With the Christmas season upon us, I thought it would be a good idea to post something suitable for the holiday. In addition, since you have honored me by putting me over the 100 follower threshold that I promised would result in a book giveaway, one of you will receive an autographed copy of the book of your choice. I'll ask three questions at the end of this post and whoever is the first to answer all three correctly will win. The only caveat is you must be a registered follower, either through Google or Networked Blogs. So make sure you sign up if you haven't yet.
Christmas carols help to bring out the joy of the season. Religious and secular songs celebrating the birth of Christ or Rudolph's pre-GPS abilities can be heard on television and the radio as soon as the last scraps of Thanksgiving dinner are ground up in the garbage disposal. I haven't seen it in years, but when I was younger, groups of people would go door to door to give a mini concert to their neighbors. Hearing various people of different ages sing these songs over the years has shown me that, as I've pointed out in previous posts, they sometimes have no idea what they're actually singing.
Some of the songs end up being populated by people whom I have never associated with Christmas. Olive, Barney, and Jeff come to mind. I'm sure there are others, but this trio has always stuck with me. "Who are they?" you ask. Let me enlighten you.
We all know the song about the aforementioned Rudolph, and how he was treated before he came to the rescue. Well, of course, "Olive, the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names."
The beautiful carol, "The First Noel", provided some revisionist biblical history when I heard someone sing, "Barney's the King of Israel".
And I couldn't help but feel sorry for poor Jeff, and cringe when I heard about his plight in "The Christmas Song" - "Jeff's nuts roasting on an open fire". Ouch!
In "Jingle Bells", many years ago, a very young singer thought the lyrics were "Oh what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap, and sleigh". I can only assume the soap was used to bathe the horse.
And lastly, one intrepid singer was heard to belt out, "Get dressed ye merry gentlemen". Which is a good idea since gentlemen should not be running around naked on Christmas day. Especially merry ones.
Time for the contest. The registered follower who is the first to answer all three questions correctly will receive an autographed copy of his or her choice of the award-winning books Protecting the Cittern or The Ibex Trophy. If the winner has an infinite amount of patience Raw Umber should be available before the millennium is out. The answers to all three questions can be found in one of the blog posts. Search and ye shall find.
1) How many grandchildren do I have?
2) How many cups of tea did I (allegedly) drink?
3) What college did my daughter go to?
Very easy. Good luck!
I want to wish you all a very happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2013. Thanks for following my blog, and I'm looking forward to being in touch with all of you next year.
