christmas

We go to see new things, then perhaps see home with new eyes…

Roy Uprichard on December 26, 2022, 1:24 pm

| Readers 1473

white and black bus with green pine tree scale model

The High Street of a North Down coastal town is abuzz this morning with charity Santas atop tractors, their klaxon horns fit for a second coming. Christmas jumpers are also out, tinsel wrapped, in queues outside butchers’ or flitting in and out of un-shuttered shops: saddlers, greengrocers, jewellery and watch repairs, then bakers, hairdressers or ‘Ice Creams to go’. This street from another age has kept One-Click purchasing at bay. For now. It’s still a place of interaction, of social …

Changing the record…

Karen Mooney on January 1, 2022, 7:29 pm

| Readers 1329

When blue snowflakes start fallin’… I was driving home for Christmas when I heard it on the car radio, you know the form: baltic, lonely, missing someone all set to the dulcet tones of Elvis. We hear all the sad songs on the radio at this time of year just to reinforce that it’s a time when loved ones gather together and to make you feel even more alone, especially if you’re not at that party. It’s enough to make …

Christmas Day Open Chat…

Brian O'Neill on December 25, 2021, 9:22 am

| Readers 2939

And so this is Christmas. As I type this Belfast is engulfed in a grey wet gloom. I suppose it matches the general mood. For a second year running Covid is the unwelcome visitor at Christmas. I know some of you might be on your own, or in isolation with Covid. Or maybe you are working or need a break from the family. I have created this post as an open thread to discuss whatever you like. I do in …

The childhood Christmases that still hover in my own subconscious at this time of year…

Lynda Tavakoli on December 5, 2021, 8:00 am

| Readers 850

I’m not a big fan of Christmas kicking off in October, or November for that matter. Time enough, for me anyway, the beginning of December. Maybe it’s just an ageing thing as I have, in recent months, rising to the greater heights of becoming a pensioner; but I genuinely don’t think that that’s the case. In truth, I believe it’s more of a memory thing and most likely a rose-tinted memory thing. So, I’ll try not to pontificate too much …

Welcome to the most wonderful day of the year (Terms & conditions apply).

Brian O'Neill on December 25, 2020, 8:00 am

| Readers 1583

Happy Christmas! or Bah Humbug! Depending on your view, Christmas is either an annual orgy of excessive consumption or a time to rejoice in the Birth of Shane McGowan our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. When it comes to Christmas I find myself ambivalent about it, bordering on full-blown hostility. According to our Twitter poll, Christmas does divide opinion: Do you like Christmas? — Slugger O'Toole (@SluggerOToole) December 18, 2020 On the negative side, excessive shopping horrifies me. The amount …

The first Christmas Tree of the season…

Brian O'Neill on October 25, 2020, 9:29 am

| Readers 1525

I was out for a walk the other day, and I noticed that someone in the next street had their Christmas Tree up already. It was an odd mashup as they also had all their Halloween decorations up. It was likely everything in the attic was getting an airing at the one time. In normal times you would be tempted to tut and make an observation that Christmas is getting earlier every year, but these are not normal times. This …

The Ghost of Christmas Present…

Robert Campbell on December 23, 2018, 8:31 am

| Readers 2745

One hundred and seventy-five years ago, on 19 December 1843, Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol was first published. The first edition of 6,000 copies sold out within a few days, before Christmas. It has remained one of his most popular works ever since. A few days ago, to celebrate this, the BBC screened Simon Callow’s one-man show, a performance of this set in a disused building. Callow declaims from memory, though his text, following Dickens’s own theatrical script, is quite abridged …

This Christmas double your charity donations with UK Aid Match…

Brian O'Neill on December 20, 2018, 12:20 pm

| Readers 575

Many people like to give to charity at Christmas time but it is important to look at how you can maximise your donations. Until the end of February, the UK Government will match your contribution to select charities. So if you donate £10 the charity gets £20. It is a successful scheme that has been running for the past few years and is a bit of a no-brainer for your donations. The eligible Charities in the current round are: · AfriKids …

Surrendering the ‘War on Christmas’

Jon Hatch on December 24, 2017, 6:24 am

| Readers 1500

‘Tis the season of war- the ‘War on Christmas’. This is the time of year when, traditionally, conservative media outlets employ that phrase to describe what they see as a supposed marginalization of Christmas and a relentless attack against Christmas symbolism, greetings, displays, and spirituality. Their goal in calling this out, they say, is to restore Christmas to its rightful position as a Christian holiday in a Christian America. They seek to do away with the secular trappings of Christmas, …

I return your seasonal greeting card with contempt…

Brian O'Neill on December 8, 2017, 4:22 pm

| Readers 3391

Came across this seasonal gem via Reddit and the Irish Times: “I return your seasonal greeting card with contempt. May your hypocritical words choke you and may they choke you early in the New Year, rather than later.” Prof Kennedy Lindsay, a Vanguard member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, returning a Christmas card from then minister for foreign affairs, Garret FitzGerald, as reported in The Irish Times I confess I had never heard of the good Professor but having a read …

City council recommends no free Christmas parking

Andy Boal on October 13, 2016, 6:11 pm

| Readers 985

This is a rare post from myself that is almost entirely from the perspective of being a motorist. As Belfast City Council’s Growth and Regeneration committee recommends that they do not offer free parking after 6pm or on Saturdays coming up to Christmas, my first reaction is that in fact we are only really discussing one thing: free parking on a Saturday. But what about parking for late night shopping? Well, only three council car parks charge after 6pm – …

A very Happy Christmas to all Slugger’s readers, fans (and grumpy old detractors…)

Mick Fealty on December 24, 2014, 2:34 pm

| Readers 713

I was thinking of letting the headline from Brian’s Stormont House post from yesterday be the last post from Slugger before Christmas, not least because its warm and generous sentiments are probably the best way to finish off a less than optimal year for Northern Irish politics. All government business saved to the end provides warm sense of promise for the new year. 2014 has been an unexpectedly good year for Slugger. With the addition to the team of David McCann as deputy editor …

Forget Turkey – sketches, songs, political satire & belly laughs

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 14, 2013, 8:30 am

| Readers 26

The Lyric Theatre’s Forget Turkey is packed full of sketches, songs, spoof adverts and a narrative thread about a supermarket that’s closing its shutters. Multimedia rich and packed with more laughs a minute than any show I’ve attended in years, Forget Turkey starts strongly with a musical review of the year that covers local and world events. Images are projected onto the gable wall of a house, with lyrics of some of the songs appearing to tempt the audience to …

The five, five words of Christmas (incomplete)

Blank on December 23, 2010, 8:39 pm

| Readers 10

Christmas messages run through Wordle. Does what they say a lot, say a lot? DUP Christmas, God’s, Northern, Ireland, birth Sinn Féin Sinn, Féin, Ág, águs, leis UUP Northern, Ireland, Unionist, People, party SDLP: No Christmas message as yet Alliance: No Christmas message as yet Blank