Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
December 24, 2004
Merry Christmas

In Germany we do get our presents on Christmas eve. So now here I am – the proud owner of a huge Le Creuset cast iron pan and a Great School of Cooking book from the École de cuisine La Varenne. 

If you happen to pass through Hamburg during the next year or so, please drop by and let me serve you some North German spécialité.

They call Germans Krauts for a reason, but there is much more we serve and, while I am nipping an excellent Bourdaux, let me assure you, we do have some good beer to accompany a solit but delicate meal.

This festivity is said to mark a special guy’s birthday.

I personally do not feel a recurring birthday to be a special event. This is more like a winter solstice festivity and that is most probable where this special date originated from.

Important to me are the teachings this one guy did as a grown up. These teachings have been propagated as important parts of three major religious traditions. Other religious-philosophical traditions do acknowledge, if not the guy or his teachings, then their content as right and valuable.

So please lets try to acknowledge these collective wisdoms of humanity and aspire to keep them in mind any day.

To all of you a merry Christmas and may there be peace on earth.

Comments

Bernhard………… Happy Christmas to you and all you hold dear.
Thanks for the Moon of Alabama.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Dec 24 2004 21:08 utc | 1

Merry Christmas, Bernhard, and thank you for this site. I hope you enjoy your cookware.
Right now I’m making potato croquettes for the first time in years for dinner tomorrow. Where I live, we’re huddled under more than a foot of snow. I’ve developed new muscles shoveling snow the last two days.
Happy Holidays, Whiskey Bar refugees.
May we all, the world over, find peace and justice and (thus) forgiveness in the coming year.

Posted by: fauxreal | Dec 24 2004 21:53 utc | 2

Froehliche Weihnachten ya Bernhard & danke – milad majid wa shukran jazeelan.

Posted by: Sic transit gloria USA | Dec 24 2004 22:35 utc | 3

Joyeux Noël à tous – Merry Christmas to all.
It may be cheesy but it is true: peace and family are better than war and hate. Learn to appreciate and love your parents and/or in-laws, there is, sadly, much worse in the world than having to spend an evening talking with them.

Posted by: Jérôme | Dec 24 2004 23:00 utc | 4

@Faux:
Had to look up potato Croquettes(not much in the food name game)-Mashed potato pancakes like my aunt used to make: and they can be deep-fried. Old Fry-Daddy gets a workout come Monday.
@B:
Don’t burn the town down in your culinary enthusiasm.
@All:
Merry Christmas!

Posted by: FlashHarry | Dec 24 2004 23:44 utc | 5

may all our hearts heal
may we find peace

Posted by: annie | Dec 25 2004 1:02 utc | 6

I must say, after a bottle of Irish Creme, and plenty of good food, Merry Christmas. Bernhard, you are the man. So are you Jerome. Sitting up here in Northern Michigan where the temperature is less than ten degrees, a foot of snow on the ground, the fireplace going and family by my side, what more can I ask for.
The man of all time also said “blessed are the peacemakers.” I wish everyone peace and joy on this December of 2004.

Posted by: jdp | Dec 25 2004 1:30 utc | 7

Don we now our gay apparel [while we still can] and wish you all peace and strength through what lies ahead.

Posted by: biklett | Dec 25 2004 3:31 utc | 8

Merry Christmas, Jérôme, Bernhard, and all fellow barmates–you’ve made this place real, and the reality is truly refreshing.

Posted by: alabama | Dec 25 2004 4:49 utc | 9

herzlichen weihnachtsgruss aus wien !
my GF gave me a swiss knife, the “handy man” model, we sent homemade bakery to some people we know. she made the bakeries and i made the boxes. we went to eat at a chinese restaurant in the city and afterwards, almost unable to move because of a full belly, we went to the afternoon mass (vesper) at the stephansdom. enjoying the sound of the big bell, we congratulated each other with “merry chinese christmas”.
this year there is no snow here. last year there was snow but i was in santiago taking pics of stray dogs in front of the moneda palace and trying to get out of my jet lag at 30 celsius in an almost empty city – people from santiago traditionally go to the seashore or to visit family in the province for christmas and newyear as school ends in the week before christmas.

