|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: MW Report 3262
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
The Nativity
![[Axe murder]](graemlins/lovedrops.gif) to the MWer!
But - what is it with lobsters, dinosaurs, fried eggs, and underpants, all of which have (I am told) been featured in Uklander Nativity Plays in recent times.... ![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif) ??
Sometimes, just getting back to basics, and re-telling Wot It Sez In The Bible is no bad thing...
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
|
Posted
Beautifully done!
![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
And bits of it had me LOL at times.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
--------------------
"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
|
Posted
But with all the other things going on, didn't anybody notice the piper. They're quite loud. According to a window at Youlgreave in Derbyshire and a painting at Stogursey in West Somerset, there was definitely a piper there. And according to the Stogursey one, there was some sort of viol as well.
--------------------
Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
Dunno about pipes, but yer viol is definitely an Instrument from God, along wi' yer sarpint, and clar'net.
Unlike yer organs, and barrel-organs - miserable dumbledores, all!
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
Loike this, Oi manes....
Hail, Smiling Morn
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
|
Posted
The description 'a glee' might have been designed to describe that.
So how about this version led by the redoubtable Ian Russell, none other, which includes inter alia concertinas, including what look like two bass ones, and a school recorder. Thinking about it, I can't remember seeing any pictorial evidence that there was a concertina player in the stable - or, for that matter, a barrel organ nor an electric guitar, with full amp kit etc. and certainly not a drummer in a perspex box.
--------------------
Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
Dunno about pipes, but yer viol is definitely an Instrument from God, along wi' yer sarpint, and clar'net.
Unlike yer organs, and barrel-organs - miserable dumbledores, all!
Or is that only true for Wessex?
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
Nay, Oi 'ear it be true of Lunnon volks, too...
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
To get back on track . . .
To dispel any doubts, I am **not** the author of this report, although I did collaborate to a very limited extent by suggesting certain ideas to the author.
I thought it very well done: clever and entertaining while at the same time reverent.
I especially liked the anachronistic references to carols: the shepherds' socks in need of washing (as naughty choristers are wont to render the carol in question), the various references to "bleak midwinter", midnight being clear, it **not** being a silent night, the infant not crying, the little boy playing his drum.
The author is one of our more prolific Mystery Worshippers and it is always a pleasure to receive and publish reports from this particular reporter.
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
I especially liked the anachronistic references to carols: the shepherds' socks in need of washing (as naughty choristers are wont to render the carol in question), the various references to "bleak midwinter", midnight being clear, it **not** being a silent night, the infant not crying, the little boy playing his drum.
But it didn't mention highly-flavored gravy!'
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
--------------------
"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
|
Posted
Lobsters? ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
--------------------
"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
|
Posted
Yes. That bit confused me too.
Well done Mystery Worshipper! Great reading.
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
Lobsters?
I believe that to be a reference to Love Actually, where one of the children, when asked what role they were playing in the nativity, said something like "3rd lobster" prompting their mother to quip that they were unaware there were so many lobsters present at the birth of Christ.
--------------------
I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
|
Posted
No clearer.
I was surprised by the lambing in mid-winter. I've checked with my cousin who confirms memories going back to childhood that spring is the time for lambing.
--------------------
Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
But it didn't mention highly-flavored gravy!
That was one of the outtakes.
One version that was kicked around had the report written not by a shepherd, but by a Roman tourist in town for the "holidays" (i.e., the Saturnalia). The Bethlehem Grand (booked solid, of course) was hosting a feast to which the reporter adjourned after the "service". No coffee, but fatted calf smothered in . . . wait for it . . . highly-flavored gravy.
I think the version by the shepherd, which was how the original draft read and was ultimately the one we selected, is better -- more direct and more reverent but just as witty.
The reference to lambing highlights the (historically accurate) dispute over the exact date of Christ's birth. The shepherd probably shouldn't have said it was mid-winter, but that's how we got the notion in that it might have been December, it might have been early spring -- who knows?
[ 27. December 2017, 11:06: Message edited by: Amanda B. Reckondwythe ]
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
As a bit of an aside, and with reference to lobsters, I'm told that the Ukland paper The Torygraph (sorry - the Telegraph) has discovered something of a reaction against avant-garde Nativity Plays featuring such things as lobsters, underpants, dinosaurs, and fried eggs.
It seems that 'traditional' Nativity Plays etc., featuring the characters mentioned in the Bible, are becoming popular with children again. The most sought-after character by aspiring young thespians is the Angel Gabriel, followed by Mary in second place!
There's hope yet....
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
|
Posted
Bearing in mind the quantity of other material introduced into Old Masters, whether to show off the painters versatility or the status of the person commissioning the painting, I'm sure there must be a Dutch of Flemish Nativity somewhere with a lobster in it. Probably also a collection of vegetables that counted as exotic in the early C17, and possibly, if one isn't too bothered about fitting the seasons, some tulips as well.
--------------------
Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
I think the version by the shepherd, which was how the original draft read and was ultimately the one we selected, is better -- more direct and more reverent but just as witty.
Excellent choice.
--------------------
"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
|
Posted
I found it delightful, and i love the description of the angel songs as "silken thunder."
--------------------
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Higgs Bosun
Shipmate
# 16582
|
Posted
Would it have been appropriate to make a reference to a caganer?
Posts: 313 | From: Near the Tidal Thames | Registered: Aug 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
|
Posted
O, how delightfully subversive!
I shall now try to find a caganer figure for next year's crib scene, just to see if anyone notices!
![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif)
IJ
--------------------
Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
|
Posted
My daughter attends a preschool that is run by native Spanish speakers, most of them either born in Mexico or first-generation residents of the United States. At their first-ever Christmas program this year, they had the kids sing and dance to Latin-American pop Christmas songs- the type of stuff you might expect to hear at a shopping center in Mexico this time of year.
Not surprisingly, given the Posadas tradition, most of the songs were variations on people going to Bethlehem (Belem) to see Jesus. But as in the UK, from what is being reported above, the cast of characters is quite diverse. One class even presented a song about Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma, the woodcutter, and the Big Bad Wolf visiting Jesus and bringing gifts.
So apparently the desire to have non-exclusive nativity scenes transcends cultures.
--------------------
"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Higgs Bosun:
Would it have been appropriate to make a reference to a caganer?
We were tempted.
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
