Christmas Links #11

Have a Creepy Little Christmas with These Unsettling Victorian Cards:
"Anthropomorphic cats, murderous frogs, and insects dancing by the moonlight aren’t exactly part of our Christmas card tradition today."

7,000 tonnes of dried fruit: inside the world's largest mince pie factory:
"Mr Kipling factory in Barnsley expects to crank out a record 200m minces pies in the run-up to this Christmas"

Hamlet - Coming in 2017:
Big Finish is excited to announce details for a brand-new audio production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet - starring Alexander Vlahos... Coming in 2017 is a brand new production of Hamlet on audio, from the Big Finish team behind the much acclaimed The Confessions of Dorian Gray."

Dreaming of a White Christmas: ‘Race,’ Christmas, and Children’s Literature:
"One way of measuring the whiteness of Christmas in American or British “culture” is in the holiday section of the children’s bookstore. I went this year and looked at two: the big chain bookstore in the strip mall, and the independent bookstore within walking distance of my house."

Black Mirror: It is time for more diversity and models of all races being seen.
"We are bombarded everyday with flashy advertisement, billboards and television ads that try to inspire us to buy the products that are hitting the market. Something that always bothered me when you see these amazing images that very rarely you ever see a black woman on them. When growing up as a girl I always wondered, why the big brands such as Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Guess and many others rarely seem to use a black model? And if they do, a very small group of black models does make the cut here and there, but that group seems to remain pretty much identical over a long period of time."



Bizarre bids for Christmas Number 1:
"The Killers always get into the Christmas spirit, releasing a festive track pretty much every year. Perhaps the weirdest and most tongue-in-cheek of all is this one from 2009, with Brandon rocking his very best Movember 'tache, getting abducted by a rather disheveled Santa and pleading not to be murdered. Festive."

One Delightfully Clever & Slightly Shakespearean Way to Fight Trolls:
"Award-winning journalist Summer Brennan pulled a social media switcheroo and uploaded her brother’s photo as her Twitter profile pic. The effect it had on her mentions was astounding."

'It is like the town that Christmas forgot'
"Huyton residents speak out about 'joyless' town in 'darkness' as festive decorations fail to appear in the centre."

This Is Where Homeless Children Will Be Sleeping This Christmas:
"This Christmas a record 120,000 children in England will be homeless, and will face the uncertainty and stress of living in temporary accommodation."

Beard Lights Will Turn Your Beard Into A Christmas Tree:
"Forget beard baubles and glitter beards, hipsters are now opting for twinkling fairy lights as the latest way to add an extra festive touch to chin fuzz in 2016’s hottest Christmas trend."