Connie’s Neighborhood

For all those early travellers (is such a thing possible this year?) - In those famous words ...

My husband and I wish you a Merry Chrstmas!

Best Wishes from Mr FD, and more importantly, Best Wishes from Flamingo Dancer! 

I was following a mother with a small child sitting in the shopping trolley around the supermarket aisle. The little girl, about 3 or 4 years of age, was singing "Jingle Bells" as her mother shopped. Mum stopped and said "That is some very nice singing that you are doing"

The little girl replied very seriously, "Yes, it's a gift!"

I looked closely at the little girl, wondering if she was a Flamingo Dancer relative, but couldn't see any family resembelance. Love that attitude!

leaping lords, drummers drumming - I think I feel a headache coming on

Twelfth Day and Night – Twelve Drummers Drumming / Lords a leaping.

January 5^th. – Feast of Fools

Twelve - The 12 points of doctrine in The Apostle’s Creed

Leaping dancers were only performed by males and in pagan times were performed for the purposes of fertility, and for war. A good leaping dance was thought to psychologically prepare the men to go into battle. I don't know what it did for their fertility!

The Roman god of vegetation and war was Mars. Roman priests, with swords, performed a Satii ritual in which they leaped high to ensure that the corn crop grew.

In English tradition the leaping lords were probably morris dancers who performed between banquet courses. Twelve morris dancers, also armed with swords, would form dance patterns that ended with the swords coming together to form a Lock or Nut over the head of the Lord Of Misrule.

Other lords a leaping performed a dance, the gavotte, accompanied by a bagpipe and a drum

The day begins, like Christmas, with a dramatic religious service featuring the coming of the Three Kings. It had become traditional for the English king to make offerings at Mass of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to symbolize his connection with those kings and with Christ. This custom survived the Reformation.

The festivities were the most sumptuous of the year, filled with royal balls and parties. For Twelfth Day and Night among the common fold, a bean was baked into a cake and pieces distributed among the children and servants. Whoever found the bean was pronounced King of the Bean, and reigned for the rest of the day and night. If a pea was used as well, whoever found it became (or chose) the Queen of the Pea.

The Epiphany, the oldest of the Christmas feasts, is also known as Three Kings Day for the three magi who found the Christ Child after following a star to Bethlehem. It is celebrated on Jan. 6 and is the major holiday of the Christmas period in the Eastern Church.

Time for the Christmas tree and greenery to come down too. St. Boniface chopped down an oak tree, regarded as sacred by the Germanic pagans in an attempt to convert pagans to Christianity , and a fir tree sprang up from the stump, with its branches pointing heavenward. The apparent miracle and its interpretation gave the evergreen family of trees an unquestioned and permanent place in the constellation of natural Christian symbols.

The Twelve Days of Christmas song is a Twelfth night song  and sung by children as a "memory and forfeits" game. Whoever first forgets a line is out.

In many homes, they also played flapdragon or snapdragon. Players took turns picking raisins out of a dish of flaming brandy and popping them into their mouth. There were wagers on each person's chances of success – on surviving, I suspect!

Ordinary rural people enjoyed feasting, dancing, card playing, carol singing, storytelling, party games like hot cockles and shoeing the mare and attempting to bite an apple with a candle stuck in it hung on a string from the end of a stick. Oh how they loved dicing with immolation those hearty folk!

The twelve days of Christmas was a most welcome break for rural workers , which in Tudor times would have been the majority of the people. All work, except for looking after the animals, would stop, restarting again on Plough Monday, the first Monday after Twelfth Night.  Maybe that is also why we all hate Monday so much  - I mean Plough Monday, yippee!

The 'Twelfths' had strict rules, one of which banned spinning, the prime occupation for women. Flowers were ceremonially placed upon and around the wheels to prevent their use.

During the Twelve Days, people would have visited their neighbours, sharing and enjoying the traditional 'minced pye'. The pyes would have included thirteen ingredients, representing Christ and his apostles, typically dried fruits, spices and of course a little chopped mutton - in remembrance of the shepherds.

That’s it folks – over for another year! Diets start January 6th and the credit card balance will be due in February.

• 12:10 Not feeling so great. Wish I could be sleeping in bed. #
• 13:27 @dearbarbz Christmas isn't even over! #
• 13:32 Not sure if this is genius, or wrong: This is a diabolically effective app. appadvice.com/app/340455202 (via @amalah) #
• 13:32 The app, not @amalah. #
• 18:10 Haircut tomorrow. Need to decide what I want. Bangs: yes or no? That's the real question. #
• 18:27 @meghanthefox I'm tempted to t ry it since I can grow them out. I'm just not sure if I'll get tired of them in a week or two haha #
• 18:28 @christinaheart I k ow they take SO long to grow out. That's the one thing that makes me hesitate to try them. #
• 20:22 When did 8 pm start sounding late to me? #
• 20:43 Mom of screaming child: maybe you could try consoling your child instead of threatening to leave her @ the store. I dont think thats working #
• 21:35 As of now, I think i'm going to go with getting bangs. I wonder if I'll chicken out tomorrow. #
• 22:39 @meghanthefox one of my friends is exactly the same way. Even seeing pictures of pregnant people bother her #
• 22:41 Getting hungry since I haven't really eaten all day. But really don't want to have to cook. Dilemma. #

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After lying one month plus in the shops, now taking back and sell from photomalaysia.com. Hopefully will successfully close the deal.

Eye witness reports confirm Happy Pork Butts in the U City Loop...

Pork Butts Revisited

3 comments

Available for immediate adoption...

Ugly Dolls

1 comment

Hand fed and thoroughly tame Ugly Dolls.

Ugly Dolls 2

Walls of Ugly Dolls ready for immediate adoption.

The awesome folks at Star Clipper Comics in the U City Loop gave me permission to photograph their lovely collection of adoptable-to-the-public Ugly Dolls.

Wow, the project under-going is so fast! This new coastal highway will be conecting JB town (CIQ) direct to IDR (Iskandar) side. This will be shortern the time from 45 minutes to 15 minutes. What can say here BN really throw (or dump) the money in it. Aaah... Anyway, as long as we can see the real physical thins much more than nothing (white elephant). Menteri besar johor really 'walk the talk'!

-sent via E72-

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