Your smile for today ~
"When I was younger I could remember anything whether it happened or not."
~ Mark Twain, American author, 1835 - 1910
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Olympic Torch in Cayuga
Torchbearer #129, Fizan Jaffar from Montreal, Quebec, ran in Cayuga, Ontario on Monday, December 21, 2009. Fizan was not able to take pictures of his historic run; if anyone has photographs, he would be pleased to have them.
Please contact Fizan through The Neat Little Bookshop blog at lbwalker@shaw.ca
Munsee St., Hwy. 54, to the Town of Haldimand Administration Building. December 21, 2009Saturday, December 26, 2009
Boxing Day
In Britain and many Commonwealth countries, Boxing Day, December 26, is a legal holiday. The term is commonly attributed to the parish church alms boxes which were opened on December 26 and distributed to the poor.
However, the term may go as far back as medieval times when earthenware boxes were kept by English servants and apprentices for the purpose of begging for gratuities. These boxes were often rudely made with a slit cut in the top to admit the coins. At the end of the day, the boxes were broken ~ like piggy banks.
It was the custom for English employees to solicit tips during the Christmas season from their employer as well as those people with whom their employer did business. As early as the 15th century, this practice had become a nuisance and in the 7th year of King Henry the Fifth, it was ordered that "no valet, or other sergeant of the Mayor [of London], Sheriffs, or City, should in future beg or require of any person, of any rank, degree, or condition whatsoever, any moneys, under colour of an oblation, or in any other way, on pain of losing his office."
(Comment: Interesting, the evolution to our modern-day frenzy of half-priced merchandise and long lineups of frantic shoppers. I am trying to sort that one out in my mind.)
Source: Christmas Planning and Memory Book, Tree Communications Inc., 1981.
The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.
However, the term may go as far back as medieval times when earthenware boxes were kept by English servants and apprentices for the purpose of begging for gratuities. These boxes were often rudely made with a slit cut in the top to admit the coins. At the end of the day, the boxes were broken ~ like piggy banks.
It was the custom for English employees to solicit tips during the Christmas season from their employer as well as those people with whom their employer did business. As early as the 15th century, this practice had become a nuisance and in the 7th year of King Henry the Fifth, it was ordered that "no valet, or other sergeant of the Mayor [of London], Sheriffs, or City, should in future beg or require of any person, of any rank, degree, or condition whatsoever, any moneys, under colour of an oblation, or in any other way, on pain of losing his office."
(Comment: Interesting, the evolution to our modern-day frenzy of half-priced merchandise and long lineups of frantic shoppers. I am trying to sort that one out in my mind.)
Source: Christmas Planning and Memory Book, Tree Communications Inc., 1981.
The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.
Friday, December 25, 2009
A Christmas Carol
"What's today?" cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.
"Eh?" returned the boy with all his might of wonder.
"What's to-day, my fine fellow?" said Scrooge.
"To-day!" replied the boy, "Why, CHRISTMAS DAY."
..."I don't know what to do!" cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath, and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy, I am as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world !"
"It's Christmas Day!" said Scrooge to himself. "I haven't missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can. Hallo, my fine fellow!"
And with that, old Scrooge set about to make up for all his years of miserliness and neglect of family and friends.
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, 1915.
"Eh?" returned the boy with all his might of wonder.
"What's to-day, my fine fellow?" said Scrooge.
"To-day!" replied the boy, "Why, CHRISTMAS DAY."
..."I don't know what to do!" cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath, and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy, I am as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world !"
"It's Christmas Day!" said Scrooge to himself. "I haven't missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can. Hallo, my fine fellow!"
And with that, old Scrooge set about to make up for all his years of miserliness and neglect of family and friends.
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, 1915.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Bethlehem
Revered by the world's Christians, Muslims and Jews, the Holy Land offers not only a spiritual background , but a historic one as well. Jesus was born in a small town in Galilee called Bethlehem. Because many people had returned to Bethlehem to be registered in the census, the inns were all full. The only available accommodation was an animal shelter. The stories surrounding Jesus' birth continue to interest believers and nonbelievers.
The regions of Galilee, Israel, Samaria and Judea were the areas where Jesus traveled, taught and preached. Samaria today, for example, is a fascinating archaeological city. Jerusalem, the last city that Jesus visited, is a city of tourist attractions and ~ shepherds still tending their flocks roam the hills surrounding Nazareth.
Source: Journey to the Land of Jesus, Publications International Ltd., 1992.
The regions of Galilee, Israel, Samaria and Judea were the areas where Jesus traveled, taught and preached. Samaria today, for example, is a fascinating archaeological city. Jerusalem, the last city that Jesus visited, is a city of tourist attractions and ~ shepherds still tending their flocks roam the hills surrounding Nazareth.
Source: Journey to the Land of Jesus, Publications International Ltd., 1992.
Challenge of Getting Published
When songwriter Johnny Marks penned the famous lyrics that summarized the Rudoph story, he couldn't interest any music publisher in his new song. Believing in his work, he founded his own St. Nicholas Music Publishing Company.
Then with Rudoph being the marketing creation of a department store, no singer was willing to take a chance with a song. Marks was turned down by Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore and Perry Como before Gene Autry, "The Singing Cowboy," recorded it in 1949, selling 2,000,000 copies in the first year alone and launching Rudoph to further success.
The reindeer went on to appear in movies and books (in dozens of languages) and his image was used for a host of marketing devices, books and toys.
Today, children everywhere know the little reindeer that didn't quite fit in until someone ~ one individual ~ believed in him.
Happy Christmas Eve everyone.
Source: The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart, 2000.
Then with Rudoph being the marketing creation of a department store, no singer was willing to take a chance with a song. Marks was turned down by Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore and Perry Como before Gene Autry, "The Singing Cowboy," recorded it in 1949, selling 2,000,000 copies in the first year alone and launching Rudoph to further success.
The reindeer went on to appear in movies and books (in dozens of languages) and his image was used for a host of marketing devices, books and toys.
Today, children everywhere know the little reindeer that didn't quite fit in until someone ~ one individual ~ believed in him.
Happy Christmas Eve everyone.
Source: The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart, 2000.
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