merry christmas eve from kinda-sunny southern california. out here visiting family and awaiting a terrorist attack...and i'd rather be in canada. the longer i am away from southern california, the more i despise it when i visit. there's just something different...that i can't pinpoint, but i know i don't like.

i flew 'el al' airlines from toronto to LAX. i purchased my ticket thru delta, though. some code-sharing thing. my flight had originated in tel aviv. interesting flight - to have everything printed and said in another language, and having to wait for the english translation. which, sometimes, with the announcements from the cockpit, we never got.

there was a 'duty free' catalog in my seatpocket. the descriptions of the items were obviously translated into english - some of them were quite funny. my favourite:

nike presto watch

fresh unique line integrate maximal convenience with actual colorful lucent fashion. $59

must've been written by the same people who write instruction manuals. maximal convenience? hee hee.

we were wished a happy hannakuh on the plane...no merry christmas on this airline! unlike delta, i didn't have to pay for the meal i was served. it was edible and kosher. there was a slip of paper on the tray explaining that all items except the cream cheese and butter were kosher, and that they were shipped pre-packaged and not opened until they were on the plane. interesting.

now they found mad-cow disease in the US. the US decided to boycott canadian meat when mad cow was found there. i heard a commentator on npr this morning say how the US's self-righteousness will now haunt them.

i have a feeling it's going to haunt the US more and more in the future - and with things much more serious than mad-cow disease.