Southend-on-Sea: Street Artist Pays Tribute To Carrie Fisher By Doing What He Does Best

Original Images via 'Your Southend' Facebook Page

I'm so glad I follow 'Your Southend' on Facebook... if not, I might have missed their post about this brilliant tribute to the late Carrie Fisher by a local street artist and I would definitely have kicked myself. 

Image via 'Your Southend' Facebook Page

This new piece of street art, from local artist John Bulley, is on the seafront and a 20-minute walking distance from where I live... I'll definitely go check it as soon as possible.

Image via 'Your Southend' Facebook Page

Anyway, I thought I would share this wonderful tribute (and masterpiece) with you guys.

Enjoy!

Loup Dargent

John Bulley - Image via 'Your Southend' Facebook Page

PS: Thanks (once again) to 'Your Southend' for the heads-up and John Bulley for his great work.

PPS: BTW, John Bulley has a website... Click here If you want to know more about this Southend based talented artist. Definitely worth a visit or two!

Was 2016 Just 1938 All Over Again?

Demonstrators march on international migrant day 2016. EPA

By Julie Gottlieb, University of Sheffield

On December 31 1937, Cambridge classicist and man of letters F L Lucas embarked on an experiment. He would keep a diary for exactly one calendar year. It was, as he put it: “an attempt to give one answer, however inadequate, however fragmentary, to the question that will surely be asked one day by some of the unborn – with the bewilderment, one hopes, of a happier age: ‘What can it have felt like to live in that strange, tormented and demented world?’”

Lucas sought to preserve an affective archive, and to write about how it felt to live in an era of spiralling crisis.

As someone who wasn’t born in 1938 I cannot help but feel that Lucas’ solemn hope that his generation was living through the worst of it – and that lessons would surely be learned – have been well and truly dashed. Has 2016 been 1938 all over again?

Bowled over by the news this past year, one can be forgiven for grasping for the crutches of historical analogy. Indeed, a number of eminent historians of inter-war Europe have discerned thunderous echoes of the 1930s.

At present, as in the “Devil’s Decade”, we are experiencing the capricious convergence of historical forces: the fall-out of economic crisis and the extreme polarisation of the political spectrum from far-right to hard-left – the centre doesn’t hold. A tidal wave of refugees is being met by proportionately more xenophobia than compassion. Militant isolationism is thriving. Doors are being closed and walls built. Culture wars are punctuated by attacks on “experts” and intellectuals. 2016 has even seen open an unashamed airing of anti-Semitism.

The historical parallels between 2016 and 1938 are abundant. There are important differences in detail, in time and place, but the pattern of events, and of cause and effect, is striking.

Civil war raged in Spain then – as it rages in Syria today. Then as now, these internecine conflicts provide mirrors to existing fissures in international relations and deepening ideological antagonisms. By the end of 1938, and after Abyssinia, Spain, Anschluss, and Kristallnacht, not much faith was left in the ideal of internationalism or in the League of Nations – and this too sounds all too familiar.

The aftermath of the Kristallnacht. Bundesarchiv, CC BY-SA

The rescue of refugee children through the Kindertransports was just as symbolically important, yet as negligible, a solution to an immense humanitarian and moral crisis as has been the response to lone children refugees holed up in Calais this year. And what of Aleppo? Shame was, and is, a dominant feeling.

Where next?
The Munich Agreement of September 1938 was perceived by many of its British critics as an act of national suicide. The Brexit decision has likewise, again and again, been described as an act of self-harm, even of national hari-kari.

Writing at the end of the year, contemporary historian R W Seaton-Watson had no doubt that 1938 had “resulted in a drastic disturbance of the political balance on the Continent, the full consequences of which is still too soon to estimate”. Treaties weren’t worth the paper they were written on in 1938 – and at the end of 2016 it is worryingly unclear where Britain will stand after triggering Article 50.

Meanwhile, George Orwell’s assessment of the disarray of the political left post-Munich could just as well apply to Momentum and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. As Orwell saw it:

Barring some unforeseen scandal or a really large disturbance inside the Conservative Party, Labour’s chances of winning the General Election seem very small. If any kind of Popular Front is formed, its chances are probably less than those of Labour unaided. The best hope would seem to be that if Labour is defeated, the defeat may drive it back to its proper ‘line’.

