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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

...to all Christians on this day, the last Christmas of this century!

We have a short piece on the origin of the song 'Silent Night' by a contributor who chooses to be Anon Mimous..thanks, Anon Mimous, for your writing for this occasion!

SELAMAT HARI RAYA!

...to all Muslims, who will be celebrating Hari Raya this week, the last Hari Raya celebrations for this century!

Wignesan's pen - ...Continuing from last week, the reminiscence of Wignesan! Read on and find out about the Victorian who was a political commissar! ...

Thanks, Wignesh, for the article!

Wignesan's pen in previous Victorian Times

www.thetech.org - Technology on exhibition, fun and interactive, for ages 12 to 140.

God created the mule, and told him, "You are mule. You will work

constantly from dusk to dawn, carrying heavy loads on your back. You will eat grass and lack intelligence. You will live for 50 years."The mule answered, "To live like this for 50 years is too much. Please, give me no more than 20."

Then God created the dog, and told him, "You are dog. You will hold

vigilance over the dwellings of Man, to whom you will be his greatest companion. You will eat his table scraps and live for 30 years."The dog responded, "Lord, to live 30 years as a dog like that is too much. Please, no more than 10 years."And it was so.

God then created the monkey, and told him, "You are monkey. You shall swing rom tree to tree, acting like an idiot. You will be funny, and you shall live for 40 years."The monkey responded, "Lord, to live 40 years as the clown of the world

is too much. Please, Lord, give me no than 25 years."And it was so.

Finally, God created Man and told him, "You are Man, the only rational Being that walks the earth. You will use your intelligence to have mastery over the creatures of the world. You will dominate the earth and live for 20 years." The man responded, "Lord, to be Man for only 20 years is too little.

Please, Lord; give me the 30 years the mule refused, the 20 years the dog refused,and the 15 years the monkey rejected."

And so God made Man to live 20 years as a man, then marry and live 30 years like a mule working and carrying heavy loads on his back. Then, he is tohave children and live 20 years as a dog, guarding his house and eating the leftovers after they empty the pantry; then, in his old age, to live 15 years as a monkey,acting like an idiot to amuse his grandchildren.

Park Bench, Portland Square, Bristol BS2 8QD - who stays there? Nobody. To get free medical treatment in Britain, a registered address is necessary. This is a problem for the homeless, so the health authority gave them a dummy one, at a park bench. This was discontinued and changed to 'No fixed address, c/o Montpelier Health Centre, Bristol when, ironically, a homeless man was quoted as saying he was insulted by the Park Bench address. There is no limit to ways to help others, if one wants to, I guess.

Mount your soapbox, write a feature article on something you want to say, share a web site with others, or something inspirational or good with others. Email us your articles, news, jokes, photos, etc for feature in future Victorian Times.

Our journey takes us back in time to the Christmas eve of 1812 in Tyrol,Germany. The church organist was dismayed to find that mice have gnawed a hole in the bellows.The following morning Father Mohr, the curate, improvised a few verse for the organist, Franz Gruber.

That night, "Silent night,holy night"was sung to guitar accompaniment.Subsequently, the

organ repairman was so impressed with the simple beauty of the carol that he carried a copy of the manuscript . It was introduced to many congregations and added to the local choir'srepertpoire.Little did they know of its impact around the world ( before Napster/Gnutella!) until it came full

This year because of the turmoil celebrations have been cancelled by the authorities. It is "silent"for all the wrong reasons. The expression " Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All Men" should be rephrasaed as " Peace On Earth to Men of Goodwill."