Month: November 2006

This is the second in my series. The german handwriting reads:

Warst Du schlimm, dann
kommt oh graus,
flugs Der Krampus
zu dir raus.

The Phrase “Oh graus” seems to be “Oh, Horrors” – what you would say if your were frightened. Much like we see people in horror movies saying “oh god oh god oh god…” something like that. And here, flugs means “fly” in the sense of fleeing or moving quickly.

My shoddy transliteration is:

When you are bad, then
be filled with horrors:
The Krampus will fly
to you directly!

Notice we have only have a birch switch in this card. Also notice that The Krampus seems to almost be in blackface. Another version of santa’s helper “Black Peter”; was often portrayed in blackface or a stereotypical comic black character:

Interesting.

This is my favourite Krampus postcard and the image I have used for past invites and theming.

The German handwriting reads (yes, I deciphered it myself):

Warst nicht brav
drum hoppla-hopp,
Kommt das Krampus
im Galopp.

Which, If my horribly rusty German (and some help from online German dictionaries) can be trusted, translates to:

If you were not well behaved
by being spapdash,
Krampus will come
a-galloping.

Hoppla-hopp translates to “slapdash” or lazy-in-effort, etc. It also comes up as a name for children’s playgrounds. Any German speakers out there care to chime in? “Hoppla!” as an emphatic also means “Whoops!” or “Uh-Oh!”
Whoops! Krampus is a-galloping to take you to Hell, kiddies! Now be good!

You can see Krampus riding black birch branches and carrying his chain. Notice his long tongue and goat horns. He is covered in fur and appears as a satyr-devil. These themes will continue to come up as we go through the cards.

I can’t wait till the day after Thanksgiving.

Christmas season starts today (rather, it started last night with the playing of xmas music) for me!

That’s right. I’ve changed my default pic, switched to a more holiday-like theme, and posted my xmas mix CD to my “fluff” filter list.

Let the festivities begin!

OK!

Here is the Christmas Mix I mentioned the other day. Included in the archive file are graphics for album cover and back [note – images link to huge print-ready .bmp files]:

Every year (this will be the third, “Krampus Nacht Drei”) we throw a Christmas party the first weekend after Krampus Nacht. Krampus is a devil-like character in the Germanic tradition. You see, Saint Nicholas conquered the devil and keeps him around in chains as service. He has the charge to punish the bad little children. If you are good, when you leave out your shoes on the 5th of December Nikolaus will give you fruit, nuts and candy. If you are bad, Krampus will leave you coal. He may even beat you with black birch switches or even put you in his basket and dump you in the river or take you back to hell. So be good, little ones!

The Krampus character is but one of a variety of Saint Nicholas / Sinterklaas / Santa Claus’s helpers in different cultures: There is Black Peter, Knecht Ruprecht, and even some little devils called Krampusse (who would later become our elves who make toys).

Austrians and Germans would send postcards with “Gruß vom Krampus” [Greetings from the Krampus] on them, reminding each other to be good in the face of temptation (oh, and Fröhliche Weihnachten I suppose as well). These cards were red and black and have a standard set of images: Krampus (horns, long tongue, pitchfork, chains, etc), black birch switches, nuts, brooms, baskets.

I have a collection of these images that I have yanked from websites. Look for posts with them in the coming weeks as Christmas approaches.

—

Wenn Böses und Schlimmes
im Sinn Dir liegen,
Solst Du so eine Düte Kriegen!

As a left-leaning socialist-friendly voting democrat, let me outline some two of my seemingly strange positions:

* I eat meat and believe that animals have no rights. I also believe we should treat them humanely, but feel no personal guilt or problem with as-humane-as possible killing, whether it be for food or ‘necessary’ science. Cosmetics testing is an abuse, in my opinion. Also, huge inhumane farming is an abuse as well in my opinion. That said, I eat meat rarely and usually prefer vegetables.

* I support the 2nd amendment and do not find problems with gun ownership. I’d support registration such as cars have and don’t buy the slippery-slope argument against. I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal one way or the other, so I say let the gun nuts have their guns so they’ll just shut up already.

Any other leftists out there who are gun-toting* meat-eaters?

*In theory. I do not (yet) own any firearms.

Ah, my friend, glucosinolate:

You are the root of my horseradish love and the stalk and head of my brassicaceae desire.

I have the oddest craving for Spaghetti-Os with the little hot dog pieces.

Vile and delicious.

So who decided it is OK for workers to wear a football jersey in lieu of a uniform? This weekend in L.A. at Ralph’s (no, I did not write a check for half & half) the checkers and baggers were all wearing various Jerseys. Then at the Seattle airport our ticket clerk was wearing a Jersey. What. The. Fuck. How can I escape this god-damned retard culture? Seriously. I’d like a fucking constitutional amendment against American football fans who play make-believe dress up. Halloween was last month, assholes.

I’ve never been a fan of sports. Growing up My father would watch baseball and boxing and football on holidays. We had one TV and he called the shots. I could watch the odd game, but would be bored quickly.

The culture of following sports just went over my head; I had other things to obsess about like Music, Disney, Medieval Fantasy, Role-playing, Computer Games.

I can still watch the odd game; I quite like baseball, I enjoy footie, I like rugby and Australian rules football. But to go out of my way to watch them (except for world, european cups) is foreign to me.

I also can’t stand the typical American sports fan in his type-cast heterosexuality. I can’t discuss the language of sports, nor would I choose to with those who can. I try to have no judgment, but it is a difficult situation. The ephemeral and relative insignificance of popular professional sports exasperates me. The lack of (in my opinion) cultural value to who is the best team or how the local team is doing removes me from the capability of finding lasting interest.

Perhaps it is because I intellectualize my hobbies and sports lacks intellectualization? I can see the draw of the team-grouping, the us-vs-them aspect. I can understand a history interest perhaps. Getting together with friends on a weekly basis and the camaraderie, yeah I can see that. I fulfill those needs in other ways and don’t need the excuse of a sports team to justify it. (<- a judgement that the typical male needs an excuse to bond/spend time with his fellow male friends, 'cause they afraid of teh gay) To each his own; I'm glad people can enjoy something. I just wish that a cultural phenomenon this prevalent would have more cultural significance. Also, I'm thankful that my close friends are like-minded. I'd hate to have to pretend to be interested in hearing all about the local sport's teams exploits. (Not that I suppose someone like that would make it into my tribe) I still enjoy a nice sports game every now and then, just for the fun of it. No addiction ever formed. Oh, and American Football is boring-as-hell and I still hate the fuck out of it. Bunch of wimps.

Had a good (though tiring) weekend. We did a surgical strike visit to L.A. for my sister’s Birthday shindig at her place in the valley. I played bartender all evening and it was a blast. It’s great to be able to mingle without walking around whilst being everyone’s best friend (as I dispensed the liquor). The party was a huge success and everyone had a blast.

Flight back last night was a pain. We flew into Seattle (bumpy turbulence). We then were on a prop plane from Seattle to Portland through said turbulence — all the way. URP! Then when we got in, there was a windstorm.

We finally got home at 11:00pm and into bed.

I’m going to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. but:

I want to break out the Xmas decorations and start up the Xmas music. I’m in the yule mood and I am secretly overjoyed in seeing the early decorations go up.

Yes, I know this is wrong — I just can’t help myself.

I’ll concentrate on Thanksgiving and Autumn, and keep the Yulejoy under wraps (ho!). But I’m tellin’ you – day after Thanksgiving? I’m having an Xmas orgasm. (Watch out for Egg Nog)