Full circle
One could go on seeking coordinates but the sum total would still be the same. The rug has been pulled out from under the assumed solidity of the liberal democratic project. A delicate tapestry of structures and ideas is coming apart at the seams.

Even more specifically, it is the psychological experience, the search for meaning, and the emotional cycle, the feelings – collective and individual – of 1938 that are uncannily familiar.

Post-truth politics is anti-rational. Emotion has unexpectedly triumphed over reason in 2016. Love and/or hate has beaten intellect. That’s true for Hillary Clinton’s “love trumps hate” slogan as much as it is for her opponent.

The referendum result shook many. PA

New political technologies render older ones obsolete. In both Britain’s referendum campaign and in the American election, traditional opinion polls failed to capture the emotion being expressed across social media platforms.

Back in 1938, it was British Gallup and the rival Mass-Observation that were the innovative political technologies. Using very different techniques, each offered fresh insight into the psychology of political behaviour and tried to unseal the stiff upper lip of the British electorate.

Mass-Observation tried to get into people’s heads, and diagnosed an increasing occurrence of “crisis fatigue” as a response to nervous strain and “a sense of continuous crisis”.

Almost immediately after the EU referendum, therapists reported “shockingly elevated levels of anxiety and despair, with few patients wishing to talk about anything else”. And the visceral nature of the US election campaign contributed, tragically, to the exponential increase of calls to suicide helplines. National crisis is inevitably internalised.

Reflecting on the psychological fallout of the Munich Crisis, novelist E M Forster observed that: “exalted in contrary directions, some of us rose above ourselves, and others committed suicide.”

As 1938 drew to a close, serious conversations were dominated by the verbal and physical expressions of fatalism, anxiety, sickness, depression, and impending doom. Lucas wrote in his diary:

The Crisis seems to have filled the world with nervous break-downs. Or perhaps the Crisis itself was only one more nervous break-down of a world driven by the killing pace of modern life and competition into ever acuter neurasthenia [shell shock].

It is too simplistic to say that history repeats itself. And yet, throughout this past year I could not escape the feeling that we have been here before. We share with those who lived through 1938 overwhelming sensibility of bewilderment, suspense, desperation and fear of the unknown. I can’t help but wonder what future historians will make of 2016.

It’s probably sage advice to go see a good movie over the holidays – and La La Land, already tipped to win an Oscar, may provide just the kind of escapism that is needed. However, when someone comes to make the movie of 2016, the soundtrack will probably be the late Leonard Cohen’s You Want it Darker. It certainly feels like 1938 all over again. Time to start keeping a diary.


About Today's Contributor:
Julie Gottlieb, Reader in Modern History, University of Sheffield

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

VR Cinema Is Here – And Audiences Are In The Drivers' Seat

In virtual reality cinema, the audience chooses what to look at and when. What does this mean for traditional narrative storytelling? Virtual reality cinema in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sander Koning/ANP

By Adam Daniel, Western Sydney University

A new kind of cinema has come to the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood. Twelve comfy swivel chairs let the audience explore the entire 360 degrees visible through their headsets. This is proper virtual reality cinema, finally realised.

VR cinema has been a long-promised yet undelivered tease for cinephiles. The nascent boom in VR experimentation in the early 1990s was held back for decades by, among other issues, the technical limitations of creating media for this new form. In recent years, these have largely been overcome.

But what kind of cinema will emerge? Probably not traditional narrative productions: filmmakers must come up with new storytelling techniques to account for a technology that explodes the frame, placing the spectator inside the space of the film.

To explain briefly, VR cinema is filmed on a static camera that can record in 360 degrees. The unlimited perspectives of this camera allow a user wearing a headset to rotate and look at the complete 360 degrees, including along the vertical axis.

For a filmmaker, there are now new issues around such basic techniques as montage. Directors can no longer cut rapidly from image to image, compressing time and space. Audiences literally edit the film for themselves, by choosing what to look at and when.

Artists are already exploring these opportunities. Director Chris Milk’s 2015 work Clouds Over Sidra places the viewer inside the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, observing daily life. The film was made in conjunction with the United Nations to highlight the Syrian refugee crisis.

Chris Milk is the founder and CEO of virtual reality technology company, Within. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Milk, in his March 2015 TED talk, describes how he was driven by a desire to put the viewer not just “inside the frame”, but “through the window.” This desire was driven by what he saw as VR’s capacity to accentuate human connection: VR as an “empathy machine”.

