Christmas Mish Mash

Christmas in Oakmont, PA

Mish Mash being an Algonquin word meaning a calorie laden mixture of dried fruits, cured meat strips and animal fat.

Yeah, I’m playing Balderdash. I have no idea what the etymology of Mish Mash is. But I do know that Monongahela is a Lenape word that means “the banks cave in” or “it has a loose bank”. So, all you cousins up on the hill, be careful up there.

This is just a collection of stuff, thoughts, etc.

First up: there are two things I will never put in my breakfast smoothie- Spinach and beets. These are an abomination.

Second: Joy Womack, the American ballerina who dances for Moscow’s Kremlin Ballet, is now touring China with her company. You can follow Joy’s adventures in China here. I like Joy’s tour videos. I didn’t post all of the ones she did a couple of weeks ago but they are worth watching, especially the one where she does the impression of the Russian flight attendant. Too funny. In addition to her tour videos, Joy vlogs her daily struggles in the company, getting her custom made pointe shoes into a country that has been sanctioned, what happens when one of her partners goes on a binge, learning Swan Lake with her other partner Misha Martinyuk and general ups and downs of being on one day and off the next through no fault of her own.  She supports herself in Russia (because dancers all over the world get paid crap) by selling the Prima Bar. They’re little snack bars for people on the go who have to maintain an optimal weight.

Third: I found this reponse from Adrian Marshall on Quora under the question “Do some movie villains have a point?” It’s about Darth Vader’s motivations. I have to say I am convinced now. The prequels might have sucked been suboptimal but I think this summary shows what George Lucas was trying to do. In other words, the Jedi and the Republic are not entirely innocent. For instance, what do Qui Gon and Obi Wan Kenobi do when they meet Anakin Skywalker?

Let’s see, he was born a slave to a single mother on the desert planet Tatooine.  One day, as for[ce]tune would have it, two Jedi land on his planet.  And not because they abhor slavery or possess some sense of righteousness, but because they think he fulfills THEIR prophecy, they seek to free him.  What do they do with his mother? Well, they left her in a state of forced servitude.

They take him in despite trepidation by the Jedi Council, letting the boy know that he was unwanted from the start.  They forbade him to see his mom and gave him mixed messages of no attachments, but total loyalty to the order.  They feared that he missed and worried about his mother too much.  So what did they do?  Did, at any point in the 10 years between PM and AOC, anyone go and purchase her freedom to I don’t know, set the boy’s mind at ease?  Nope, they left her on a desolate, crime-ridden world, as an effin’ slave!

Sometimes, I get the feeling that the American political parties are playing out this plot…

Lastly, a couple of Jews, one of which is a biblical scholar, tell us all about Christmas. By the way, GoT Academy has some of the best, insightful analysis of the historical background for the Game of Thrones and related topics that you’re going to find on YouTube. Plus, they are irreverent, funny, and BOLD. Check them out.

So, there you go. Christmas *is* pagan.

Origin (From the Oxford English Dictionary)

Late Middle English: from Latin paganus ‘villager, rustic’, from pagus ‘country district’. Latin paganus also meant ‘civilian’, becoming, in Christian Latin, ‘heathen’ (i.e., one not enrolled in the army of Christ).

It sounds so innocuous when you put it that way.

It all started with the Winter Solstice, which, IMHO, is the only reason to celebrate the season. And people who are protesting too loudly that there’s a war on Christmas (which they stole from the pagans anyway) or abstaining from in order to make a religious point that is lost on the rest of us, are missing out on the light, smells, sounds, tastes and other sensory pleasures of the season. The first humans to recognize this time of year were celebrating nature. A natural god is totally cool with saying Happy Solstice.

By the way, jumping on the War on Christmas bandwagon because you think it makes you cool can not mask a mean spirited, Grinchy heart. Just sayin’. Some of us can see right through that to the cold hearted, manipulative narcissist inside.

Chill out, O’Reilly.