In the USA there is a big debate going on. No more wishing to you Merry Christmas, but Happy Holiday and lots of new wording. Even president Bush, who calls himself a hard core Christian, doesn't wish you from the white house a merry Christmas, but a wishy washy something that sounds like blabla. Uh, he is a faky. If he would do a faky on snow skis, that would be great, but a faky on Christianity? Uh ah I'm not very religious, I'd rather be rokking and rolling, but if u call yourself Christian, then please keep to it. Uh ah I'm not very religious, I'm not really Christian, but i grew up in this Christian culture, but i WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS. Sears was the only company that wished you a very Merry Christmas. I spent part of my Christmas season in the Sonoma wine country, cocktail parties, dinners, always the best wine, good food, just a very enjoyable time in company of interesting and entertaining people from very young to very old. The brain topics rokked from Machiavelli, Zinfandel Wine, Stealth planes, spymasters.com, the beat of hip hop to the design of ultrafast multi use connections. And a small word to my sukking European counterparts: i was astound of the detailed knowledge about the world by many American friends i met. Now just one example: not only knew this person about the topic of a vote in Switzerland, he even told me how he would have voted!
Christmas day i spent in rainy San Francisco. My lunch was at my darling restaurant on Haight/Ashbury: * All You Knead *. 
During my Christmas lunch, as ever always a great treat for your tastes, all the while was playing Jeff Buckley and Grace, even so the restaurant is noisy. Oh gosh & oh god, what a treat. Next to oxygen, as Pitchfork.com so well defined, music is the most important ingredient to keep one alive, but besides 4 me: donuts, root beer, well done garden burgers, rokking & rolling, books, Zinfandel from the Wilson Winery, Yearbook the ski movie, snow and mountains, Hallelujah. I have never ever heard Jeff Buckley's music in a public eatery or drinkery. Here i am, enjoying my Christmas garden burger, well done, very cool customers around me, very stylish staff around me, one waitress had stockings on just to her the knees, small blakk pattern with lots of glitter in it, mini skirt in blakk, a tank top, so her rose tattoo on the back was in plain sight, just at the end of my lunch, one of my favorites by him started: Hallelujah. This is not a Christmas song, but it fit the day. I heard a lot of great Christmas music and I'm not getting tired of it. Many of them are very old melodies, time proofed, to glorify a peak religious event, composed by masters while giving their best. It's their harmonies that blow me, some of the most balanced music. And one of my all time favorites is : Phil Spectors Christmas music from the 70ies. From my hotel room i often could hear the saxophone by a black musician, always on the same street corner, playing Oh Tannenbaum. he played it many times, and i always loved it.Today i walked from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin City. Out of downtown Sausalito, away from the tourist trap, at the * Sailor's Landing * i stopped for lunch. This is a very good restaurant, one of the few that have NO background music. What a joy. A great place to be. Great Californian style interior, wood paneling, lot's of windows, real table cloth with real cloth napkins, nice simple wooden furniture, great old fashioned wooden bar, nice clientèle, friendly staff, and a great hamburger with really good French fries for just 7 dollars, the glass of zinfandel wine by Coppola was more expensive than my meal.
