1 January

Happy New Year!  Here is a list of ten of the most the weird and wonderful things which happened on this date throughout history:

Rio de Janiero

1. In 1631 livery stable owner Thomas Hobson died. His name lives on in the phrase, “Hobson’s choice”. He rented Horses, and the best horses tended to be overworked, so he devised a strict rotation policy to protect them. Customers had to take the next, most rested, horse in line rather than being allowed to choose for themselves.
2. In 2000 the first wedding of the new millennium took place at 8am when David Hollingdrake and Alison Bully tied the knot in Liverpool.
3. In 1502, Portuguese navigators landed on the coast of South America and named the site Rio de Janiero, which means River of January.
4. In 1701, the union between Great Britain and Ireland became effective, creating the United Kingdom. (How much longer it will last is anyone’s guess, thanks to the greedy, power hungry politicians who forced Brex-shit on us.)
5. In 1797 Albany became the capital of New York state, replacing New York City.
6. In 1964, the first edition of Top Of The Pops was transmitted from a church hall in Manchester, introduced by the now disgraced Jimmy Saville. The first song played was Dusty Springfield's I Only Want To Be With You. The Rolling Stones, The Hollies, the Swinging Blue Jeans and The Dave Clark Five were among the other acts who appeared.
7. In 1660, Samuel Pepys recorded the first entry in his Diary: "This morning (we lying lately in the garret) I rose, put on my suit with great skirts, having not lately worn any other clothes but them."
8. In 1254, a large, luminous object flew over St. Alban's Abbey, recorded by Matthew of Paris. Monks reportedly saw “a kind of large ship elegantly shaped and well-equipped and of marvellous colour”.
9. 1 January 1990 could be termed "The Day of the Triffids" as The International Carnivorous Plant Society was founded.
10. In 1914, the world's first airline started operation in St. Petersburg, Florida. Called the "St. Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line". The somewhat appropriately named Tony Jannus was the pilot.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

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31 December: 365

On this the 365th and final day of the year, here are 10 things you might not know about the number 365:

1. The best known characteristic of this number is that it's the number of days in a solar year. Most of the time. The true length of a solar year is slightly over that, which is why we have Leap years every four years to compensate. Neither 7 (the number of days in a week) nor 31 (the most frequent number of days in a month) are prime factors of 365. Its prime factors are 5 and 73, numbers which don't appear as part of any cycle in the Gregorian calendar.
2. In the Bible, Enoch lived for 365 years before he was taken up to Heaven alive, and there are 365 "negative commandments" in the Jewish faith. Three hundred sixty-five angels were involved in the creation of the body of Adam, where each one worked on one part of his body, according to the "Book of Secrets of John", a text of the library of Nag Hammadi.
3. The number of points of a deck of cards is 365, equal to the number of days of the year.
4. Icehotel 365 is the first ice hotel to offer ice experiences year-round. It opened in 2016.
5. 365 Corduba is a very large main-belt Asteroid discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1893.
6. 365 Penguins is a children's book by Jean-Luc Fromental and illustrated by Joelle Jolivet. It tells the story of a family who receive a Penguin each day for a year.
7. Zedd and Katy Perry, Amaranthe, DJ Khaled and Tiara Andini have all recorded songs with the title 365. Gary Glitter, Lutricia McNeal, ZZ Ward and Victorious have all recorded songs called 365 Days.
8. In film and TV, There is a Telugu romantic drama film and a Polish erotic romance film called 365 Days. It was also the title of an episode in Season 6 of The West Wing. Nordkalotten 365 was a Norwegian TV series starring Lars Monsen, featuring his travels in the North; and Conspiracy 365 is an Australian television miniseries based on the novels written by Gabrielle Lord.
9. The year 365 was a common year starting on Saturday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens. In this year, An Earthquake and tsunami devastated Crete and Alexandria and also affected Italy, Greece, and Palestine; Jin Aidi, emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Saint Asterius of Petra and antipope Felix all died.
10. Angel number 365 asks you to ‘go with the flow’. All your financial concerns will be taken care of and you will be supported through the changes to come. Don’t fight these changes. Learn to embrace them.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

