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Fun Holiday Factoids

Crashby

Monkey
Jan 26, 2003
947
1
Rochester, NY
Heard any?

Here are a couple to get started...

Regarding the lyrics: "In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown..." - Parson Brown refers to a minister.

"Figgy pudding" has BACON in it!!! :drool:

 

MudGrrl

AAAAH! Monkeys stole my math!
Mar 4, 2004
3,123
0
Boston....outside of it....
Births on 25 December:

W C Field (1946)
Alice Cooper (1945)
Princess Alexandra (1936)
Paul Borget (1935)
Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889)

Deaths on 25 December:

Conrad Hilton (1979)
Humphrey Bogart (1957)
Dorothy Wordsworth (1855)
Sir Isaac Newton (1727)
 

MudGrrl

AAAAH! Monkeys stole my math!
Mar 4, 2004
3,123
0
Boston....outside of it....
If you're wondering why men may have not flocked to kiss you under the mistletoe, the answer may be that it was said that it will only work if the person you are kissing is a virgin. On the sixth day of the new moon, a Druid priest used to cut mistletoe from an oak tree with a sacred sickle. A passing virgin was called upon to catch the falling plant, which was not allowed to touch the ground.

 
Jan 7, 2004
686
0
D.C. area
Crashby said:
Heard any?

Here are a couple to get started...

Regarding the lyrics: "In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown..." - Parson Brown refers to a minister.
Oh, God, my best friend from childhood revealed to me a couple years ago that she thought "Parson Brown" was a shade of brown, too.

I always annoyed myself by singing "one whore soapen sleigh" in "Jingle Bells."
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
Why would anybody want to pretent that a snoman is a preacher? I don't get it.
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
Random piece of knowledge for you: The abbreviation for Christmas (X-mas) actually came about from the church. The first letter of the word Christ in Greek is chi, which is comparable to our "X" and the abbreviation was used on ecclesiatical charts and tables.
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
One of my favorite holiday facts (I use it in my music classes): Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
In the 1800's the US Postal Service tried to outlaw Christmas Cards because people were sending so many. They were outraged because they had to hire 16 people just to handle the load.
 

McGRP01

beer and bikes
Feb 6, 2003
7,793
0
Portland, OR
Both the women in my last 2 relationships, my girlfriend in highschool ('88-'90) and my wife ('91-present) both have birthdays on Christmas Eve. What are the odds? :think:
 

Crashby

Monkey
Jan 26, 2003
947
1
Rochester, NY
McGRP01 said:
Both the women in my last 2 relationships, my girlfriend in highschool ('88-'90) and my wife ('91-present) both have birthdays on Christmas Eve. What are the odds? :think:
The odds are 2.74 in a thousand...
 

MudGrrl

AAAAH! Monkeys stole my math!
Mar 4, 2004
3,123
0
Boston....outside of it....
McGRP01 said:
What are the odds?


that you put out a classified ad?

"Wanted, woman with christmas eve birthday so I don't have to remember any other dates. Would be helpful if you don't expect to have 'birthday' presents and 'christmas' presents. Just one lump sum."
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
jdschall said:
Man he's right: 1/365*1000 = 2.74

Smart feller
Thats not true because there are 2 people involved so don't the odds get smaller that their both on the same day?
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
MudGrrl said:
that you put out a classified ad?

"Wanted, woman with christmas eve birthday so I don't have to remember any other dates. Would be helpful if you don't expect to have 'birthday' presents and 'christmas' presents. Just one lump sum."
The only thing worse is having your b-day Jan 22nd only 1 month after everybody is already tired of buying presents!! :)
 

McGRP01

beer and bikes
Feb 6, 2003
7,793
0
Portland, OR
MudGrrl said:
that you put out a classified ad?

"Wanted, woman with christmas eve birthday so I don't have to remember any other dates. Would be helpful if you don't expect to have 'birthday' presents and 'christmas' presents. Just one lump sum."
Shhhhhhh! ;)
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
stosh said:
Thats not true because there are 2 people involved so don't the odds get smaller that their both on the same day?

No. Your birthday is not the variable. Your birthday is fixed. The other person has a 1/365 chance of having the same birthdate as you.

I think the odds of having two people with birthdays on leap year would be 1 in (3*365+366) or something like that.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
jdschall said:
Annapolis, MD.
Oh nice!
My sister lives just outside of Bmore.
I'm down there from time to time. Been trying to ride there for years.
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
It's all right. I don't prefer it. I'd rather live back down south. The riding is decent just crowded and over regulated. Not in Annapolis - there's nothing - but in the general area there is some good stuff.
 

stosh

Darth Bailer
Jul 20, 2001
22,238
393
NY
jdschall said:
It's all right. I don't prefer it. I'd rather live back down south. The riding is decent just crowded and over regulated. Not in Annapolis - there's nothing - but in the general area there is some good stuff.
Thats what it seemed like when I was looking for a place to ride when I was down there last. I rode at a place called Gun Powder Park. I rode there from my sis's house.
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
I haven't been there. That's north of Bmore, right. Another place that's to the north a little is Loch Raven. It's less groomed then many of the other places around here. Patapsco by BWI is good.

Seems like many of the xc riders around here used to be road bikers or something so they expect their trails to be ribbon-like single track with no obstacles of any type to impede them from getting in their miles. (that's just my opinion - I might be wrong)
 

N8 v2.0

Not the sharpest tool in the shed
Oct 18, 2002
11,003
149
The Cleft of Venus
I've heard you will have to run 22 miles to burn off the calories that one would consume eating the average Christmas dinner!

:dead:
 

Yossarian

Monkey Pimp
Jul 25, 2001
1,702
99
Aboard the Inchcliffe Castle
jdschall said:
I used to live in Chapel Hill, NC. Annapolis pales in comparison.
Yeah, but that is a college town. I have barhopped there too and did have a good time. Somewhere in my junk room, I have some bumper stickers from He's not Here.

Edit: I guess Annapolis is technically a college town, but there is a distinct difference between the way most college students behave and the behavior of midshipmen.
 

urbaindk

The Real Dr. Science
Jul 12, 2004
4,819
0
Sleepy Hollar
Yossarian said:
I have some bumper stickers from He's not Here.
Haha, awesome, I have a couple that say "He's not here, he's at Linda's"

I'd rather hang out with drunk college kids than a bunch of middle aged farts that only talk about the size of their penises - I mean - boats anyday.
 

Yossarian

Monkey Pimp
Jul 25, 2001
1,702
99
Aboard the Inchcliffe Castle
jdschall said:
Haha, awesome, I have a couple that say "He's not here, he's at Linda's"

I'd rather hang out with drunk college kids than a bunch of middle aged farts that only talk about the size of their penises - I mean - boats anyday.

Fair enough, but my brother in laws penis, I mean boat, is not in a marina in Chapel Hill.
 

Yossarian

Monkey Pimp
Jul 25, 2001
1,702
99
Aboard the Inchcliffe Castle
jdschall said:
Haha, awesome, I have a couple that say "He's not here, he's at Linda's"

I'd rather hang out with drunk college kids than a bunch of middle aged farts that only talk about the size of their penises - I mean - boats anyday.
Chapel Hill does have a kick ass pizzeria, whose name escapes me.