The Creen Laboratory 2.0

24th December 2011

2011-12-24T00:00:00.000Z

Happy Christmas from Sarah and Adam!

No, don't be silly, that's not us, that's Kristin and Haakon, the mascots from the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway. We're really looking forward to the Olympics next year, as you can probably tell, and hope you are too. Until then, we wish all of our readers a very happy Christmas and New Year, and hope you get presents/snow/chocolate/peace (delete as appropriate)!

PS don't forget to enter the competition on 21st December - we have lots of prizes to be won!

23rd December 2011

2011-12-23T12:04:00.001Z

When we see the intricacy, size and price of Lego sets nowadays we're always amazed by how simple a time the 1970s were. The Lego people had big heads, you couldn't get green pieces (except baseboards and trees) and models would be as simple as the one above.

This is set 0275-1 (just 275 at the time, but Lego cataloguers are a pernickity bunch) and it came out in 1974. Sarah had it as a child, and can you imagine any child now opening a Christmas present and finding this inside being particularly impressed?

If you would like to see lots more Lego models from the 1970s (and before and since), just visit http://www.brickset.com/browse/

Thanks to Freddycat1 on Flickr for the photo.

22nd December 2011

2011-12-22T08:22:00.003Z

Well done to those of you who got up at 5.30am this morning to celebrate the Winter Solstice - it's not always on the 21st Dec you know! The Guardian gives more info as to why it skipped a day this year: When is the winter solstice? Next year is a leap year, so shunts it back to the 21st again.

As the days are now getting longer, we can cheer ourselves up by watching that most wonderful of Christmas films, A Muppet Christmas Carol. And this year, as an extra bonus, there's a deleted scene not on TV or the DVD from its original release, where young Scrooge and his girlfriend Belle are breaking up and she sings a song "When Love Is Gone" about it. It doesn't feature Muppets and is a bit sad, but it's a lovely song, and Michael Caine joins in.

It's analagous to the song by Kate Winslet "What If" from the animated Christmas Carol of 2001, which is also lovely so I've put it below.

East Molesey Courtyard Cafe

2011-12-21T17:40:00.001Z

From: Adam & Sarah Creen
To: Courtyard Catering
Subject: opening times

Your website clearly shows an opening time of 8am
I arrived at 8am today to find you closed and an opening time of 8.45am shown in your window
As a result, I spent my money at Molesey Cafe down the road
You need to update your website, which also has a menu dated back in 2010
Adam Creen

---

From: Courtyard Catering
To: Adam & Sarah Creen
Subject: RE: opening times

Dear Mr Creen

Thank you for your email. I apologise for the fact that you could not access the Cafe at 8am this morning. The opening time has been 8.45am for a considerable period of time, which our many local customers know. However, I do accept that my web host has not updated the website to this effect and I have emailed him to request an amendment. Thank you for alerting me to this.

The menu has not changed for a period of time, apart from seasonal specials highlighted on the interior blackboards, but I am delighted to confirm that the prices have also stayed constant in these hard economic times. Many competitors have increased their menu prices in this time, yet I feel we retain value for money (all regular size takeaway hot drinks have been only £1 for 2 years now whilst any takeaway panini is still only £3.50).

I look forward to introducing varying menu items in the New Year, and take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to contact me. I hope you enjoyed your meal at Molesey Cafe today.

Kind regards
Andrew Webber

21st December 2011

2011-12-21T06:23:00.000Z

Competition time! We love to give away prizes on the Advent Calendar - and this year we have a star prize of a DVD of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, agreed to be the most spectacular ever seen, as well as lots of secret runner-up prizes.

All you have to do is say which year the following pictograms come from. These are one of Adam's favourite things about the Olympics, along with logos and mascots. They first appeared in their modern form in 1964 Tokyo games, but have been redesigned many times. These three are in date order.

To enter, email the three years (or venues) to adamcreen@hotmail.com and as a tie-break, say which your favourite Olympic mascot is and why. Closing date is December 31st and the answers and winning slogans will appear here in the comments.

20th December 2011

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000Z

Here's a great Maths trick that you can do yourself by sticking new numbers on some dice:

Imagine you have a set of 3 dice, red, green and blue. You pick a die and then I pick one. I can guarantee that whichever one you pick, I can choose one where I'm more likely to get a higher number than you when we roll them!

These dice are called NON-TRANSITIVE, which means that even though blue usually beats green, and green usually beats red, red still usually beats blue!

The numbers on the dice are: Blue 3 3 3 3 3 6, Green 2 2 2 5 5 5, Red 1 4 4 4 4 4.

You can work out the probabilities of Blue beating Green etc, they are 21/36, 21/36 and 25/36, so you don't always win, but it's better than 1/2 each time.

These aren't the only dice that this trick works for, here's ace mathmo James Grime to explain some more. You can buy the dice from his website at www.mathsgear.co.uk.

19th December 2011

2011-12-19T19:43:00.002Z

First day of the holidays today, so apologies to the 45 of you who tried to look at this page too early in the day. I'll have lots more time to upload them promptly now!

Every year the Christmas Price Index calculates the total cost of all of the gifts from the song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" (fact fans will know that if you gave the gifts every day they were mentioned, you'd have 12 + 22 + 30 + ... + 12 = 364 gifts, one for every day of the year apart from Christmas Day!)

And this year the index is up 3.5%. This is quite high, mainly because the cost of swans (one of the most expensive item) is up!

18th December 2011

2011-12-18T08:37:00.000Z

Only one week to go until Christmas, it doesn't seem long at all. We're hoping for snow, but even if we don't get it, it's really frosty so wrap up warm out there! Sarah will be sporting a new pair of earmuffs this year which will make her the envy of Old Woking. Adam will be wearing his most snug (and expensive) coat, the famous Buffy Boots.

If you haven't already got a Carol Service to go to today, you're very welcome at the two that Adam is playing at:

Christ Church Ottershaw (link) at 4pm

ChristChurch Woking (link) at 7pm

Here's Rutter's Nativity Carol to get you in the mood:

17th December 2011

2011-12-17T08:16:00.001Z

This year's must-have tree decoration are these tiny Moomin mugs from Finland. They don't look tiny in the picture but seriously, dolls at a dolls' teaparty would complain that they looked like espresso cups. Every year Arabia (a pottery) and Iittala (a homewares firm) produce a special Moomin collectors cup, and have gone for the ones you see here this year.

You can get them from our favourite Scandinavian store, Skandium, which has 4 branches in London. We also got there a tiny penguin decoration (who looks just like Pingu) and a Penguin Donkey. But when we went to Finland last year we visited the Arabia factory and Iittala outlet store and got LOADS of pottery and glassware to give our home a Scandinavian feel!

16th December 2011

2011-12-16T07:02:00.000Z

photo by skl1983 on Flickr

A snowy picture of the Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee, which has just been given Grade II* listed status, joining other fantastic structures like the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge, Battersea Power Station and Trellick Tower.

Built in 1955, it was designed by Victor Pasmore, and instantly divided opinion, with its fiercely abstract Brutalist structure. After years of decay, it was recently renovated and we visited it on our last tour of the North.

