Merry Christmas

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

-- Luke 2:8-14

Christmas Comes Early to the Stapers Household

In Texas, nothing says "Merry Christmas" quite like a new gun





Hubby got me my very own Taurus "The Judge" Public Defender yesterday -- it's a handgun that is chambered for both .410 shotgun shells and .45 Long Colts.

He'll be traveling a lot for work in January and wanted me to have a convenient home defense weapon. We have a modified Mossberg 500 plus two .45 ACPs in strategic places around the house, but the Public Defender is a more convenient option for me if I have to deal with an intruder close-range. Also, it'll be a handy car defense weapon for the few road trips I take annually.

According to Wikipedia:

It got its name "The Judge" in 2006 when Bob Morrison, Executive Vice President, learned that judges in high-crime areas of Miami, Florida were purchasing the revolver for personal defense in their courtrooms, and after Morrison investigated further, the model designation was changed from 4410 to 4510 to more accurately reflect the revolver's versatility (.45 Colt + 410 shot -> "4510"). Taurus International reports that the Judge is their top-selling firearm.

We sent photos to my father in-law, who lives in Finland, and he commented that the EU wouldn't even know how to classify the thing (besides "scary" and "banned," that is).

Range trip pending.

Love Child: Andy Dick

December's Love Child is Andy Dick, who looks like his parents might have been Woody Allen and Garth Algar from Wayne's World.

Erin Crockabitch

My wife coined that nickname for Erin Brockovich many years ago. Seems it's appropriate.

A Finnish Christmas Story - Updated!

Leave it to the Finns to make the only Christmas movie showing in the U.S. this year.



Based on the popular shorts by Rare Exports:

[Warning: Mildly NSFW, as it features a bit of Christmas sausage, if you get my drift.]





Update: Saw it this weekend. Entertaining movie with actual Finnishness. A little dark, but funny. Most of the movie is in Finnish with subtitles. I understand a little Finnish, enough to know that all of the bad words (there were a lot) were translated very mildly for the English subtitles. Hubby, who laughed heartily during the movie, commented that the Finnish dialogue was well written -- apparently there are subtleties in the language that were not (or could not be) adequately translated. Also, the boy's dad looks a lot like hubby.