Bill W

I'm not sure why I didn't respond earlier, but I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year as well.

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring, ting, tingling too Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you Bells were put on sleighs so others would know a vehicle was approaching. In a heavy snow, visibility was limited, and since the snow muffled the sound of the horses hooves, the bells were necessary in order to avoid accidents.

A sleigh isn't just something Santa rides around in either. Many people living in wintery climates might have a sleigh to get around in as well, but their sleigh would be pulled by a single horse, not eight tiny reindeer. Hence the term, one horse open sleigh, meaning it had no roof and wasn't enclosed.

If anyone doubted it, I think Max disproved the common belief that all gays are pacifists and are afraid on a confrontation or physical encounter. A mama bear protecting her cubs has nothing on Mad Max. And it looks as if we're going to have a double birthday party on Friday with the entire gang, plus I believe a few extras, in attendance.

People are still intrigued about the mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart, as well as stories of lost treasure, especially those involving gold.

To arouse interest by being strange, unusual, or mysterious. Even a gypsy fortune teller will emanate a certain amount of intrigue.

The James Bond books and movies are filled with intrigue.

You're correct, but I was trying to add a little humor to the photo. That's why I said it was a mild case.

Yes, that's the scene from Jungle 2 Jungle with Tim Allen and his cute co-star. Very funny scene I wonder how they trained that spider to go where they wanted?

Looks like the candle has a mild case of PD (Peyronie Disease).

Quoth the raven, nevermore.

I have a question no one else mentioned - it's about Benjamin and Joseph. You mentioned Benjamin was 15 but didn't give Joseph's age, only sayng he was younger. From the looks they gave each other after seeing Michael, and due to the hug Joseph gave him, do they already know their sexual orientation and are hoping Michael is gay as well? Obviously, Michael is a looker, especially as he was dressed for the interview, so it made me curious. I haven't read the other story that they're featured in.

How do the native tribes live in the Amazonian jungles with all of these large creepy crawlers? I'm certainly glad I wasn't born there.

I grew up adhering to the motto 'if you are not early then you're late'.

Trust me, he or the British are not the only ones who are sticklers for staying on schedule.

The term 'a loft' can also refer to an attic or a room directly below the roof of a house or other building.

Aloft not only refers to going up in a balloon or plane, but sailors also went aloft in the rigging on wooden sailing ships, usually to unfurl the sails or to scan the horizon for hazards or other ships.

Scandinavian source circa the 1200s from Old Norse 'a lopt', where lopt meant 'up in the air'.

I also watched Christmas at the Opry, which was a 2 hour show, and they started out with different performers singing various Christmas songs. However, I have to give them credit, because along the way I heard I also heard Mary, Did You Know, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, all sung by Wynonna Judd. And although some of the artists talked about their favorite Christmas memory, most of which involved gifts they received, one person talked about spending time with his family, They also wished the Audience Merry Christmas multiple times, and I believe at least one of them made a reference to the Christ Child as they were doing it, so this show wasn't totally secular, like the Manilow Christmas show. I apologize - I thought I was editing the previous post, but I ended up duplicating and expanding it at the same time.

I also watched Christmas at the Opry, which was a 2 hour show, and I have to give them credit. In addition to singing the usual Christmas songs, they also included Mary, Did You Know?, O Holy Night, and Beautiful Star of Bethlehem, all of which were sung by Wynonna Judd.

I'm not sure if any of you saw it, but I decided to watch Barry Manilow's A Very Merry Christmas special. When he first came out he said something like, 'It's the Christmas season and you know what that means. Get out the credit cards'. Oh yeah, we've got to advance the idea of commercializing Christmas. And then, besides singing some of Barry's hits, he also sang some holiday songs that mentioned Christmas, and he did wish the audience a Merry Christmas at one point, but none of the songs mentioned the 'reason for the season'. They closest the came is the band played a traditional Christmas song as Santa's sleigh moved across the stage, which if memory serves me correct was Joy to the World, however no lyrics were sung. And multiple times Barry wished the audience Happy Holidays, not Merry Christmas. So much for celebrating the underlying reason for why we even have Christmas.

After watching those videos, I know I won't be visiting Australia or certain parts of South America any time soon. I think you might expect to find spiders in outhouses or a porta-potty, since they're outdoors and not frequented as often as an indoor facility. Bathrooms are used for other things, such as baths, showers, brushing your teeth, etc., so you wouldn't expect to find a huge, poisonous spider on your toilet. The only scarier thing I can think of is the story about snakes, some of them poisonous, coming up through the plumbing and into the toilet, and their bite is bigger than that of a spider.

Besides giving me a shiver, it makes me wonder how difficult it would be to coordinate the movement of eight legs. I know switching from walking on two legs to walking on all four limbs would be difficult enough, but to coordinate the movement of eight appendages would seem mind blowing.

The term Maharishi was used in India and became popular in British literature during the 1800s, while India was a British colony. The famous author John Rudyard Kipling was born in British India and many of his stories and poems were set there.

The first known use of the word Maharishi was in the late 1700s, and the first written use was in 1785, in the writings of C. Wilkins.