30 December: National Bacon Day

Today is National Bacon Day. 10 things you might not know about bacon:

1. The word bacon means “meat from the back of an animal.” That said, in the US, bacon actually comes from the belly, while in Europe and Canada it does come from the back.
2. Bacon was invented by the Chinese who first cooked salted pork bellies more than 3000 years ago. The Romans made a dish called petaso by boiling salted Pig shoulder with figs, then seasoning the mixture with Pepper sauce.
3. For a long time, bacon was a product you'd get from a local farmer. By 1770, this wasn't enough to satisfy the demand for bacon. A businessman named John Harris opened the first bacon processing plant in Wiltshire, England, in which he used his own method of curing the meat, called the "Wiltshire Cure", which is still used today.
4. Bacon is actually quite addictive, because it contains a compound which produces a pleasing neurochemical response. In fact, bacon has been called the food most likely to tempt vegetarians to fall off the wagon.
5. One source I looked at during this research seemed to be nothing but a list of all the nasty diseases you might get from eating bacon. It does contain a lot of Salt and saturated fat, so it's probably best eaten in moderation. However, the ways bacon could kill you go beyond just eating it, as a 16th century servant called Elizabeth Browne would attest, had she only lived to tell the tale. She was warning herself by the Fire in 1543 when four sides of uncooked bacon fell from a hook and crushed her – this was the first recorded death by bacon.
6. During the second world war, American households were encouraged to donate their leftover bacon grease to the war effort, because it could be used to make glycerin, which in turn created bombs, Gunpowder, and other munitions.
7. The phrase, “bringing home the bacon”, which today means making Money, originated in the 12th century. A church in England offered a side of bacon to any man who could swear before the church that he'd not fought or argued with his wife for a year and a day. Any man who could “bring home the bacon”, therefore, was highly respected in his community.
8. Talking of churches, there is an official church called the Church of Bacon which has just one commandment: "Praise Bacon." It's actually an organisation for atheists and sceptics rather than meat lovers, so praising vegan bacon is perfectly acceptable.
9. The actor Kevin Bacon claims to have invented a type of bacon Sandwich called the BLAST—bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, smoked Salmon, and Tomato. While we're talking about Kevin, an artist called Mike Lahue once made a bust of the Footloose star from seven bottles of bacon bits, glue, and five coats of lacquer to sell at auction.
10. The concept of bacon Ice cream originated in a 1973 sketch on the British comedy series The Two Ronnies as a joke. It was also used as an April Fool prank. Heston Blumenthal, however, took the idea totally seriously and turned frozen Egg custard and bacon into a signature dish.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

29 December: 363

Today is the 363rd day of the year. Here are 10 facts about the number 263:

1. The Saturn V rocket is 363 feet tall.
2. In Judaism, the Hebrew word for “The Messiah” is “HaMashiach”, which has a numerical value of 363.
3. In Egyptian mythology, 363 is associated with the god Thoth.
4. Form 363 is the Companies House annual return filed in the United Kingdom.
5. The A363 is a road in the United Kingdom which runs through Bath and North East Somerset and Wiltshire.
6. 363 Padua is a main belt asteroid discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1893 in Nice. It was named after the city of Padua, near Venice, Italy.
7. The year 363 was a common year starting on Wednesday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Iulianus and Sallustius. In this year, the Battle of Samarra took place in which the Emperor Julian was killed and Jovian, general of the Guard, was proclaimed Emperor by the troops. It was in this year also that The Council of Laodicea set the day of rest for Christians as Sunday.
8. Food additive E363 is succinic acid, which has the chemical formula (CH2)2(CO2H)2. The name derives from Latin succinum, meaning amber.
9. 363 is the number of communes of the Maine-et-Loire département in France.
10. Angel number 363 is a message from the angels to be more spiritual. You've been focussing on the material too much if you start seeing this number everywhere. Take some time out to meditate or pray.

