h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Frosty the Snowman.

He was alive as you or me.
There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found.
Thumpity-thump-thump, thumpity-thump-thump, look at Frosty go!

peace
~jwf~

I think the only statuary we're interested in here is the kind that can be brought to life to serve a human. Though I'd take a look at Pygmalion and see if there are any human-manufactured parallels.

But ..but ..but Frosty brought so much joy to all the boys and girls.

I'll take a Frosty over some gentile murdering Golem avenger anyday!
peace
~jwf~

And then there are coporate images, the Michelin Man, for example. And the giant marshmallow man in Ghostbusters.

Did you know that Santa Claus used to be dressed in grey until Coca Cola got ahold of him?

***B

I thought he was in yellow, in a sort of bishopy sort of way. The Ghost of Christmas Present is a Victorian version as far as I know.
Not that this has anything to do with Manufactured Men, so I humbly scurry out before your terrible wrath

Hmm, I´d like to know about more about that cola-thing. Sounds a bit weird to me.

Santa Claus, Father Christmas, The Ghost of Christmas Present, St. Nicholas, what have you has been around for ages. Due to the connection with Nicholas the Window Breaker (used to throw gold through windows at people) this figure was normally dressed in yellow clerical robes, but was fat, cheery and had a big beard. At some point early in the twentieth century Coca Cola used him in an advertising campaign, but dressed him in their colours i.e. Red and White. This stuck, for some reason, and you know have to go to places like Greece to see any different.

Not one to argue with Doctors (ever since that pretty nurse said "You're a sick man Mr Fulton, please lie down.") I have to take exception to Doctor Munchkin's appraisal and any others who think bishops (especially the window breaking kind) dress in yellow.
Your parochial and enthocentric perspective limits you to experience in the Churches of Britain perhaps, but Cardinal Red is a Roman thing.
Your Father Christmas was grey from the soot of chimneys he climbed down and the Ghost of Xmas Present was the Victorian depiction of him.
Saint Niocholas, a greek of the orthodox church, would have worn Cardinal Red and Saint Nick, the American invention who borrowed a sleigh and reindeer from Scandanavian myths, was also dressed in Cardinal Red robes. I refer you to the poem "The Night Before Xmas", written perhaps half a century before the Atlanta beverage company discovered the power of national radio advertising and began to take over the world. If anything, Coke stole its colours from the Catholic Church.
pax gravitas
~jwf!

jwf - somewhat off topic, but getting to the bottom of that particular subject?

Don't worry, jwf - it IS politically correct to say "Church of England". This Church is closer to the Catholic tradition. The churches in Scotland and Wales are very non-conformist. Which concept alone would render the founding of a Church of Britain an ecumenical miracle.

The bishop wears different coloured robes depending upon the present Christian season, doesn't he? Like the priest in Church (e.g. purple during lent, white at easter, gold at Christmas, green from Trinity Sunday to advent)

The Bishop Nicholas who, we are told in Germany, actually came from somewhre in present day Turkey, always appears to children dressed in gold robes (i.e. a bit sort of yellowish, if you like, but really more browny than that, but I know that's what Munchkin had in mind). He comes on 6 December and distributes presents. He is also said to have a stick to punish children who have been naughty since last time he came, and parents use this as a threat. I have seen kids dive under their chairs when it was rumoured that Sankt Nikolaus was about. (Usually someone's Dad or the local priest plays the part)

There are two Saint Nicholas', we are also told, which means that Munchkin's is also valid. Somehow in German tradition the legend s became intertwined.

How, by the way, do you know that he was dressed in red if it was on the radio?

That's the dude.

*Decides to not make any comments on the Church of Scotland and non-conformism, for this thread is suffering enough topic drift as it stands *

I'm off for a few days in the computer-free countryside, but keep on posting. I may well return with the outline of a guide entry.

<>
And in Sweden the pre-Santa Claus tradition was Tompten (arrgh! spelling?) who looks like a garden gnome (white hair, grey or red pointy cap, grey or red jacket, belt, grey trousers) who is now almost interchangable with Santa Claus.

Father Christmas was the medieval English version of the same myth.

Read 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett for a view of how many different traditions there are in the santa-thing, and what kind of traditions they were.
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Every CofE Bishop I have ever met (and I met a few) wears purple. Some of the more dashing ones even wear purple socks. My mother put a nice twist on the idea that policeman look younger and younger, when she said she knew she was grown up when the bishops took to looking like nice young boys.


Have a good hol, Mund.

***B

Thanks for the good wishes, but I'm back, family hanging in tatters round my neck, tons of luggage that nobody can remember packing but we had to bring it back anyway. And a couple of memories...

Watching from the top of a cliff while seals swim and fish and rest... and while a baby - born too early in the year, perhaps - rises and falls with the gentle waves but never sticks to the rocks, never gets a feed from its mother. I may have seen it die.

Standing in a big greenhouse (=rainforest centre) with water dripping on me, a glass-wing butterfly sitting on my son's hand, another on his friend's. One of the moving spirits of the place telling me that butterflies are clever and humans are stupid. And apparently he blew his top at a suggestion in the visitors' book that he shouldn't stock certain sweets because their manufacturer has a bad reputation in third world campaign circles... Animals good, humans bad... Yes, but...

Sitting in a replica iron-age round-house with son and friend pumping the bellows, feeding the fire with charcoal, talking about smelting and casting metal with my Dad.

There were bad times, as we argued about what to do each day, and children reminded parents - just too late - that they didn't actually like that kind of sandwich, but enough good times to work with. You just can't get most of them on film!

The secret must be in the planning. The best holidays are where each person is allocated a day to organise. Even the kids can decide for one day where they want to go and what they want to eat. If it's a failure, it's entirely their fault. (This also applies to the days organised by the adults) If they're old enough (and next year they will be one year older) they can also be given a budget to work to. And each plan should be backed up by a generally agreed rainy day alternative.

Any help`?

sorry. Off topic.

But a completely brilliant idea TC.

Anything which teaches responsibility and cause and effect at an early age is imho A Good Thing. And that sounds fun and interesting too.

My brother in law went round the Boeing factory at his 7 year old daughter's suggestion. A giant aircraft hanger with 14 jumbos in various stages of undress. Definitely a must-see, and he'd have missed it if he had treated her like child.

***B

I´m kind of surprised a 7-year old wanted to see an airplane factory. I would more have imagined a candy factory or so. Wonder what she ends up like.

Well, she scares the life out of me. She was 11 in June, and is reading Lord of the Rings for the *second* time.

***B

Hmm, that doesn´t sound unusual to me to be honest.