christmas decorations 2011 ideas and trends outdoors in the home xmas tree lights baubles

christmas decorations 2011 ideas and trends, want to have a look at some ideas for decorating at christmas time, what are the popular trends to use this year and that have been used in the past.

one of the biggest rituals to happen every year is the putting up of the christmas decorations, which some people do more so then others, we have all seen the houses that are covered in outdoor christmas decorations for example like the outdoor christmas decorations on the house below.



this house that is covered with outside christmas lights does not look real, but it is actually a real house covered in outdoor christmas decorations by night



it is just that there are so many christmas lights on this house it is making the camera blurry as it cannot take in the amount of decorations, what makes people put so many lights on there houses, and they must need to save up a lot of money to pay for the electric bill caused by having so many lights and christmas decorations on there home



just recently most major cities are putting up there xmas lights already, and this gives the shopping high street a really nice festive feel, here is a christmas picture of last years london christmas lights and what to expect when going into big cities now, especially with the evenings being darker the xmas lights are all being switched on.



this is a picture of the xmas lights in paris france last year, and what to expect if you go shopping to paris this year before christmas 2011.



a important question that will start to be getting asked by most around this time of year is?, what is the traditional time for the xmas decorations to go up inside the home?.

the decorations can go up really any time from the start of december 2011, most people will have there own favourite date in december, but usually early december is fine as a date to put up the xmas decorations in 2011.

next comes the problem for most of getting down the christmas decorations from up in the loft, where they have sat for a year gathering dust, this is of course if you reuse most of your decorations each year, and do not throw them out and buy new decorations each year, we always reused our old christmas decorations, while sometimes adding some new ones to the mix as well from time to time, like a new set of outdoor christmas lights, or a new style of christmas tree.

we had moved from a real tree to a artificial christmas tree just because of all the pine needles the traditional real christmas tree would drop everywhere.

then it is just down to how many decorations you put up and what style you are looking for in 2011, though really the style has not really changed much in 100 years, christmas decorations are still based around the tree as the centre point, the christmas lights, the room decorations, tree decorations, the christmas baubels, and those crazy foil decorations that stretch out to cover the room.

here is a look at the classic christmas decorations you can use in side the home this xmas 2011.

this is a white artificial christmas tree covered in decorations



here is a selection of various artificial christmas trees and how they can look with baubles and lights



this is a picture of a room massively decked out in christmas decorations with lights on the windows fake snow effects a real christmas tree covered in lights and christmas decorations, this would not necessarily be the extent you would want to go to yourself with xmas decorations in 2011, but just a idea on some of the themes for using christmas decorations this year

what are the best favourite christmas past times 2011?

what are the best and favourite christmas past times?.

was just thinking about this, a lot of them usually include the use of snow, though it does not always snow on christmas day, throwing snowballs is definitely something that happens around christmas time with a bit of snow fall.

sledging was another popular christmas past time as well.

watching christmas tv that is another one, watching tv on christmas day withthe family is a popular activity.

of course opening presents is a obvious one, but i will write them down anyway.

another obvious christmas past time is eating christmas dinner as well, a full on meal, usually the most or biggest meal you will eat compared to another time of the year.

some people also go out on christmas eve to the pub or out on the town.

another one just popped into my head is children singing christmas carols and knocking on house doors to offer to sing carols to them.

going to church was also a popular christmas past time as well.

there's a few anyway i am sure there is quite a few more as well, but that is all i can think of at the time being when it comes to those christmas past times.

will it be a white christmas day and snow 2011 uk weather

will it be a white christmas day and snow 2011 uk weather?, this is a big question every year will it snow on xmas day or not?, a lot of people put money on it snowing each year for xmas day, but what about this year?.

i would not try and predict it myself and would just see it as a fun guess when deciding and nothing too serious, but it definitely is a treat to have snow on a christmas day.

so far this year weather experts are saying it is a big possibility for snow on christmas day 2011.

weather experts believe that the warm weather in november will be replaced by polar cold front that will cause lots of snow and icy weather in december, with snow on christmas day 25th december 2011 looking possible.

so it looks like it could be a return to the freezing cold weather like last year when december rolls in a few weeks time.

weather experts are saying there is a good chance of a white christmas more so then usual.

so we will just have to wait and see though until sunday december the 25th and just what happens, but either way it sounds like december 2011 is going to be freezing as per usual.

bank holidays christmas 2011 new year 2012 in the uk england what dates?

