smoky Forum Posts (9,412)

RE: HO HO HO ITS DECEMBER

I just found out something interesting about this country Switzerland!

Father Christmas does NOT come visiting on Christmas Eve with his bag of gifts (like in SA)...... Here, he comes to the village on the 6th December - that was yesterday - and he sits in the square there and hands out bags of nuts and fruits to the little children (Sammischlaus stands in the background holding the reigns of the donkeys)

On Christmas Eve the children receive their presents from their parents (no lies about the fat man who comes down the chimney!)
When I was a kid we really could not understand that silly story!

In South Africa it is the middle of Summer and HOT! so flaming fruit pudding is not eaten by everybody, as its just an old custom brought over there by the English Settlers in 1652. So mostly everyone goes to the beaches or lakes and bbq`s in the sun.

The old fashioned type of Christmas belongs here in the snowy lands, I think...... Reindeer, Steaming puddings, roasted nuts, Snowmen .....

RE: if this doesn't make you laugh then...

And this is why, Vyoleta, jokes from different countries are hard to understand .... different senses of humour.

I told a South African joke to a Swiss and he looked horrified!

Okay, here`s my Santa joke - and if it horrifies you, then just say so, ok?

(It`s actually an Irish joke)

The mean old Dad goes outside the back door and fires off his shotgun. He comes inside and tells the children that Santa just committed suicide. (Ok, that`s a "sick" joke)

RE: if this doesn't make you laugh then...

Yeah, it was not funny, I was trying to be polite.....

But the spelling mistake post and the following one, made me laugh.

So .... let`s tell Father Christmas jokes instead?

Anyone know a good Father Christmas joke? Before I post mine?

A MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE HERE!

Ahh, some news!

You can read the first 3 chapters now ...... on the "They call me Nightwalker" R.v.d.Weide page on Facebook.

So who are you not buying a Christmas gift for this year?

hahaaaa ... evil girl KemChi!

Why? You got children? Their Gwanny and Gwanpa are not getting a Christmas card this year?....... or are they not deserving?

So who are you not buying a Christmas gift for this year?

So, if someone is unemployed, lonely, and hungry, they are "not your equal"?
Is feeding someone "descending" to them?.... Actually it`s called "being condescending". But I am 100% sure a hungry person will not be insulted when offered a meal!

Another adage: "There, but for the Grace of God, go I". Ever heard that one? When we ignore those who suffer, then one day it will be our duty to also suffer, and to hope for a sign of compassion from others. That is called "Karma".

RE: something nice please ... thank u animal friend !

Thank you for the invite Whitehorse ... but I have already done the Malta/Gozo trip - we had a wild wild CS get-together there a couple years ago, at Fat Harry`s - and I got to meet lots of lovely Malta folk! Still friends with some of them.

Which cave do you have? Maybe Markizam will be there one of these days and you can entertain her? Go reply to her thread asking about work in Malta.......

RE: Can you trust someone who says they are trying to quit smoking?

Well Carol, to my way of thinking, if non-smoking is so very important to you then you should only associate with strictly non-smokers..... people who are as fanatical about non-smoking as yourself.

But that won`t work either, I guess, because the other person could take up smoking at any time, and then you`rew back to square one again!

If the person is only acceptable as long as they swear and sign an oath about it, then the person, per sé, is not as important as their habits, and the relationship is going to crash anyway ... because other habits could develop that are also not acceptable, maybe?

What about the eating of pungent food?... Garlic/Onions/Fish/etc.?
Or the drinking of alcohol?

RE: Working on Malta...

Hi Marki, Malta is a lovely place! There were always so many CS members on the site from there, but lately they all seem to have other stuff to do? Am sure someone will pop up here on your thread with some good advice....

RE: if this doesn't make you laugh then...

The Goons .... and Spike Milligan ....... nah, no-one remembers them anymore .,.... Actually, no-one seems to have any sense of humour anymore either.

Too much watching ..... what? Why is there no humour anymore.

Actually, there is even not much friendliness these days.

I think the sense of humour has been replaced by criticism?




Ah well.

RE: HO HO HO ITS DECEMBER

Ah, very interesting, thanks.

You have the "Kallikantzeri" goblins ..... We have Sämmischlaus, the Dark Silent One who comes with Santa Claus, and if the kid has been naughty (scary old Swiss this!) then the kid is very afraid of being taken away by this Sämmischlaus - dressed in his long dark brown robe and with a dirty face and long black hair! (Juslaaik but the old people were cruel to come up with this guy huh? .... or is he actually Real?! - dunno, but the little kids are afraid of him and try to be good all year - I would too if I was a small kid growing up here!)

