Published on 12, July, 2020
With Christmas rapidly approaching - it seems only twelve months since last time - I thought I would start a thread on Christmas - what it means to us, our memories, what traditions we have (locally or of our own), what we like or don't like, and also to share our favourite films and music of Christmas.
I do not like the commerciality of Christmas. My favourite memories of Christmas were when I was young, and returning from Church before Christmas to the glow of the the wireless/gramophone set in the living room, the light of which was an eerie green colour, the room being lit by the lights of the Christmas tree and a collection of 78's of Christmas Carols playing on the gramophone. It was a truly magical time.
In the late 1980's a programme was made for Channel 4 of Dylan Thomas's 'A Child's Christmas in Wales'. This is a film I watch over and over again, it just evokes memories of my early Christmases, when we did not have a television set. This film isW beautifully shot, and brings the humour of Dylan Thomas out. 'A Child's Christmas in Wales' was originally a short story, and there are versions of Dylan Thomas himself reading it on You Tube. Dylan Thomas had such a beautiful way of putting things into words, and perhaps because of my own Welsh heritage it always brings a bit of a tear to my eye, in a good way!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTSQYdBuZY
I also think humour is an important part of Christmas and the Christmas season. I like all sorts of Christmas music from religious to secular, and songs which are really about the season rather than Christmas. So for my first song which I will put here is this one from Bob Rivers (who is a record producer, not the singer!), the song is a parody of a delivery by a certain brother and sister who were very popular in the 1970's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GONd04tiLk
Please share what Christmas means to you here. And I will add more as the days pass!
They are! Indian Sweets, not too shabby! Wouldn't be too bad to have a few Khoya Barfi to load up on today/tomorrow/NOW!
I'll find it quite easy to be epicurean tomorrow! Cheese and fish are the things I'm looking forward to. The dinner is meh, but the stuff later on is always good.
Martian Tom said:Iain Duncan Smith would make a good Scrooge, mind.
Scrooge redeemed himself at the end. IBS would probably try and sanction the Ghosts of Christmas Past Present, and Future.
Mocho sweets with red bean curd have been acquired today too, alongside Indian sweets. I don't know how easy it will be to be Epicurean tomorrow.......well actually now, later today.....
The cannoli Do sound good
Too right. Things have come full circle since Scrooge, using the same rhetoric too
nexus9 said:We will be having Marsala with Sicilian sweets I got at the airport
I've been eating Cannoli since the start of Hannukah and haven't stopped since. Weird tradition but Nan was brought up on a street with a lot of Italian families, the Cannoli thing stuck, and it's a household tradition.
Nan and mom make these ones with cherry and dark chocolate. ***, they are delicious. When nan was more healthy she'd make Metaxas, these Morrocan Baklavas. Mom's are soggy, not good. My ex brought round a big bag of Jamaican Drops a few days ago. I think I'm going to die. I think they are all colluding to kill me.
I don't do Christmas trees or decorations in my flat. My cats would wreck these and shred them anyway!
If I spend Christmas alone I know how to cook a reasonable Christmas dinner and to get a decent Rioja to go with it. In Budapest you can go to the tourist district and get a mulled wine or rum chocolate. This Christmas I am staying in Plymouth though and as the person I am staying with is a strict veggie, it will be a special cured tofu, not turkey.
Last year we glutted on 70's vampire films. We will be having Marsala with Sicilian sweets I got at the airport and he just showed me images of Etna erupting - we stayed at an Etna town a couple of years ago.
In fact, the whole film can be seen as an indictment of the Tory social Darwinism project that started under Thatcher.
Iain Duncan Smith would make a good Scrooge, mind. 'Then let them hurry up and die and decrease the surplus population.'
This has always been my favourite Christmas film, and I'm watching it now.
Much better, in my opinion, than the many other versions that have been made.
Alastair Sim was the best!
A Christmas Carol
My favourite version of one of my very, very favourite Christmas songs, Drive the Cold Winter Away. Saw the 'live' version of the performers several years ago at the Midland Arts Centre, Canon Hill Park, Birmingham to a very small crowd but this did not prevent the performance being 'electric' although totally unaccompanied:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eawxnVbtrrY
The song conveys what I think Christmas should be all about. The song dates to Shakespeare's time and various versions are known to exist and verses added to, although the tune was first recorded in John Playfords Dancing Master 1650 edition.
Sandy is a near neighbour of mine. I often pass her house when out cycling. A couple of times I've stopped for a chat as she's sweeping her steps...
Here's a link to the first part of a Christmas (or rather, Yuletide) story I wrote a few years ago. I hope you like it. You should be able to find the other parts from the link...
The Last Christmas Tree
And Bob Rivers has done so many parodies that there are too many to list here really. However, some of my other favourites are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xj-jGAJgZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yqYa2advT0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1jOtOahm54
A lot of Christmas songs I find totally cringe-worthy. I enjoy the traditional 'folk' Christmas songs such as 'All Hail to the Days' (or as known alternatively as 'To drive the cold winter away', and some of the standard carols. However, the vitality of these is sometimes lost in the way they are arranged and the tunes they are sung to. They seem to lose their vibrancy, their vigour, their joyfulness a lot of times.
An example of this is 'While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by night'. The song these days is normally sung to 'Winchester Old' a tune which I find dreary. However, there are many other tunes to which the song is sung (over 200). One of the tunes used, Cranbrook, was parodied by a group of choirboys while travelling across Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire, who sang different words to the tune. The tune Cranbrook these days is better known as the tune for 'On Ilkley Moor bah't tat). The verse form of 'While Shepherds Watched' means that many tunes can be set to the words. Try singing it to 'Pinball Wizard', it sounds brilliant!
Some time ago, Bob Rivers produced a recording of 'Oh Little town of Bethlehem'. The tune usually used for this (in Britain at least) is a variation of the folk tune 'The Ploughboys dream'. However, this recording uses the tune of a popular song of the nineteen sixties and works so very well. So here it is, listen and enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cbk8f7f5OI
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I have been a fan of Shirley Collins for nearly fifty years, when she was among the very first artists to have a record released on the 'Harvest' label, 'Anthems in Eden' in 1969.
On an early album, Sweet England, recorded for the Argo label, and re-released on CD by Topic and Fledgling she recorded this version of a traditional song, the Cherry Tree Carol. Interesting in this version the birthday of the Christ Child is said to be 5 January, which is traditionally known as 'Old Christmas Eve' due to the changing of the calendar from the Julian to Gregorian.
Shirley Collins has a voice that to me is beautiful (or perhaps I should say 'had a voice' as her voice is now so much deeper and she gave up singing for a number of years although she has now begun recording and singing again. Anyway, here is The Cherry Tree Carol:
www.youtube.com/watch
I have not got an Advent Calendar this Christmas - we just bought one for the dog last year. This cartoon by Tom Gauld on the subject of Advent Calendars made me smile:
Let's start at the very beginning.
A song I really hate to hear (and not 'love to hate') which must be the worst Christmas record ever is 'Mistletoe and Wine' by Cliff Richard. I'm sure everyone knows it and I won't put a link on, I dislike it so much!
A bit of a satire on Christmas is this song by the great Tom Lehrer, which is so very true in stating a lot of the things I hate about Christmas ...
The Sound of Music too? ️
My Christmas tradition is watching classic films on TV.
My two favourites. National Lampoons Christmas vacation. And the snowman.
And seeing classic music videos.
Two favourites Top of the pops, 70s videos of Christmas songs by Slade & Wizard.