A Christmas Miscellany



If the above video isn't working, then try this link instead.
Instead of the usual Sunday Supplement, I thought I'd put together a few things today as a rather nice miscellany for Christmas.
First up is the above video which is my favourite Christmas carol ever, Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar. In fact this was the favourite of everyone at school, which is where I first learnt it. We all sang the soloist's part and the school orchestra would play the rest at our carol concert.
We also had something called Friday Songs, where each form would take it in turns to choose 3 songs for the entire school to sing. The last Friday of the Christmas term was always reserved for the Upper Sixth to choose 6 carols. Time constraints meant we rarely got to sing all the choices, but Three Kings was never dropped.
Art lovers may like to have a look at a selection of entries for this year's Turnip Prize, a Somerset pub's antidote to the Turner Prize where the award is for art which requires "as little effort and talent as possible". This year's winner is Chilli n'Minors.
I also loved this story about the interpreter hired to translate the Geordie accent. One of the reasons why we've ended up living in the West Country is because NAH got fed up of not understanding what people were saying in Newcastle. Here's a quick guide to larn yesen Geordiefor those times when the official interpreter isn't available ;)
As it's the season of goodwill, I rather like the idea of World Book Night: a scheme to give away 1 million books on March 5th. You can apply to give away a box of 48 of them - January 4th's the closing date for applications and the link gives you all the information about the scheme, which books are involved and how to apply.
No Christmas is complete without sprouts and games, so how about trying your hand at Attack of the Sprouts?
And finally we need a quiz to round things off nicely, so I have no hesitation in reminding you of The Constant Gardener's advent calendar conundrum :)

Comments

  1. petoskystone19 December 2010 at 15:49

    my favorite christmas hymn is 'we three kings'. however, it isn't that popular here as i've had choir directors ask if anyone knows the melody!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diana Studer19 December 2010 at 20:23

    and he ends with an enviably perfect 't'.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Janet/Plantaliscious20 December 2010 at 09:59

    I am in love with the Attack of the Sprouts game. I love sprouts myself, but my FIL eats them under duress, and preferably cooked with bacon. I expect him to quickly become a champion. Sorry you had to move south because of the accent!! I once told a Glaswegian that he was exaggerating how hard it was to understand him because I never had a problem, at which point he started speaking like he did at home. Incomprehensible...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anna20 December 2010 at 21:38

    I can still remember my absolute bewilderment comprehending the lingo when I arrived in Newcastle ~ it took me four years to master it. Then I ended up in Liverpool and another new language to learn :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. VP21 December 2010 at 08:52

    Petoskystone - the lyrics of that carol were adapted by kids at primary school, so it always make me giggle when I hear it!

    EE - it's lovely isn't it :)

    Plantaliscious - it's a lot of fun. I was fine with the accent - I often had to translate for NAH ;)

    Anna - ahh but Scouse is much easier ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Juliet23 December 2010 at 22:40

    I love the turnip prize entries :-D

    ReplyDelete
  7. VP16 January 2011 at 19:58

    Juliet - aren't they fab? It's an annual event which our local TV news usually features :)

    ReplyDelete

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