Your Vasilopitta cake sounds like the steamed fruit pudding we used to have in South Africa .... it also had a coin baked into it ... and the one who got this in their slice was guaranteed a most successful year ahead. This pudding was covered in Brandy Sauce and served with flames!

No, I most definitely will not be baking any more _Güetzli`s this year! But you can make them .... the recipes are all on Google....

So who are you not buying a Christmas gift for this year?

Ever heard the story of the little girl who walked the beach throwing washed up Starfish back into the water?

Someone asked her why she is wasting her time, there are so many washed up on the sand ..... what difference does throwing a few back make?

Her answer: "It makes a difference to the ones I threw back".

So, my opinion here, to be unemployed,lonely, poor, and hungry all year must make a pretty miserable Christmas when no-one invites you to join them for a meal.

Christmas is a time for Giving. Not forgiveness, or being kind .... just for Giving. Without any thought of return. No big deal - just a plate of food - for one person, or two, or three, if you have it to spare.

"If you dont have it to spare,
then you can always share".

So who are you not buying a Christmas gift for this year?

There, you see?! You ARE "celebrating" Christmas ..... you just bought yourself a gift. I read somewhere that Christmas is just something that we all need .....once a year.... a time to sort-of "relax" and "let-go" and enjoy ourselves. Hence the reason most firms give a bonus at that time - so everyone has some money to spend.

It is more human (as opposed to animal) to think of the poor and hungry at that time - hence the tradition in some countries to always set an extra place at the Christmas Dinner table - for the un-expected guest.

I knew a family once, who went out in the morning to find a lonely,hungry, poor person, and invite them home for dinner that day. Lovely huh? If we all could do that?

RE: Why do we fall in love?

Very interesting thread to read. So I will just read it, as it progresses.

Nah, I can`t resist saying something ... just a something.

Maybe there are many different types of love?
The problems only arise, when we marry someone and then things change ........ and then the Big War begins?

So ... fall in love.... enjoy it .. but don`t bind it to yourself with chains that cannot be broken. Oh there`s a song about that somewhere, isn`t there? I go to look for it on uTube, for later....

RE: if this doesn't make you laugh then...

Now .... THAT made me laugh! more than the OP`s joke did!

RE: HO HO HO ITS DECEMBER

Ja, I am not Swiss. I just live here.

What do you do in your country to celebrate Christmas?

I spent the weekend with my friend making 500 "Güetzli`s"!!!!! That was 5 batches of 100 of each different type!

So now, we have traditional biscuits to offer friends who come round for coffee or drinks over the festive season.

On Wednesday my grand-daughter will cut out the Güetzli`s and bake them for her family here, and have fun decorating them. I make the dough for them tomorrow morning - just a simple dough, not the complicated long painful type I made on the weekend!

RE: True love never really dies.

Oh how lovely Jan! I wish you both everything of the best for your future. Must be wonderful for your children, to experience this? I believe it is every childs wish, no matter how old they are, to have their parents re-united. Maybe you both just needed this gap to sort-of "re-establish" yourselves?

And HAPPY CHRISTMAS......

And HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2012.....

A MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE HERE!

Thanks Lillym! Yes, I am proud of him. He actually got it DONE!

It`s been like watching a baby being born, this last year! .... All the research one has to do to get it published, and the over and over and over editing.

Ahhh yes ... I knew I forgot something! If any of you guys
or girls go to the book page on F/B ..... and make a comment .. mention that you come from the Connecting Singles site! Then he knows you are one of MY contacts - at least it lets him know that his Mother does have some friends!

A MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE HERE!

Thank you Mitsos!
I used to have loads of wit, but now I have none .... my two sons got it all. Now I just sit in the shade, or the sun, whichever is suitable to the season, and weave baskets or do other mundane stuff.

Now ... Mitsos, please go the the books Facebook page, and you can read the first chapter, entitled "Thrilling encounters" ....

!/pages/They-call-me-Nightwalker/303825926305254

Maybe .... maybe?..... Maybe Tule would also like to read a bit of the preview? ... or anyone else here?
Don`t forget to click the "Like" ... or leave a comment!

Thanks everyone!

So who are you not buying a Christmas gift for this year?