is there any bank holidays around christmas 2011 uk england and for new years 2012?, if like me you are wondering if there is any bank holidays around this years christmas time or what the bank holidays are for this years xmas 2011 and into the start of the new year 2012.

the christmas bank holidays start with christmas day which is a bank holiday in the uk, so first christmas bank holiday is christmas day on the 25th december 2011.

the next is boxing day on the 26th december 2011 which is also a bank holiday in the uk.

following that is a bank holiday on the 27th of december 2011 as well, so that is basically 3 bank holidays in a row, from 25th, the 26th and the 27th december 2011.

the next bank holiday starts on january the 1st 2012 with new years day.

not too sure on the 2nd of january 2012 it is called on one calendar i am looking at "new years day holiday", so not sure if that is a bank holiday.

christmas pictures 2011 photos trees xmas themed images comparing the holy land bethlehem with western christmas climates

christmas pictures 2011 photos trees xmas themed images, here is a montage of some christmas landscapes, landscapes of snow and ice, which in the northern part of the world is what christmas is associated with due to the bitter cold weather, this is probably where the christmas tree is involved with christmas some what as well, due to its evergreen nature all year round even in the midst of winter time.

though some hot countries celebrate christmas also and so the snow and ice landscapes might not seem so christmassy to them, and also not forgetting christmas is linked to the middle east and the christian religion as well, places like bethlehem which is not a cold part of the world, and so there is a bit of contrast there really if i just put up cold snowy and icy christmas style images.

so probably a few christmas pictures in a desert style setting will also be applicable and look good, and also a show a contrast between the xmas celebrations in a cold country and december time and the xmas celebrations in more hotter warmer climates around christmas 2011 time.

starting off first with a lovely image of very snowy cold scene to bring in the northern style flavour of christmas time with this picture.



next up is a really nice background image of a cold winter scene with the sun low on the horizon just over the mountain top, this is a nice christmas picture that you could download to your desktop as a background image



this next one is a really nice image of what looks like a lighthouse on top of a hill, in a way catches the theme of christmas really well in this image.



now in contrast a look at bethlehem the birth place of jesus and how this is different to the more northern winter christmas style scenes, just mainly in some ways due to the temperature differences.

this also reflects in the architecture and design and look in there christmas styles and decorations as well, in eastern xmas celebrations there will be less emphasis on things like christmas trees covered in snow and the christmas tree, and more emphasis on different types of xmas decorations in there 2011 christmas celebrations.

though here is christmas style tree in the decorations of one of the temples, makes you wonder if you could decorate your christmas tree the same in 2011 without really putting too much decorations or lights or baubles etc on the tree, just try and create a new christmas tree style and trend for 2011 with a basic minimal looks to your christmas 2011 tree decorations.



this is a picture of how the temples look in the holy land and bethlehem basked in heat and warmth which is contrast to how christmas is in other colder parts of the world, so this gives a totally different style and culture to there xmas celebrations.

this is image below would probably make quite a unique christmas card image in 2011.



here again a picture of a christmas tree, this is just a tree growing without any decorations on it etc, but also compared to the more western climate growing in a hot sunny environment, whereas we tend to just picture in our minds our christmas trees out in the snow or covered in christmas decorations.









these next ones are pictures of how christmas is celebrated in the middle east in places like bethlehem, and what kind of christmas decorations they use.



these kind of decorations and what they are wearing on the mules or donkeys and the christmas scene portrayed will have been simply made and are the kind of christmas decorations you can make at home with kids, for example the riders on the donkeys are just wearing old clothes that have been fashioned to have a christmas biblical look to them, so these kind of decorations and christmas themes are fun and quite easy to make at home.

Paul Ryan's musical limitations

Last night I happened to hear part of Paul Ryan's speech at the RNC on the radio. Toward the end he made a little joke about the music that Mitt Romney preferred was the sort he tended to hear in elevators, and then he distinguished his tastes by noting his iPod "starts with AC/DC and ends with Zeppelin."

And my brain, being the way it is, thought, His collection doesn't have any artists alphabetically after L?

I have several albums of "Zeppelin" in my library, but when sorted by artist iTunes puts them under "Led Zeppelin"; perhaps Paul Ryan knows of some secret sorting option that goes by euphemisms (Rolling Stones under S, Beatles under F, etc.). Of course, if that's the case, he may want to keep that level of technical savvy under wraps; it's not that the GOP doesn't appreciate smarts but they don't appear to be allowed to acknowledge it publically.