The placement of those watching inside the space of the film prompts many VR filmmakers to directly address the viewer, as either a character or a kind of objective camera in the world of the narrative.

The horror short Escape The Living Dead, for example, initially places the viewer as one of a small group of survivors fleeing a zombie invasion in the back of a jeep. It even goes so far as to transform you, the viewer, into one of the zombie horde after you are bitten during the escape.

An inner monologue (addressed to the viewers through their headset) acknowledges “I’m turning!” as your normal vision begins to blur and black out. When you come to, your perception is distorted and licked by flames, and, as you glance from side to side, you realise you are now one of them: a zombie. As such, you now mindlessly pursue the final survivor, your wife, even as she fires bullet after bullet directly at you.

Virtual reality cinema isn’t passive watching but an active experience. Charles Platiau/Retuers

This complete breakdown of the “fourth wall” has tremendous implications for conventional cinematic storytelling. As directors grapple with newly available technology, audiences can perhaps expect to see more films that create “experiences” rather than “narratives”.

One group of filmmakers, the Oculus Story Studio, has recommended that VR cinema should “let go” of trying to direct viewers’ gaze, to avoid storytelling that feels “forced, staged and artificial.”

Where many early VR projects were inclined to attempt to draw spectators’ attention to one particular part of the 360 degree world, more contemporary projects have embraced its unique facility for immersion and interactivity.

Australian artist Lynette Wallworth used this capacity to help the viewer understand the implications of nuclear testing in the West Australian desert for the indigenous Martu tribe in her beautifully executed work Collisions.

Perhaps the most powerful potential of this “empathy machine” is the possibility for cinematic projects that are able to respond to and react to the viewer’s choices.

This would require database-style narratives, where an alternative path taken by a viewer – for example, where to look and when – would have different outcomes designated by the filmmaker.

This kind of cinema becomes similar to the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series, and has been experimented with in the past: 1967 Czech film Kinoautomat, for example, had a moderator who would allow the audience to make a choice between two narrative options at several points during the film. VR, however, could integrate this directly into the viewing experience based on where the viewer directs their attention.

Steven Spielberg is set to create a project solely for VR. Ian Langsdon/EPA

Experimentation in the field is continuing at a rapid pace, with Disney and Lucasfilm developing VR Star Wars projects. There has also been much speculation that Steven Spielberg, who previously signed on as an advisor with Virtual Reality Company, is making a project solely for VR.

New venues like Collingwood’s Virtual Reality cinema, which uses a custom Group VR system so the audience can see each other, as well as the film, are giving smaller filmmakers opportunities to develop and show VR work.

And the most important basic units of true VR – the immersive headsets, which need to be paired with separate hardware like a computer or phone – are becoming increasingly available to home audiences.

The commercial release of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets earlier this year, and the recent long-awaited release of the Playstation VR headset, will all undoubtedly encouraged further development in VR cinema, as will the Samsung GearVR and the upcoming Google Daydream.

Virtual reality will probably not replace conventional cinema. But it will create a whole new area of film that is less concerned about constructing a story in images. Instead, perhaps, it will be a realm where artists can immerse us inside imagined worlds in a whole new way.


About Today's Contributor:
Adam Daniel, Ph.d Candidate, Western Sydney University

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Is The End Of Time In Sight For Doctor Who?

Image via BBC

By Ivan Phillips, University of Hertfordshire

When this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, airs on BBC One on December 25, fans of a certain age will be watching with some trepidation. This is not just because their hero, a stranger to latex and six-packs, will team up with a Superman-style character called The Ghost. It is also because there are whispers of crisis around the 53-year-old series.

In a recent visit to a well-known toy store, this particular middle-aged child was struck by the absence from the shelves of any Doctor Who merchandise. No action figures, no lunch boxes, no sonic screwdrivers. Star Wars was everywhere. Like the recent announcement that the Cardiff-based Doctor Who Experience will close next year, this seemed ominous. It felt like 1985 all over again.

In 1985, the original Doctor Who Exhibition closed its doors on Blackpool’s Golden Mile. This was also the year when, following the first season of Colin Baker’s Doctor, the show was put “on hold” for 18 months. When it returned with the gloomily-titled 14-part portmanteau tale The Trial of a Time Lord, the programme’s days were numbered. Within three years, despite the efforts of a new Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and an ambitious team of fresh writers, it would fade from production again. No announcement, no ceremony: it simply disappeared. Apart from the curate’s egg of the 1996 TV movie starring Paul McGann, it remained off-screen for 16 years.

