Category: Christmas

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Under the Tree at TWC

Notalotta outrageous gifting going on @twc this year. Biggest deals: My Wonder Woman okayed the purchase of a new (VERY inexpensive–cheaper than WallyWorld 17″-ers; gottalove Amazon.com) 22″ Acer LCD screen for my “old eyes computing,” Son&Heir and I exchanged (used) Xboxes (originals) for conversion to media servers–a fun lil project–and Lovely Daughter got a very nice new coat.

No biggies. Some other lil things.

Oh, one (very inexpensive) “biggie”–for a couple of years now, my Wonder Woman’s been kinda limping along with her otherwise exceptionally nice Toshiba Satellite A105 running on 512MB of memory. It was a compromise at the time of purchase, but memory prices have tumbled since then, so now it’s doing very nicely indeed with 4GB of memory. Which reminds me of a tip for those of y’all running 32-bit Windows with more than 3GB of RAM. Since 32-bit Windows doesn’t really see more than 3GB (oh, M$ claims it can see up to 4, but they can just pull the other one), it has to be tricked into seeing more. And even with (legitimate) trickery, it can still be a tad stinky about the 32-bit limits. But if you are one of those folks who added more RAM to a 32-bit Windows installation than the OS can see, here’s a workaround that at least partially works:

Enable DEP.

Yep. “Data Execution Prevention” is a M$ method of providing at least some OS protection against some malware. It’s not all that effective, so some folks don’t even bother to have it enabled. But the interesting thing about DEP is that enabling it also enables Physical Address Extension (PAE), “a feature of x86 processors that lets 32-bit operating systems overcome the 4GB memory limit.”1

To enable DEP, simply go to Control Panel>System>Performance>Advanced>Settings>DEP and enable it… if it’s available on your hardware.

If PAE is not enabled on your system, you can do a teensy lil hack to enable it using Notepad (or some other PLAIN TEXT editor):

* Step 1. Choose Start, Run.
* Step 2. Type notepad c:\boot.ini and press Enter.
* Step 3. Under the [operating systems] heading, look for a line that contains the /noexecute switch, which turns software DEP. For example, it may be /noexecute=optin, /noexecute=optout, or /noexecute=always on. Place the cursor directly after that switch and type a space followed by /pae.

Save the file and reboot.

This neat lil trick is from Windows Secrets Newsletter. But be warned: if you’re not comfotable editing system files like boot.ini, leave it for your friendly local techie to do, ‘K?

OK, that lil diversion was all in aid of saying simply that my Wonder Woman’s lil Toshiba needed nothing in order to recognize and use the memory but a reboot and wipeout of a bum “System Restore Point” that wanted to insist she still had 512MB. (“System Restore” is a utility whose time has come… for being eliminated. Piece of junk, IMO.)

Looking at our laid back gift giving this year, I must admit it’s little different from other recent years since the kids gained adulthood. As a family, we have MORE than enough “stuff” and need very, very little. It’s nice to simply reflect on the Reason for Christmas apart from all the shopping and wrapping and all the other material effluvia.

But I will admit that it’s nice to see my Wonder Woman taking more pleasure in her computer use, Lovely Daughter dressing warmly (and stylishly) and Son&Heir having fun approaching his XBox/computer hacks. (OK, OK, we’re doing software mods/hacks rather than hardware hacks at this time. If the hardware hacks become necessary to get the performance we want, then we’ll look at that. Well, a couple of small hardware hacks to controller cables, but those’re trivial.)

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Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring

I’ll be tapering off on Xmas-related posts over the next week or so; no need to go cold turkey when that’s about as long as it’ll take to get rid of the rest of the real cold turkey, eh?

Here’s Celtic Woman again–and yes, it is Christmas-related.

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Xmas Cheer?

For years I’ve had folks who know no better chide me for writing “Xmas” with the “X is an unknown quantity, and Christ is not unknown!” fallacy.

Fallacy? Yes, on at least two counts. The first and most obvious is that Christ is almost unknown. If one even asks the common man-on-the-street kinds of questions of average folks, attempting to discover if those folks even know the basic facts of the life of Christ, it’s easy to determine that the historical Jesus is largely unknown. When asked even further what his message was/is and what the import of his life was/is, his unknown-ness becomes even more glaring. Heck, the very fact that such abominations as “Touched by an Angel,” “Highway To Heaven” and “7th Heaven” were viewed by so many who think of themselves as Christians as “Christian” in theme or subject matter ought to demonstrate to any literate person (let alone someone who calls themselves a believer in Christ) that Jesus is largely unknown.

But then there’s also the “X is an unknown quantity” part of the objection. Simple illiteracy, my friends, because “Xmas” has been long used–as long as ‘Christmas” has been–in referring to a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ for a reason that is far, far from the “unknown quantity” canard. Why so? Because it’s not an “X” (as we find in latinized European alphabets) but a “chi”–the Greek letter that sounds out as the “Ch” in “Christ.” And so, since even before the existence of the word “Christmas,” the “chi” has been used to stand in acronyms, acrostics and other constructions for “Christ”. (In fact, it was used thus in the earliest known “Christian fish” symbols, which was constructed from the first letters–Greel alphabet–in the words of the phrase, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”).

So, have a blessed Xmas.

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The Gift

No music for this post, although I usually accompany it with a midi arrangement after Mannheim Steamroller’s “Silent Night.”

