The declaration of Christmas peace

To the readers of The Rosemont Loving, I wish you all a heartfelt and enjoyable Christmas.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

The declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 due to the war. The declaration takes place on the Old Great Square of Turku, Finland’s official Christmas City and former capital, at noon on Christmas Eve. It is broadcast in Finnish radio (since 1935) and television and nowadays also in some foreign countries.

The declaration ceremony begins with the hymn Jumala ompi linnamme (Martin Luther’s Ein` feste Burg ist unser Gott) and continues with the Declaration of Christmas Peace read from a parchment roll:

“Tomorrow, God willing, is the graceful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour; and thus is declared a peaceful Christmas time to all, by advising devotion and to behave otherwise quietly and peacefully, because he who breaks this peace and violates the peace of Christmas by any illegal or improper behaviour shall under aggravating circumstances be guilty and punished according to what the law and statutes prescribe for each and every offence separately. Finally, a joyous Christmas feast is wished to all inhabitants of the city.”

Franz Ferdinand: A European Hit

Yesterday was my birthday and for the evening’s activity I went to see Franz Ferdinand at the Madrid Arena. The band was amazing and the audience gave the most passionate performance I’ve probably ever seen from a rock concert. The Spaniards were crazy (8,000 plus) and gave the British Ambassador and his wife what seemed like a serious case of motion sickness.

Since its arrival a few years ago, Franz Ferdinand has been a band that I’ve admired from afar. Although I think the music is quite monotonous they do have some great classics and to see these in a live experience with loads of crazy people was an experience I will cherish. An upcoming band, The Rakes, offered some great support and I’m sure we’ll see a bit more of them.

A great gig in Espana.

Top ten films of 2005

Here are, according to me, the best films that have come out this year:

Team America: World Police
Sideways
Closer
Hotel Rwanda
Kung Fu Hustle
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Crash
Downfall
King Kong (saw this today, what a great film!)

Feel free to suggest others…

Champions League predictions

Bayern Munich v AC Milan
= AC Milan

Benfica v Liverpool
= Liverpool

PSV v Lyon
= Lyon

Real Madrid v Arsenal
= Arsenal

Ajax v Inter Milan
= Inter Milan

Chelsea v Barcelona
= Barcelona

Rangers v Villarreal
= Villarreal

Werder Bremen v Juventus
= Juventus

A move to new ground

David Cameron has today urged Lib Dem MPs to defect to the Tory party. Although this is unlikely to make a huge impact around the socks and sandal’s MPs I think it will make some difference to the voting public.

I like this positive start to the Cameron era, he’s being extremely positive and trying new approaches to get voters. Keep it up.