A new broom?
Christmas specials aside, Doctor Who has been on hold again. When it returns in spring 2017, it will have been 16 months since the last season. There have been downbeat rumblings during the hiatus, most recently when it was claimed that the BBC has instructed Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall to be the new broom that sweeps clean the decks when he takes over from Steven Moffat as showrunner next year. The talk is of “a brand new show”, with Peter Capaldi destined for rapid regeneration and new companion Bill (Pearl Mackie) being allowed only the briefest of journeys on board the TARDIS.

The BBC is said to be frustrated by the decline in ratings over recent seasons and a concurrent collapse in merchandise sales. If reports are accurate, Chibnall is tasked with putting a more youthful, “dashing” actor into the role alongside a young female companion.

The ideal is a version of the David Tennant-Billie Piper coupling of 2005-6, which would seem to preclude the oft-discussed possibilities of a black, Asian and/or female Doctor. There are also suggestions that Chibnall is being directed to simplify the storytelling in the series, moving away from the elaborate narrative convolutions that some have attributed to Moffat.

Bill (Pearl Mackie), the Doctor’s new companion. BBC

The implications are that Capaldi, undoubtedly a fine actor, is too old for a modern Who audience, and that Moffat is too baroque a tale-teller for tea-time family viewing. If nothing else, this points to a perceived staleness in the franchise. But the state of decay has undoubtedly been exaggerated.

Under Russell T Davies, Doctor Who reinvented the cross-generational television audience when it returned in 2005 and, by any standard of 21st century broadcasting, it continues to gain impressive ratings on a global scale. Moffat has noted that overnight figures for television audiences are misleading in the digital age, with consolidated data (after catch-up, repeats, and so on) telling a more positive tale. He has also, with Capaldi, lamented the BBC’s scheduling of Doctor Who to a later, family-unfriendly, autumnal slot during recent seasons, nudged to 8.25pm to make room for Strictly Come Dancing.

Regeneration
It is undeniable that Doctor Who has benefited from change. Change is at the heart of its story, embodied (literally) in the character of its hero. But it is equally arguable that the BBC has never quite learned to love its most unlikely success story, that it has always seemed slightly embarrassed by the popularity of this eccentric myth concocted by committee in 1963.

Any of the corporation’s executives who have forgotten this will perhaps also have forgotten that doubts about the age of the leading actor are a recurrent theme (Peter Davison was “too young”, as was Matt Smith). They might also have forgotten that one of the most popular companions remains Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate, who was approaching 40 when she first took the role, and that another, Sarah Jane Smith, won over a whole new generation of children when the actress who portrayed her, the late Elisabeth Sladen, was already in her 60s. Doctor Who audiences are not as shallow as some people seem to believe.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special. BBC

Despite much criticism, the Moffat era has featured some of the finest writing in the show’s long history (not least the 50th Anniversary Special, The Day of the Doctor) and Capaldi’s Doctor has appeared in some remarkable and edgy stories (Heaven Sent, for instance). Both Moffat and Capaldi have a lot to deliver before the new regime takes over, and the actor could do so much more in the role if given the opportunity. Meanwhile, the continuing vitality of the extended Doctor Who narrative has been demonstrated by the critical and popular success of Class, the Patrick Ness-created spin-off drama for teens that premiered recently on BBC3. It is a peculiar staleness that produces work like this.

Anyone hoping for a revolution in Doctor Who will not be disappointed. The series has been in a condition of permanent revolution since the moment its first producer, Verity Lambert, chose to ignore the strictures of her boss Sydney Newman against “bug-eyed monsters” and allowed the Daleks to trundle into view. As John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado noted over 30 years ago, the series discovered “television’s recipe for success” very early: “something different but something the same”.

Chibnall, like Moffat, like Davies, like Capaldi, Tennant, and many others involved in the triumphant reboot, is a lifelong Doctor Who fan. His arrival should remind us of the full version of the old adage: a new broom sweeps clean but an old broom knows all the corners. There are lives in the old Doctor yet.

