12 Days of Christmas -Day 2

Greetings, my true loves! I searched and searched, and found you two turtle doves. You know, love birds. They make great pets. And look, I think they love each other. What? Ew. They REALLY love each other. And they aren't stopping. OK, I'll  cover their cage, and tell you all about the next songs on our countdown.

Our number 11 Favorite tune of magical wonderment is... In Dulci Jubilo. Otherwise known in English as "Good Christian Men Rejoice," or if you're PC, "Good Christian Friends Rejoice." It's a joyous carol that really captures for me the spirit of Christmas. For me, Christmas just sounds medieval  or Baroque. As much as the more modern songs are lovely, the melodies that date back to ancient times are the ones I love best,

Meanwhile, the number 11 piece of burnt fruitcake in the sugar cookies is.... Santa Baby. This song taps into the worst part of holiday gift giving: telling people that you want expensive ridiculous presents, and suggesting that there will be sex involved if they get it. But you know it's not going to happen. This year, we made the patheticness a bit more creepy when Michael Buble included the song on HIS Christmas album. Ewww. It IS Hysterical, however, how while changing the lyrics to be more masculine, it comes off as over compensating.

OK... I'm off to get some French Hens. Enjoy your day!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com

Greetings, my true loves! Merry Christmas. Today is the 1st day, which means you get a partridge in a pear tree! What are you supposed to do with a partridge in a pear tree, you may ask? Well... um... Partridge is delicious! Or, if you're a vegetarian, perhaps they can be trained to deliver messages. Or.. Hey! Train them to deliver pears to people! I wonder what the average air speed of an unladen partridge is?

Anyway... It's time to count down YOUR favorite, and least favorite Christmas songs or all time. We got many, many interesting votes, but s few kept coming back around. Also, I put in my 2 cents, and that skewed the totals a bit. But here we are, and here we go.

Your number 12 song that brings a tear to your eye, and the Christmas spirit to your heart is.... Deck The Halls. It's just such a classic that it's undeniable. I can think of no song written since that captures most effectively the joy of decorating at Christmastime. And the Fa La La part is fun to play with. I've heard it done in 7/8 time, reharmonized, and even set to the tune of other classical pieces. It just... never gets old.

The number 12 tune that makes you all cringe with nausea around the winter season is... Do They Know It's Christmas? Yeah... I remember the 80s, too. I remember back when the famine in Ethiopia was so terrible, that Bob Geldof decided to help out with the proceeds from this song. It also brought about a new genre of music, the "Getting superstars together to raise money for a cause" genre. Often mocked, and, let's face it, no longer effective. Apparently, the famine was solved, because between Band Aid, Live Aid, and USA for Africa, we no longer hear about hunger in Africa. Now, we hear about genocide in Africa. Now, I don't know if the two are related at all; all I know is that this song is no longer relevant, not that it was a very good song in the first place.

Well, I'm off to find someone who sells turtle doves. No real reason. See you tomorrow!

War on Christmas - The Final "Battle"

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/

In case you haven't read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3 of my 4 part trilogy about the "War on Christmas" Fox news keeps harping on; I don't believe in it. To sum up: In a world where tinsel throws up every which way from November to December 25th, and the Christmas holiday is all you see on TV and Advertising, the Christians are not being persecuted; it's faux-Christians reacting to the realization that there ARE other religions in the world who celebrate other things in December, and the Christmas tree is a pagan symbol of the life within the Earth, not a holy relic.

Just to put the final nail in the coffin of ignorance, allow me to refer you to my new favorite bible passage: Romans 2:24 - As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Meaning the actions of people calling themselves Christians which are less than Godly give Christians a bad name. As the comedian said, "Jesus is like Elvis: I like HIS work, but his fans get really annoying at times."

The so-called Christians who want to "Keep Christ in Christmas," and complain that the word "Happy:" being chosen over "Merry" are celebrating Christmas right now. They shouldn't be, you know. They should currently be celebrating ADVENT; the preparations for Christmas. Christmas doesn't happen until the 25th of December, and must continue for 12 days afterwards until January 6th. That is, according to the Church Calendar.

