Wednesday, 19 December 2018

That's Books and Entertainment: Wise Me Up To Cold Calling

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That's Books and Entertainment: The Dreams of the Eternal City

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Where does Santa come from?

Is Santa Claus Turkish? Are Christmas decorations tax deductible? - 2018's most Googled Christmas questions.

You might think Brits should know all they need to about Christmas by now, but new research shows there are still some big questions left unanswered.

Using Google's own data, analysts at a Manchester-based online security outfit have collated the most asked Christmas-related questions and their findings are a bit weird, to be honest!

Is tinsel recyclable? was one of the UK's most commonly Googled questions about the festive season. (EDITOR: Our local council says it isn't.)

From festive scrimpers trying see if their decorations are tax deductible to devoted Catholics checking to see if Christmas Eve Mass covers their obligations for the whole festive season, the most asked questions paint a quirky and wonderful picture of the UK’s take on Christmas.

Among the most commonly asked questions were queries relating to the history of Christmas traditions, the nutritional benefits of Christmas nosh and the origins and location of the man himself, Santa Claus.

One of the top Santa Claus related searches was ‘is Santa Claus Turkish?’ This question, it turns out, is entirely valid.

Saint Nicholas of Myra, who is believed to have inspired the ‘Father Christmas’ figure has origins in ancient Greece, parts of which are in modern day Turkey, so Santa Claus does have Turkish roots.

The researchers also noticed that a high number of queries were related to the environmental impact of Christmas.

“Is tinsel recyclable?” was the top hit for questions related to this decoration and “are Christmas trees ethical?” was the fourth most common search related to Christmas trees.

A spokesperson for Online Spy Shop, who conducted the research said: “As a company, we take a keen interest in online search behaviour. The queries people make can highlight knowledge gaps, biases and upcoming consumer trends.

"But in other cases, you just spot something that’s interesting enough to investigate further for curiosity’s sake. This was the case here and we couldn’t resist finding out the answers to the most popular questions, which we published on our blog.”

2018’s most asked Christmas questions

Does Christmas have a capital C?
Does Christmas start in November?
Does Christmas start too early?
Does Christmas have a smell?
Is Christmas a proper noun?
Is Christmas pagan?
Is Christmas a festival?
Is Christmas Eve time and a half?
Does Christmas Eve mass count for Christmas
Does Christmas Eve mass count for Christmas
Does Christmas Eve vigil mass count?
Does Christmas Eve mass fulfil obligation?
Does Christmas Eve vigil mass count?
Is Christmas Eve a bank holiday?
Are Christmas presents pagan?
Are Christmas presents tax deductible?
Christmas decorations
are Christmas decorations VATable?
are Christmas decorations pagan?
are Christmas decorations tax deductible?
Is tinsel flammable?
Is tinsel recyclable?
Is tinsel tacky?
Are Christmas trees poisonous to rabbits?
Are Christmas trees pagan?
Are Christmas trees pine?
Are Christmas trees religious?
Are Christmas trees ethical?
Is Christmas dinner tax deductible?
Is Christmas dinner religious?
Is Christmas dinner healthy?
Is Santa Claus Turkish?
Is Santa Claus American?
Is Santa Claus married?
Does Santa Claus live in Lapland?
Does Santa Claus have a son?
Does Santa Claus have a wife?
Does Santa Claus live in the North Pole?
Does Santa Claus have a pilot's license?
is Christmas pudding vegetarian?
is Christmas pudding vegan?
is Christmas pudding British?
is Christmas pudding fattening?
is Christmas pudding dairy free?
is Christmas pudding the same as Christmas cake?
is Boxing day Religious?
is Boxing Day a bank holiday?

Interestingly enough Boxing Day is a religious festival under the name St Stephen's Day.

And Boxing Day is a bank holiday in Britain and Ireland and several other countries.

That's Books and Entertainment: The Old Dragon's Head

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Monday, 10 December 2018

The Original Christmas Present

The Original Christmas Present is a stunning a sumptuous Christmas book by Augustus Trembling. It is subtitled The Original Christmas Present.

It covers Gold, Frankincense and Myrhh in 300 facts and 200 questions.

The book is extremely well researched and very well written and the illustrations are truly sumptuous.

It also contains a wonderful quiz that all of the family can enjoy this Chirstmas and every Christmas for the next 50 years, for surely this book is destined to become a modern family Christmas heirloom, alongside first edition copies of A Christmas Carol and the like?

And what's even better is that this hardback Christmas quiz book is the first in a series of trivia books!

It brings readers a staggering wealth of information about the original Christmas gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, tells us in spellbinding detail of their unique and mystical qualities, their uses both past and present and their historical overview.

It's a hardback book published by Matador at an amazingly modest £24.99.

If you buy one book this year as a Christmas present for a relative, spouse,  a friend or even for yourself, please make certain that you buy this book.

UPDATE: If you purchase direct from the publisher it's discounted to a stunning £16.24!
Here is the link:- https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/