28 December: The Avengers

This date in 1922 saw the birth of Stan Lee, creator of many Marvel characters. Today, 10 things you might not know about The Avengers:

1. The original team was made up of solo heroes who got together with Thor to fight the trickster god, Loki. When they'd dealt with that particular threat, they decided to continue working together and that they needed a name. In the comics, a character who has never appeared in the films named the new team. That was Janet van Dyne, a.k.a. The Wasp, who said, “It should be something colourful and dramatic like 'The Avengers,' or...” We'll never know what her second suggestion was going to be, because Ant-Man interrupted, saying “Or nothing! That's it! The Avengers!”
2. The Avengers only exist at all because there was a hold up getting Daredevil #1 to the printer in time for the scheduled print run. Rather than cancel it, Stan Lee suggested bringing a bunch of existing superhero characters together to form a team. Readers would already know their origin stories, so they'd be ready to hit the ground running in a scenario which could be put together quickly. There was another issue when it came to publication. DC had control over Marvel at the time and could dictate how many titles they had. So in order to allow the Avengers and The X-Men to be distributed, Marvel had to cancel two existing titles. Love Romances and Gunsmoke Western were the two chosen to bite the dust.
3. The Hulk was only an Avenger for one issue of the comics, and Captain America wasn't in the initial line up at all. The Hulk quit in a huff by the end of the second issue, and on their first outing after he'd gone they were chasing Namor, the Sub-Mariner and discovered a frozen man under the sea – Captain America, who joined the team after he'd been thawed out.
4. The team has undergone countless changes in line up since the 1960s, far too numerous to list here. Not everyone who was offered a place on the team accepted. Both Spiderman and Daredevil initially declined, and only joined the Avengers much later.
5. Avengers featured one of the first civil rights stories in comics history when the villains were a thinly veiled version of the Ku Klux Klan called the Sons of the Serpent.
6. The Avengers headquarters was in New York City, in a building called Avengers Mansion, provided by Tony Stark, Iron Man's billionaire alter-ego. They had a butler to look after them, named Edwin Jarvis, and their own private plane, the five-engine Quinjet.
7. The synthetic human character Vision was originally going to be an alien, because the writer Roy Thomas planned to revive a hero from another title, an alien cop called the Vision. Stan Lee, however, was adamant that their Vision should be a robot.
8. Nick Fury was originally a white World War II vet. At some point, it was decided that a new version of the character should be African American. They explained the change by introducing the original Nick Fury's long lost African American son, Nick Fury, Jr., to take over from him when he got chained to the Moon. Artist Bryan Hitch decided to base the new character on Samuel L. Jackson. When it came to casting for the films, Jackson hadn't failed to notice the resemblance between himself and the character and put himself forward for the role.
9. The bosses of Marvel and DC might have a somewhat antagonistic relationship, but their employees got along just fine. Roy Thomas and DC writer Mike Friedrich got together to produce a crossover with the Avengers and the Justice League of America. They had to do it on the QT so their bosses wouldn't know anything about it until the respective comics hit the shops.
10. It's all very well having a superhero team in New York, but what if the villains attack California? Even with super powers and a private jet, the Avengers can't do it all. So West Coast Avengers was set up, featuring former members of the New York Team, led by Hawkeye. There were other spin offs, too, including the Secret Avengers, New Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers (who were a bit inept but managed to save the world in spite of that), and Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Unleashed, which was made up entirely of animal characters: Lockjaw, Throg, Redwing, Lockheed, Hairball, and Ms. Lion.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

27 December: Johannes Kepler quotes

Here are 10 Johannes Kepler quotes. The scientist was born on this date in 1571.

