The Nation's Favourite Carols

What's your favourite carol?  We Three Kings, Hark the Herald Angels Sing or even God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen?  There are so many to choose from and here are the nation's 20 favourite carols for 2014.  http://www.classicfm.com/discover/collections/christmas-music/nations-favourite-christmas-carols-2014/


If you'd like a seasonal accompaniment to your Christmas Lunch, then tune in to Classic fm at 1.00pm on Christmas Day to hear John Brunning playing this year's top 20:
http://www.classicfm.com/radio/christmas/25-december/nations-favourite-carols/?cmpid=E.Classic_OnAir_14.12.23&cmp=EMC-NEO


Some of my favourites are 

• Oh Holy Night  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5n6X9sUznI)
• Cowboy Carol (here's a version from my friend Richard : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz9eszJfb6Y))
• Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RspXfkKJTvs)
• While Shepherds Watched (alternative tune*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCifNeE1U38)

I went to school in Truro, to the Girls' High School, which was started by Bishop Benson in 1880.  There's an interesting link between Truro High School and the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols ...

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a service of Christian worship celebrating the birth of Jesus that is traditionally followed at Christmas. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in nine short Bible readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols, hymns and choir music.

The format was based on an Order drawn up by Edward Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury but at that time Bishop of Truro, in Cornwall, for use on Christmas Eve (24 December) 1880. Tradition says that he organized a 10:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve in a temporary wooden structure serving as his cathedral^[1] and that the purpose of the service was to keep men out of the pubs.^[2]

The original liturgy has since been adapted and used by other churches all over the world. Lessons and Carols most often occur inAnglican churches. However, numerous Christian denominations have adopted this service, or a variation on this service, as part of their Christmas celebrations. In the UK, the service has become the standard format for schools' Christmas carol services.

The best-known version is broadcast annually from King's College, Cambridge, on Christmas Eve. It features carols sung by the famous Choir of King's College. Groton School of Groton, Massachusetts, has performed the festival longer than any institution other than King's, holding its first Lessons and Carols in 1928.

(from Wikipedia)

Also see 50 most loved Christmas hymns and carols:
http://www.songandpraise.org/50-most-loved-christmas-hymns-carols.htm

Index of hymns and carols:
http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/HTML/full_index_of_hymns_and_carols.htm
http://www.mikeleal.com/christmas/songs.html


Also: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christmas/carols_1.shtml

... and Christmas songs list:
http://www.allchristmaslyrics.com/list-of-christmas-songs.htm

*http://www.westbriton.co.uk/West-gallery-singers-offer-repertoire-Christmas-music-earlier-times/story-11418672-detail/story.html

I was on Granma Duty yesterday, well it's not a duty, more of an exhausting pleasure. 

After we'd been to the park and become completely frozen in the biting wind, we 'warmed up' in the library.  The children's area is colourful and welcoming and there's a large variety of books.  

We headed for the baby board books (or books for bored babies as I call them), then sat down on tiny stools to read at the table.  I promptly fell off the stool so decided that perhaps us sitting on the play mat to read would be a better option.  

We got through about twelve books in our hour there - twelve books which she hadn't seen before.  And I know that next time we go there will be even more for her to enjoy.  

Although she has lots of books at home, it's great to look at different book; especially nice for me as reading the same book over and over again can eventually become tiresome!

I liked being able to choose books to interest her this month - and to introduce different subjects to her.  

The librarians are always very helpful and don't mind the pushchair cluttering up the space. So aren't we lucky to have a library nearby!

I just wish the Council could afford for it to be open more than three and a half days a week but very pleased to have one at all.

Here's an article by Joanna Trollope extolling the virtues of public libraries and how useful they are in our lives:

Flexible and digitised, our libraries have a bright future

Libraries are a golden thread running through our lives - and we have a chance to make that thread gleam brighter

I have, in a grim week, some good news for you. Not just good, but clear, concise and practical news. It is the publication yesterday of some important recommendations which don’t involve spending trillions the country hasn’t got in the first place, and which will improve the lives and futures of a huge proportion of the population. Fast.

The – perhaps unlikely – stars of this published report are our public libraries. Not, you might think, an immediately sexy subject. But it can be. And if the panel of yesterday’s Sieghart report on the future of libraries has its way, it will be. In England, more than a third of the population visits their local library. In the poorest areas of the country – and at least 20 per cent of the population have no digital technology at home – that number rises to a half.

The need has never been greater for a modern, safe, non-judgmental, flexible place where people can mine the knowledge of the world for free. Nor has the need for the help and wisdom of professionals to guide them through the complexities of information gathering ever been more pressing.

A local library, if you think about it, underpins every community. Yes, it is there for self improvement, but it also can, and should, be a supplier of a complete infrastructure for life and learning, from babyhood to old age, offering support, help, education – and the limitless joy of reading. A library can help you with anything from understanding your pension rights, to applying for a job, to learning about the genealogy of your family or the drama of classical Greece.

A lot of modern libraries in England are already fantastic: light, clean, comfortable, welcoming, innovative and impressive. They are rammed with people. So are many of the little local ones which have become what their immediate communities require of them, offering spaces and services to accommodate local needs.

The notion of a library being a hushed and dusty accumulation of outdated books housed in an Edwardian mausoleum presided over by fierce martinets is long gone. The library of the present – and, more importantly, the future – is something else altogether.

