Advent BlogThis is a 2003 Christmas Advent blog with an RSS feed. If you subscribe to it, you'll get one Christmas-related story or factoid a day from now until the holiday!Sun Dec. 14: What Was the Star of Bethlehem- December 21, 2003 One of the more famous pieces of the Advent story is the arrival of a bright star in the sky, leading humble shepherds and Eastern kings to the birthplace of Jesus. Modern astronomers do concede that there were astronomical events of note happening at the time -- some of these were even notable enough to be impressed on ancient Roman coins.. The great foes of pseudoscience at the Skeptical Inquirer put the kibosh on any actual notable astronomical event happening close enough to Christ's...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107201875857325055 Thu Dec 13: I Just Want to Moblog For Christmas- December 21, 2003 The advent of widely available cameraphones has created a new way of blogging -- people can post photos and short entries directly from their phone. This is called mobile blogging, or moblogging. No subject of interest is left untouched, of course, and Christmas is no exception. TextAmerica, a site that provides a hub and services for mobloggers, has created a group blog of everybody's moblogged pictures of Christmas trees from around the world: TextAmerica's Christmas Tree Moblog.http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107201759868143292 Wed Dec. 12: Did your most memorable childhood Christmas gift come with two wheels- December 21, 2003 Mine sure did. I vividly remember getting my first bike from Santa, a very pretty blue and white Columbia, under the tree in 1975. These kids in a Head Start program in Rock Island, got their wish: Wide-eyed and speechless, 24 kids walked into South Park Presbyterian Church and realized their Christmas wish came true. The preschoolers in the Rock Island Head Start program got bikes for Christmas Tuesday afternoon through Bikes for Brains. Queen's Parlor in Moline and Bike N Hike in Rock...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198591442949065 Wed Dec. 11: What if Santa gets a speeding ticket- December 21, 2003 It seems there are some ways to wiggle out of one of those pesky traffic tickets: Every year, Columbia City Judge Tom DuBois allows minor traffic offenders to sing a Christmas carol rather than pay a fine or court costs. Yesterday, the hallways of City Hall reverberated with semi-rousing versions of Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. -- from The Tennesseanhttp://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198545814970444 Tue Dec. 10: The Twelve Blogging Days of Christmas- December 21, 2003 You knew someone had to do it. Bradlands brings us The Twelve Blogs of Christmas: On my twelfth day of blogging, the LinkWatcher decreed, I'd made twelve "suspect" updates, eleven fellow bloggers, ten profit models, nine Beebo ratings, eight Webpardy queries, seven mini-banners, six Manila zealots, FIVE MOUNTAIN DEWS!!! (ba-dum-bum-bum), four Pitas pages, three quick Epinions, two dancing hamsters and a link about Mahir Cagri. If you get all the inside references in the song (which doesn't...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198508949845700 Mon. Dec. 9: Where do candy canes come from- December 21, 2003 It seems originally they were a way to buy off the kids: The first historical reference to the familiar cane-shape goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all-white candy canes were given out to children during the long-winded nativity services. The original candy canes were neither striped nor peppermint flavored -- they were all white. After 1900, the candy-maker's art improved to...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198478566409195 Sun. Dec. 8th: Advent Needs To Pack Up And Move- December 21, 2003 View to the Woods says that Advent would be better off if it could move: Unfortunately for Advent, it is squeezed between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even worse, Advent is a victim of the commercial holiday madness, which makes the message of Advent harder to hear over the continual drone of Christmas music that seems to invade every musical source. Nonetheless, there is an important message to all of us, if we can put the holiday lunacy on hold briefly. On this new year's day, the message...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198446110778477 Sat. Dec 7: Christmas of 1776- December 21, 2003 Christmas of 1776 was an exceptionally grim one for soldiers in the Continental Army of the US, led by future president George Washington. But Washington led them to victory on Boxing Day (Dec 26), in a victory that cost the British Trenton first and nearly all of New Jersey second: Washington developed a plan for a three-pronged surprise attack across the Delaware River at dawn on December 26. Cadwalader's troops would cross the river at Bordentown and keep that garrison occupied; Ewings's...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198407361656863 Fri. Dec. 6: Are You Allergic To Christmas- December 21, 2003 Allergy UK says it's certainly possible: The charity Allergy UK has issued a warning to allergy sufferers to be on their guard this year in case they come into contact with potential triggers. It has even designed a poster - entitled 'Festive Season Alert' - highlighting the dangers. Muriel Simmons, chief executive of Allergy UK, told BBC News Online the major problem is that exposure to potential triggers increases sharply during festive celebrations. Their danger zones include dusty,...http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198366489827308 Thu. Dec. 5: Debunking Christmas- December 21, 2003 Often, people will bring up the fact that Christmas rituals are actually based on pre-Christian rituals and festivals, or that in fact we don't actually know Jesus' real birthday. The message behind such statements often seems to be that Christmas and its message is somehow less legitimate -- even fake -- because of these pre-Christian roots. We often think of Christmas as something the Christ Child gave to us, and we're disappointed to find that all of the traditions surrounding the holiday..http://www.cadence90.com/blogs/christmas.html#107198281500548915 |