1. Nature uses as little as possible of anything.
2. I demonstrate by means of philosophy that the earth is round, and is inhabited on all sides; that it is insignificantly small, and is borne through the stars.
3. I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.
4. Science is the process of thinking God's thoughts after Him.
5. Why are things as they are and not otherwise?
6. Once miracles are admitted, every scientific explanation is out of the question.
7. When ships to sail the void between the stars have been built, there will step forth men to sail these ships.
8. We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens.
9. The Earth is round, and is inhabited on all sides, is insignificantly small, and is borne through the stars.
10. The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

26 December: Good King Wenceslaus

Good King Wenceslaus looked out, on the feast of Stephen, which is today. 10 things you might not know about the Good King and the Carol he inspired:

1. He was never a king in his lifetime. He only ever reached the rank of Duke. He was posthumously given the title of king by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I.
2. So who was he, really? He was actually Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. He was also known as Vaclac the Good, or Svatý Václav in Czech. He was born around 907 and died on 28 September 935.
3. His father was Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia, who was the son of Bořivoj I of Bohemia, who'd been converted to Christianity by Cyril and Methodius. His mother was Drahomira, the daughter of a pagan chief. She had been baptised before marrying the Duke, but nevertheless, her mother-in-law Ludmilla was concerned about the pagan influence she was having on the grandchildren.
4. Vratislaus died when Wenceslaus was 13. It was Ludmilla who was appointed regent, and Drahomira wasn't happy about that. It's entirely possible she had a hand in Ludmilla's assassination – she was found strangled by her veil. Drahomira became regent after that, but as soon as Wenceslaus came of age, he banished her.
5. Wenceslaus had a younger brother, Boleslaus the Cruel. Needless to say, he wanted the throne himself, although the people preferred Wenceslaus. Boleslaus was mightily ticked off when his brother formed an alliance with King Henry I, the powerful Christian King of Germany. Pagan nobles, who disliked the way their Duke was promoting Christianity, started plotting against him, choosing Boleslaus as their leader.
6. On 28 September 935 Wenceslaus was assassinated on his way to Mass by three nobles, Tira, Česta, and Hněvsa, who stabbed him before his brother finished him off by running him through with a lance. Legend has it that in spite of the stab wounds, Wenceslaus's body didn't bleed.
7. Wenceslaus had been a popular ruler, known for his charitable works. There were miracles associated with his tomb and it wasn't long before he was declared a martyr and a saint. Today, he is the patron saint of the Czech Republic, and his feast day, 28 September, is a public holiday there. There is a square named after him in Prague, in which there is a statue of him, mounted on a horse. His remains are in St Vitus’ Cathedral in Prague and his helmet and armour are on display inside Prague Castle. There is a legend that if ever the Czech Republic is in danger, the statue will come to life and rouse the army of knights asleep under Blaník, a mountain in the Czech Republic. While crossing the Charles Bridge his horse will stumble and trip over a stone, revealing the legendary sword of Bruncvík, which Wenceslaus will use to slay the enemies and bring peace. This legend was the inspiration for a poem by Ogden Nash called The Christmas that Almost Wasn't, in which a young boy awakens Wenceslaus and his knights to save them from a regime which has banned Christmas.
8. The tune of the carol Good King Wenceslaus dates back to the 13th century and was originally written to celebrate Easter. The tune is called Tempus adest floridum, which translates as "Eastertime has come". The lyrics were written in 1853 by John Mason Neale.
9. His lyrics tell the story of a king going to give alms to the poor as was the tradition on Boxing Day. It is so cold that the page who is with him is about to collapse and succumb to the frost, but the king encourages him to tread in his footsteps to make the going easier through the deep snow.
10. This popular carol has been covered many times. The Beatles included it on their Christmas record in 1963. It's also often used in seasonal TV shows. In A Muppet Family Christmas, Gonzo sings it. In the film Love Actually, Hugh Grant's Prime Minister character sings it while knocking on doors looking for his love interest, to explain his presence to anyone who isn't her. In the Big Bang Theory episode The Santa Simulation, Sheldon sings it while playing Dungeons and Dragons with Leonard, Howard and Stuart, to save his character from danger. Although the first verse is enough to complete the task, Sheldon insists on singing the entire song. Doctor Who has referenced it twice. Once in 1975 when the Doctor tells Sarah Jane Smith and Harry to "Follow me and tread in my footsteps" in order to cross a minefield on the Dalek home world. They look at each other and Sarah Jane comments, "Good King Wenceslaus". In 2007 an alien tour guide on board an alien spaceship replica of the Titanic mistakenly believes that Good King Wenceslaus is currently the King of England.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

