| Tuesday, December 21, 2004 |
 | Bill O'Reilly: Christmas is under seige. To which we must respond falafel-falafel-falafel-falafel-falafel-falafel gloria, hosannah in excelsis.
Christmas in the trenches. It has been suggested that the memories and recollections of the Christmas truce and the apocryphal footbal match tend to come later among the soldiers who were actually present. Which is strange - like the Angels of Mons, is the story about what is supposed to happen - the angels showing, at the time, that God was on the side of the British, the football match in the trenches showing that the war was a conflict with workers at both ends. The idea that the men shooting at each other across the mud had more in common with each other than with their superiors seems like common sense now, but at the time it must have been dangerous, poisonous. There's more on Sir John French's attempts to maintain combat readiness here. If the account of a truce lasting to New Year's Day is true, think how that must have seemed to the leaders keeping nervous eyes on Russia and their own men. If I recall correctly, artillery bombardments were scheduled on Christmas Eve on the Western Front for the rest of the war.
Back at the modern front, still stuck for Christmas gifts? How about a selection of albums by the most accurately-rated artists of all time?
Or a gift for the completist? C30, C60, C90, go!
Just remember - Mogwai fear Santa.
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