Thanks everyone
We are officially heading off for Christmas, have a great next few days everyone!
Christmas on Facebook v the reality of it: share your stories
Christmas is a time of family gatherings, presents, overindulgence and cheesy films. In the modern age, what was once a relatively private affair is now a lot more public. The buildup is filled with festive selfies, and Christmas day itself is spent taking pictures of food and snoozing relatives. But how much of what we share on our social media stream reflects reality?
We want to hear from our readers about their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram lives during the festive period, compared with their real lives. How did you really feel when you took that photo of you out Christmas shopping in a Santa hat? Did the perfect-looking pudding you made actually taste as great as it looked? Tell us your stories, anonymously or otherwise here.
Why Andy Martin, documenter of a changing Sunderland, has left his city
Karl Whitney is the author of Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin (Penguin).
A few months ago, I heard that Andy Martin, a photographer from Sunderland, was leaving the city after many years documenting its streets and buildings. It felt like the time to write about his work. Martin’s photos have a haunting quality that, to my mind, capture a side of the city that speaks of both its industrial past and its haunted present. His pictures are the result of his nocturnal rambles through Sunderland, climbing into disused buildings: swimming pools, police stations, condemned blocks of flats. His photos are highly distinctive products of his own obsession with one city, while also gesturing towards a wider issue facing regional towns and cities: will regeneration be enough to counter the effects of increased austerity?
What hairdryer do you need this Christmas?
Testing hairdryers is a complicated business. Almost every one of them claims fancy things such as an “ultimate shine” or “effortless de-frizzing” with some promising to deliver cinema-quality hair in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. Sadly the reality is way different.
But when you sit down and actually use these things you realise that the end result relies on much more than just the machine – the hair type matters almost as much. Some hair types are a lot happier to sate than others. People with short hair can almost get away with much more than someone with tight, luscious locks.
When it came to putting five of the top-end hairdryers to the test, we had to assemble a group of testers capable of putting them through their paces for as many hair types and scenarios as possible. The results were surprising.
For instance, you’d expect every hairdryer costing £100 or more to come with every tool under the sun, but many lack a diffuser – essential for trying to dry tight curls. And then a dryer that suits one type of hair isn’t necessarily a winner for all.
Your underwhelming Christmas images
One of the weirder things I do at the Guardian is cultivate our underwhelming series, whereby readers send in pictures of stuff at the apex of averageness. So we’ve had underwhelming Halloween, underwhelming British holidays, underwhelming ghosts, and underwhelming pictures of fog. Occasionally we ask for underwhelming pictures, and you ignore us and send nice ones instead.
I started the series as I felt the middling, meh, and occasionally outright terrible photos sent in by our readers were just as worthy of attention as the good ones.
In a world increasingly dominated by worries about fake news, fake lives - or rather, the often idealised versions of our lives we choose to reveal on social media - is a phenomenon equally as worthy of attention. So how refreshing to see images that reveal the banality and occasional bleakness of modern existence.
Also, some of them are pretty funny.
It’s not late to send in your images - our assignment will be open until it’s time to take the Christmas tree down to the skip.
The Jedism question has certainly divided us
Should Jedism be made an official religion?
The Charity Commission for England and Wales has declared that Jedism isn’t a real religion. And, really, that’s probably best for everyone.
I can see why people wanted it to be a religion. After all, since Jedism is largely a hodgepodge of hooey platitudes about supernatural forces and eternal life, it shares a lot in common with almost all major religions.
But just imagine if the commission had granted its application. Then Jedism would have become a religion, with leaders and dogma and fundamentalists and guilt. It would stop being fun almost instantly. Let’s just keep Star Wars as a receptacle for space monsters and laserguns, OK?
Is the US death penalty on its way out?
This week I reported on the health of the US death penalty, and concluded that it was very sick indeed, arguably on its way out. Executions, as well as new death sentences, are at historic lows. The piece prompted interesting emails from people who questioned whether I was being too optimistic in saying capital punishment in the US is dying, given the history. They have a point. In the 1970s the death penalty was ended for four years by the US supreme court, but in 1976 it was allowed to start again and it came back with a vengeance. The emails made me think that maybe we are in another temporary lull. The death penalty ain’t over til it’s over, and until it is, those who care about human rights need to remain vigilant.
What do you think? Share your views in the comments.
Some of you have shared your Christmas song choices with us:
Christmas is all about family
Tim Minchin sums it up quite nicely
White Wine in the Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q
Others are discussing Alexandra’s article on calories at Christmas:
I love Christmas with all the trimmings. But if I want to still fit in my wheelchair, and to be able to transfer (stand up and move from wheelchair to seat etc) safely, I need to be careful what I eat on every day of the year.