25 December: Christmas crackers

10 things you didn't know about Christmas crackers:

1. What is a Christmas cracker? If you live in the United Kingdom, Ireland, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or South Africa, you probably know, but people from elsewhere may not. I recall being in a restaurant in New Zealand close to Christmas, where they had crackers on the table, and a German couple nearby were looking at them as if to say, "WTF is this thing?" A Christmas Cracker is a brightly coloured paper tube, twisted at both ends. There is usually one for each person at a Christmas lunch or party, placed beside the plate. It has a chemical strip inside which makes a small bang when pulled. There are usually a number of items inside. Read on to find out more about those.
2. The traditional way to pull them is for each person to take their cracker and cross arms. The person next to them grabs the other end of the cracker until there's a circle around the table, and everyone pulls at once. The record for the biggest number of people pulling crackers together took place in Japan in 2009 with 1,478 people taking part.
3. According to tradition, whoever ends up with the largest section of the cracker is the winner and gets the contents, although it's more typical for each person to keep the contents of the cracker by their plate, so everybody is sure to get something.
4. Christmas crackers were invented in 1846 by a wedding cake baker called Thomas Smith. He got the idea on a trip to Paris when he discovered bon-bons, sugar almonds wrapped in paper with a twist at either end. He copied the idea, but found they only really sold at Christmas.
5. There is usually a joke (the cornier the better) and/or a trivia fact inside. These came about because Smith noticed that men often bought his bon-bons for their sweethearts and so he began including love notes from the early 1850s.
6. The "cracker" part wasn't added until about 1860. The story goes that Smith was relaxing by the Fire one night and noticed the cracks and pops coming from the fire, and thought it would be fun to make bon-bons which made a noise when they were pulled in half. Some versions of the story say he experimented himself, suffering several minor burns before getting it right, although his company's records say he bought the recipe for the chemical strips from Brock's Fireworks.
7. Smith called his new idea "Bangs of Expectation". They were also nicknamed "cosaques" after the Cossack soldiers who would crack their whips and fire guns into the air. It seems likely that crackers were louder back then than they are today, for at one point, Twelfth Night parties were banned because people pulled a lot of crackers and made too much noise.
8. Paper hats didn't make an appearance until after Thomas died, when his sons took over the business. The idea of paper crowns to wear while eating Christmas lunch is thought to have been lifted from the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which was celebrated at about the same time of year, and involved wearing decorative hats. It was the sons, too, who evolved the love mottoes into jokes or limericks.
9. While crackers are associated with Christmas, they can be made for any celebration using any theme you like. Birthday parties are the other big cracker occasions. Tom Smith's company made crackers with themes like suffragettes, war heroes and Charlie Chaplin. They were also produced for big events like coronations.
10. The biggest cracker ever was 63.1m (207ft) long and 4m (13ft) in diameter. It was made by the parents of children at a school in Buckinghamshire in 2001. Another cracker related record was set in 2020. When filming a Christmas episode of QI, comedian Alan Davies pulled 35 crackers in 30 seconds, setting a world record. Because the shows are filmed in advance, the record was actually set in August.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

24 December: White Christmas

An oft omitted opening verse to the song White Christmas has the lyric: "It's December the twenty-fourth, And I am longing to be up North." 10 things you might not know about the song, White Christmas.