Ok, so if one does not celebrate Christmas, and does not buy or give any gifts, then whether they pissed one off or not, just does apply to the equation, does it? I mean, realy, if someone has pissed you off, and you never even thought of giving them a gift, then you can`t very well say to them "Hey, you pissed me off so I`m not buying you a gift this Christmas" .... huh?

Christmas is the ancient celebration of the Feast of Diana, combined with the Babylonian goddess Isis and her son Osiris, and therefore has no connotations to any forgiveness or kindness, unless one takes cognisance of the other ancient belief in St Nickolas who supposedly went around during the Winter Solstice and deposited gifts of food on the doorsteps of the very poor, and thereby led the the legend of the fat man in red Father Christmas who lives in the North Pole and rides his sleigh thru the sky at night, drawn by his flying Reindeer, led by the Rudolph with the red nose.

The time for forgiveness and kindness is the other one, called Easter ......or Oestra, the Celebration of Fertility, hence the eggs at that time (Ova + Oestrus = Fertility?), which the churches use as a time for preaching Forgiveness of thine enemies.

RE: Rudolph the red nosed....

And next Christmas
His nose will be green...

The stuff he smokes
has affected his Spleen!

So who are you not buying a Christmas gift for this year?

There must be ONE person who has pissed you off this year and is now off your gift list? Who and why?

RE: Rudolph the red nosed....

He was born in December,
A month to remember ....

When he grew up,
And came of age ...

If he drank too much,
He also threw up...

His mother named him Rudolph
Cause she knew ....

He would always be fond of
Mountain Dew.

..................Hey c`mon guys ... this is a Merry Poem for Christmas in honour of Rudolph .... carry on with your literary prose ......

RE: HO HO HO ITS DECEMBER

The more integrated I become into the Swiss way of life, the more I find to enjoy!
Here Christmas is really nice, not commercial at all, at least not in my part of this country.
Families gather on Christmas eve to eat a traditional meal and give each other small gifts. And Christmas day itself is a day of rest, attending a church service (if so inclined), and socialising with all ones friends. A day of no work, not even for the housewives as all the food preparation has been done, and the kitchen has boxes of "Guetzli`s" to eat while sipping (homemade)wines, and/or coffee with (homemade) Schnapps.

RE: Rudolph the red nosed....

..that was to blame
for why the Polizei kept on
and on
just issuing roof-top
parking tickets.

When his nose
lit up the night .......

RE: HO HO HO ITS DECEMBER

Mitsos, you are funny!
Easter is even worse, what with the Holy Bunny and his chocolate eggs! Or is that a Holy Chicken? I have seen Holy Chocolate Crocodiles but I think they belong to some ancient tribe that lives by rivers?

RE: HO HO HO ITS DECEMBER

Ja, me too, in a way. I get to thinking about the stuff I am supposed to go out and waste money on so it can clutter up other peoples lives, and how much it all costs, and then consider taking a tent and going to hide out in the forest till it`s all over - except it`s too damn cold out there, and I`d probably get arrested, and embarass my family.

I think they all just going to get some smelly stuff to shower with - as a token gesture.

Grandmothers are supposed to be exempt from this type of hype aren`t they?

A MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE HERE!

Hi Horizon , yes I suppose there are many different versions of "nightwalkers"! (Maybe you are also an author of a "nightwalker" book?)

Me, I`m a nightwalker. I walk to the kitchen in the early hours for a midnite snack, and then I walk outside for a smoke, and to check out the moon, and see if any Aliens have arrived yet.

A MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE HERE!

Hi Maisie! SO nice to see you here!

Thank you - yes I am very proud of him - and his ability to spend hundreds of hours dedicated to his research and writing. Well, at least it kept him out of mischief!

Gone are the days when one could send manuscripts off to agents or publishers ......and sit back and wait (unless you`re a headhunted established author!) - now you gotta do all the leg-work and prove yourself first!

That is also what is so nice with having the internet and forums like this and others, and Facebook - one can connect with friends all over the world to gather support.

A MOST IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO EVERYONE HERE!

Well, you know, the author does have a Blog site, which I have never mentioned here (I don`t think, although I may have and forgotten about it or its buried somewhere in the archives by this time) .......?

This thread was/is just a sort-of "refresher" thing for the recent actual publication.

Similar in a way when I was doing a a bit of promo for my chef when he entered the Swiss Talent Search competition, with his singing and terrible piano playing.

Not a train-smash for those not interested - there are masses of far more interesting threads to peruse and comment on anyways, hey?

And nowadays, what is so nice is one does not have to clutter up one`s bookshelves with actual books, you can simply download an eBook for a fraction of the book price!