Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings to all! Thanks for your loyalty in 2008 and we’re all set for an exciting 2009. This year for the first time I haven’t written a single christmas card. It’s all gone emailized. And I was thinking and thinking about what to upload on absolutely for this year’s festive season.

Tempting was a proper analysis of the practically inexistent shopping for a christmas tree over here in Bangkok, a quite elaborate ritual in the West. Or insights into the art of gift wrapping. But then I stumbled over Monty Python praising Christmas and ended up in the Ubon of 1965 with Bob Hope.

That’s why we celebrate a little potpourri with this year’s digitalized Season’s Greetings. There’s something about Christmas up in Ubon during Nam, something for the hopelessly romantic and the cynics and atheists as well. To you and your family, a Merry Christmas and happy New Year! Here we go:

A Buddhist kingdom doesn’t know how to celebrate Christmas and New Year? Think again. Thailand actually celebrates three new years a year. And Bangkok sports Asia’s tallest Christmas tree. And how about Myra & Nina caroling?

Right on, after this we need some Monty Python at their best with Christmas in Heaven:



Next: Bob Hope’s Christmas show for U.S. troops in 1965 in Ubon. I’m neither from that era nor mindset, but the video brings back a time and world that seem yet so near. And it just happened around the corner – by the way, they don’t fly any more entertainers into the Iraq theater, do they, such as Miss U.S.A.?



And yes, finally, the gift wrapping:



Alleluia!