People who claim to be true Christians should recognize that there's only one good reason for the Christmas Season to start on Thanksgiving... It sells toys. This is the most wonderful time of the year for shoppers and retailers. In fact, retailers are starting earlier and earlier; like, Halloween! And yet, on December 26th, all of it will stop.

This is the reverse of what the Christian Church says about celebrating the season. The church designates the four Sundays before Christmas as Advent, a time of preparation. We tell the stories of the prophesy, and the angels coming to Mary and Joseph, and the journey to Bethlehem, but Christmas actually starts at midnight on the 24th. And we're blessed this year to have Christmas Day be a Sunday. I'm looking forward to going to church on Christmas morning. I'm even preparing special holiday music for the event. How about you?

If Bill O'Reilly is in church on Christmas morning, I'll take him seriously with his defense against the dark arts teachings. If ANYONE from Fox news is still greeting people with a Merry Christmas the first week of the new year, then I'll allow them to preach their anti-war-on-Christmas hate speech unharassed. But they won't. They, like too many of us, frankly, are caught up in the manufactured frenzy that is the Holiday Shopping Season.

The same frenzy that make people actually believe that if they don't tackle the crowd in order to be the first to get the Rock Me Elmo doll for their kid; well, then they're committing a Christmas sin of the worst magnitude. The frenzy that makes people forget the whole "peace on earth, good will to men" thing and nurture hatred of anyone who doesn't acknowledge a holiday they don't even celebrate. The frenzy that makes us forget the child who united the world as brothers, and instead attempts to divide us into those who celebrate Christmas and those who don't; rather than all of us who are celebrating happy holidays together.

Well, gentle readers, thank you for letting me vent. And for listening. I hope you'll bring up the points I've made next time someone ignorant harasses you for celebrating how you wish. And I wish you all a Merry Happy Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Epiphany, Ramadan, and Buttering of the Great Holy Potato.

P.S. Book mark my Blog page, and check in every day for the ACTUAL 12 days of Christmas. We'll count down the 12 best and 12 worst Christmas songs as selected by YOU the reader. Comment your 5 favorites and your 5 least favorites to vote. Or contact me via Facebook.

War on Christmas - Part 3 - Christmas Trees

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/

For a moment there, I dared to hope against hope and wish against wish that I'm writing these blogs unnecessarily. I prayed that people were over this, and I'm just hashing out old, outdated opinions, even though the matter, in everyone else's mind has been settled. But... No.

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show jumped on my bandwagon this week by satirically declaring war on Christmas, and Bill O'Reilly shot back. This bit was a reaction to a conflict Fox "News" seems to have over the Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee leaving "Christmas" out of the Statehouse tree lighting ceremony invitation.


This of course is ridiculous, as previously discussed in the First Two Parts of this series. This was done to be inclusive of all people of all religions, not to exclude. I think the complaining has less to do with what Gov. Chafee did, and more to do with the fact that it's RI's first Christmas with a Democrat Governor. But I see their point. The Christmas Tree is a Christian symbol of a beautiful, loving, caring holiday; a symbol of peace, and of Christ's birth.... right?
 
Well, actually - I hate to be this guy again; you know, the smart, well informed one - but no, it isn't. The Christmas Tree that you are defending in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... is a pagan symbol.
 
The tradtional evergreen branches started in Germany and the surrounding regions during the dark ages. It was called "Julmond" (Yule-Mont), or Yule for short. The Evergreen is green year round, and during the winter, a time when all trees, grass, and foliage around us are dying and withering, the Yule symbolized the life still dormant in the earth that WILL come again in the spring. It's a symbol of hope for next year's planting season for those who worship the spirits of the Earth.
 
At some point, people decorated the Yule with lights and pretty ribbons, and just as Christians usurped another Pagan Celebration, Saturnalia, they also incorporated the symbolic evergreen into their Christmas celebration, in the form of a fully formed Evergreen Tree.
 
The Christian symbolism assigned to the Tree is that it's everlasting green-ness symbolizes Christ's everlasting life. Well, if that's the case, my fake tree is more effective than your real live tree which will wither and die before New Years eve, it's lack of moisture and brittleness resulting in a potential fire hazard to the entire household. Merry Christmas! It also wasn't long before people grasping for straws pointed out the triangular shape of the tree symbolizes the Holy Trinity, but again... that's a stretch.
 
