Each Christmas Jean & I put up our home Christmas decorations we like to make sure we have many sets of lights festooned in our main rooms including the kitchen. 🙂 We also puts a string of lights around the yew tree in our front garden, but as it has grown over the year, we found that the lights are spread thin so we may need to get new longer ones next year!
Most of our Christmas decorations have their origin from 18th century Germany where candles were used. The Victorian era also introduced Christmas decorations and illuminated by lights were influenced by Queen Victoria’s beloved husband Prince Albert. With the coming of the electric age, many variations of various sized decorative bulbs evolving to use of LEDs also are now popular.
In the UK, Europe and other nations, having light whether by candle and lantern was essential to drive away the deep winter darkness. Christmas became the time to over-indulge with lights to celebrate the bright birth of Jesus.
Brazil 2014 has been one to remember for a long, long time. So many unforeseen events have happened. Unfortunately these events, especially the losing part bits are categorically and serendipitously (for the winners) being blamed to a modern day living icon. LOL Arise Sir Mick. LOL
It seems Mick can’t get no Satisfaction even if he tries! But not as bitterly and heartbreakingly disappointed as the whole of Brazilian footballing peninsula, when their team failed to provide a semblance of satisfaction to the expectant crowd of the host nation of World Cup 2014. Their proverbial and iconic Brazilian team failed to Move Like Jagger hence completely and utterly trounced by Germany in an unprecedented 7-1 to Germany. Thus Mick is now being called Pe Frio, which literally means Cold Feet, meaning a jinx!
Mick Jagger and 15 year-old son, Lucas
Apparently the jinx brought on by Sir Mick started a long way off before the World Cup 2014. Below is an except from an article from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/10957013/World-Cup-2014-Brazil-fans-blame-curse-of-Mick-Jagger-for-their-7-1-defeat-to-Germany.html
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Sir Mick’s bad luck began in South Africa in 2010, when he watched England being knocked out by Germany, then joined Bill Clinton to seeUSA being knocked out by Ghana. For good measure, he turned out in a Brazil shirt to see Brazil lose to the Netherlandsin the quarter-finals.
For most of the 2014 World Cup Sir Mick has been touring with the Rolling Stones, but cemented his reputation as a jinx by telling Portugal fans at a concert in Lisbon their team would win the tournament (they failed to progress beyond the group stage).
He then tweeted a good luck message to England before their group game against Italy (they lost 2-1) and before their game against Uruguay, saying: “Let’s go England – this is the one we win!” England suffered another 2-1 defeat.
At a concert in Rome he told Italy fans their team would beat Uruguay in their final group game, just hours before Uruguay won 1-0 to send Italy home.
Uruguay fans, wise to Sir Mick’s growing reputation as a bad luck charm, took a poster of him wearing an Italy kit to their match, which prompted the craze among Brazil fans for cut-outs of him wearing the colours of Colombia and Chile, both of whom were beaten by Brazil on their route to the semi-final.
Last month, as part of the Rolling Stones’ current world tour, they played gigs in Berlin and Dusseldorf. The good news for Germany fans as they look forward to the World Cup final is that there is no record of Sir Mick lending his support to die Mannschaft.
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Apparently last night, Sir Mick affiliated his support to the Netherlands, who I have to admit gave a crackling performance against Argentina, who eventually won through the heart-rending but exciting penalty shoot-out.
What we all want to know now is which team is going to be chosen by Mick for the much anticipated world cup final? Would it be Germany? Would it be Argentina?
ha hahahahahaha
Football, the beautiful game, is not called beautiful for nothing!!!!
This error is fantastical. Did no one really inspect the cups before they were even stocked on the shelves at the furniture store?!!! Very strange indeed.
What was the instructions given to the Chinese designer? Was it like “make me a product, preferably a cup, that is German in design?!!! LOL
As I said really strange!
But those Hitler cups which have been sold would be collector’s items for sure.
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11 April 2014
As the swastika is a banned symbol in Germany, officials are checking whether the mugs’ sale was illegal.
A German furniture store chain has apologised for selling mugs with Adolf Hitler’s face on them.
The ceramic cups feature a faint image of a Nazi-era postage stamp with Hitler’s profile on it, postmarked with a swastika stamp.
The mug also features a rose and handwriting in English.
The Zurbrueggen furniture chain apologised for the “terrible” mistake, which it blamed on “a stupid chain of unfortunate circumstances”.
No-one reported noticing the infamous Fuehrer’s face until 175 were sold
The cups’ Chinese designer had mistakenly chosen the image of the former dictator, it said, which the chain then ordered in error – 5,000 of them.
“No one noticed the problem during unpacking,” the company’s owner told the Neue Westfaelische Zeitung daily newspaper.
The small chain sold 175 of the mugs before anyone drew attention to the black and white profile of the world’s most infamous Nazi.
Those customers could make a profit on their purchase, though. The company promised to compensate them with a 20-euro (£16.5; $28) gift voucher – a significant mark-up on the original 1.99 euro price.
The company may not be the only one keen to get hold of the notorious mugs. The Neue Westfaelische Zeitung also reports that a contemporary history museum in Bonn, the House of History, has also expressed “great interest” in getting hold of some.
Here is a story to hopefully make you smile and banish those Monday blues. 🙂
Most of us are aware that cows and other grazing cattle produce a lot of methane gas, a greenhouse gas and highly combustible too!
At a cowshed in Rasdorf, Germany 90 cows produced so much methane gas that it caught fire and blew up the shed
The gas had steadily built up in the structure and was ignited on Monday when ‘a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flames,’ the police said in a statement.
It is estimated that cow made methane produced is 500 litres (liters) (about 132 gallons) a day. A large volume of methane, comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day.
Luckily only one cow suffered minor injuries but the shed now needs a new roof 😉
Bravo Julia. I salute you. I know how it feels to run on high heels. I do it all the time, crossing a busy dual carriageway, or running for the bus. It makes you heart race, beat like a drum and pump like a steam engine. LOL The adrenalin is working overdrive and your brain is in constant worry that you might break a leg in the middle of the motorway. Ouchhh!!! Or much worst break a heel.
You are a hero, Julia. Your Guiness record is for women who have to walk and run errands on high heels.
18 years old, Julia Plecher of Ruchersdorf, Germany ran 100 metres in 14.531 seconds which earned her a world record as well as the Guiness world record.
To understand the record, let’s compare Julia’s record to Usain Bolt. Usain world record is 9.8 seconds.
ahhhh
Julia has this to advise to ladies and some men who wear high heels.
“You need shoes which ideally are closed in the front because you run on the front part of the foot. You have to be careful not to slip out. I think sandals would not be too appropriate.”
Photo: AP
The 100 participants came from all over Germany in order to run 100 meters on high heels and the stilettos had to be at least three inches high and up to 1.5 cm wide.
Each Christmas Jean & I put up our home Christmas decorations we like to make sure we have many sets of lights festooned in our main rooms including the kitchen. 🙂 We also puts a string of lights around the yew tree in our front garden, but as it has grown over the year, we found that the lights are spread thin so we may need to get new longer ones next year!
As the swastika is a banned symbol in Germany, officials are checking whether the mugs’ sale was illegal.
No-one reported noticing the infamous Fuehrer’s face until 175 were sold
Photo: AP