We also want to remember a much-loved friend, who didn't achieve listed status and was demolished last year. Trinity Car Park Gateshead RIP:

15th December 2011

2011-12-15T06:35:00.000Z

The Beatbox Nativity is a video written and produced by part-time vicar and beatboxer Gavin Tyte (aka TyTe). His beatbox nativity is becoming a seasonal staple and turned into something of a cult hit when he published his first version last year. He has been beat-boxing since the age of eight and was a professional musician before being ordained. The nativity rap combines his two loves — beat-boxing and the Bible.

14th December 2011

2011-12-14T06:35:00.001Z

Quick quiz for you today! In celebration of next year's Olympics, can you name the famous medal winners pictured below? To make it more fun, they have been represented in knitted form! These are taken from a new book, Knitlympics. Answers will be in the comments tomorrow.

13th December 2011

2011-12-13T05:32:00.001Z

You've never seen a nativity quite like this before. It's called 'Colour Nativity' and it's designed by Sebastian Bergne, 7 wooden blocks in a box, that when arranged is instantly recognisable as a nativity scene. This was such a hit that it's already sold out, but you can see it and more of Sebastian's work at www.buysebastianbergne.com

12th December 2011

2011-12-12T00:00:00.000Z

Thanks to our friends Peter and Miriam for suggesting this great video of a nativity song!

Let us know if you've found any other good Christmas videos!

11th December 2011

2011-12-11T09:17:00.001Z

If seeing the St Pancras tree hasn't inspired you (or your kids) to make your own Lego tree yet, here's another fantastic tree that the Design Museum has commissioned to give you ideas. Giles Miller works in cardboard, and has made the world's largest cardboard Christmas tree (below) as well as smaller versions you can play with yourself. Each of the branches rotates so you can make many different styles of tree (above).

photo by Luke Hayes

10th December 2011

2011-12-10T08:14:00.001Z

Today's guest post is by our friend @maxnugget:

My eight year old niece Robyn and I made snow globes at the weekend. While we were glittering and gluing Robyn told me that Christmas is her favourite time of year because you see robins everywhere. I asked her if she liked being called Robyn and she said she loved it and that it was lucky because her parents nearly called her Honor when she was born. She said at least this way she's never had to worry about deciding what her favourite bird is.

She was delighted to be making presents out of jam jars and other bits and pieces, and in the end we made ten which she'd allocated to friends and relatives and teachers before the glue was even dry. Only when she'd finished did she realise she hadn't made one for herself, so I made her a special robin snowglobe yesterday evening. I hope she'll be thrilled to get a jam jar for Christmas.

9th December 2011

2011-12-09T06:38:00.001Z

Step 1: remove all advertising flyers
Step 2: pull out the Holidays section in the middle
Step 3: reach for highlighter pen ...

(click on the pictures for MONSTER-sized versions!)

That's my weekend taken care of then!

8th December 2011

2011-12-08T00:00:00.000Z

In 2001, I had a website. It was pretty rudimentary but I was probably the only person my friends knew who had a website of their own. I did blogging before blogging existed, and started the Advent Calendar when most companies didn't even have a web presence. Why am I reminiscing like this? Because my favourite page on my website was called Bad Place Jokes. And what do we love to get in crackers? Really Bad Jokes. So here it is ... from 10 years ago ...

B A D P LA C E J O K E S

NOT BY ADAM CREEN

- - - -

My wife's gone to the West Indies

Jamaica?

No, she went of her own accord.

My wife's gone to Northern Italy

Genoa?

I should think so, we've been married for 20 years.

My wife's had an accident on a volcano

Krakatoa?

No. She broke her leg.

My wife's gone mad in Venezuela

Caracas?

Yes, absolutely loopy

My wife's gone to the botanical gardens

Kew?

Yes, it was rather busy.

My wife's gone to Malawi

Lilongwe?

Yes, about 5000 miles

My wife's got an upset tummy in Laos

Inkhazi?

Yes, constantly.

My wife's gone to see relatives in France

Nice?

Yes, and her cousin

My wife's gone on a singing tour of South Korea

Seoul?

No, R&B

My wife caught a cold in the Gulf

Qatar?

Yes, she was coughing up phlegm for weeks

My wife went to a very bad concert in South East Asia

Singapore?

Yes, but the drummer is fantastic.

My wife's just been on a day trip to Poole

In Dorset?

Yes, she'd recommend it to anyone.

I sent my wife to the East Indies

Jakarta?

No, I sent her on a plane.

My wife's gone to Cyprus

Nicosia?

No, she's taken them with her.

I sent my wife to Illinois

Chicago?

No, as a passenger.

7th December 2011

2011-12-07T06:44:00.001Z

We always love a good Venn diagram, and it's been a few years since the Internet rash of graphs and charts illustrating songs and jokes. Here's a new one from Stephen Wildish, which you can buy on a Christmas card.

And here is the pie chart I did as the Creen Christmas card in 2007 - can you work out what it means?

6th December 2011

2011-12-06T06:16:00.001Z

Make the most of it, Wenlock and Mandeville are only going to appear once on this Advent Calendar, unless you can come up with some even worse memorabilia than this. As the weirdest and ugliest Olympic mascots you have ever seen, and also the most commercially exploited, there's no place for them in the panoply of much-loved mascots of yesteryear.

These two tree decorations are £25 each. If you're feeling that rich, why not give £50 to Shelter or Crisis? Or you can buy the decorations here.

6th December 2011

2011-12-06T00:30:00.000Z

5th December 2011

2011-12-05T06:38:00.001Z

We love visiting Scandinavia, and we love visiting Scandinavian food shops in London. Our favourites are Nordic Bakery in Golden Square, Fika on Brick Lane, and Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield Street.

The last of these is selling decorate-it-yourself gingerbread houses: they have a blog post with some of the best ones. The News Quiz team from Radio 4 made the one above, with the house turned into a radio, and there's even a graphic equalizer at the front door, a plug, and a ~~life-size~~ minature Sandi Toksvig.

You can order online, or head down there, to buy all your Scandi food treats!

4th December 2011

2011-12-04T08:18:00.001Z

Our tree is up, so today we're going to start putting on all the decorations! We're always looking out for non-traditional baubles (who could forget the Starbucks cups, and the space pod from 2001?).

To get you into the Christmas spirit, GIANTmicrobes have produced five favourite mini microbes dressed up for the holidays: Dust Mite with antlers and a red nose, Red Blood Cell sprinkled with snowflakes, Salmonella decked out with festive holly, Penicillin decorated with colorful ornaments, and an exclusive Green Amoeba bundled up in a red scarf and ear muffs.

Microbes are a very important part of Christmas, especially in Christmas food (though hopefully not salmonella!) Follow this link to read about: The Microbes of Christmas.

3rd December 2011

2011-12-03T00:00:00.000Z

Yesterday my school was kind enough to give everyone a day off to go Christmas shopping, so Sarah and I went up to London to go Christmas tree spotting! The best tree we saw was in St Pancras station. It is the tallest tree ever made out of Lego in the world - 38 feet tall, made of 600,000 bricks! It was put together by the company Bright Bricks, who also have some great photos on their blog. Here's ours:

We're buying and decorating our tree today! So look out for more tree photos, including some of the other trees we saw in London. Have a great weekend!

2nd December 2011

2011-12-02T00:00:00.000Z

We're always on the lookout for fantastic nativity sets. Over the years we've found Playmobil, cats, and last year's sausage extravaganza! Well, 2011 seems to have become the year of the Zombie, so here's a fab little nativity set we found on Etsy.

