Christmas Tree Light Up: Rockefeller Center, Manhattan - New York City (USA)

This aproximately 75 year old Norway spruce tree, measuring 76 foot and weighting 12 tons, made the 70-mile trip to N.Y city on a tractor-trailer from Conneticut last month.
 It is decorated with 45,000 multi-colored LED lights and a 9 ½-foot-wide Swarovski star on its top.
The lighting up is part of a tradition started in 1933.

Spanish Nougat Recipe: Jijona, Spain


Trafalgar Square (London): Christmas Tree

This Christmas tree is usually over 20 metres tall and it´s typically a 50-60 years old Norway spruce, sent to Great Britain by ship.

It is a present to the people of Britain by the city of Oslo (Norway) since 1947, as sign of gratitude for the british support during the Second World War. 

MistLeToe by Justin Bieber


Why Do PeopLe Kiss Underneath the MistLeToe?

Balder, Norse god of the Summer sun, dreamt that he was going to die. His mother, Frigga, said that if he died so will everything on Earth. To ensure her son's safety, Frigga  went to all of the elements, animals and plants and asked them not to kill her son. 
But Balder's only enemy, Loki, made a poisoned dart with mistletoe and tricked Balder´s blind brother Hoder into shooting the arrow killing the Summer god.
For three days, all the elements tried their hardest to bring Balder back to life, but failed. 
But the tears that Frigga cried for her dead son changed the red mistletoe berries to white, raising her son from the dead. Frigga then  kissed everyone who walked underneath it out of gratitude.
Mistletoe

ISouth Africa it´s called "bird lime" and voëlent in Afrikaans.
The sticky juice of the berries was used as adhesive to catch small animals or birds: ripe fruits were chewed until sticky, then rubbed between the palms of the hands to form long sticky strands which were coiled around small thin tree branches.

Christmas Jokes...

JINGLE BELLS
BATMAN SMELLS
ROBIN LAID AN EGG
THE BATMOBIL
HAS LOST A WHEEL
AND THE JOKER GOT AWAY

The Twelve Days of Chirstmas

The twelve days in the song start on Christmas Day (December 25th) or in some traditions on Boxing Day (December 26th) and end January 5th, the day before Epiphany .
This song was first published as a chant or rhyme in England in 1780 (without music) and its origin is french!

Jingle Bells


The Execution of Lady Jane Grey: 12 February 1554.

The painting shows the last moments of seventeen-year old Jane Grey proclaimed Queen of England after the death of young King Edward VI a Protestant like her. 

She reigned for just nine days in 1553;  Mary Tudor the Catholic daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, had her convicted of high treason and sentenced to death in the Tower of London.
Henry VIII of England on Horseback 

Henry VIII, second Tudor dynasty king of England and Ireland  (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) is known for his 6 marriages: Catherine of Aragon. Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr.
He is also responsible for the separation of England from the Roman Catholic papal authority, but also for the union of England and Wales.

The Queen´s Foot Guards

Traditionally, there are 4  guards in front of Buckingham Palace and St. James Palace when the Queen is in residence and 2 when she´s away.  
There are 5 regiments of Foot Guards: Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh. 
They stand still for no more than 10 minutes at a time, are on duty for 2 hours and then rest for 4. 
All Summer, the Queen´s Foot Guards in London, England wear their red tunics. 
The grey coats are used in the Winter because of their larger length and thickness.
The 1.5 lb/45.7 cm bearskin hat used by the guards is intended to make them appear taller and scary; they are made from real "culled" Canadian brown bears. 
The bearskin hats were first used in 1815, after Napoleon´s defeat in the battle of Waterloo.

The Parliament of the U.K

The two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are based at The Palace of Westminster in London, on the north bank of the river Thames, since the 13th century!
Queen Elizabeth II
Even though Queen Elizabeth II 'opens' Parliament each year and laws are passed in her name, she has no part in determining decisions made in Parliament. 
Actually no King or Queen has entered the Parliament since 1642!
The House of Lords
In the House of the Lords, 675 members of the aristocracy or who received a nobility title thanks to a remarkable work, make sure that new laws are fair and will work.
The House of Commons
The House of Commons is the most important place for discussing policies and making laws.
659 members elected by local residents, represent an area of the country and a political party.

