Anthony Hays

Some fun reading… While some take it that the Christmas tree is a Christianization of a pre-Christian winter rite, in particular the Donar Oak and Saint Boniface, others see its origin in the “tree of Paradise” used as a prop in the medieval mystery plays that were given on 24 December, which as well as being Christmas Eve is in some countries the day of the liturgical commemoration and name day of Adam and Eve. To suggest the Garden of Eden, a tree decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption) was used as a setting for the play. Like the Christmas crib, the Paradise tree was later placed in homes. The apples were replaced by round objects such as shiny red balls.

The modern Christmas tree originated in western Germany. The main prop of a popular medieval play about Adam and Eve was a fir tree hung with apples (paradise tree) representing the Garden of Eden. The Germans set up a paradise tree in their homes on December 24, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung wafers on it (symbolizing the host, the Christian sign of redemption); in a later tradition, the wafers were replaced by cookies of various shapes. Candles, too, were often added as the symbol of Christ. In the same room, during the Christmas season, was the Christmas pyramid, a triangular construction of wood, with shelves to hold Christmas figurines, decorated with evergreens, candles, and a star. By the 16th century, the Christmas pyramid and paradise tree had merged, becoming the Christmas tree.

Decorating a Christmas tree in the home (Moldovan postage stamp of 1996) The tradition still persists that Christmas trees should not be decorated until Christmas Eve, which is the day of Adam and Eve. Legends attribute the invention of the Christmas tree instead to Saint Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans, and to Martin Luther.

If you expect to have trouble letting go of your son when he heads off to college, perhaps there’s solace in this: imagine how crummy his toys must feel. That’s the premise behind Toy Story 3. Now that Andy is all grown up, his plastic friends are in a frenzy over getting dumped. Like all the Toy Story movies, No. 3 is a parable about aging—how does time change the loves of our lives? But it’s also the darkest Toy Story yet. In one scene, the gang accidentally falls into a junkyard incinerator, and as they come dangerously close to the fire, they all clutch each other’s hands (or paws) to say goodbye. Your kids won’t be the only ones tempted to cover their eyes. The moment unfurls not just as an ode to the passage of childhood but also as a meditation on grown-up mortality.

And then there’s the meta-theme: the fact that Toy Story itself rendered a particular brand of children’s entertainment extinct. The best Disney films (Pinocchio, Bambi, The Lion King) have always played on the heartstrings of all ages, but Toy Story changed the script. Animated movies now have a dry Seinfeld-ian wit, more Friends than Snoopy and friends. The original Toy Story—co-written by Joss Whedon in his pre–Buffy the Vampire Slayer days—was constructed like a buddy action movie and sprinkled with dialogue that worked on different levels. (Woody calls his rival “Buzz Light Beer.”) The 1999 sequel, about a toy collector who kidnaps Woody, was even better with its sly pop-culture references. Once the films became a phenomenon, a new era of animation was born. There was Wall-E and its homage to Chaplin, Up’s examination of grief, Shrek’s fractured fairy tales packed with sexual innuendo, and the subversive Fantastic Mr. Fox from Wes Anderson. Fifteen years later, it’s hard to remember how revolutionary Toy Story was, because the world of animation is so different because of it.

There are, of course, reasons not to applaud the Toy Story legacy. You have to wonder if adults have hijacked kids’ movies to the point of making them too grown-up for children (e.g., Where the Wild Things Are, with a side order of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs). More cases in point: The most successful film of 2010 is Tim Burton’s very bloody take on Alice in Wonderland. Brett Ratner recently talked about directing a live-action Snow White with a dragon and robbers. Even Sesame Street lost its wholesome glow with Broadway’s Avenue Q. You can’t really blame Pixar for all this, especially because Toy Story now stands as the best trilogy to come out of Hollywood since Star Wars. The third movie might be too scary and not as good as the second one—there is an escape from a day-care center that’s as stale as Ocean’s Thirteen—but it redeems itself with its bittersweet ending. One reason to be grateful that Toy Story has gone 3-D: those glasses will keep your kids from seeing you cry.

Source: Newsweek 

I would love it! If it’s true! 

A manufacturing company in Taiwan is going to start shipping to Apple a version of the iPhone for CDMA-based wireless networks in the fourth quarter of this year, according to an unconfirmed report. This version of Apple’s Smartphone could be headed for Verizon, Sprint, or both.
 
Apple outsources much of its device production to Asia, and sources say Pegatron Technology — a spin off of Asustek — has been tapped to manufacture an iPhone for CDMA networks. This will be produced in Shanghai.
 
iPhones for Everyone
Back in 2007, AT&T and Apple forged an agreement that made AT&T the sole U.S. provider for the iPhone, but persistent but unconfirmed rumors have indicated that this is coming to an end later this year.
 
Verizon is the carrier these reports indicate is most likely to get a version of the device, but all the U.S. carriers have made it clear they’d be happy to offer Apple’s very popular smartphone.
 
There are a few technical hurdles, most notably the fact that the current iPhone supports only GSM networks and Verizon and Sprint would need a new version for their CDMA networks, but Pegatron is supposedly taking care of this.
 
Apple’s fourth-generation Smartphone is going to be a significant upgrade from the current one, starting with its 3.5-inch, 640 x 960 touch screen, a much higher resolution than any previous iPhone has offered.
 
It’s going to have a new slimmer design and run iOS 4.0, the latest version of Apple’s operating system, on a 1 GHz Apple A4 processor. This will be the first version of Apple’s mobile OS with support for multitasking.
 
The iPhone 4 will have a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with a flash, as well as support for recording 720p video at 30 frames per second. In addition, it’s going to include a small front-facing camera for video chatting with an app called FaceTime.
 
Not everything is being improved: Apple’s upcoming Smartphone will have the same amount of storage capacity as the current one.
 
This Smartphone will have 3G wireless networking, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a GPS receiver
 
SOURCE: Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor
PUBLISHED: 6/17/2010