Let us know if there's any nativity sets you've seen that we could feature. It'll never beat the cats, though!

1st December 2011

2011-11-30T22:40:00.000Z

Welcome to December! It's great to have you back on the oft-imitated but never-bettered Creen Advent Calendar. Sarah and Adam here, in our 9th year of entertaining you all with surprises every day, as you "open the windows"of the incredibly low-tech homepage at http://bit.ly/adcal2011

Every year, we ask you for your requests - we enjoy the challenge and no idea is too silly, as long as it's vaguely Christmas related, or linked in with our theme, which this year is ... the Olympics! Sounds too obvious? Wait and see what we have planned!

We'd also love some guest posts, so if you're interested in sharing a picture, photo, poem or story, just get in touch on Twitter or email. Anyway, on with the show!

---

Christmas makes us think of snow, we're certainly hoping for a white Christmas, even if we will be in the South of England where it hardly ever snows. And here are some friends who just love snow - it's the mascots from the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Quatchi, Miga, Sumi and Mukmuk.

Our favourite is Quatchi - the big bear with the blue earmuffs - he's actually a Sasquatch, and looks very huggable! We don't have our own, though we did buy some fridge magnets and posters of all of them when we were in Toronto. Our friend Cath has her own Mukmuk, a mascot who represents the fans of the Olympics!

Another fan of Quatchi is Steve Mandich, who posts annually all of his Quatchi links! He also took the photo above.

Watch out for more mascots coming up on future days, and don't forget to send us your requests!

24th December 2010

2010-12-24T00:00:00.002Z

So this is Christmas, and what have we done? Another year over, and wasn't it fun?
Hope you enjoyed all of the pictures, videos, contributions from friends and weblinks.
Don't forget to enter the competition on 20th December, and do leave comments or post to @adamcreen.

You may already have seen this, but if not, hope you enjoy it. I know our year wouldn't have been half as good without all of the friends we've made on all of these networking sites:

And so this is Christmas, I hope you had fun - both the near and the far ones, the old and the young.

Merry Christmas everybody

love Adam & Sarah

23rd December 2010

2010-12-23T00:00:00.018Z

Something truly beautiful on the calendar today - a range of wallpaper that takes its inspiration from the 1951 Festival of Britain, including the RFH and the Skylon.

Available from http://www.minimoderns.com/shoppe/

But that's not all ... a group of scientists in 1951 designed the wallpapers for many of the buildings based on chemical or crystalline structures, and these are now available again. This is insulin, designed by Robert Sevant, on the V&A website.

22nd December 2010

2010-12-22T00:00:00.002Z

Kids getting under your feet? Want to keep them busy making a beautiful, practical and mathematical object? Then get them to make a dodecahedral 2011 calendar!

Simply visit http://www.ii.uib.no/~arntzen/kalender/ and you can even customise the language. Bingo! A multi-cultural activity as well!

21st December 2010

2010-12-21T00:00:00.017Z

Fans of the London 2012 Olympics may already have seen these pin badges, which take their lead from the execrable logo and manage to totally deface and deform five Christmas icons - the tree, the snowflake, the snowman, the present and the wreath. If you didn't realise what a money-making opportunity the Olympics are, I defy you to look at the website http://www.londonpins.co.uk where you will see over 300 pins, including one for each London borough!

20th December 2010

2010-12-19T22:50:00.001Z

Competition time:
If you watch the video of Band Aid (the 1984 original above) around the 2:30 mark, two babies shake hands! You could win a gift selection, including party props and a Carluccio cracker, if you can name them both!
If no one gets that right, then anyone who can correctly name one baby goes into the draw.
Don't put you answers in the comments, instead email them to adamcreen@hotmail.com before 31st December. The winner will be drawn from the set of correct answers.

Good luck!

19th December 2010

2010-12-19T08:52:00.000Z

Today in your calendar is a round-up of some of the best (and worst - you decide) Christmas trees that we've seen. First up is the tree at Tate Britain, which this year was 'designed' by Giorgio Sadotti, by which we mean he left it undecorated with a bullwhip at its base.

Here are some much jollier trees instead, with contributions from @siansparkles, @Biltawulf and @Bramblymouse - see if you can guess which one is which. And why not add links to pictures of your own Christmas tree in the comments?

18th December 2010

2010-12-18T08:59:00.002Z

If you were looking for a cushion this Christmas, you couldn't do better than this one from John Lewis:

If you like pictures of owls in scarfs, you couldn't do better than to follow @wowser on Twitter:

If you like owl cushions, the top seller this Christmas is by Donna Wilson, also from JLP:

And since today seems to be an animal theme, here's our favourite Marks & Spencers character (no, not Caroline Quentin):

17th December 2010

2010-12-17T07:55:00.001Z

Our very talented friend @timidheathen not only produces THE best mix CDs, but does fantastic artwork for them as well. This is her Christmas 2010 CD:

If you're on Spotify, you can hear the CD as well: Spotify link

If not, here's the playlist:

Other recommended Christmas music: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Not recommended: 10 Most Annoying Christmas Songs

UPDATE: this will all become a bit Paul Morley, as he enjoys writing books containing long lists of songs that you have never heard of or can't track down. But I had to add two playlists posted on Twitter by @rhodri from his friend Will, a series of classic mix CDs from Christmas past.

and here's two articles from today's Guardian, one by Bob Stanley, who WROTE St Etienne's 'I was born on Christmas Day':

Writing the perfect Christmas hit

The music that makes Christmas

AND here's the video for St Etienne. Like the Ambassador, I am really spoiling you!

16th December 2010

2010-12-16T06:09:00.001Z

Today, why the squirrel is the animal of the season!

First, here's a couple of great illustrations by Twitterer @Saeirol who has lots more of these on her blog:

But squirrels have gone mainstream, and now you can't do Christmas shopping without seeing them everywhere! Here are squirrels in Primark, Dwell and Habitat!

15th December 2010

2010-12-15T00:00:00.001Z

All the posts this week are guest-contributed by Twitter friends. Today, @Phaygee gives us a sneak preview of her daughter's letter to Santa:

to Santa
thankyou for all the presents you have given to me. I have injoyed almost all of them and I hope you will put a smile on my face this Christmas. I have tried to be a good girl this yere and I hope I have.
From Esme
PS this is a Present
PPS I just want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

14th December 2010

2010-12-14T00:00:00.001Z

All the posts this week are guest-contributed by Twitter friends. Today, @maxnugget shares a Belgian family tradition:

I'm making speculoos in celebration of Sinterklaas.

(I'm 6 days late though)

from Wikipedia:
Speculoos is a type of shortcrust biscuit, traditionally baked in Belgium for consumption on St Nicholas' Eve (December 6). They are thin, very crunchy, slightly browned and, most significantly, have some image or figure (often from the traditional stories about St. Nicholas) stamped on the front side before baking; the back is flat. They are baked with light brown sugar and baking powder, but Belgians make them with little or no spice.
There are several interpretations for the origins of the name Speculaas. It may derive from Latin speculum, which means mirror, and refer to the fact that the images are cut as a mirrored bas-relief into a wooden stamp which is then used to decorate the Speculaas. Another explanation of the name refers to the Latin word speculator which, among other meanings, could also refer to a bishop or St Nicholas' epithet "he who sees everything".

