Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Merry Christmas... and here is the last for this Advent blog.  Z is for Zurline    Zurline  is the ruler of the Wood Nymphs. She and her subjects live in the Forest of  Burzee . Queen Zurline first appeared in  the  children's story classic, " The Life and  Adventures of Santa Claus" , first published in 1902 by L. Frank Baum and then later in the graphic novels and an animated version.  In this story,  Queen  Zurline was a member  of the  Council of the Immortals  which bestowed  immortality on  Santa Claus. . So, it is appropriate that  Zurline  completes the A-Z of Christmas celebrities as she and her colleagues were responsible for Santa Claus continuing to visit children on Christmas eve in the 21st century.... or at least, I think I have interpreted that correctly.  The story  begins with baby Santa Claus being found in the Forest of Burzee. As he gets older, h...

As we come close to the end of the alphabet, and only a day from Christmas, it is also becoming obvious that the research for this year's Advent blog has uncovered some unusual, and dare I say, weird Christmas celebrities.  Y is for Yani (the Kitten Angel )  Y is also for Yamal Iri.   Let's tackle the heavenly Yani first.  Yani is a kitten angel who narrates "The True Story of Critter Angels"  and  explains the reasons for the existence of animal angels.  Perhaps cat lovers will relate to this? While Yani has a rather tentative link to Christmas, she is an angel whose existence is based on spreading love and peace in the world in the truest spirit of Christmas. While this book sounds very sweet and comforting, Yani could be classified as being a little too sentimental and at times, even schmaltzy, but never without the capacity to bring joy!  i f you’ve ever loved an animal, this book for adults and children alike will touch your heart. ...

X might be for Xmas, but it took some searching to find today's  celebrity lurking in the 1990s.   X is for Xena - Warrior Princess.  This may seem a strange selection for a Christmas celebrity list, but there are many Xena fans for whom Christmas would not be complete without a viewing of  a Xena: Warrior Princess episode, "A Solstice Carol."  I think I am justifying Xena's inclusion here because she is one of those fictional characters who change from evil  to good. The TV series focuses on Xena's quest to redeem herself for her dark past by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. Xena, with her partner Gabrielle, challenge ruthless warlords and their armies in an ancient mythological world. So, it is seemingly impossible for Xena to appear in a Christmas scene, but it happens.  In one day   Xena met Santa Claus, Jesus,  and  Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, but  not without criticism.T he Christma...

So close to Christmas and it's getting harder to find Christmas celebrities but today here's  a wily W character.  W is for Wilma . Yes I am Wilma but I am NOT today's Christmas celebrity.  Wilma the weasel  is the one of the main characters  in  T he Flight Before Christmas , a 2008 animated movie    and its sequel   Little Brother Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure . The Flight Before Christmas centres around the problem of Niko, a small reindeer afraid of flying, and in search of his unknown father who is one of Santa's Flying Forces (that is, one of the eight main reindeer who pull Santa's sleigh)  Wilma is a street wise fearless singing weasel, who Niki and his surrogate squirrel father, Julius befriend while saving Santa from a wolf pack attack .   Long story short, the climax involves  Niko, Wilma and Julius killing the wolf leader, the Flying  Squad saving themselves in order to save Christmas, Niko...

Because  there are only 25 days in Advent and there are 26 letters in the alphabet, today we have a  daily double - U and V U is for Ulla    Ulla  is a Finnish name , made popular by the Swedish secretary in the stage play, "The Producers" , but today I have two different Christmas celebrities who are named  " Ulla" .   Little Ulla is the  fictional heroine of an interactive Christmas Stage Show specially created for little ones, with puppets, music, and yodelling!  It’s a busy little time for Little Ulla the Post Goat!  It’s Christmas time and she has lots of cards to deliver around the village.  Every day she makes people happy by delivering cards from friends and loved ones. But poor old Mr Hans the clockmaker never gets any Christmas cards!  Needless to say, Little Ulla makes sure that Mr Hans is not neglected this Christmas.   The discovery of this rather odd Scottish operetta and its caprine heroine...

A little Finnish surprise for you today.....  T is for tonttu  A tonttu ( or tomte in Swedish)  is a mythological creature from  Scandinavian folklore  today typically associated with the  winter solstice  and the  Christmas  season. It is generally described as being no taller than three feet, having a long white beard, and wearing a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright colour. They often have an appearance somewhat similar to that of a  garden gnome . [1 ] from Wikipedia.  In the past, i n Finnish households  there were guardian spirits known as elves (tonttu) Each type of building had its own sort of elf.- household elves, sauna elves, stable elves, storehouse elves, barn elves and mill elves. When treated with respect, they brought good fortune, but if they took offence, there was no predicting the consequences. All commonly were active after nightfall,but individual tonttu were often notorious for thei...

No prizes for guessing that today's S celebrities include the jolly man himself,  but wait, there's more...    S is for Santa Claus  and Suzy Snowflake  What do these two have in common - nothing much except a  tentative Christmas link, a reference to the same era, and  I think they look good  in a snowy scene together.  I am sure I do not need to add  much to the profile of Santa Claus  because many of you are most likely experts on the subject. However,  in Australia, I often see images of Santa in beach board shorts or even wearing a bush hat with hanging corks to keep away the summer flies and I wonder how it came about that red flannel and white fur are still the preferred attire for Santa.    Did you know that red and white became a tradition after Santa appeared in a Coca Cola advertisement in 1931?  Coca Cola Company deny that they "invented" Santa Claus as we know him - plump, jolly, frien...