THE FESTIVAL of Santa Lucia

The festival of Santa Lucia begins before dawn, on the thirteenth of December, which under the old Julian calendar (used in Sweden before 1753) was Christmas Day and the longest night of the year. Throughout Sweden, the eldest daughter in each household comes to her sleeping parents, dressed in a long white gown tied with a red sash, and wearing a crown of lingonberry leaves in which are set seven lighted candies. In her hands she carries a tray of steaming hot coffee and "Lussekattor" (Lucia Runs). The procession includes her sisters and brothers also dressed in white, holding lighted candles, and singing of the light and joy of Christmas.

The sisters of the Lucia Bride wear a wreath of tinsel in their hair and a piece tied around their waist, while the boys have tall pointed caps sprinkled with stars. Awakened by the lights and the singing, the parents arise and eat the breakfast served, thus ushering in the Christmas season.

Scandinavian tradition holds that in Värmland, Sweden, a white-clad maiden, wearing a crown of burning candies, brought food to the starving villagers on the shores of Lake Vänern. No one knows how long ago the tradition began, but it was so far back that the festival of Santa Lucia was marked by a notch on the primitive "primstav" (calendar stick), the precursor of the calendar. It later became customary in western Sweden to finish the threshing by Lucia Day so as to begin the cooking and baking for the long Christmas festivities. From its beginnings in Värmland, the customs in honor of Santa Lucia have spread throughout Sweden, and more recently to the rest of Scandinavia. Today, the festival is celebrated in schools, hospitals, businesses, and towns; each of which has its own Lucia Bride and festivities to mark the beginning of Christmas. Santa Lucia Day is also an international holiday, celebrated not only in Scandinavia, but also in Italy and France in the rites of the church.

However, the origins of this tradition are not in Scandinavia, but in Syracuse on the island of Sicily around 304 A.D. According to the Sicilian legend, Lucia's mother, a wealthy lady, had been miraculously cured of an illness at the sepulcher of Saint Agatha in Catania. Lucia, a Christian, persuaded her mother in thankfulness to distribute her wealth to the poor. So, by candlelight, the mother and daughter went about the city secretly ministering to the poor of Syracuse.

Unfortunately, this was during the last great persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. The pagan young man, to whom Lucia was engaged, took a dim view of this distributing of her dowry, and denounced her to the prefect, Pascasius, who ordered that she be seized and tortured. Miraculously, when neither boiling oil nor burning pitch had the power to hurt her, she was blinded and slain with a sword. Her martyrdom is recorded in ancient sources and in an inscription found in Syracuse.

How or when this legend and tradition came to Värmland, Sweden, no one knows. With the coming of Christianity to Sweden shortly after 1000 A.D., missionaries and priests may have told the story to inspire new converts. Another possibility is that sailors from Sweden may have been captivated by the popular candlelight festival of Santa Lucia in Italy and brought the tradition back with them. A newer theory, requiring more research is that St. Birgitta (1303-1373), during her stay in Rome (1349-1373) in her effort to get papal approval of the Bridgittine Order for women, probably wrote home to Sweden telling of the Lucia legend which was widely known in Italy. As Lucia Day comes at the darkest time of year, the candies of the ministering Santa Lucia portend and witness to the True Light-the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the morning of the thirteenth of December, the strains of "Santa Lucia" are heard everywhere in Sweden as the white-robed maiden comes out of the night with her burning crown of candies dispelling the darkness. In honor of her martyrdom, It has long been the custom to donate money on Lucia Day to institutions working for the blind.

Since 1956, the Scandinavian Club of Portland has preserved the beauty of this ancient tradition with a festival celebrating the coming of Santa Lucia preceding the Christmas holidays. In 1960, the club collaborated with Lloyd Center, providing a spectacular setting on their ice pavilion for the coronation of the Lucia Bride each year. In the tradition of the charitable life of Lucia, the court members visit churches, hospitals, local businesses, and homes for the elderly telling the story of Santa Lucia and bringing the holiday spirit into the hearts of all they meet. These girls are goodwill representatives of all Scandinavian communities in Oregon and southwest Washington, and of the countries of their forebears- Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden

Lucia History

Food Shortage Survey

A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN.

The only question asked, was: “Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?”

The survey was a huge failure.

In Africa they didn’t know what ‘food’ meant.

In India they didn’t know what ‘honest’ meant.

In Europe they didn’t know what ’shortage’ meant.

In China they didn’t know what ‘opinion’ meant.

In the Middle East they didn’t know what ’solution’ meant.

In South America they didn’t know what ‘please’ meant.

And in the USA they didn’t know what ‘the rest of the world’ meant.

Quê hương

“Mỗi người VN ra đi hầu hết đều do hoàn cảnh. Đất nước người ta, dẫu có đẹp mấy cũng là của người ta. Nói không ai tin, đi xa tôi nhớ cả cái bụi, cái nóng, cả cái cách lê dép khi gặp đèn xanh, đèn đỏ của người mình. Không có đâu để mình gắn bó bằng quê hương.”

Trích từ Tuoi Tre

Failed Predictions

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
Charles H. Duell, GO IGCommissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march ofscience, 1949

“Television will never be a medium of entertainment”
David Sarnoff, the General Manager of RCA corporation, 1955

“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you - that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.”
The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

From http://www.answers.com/topic/failed-predictions

And the winner is... London

Lại thất bại! Lần thứ ba sau những cố gắng JO(Jeux Olympiques hay Olympic Games) 1992 và JO 2008, Paris lại tiếp tục chờ. Chờ cho đến lần thứ Tư, có lẽ là J 2020 hay JO 2024, để mong được tổ chức Olympic Games.Bao nhiêu công sức đổ ra để vận động cho Paris 2012 giờ đây đã trở thàng công cốc. Thể thao là như thế, chiến thắng và thất bại chỉ trong gang tấc (4 voix d'ecart: 54 vs. 50).

Chưa bao giờ tôi nhìn thấy một sự chuẩn bì chu đáo, hòan chỉnh và có qui mô lớn như vậy mà kết cục là một thất bại. Các đại diện từ giớo chính trị cho đến giới chức thể thao, ngườ dân Paris và đa số dân Pháp đều mong muốn Paris 2012. Thế mà!!! Nói theo phong cách thể thao, London 2012 est tout simplement plus fort que Paris 2012.

Hình tượng Beckham rõ ràng phổ biến và thu hút hơn Tony Parker Hình ảnh sportman Sebastian Coe gắn với Olympic Games hơn là politicman Bertrand Delanoe, thị trưởng Paris.

Nhưng có lẽ, cuộc vận động này mang màu sắc chính trị nhiều hơn thể thao. Có thể nhìn nhận đây là chu kì thất bại của Jacques Chirac và ngược lại, chu kì thành công của Tony Blair. Tony Balir đã làm lobby tốt hơn nhiều so với Jacques Chirac, với 3 ngày ở Singapore trong khi Jacques Chirac lại kém ngọai giao khi chê món ăn anglais

Chúc cho Paris fairplay trong thất bại và lấy lại tinh thần cho những cuộc vận động Olympic Games sắp tới!