13th December 2010

2010-12-13T06:04:00.003Z

All the posts this week are guest-contributed by Twitter friends. First up, @mistertumnus talks about Christmas cards:

On the whole I agree with this article by David Mitchell about the commercialisation of Christmas, and the tradition of sending Christmas cards in particular. It is too commercial and it is pointless to send cards and presents just for the sake of it, because you feel you have to. But the older I get the more I appreciate the excuse that the commercialisation creates for actual goodwill.

I know, I know, you don't need an excuse, you could just send a card when you felt like it, to anyone. But, woolly lefty that I am, I know that I can't escape capitalism. We're not going to get to turn the clock back on this one. People are busy because of work and the busyness directly impacts how we socialise and for many people it's just a thought too weird to contemplate that you should send a card at a time outside that prescribed by Hallmark. You could get sad about that, or you could do something radically subversive and start writing letters or sending cards at other times of the year for no other reason than you want to, because you like the person you're thinking of (they'll not think it's weird, they'll be really happy). But if you don't feel confident enough to do that then Christmas is your big opportunity.

This year I have (so far!) received two cards that have meant a lot to me, both from people taking the opportunity to say something more. My daughter who is 6 is learning to read and write, and thrilling herself to bits by sounding out words and trying to spell them without asking me for help. She has written about 100 cards to everyone she can think of and as far as I can tell she has loved every minute of it. But my card was the only one she wrote without any spelling help. It has a reindeer with a missing eye and the message says, 'SHIrLey Mircrsms Love Ana xxx'.

The other card was from an elderly friend of Ian's parents. Billy used to live near them before they moved house when Ian was 18. I met him earlier this year at Ian's granny's funeral, but for the past 6 years or so he has been sending us a card at Christmas, a handwritten letter and a cheque for Ana. This is the kind of thing that makes me adore Christmas. It is an annual act of kindness and connection between people who might not even recognise one another in the street. He's just doing it because he wants to, and Christmas is the excuse.

That's why I like Christmas. Like the rest of the year there are things you have to do because you just have to do them, but those things can also create the opportunity to do the things you want to do, and I think it's those things that mean the most to people. Happy Christmas!

12th December 2010

2010-12-12T09:29:00.002Z

11th December 2010

2010-12-11T00:44:00.000Z

It's arrived at last! And it's bigger than ever! And on the cover AGAIN for another Christmas, it's ... Wallace and Gromit on the Radio Times!

And there's so much to highlight with marker pen ... that's our weekend gone.

One Christmas show we are looking forward to is the Miranda special. We're big fans of @mermhart and because our friend Sarah requested it, here's a picture:

This isn't some fan art, like we usually mock, but by Claire Murray, a really cool illustrator who does celebrities, maps, pirates, and Russian dolls:

10th December 2010

2010-12-10T00:00:00.002Z

9.2%

That's the headline figure in this year's Christmas Price Index. Yes, once again those wacky economists at PNC have worked out how expensive all the presents in the 12 Days of Christmas would be, and prices are up! It's the highest increase since 2003, and we can blame it on ... turtle doves, up from $56 to $100, and french hens, up over 200%. Musicians and the gentry are not at fault.

Check out the site, as it has gone all musical and interactive this year, and is great for children!

9th December 2010

2010-12-09T06:16:00.002Z

Do you have a book that you always read at Christmas?

A discussion on the Guardian blog threw up two old favourites, The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper, and The Box Of Delights by John Masefield. Anyone who was around in the 80s will recognise this TV sequence:

Although Adam wasn't a big fan of the book, the music is fantastic, and is based on Victor Hely-Hutchinson's Carol Symphony, an arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful, God Rest Ye Merry, and as we hear in the clip, The First Nowell.

8th December 2010

2010-12-08T06:44:00.001Z

We've had 7 Christmas cards so far, including handmade ones (thanks Heidi, Tom, Alice and Michelle!) and one from Germany (Frohe Weihnachten, Jenny!). Don't forget your last posting dates - USA on Friday, Monday for Europe, and next Wednesday for parcels - better hurry!

The first Christmas card we designed and sent to friends was this classic from ~~2001~~ 1998:

which some people were quite offended by and thought we really had boughht them cheap cards!
Now we send out 24 limited edition cards each year, you can see them all in the design archive. And what's this year's? You'll have to wait and see!

One card we'd love to receive is the annual Pentagram Christmas Card. The design company sends out a little book to its clients and friends each year which is always beautifully inventive and interesting. One example is a letter-by-letter review of the alphabet from 2006.

You can see more of these at the Wallpaper website.

What's the best card you've received so far?

7th December 2010

2010-12-07T00:00:00.002Z

Here's the best nativity scene that we've seen all year - click on it to see an even larger version. This is by Greg Chow.

If this has 'whetted your appetite (ha ha ha) then you may want to check out The Top 20 Worst Nativity Sets by Mark O. Enjoy!

6th December 2010

2010-12-06T06:18:00.000Z

We love getting presents! Already under our tree is a big bag of gifts that (mainly female) friends have already given us ready for Christmas Day. And visiting some friends yesterday, we saw the children have already started empire-building by collecting together their presents in discrete piles.

How many of you have got to give a 'Secret Santa' present this year? Also known as 'Kris Kringle', this is the anonymous present swapping that's really taken off in the West. This year we both have two to do, one at work and one at church. We like to think we're quite good at it, because we enjoy shopping!

What if you're rubbish at shopping? Look no further!

Yes, Tesco will solve your Secret Santa woes by giving you 3 for 2 on almost-useless tat that's been designated ideal for giving someone you vaguely know a cheap gift! But let's not get negative about it - you can always re-gift it next year!

Watch out - here comes the science bit: Derangement.

5th December 2010

2010-12-05T00:08:00.000Z

After a lovely London lunch in Carluccio's yesterday, we were very tempted by the feast of Christmas goodies on offer in the shop. We gave in to temptation and bought these lovely crackers, called La Sorpresa.

Each one contains a hat, a chocolate Santa, and an Italian trivia question (no idea how hard that will be, we haven't pulled them yet). We'd also recommend the panettone, which comes in 2 sizes and 3 flavours, and is our new favourite Christmas cake (stollen is SO last decade). Wishing you a Bianco Natale!

4th December 2010

2010-12-04T00:00:00.003Z

It's the first Saturday in December, and so it's time for the Creens to put up their Christmas tree. This year we had been keeping him in the back garden in preparation, so now he's covered in snow and we'll have to dry him off a bit before decorating him. Yesterday we went to London and saw the Norwegian tree in Trafalgar Square:

The 20-metre tree was selected from a forest near Oslo in November and was then shipped across the North Sea. It has been decorated in a traditional Norwegian style with 500 white lights using halogen bulbs. They will be lit each day until Tuesday 5 January 2011, after which the tree will be recycled.

So that Sweden doesn't feel left out of the Scandinavian round-up, we'll tell you about a concert at the Wigmore Hall later this month:

It sounds just that bit nicer than the usual tat concerts at the Royal Albert Hall that we normally end up mentioning here. And free gingerbread? We'll get booking now!