About Today's Contributor:

Ivan Phillips, Associate Dean of School (Learning and Teaching), University of Hertfordshire

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

Flying Santa And His Reindeer Spotted Nightly Over #WinterFestOC

Santa and his reindeer flew for the first time ever at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa during Winter Fest OC's opening weekend. Now through Christmas Eve, Santa is the star of a not-to-miss holiday celebration.

Winter Fest, Southern California's largest winter experience, kicked off with a record-breaking opening weekend, where Santa and his reindeer flew for the first time ever at the OC Fair & Event Center. Now through Christmas Eve at Winter Fest, Santa is the star of a not-to-miss holiday celebration.

Flying Santa is just one of the 15 ALL NEW attractions at Winter Fest OC, which also include a two-million-light Festival of Lights walk-through, Snow Play area with real snow blown in daily, an outdoor ice skating rink with VIP cabanas, live shows with kid's favorite characters, fun educational games for kids, the world's largest rocking horse, snow globe photos, Santa's petting zoo and story time with Mrs. Claus.

The nightly Winter Fest celebration begins with a parade of winter characters, featuring Mayor Frost, Mrs. Claus, the Ice Princess, Penny the Penguin, carolers, Toy Soldiers on stilts, and elves. With the Winter Fest characters circled around the 30-foot-tall Christmas tree, Santa will wave from over the fairgrounds thrilling the crowd and spreading enough holiday spirit to light the holiday tree. 

The nightly pre-Christmas celebration includes fireworks from the top of the Christmas tree and concludes with additional fireworks, falling snow, and a surprise Santa appearance for pictures to conclude the celebration. Parents are encouraged to bring their kids in pajamas on Christmas Eve to catch Santa's last flight of the season.

During the day, Winter Fest features live shows and meet and greets from kid's TV and movie favorites including Barbie, Bob the Builder, Octonauts, Thomas and Friends, Angry Birds, Sid the Science Kid, Care Bears, Buddy from Dinosaur Train, Caillou, plus Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House. In addition, Winter Fest has partnered with MIND Research Institute to provide fun, educational activities for kids. 

There are plenty of memorable photo opportunities for the entire family, including the world's largest rocking horse, inside a giant snow globe and of course in Santa's cabin.

New this year will be a New Year's Eve celebration featuring all the magic of Winter Fest plus three additional indoor stages with 11 different tribute bands covering everything from classic rock to today's hits and alternative bands. 

Entertainment will also include magic shows and dueling pianos.  New Year's Eve will be celebrated in New York time and local time with a 3,000 beach-ball ball drop.

Winter Fest is a giant wonderland of immersive wintry fun. Back by popular demand is a 130-foot, eight lane Snowflake Summit ice-tubing slide, strolling carolers, live bands, personal visits in the cabin home of Mr. and Mrs. Claus, trackless train rides, more than 30 carnival rides and games, arcade games, Little Elves Workshop with crafts, bounce houses, and VIP Cabanas to host the perfect holiday party.

Winter Fest takes place now through Jan. 1. Tickets are available online starting at only $10. For more information, visit winterfestoc.com and for the latest updates on entertainment, food and fun, follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or with #WinterFestOC.

SOURCE: Winter Fest

A Short History Of Three Very Famous Christmas Carols

Carolling wasn’t just for Christmas back in the day. Easter, New Year, and even political events such as battles were occasions for carol singing.
1000 Words/www.shutterstock.com

By Peter Roennfeldt, Griffith University

Singing and Christmas seem to go naturally together, like plum pudding and custard. Even those who would not normally attend a choir concert or church service throughout the year might happily participate in a civic Carols by Candlelight or a Midnight Mass. In these settings, the carols come thick and fast, and everyone joins in, almost involuntarily. But what is the origin of the choral music which adorns these settings?

The tradition of carol singing dates from the Middle Ages, and was not restricted to the Christmas season. There were carols for Easter, for New Year, and sometimes even for political events such as the Battle of Agincourt.

The poetic form was simple: a succession of stanzas with different texts, interspersed with a recurring refrain. In more recent times, the term “carol” has come to mean any song associated with Christmas.

Medieval carols from England and elsewhere have survived, though much transformed. Good Christian Men, Rejoice dates from the 14th century, though only its text has been reliably attributed, to the Dominican friar Heinrich Seuse (Suso). The melody is known in Latin as In dulci jubilo (in sweet joy), and has been frequently used as the basis of extended instrumental or vocal compositions.

