The world pauses for a moment of peace this weekend as a sizable portion of humanity celebrates the winter holidays, Christmas and Hanukkah both arriving together on Sunday. For most people, it's a time of joy, celebrating the holiday with family and friends.

As my seasonal greeting to you all, let's revisit the hilarious online greeting cards presented by the great London wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd. If you missed this link last year (or even if you didn't), you'll find it a pleasant, wine-related chuckle ... and perhaps a good way to catch up with those last-minute greetings that you forgot to sent out until now.

A free gift from BB&R to the wine-loving world, these four humorous Christmas Greeting cards feature animated wine-related greetings that you can fill in with a personal note and send to friends and family along the world ... as long as they've got E-mail and the necessary computer software to view Flash animations.

Wine snobs and the overly serious might find these cards on the irreverent side, but for the rest of us, the "Butlers Bubbly," "Xmas Bugle Call," "Big Kiss" and "Swinging Chandelier" cards are just the thing to torment our wine buddies and other long-suffering friends. Also available on the BBR site are four General Greetings Cards, suitable for year-round frivolity: "Iron Maiden's Birthday," "Sir Francis Drink's Embarrassing Moment," "Wake-Up Bugle Call" and "Flying High."

Again, this is a free treat for the wine-loving world from Berry Bros. & Rudd, a firm that has long impressed me with the quality and rich content of its Website, an Internet publication that goes far beyond mere commerce to present serious wine education ... and entertainment. Assuming that your computer is equipped to handle Flash animations, I think you'll enjoy their greeting cards, and more. To view the cards - and send them to your friends - click
http://www.bbr.com/GB/account/ecards.lml