The Tate Britain tree isn't up yet, so we'll blog that on a later day. But we do want to show you the Conran Shop window. There are 300 wooden trees hand made from recycled wooden pallets by the Hastings and Bexhill Wood Recycling Project. They vary in size but many are for sale, costing between £15 to £200 – with 50% of money raised going back to the Sussex based recycling project which looks to recycle unwanted wood, and offer training and job opportunities to long-term unemployed.

3rd December 2010

2010-12-03T00:00:00.013Z

One of our favourite things in the run up to Christmas is visiting a really good Christmas Fayre (as Victoria Wood said, you get a better class of people if you spell it with a 'y'!) In previous years we've just supported our local school Kingfield Primary at their fair, but this year we took a trip up to Finchley Road in North London to visit the Danish Festive Fair.

Held at the Danish YWCA, it's a fantastically busy building full of blond Scandinavians and the well-heeled of London, buying food, flowers, decorations, cards, crafts and of course enjoying the cafe, bistro and hot dog van.

In London there are fairs organised by the Danes, the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Finns AND the Swiss. They all happen on the last two weekends in November and are well worth a visit! Find out more by doing searches on "Swedish Church London" etc and maybe we'll see you there next year!

2nd December 2010

2010-12-02T19:53:00.001Z

As a child, my gran insisted on eating cheese with Christmas cake, or indeed any fruit cake. My Twitter friends @oye_billy and @jennylemac are currently declaring their love of cheese, and want an Advent Calendar filled with it. Well, I can only offer them one tasty morsel on this calendar, but what a feast of Christmas-related cheese there is!

a cheddar tree:

a cheese truffle wreath:

a Krafty cheesy tree:

Raymond Briggs-inspired cheese truckles:

And just for my gran!

thanks to MonikaDesign, Elysia, and TheNibble for the photos

UPDATE: Here's a fantastic wedding cake made entirely of cheese! ta to Adrian for the tip, and Dave&Amanda for the idea, and thecheeseshed.com for making it!

1st December 2010

2010-11-30T23:00:00.002Z

It's hard to believe that the Creen Advent Calendar has been going since 2003! So now in its eighth year, here's our daily selection of the best seasonal photos, gifts, oddments and songs to brighten up your December, whether you plan to go to Midnight Mass or a Skeptics in the Pub shindig.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, especially if you're a fan of Starbucks Christmas drinks. We love their little tree ornaments as they remind us of having a grande hot chocolate with whipped cream.

Anyway, we're not here to advertise! But today is World Aids Day, and one of the organisations helping Aids sufferers is Product Red. If you buy a coffee at Starbucks today, they'll give 5p towards fighting Aids in Africa. But why not give more?

Thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsbook/ for the picture.

24th December

2009-12-24T00:00:00.000Z

Have a wonderful Christmas!

from Adam & Sarah

nativity scene by Osborne School, Winchester

23rd December

2009-12-23T00:00:00.014Z

'Tis the season to be jolly, and if you haven't anything better to do tonight, why not pop along to a Cheese Festival at the O2? Sorry, that should read a festival of cheese, as classical promoter Raymond Gubbay is pushing Myleene Klass as the acceptable face of low-brow Christmas rent-a-crowds. Also appearing, Classic FM, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sopranos (probably not from New Jersey) and Metro Voices.

Alternatively, at the Royal Albert Hall, you've got: "magical Christmas music with Santa and his elves" featuring the Southend Boys Choir and a finalist from 'Off By Heart' (no, me neither); the BT Christmas Concert featuring Angela Rippon, indoor fireworks and the BT Steel Orchestra; and the Barbican has Natasha Kaplinsky and Jenni Bond with a host of orchestras and choirs.

22nd December

2009-12-22T00:00:00.001Z

We're so close to Christmas and there's loads of cool stuff we haven't shown you yet! So first up are three design gifts that would look good on anyone's tree, mantlepiece or cuffs:

The first is a set of decorations in the shape of video game controllers, available from the Use Your Digits Etsy shop.
Then a set of Modernist Christmas cards (pictured is the Pasmore Pavilion in Peterlee) designed by Things You Can Buy.
Finally some gorgeous cufflinks in Pantone colours from Sonia Spencer.

And finally, this photo of the cast of 'Clueless' is in memory of Brittany Murphy, who played Tai.

21st December

2009-12-21T00:00:00.000Z

A miraculous event is happening in this part of the universe today: the winter solstice. The sun will return to the North [yeah right] and Winter will change into Spring. At 5.47pm the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, it is when the North Pole is tilted 23.5 degrees away from the sun, so that all places above a latitude of 66.5 degrees north are now in darkness, while locations below a latitude of 66.5 degrees south receive 24 hours of daylight. For an observer in the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice marks the day of the year with the least hours of daylight for those living north of the Tropic of Cancer. Those living or traveling north of the Arctic Circle towards the North Pole will not be able to see the sun during this time of the year.

Today's picture is "Winter Solstice Circle" by Richard Long (2002). Made of white Rhone Valley river stones and green Marmorera. More of Long's land art can be seen at www.therichardlongnewsletter.org

20th December

2009-12-20T00:00:00.020Z

We're heading up North soon for Christmas, and as well as seeing friends and family, Adam will be making his annual pilgrimage to the car park in Gateshead. Immortalised in the film 'Get Carter', condemned to be demolished, but given a stay of execution by Tesco's failure to get planning permission, this brutalist edifice was designed by Owen Luder in the 1960s.

We Live Here have produced a calendar as well as a poster celebrating it, as have People Will Always Need Plates. See more photos of the car park on Flickr.

19th December

2009-12-19T09:12:00.002Z

One of the lovely things about Christmas is the sound of a brass band playing Christmas carols. If you're in Winchester today you'll be able to hear Jubilee Brass featuring our friend Catherine - they played a mean version of 'Do You See What I See', which you can see in the video below. Do have a wonderful Saturday!

18th December

2009-12-18T00:00:00.000Z

Mr T is obviously hip again. After appearing in an advert for Snickers, you can now get a whole range of toys (or 'dolls', as several websites describe them). We love the plush Mr T above, he looks very huggable. There's also the Pity The Fool Weenicon:

available alongside some cleverly-named characters to avoid ever being sued for copyright (a bit like the Tom Cruise calendar from a few years back).

And these look very like the Observer Music Monthly characters that our friend Craig Robinson designed, only to be ripped off by loads of other people:

17th December

2009-12-17T06:31:00.000Z

The most boring Christmas card received this year was not the one from the exam board Edexcel, hoping to "work with you in the coming year ... advancing learning, changing lives", because at least that had penguins on the front.

No, the little monstrosity above takes the prize for having the lame seasonal relevance of a tree on each graphic calculator, and the Texas Instruments logo on the back is wearing a Santa hat. And all to advertise that the TI-nspire now features an interchangable keypad. Their corporate motto? "Your Vision. Our Technology. Learner Success."

Right, I'm all calculatored out. Tomorrow, I pity the fool ...

16th December

2009-12-16T00:00:00.008Z

If only ..! This is Adam's dream present, hours of fun with a binary calculator. We found this on another advent calendar, at The Framley Examiner. If you browse around, you may soon discover that all is not quite what it seems...

15th December

2009-12-15T00:00:00.000Z

We are so lucky to have such talented friends. Maxnugget has contributed this fantastic photo she calls "Seasonings Greetings", as the two little Santas are also salt/pepper pots. You can see more of her Christmas photos, amongst many others, on her Flickr stream.

