For Christmas shopping in London I go by force of habit to Harrods. The toy department is full of loud-voiced Englishwomen, but I do not see a fellow Englishman anywhere until I chance upon the Women’s Underwear Department. As I pass, I hear a Major of the Household Brigade ask for some knickers with pussy fur. Another man, almost certainly from the Treasury, asks in a hoarse whisper for some crotchless briefs.
Auberon Waugh, Diary, 1975-12-18.
December 24, 2022
QotD: Auberon Waugh on Christmas shopping
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December 23, 2022
Hot Buttered Rum – Food Wishes
Food Wishes
Published 8 Dec 2020You can do a lot of great things with rum. Make rum balls, soak a chocolate cake, pour it into a glass of cola, and of course, entertain pirates, but maybe my favorite thing to do with rum, especially around the holidays, would be to butter it. Enjoy!
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December 22, 2022
The Emulsified High-Fat Offal Tube | Yes, Minister: 1984 Christmas Special | BBC Comedy Greats
BBC Comedy Greats
Published 26 Jul 2021Bernard (Derek Fowlds) walks Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) through the red-tape of signing his Christmas cards, but Jim Hacker is more concerned with worrying plans from Brussels to rename the British sausage.
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December 21, 2022
Is Regifting a Crime?
It’s a Southern Thing
Published 10 Dec 2019To regift or not to regift? The Southern People’s Court brings their unique brand of justice to this tough issue.
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December 20, 2022
Eggnog: A Christmas History
Tasting History with Max Miller
Published 22 Dec 2020
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December 19, 2022
Christmas Crack – You Suck at Cooking (episode 54)
You Suck At Cooking
Published 22 Dec 2016To make the Christmas crack:
1. Combine equal parts of butter and brown sugar (1 cup of each works) and heat in a sauce pan until it turns into sauce in the pan.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil then with graham crackers. Break them up to make them fit along the edges.
3. Once the butter and sugar become a thickish sauce, pour it all over.
4. Bake in in the oven for a couple minutes until it starts to bubble but not for too long.
5. Cover with chocolate chips … you can put that back in the oven for a minute or just wait a minute and start spreading them around as they melt until it’s a full layer. Use just over 1 cup.
6. Throw on whatever toppings you want; almonds, pepperoni, whatever.
7. Wait a few hours for it to harden or throw it in the fridge or the freezer.I personally like keeping it frozen and eating it that way. But I am not you and you may have different temperature preferences. It’s hard for me to tell at this point, but if you message me on snapchat perhaps we can discuss this more thoroughly. Or perhaps not. I’m sorta moody that way.
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December 15, 2022
Christmas in the WWI Trenches – Xmas Rations
Tasting History with Max Miller
Published 13 Dec 2022
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December 11, 2022
How to Make A Christmas Cake – The Victorian Way
English Heritage
Published 30 Nov 2017Christmas is approaching so Mrs Crocombe is making a cake for Lord and Lady Braybrooke at Audley End House.
This traditional plum cake is based on a recipe by Charles Francatelli, who was Queen Victoria’s chief cook from 1840 to 1841.
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December 26, 2021
Repost – The market failure of Christmas
Not to encourage miserliness and general miserability at Christmastime, but here’s a realistic take on the deadweight loss of Christmas gift-giving:
Christmas gifts under the tree.
Photo by Kelvin Kay via Wikimedia Commons.
In strict economic terms, the most efficient gift is cold, hard cash, but exchanging equivalent sums of money lacks festive spirit and so people take their chance on the high street. This is where the market fails. Buyers have sub-optimal information about your wants and less incentive than you to maximise utility. They cannot always be sure that you do not already have the gift they have in mind, nor do they know if someone else is planning to give you the same thing. And since the joy is in the giving, they might be more interested in eliciting a fleeting sense of amusement when the present is opened than in providing lasting satisfaction. This is where Billy Bass comes in.
But note the reason for this inefficient spending. Resources are misallocated because one person has to decide what someone else wants without having the knowledge or incentive to spend as carefully as they would if buying for themselves. The market failure of Christmas is therefore an example of what happens when other people spend money on our behalf. The best person to buy things for you is you. Your friends and family might make a decent stab at it. Distant bureaucrats who have never met us — and who are spending other people’s money — perhaps can’t.
So when you open your presents next week and find yourself with another garish tie or an awful bottle of perfume, consider this: If your loved ones don’t know you well enough to make spending choices for you, what chance does the government have?
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You Suck at Christmas – You Suck at Cooking (episode 28)
You Suck At Cooking
Published 23 Dec 2015A 100 percent full throttle high adrenaline speed chase through the history of christmas.
Wishing you all a great close to your year!
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QotD: Boxing Week Sales
James Lileks, “Backfence: Beyond new store’s hype, genuine smiles”, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2004-08-03.
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December 25, 2021
“Christmas Truce” – December 1914 – Sabaton History 107 [Official]
Sabaton History
Published 24 Dec 2021You’ve all heard about it, but here are the nuts and bolts for why and how it happened — the Christmas Truce on the Western Front in December 1914, the first Christmas of the Great War.
Support Sabaton History on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sabatonhistory
Listen to “Christmas Truce”: https://music.sabaton.net/ChristmasTruce
Watch the Official Music Video of “Christmas Truce” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPdHk…
Listen to Sabaton on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/SabatonSpotify
Official Sabaton Merchandise Shop: http://bit.ly/SabatonOfficialShopHosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Markus Linke and Indy Neidell
Directed by: Astrid Deinhard and Wieke Kapteijns
Produced by: Pär Sundström, Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Maria Kyhle
Executive Producers: Pär Sundström, Joakim Brodén, Tomas Sunmo, Indy Neidell, Astrid Deinhard, and Spartacus Olsson
Community Manager: Maria Kyhle
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Editor: Iryna Dulka
Sound Editor: Marek Kaminski
Archive: Reuters/Screenocean – https://www.screenocean.comSources:
– IWM NTB 178-2, IWM 205, Q 86849, Q 57165, Q 53616, Q 56198, Q 50720, Q 65834, Q 50719, Q 50721, Q 31575, Q 32613, Q 57361, Q 11718, Q 31576, Q 49581, Q 64568, IWM 130-01
– Santa vector created by vectorpocket – www.freepik.comAll music by: Sabaton
An OnLion Entertainment GmbH and Raging Beaver Publishing AB co-Production.
© Raging Beaver Publishing AB, 2019 – all rights reserved.
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Repost – “Fairytale of New York”
Time:
“Fairytale of New York,” The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl
This song came into being after Elvis Costello bet The Pogues’ lead singer Shane MacGowan that he couldn’t write a decent Christmas duet. The outcome: a call-and-response between a bickering couple that’s just as sweet as it is salty.
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QotD: Blackadder and Melchet exchange Christmas greetings
Lord Melchet: Greetings of the season to you, Blackadder! May the Yule log slip from your fire and burn your house down!Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, 1988.
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December 24, 2021
How Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin Spent Christmas – WW2 Special
World War Two
Published 23 Dec 2021They might be four of the most powerful politicians and/or military leaders on earth, but they are also citizens of their respective countries and today we take a look at what they do over the traditional Christmas holidays in 1942.
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