Claude Monet: The Thames Below Westminster

The British State

The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707, with the union of the kingdoms of England (presently England Wales) and Scotland
In 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland merged, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
With the independence of the Republic of Ireland (Irish Free State) in 1922, nowadays the british state name is: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Map
Great Britain is the biggest island in Europe and the 9th largest in the world!
It´s also the third most densely populated island in the world.

4th of November: Mischief Night

It is a tradition in Northern England, but not very well known in the rest of the UK. The main idea is to put things in the wrong place. It´s the night when naughty things are done...
It is thought to date from the 1700´s  by students of the St. John´s College in Oxford. 
It´s known too as: Miggy, Tick-Tack, Corn, Trick and/or Micky Night.
Mischief Night is also celebrated in the USA and Canada under different names.

Remember, remember...


BonFire Night


GunPowder, Treason & PLot

From the UK Parliament: Learn, Play, Click!
http://collections.europarchive.org/ukparliament/20090701100701/http://www.parliament.uk/gunpowderplot/children_index.htm

The Origin of Guy Fawkes Night


Horrible History: Fawkes´ 13

Guy Fawkes Private Internet Settings...

Swiss Painter: Arnold Böklin

Self-Portrait with Death as a Fiddler

Death & The Maiden

Spanish Painter & Graphic Artist: Francisco Goya y Lucientes

The BeWitched Man, 1798

Witches Sabbath (The Great He-Goat), 
1820-1823

Monsters in the Dark


Three Witches


Seven Monsters


Me, GirL & Witch


PLay That Scary Music


The Witches´ Broom


Mickey Mouse: The MAD Doctor


The Kingdom Of Witches


Heard iT ThroUgh the GrAveYard


The PhAnToM


The SkeLeton Dance


BiLLy Jo Jive: Haunted House


A Ghost Story


Back & Front: Frankenstein


Wanda the Witch


Camille Saint Saëns: Danse Macabre


John Kricfalusi: Canadian Animator

This American TV series has two main characters aired in Nickelodeon: Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat a good but silly cat.

The Niagara FaLLs (Canada-USA)

With a total height of 51 m (167 ft) this cataract with 3 drops lies in the border of Ontario (Canada) and New York (USA). It was created during the Wisconsin Glaciation 10.000 years ago.
File:Canadian Horseshoe Falls with Buffalo in background.jpg
The HorseShoe Falls are one of the most voluminous waterfalls in the world! It´s 790 m wide (2.600 feet).
FrenchMan Samuel Champlain described it in his journals, during his exploration of Canada in 1604.
File:1880-22 Blondin.JPG
Before the American Nick Wallenda´s crossing of the Niagara Falls in 2012, FrencMan Charles Blondin did it in various ways  in 1859.
Maria Spelterini crossing Whirlpool Rapids on rope (image/jpeg)
The only woman to cross the Niagara Falls gorge, was the italian tightrope walker Maria Spelterini who crossed it three times in 1876.

Canadian Rock Band: SUM 41


Doug Wright: Canadian Cartoonist

In 2005 a prize for excellence in Canadian cartooning was created in his honor: 
The Doug Wright Awards




Aboriginal Peoples of Canada: The Inuit

This is the flag of Nunavut composed of the traditional stone monument that marks sacred sites and guides travelers and the North Star. It was created in 1999.
Flag of Nunavut.svg
The Inuit or "people" live mostly in the Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic.
Native women in gala dress. 
Geraldine Moodie photographs (1904-1905 Hudson Bay expedition
Aheamuit, Tribe of Arloo,  Arviat, 1937
Donald Benjamin Marsh (1903-1973) 
Inuit is a plural noun, its singular is Inuk.
File:HBC-Upper Savage Islands-Hudson Strait.jpg
Hudson's Bay Company Ships with Inuit off the Upper Savage Islands,
Hudson Strait, 1819
File:Coat of Arms of Nunavut.png
Here is the Coat of Arms with the caribou or reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), the narwhal (Monodon monoceros), an igloo and an iceberg, dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolium), Arctic poppies (Papaver radicatum) and Arctic heather (Cassiope tetragona).