Mad Men

In the era of Mad Men, Madison Avenue was saturated with advertising agencies. One such had as a client a Japanese auto manufacturer. One Friday afternoon as Happy Hour beckoned they received an urgent message from Tokyo and the CEO called his creative staff to a meeting. It seemed the client had designed a new model and they wanted a "name" for it  - and they wanted it by Monday morning Tokyo time. A voice from the rear called out "DATSUN?".......Happy New Year!
tjs

I'm The Greatest!

The caption is a quote (repeated often) by Muhammad Ali who left us in 2016 at age 74 after battling Parkinsons Disease and various pugilists in the boxing ring. He was a colorful and controversial athlete. He was also a poet spouting "float like a butterfly - sting like a bee!" Some years ago a friend was in Manhattan for March Madness and was lobby hopping and encountered Ali in his hotel lobby. Ali was housed in the penthouse and my friend squeezed on the elevator with him to witness a constant line of patter from the champ. After reaching penthouse level my friend begged Ali to ride down again and keep the moment alive. Said the champ "Brother, when I reach the top I ain't never going down again."
tjs

The Twelve Days

You know that inflation is under control when the cost of sending twelve days of gifts to your true love is only 1% higher than a year ago i.e. $44,002 including shipping. It seems that partridges became plentiful but there was a shortage of turtle doves. There was no change in the prices of swans, calling birds, geese or French hens. But pipers and drummers got an increase  - they must have been in the union. Lords are still leaping if they are not sleeping in the back benches of Parliament. Twelve days later you will get the bill and it will certainly be an Epiphany!
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/business/economy/cost-12-days-christmas.html

Pole Dancing

When I worked in NYC in the late 1970s I rode the Lexington Ave. subway and the only quadripeds I shared a ride with were mostly comfort dogs for the afflicted. But recently on a 3AM ride into Queens on the N line there was witnessed a rat climbing up and down a pole doing a "pole dance" - this was copied on video by a brave fellow passenger. But to allay your concern I have been assured that the new extension of the Second Avenue subway, soon to open on 1/1/2017, is currently rat free, at least until the first passengers arrive.
tjs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYUBo2FnRr8&app=desktop

O, Canada!

Montreal is celebrating its 375th anniversary and some folks had an idea to have a Christmas tree taller than that at Rockefeller Center which their research told them the average height was 74 feet. So they duly found a 78 footer in Ontario that was amazing. But in November they learned that the 2016 tree in Manhattan would be a 94 foot Norway spruce. Undeterred they scrambled to find a balsam fir in Quebec but on arrival it only measured 88 feet, was slightly misshapen and had a flat top. A tree only Charlie Brown could love. But the citizens are coming around to appreciate this "naughty fir". And the Rockefeller tree is gorgeous.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/world/canada/in-montreal-an-ungainly-and-unloved-christmas-tree.html?src=me&_r=0

On Dasher, On Dancer etc

Arctic reindeer are getting smaller due to climate change having lost 12% of their body weight over a sixteen year period. Because there is more rain than snow their lichen food gets encased in ice. They will need more than Rudolph to help pull Santa's sleigh. Climate change deniers take note.
P.S. Can you name all eight of Santa's deer?
tjs

Christmas in Catalonia

Please excuse the indelicate material appearing in the press during the Christmas season. But the Spaniards in Catalonia (think Barcelona) have a peculiar practice of depicting Christmas figurines in a squatting or crouching position. They are called "caganers" which translates to "poopers" and they are placed among the characters in a Nativity scene. They say it is an irreverent tradition harking back to a time when human waste was used to fertilize the fields. Just wanted to clarify that the aroma emanating from the stable scene may not come from the animals.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/world/what-in-the-world/caught-with-your-pants-down-must-be-christmas-in-catalonia.html?src=me&_r=0