The Gift

Trees and lights and bells and carols,
Bright-wrapped packages piled high.
Winter’s sharp blow joins the heralds:
“Christmastime is nigh.”

Mailmen hurry; shoppers scurry;
Time is fleeing–Oh! so fast.
Parties gather, loud and merry,
Grander than in Christmas’ past.

Pause a moment to remember
That a Savior’s simple birth
Still stirs angel wings in susur’–
“Peace to men; goodwill on earth.”

So, the Greatest Gift extended–
Gift of love and peace to all;
God’s great love to man descended
Calls us to a stable stall.

Tiny Babe, Eternal Son;
First step to Calv’ry, vict’ry won.

©1990-1991 David W Needham

Have a blessed Christmas.

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“What Can I Give Him?”

While I very much like Gustav Holst’s tune, CRANHAM, I do not particularly like it sung to Christina Rossetti’s “In the Bleak Midwinter” but only, really, because of it’s (IMO, of course :-)) unsuitability to the last stanza of the poem. In fact, I’ve more often, over the years, heard the last stanza sung by itself as a simple chorus sung to other tunes. Apparently other musicians felt the same way about the CRANHAM/Bleak Midwinter marriage.

But, being me, I naturally found the other tunes dissatisfying as well, and so I wrote my own poor offering to meet the void I heard. You can judge for yourself whether the verse and tune mate well. As to whether I have embodied the sense of the verse, well, I can say with the Apostle Paul,

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12)

This time, it’s not an audio file (though I have examples). No, this time the music posted is for those who can make some music of their own. Here, get out a piano, a quartet of music readers or your soprano recorder –*heh*– and play/sing along. Just CLICK on the graphic for the full size, then if you wish, RIGHT-CLICK and save it for printout (see permissions paragraph below):

What Can I Give Him

(Permission is granted for small group use of the above, including printing sufficient copies–up to 10; this license is for small group use only–for singers/players to sing/play along for amateur, non-profit performance. Copies may not be further distributed, may not be sold and must acknowledge my copyright. Any recordings made must have a copy submitted to me in mp3 format via email and may NOT be sold, exchanged or distributed without my knowledge or permission. Contact me via email–see my contact page–for any exceptions, or to answer any questions you may have. IOW, enjoy, but be ethical about it.)

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“Silent Night”

Perhaps the mot-sung Christmas carol, this performance, again by “Celtic Woman” features two of my fav soloists from the group. Multiple favs? Yes: three. This performance features two: the soprano with the most consistently beautiful tone and vowels (Méav Ní Mhaolchatha), and the violinist (“fiddler” Máiréad Nesbitt). Lovely sounds, perfectly suited to this carol.

Stille Nacht! Heil’ge Nacht!
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hoch heilige Paar.
Holder Knab’ im lockigen Haar,
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht! Heil’ge Nacht!
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb’ aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund’.
Jesus in deiner Geburt!
Jesus in deiner Geburt!

Stille Nacht! Heil’ge Nacht!
Die der Welt Heil gebracht,
Aus des Himmels goldenen Höhn,
Uns der Gnaden Fülle läßt sehn,
Jesum in Menschengestalt!
Jesum in Menschengestalt!

Stille Nacht! Heil’ge Nacht!
Wo sich heut alle Macht
Väterlicher Liebe ergoß,
Und als Bruder huldvoll umschloß
Jesus die Völker der Welt!
Jesus die Völker der Welt!

Stille Nacht! Heil’ge Nacht!
Lange schon uns bedacht,
Als der Herr vom Grimme befreit
In der Väter urgrauer Zeit
Aller Welt Schonung verhieß!
Aller Welt Schonung verhieß!

Stille Nacht! Heil’ge Nacht!
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Alleluja,
Tönt es laut bei Ferne und Nah:
“Jesus der Retter ist da!”
“Jesus der Retter ist da!”

Continue reading ““Silent Night””

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“In the First Light”

Twenty years ago, an album, “Glad: The Acapella [sic] Project” provided a major impetus in the resurgence of a cappella singing. Mind you, Glad had already experienced a good run as a Christian “band,” beginning in 1972, but this watershed album was the group’s real breakout. I can’t find it anywhere but as a used recording–and then only at Amazon.com as a cassette tape, so you’ll have to look for a CD at a used CD store, I imagine–but I did want to feature one cut from the album, because it is a seriously good Christmas song: “In the First Light.” If you find it to be as good as I do, perhaps you’ll look up (and purchase) other Glad projects.

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Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor

Certainly this is one of the most powerful presentations of the Christmas story in brief song form. Chip Stam has this to say of this hymn:

Serving as Editorial Secretary for the China Inland Mission, Frank Houghton made a trip to China in 1934 to see first-hand the progress of the work. This hymn was written at a particularly difficult time in the history of the missions to China. Missionaries had been captured by the communist Red Army and released in poor health after over a year of suffering. Others had been captured never to be heard from again. In 1934 the young missionaries John and Betty Stam (my great aunt and uncle) were captured in Anhwei and beheaded . The news of these sorrows had reached the mission’s headquarters in Shanghai. Though this was a very dangerous time for both the Chinese Christians and the foreign missionaries, Frank Houghton decided he needed to begin a tour through the country to visit various missionary outposts. While traveling over the mountains of Szechwan, the powerful and comforting words of 2 Corinthians 8:9, “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,” were transformed into this beautiful Christmas hymn.

Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becomes poor.

Read the rest of the lyrics at Chip Stam’s 1996 WQOTW post.