There's still time for you to contribute, either a picture, photo or suggestion of something you'd like to see. But we're more than halfway there, which means it will soon be competition time!

14th December

2009-12-14T06:07:00.002Z

This year's Tate Tree has been a bit of a shock. After recent years with fighter planes, upside down trees and a tree in a skip, the one on display at Tate Britain is terrifyingly traditional. "Weihnachtsbaum" by Tacita Dean is covered with yellow candles, in holders with spherical weights hanging beneath. These, Dean points out, were the origin of the now ubiquitous Christmas baubles. At the top is a century-old German decoration Dean found in the flea market of Berlin, where she lives and which features in many of her recent artworks.

The Telegraph has thoughtfully provided a slideshow of previous years - do enjoy!

13th December

2009-12-13T17:00:00.003Z

It's the third Sunday in Advent so we've been lighting our advent crown at church, which puts us in mind of Blue Peter and how as good British middle-class kids they had a candle to light every week as well. Here's a video from Christmas 1990 with John Leslie, Diane-Louise Jordan and Yvette Fielding. You can see their PURPLE advent crown about 6 seconds in, with real lit candles. You think they'd never get away with that nowadays (Elf & Safety), but wait until you see tomorrow's Tate Tree...

12th December

2009-12-12T00:00:00.001Z

It's time for a musical entry on the advent calendar, and this is a great cover of the classic Kate Bush song "December will be magic again". It's sung by Pieros Kezou, a runner-up in the Cypriot pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The piano is played by Adam's brother, Guy Creen, a music teacher in Cyprus.

Pieros's website shares the following facts:
"Pieros showed early signs of maturity and a high interest in music; instead of playing with the kids of his age, he would lock himself in his room with a voice recorder and a small synthesizer."
"It was very clear to him that he didn't want to follow the usual musical norms in both the music and the lyrics, thus he's trying to create a more pioneer and authentic sound for his work."
"His recent work of the last couple of years, is concentrating in song writing. Influenced by Kate Bush, David Bowie, Suede, Depeche Mode, Antony and the Johnsons, he's writing songs with very personal and revealing, mainly in English lyrics, finished with interesting orchestrations and sensitive vocal touches. He is often in his work self sarcasting, other times observing, demonstrating and challenging taboo issues."

Enjoy.

11th December

2009-12-11T00:00:00.001Z

A big thanks to wowser for doing a special painting just for this Advent Calendar (click on it to view it full size). The three kings are beautifully drawn and the colour wash inspired.

He is especially fond of drawing birds, and more of his art (and fantastic photography) can be seen on his Flickr stream, on his blog, on his other blog, and his Twitter feed is a daily delight of non-sequiters.

10th December

2009-12-09T23:07:00.004Z

10th December is Human Rights Day across the world, because in 1948 the United Nations ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many people around the world are still denied those rights by corrupt or unfair political systems. Amnesty International asks you to send encouragement to someone in danger or unjustly imprisoned. If you've got a pack of greetings cards at home, could you keep one aside to send a friendly greeting? Your personal message will mean the world to a prisoner in a cell or a family waiting for news of a loved one.

Here are two of the messages received back last year:
"You have giving me hope and shown me a lot of love. When I read some of your letters they make me so happy that I forget about the deplorable living conditions here in Aba prison." Patrick Okoroafor, Nigeria.
"Whenever I am feeling depressed my eye falls on these cards and the loving caring feelings by thousands of supporters elivate my spirits in a second... Why should I worry in the presence of overwhelming support from all over the world."
Amina Janjua, Pakistan.

Amnesty International: greetings card campaign campaign
Amnesty International: exclusive Portishead track for supporters

Today's picture is a card drawn by mistertumnus, a friend from Northern Ireland. She writes:
"My card will be sent to Rita Mahato in Nepal- a woman who works as a health advisor in Siraha. She works with women who have been attacked and provides them with medical care and legal support. Her work is dangerous; in Nepal female human rights defenders are frequently harassed and sometimes killed for their work in tackling domestic and sexual violence.
Christmas is a time when we wish each other love and hope. We try to remember those who are having a hard time and we enjoy the festivities as much as we can with our friends and family. It takes very little time to remember someone like Rita who works so hard to bring hope to vulnerable people. A greetings card, like the ones we send to each other, helps to say 'You're not alone. We care.' "

mistertumnus is a fantastic writer, teacher, mother and Jon Ronson fan.
You can follow her Twitter feed, read her blog, and support the NSPCC by sponsoring her to sit down and finish her latest book!

9th December

2009-12-08T23:28:00.003Z

There's a great bit in 'The IT Crowd' where someone says that if you type 'Google' into Google, the Internet will break.
So what happens if you open your Advent Calendar to find another Advent Calendar?

Here's a round-up of the best other online calendars that I've found so far.
If you want to recommmend any more, just leave a comment!

Tate Gallery for kids: http://kids.tate.org.uk/calendar2009/
The Church of England: http://www.whywearewaiting.com/
Wieden and Kennedy ad agency: http://www.wkadventcalendar.com/
Madsen Swedish restaurant: https://twitter.com/MadsenLondon
Woodlands Junior School: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/
Electric December youth films: http://www.electricdecember.org/09/calendar/
British Trams: http://www.britishtramsonline.co.uk/advent.html

8th December

2009-12-08T00:00:00.005Z

Dachshunds are the dogs of the season. In Paperchase is this lost looking doggy who at least has got a nice jumper to keep him warm.

In Muji you can get a patchwork dachshund or bulldog, both as a keyring and as an almost-life-size companion.

But king of the dachshunds is Waldi. He was the mascot for the 1972 Munich Olympics and represents the attributes required for sporting success - resistance, tenacity and agility. Waldi was designed by Otl Aicher and modelled on a real dog called Cherie von Birkenhof.

7th December

2009-12-07T00:00:00.000Z

The Copenhagen conference on climate change, COP15, starts today. Its logo was designed by Troels Faber and Jakob Wildschiødtz from Copenhagen's Studio NR2154. They write, "The design is based on graphs of scientific climate data, showing predicted temperature changes, and there are 192 lines, one for each UN member state. It is simple, because the symbol is a stylised globe. It is complex, because the visual expression allows many different interpretations. The network of lines can be seen as connections between UN's 192 member states, but can also be seen as an expression of vulnerability, atmosphere and dynamic connections."

This editorial will be on the front page of 56 newspapers in 45 countries in 20 languages. Please read it and debate the issues with your friends. Whatever you believe about climate change, inaction is the thing that will surely destroy us.

6th December

2009-12-06T00:00:00.001Z

Special request in from our friend Sloop John B, who wanted a picture of a snow-dalek. Happy to oblige, John! In fact, there seem to be HUNDREDS of these all over the web so it sounds like a popular idea. What's the best snow-figure you've ever created? Send us a photo or link and we'll post the best! Here's one of our Calvin & Hobbes favourites:

5th December

2009-12-05T00:00:00.004Z

Advent Calendar best wishes go to our lovely friends Matthew and Penny, tying the knot today to become Dr & Dr Brookes! They have a bit of a Lego theme to the wedding, and sent out minifigs of themselves in the invites.

Today's photo is of Joe and Kristin Sparano of Nebraska. To propose, he mocked up a whole BOX of Lego that made the proposal scene, '7813 Engagement Picnic', and gave it to Kristin along with a Lego engagement ring. Of course she said yes!