My point, Christians, is before you march into war, staging protests, to defend this very Christian symbol, you should really make sure that it is yours to defend. To quote Gov. Chaffee, "If it's in my house, it's a Christmas tree, but when I'm representing all of Rhode Island, I have to be respectful of everyone."
 
Whether you call it a Christmas Tree, Hannukah Bush, or Symbolic Conifer of Unspecified Derivation (SCUD, my personal favorite) remember that the tree symbolizes the SEASON; it symbolizes hope that no matter what is happening now, things will get better, and prosperity will come again. And people who celebrate ALL holidays may place whatever meaning they wish onto the tree, join hands around it in a circle and sing "Yahoo Flores, Dahoo, Dores..." if they want to.
 
I, personally, am looking forward to putting up and decorating my SCUD this weekend.

War on Christmas - Part 2

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/

As it is, the first reason I have for NOT believing in the alleged "War on Christmas" is a good one: It's stupid.

But if you need another one, how about this: It's Anti-Semitic. Let's face it. The complaints are not a reaction to Ramadan or Kwanzaa. It's Hanukkah.

During our drive into the city for Thanksgiving, my daughter expressed a troubling bit of news. She told us that one of her classmates said that Hanukkah only exists because the Jews don't celebrate Christmas. My first gut reaction, of course, was of disgust; but I always try to respond to ignorance with education. If this comment was to be considered bullying; I am less concerned with stopping the bully, which often will never happen, than I am with strengthening my daughter's response. However, I realized as I tried to explain the way things truly are to my daughter, that this chick wasn't entirely wrong.

Fact: Christmas is the second most important observance in the Christian calendar, second only to Easter. Fact: Hanukkah, just,... well,... isn't. It's a lovely celebration, and special to the Jewish people, but it is not to the Jews anywhere close to the importance and significance of Christmas and Easter. In fact the two most important high Holy days in Judaism are Yom Kippur (and arguably the whole New Year celebration starting with Rosh Hashanah) and Passover. Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday.

So, why do I get pressure to include Hanukkah music on my Winter Concert? Why MUST there be a Menorah alongside that Christmas Tree? Well, imagine that you're a young Jewish kid, going to school in a mostly gentile neighborhood. We Christians don't just observe Christmas, we allow Christmas to explode all over the freakin' place. Christmas Lights everywhere, non-stop Christmas music on everyone's radio and iPod, Shopping frenzies! Now through all the hubbub about Christmas, here is a lonely solitary Jewish child who doesn't celebrate it. How left out they must feel, and how lonely. As much as people might try to include them in their Christmas merry-making, the fact remains, Santa's not bringing toys to their house, this is someone else's celebration.

So, what do you do for that child? You talk to them about their own celebration. "Hey, aren't you celebrating something this month? What's that holiday all about? You give each other gifts, too, right? And you play that game with the top, right? And wait... you fry stuff? AWESOME!" Maybe then, the child feels better about their own culture, and can be included in everyone's celebration. The only downside to this inclusion, is that it often breeds competition. Which holiday is better?

This competition, in the mind of the uneducated, can evolve into hatred of the other holiday, and thus, a war is invented. Like my 5 year old who doesn't yet understand that when another child shares her toys, they aren't TAKING them away, she still gets to play with them, too. She throws a fit, and we step in, the voices of reason, and remind her that it's about fairness. She does that... because she's 5! Adults are supposed to have outgrown that kind of selfishness. However, some still believe that if we share the holiday season with people of other cultures, who celebrate other holidays; that they're taking their holiday away.

Whenever I hear the words "War on Christmas," I can't help but hear, "Those damned Jews jumping on Christmas' bandwagon. Why should I bother to acknowledge their culture?" Answer: Because that what civilized people of good character do, nimrod.

Epilogue: My wife brought that child's comment to the attention of our daughter's teacher, and she suggested that my wife bring in some dreidels, teach the class to play, and talk about Hanukkah. We're even bringing in gelt for the kids to bring home. (Nut-free for the allergic.) Another example of ignorance defeated by education. If everyone bothered to learn about other people's culture, maybe we wouldn't feel the need to compete during December, and instead could focus on what the holidays are really about.

Besides, who can argue with a week-long celebration of Frying?!