Posted by: name | Dec 25 2004 5:26 utc | 10

Merry Christmas to Bernhard, Jerome and your families, and to all the other “Moonies”. Here’s something, courtesy of Mr. Stevie Wonder:
Someday at Christmas men won’t be boys / Playing with bombs like kids play with toys / One warm December our hearts will see / A world where men are free
Someday at Christmas there’ll be no wars / When we have learned what Christmas is for / When we have found what life’s really worth / there’ll be peace on earth
Someday all our dreams will come to be / Someday in a world where men are free / Maybe not in time for you and me / But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmas we’ll see a Man / No hungry children, no empty hand / One happy morning people will share / A world where people care
Someday at Christmas there’ll be no tears / All men are equal and no men have fears / One shinning moment my heart ran away / From our world today
Someday all our dreams will come to be / Someday in a world where men are free / Maybe not in time for you and me / But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmas man will not fail / Take hope because your love will prevail / Someday a new world that we can start / With hope in every heart
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmastime

Posted by: kat | Dec 25 2004 5:42 utc | 11

Merry Christmas indeed to all you Moonbats. Not being able to cook my way out of a wet paper bag, I wish good luck and good skill to Bernhard. And I hope everyone who feels stressed out by life feels at least a little serenity.

Posted by: Harrow | Dec 25 2004 6:18 utc | 12

Merry Christmas and much thanks to all here, especially Bernhard and Jerome. (A huge Le Creuset pan, b? Someone loves you very, very much.) We’ll be playing Hearts and Texas Rummy with a gang of loud, uncouth, shifty Midwestern relatives (mine). If you don’t have your own, I suggest you rent. It’s well worth it.
I’m not sure where else to post this, so I’ll put it here. It’s a Slate interview with Adm. Bobby Inman, who – I have been told – was one of the best and the brightest. It’s a very good, if frustratingly brief, interview. (Was anyone else here aware that Donald Rumsfeld planned on running for President in 1980?)
Listen to the Admiral
America’s most experienced intelligence official on Porter Goss, Donald Rumsfeld, and William Casey’s deathbed confessions.
By A.L. Bardach
Posted Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004, at 1:04 PM PT
Here’s the address: http://www.slate.com/id/2111163/

Posted by: Pat | Dec 25 2004 9:18 utc | 13

Merry Christmas to you all and a special thank you to Bernhard and Jérôme for all the work and effort.
And here a story that is a to me a Christmas story, containing the message of peace, love and compassion so often missing today. Interesstingly, it comes from a turkish link.
US families of dead raise 600,000 dollars for Fallujah refugees

Families of US troops killed in the offensive on the Iraqi city of Fallujah are to travel to Jordan next week with 600,000 dollars worth of humanitarian aid for refugees of the attack.
The November assault on Fallujah left 71 US military dead, according to the families, and the Iraqi government said more than 2,000 Iraqis were killed.
“This delegation is a way for me to express my sympathy and support for the Iraqi people,” said Rosa Suarez of Escondido in California.
“The Iraq war took away my son’s life, and it has taken away the lives of so many innocent Iraqis. It is time to stop the killing and to help the children of Iraq,” she added in a statement released by the families.

Posted by: Fran | Dec 25 2004 10:12 utc | 14

Merry Christmas to all you lovely people. MoA has got a certain touch of what Christmas is all about, I think.
b, it is not so far from where I live to Hamburg, and we regularly visit friends there. (So fear not, I have a place to stay when I’m in Hamburg.) You are of course welcome at my humble abode in Westphalia. No Le Creuset pan, though, although I do my very best, kitchen-wise.

Posted by: teuton | Dec 25 2004 11:39 utc | 15

Flash Harry, enjoy your potato pancakes…that’s what I’d call those…my croquettes are a Belgian tradition. you flavor the potato mix with nutmeg, put it through a croquette mold, which is like a playdoh factory gadget on a grown-up scale, coat them with bread crumbs, deep fry, and serve with Belgian endive braised in butter and pepper and nutmeg…which is another reason I haven’t made them for a while, since endive isn’t cheap around here, and none of this is exactly health food.
I’ve been remembering, though, how pleasant it can be to cook and bake, after losing that love for a while.
This year I made pizzellas (cookies you bake on an iron…flavored with anise) and chocolate cookies with almonds and tangerine rind. I’ve been giving them to people for gifts. Otherwise, my gift giving is pretty modest this year, reflecting my budget.
I hope Sint Nikolas will find some financial aid for grad school for me in his bag of goodies.

Posted by: fauxreal | Dec 25 2004 12:36 utc | 16

May the the true feeling of a heartfelt Merry Christmas be extended to all here at the Moon.
You’re a great bunch to hang out with even first thing on Xmas morning.
Peace, Goodwill and Love to you all.

Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 25 2004 14:46 utc | 17

Me above.

Posted by: Juannie | Dec 25 2004 14:47 utc | 18

i wish everyone here – a strong, a hopeful & a combatative new year
moonofalabama et le speakeasy helped me get through this one
toute ma force/amité/tendresse
still steel

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Dec 25 2004 15:55 utc | 19

Going downstairs now to greet my brother and his family, just arrived. Time to revel in the things we’re fighting for.
Love to all here.

Posted by: citizen | Dec 25 2004 16:06 utc | 20

Bought two copies of Savage Nation for my rightwing, former military family members. I know I’m merely assisting reproduction of their worldviews, but at the very least I demonstrate to them my views about the world always include knowledgeable reference to Michael Savage, von Hayek et al. This is the only gesture of reconciliation I can offer my unavoidable xmas guests.
Peace out.

Posted by: slothrop | Dec 25 2004 16:53 utc | 21

All my whipper-snappers have had their big day.
And if even daddy will have to pay,
He’ll love them always, in his own way.
And in the innocence of all their play,
Daddy will notice, if he so may,
All from the computer, they are astray.
And so he shall receive, as if from a fay,
A little more time, to have his say.
…………………………………………………………….
MERRIMENT TO ALL — TAKE A LITTLE AND RUN WITH IT

Posted by: anna missed | Dec 25 2004 21:58 utc | 22

thanks for that one, anna missed.
I forgot to also say thanks to Jerome and Okie and Siun and more at Le Speakeasy. I kind of think of the Moon as the front page of the paper, and Le Speakeasy as the sections inside, rather than separating them.
And here’s some old doggerel for those who enjoy a little misanthropy with their spiked eggnog, one day late:
May all my enemies go to hell.
Noel, noel, noel, noel.

Posted by: fauxreal | Dec 26 2004 15:21 utc | 23

I did a bit of media fasting for the occasion, and was offline 24-25 Dec. peaceful holiday time, noisy undergraduates all gone away on vacation (nice and quiet)… shirtsleeve weather here in Central CA. time to prune eagerly sprouting rosebushes, fix boats and bicycles, sleep in late, call old friends, cook good food.
best wishes to all fellow barflies, from the old WB to the WA and MoA and Speakeasy today.
very special thanks to our hosts — Bernhard (and now Jerome), Okie and Siun and the gang, whose hard work keeps the doors open and the drinks/snacks a-coming.
god rest ye merry, gentlefolk, no matter how dismayed
by war and high chicanery, by folly on parade;
for here you’ll find good company, unforced, unfeigned, unpaid…

and it has been a comfort, and sometimes a joy, to chat with you all. merry xmas, a merry Sunreturn to all you pagans, happy Kwachrisnukah as one wag said, and may our times not get much more interesting.

Posted by: DeAnander | Dec 26 2004 22:15 utc | 24

Just returned from a drive to Ohio and Indiana…buried in snow, and roads not cleared on the way out on 12/23…I was one of thousands whose plans were disrupted and who were greatly inconvenienced.
But the unexpected and unwelcome disruption left me a little time to reflect. I still have my health and general well-being, I can pay the rent and such, and generally am free to make my own choices in life. Much for which to be thankful. May you all know much for which to be thankful in the coming year, and especially Jerome and Berhnard. Thanks for keeping this site open – it really is wonderful.

Posted by: maxcrat | Dec 27 2004 2:57 utc | 25

Peace. My mantra for 2005: Find it and/or create it whenever and wherever you can.

Posted by: beq | Dec 27 2004 3:05 utc | 26

Well, a somewhat belated Merry Christmas to you all: I’m afraid I checked out on Christmas Eve and have just returned to the electronic world this evening. My physical reading list has now swelled to fill nearly three feet, so I’ll be in the corner chomping energetically through books like a good little bookworm.
I’m not sure I’ve recovered sufficiently from a slightly too Irish Christmas Day to have a drink with them! In any case, the choice of wine to accompany paper and ink is probably too difficult a problem for my tired palate.
Before I disappear under the stack, a heartfelt thank-you to Bernhard, Jerome and all the regulars for the mind expanding discourse and for a site where I worry about the construction of even this sort of post!

Posted by: Colman | Dec 29 2004 2:49 utc | 27

Hello,
I am German as well. I used to play ‘Texas Rummy’ as a kid and recently was asked how to play the game. Can you provide me the directions via email?
Thank you..!!

Posted by: Kelly Reisenauer | Nov 4 2006 2:44 utc | 28