You forgot Saturnalia!

Best wishes to all and thanks to the Samizdata team for a thought-provoking and entertaining year.

Merry Chrismas and happy new year to all the Samidatists.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Merry Chrismas and happy new year!
(I'm just a passerby!)

Merry Christmas everyone. Nice pic of the city hall Dale. I missed the little stalls around the front this year as I didn't do any shopping in Belfast this year and I only live up the road. My motto this season is " Have a good time all the time" - (c) TAP.

I made a point of wandering around them at least once, and getting out to see various friends at their gigs over the holidays. It takes days to recover after that!

I'll probably be out and about later this week as well, because after the New Year I will be back on the road again. I work crew on the big JP Morgan Healthcare '06 show in San Francisco and have several other projects pending. Might even get as far north as Vancouver on one of them.

Other than the holiday time, I've been head down working and hardly getting into the town (I'm actually out in Newtownabbey) coding C and Perl like a mad man for the Next Big Venture. Can't tell anyone about it yet ;-)

I shot some video of some very fine local musicians and I may make it available if I can arrange hosting with the people I do work for in NYC. I'd love to give everyone a sample of Rab McCullough's blue's band at the Empire (an old friend of mine) and a trad session at the Kitchen Bar with one of the best pipers in Ireland (with whom I've stumbled out of many a pub in three countries with!)

Now, back to my head down nose to grindstone position while JB cracks a whip and RS queries whether I tested X...

PS: I will definitely be at Rab's gig at the Empire on Thursday. He starts at 2230 UTC, so anyone in Belfast should drop in and watch. If you are looking for me, just ask one of the band members to point out where I'm hiding in the crowd.

I grew up in N'abbey. Have fun on Thursday at the gig, I shall be in intensive care, I mean recovering from too much fun.

Christmas at our house is a set of rituals, as I suppose it is in most families. My family always celebrates more on Christmas Eve, my wife's tradition was for a riotous Christmas day morning. (Since there were five kids in 7-8 years, the riot part is almost literally true.)

We have a big, early dinner, and then sit in a circle while the youngest hands out presents one at a time. Each person opens in turn, saying who the gift is from, and holding it up for pictures and general oohing and aahing. It can go on for a few hours.

The kids are older now, so some of the fun of the 5 year old near-hysteria is past, as well as some of the lunacy. My college guy wasn't able to get here this year, but called to report straight A's for the semester. Obviously, he takes after his mother.

Christmas is a day for family. An extended family united in the love of feedom and individual dignity is not a bad bunch to associate with any old day of the year, and I raise a glass of egg nog to all in salute.

Best wishes for a joyous holiday season.