Twixt Christmas and the New Year

Today in this part of the country, the muffled stillness of deepening snow emphasizes the quiet pause after Christmas and before the commencement of the new year. Here's a timeless description of these between days from a collection of essays by British historian Hilaire Belloc. He talks about the importance of ceremony during this week to "modern men" in a "terribly changing time." This is part of that essay, first published in 1928:

"Now, you must not think that Christmas being over, the season and its glories are at an end...

In the midst of this season between Christmas and Twelfth Day comes the ceremony of the New Year, and this is how it is observed:

On New Year's Eve, at about a quarter to twelve o'clock at night, the master of the house and all that are with him go about from room to room opening every door and window, however cold the weather be, for thus, they say, the old year and its burdens can go out and leave everything new for hope and for the youth of the coming time...

While this is going on the bells in the church hard by are ringing out the old year, and when all the windows and doors have thus been opened and left wide, all those in the house go outside, listening for the cessation of the chimes, which comes just before the turn of the year.

There is an odd silence of a few minutes, and watches are consulted to make certain of the time, and the way they know the moment of midnight is by the boom of a gun, which is fired at a town far off, but can always be heard.

At that sound the bells of the church clash out suddenly in new chords, the master of the house goes back into it with a piece of stone or earth from outside, all doors are shut, and the household, all of them, rich and poor, drink a glass of wine together to salute the New Year.

This, which I have just described, is not in a novel or in a play. It is real, and goes on as the ordinary habit of living men and women. I fear that set down thus in our terribly changing time it must sound very strange and, perhaps in places, grotesque, but to those who practice it, it is not only sacred, but normal, having in the whole of the complicated affair a sacramental quality and an effect of benediction: not to be despised.

Indeed, modern men, who lack such things, lack sustenance, and our fathers who founded all those ritual observances were very wise."

Here's to a fantastic New Year in 2010.

Christmas Cheer and Marketing - Good, Bad and Ugly

In the early darkness of the morning after Thanksgiving it begins. The promotions leading up to Christmas are a harbinger of the general economy and the December campaign can bolster those lagging year-end figures, particularly in retail.

So effective marketing in the competition for those final discretionary dollars of the year is critical. Although the zeitgeist is one of generosity, the board of directors is looking up from the balance sheets and saying "You know that last dime? We need it." Are there marketers out there who are successful in appealing to both the rock and the hard place?

Some companies have seized the opportunity to be Christmas-friendly. In a recent survey of that category by John Stossel, the pole position is held by Bass Pro Shops, followed by Cabela's, Lands End, K-mart and Sears. Other businesses are more inclined to be snowy, frosty, wintry, festive, etc. in hopes of appealing to Obama's "no longer Christian" nation. Retailers will have all of January to figure out whether they offended the right people.

Here are some other pre-12/25 strategies you may be seeing out there lately - see if you think they're effective:

Good
- Megabus is giving away 100,000 free seats on their Facebook page on trips booked for 1/6-3/20.

- Apple has a free Christmas music download set (20 songs) on iTunes.

- ELF Cosmetics is offering free shipping on any purchase.

- Joseph A. Bank is offering $550 suits for $180.

- Cepia's hot new "Zhu Zhu Pets" are under $8.00 each (and the rumors of toxicity are false).

Bad
- Verizon doubled its early-termination fee for smartphones last month.

- Joseph A. Bank evidently clears at least $370 on its normally $550 suits.

- Today, stores sold out of Zhu Zhu Pets within minutes of getting a shipment, pushing the eBay price up to $35.00.

Ugly
- The girls in Gap's seasonal ad saucily tell their parents they won't wear that (old stuff) anymore, and if they don't like it, they can "talk to the moose." (The only sign of seasonal cheer at the brick-and-mortar store reads, "Do the moose. Shake your caboose.") The moose video has already generated some spoofs on YouTube.

- Mitsubishi is running ads with the jingle, "We wish you a Mitsubishi."


On that note, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. God bless us, every one.

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Some of you have asked about the Discovery Channel's "Everest: Beyond the Limit" with John Golden's amazing summit climb described in my 10QatAtime interview with him in October. The update is that the episode was delayed but is now scheduled for Sunday 12/27 - see the link here.

Christmas Booklist

Here's a list of books that are on my Christmas wishlist - send me your own recommendations.

Anti-Christmas Entertainment

The battle lines of Merry Christmas vs. Happy Snow Season are being drawn up earlier each year. "The Golden Compass" rolls out with its story for children "about killing God" according to author Philip Pullman in a neo-Nietzsche quip.

But on the other hand there's Mitt Romney saying there's room for religion still/again in politics. And Oxford philosophy professor and distinguished atheist Antony Flew has just come out with his long move toward faith with the long title, "There is a God - How The World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind."

Abel's lamb was for a man. The passover lamb was for a family. The lamb on the temple altar was for a nation. The Lamb on the cross was for all of us. The world is flat - as of 2000 years ago.

- link to 24-hour Christmas music on your PC