Yes, clearly he was going for a nice A to Z rhetorical balance. While I concede starting with Abba wouldn't fit in with the image he wished to project (although you know he has "Money, Money, Money" on some other playlist), are we to conclude they've never heard of ZZ Top in Wisconsin? Unlike the referenced bands in the line, they are American, and unlike the alpha in Ryan's line they have a song explicitly mentioning Jesus; AC/DC, of course, tends to be a bit heavier on allusions to hell (in a non-condemning way), which would seem to be less than advisable with the evangelical part of the Republican base.

(Granted, given the assertions he made in other parts of the speech, perhaps we should think of "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.")

The other aspect of this that came to mind: Ryan is two years younger than I am, and I recall what were the popular songs of the day out here in California back when I was in high school in the mid-'80s, and they didn't include AC/DC or Led Zeppelin. I guess the '70s didn't make it to that part of the country until deep in the '80s.

Reading that much Ayn Rand, he wouldn't have gotten into the Violent Femmes, despite that group being from his home state.

They do have more songs about Jesus than AC/DC.

The night my wife told Rhett Miller about our first date

Last night after work my wife and I headed to the mid-city part of town; the Old 97's were playing a show at the El Rey Theater, and we had tickets for the show. We got there well before the doors even opened so after we parked we went across the street to the Five Guys Burgers for dinner. After we ordered she went to the restroom on the way and from across the dining area she started gesturing toward the corner. It wasn't   an open table, but the band's front man Rhett Miller and a friend eating there. No one else in the place seemed to recognize him, but such is the thing about the band's popularity is such that only fans would spot them off-stage.

I used to see Rhett perform solo acoustic shows with some regularity years ago when he lived in L.A., and talked to him on occasion afterward. He's almost ridiculously friendly, and happy to talk with fans. Still, I wasn't going to bother him while he was eating, and I figured my wife would be too nervous sitting near him. (She can get a little... how to put it?... awkward around celebrities she likes.) However, when she emerged from the ladies' room she motioned for us to sit at the open table right next to where Rhett was sitting.

Before we even got our food, she simply could not control herself and politely interrupted Rhett, because she had to tell him the story of the role he played in how we are married today.

There was a moment on our first date, many years ago, when I made clear my intentions by quoting a line from a song Rhett wrote titled "Designs On You". That line, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't have designs on you." And to this day she still notes that as the seminal moment in our entire romantic relationship.

(Eventually I did admit I didn't come up with it, but by then she already liked me.)

The thing is: After hearing his, Rhett was totally cool with my quasi-plagiarism.

As my wife geeked out Rhett asked if we had a camera on a phone for a photo and my wife fumbled to get hers handed to Rhett's friend (Kevin McAlester, director of some of their videos). We then posed between the tables right there in the restaurant, but the first two attempts didn't turn out well. Not wanting to hold them up, my wife said it was fine, but Rhett said there was no rush, and Kevin then pulled out his own phone and took two shots, the better of which is below.

Five Guys should pay us for this sort of promotion.

While he then got my wife's number to text the pictures to her phone, a white-haired elderly woman who was sitting at the table behind where we'd just been posing and noticed the photography took the opportunity to talk to Rhett. However, it had nothing to do with the reason why we had talked to him.

She couldn't figure out how to use the camera on her phone (an older flip phone), and having seen our group using phone cameras she was hoping he might be able to show her how, as she was interested in getting a shot of last night's blue moon. And being the ridiculously nice person he is, Rhett proceeded to do his best to help her figure out.

Before they left, Rhett mentioned how he hadn't finished the set list for the show, and although he wasn't promising anything he said he'd consider putting "Designs" in there in honor of our story. I noted that we'd be up near the front (it was a general admission show). We shook their hands and they headed out.

My wife then went up to the counter to discover our food had been ready for a while. However, she was so elated still that she could barely eat it.

Fast forward a few hours, to the encore portion of the concert. It had already been a phenomenal night, but as they started the next to last song they played we heard the familiar riff from "Designs" and got excited. However, before the vocal part began, Rhett looked clearly right at us in an undeniable manner, in an obvious nod to our earlier interaction.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't better than all the other times we'd heard the band perform that song.

~

After the show we happened to pass by the tour bus parked outside as we walked to the car, and Rhett was by the door, and we thanked him.