GEORGE MICHAEL, the WHAM! singer and solo performer, died yesterday (December 25, 2016) at the age of 53 – 32 years after the release of this song. He was one of the most acclaimed singers of his generation and “Last Christmas” – 1984 – has been covered by many artists and has become an annual Christmas standard, especially in… Read More LAST CHRISTMAS (WHAM!)
Boxing Day is celebrated on 26th December, the day after Christmas It is a bank holiday, a time to recover from the excesses of Christmas Day and an opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and neighbours. Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, cloth or other valuable goods to their employees.… Read More 26 December: Boxing Day
The Cultivation of Christmas Trees T.S.Eliot, 1954 There are several attitudes towards Christmas, Some of which we may disregard: The social, the torpid, the patently commercial, The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight), And the childish – which is not that of the child For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded… Read More The Cultivation of Christmas Trees
Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (“Unconquered Sun”) was the official Sun God of the Romans, who celebrated its birthday (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) on the winter Solstice, with a lot of candles symbolizing the quest for knowledge and truth. It occurred on the eighth day before the Kalends (the first day of the month): in the… Read More “Dies Natalis Solis Invicti”
The Story of The Rainbow (Indian Legend) “Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel: all claimed that they were the best, the most important, the most useful, the favorite. Green said: “Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for… Read More The Story of the Rainbow
Rainbows (Double Rainbow – Edinburgh Castle) Rainbows (optical phenomena occurring when white light is refracted into its spectrum of colours) are the subject of many stories, In Ireland, a common legend asserts that a “pot of gold” is to be found at the end of a rainbow, for the person lucky enough to find it.… Read More Rainbows
Over the Rainbow Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high There’s a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true Someday I’ll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind… Read More From despair and solitude to hope.
Are You Lonesome Tonight? Are you lonesome tonight, Do you miss me tonight? Are you sorry we drifted apart? Does your memory stray to a brighter sunny day When I kissed you and called you sweetheart? Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare? Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture… Read More The loneliness of a broken heart
Alone – Lonely – Lonesome Alone (adjective and adverb) means that no other person is with you. When we use alone as an adjective, it never comes before the noun (predicative adjective): Lonely (adjective) means that no other person is with you and, as a consequence, you are sad and unhappy. We may choose to… Read More Alone – Lonely – Lonesome
17th December 1538, Pope Paul III announced that Henry VIII had been excommunicated from the Catholic Church: “BULL AGAINST HEN. VIII., RENEWING THE EXECUTION OF THE BULL OF 30 AUG. 1535, WHICH HAD BEEN SUSPENDED IN HOPE OF HIS AMENDMENT, AS HE HAS SINCE GONE TO STILL FURTHER EXCESSES, HAVING DUG UP AND BURNED THE… Read More 17th Dec. 1538: Henry VIII’s excommunication
words and music and stories 