For those who love Lego, this next photo is of a Japan-only collaboration between Lego and Muji. It's a box of bricks with some pre-cut paper so you can make little animals and people. Hope they sell it in the UK soon!

4th December

2009-12-04T06:25:00.000Z

Phil Vickery is the UK face of Aldi, the German discount supermarket. In his most recent Christmas advert (filmed in July) he plugs their 89p chocolate reindeer range (seen here converted to Australia dollars). I know the expensive Lindt chocolate reindeer are basically their Easter bunny model with extra antlers, but these Aldi ones are strangely similar. I hope Lindt don't sue!

3rd December

2009-12-02T22:47:00.005Z

Special request from the Mansell family who say 'The Sound of Music' is a special part of Christmas for them.
Our favourite bit is where Christopher Plummer sings 'Edelweiss' (even if it is dubbed by Bill Lee), oh and of course the children dressed in curtains.

You can choose what's behind tomorrow's window if you want - favourite film, food, photo or whatever you want. Let us know what YOU'D like to see!

2nd December

2009-12-02T00:00:00.000Z

We went Christmas shopping in London's West End yesterday and agreed that if we were going to buy our Panettone anywhere, it would have to be at Carluccio's in St Christopher's Place. It's a great shop (and restaurant) and a great cake, and has firmly replaced Stollen as our favourite seasonal delicacy. Caffe Nero have some great little mini-panettones, perfect for a teatime bite.

1st December

2009-11-30T22:13:00.001Z

We're glad to see you again, joining us for an unbelievable SEVENTH year of calendaring. And let's get straight to it with this fantastic limited edition bauble from Sarabella Creations of New York. Every year Janet and Natalie produce the most ornate, garish and over-decorated baubles you've ever seen and sell them at Bergdorf Goodman, the Plaza Hotel, and of course online.

This frosty snowman has a real mink scarf, is embellished with Swarovski crystals and ribbons and is presented in a green velvet box. $360.

25th December

2008-12-25T00:00:00.001Z

Happy Christmas!

love from Adam & Sarah

24th December

2008-12-24T00:00:00.000Z

Our theme for this year's Christmas card is Polaroid. 80 years after Edwin Land got his first patent for developing instant photos, the Polaroid company have ceased production of film for their cameras. While Save Polaroid campaigns to find a new manufacturer, we present these images in memory of Christmas past.

23rd December

2008-12-23T00:00:00.004Z

Clearing the decks (with boughs of holly):

Here are all the other photos that didn't make it in before the 24th.

Thanks to Karen & Alan for this tasty Pandoro cake which we polished off at our Christmas drinks

A fat jolly old man ... and Santa

IKEA's rocking moose ...

... and a rocking Dala horse

22nd December

2008-12-22T00:00:00.000Z

Our church held its carol services yesterday and today, the one chance I get each year to hammer out some good tunes on its organ, which is coming up to its 100th anniversary next year. As well as the traditional numbers, our worship pastor Martin led the band and choir in renditions of 'A Christmas Offering' and a very gospelly 'Joy to the World'.

It's strange to think that so many of the carols that people regard as really traditional have only been popular since the 60s and 70s, when David Willcocks and his team did new arrangements for the 'Carols for Choirs' series, a standard that supplanted all other publications. Universally used by choirs worldwide, the harmonies and descants that we love to hear and sing were almost all created for these books.

People almost get offended when a carol service doesn't include their own favourite. This month the BBC Music Magazine had the results of a poll into choir leaders' favourite carol. The results were:

1. In the Bleak Midwinter
2. In Dulci Jubilo
3. A Spotless Rose
4. Bethlehem Down
5. Lully, Lulla
6. Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day
7. There is No Rose
8. O Come All Ye Faithful
9. Of the Father's Heart Begotten
10. What Sweeter Music

I'm guessing that you couldn't sing at least 5 of these, and indeed the comments page on the BBC website had people like Tim Rogers saying "Christmas without 'Ding dong! merrily on high' is like a game of football without the ball."

So which Christmas carols (or songs) can't you do without? I have to hear Mike Oldfield's In Dulci Jubilo at least once, and Anne Dudley's version of The Holly and the Ivy is something I'm still trying to play on the organ. How about you?

21st December

2008-12-21T00:00:00.002Z

Our local shopping centre has had a change from its usual Santa's Grotto. Instead it has a selection of animatronic Eskimos decorating a Christmas tree outside their igloo. Children are encouraged to throw copper coins at the penguins. Shopping there yesterday was brisk, with people fighting over the tat in Poundland and the 60% off items in Woolworths (where a sign by the tills warned customers against verbally or physically abusing their staff, after a spate of bargain-hunters swearing at the assistants because the discounts aren't deep enough).

20th December

2008-12-20T00:00:00.001Z

The last in our Saturday series of presents you would prefer to re-gift before unwrapping them! We found these in our new Poundland Christmas Store, a shop so cheap it makes Woolworths look upmarket.

Pet gifts are always a treat (who can forget the cat cracker of a few years ago) and any dog would surely look 'adorable' in a Santa cape.

Tenuous movie tie-in household cleaning products are hard to come by, so hopefully the HSM3 kitchen roll will encourage the youth of today to mop up any spills of Sunny D they make.

And the mini Henry will vacuum your keyboard for you, powered by only 2 AA batteries. And so easy to clean!

Fortunately none of these are the prize in our competition!

19th December

2008-12-19T00:00:00.002Z

We're big fans of fan art, where afficionados of a pop combo or TV sleb draw what they fondly imagine is a pencil homage to the object of their adoration. We're also fans of the portrait sketchers who line the streets of major cities offering at a high price what is, at best, a grotesque caricature of your family member.

So here's our competition for this year: name the actors who appear in this beautiful rendition, snapped in Spitalfields Market, and as a tie-break, say how much you would be prepared to pay for it. The person who gets the answer closest to Sarah's valuation wins an exclusive seasonal gift. Bonus prizes for anyone who emails their own drawing of a celebrity!

Send your entries to: adamcreen@hotmail.com

18th December

2008-12-18T00:00:00.001Z

It was only last week that we were saying how this advent calendar is ahead of the trends, using funky pie charts a whole year before the zeitgeist. We nearly came a cropper this year because Adam thought he'd spotted a growing trend that would do very well for both the calendar and the limited edition Christmas card. But by the beginning of December we realised that what had seemed like a good idea had already become a cliche. Of course we mean the craze for matryoshka, or Russian dolls. You can't move on the high street for doll teatowels, ornaments, mugs, purses, etc. So this is our one token contribution to the wave of sameness.

Our photo is of a fab German market on London's South Bank, where one stall was just heaving with Russian dolls of every shape and size.

17th December

2008-12-17T00:00:00.001Z

Christmas wouldn't be the same without A Muppet Christmas Carol. But of course the story of Scrooge is a staple of the TV scheduler's armoury.

Here are some of the best and funniest adaptations, most of which are on TV this Christmas.

