[ExI] xmas songs again

[spike]

As I pointed out last year, if one were to list the songs to which one knows
all the words, many if not most of that list would be christmas songs.  We
already know why: every country and pop singer cuts a christmas album, for
these are a sure money maker.  Then of course the merchants grind them into
our brains against our will for at least two if not three solid months in a
desperate attempt to break even and turn profit for the year by influencing
us to buy quickly in order to escape the maddeningly repetitive melodies.

Try not to think of the words of an random christmas song, right now.  Try
to forget all the words.  OK impossible, never mind.  With that admission, I
was trying not to think of the words of the little drummer boy, finding it
impossible to not imagine some waif rumpa pum pumming, when I ran across the
lyric that explains "...the ox and lamb kept time..."

Wouldn't that totally freak you out to see that?  I would be totally like
that shower scene in Psycho.  How did they keep time?  Did they tap their
hoofs?  Did they sway to the beat?  I can imagine the mother snatching the
babies and fleeing in stark terror into the silent night, wise guys running
in all directions at once, tripping over the christmas ornaments in their
hasty egress from the stable, the shrieking drummer boy hurling his
instrument at the apparently demon-possessed beasts tapping their hoofs in
rhythm before attempting a desperate escape.

Hey its that time of year.  You knew the silliness would start any time now,
ja?  Do let us be as happy as the circumstances allow.  We all have much for
which to be thankful, even those of us who have very recently experienced
personal tragedy, such as our own Dr. Graps (for which we all feel deepest
sympathy).  We are alive, we are (I sincerely hope) healthy, we were born
late enough in history to be doing what you are doing right now, and do
ponder for just a moment the wonder of that activity.  We are not at
immediate risk of violence or life threatening disease, unlike nearly all
our ancestors since humans diverged from chimps.  Because of the analemma,
after tomorrow the sunset will stop getting earlier and will start to swing
later once more, so that we can begin to anticipate the coming glorious new
life of spring and summer, full of new opportunities and fun times, recovery
from this year's setbacks and progress towards the ever promising future.
Onward!

spike