It’s Chriiiiiiiiiiiiistmas, Merry Christmas to those of you around the world that celebrate it, Merry Whatever to those of you who celebrate something else, and Merry Bah Humbug to those  that celebrate nothing….are we done? I have prezzies waiting downstairs to be opened…………                      Watford Observer:     

Before we begin I’d just like to share this picture below, not only for my brother Michael and sister Michele but for everyone who has lost someone and will be thinking of them even more so today.  

Watford Observer:

There won’t be celebrations in our house as such, but I’m not about to rain on anyone else’s parade and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas & a wonderful time. We’ve still a nut roast in the oven and the traditional spuds and sprouts to be done (Must  dig out air freshner)  and some prezzies waiting downstairs for me to open…..Can I go yet?

As some of you who follow the column will know, I’ve recently been getting tattooed?  and after the two memory ones for my Siblings, I decided to have the quote from my mother “It’s Just A Glitch” which is something she always says to me when life goes wrong………yes, she says it a lot.  I also decided to have it while she was still here to see it.          Watford Observer:

Then I thought, it was only fair I had a quote from my dad, but the only thing my dad says a lot of is “Don’t Get a Tattoo”……..surely I didn’t? ….oh yes I did, & I have to say that he was a good sport and actually found it rather amusing when at his birthday gathering the other week I whipped my jacket off and stuck my arm out yelling “Happy Birthday Dad” After all Life’s far too short not to have a sense of humour don’t you think?        Watford Observer:

And on that note I thought I would feed you with some weird Christmas traditions from around the world, like in Japan on Christmas day its traditional to visit a KFC, although it’s not a national holiday & only 1% are Christian, back in the 70’s foreigners visiting at this seasonal time couldn’t find a whole chicken or turkey, so picking up on that, KFC created a campaign which caught on amongst the Japanese  and now they even encourage customers to book their orders up to 2 months in advance .

Watford Observer:

Norwegians believe that Christmas Eve coincides with the arrival of witches & evil spirits so they hide all the broomsticks….as this is my mothers only form of transport for delivering the presents I’m guessing she’s not going to be too happy?  …..yeah, don’t tell her I said that, otherwise my dinner plate could well be empty?   

 Watford Observer:

In Greenland they celebrate by eating raw whale skin with the blubber left on & they also wrap a small dead artic bird in seal skin, bury it for a couple of months leading up to Christmas and then eat the decomposed flesh…..and you moan about having to eat sprouts?  

                    Watford Observer:

In Italy a friendly witch hands out the presents to the children, but I’ve already rung and told them it’s a bit too far for my mother to travel, and anyhow I’ve had to hide her broomstick due to the Norwegian thingamajig……..yeah, don’t tell her that either, otherwise I could find myself looking for new accommodation in the new year.

 

Onto Gizmo/Gadget/Gift of the week & what do you call something half bike, half car?  “The RAHT Race” The electric bike can go as fast as a car but lets you power it like a bike but has the stability of a car…..are you still with me?  

Watford Observer:

So while its an electric human car you can still peddle it like a bike to get up to automobile speeds of 100 mph, The inventor Rich Kronfeld wants to get it licensed as a fully high speed veichle and is currently trying to sort this out, as at present the government consider anything less than four wheels to be a motorbike. It’s a very exciting concept & you can see more via this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRvz7dGBJV0

 

Onto M.E and I thought for this weeks and nexts weeks Column  I would invite Charity Invest In ME http://www.investinme.org/ to give out their own Christmas message, and this is what they had to say:

“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own”     

          Watford Observer:

“The words of Michelle Obama – and they apply so well to the amazing courage, resilience and positive attitude of supporters of Invest in ME (IiME). ME is a cruel and awful disease which inflicts great hardship on patients and their families. Yet the imagination of the Let’s Do It For ME (LDIFME) team in creating new ways of raising awareness of, and funds for biomedical research into ME has been inspirational and has shown what can be achieved by a small but dedicated team of volunteers who are passionate about their cause and follow their heart.

Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection and for some it can be a difficult time. But we learn from yesterday, we live for today and we hope for tomorrow.  Watford Observer:

At the start of December IiME were very proud to be invited to give a presentation on the charity’s crowd funding success at a conference organised by the Institute of Food Research (IFR) in Norwich. Research at IFR and University of East Anglia is ongoing and expanding and the first IiME-funded research paper on B cells and ME was recently published by the team at UCL. This has all been made possible by the work of our proactive and caring supporters and their families.    

Watford Observer:

The world is round, and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.

Invest in ME is a small Charity with a BIG Cause and together with our supporters we are making change happen. Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.

Invest in ME would like to take this opportunity to thank our Big Hearted supporters for their courage and for giving us all hope.

We wish you a very Peaceful and Happy Christmas.”

& What a treat we had locally this week when Watford beat Liverpool 3-0, it took the hornets just 3 minutes to take the lead & took me right back to the glory days. Out of all the photos doing the rounds afterwards this one taken by Ian Walton/Getty has to be one of the best, a Festive and happy Harry Hornet behind a rather miserable looking Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp. With some cracking games ahead, the next being Chelsea on 26th December it sends out a message to the big boys that Watford are in no mood to roll over.              Watford Observer:

Right, that’s me done,  I’m off to open my prezzies, so have a super day, make the most of family and friends while they’re still here to love and I’ll see you back here next Friday.

                                    Til Then, Stay Blessed

                                      Back Before Elvis X

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