1. The song was written by Irving Berlin, who was Jewish and therefore didn't celebrate Christmas, although as a child he used to sneak out to the neighbour's house in order to experience all the trappings. As an adult, Christmas wasn't a time for celebration as he and his wife found their baby dead in his cot on Christmas morning of 1928, so their usual activity on Christmas Day was visiting his grave.
2. The song was written in the early 1940s. There is some dispute as to whether Berlin penned it in a hotel or on a film set. He is said to have yelled at his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song. It's the best song I ever wrote. Hell, it's the best song anybody ever wrote."
3. The sales figures suggest he was right. Although it was a hit before record charts were really a thing, Guinness World Records have estimated that Bing Crosby's version alone has sold 50 million copies. It shot up the charts every Christmas from 1942 to 1962 (except in 1952 for some reason), routinely reaching the top 10. The only other record to even come close was Elton John's 1997 tribute to Princess Diana, which sold 33 million. Add in the countless cover versions and you have sales of over 100 million.
4. Among the covers was one by Elvis Presley, which Irving Berlin allegedly took offence to, calling it a "profane parody of his cherished yuletide standard" and getting his staff to phone radio stations to ask them not to play it. Though it has been suggested that Berlin was buying into the idea that there's no such thing as bad publicity and was actually trying to raise awareness of it and keep the royalties flowing in. He'd not objected to an earlier R&B version by the Drifters. Makes me wonder what he would have done if he'd heard the punk version.
5. When Bing Crosby first heard it, he wasn't quite as blown away as Berlin had been. He just thought it was an okay song which wouldn't offend anybody.
6. In 1947, Crosby had to re-record the song, because the original masters had worn out because they had been used so many times. Chances are, if you hear Crosby singing it today, it will be the 1947 version.
7. It wasn't a hit in the UK until Bing Crosby died in 1977.
8. Its first air play was on December 25, 1941. This wasn't long after the attack on Pearl Harbor, so the soulful, nostalgic tune was an instant hit. Many servicemen were away from their families at Christmas for the first time, often in warmer climates.
9. It remained popular with troops stationed abroad, even though it made them feel sad. Bing Crosby once said he would prefer not to sing it at the performances he gave for the military abroad, because, he said, he'd gone there to cheer them up, not make them sad. However, the troops would always request it.
10. White Christmas was used as the cue to begin the evacuation from Saigon in April 1975. As the North Vietnamese had the city surrounded, the American radio station announced that the temperature in Saigon was "105 degrees and rising," and then played White Christmas. The Americans knew then to head for the evacuation points immediately. The song was chosen because all the Americans would recognise it, and it wasn't a tune which would normally be played in April.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

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23 December: 357

On the 357th day of the year, 10 facts about the number 357:

1. The .357 is a type of gun cartridge introduced by Magnum in 1934.
2. Police Python 357 is a 1976 French crime-thriller film written and directed by Alain Corneau. It is an adaptation of Kenneth Fearing's 1946 novel, The Big Clock.
3. Muslim .357 is a 1986 Philippine action film directed by and starring Fernando Poe Jr. as an undercover officer of the Philippine Constabulary.
4. 357 Ninina is a large main-belt Asteroid discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1893. The origin of the name is not known, though Ninine is a French personal name.
5. Vixen 357 is a Sega Mega Drive war-related video game that takes place in the late 25th century.
6. Gliese 357 is an M-type main sequence star located 31 light-years from the Solar Eclipses, within the Hydra constellation. It has a planet, Gliese 357 d, which is considered to be a "Super-Earth".
7. The A357 is a road in England that runs between Blandford and Wincanton.
8. The year 357 was a common year starting on a Wednesday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Iulianus. In this year, the Battle of Strasbourg took place and the Imperial Library of Constantinople was founded.
9. Kosmos 357 was a Soviet satellite launched in 1970 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.
10. As an angel number, 357 is a message to trust your intuition and inner urgings and promptings as they will help you achieve your life's mission. Wonderful changes are in the offing.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