Scrooge (1951), starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge
Scrooge (1970), a musical film adaptation starring Albert Finney as Scrooge and Alec Guinness as Marley's ghost
Scrooged (1988), a remake in a contemporary setting with Bill Murray being a misanthropic TV producer who is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), featuring the various Muppet characters, with Michael Caine as Scrooge
A Christmas Carol (1997), an animated production featuring the voice of Tim Curry as Scrooge as well as the voices of Whoopi Goldberg and Michael York
Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001), an animated version with the voices of Simon Callow, Kate Winslet (who sings 'What if'), Nicolas Cage, Jane Horrocks, Rhys Ifans, Michael Gambon, and Juliet Stevenson
A Christmas Carol (1977), an adaption by the BBC with Sir Michael Horden as Scrooge
An American Christmas Carol (1979), an adaptation starring Henry Winkler at the height of his fame from the television series Happy Days, where the story is set in Depression era New England
A Christmas Carol (1984), starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, David Warner and Susanna York as the Cratchitts, with Edward Woodward as The Ghost Of Christmas Present
A Christmas Carol (1999), a television movie starring Patrick Stewart, inspired by his one-man show
A Christmas Carol (2000) A modern-day version starring Ross Kemp as Eddie Scrooge, an unscrupulous loan shark
A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000), a humorous adaptation starring Vanessa Williams as bitchy diva Ebony Scrooge
A Carol Christmas (2003) Made-for-TV adaptation on the Hallmark Channel starring Tori Spelling as "Scroogette" TV host Carol Cartman. William Shatner makes a special appearance as the ghost of Christmas Present, and Gary Coleman as the ghost of Christmas Past
A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), starring Kelsey Grammer

Who's your favourite?

UPDATE: A Muppet Christmas Carol is Archbishop Rowan Williams' favourite

16th December

2008-12-16T00:00:00.004Z

Today's calendar pictures are dedicated to the De Ath family of Crowborough, who put in a request for their favourite things - a goose, a bear and a train. I couldn't find a Christmas photo with all 3 of them, so here's what I tracked down ...

A snowy sculture of a goose and bear (and fox) in Anchorage, Alaska

A bear tries to steal a goose called Gaylord

A Canadian Christmas train

15th December

2008-12-15T00:00:00.004Z

This year, Cilla Black (born Priscilla White) is playing the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Liverpool Empire. Bonnie (short for Bonita) Langford is playing Peter Pan in Richmond. Here's the scary fact: Bonnie is 44 years old, which is 2 years older than Cilla was when she started presenting Blind Date.

14th December

2008-12-14T00:00:00.000Z

here's a great ad for a present for the woman in your life!

if the video above doesn't work, then try video link 1 or video link 2

13th December

2008-12-13T00:00:00.000Z

If it's Saturday then it's naff presents time. Which would you most like to wake up to on Christmas morning? A patriotic flag with gold finial detail, a pet nail trimmer ("impossible to find in the shops"), or for the man in your life, a life-size cello wine holder, "carefully cast from polyresin". So are you a racist, a Crufts fanatic, or just blind to good taste and decorum?

12th December

2008-12-12T00:00:00.001Z

A seasonal snowflake hat, advertised in the Saks Fifth Avenue catalogue, with snowflakes designed by Marian Bantjes.

11th December

2008-12-11T00:00:00.000Z

Not one but two stocking filler books about graphs that illustrate pop songs. It shows how ahead of the trends this calendar is, it's a full 12 months since our Pie Chart Christmas Card was the toast of the Surrey design circuit. The disappointing thing about these books is that they are just copied off the internet, it's not even like the 'authors' had any ideas of their own.

10th December

2008-12-10T00:00:00.000Z

We were looking for a nice angel picture to put on the calendar, so big thanks to Isobel who sent us this Playmobil version of Gabriel visiting Mary that she made for a school project. We had Playmobil back on the very first Advent Calendar but nothing so handcrafted. We particularly like how Gabriel is so small he has to stand on a bench!

9th December

2008-12-09T00:00:00.000Z

Another great Christmas tree today, this one is a colourful fabric pattern that I spotted in the Gap store on Oxford Street. The Sugababes turned on the Oxford Street lights this year, which is slightly more prestige than my visit to Bluewater where Geri Halliwell silently turned on the lights and then strode off the stage.

8th December

2008-12-08T00:00:00.003Z

This year's tree at Tate Britain has been launched and it's even wackier than ever. Artist Bob and Roberta Smith (real name Martin Brill) is encouraging people to make their own art, and join in on the exercise bikes at the base of the tree. Let us know what you think of it, especially if you get to have a go!

7th December

2008-12-07T00:00:00.001Z

It seems earlier than ever before - there are now 3 issues of RT in the shops, this week (Dr Who cover), next week (Nigella cover) and now the Christmas double issue! Hope you've got your highlighters ready. In fact we couldn't find one in Woking yesterday for love or money, so we'll have to postpone our viewing selection for a few days. Which TV show are you most looking forward to?

6th December

2008-12-06T00:00:00.002Z

VOTE for your favourite naff present! Will it be

(a) the high-heeled shoe full of creamy liqueur

(b) the multi-blade scissors to protect against identity theft

Let us know your comments.

5th December

2008-12-05T00:00:00.000Z

Hidden away in the window display at the Lego shop in Bluewater was this slightly folorn-looking Santa. He's quite minimalist, red body and hat, yellow head and white beard - but what's with the white hands? He looks very cold. Poor Santa.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the Lego brick. Also in the Lego shop was a catalogue of every Lego set ever produced anywhere in the world. Adam quite coveted it but it was £16! He remembered how distressing it was (in an OCD sort of way) to find that two of his Lego sets in the 70s had the same product number for different models.

4th December

2008-12-04T00:00:00.001Z

Christmas decorations from around the world: Russia.
We had planned on having a Russian theme to this year's calendar but changed our mind - more about why next week.
But here's an ornament that we couldn't miss out, a fantastic music box in the shape of Moscow-type towers.

3rd December

2008-12-03T00:00:00.009Z

A trip to the Tower of London gave us the opportunity to buy some of these beautiful and patriotic tree decorations. It's great to know that Santa is actually British. Rule Britannia!

2nd December

2008-12-02T00:00:00.004Z

Isn't it beginning to feel more like Christmas now the Advent Calendar is here? Did you have a nice chocolate from your High School Musical or right-on Fairtrade calendar? Have any of your neighbours put up an inordinate amount of Christmas lights outside their house yet?

Well, today's picture is this cheeky snowman from Muji, who looks both raffish and rakish with his hat at such a jaunty angle.

Two snowmen are standing in a garden. One says to the other, "Can you smell carrots?"

1st December

2008-12-01T00:00:00.001Z

Welcome to the Advent Calendar for 2008!

Everyone loves a panto (oh yes they do!) and we were amazed to see the strange similarity between the pantos in Swindon, Southend, Cardiff and Crawley - all of which have the same poster! Of course the C-list celebrities range from Barry (from Eastenders) to the Chuckle Brothers, and Cardiff are particularly lucky to get Anthony Costa (from Blue), and all feature the magical 3D genie.

To see more panto coincidences, visit the It's Behind You website, which also has a helpful list of celebrities so you can find out which provincial theatre to visit them in.

Things my mother says 1

2008-03-23T19:58:00.002Z

Describing a 'lovely singer' she saw at Proms in the Park:
Tony Radley from Spandor Bally

Describing the touchpad on her new laptop:
the mouse inside my computer

Talking to a waiter in a Chinese restaurant on the Strand:
You look just like a lovely little boy I used to teach - are you him?