint.

Hope you don't have to go to the mall this last weekend before Xmas, but if you do, park valet. Have a great weekend.

Love,
Pops