The thing is, and especially in these days of sharply reducing local government budgets, that none of the recommendations for the libraries of the future is going to cost a fortune. And the benefits that they will deliver are huge.

There have been umpteen reports on libraries in the last few years, all of which have come to nothing, but with the right determination and energy, this one can be game-changing in helping the population to thrive on the best that progress can bring.

The Sieghart review recommends a few key things. The roll-out of a national digital resource throughout England, to all public libraries, delivered in partnership with local authorities. The setting up of a “task and finish” force (that is to say, not merely yet another quango) led by local government in order to help local authorities improve, revitalise, and, if necessary, change their libraries.

And that’s it, really. Except for the librarians. We can’t do any of this without the librarians. They should be recognised for the huge and significant role they play in modern society already, but they need to be augmented by the recruitment and training of equally high-calibre personnel for the future.

Someone said, in the course of carrying out the review, that “libraries are a golden thread running through all our lives”. Well, here’s an equally golden chance to polish it up for the future.

Telegraph, Friday 19 December 2014: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11301894/Flexible-and-digitised-our-libraries-have-a-bright-future.html

Some sense from John Timpson*

Why has Black Friday become such a phenomenon.  Surely this another name for a pre-Christmas sale, which will be at the expense of December sales at better margins?


You mustn't assume everything that comes from the US is good news.
Many retailers may live to regret big pre-Christmas turnover at low margins.  When I started learning our trade, a wise old retailer told me that price promotions are the lazy way to run a shop - the best shopkeepers build their reputation through a combination of quality, consistency, value and service.

It won't surprise you to discover that Black Friday failed to come to Timpson. We weren't tempted to open at midnight to resole the first 10 pairs of Church's shoes for £1, service Swiss watches at half price or even cut the price of key cutting.

In the 1960s the only shops that had a sale before Christmas were multiple tailors like John Collier.  Over 90% of their turnover came from made to measure suits with a ten-day delivery.  After 15 December they couldn't sell suits for Christmas so it made sense to start the sale.  The rest of us waited until January.

We all closed for three days over Christmas, then got ready for the sale starting on 1 January.  In the 1970s a few retailers, led by Woolworths, opened on 27 December to start their sale and gradually other shops did the same.

The Boxing Day sale was only introduced when shops were able to trade on a Bank Holiday.  Now retailers seem to be falling over themselves to cut prices well before Christmas.  They seem obsessed with the turnover figures - never mind the margin, and next year they will need to offer even bigger bargains to beat last year's turnover.


The winner is the crafty consumer,but not every bargain is what it seems.  Some retailers hold items at inflated prices in readiness for the big markdowns and buy in substandard merchandise to boost the stock available  for bargain hunters.  That cost with 70% off may have one sleeve much shorter than the other.

When the big retailers announce their like-for-like sales increases a few days after Christmas, it may be worth asking how much business has been done at a discount.

Now that Black Friday has crossed the Atlantic, retailers are stuck with it, price promotions are a disease that won't disappear.
It is very unlikely that shops will ever again enjoy the days when pre-Christmas demand brought record spending at full prices.

See:
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-were-all-so-impatient-for-black-friday
and
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/11/black-friday-a-behavioral-economists-nightmare.html


http://www.timpson.co.uk/about-us_meet-the-timpsons_john-timpson.php

How the violin got its shape:



https://www.facebook.com/ClassicFM/photos/a.433117119259.201606.6569469259/10152970697739260/?type=1

Seven tips for entrepreneurs
How to navigate the minefield of flexible working


A few months ago my daughter returned to work after maternity leave.  She wanted to work less than full time, in order to spend more time with their daughter. 
They were also keen to minimise the cost of nursery school care, whilst retaining my daughter's job as a career rather than a pin money job.  

This is the latest advice given to employers, for when a member of staff requests flexible working:

1. Don't confuse flexible working with part-time working: flexible working can encompass a change to working hours, but may mean place of work.  The options include compressed hours, term-time working, flexi-time, job sharing the home working to name a few.
2. Deal with requests reasonably: there is no obligation for employers to grant an employee's request, only to deal with it in a reasonable manner.  Make sure the final decision is based on genuine business drivers rather than attitudes.
3. Consider carefully whether to ask the reason for the request: employees are not obliged to tell you but it may be beneficial for them to do so.  It may allow you to clarify for example, whether a temporary, rather than permanent contractual change is preferable, or whether another option might be more appropriate.
4. Don't make value judgements about the most deserving request: consider requests on their merits in the context of your business and if your business can accommodate the request, rather than focusing on the reason for the request.  That avoids getting into discrimination territory.
5. Consider a trial period, instead of rejecting a request outright: if you are unsure what the effect of a flexible working arrangement will be on the business, and what impact it may have on other employees, a trial period for a short fixed period can help to gauge whether the arrangement is sustainable.
6. A refusal must be based on one of eight statutory business reasons: otherwise employers might find themselves on the receiving end of a claim.  These reasons are the burden of additional cost; detrimental ability to meet customer demand; inability to reorganise work among existing staff; inability to recruit additional staff; detrimental impact on quality or performance; insufficient of work during the periods the employee wishes to work; or planned structural changes.
7. Deal with competing requests on a first come first served basis: this is the fairest approach and business needs and context must remain key.  If you decide to ask staff already working flexibly if they are willing to vary their arrangements to accommodate further requests, remember that agreeing to the first request constituted a permanent contractual change.