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Kindle

22 December: Mince Pies

Sick of mince pies yet? Here are ten things you might not know about them:

1. Mince pies are generally regarded as a British Christmas snack, but the recipe actually originated in the Middle East and was brought to Britain by soldiers returning from the Crusades.
2. They used to contain actual minced meat mixed with fruit and spices. A savoury food rather than a sweet one as we know them today. Usually beef (especially tongue) or mutton but sometimes pork, veal or goose would be called for. The 1390 cookbook, A Forme of Cury, refers to mince pies as “tartes of flesh” and calls for pork, hard-boiled Eggs, Cheese, Saffron, and Sugar.
3. They were also much bigger. While we know mince pies as a small snack you could polish off in a couple of bites, in the 17th century it was a different story. Gervase Markham's 1615 recipe uses a whole leg of mutton with suet, Pepper, Salt, Cloves, mace, currants, Raisins, prunes, dates and Orange peel. They were also rectangular, or in common parlance of the time, "coffin shaped." Also, the Pastry topping wasn't necessarily meant to be eaten, but rather as a lid to keep the filling fresh and moist.
4. Over the years they've been called various names, such as mutton pie, shrid pie (because they contained shredded suet), Christmas pie, crib cakes and wayfarers’ pies, the latter because they tended to be served to visitors.
5. In the Victorian era, mince pies began to transition from being savoury to being sweet. Mrs Beeton's Household Management book listed several mince pie recipes, but only one contained meat. Sugar was becoming more widely available at that time, too. Another common ingredient is a dash of booze, which people took advantage of in Prohibition-era Chicago, when the alcohol level of canned mince pie filling increased by 14%.
6. It's often said that eating mince pies on Christmas Day is against the law. This is an urban myth. While it is true that Oliver Cromwell tried to abolish Christmas, and while he didn't entirely succeed, he did pass a law saying that markets should be open on December 25, there should be nothing different about any church services on that day, and feasting and ceremonies were curtailed. However, his laws made no specific mention of mince pies.
7. In Stuart and Georgian times, mince pies were a status symbol. Rich people who could afford good pastry chefs would show off by having said chefs create mince pies in different shapes: stars, crescents, hearts, tears, flowers, and even plates of pies which fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle.
8. Why are they associated with Christmas, though? There are several theories but no proof of any of them. They include that the spices used are a nod to the gifts of the three wise men, or the shape of the pie was supposed to be like the crib, with some chefs adding a pastry Baby Jesus on the top to reinforce the idea. Another possibility is that the mincemeat was made, along with the Christmas Pudding, on "Stir Up Sunday" just before Advent. They were certainly a Christmas food by Samuel Pepys's time. He mentioned them more than once in his diary. One year, his wife was too ill to make them, so he had some delivered; on another occasion he states that he went to the Christmas church service by himself because his wife was too tired, having been up until 4am making mince pies (or more accurately, supervising the servants who did most of the work!)
9. There are a few superstitions associated with mince pies. When making the mincemeat, it should be stirred clockwise – stirring anti-clockwise would bring bad luck. Eating one mince pie per day for the 12 days of Christmas is supposed to bring good health and happiness, and you should make a wish on your first mince pie of the season. It's also a tradition for children in the UK to leave mince pies out for Father Christmas on December 24, along with some brandy and a Carrot for the Reindeer.
10. The fastest time to eat three mince pies is 52.21 seconds and was achieved by Leah Shutkever in London on 25 September 2019. The biggest mince pie ever was made in Burton, Derbyshire in 1932. It measured 20 feet long and 5 feet across and weighed 2,260lbs (1,025kg). After being paraded through the streets it was sold in aid of a local cottage hospital.

NEW!!

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle