Eight Tiny

At left, Dasher. Snacking actually but there he is. US Fish and Wildlife took the photo. Nice, eh?

I've been thinking lately about the happiest place on Earth. You know it as Disneyland (as opposed to DisneyWorld, the one in Florida). I've not been there but I'd buy that it is the happiest place on Earth. I'm gullible like that.

My quandary came with "where was the happiest place on Earth before Disneyland?" Wouldn't that be 'Christmastown" at the North Pole where Santa lived? Of course it was. So what happened?

Unions, middle management, the guilds, immigration, outsourcing, wage pressure, quarterly earning, WOW (Worlds of Wonder) and its collapse [ the Longterm Capital Management scandal of the toy world].

So, Christmastown is now rather like Paris without the charming French. Oh, the streets are ice and it is very cold so take that Paris architecture and shrink the windows by 80%. There. It looks a lot like Moscow without the charm of Socialist utilitarianism ... in the newer parts. The older parts look like St. Petersburg in January.

Fuel prices are sky high so automobiles are scarce. Sleighs are prevalent as are those double-decker coach buses from London though these have small coal stoves near the middle of the lower level.

Charming. I'll keep the oddity of talking reindeer and the dominant population of elves. There'll be some humans who just have to deal with every indoor space being sized by the same folks who design airplane interiors for United in coach.

That's now. That's what happens when you fire Roy Disney as a Christmas Card illustrator when he wants to introduce a cute mouse as Santa's helper. [ Mouse? Mouse! We don't need no stink vermin. We've got reindeer! Out !]

Yes, Christmas town is no longer the "happiest place on Earth." When you factor in the secret police with the attitude of East Germany under the Stasi for an atmosphere of corporate purity,well.

Then there's the murder. The coroner said Blitzen was just found with a lump of coal shoved down his throat.

Oh, I love the holidays. So much ... opportunity.