Christmas Bloopers

Fun Holiday Facts

 

Christmas 

- US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world’s presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second

 - The abbreviation Xmas isn’t irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ

 - Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.

 - Many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C

 Hanukkah

 - Unlike most spelling words you remember from school, Hanukkah can be correctly spelled many different ways, including Chanukah, Chanukkah, and Hanukah.

 - Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil, it is traditional to eat fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot during the holiday

- The Hanukkah candles are added onto a special candelabrum called a Menorah from right to left, but are lit only from left to right.

-The festival of Hanukkah has become more commercial with the giving of gifts, due to its proximity to Christmas. Earlier giving gifts was not a part of its tradition

 Kwanzaa

 -Kwanzaa was created by Maulana Karenga, a professor of black studies at California State University at Long Beach, in 1966. It is a nonreligious celebration of family and social values for African American families.

-The colors of the Kwanzaa flag are the colors of the Organization Us, black, red and green; black for the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle

 -Gifts are given mainly to children, but must always include a book and a heritage symbol. The book is to emphasize the African value and tradition of learning stressed since ancient Egypt, and the heritage symbol to reaffirm and reinforce the African commitment to tradition and history

 -The ideas and origin of the Kwanzaa celebrations come from an ancient African tradition of celebrating the first fruits. The word Kwanzaa is Swahili for first fruits

Gifts Galore

With the Holiday Season in full swing now is the time to start thinking of potential presents.  Here are some of the items that might be popular with teens this year.  Are any of them on your wishlist?

From the makers of Guitar Hero comes a totally new type of party game.  Gone is the guitar, and in its place is a turntable.  Spin, scratch and mix beats from such legendary artists as Tupac, the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy.  This is sure to be a must have for those who are fond of the other Guitar Hero games. 

You’ve  grown up with the series and now it’s one step closer (at least in movie format) to coming to a conclusion.  Join Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest muggle and non muggle cast of characters as the epic battle of good vs evil continues.   

You can read it in the description: 84 shadows, 5 blushes, 60 glosses, powders, liners, brushes…all for under $50 bucks!!!  Girls rejoice because at your disposal is a pallete capable of creating tens of thousands of unique looks and combinations.

Itsa a me…Mario.  The popular mustachioed plumber is back in this throwback to the original NES days.  You and up to 3 of your friends can either team up, or work against each other in 2d, side scrolling mayhem.  I played this game at my friend’s house over the weekend and it was a blast.  There was something satisfying about jumping off of a Toad’s head and then watching him plummet to his doom.

Growing up, I only had nerf guns to shoot my friends with…now you can get all the joy of tagging your buddy in the eye with a projectile and  topping it off with the promise of a tasty treat.  Nerf guns always bummed me out because usually the guns only held something like 6 bullets, now, with the marshmallow gun, you can hunker down in a spot and snipe your enemy all day…and never have to worry about running out of ammo (marshmallows not included)  

The ultimate trivia test for any “Twi-hard.”   Get a bunch of friends, break up into teams (Team Edward vs. Team Jacob) and battle each other as you put your knowledge of these popular blood suckers to the test.