Christmas Links #2

Top 10 Christmas Gifts For Film Lovers:
"It's Christmas Eve, you've had one too many sherries and you're feeling in the mood... time to turn up the heat by breaking out this wax replica of sadistic Gestapo agent Tohte from Raiders of the Lost Ark and recreating one of the most memorable deaths in movie history."

Christmas rail delays on West Coast:
"Passengers are being advised not to use a main London to Scotland rail line over Christmas due to one of a series of engineering projects set to cause severe disruption to travellers in the South East over the holiday period."

Christmas tree-throwing contest launched near Keele:
"A farm in Staffordshire is hosting what is thought to be the UK's first Christmas tree throwing competition. Participants are given a 6ft (1.8m) tree, weighing about 10 kg (22lb), for the contest at Keele Christmas Tree Farm. They must then throw it as far as possible and get the tree as high over a bar as they can. One hundred trees are being used at the charity fundraising event to benefit the Help for Heroes campaign."

Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever!
"As we eagerly wait to find out who will be Official 2014 Christmas Number 1, we celebrate all the Christmas chart-toppers of the last 60 years! The Christmas Number 1 is the most anticipated chart battle of the year, and on Sunday December 21, Scott Mills and Jameela Jamil will reveal who has won the race to the Official 2014 Christmas Number 1 live on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show."

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Winter Update (from Diamon Geezer):
"One thing that's popped up all around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park are stand-alone posters promoting the Orbit. The twirly crimson mega-sculpture has now been open since Easter, and I've never seen it busy, so needs all the customers it can get. Part of the issue is the cost of a ticket - fifteen pounds, or two quid off if you're local and happen to have turned up clutching a utility bill."

Leading boy gets proposal at Christmas panto:
"There was a magical fairytale ending to the Sleeping Beauty pantomime at Cheltenham's Everyman theatre ..."

Residents launch crowdfund campaign to bring back Christmas lights to Torry:
"A 'Lighting up Torry' project has been launched by local residents to reinstate the festive lights on Victoria Road. The newly formed Torry Development Trust, set up by six local volunteers, has asked for community support to put up new Christmas lights, after the original display mysteriously vanished several years ago. "They used to brightened Torry’s main street at the festive time of year," said David Fryer, a founding member of the group."

Saffron Burrows: ‘I’m really proud of my family and who they are’:
"The table in the Japanese brasserie that Saffron Burrows has proposed for dinner is so wide that we decide to sit not opposite each other, but side by side. Interviewing movie actors tends to be a mutual exercise in faking natural human interaction within entirely unnatural circumstances: a limited number of minutes in a hotel suite with “the talent” flanked by cardboard movie posters to aggressively remind everyone why they’re here: to sell the thing. Burrows is indeed here in this TriBeCa restaurant to sell a thing, but she’s also here because both she and I know that she wants to talk about her personal life for the first time. And the strange thing is how unstrange it all feels."

Christmas dinner: Lidl are good on price, but how are they on taste when it comes to festive favourites?
"With a growing number of budget options, Christmas doesn’t have to break the bank, but how does the cut price stuff fare up against the competition? Here's our first taste test for Christmas, featuring products from so-called budget retailer Lidl."

Star Trek “Klingon Bloodwine” Hits Shelves in Time for Holidays:
"Christmas has come early for wine-loving Trekkies. Following the release of the collectible Star Trek wine series launched last year, CBS Consumer Products produced its latest addition to the line, the Klingon Bloodwine. The 2012 Klingon Bloodwine is Malbec, Petit Verdot and Syrah blend from Paso Robles and is available for $20 online through Vinport.com and national retailers."

Placido Domingo plays golf with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and football with Kevin Keegan:
"In this clip from Placido Domingo's Christmas Choice, originally broadcast on 24 December 1980, the Spanish tenor reveals his love of football, takes to the golf course with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and enjoys a kickabout with Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan."