Tag: Christmas

  • Christmas Quiz

    I went to a works thing yesterday where some managers had put together a quiz… there was contention – which we will get to, but my team won and that’s all that matters. So, without further ado:

    Questions

    Question 1: In which country did the tradition of Christmas trees originate? 1

    Question 2: On which date is “Twelfth Night”? 2

    Question 3: Which ghost visits Ebenezer Scrooge first? 3

    Question 4: What headwear is traditionally found in a Christmas Cracker? 4

    Question 5: What traditional Christmas plant has sharp, pointy leaves, and bright red berries? 5

    Question 6: What object is traditionally placed in a Christmas Pudding? 6

    Question 7: What is the Grinch’s dog’s name? 7

    Question 8: Which reindeer’s name begins with the letter “V”? 8

    Question 9: Which horned, half-goat creature is said to punish naughty children during the Christmas season? 9

    Question 10: What is the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time? 10

    There were 3 other rounds to this work quiz… but this is all you’re getting. At one point, because I was kicking off, they said “well why don’t you do the quiz next time?” and I said, “well I will. Don’t threaten me with a good time.” These people don’t know me. All I have is junk in my brain. FOOLS.

    Sidenote: not all of these are from the work thing as I have forgotten. Too much junk in my brain.

    Answers

    1. Germany ↩︎
    2. 5th January ↩︎
    3. Jacob Marley. This is one of the contentious questions which I caused a scene at (and am still annoyed about). The “correct” answer according to the quizzers was “The Ghost of Christmas Past”. WRONG. Then they had the cheek, gall, and audacity to say, AND I QUOTE, “we will accept either answer”. Well, why the fuck are we bothering with any correct answers then? If wrong answers are acceptable then fuck it. London is the capital of France. Boston is in Canada. Who gives a shit? ↩︎
    4. A paper crown. This was another moment of contention. The question they asked was “which paper headwear is found in a cracker” and the answer was a paper crown. I wrote ‘crown’. They said, “it’s a PAPER crown”. I said, “the word paper is literally in the question you asked so obviously it’s paper”
      “OH, OK,” they said, “we’ll let you have that then.” You’ll LET ME have that? Excuse me? ↩︎
    5. Holly ↩︎
    6. A silver sixpence (silver coin) ↩︎
    7. Max ↩︎
    8. Vixen ↩︎
    9. Krampus ↩︎
    10. Home Alone ↩︎
  • Advent Calendars

    I love advent calendars. I love Happy Meal toys. I love Kinder eggs. I love Christmas Crackers. I guess what I’m admitting here is that if you want to excite me give me a piece of shit plastic or shitty choc in a **SURPRISE** and I am yours. I am won over. I am bowled over. I am mildly disappointed.

    However. As usual capitalism has come and kicked this all down and made it crazy and weird. My TikTok FYP (for sensible non-crackheads an FYP is the For You Page which is basically the algorithm throwing videos at you and seeing what will stick) is full of insane advent calendars. And I mean insane. Expensive? YUP. Useless? Sure are. $1000 for a Dior one. Yes, 3 zeroes. One thousand. Dollary-doos. USD. Lord help us. Jesus didn’t die for this, did he? (I know this one is his birthday but he did eventually die, you know?).

    ALSO, since when did these 12 day advent calendars become a thing? I was already annoyed with those calendars that don’t have a big ol’ window to open on the 25th (yes, I know advent ends on 24th but I want a bigger window on the 25th and that’s that) but now they bring out 12 day advent calendars. That is NOT advent. That’s 12 days of bullshit. I blame social media. I also blame capitalism but that’s nothing new.

    top 5 most annoying/expensive/pointless calendars

    1. L’Occitane £120 luxe skincare
    2. Jo Malone £550

      It doesn’t even look nice…
    3. Clarins 12 Day £75.75

      Nearly £80 in this economy and we’re getting 12 miniatures?
    4. Lakeland Lights Co. £99

      12 candles for ONE HUNDRED POUNDS. You could go to B&M and buy like a million tealights…
    5. Yumbles Cracking Nuts 12 days of Christmas £67.70

      12 pots of nuts for £70? Do you know how many packets of KP Nuts you could get for that amount? (35 packets of £2 bags from Iceland. Apparently)

    Anyway, did you know you can get cheaper advent calendars from today (1st December)? Well, now you do. I might pop into Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury’s (other supermarkets are available) and buy some. One. Three. Several. And get a Kinder Egg too.

    Enjoy advent and I will be back shortly with some more festive fun (?)

  • Pumpkin Spice Lattes and fall (of mankind)

    The Commercialisation of Christmas Autumn

    I blame Starbucks. No, I blame the Americans. Hmmm, I suppose they made Starbucks so maybe I blame Starbucks. I blame Starbucks and Instagram and social media and white women and capitalism.
    Babes, it’s always capitalism.
    I agree that we all need to squeeze whatever pleasure we can out of the world and if you want a pumpkin spice latte and an aesthetic pic to post on IG with a browning leaf in the background then who am I to stop you? But, and do hear me out here, I feel like when all the corporations are getting in on the act maybe take a moment to pause and think, ‘do I really want this fuzzy pumpkin table decoration or am I just being sold stuff?’

    That was a long sentence and I apologise.

    We are always just being sold stuff.
    Do you like Autumn? Do you want to tell the world that you’re a GIRL who likes candles and hot drinks and pumpkins with bows on them (?) and burnt orange? Why not buy this piece of fast fashion from Shein (surprise!) for only £8. The thing is, that is a really nice colour t.shirt. Can I get that but without the nonsense graphic?

    What about a mug that only really makes sense for 4 months of the year (IF I’M BEING GENEROUS)? Again, that is a pretty nice looking mug. Let’s make it ridiculous. Because it is a *Season*. And, I get it, you are a company that sells stuff so you think of ways to sell stuff. That’s showbiz, baby. And Halloween is a fun, spooky time of year that somewhat acts as a barrier between Summer Fun tat and Christmas tat. Great. Except it doesn’t, not really. You just get Halloween AND Christmas stuff in the shops (and Thanksgiving stuff if you’re in the USA) so every corner you turn you see variations of this:

    Christmas pumpkin disco mayhem bauble.

    And the flavours! Oh the flavours you get. Like Willy Wonka in an Autumn fever dream. Cinnamon this, pumpkin that. Nutmeg, cloves. It’s never garlic and basil is it? Is it?

    Finally, pumpkin is not a spice. What spice is pumpkin spice? This isn’t about pumpkin spice, really.

    I’m tired.