You go right ahead and eat whatever you choose at Christmas time. But please, don't try to bully me to match what you eat (I'm looking at you, work colleagues at Christmas lunch). It should be OK for me to eat what I choose at Christmas time too.
If I knew how many calories I consumed on christmas day there would be a two causes for a heart attack.
I'm not a big fan of the trimmings. They just clutter up the plate, and take up valuable room that would be better utilised by roasties.
Of them all, I dislike pigs in blankets the most. Always too greasy and salty for my taste.
Turkey does not stimulate salivary glands and I don't eat it. I don't mind putting on 10,000 calories but I draw the line with a regrettable meat that resembles chewing sawdust.
Calories at Christmas? As somebody who, in everyday life, is - how shall I put it? - no stranger to the dessert trolley, it's not impossible that I will lose weight at Christmas. Seriously!
I stay at home and get some treats but I don't do the big meal. A few years ago I just couldn't be arsed to cook so headed straight for the cheeseboard. (Cheese is my favourite food anyway.) So now I buy a few things I want and that's it. So, Christmas Day is basically a cheese and wine party for me.
It's great getting to the end of Christmas Day and still being able to move.
The picture desk's photographer of the year
This year we have received around 12 million photographs to the Guardian picture desk, between us we will have looked at every one of those. Despite the huge numbers, certain photographers consistently catch your attention. We started our Photographer of the Year award four years ago to recognise the outstanding work done by photojournalists everywhere. This year we had a shortlist of 12 amazing people but Carl Court had stood out to us all year. He was also one of our most published photographers throughout the year, due to the sheer variety of subjects he covered and the consistently high standard of his work.
What’s been your favourite photo so far this year? Let us know in the comments.
Updated
Christmas listening
I’m not going to lie. I am a big fan of Christmas songs - and the cheesier the better. Earlier this week we were driving to visit some friends in Kent, and it was a chance for me to dig out my massive Christmas playlist and get the kids singing along in the back of the car. As well as the usual suspects, I’ve also been trying to expand their understanding of Christmas music with some more recent efforts, like The Futureheads Christmas Was Better in the 80’s, Erasure’s Snow Globe album, and the ridiculously nostalgic A Christmas We Deserve, which ABC released this year.
But if you want a more relaxing Christmas listen, then can I point you in the direction of a series of classical Christmas playlists that the Guardian put together a couple of years ago? We asked trumpeter Alison Balsom, pianist Stephen Hough, tenor Ian Bostridge, mezzo Sarah Connolly, the King’s Singers and the legendary John Rutter to pick their festive favourites. It’s a lovely change of pace.
And while listening to those, why not marvel at this delightful over-analysis of whether Stay Another Day by East 17 is actually a Christmas song or not.
Your views so far on calorie counting and Christmas in general – you can click on the comments to get involved
Calories!, at nearer 80yrs than 70yrs I don't give a toss and a very merry xmas to you.
Christmas is the one day you can indulge without any guilt, I like to eat about 20,000 calories, go heavy on the bread sauce, then smash through a gram of top quality coke and sleep with my sister in law. Guilt free.
Even at 51 I still get excited about Christmas. But then I feel all let down. Last year mutha bought me some wine glasses from Morrisons. She didn't even bother wrapping them, just left them in the carrier with the price still on (3.99 or thereabouts). I died a little inside - more to do with mutha just not caring about stuff now (she's 89) rather than the actual prezzie.
Who counts calories on Christmas day?
When one of my editors on the news desk asked me to write a story about the calories in a typical Christmas dinner, I must admit the idea did not fill me with festive cheer. Indeed, it’s possible I called him a grinch. Who cares how many calories you consume on Christmas day? Who can clear their head long enough from the roastie binge haze to even tot them up? I am not a calorie counter, but writing this piece did give me pause for thought. It was the pigs in blankets that got me – a whopping 58 calories per little pig. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about wolfing down half a packet, but maybe this year will now be different. Four max. Ok, maybe five. Will knowing how many calories you’re consuming make you hold back this year?
Welcome to our festive social
Hello! There are only two days to go until Christmas Day, so we will be having a festive themed social today. We encourage you to join us, with a drink and mince pie stash nearby.
Anything Christmassy sung by Karen Carpenter ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT7tbkeFYqM
Happy Christmas all. And thanks to Martin, Sarah, Matthew and Rachel for some really good Socials.