This song found its way into English through the 1853 publication Carols for Christmastide by J.M. Neale. This and other volumes of carols contributed materially to the Victorian era’s wholesale adoption of seasonal trimmings, along with royally sanctioned Christmas trees and greeting cards.

During the centuries between the first iteration of a carol tradition and the Dickensian revival of the Christmas spirit in the mid-1800s, there was comparatively little in the way of English composition of new works in this genre. A few pieces that are more appropriately termed Christmas hymns were, however, produced during the 18th century.

One of these is Adeste fideles or O Come, All Ye Faithful. Its authorship is disputed, but the most likely source is the 1751 volume Cantus diversi, published by John Francis Wade. Like most other Christmas carols, its text has clear Christian references.

Interestingly, it is also thought to contain covert Jacobite symbolism, with the phrases “all ye faithful” and “to Bethlehem” referring respectively to the supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie and England itself. Wade fled to France after the failure of the 1745 Jacobite uprising, but his hymn soon came into regular use, particularly amongst English Catholics.

An indication of its wider adoption is the inclusion of O Come, All Ye Faithful within the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, a familiar modern day tradition inaugurated at Cornwall’s Truro Cathedral in 1880. In the age of mass media, this most renowned Christmas ceremony, as practised in King’s College Cambridge has become universally familiar, firstly on radio and then television. Choirs around the world also perform their own Lessons and Carols programs every December, and most often conclude with this piece.

The most famous Christmas carol of all time is undoubtedly Silent Night, Holy Night. The original words for Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816 and the melody two years later by Franz Xaver Gruber, when both were living in villages near Salzburg.

The German version was published soon afterward, and the familiar English translation in 1859, since when it has become known in nearly 150 languages. Due to its universality, Silent Night was in 2011 designated by UNESCO as an intangible item of cultural heritage.

With its stereotypical overlay of European winter costumes and snow-covered fir trees, the translation of Christmas traditions around the world is problematic. In Australia, there have been several attempts to develop parallel traditions of carols that eschew northern hemisphere references, in favour of local culture.

The best known are those composed by W.G. James, former federal controller of music for the ABC, to texts by John Wheeler. Outback images of drovers, summer heat, red dust and red-gold moon, dancing brolgas, mulga plains, Christmas bush, gully creeks and grazing sheep recur throughout these songs.

They were published in several sets, commencing in 1948. Despite several recordings by major ensembles, their familiarity and popularity has fluctuated greatly. However, two of James’ carols recently made it into a “top 10” list of Aussie Christmas songs by the Australian Times, whose target audience is expats living in the UK.

The tradition of singing Christmas carols is embedded in the season, even though the contexts where they are performed may differ widely from that where the words and music originated. We happily ignore the obvious disconnect between the imagery of some familiar carols and our hot Australian summers, and there is something reassuring about hearing and singing them once again, with feeling, every Christmastime.


About Today's Contributor:
Peter Roennfeldt, Professor of Music, Griffith University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

Christmas Market Attack: A Blow To The Heart Of German Cultural Life

EPA/Andreas Arnold

By Ingrid Sharp, University of Leeds

I’ve been going to Christmas markets since I was a child in Hannover in the 1970s – I love the stalls, the smells, the twinkly lights and the kitschy music. I own many knitted hats, carved wooden animals and artisanal candles. And now I take my own children to a traditional German Christmas market in Leeds, England.

In December 2014, I was invited to Berlin for a conference on how to commemorate the centenary of World War I as a collective European memory rather than in ways that reinforced nationalism. I was keen to accept the invitation because I thought the topic was important, but a major draw was the chance to be in Berlin in the run-up to Christmas – and, on December 19 that year, I was at the lovely market on Gendarmenmarkt, enjoying the twinkly lights and the cheesy music and the cosy feeling of goodwill to all. It makes the horror of what happened on Monday feel very personal.

There are still a lot of question marks over the Christmas market attack in Berlin. It remains unclear who did it or why, although the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said she assumes it was a “terror attack”.

Whatever the outcome of investigations that follow, a key part of German cultural life that touches the whole world has been attacked in this shocking event. The Christkindlmarkt has a long tradition in Germany and a long reach abroad. They began in the 14th century as pop-up markets to allow householders to buy in what they needed for winter – and they grew in popularity when they expanded to include toys, trinkets and treats. Nowadays, they are synonymous with festive cheer in towns, cities and villages throughout Germany. Indeed, the tradition has spread to other nations – and every year the “German market” travels to towns and cities around the world.

