Day 121

*Oops, I forgot to post this yesterday!

CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

Make a festive wreath

Made from the base of a pack of fizzy pop, and circles of origami paper.

Watch at least three Christmas movies

5) All Through The House

6) A Dog For Christmas (even though Amazon calls it Christmas Staycation)

7) A Very Murray Christmas

Learn about the different celebrations which take place in December around the world

❄ UKRAINE - Spiderweb Christmas

Ukraine Christmas trees are decorated with spiders and spiderwebs, coming from a traditional folk story. A woman was too poor to buy her children presents or decorate their Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, the tree was decorated with sparkling spiderwebs. When the sun hit the spiderwebs, they turned into gold and silver, and the woman was no longer poor.

❄ JAPAN - KFC Christmas

The KFC Kentucky for Christmas campaign started in the 1970s and it has now become a yearly tradition to eat KFC for dinner on Christmas Eve. 
 

❄ WALES - Mari Lwyd

A horse's head is attached to a pole and covered with colourful ribbons, and a white sheet hangs from the back of the skull. It is carried through the streets and sings a song asking to go into people's houses. People would sing a song back to deny them entry. This would go on for a while until the horse was allowed entry and the party with the horse would be given food and drink.

❄ SWEDEN - Gävle Goat

A giant goat made of straw is erected in Gävle on the first day of advent. Initially it was to encourage people to visit the nearby shops, but has now become a yearly tradition.

❄ ICELAND - Jólabókaflóðið

Books are given as gifts on Christmas Eve, and you spend the night reading your book while drinking hot chocolate.

❄ CATALONIA - Tió de Nadal

Known as the Christmas Log, it is found in many homes during December. It has legs and and a face painted on one end. Starting on 8th December, you give the log something to eat and cover it with a blanket so it doesn't get cold. On Christmas Eve, the log is put in the fireplace and beaten with sticks, and told to poop out presents and treats.

TV CRITIC

Upload

I noticed this when scrolling through Amazon, and noticed that it was made by Greg Daniels, who made The Office and Parks & Rec. As they're both brilliant shows, I thought I'd give this a go. Well ... this is very different from the other two, which are work-place documentaries. Upload is set in a future where your consciousness can be uploaded to a virtual afterlife just before they die. Nathan dies in a car crash, and his girlfriend encourages Nathan to upload to an expensive afterlife. His girlfriend ultimately has control over him because she's paid for him to be there. While trying to find his feet, Nathan spends a lot of time talking to Nora, who works for an organisation who helps people in the afterlife and they form an unusual friendship.

Although this is a comedy, it's quite deep and dark. I'm really enjoying it because it is so different. It's funny and clever and there's a bit of mystery and intrigue because Nathan's death may be more sinister than just an accident. We watched 3 episodes and we will be watching them all before our free month of Amazon Prime runs out!

GOOD HABITS

28% of Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg.

READER

Read Virtually Christmas by David Baddiel.

Started The First Christmas Jumper by Ryan Tubridy.