They are a magnet for tourists, too. The biggest and the most renowned – such as the markets in Munich, Nuremberg, Dresden and Cologne – attract thousands of seasonal visitors and bring millions of Euros into the local economy each year. It’s a huge part of the German brand – ask people what they associate with Germany and the list usually includes football, beer and Christmas markets.

In Berlin, there are 60 annual Christmas markets, all with distinctive characteristics that reflect the nature of the neighbourhood: the hip stalls at the Lucia Christmas Market in Prenzlauer Berg in the southern suburbs, the high-end craft and gourmet snacks at the Opernpalais or the cheerful tat of Alexanderplatz, or Alex as it is known to Berliners, in the city’s Mitte district.

Gluhwein: usually a cup of cheer at Christmas. George Nell, CC BY

Breitscheidplatz, where the attack took place, is close to the Ku’Damm, the heart of Berlin’s shopping centre in the city’s west and right next to the Gedächtniskirche, that powerful symbol of Germany’s rebirth after the dark days of the Third Reich and a warning against the destruction caused by war.

Ugly responses
This apparent attack strikes at the heart of a nation’s identity and seems to be an assault on Christmas itself. The images of wooden stalls crushed under the wheels of a huge lorry, the eye-witness accounts of revelry turning to horror and bodies laid under Christmas trees are all too vivid and all too poignant.

Attacks on the public are intended to create fear and terror, to stop us feeling safe and to make us believe that there is a war being waged on Western values of tolerance, openness and democracy.

At the time of writing, there is a great deal of speculation, a lot of confusion about who exactly drove a lorry into a happy crowd and why. But whoever it was and whatever the twisted reasons, this attack shouldn’t be used to feed into the divisive worldview that places “us” against “them”, whoever “they” happen to be.

There have been some ugly responses among the expressions of sorrow and sympathy on social media, blaming immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, blaming multiculturalism, blaming Angela Merkel and calling for tougher security and greater intolerance of difference.

None of these things are helpful. This hurts all of us – of all faiths and none – who care about human suffering and human pain. At this delicate moment, it is vital for Germany that speculation and fear do not drive political agendas and make us forget the spirit of togetherness and community that the country’s Christmas markets have always done so much to foster.


About Today's Contributor:
Ingrid Sharp, Senior Lecturer in German, University of Leeds

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

The Hottest Online Disney Games

A brand name as familiar as its characters, Disney is timeless and unrivaled when it comes to tales, cartoons and now its online gamification. It is difficult to imagine 90s childhood without online Disney games. It was one way to make friends with Disney characters and they certainly appeal to the child in you. In short, Disney games are not designed only for children. They have certainly proved to be forever in-demand even without unnecessary blood and gore. It is amazing the way they blend learning and fun without coming off as awfully didactic.

Here are some of the most popular and hottest online Disney games of all times:

Becoming Crafty In Mickey House Clubhouse
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and his sweetheart Minnie need no introduction. They have done their bit in entertaining you through cartoons and when they ventured into gaming, nobody had any doubt that the insane duo will rule the world of online Disney games too. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Online Games are immense fun as well as suitable for any age.

The most sought-after at the moment is Magic Doodle Game, featuring an adorably doodling Mickey. Then comes the riotous Minnie Party and hair-raising adventures of the characters in Dream Spacecraft. 

Sometimes Donald Duck and Pluto also drop by to up the fun-quotient.

Disney’s Toontown Online Game
Disney’s Toontown Online game has everything ranging from bubbly animal characters, sinfully cute clothes, believable action and some of the most remarkable graphics ever. 

Guess what they used as money? Jellybeans! It has never ceased to charm kids and adults alike.

Be your own Alice in unknown Wonderland
Who wouldn’t want to disappear down a rabbit hole to another world full of intriguing objects and even more intriguing characters? Even adults cannot deny fantasizing such an experience once in a while. 

There are over 50 online games for fans of dreamy Alice venturing out and stumbling across unimaginable wonder-worlds. The game will take you to the world of popular characters like White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Door Mouse and many more. It is so creatively designed and has perfectly captured the bizarre and faraway world of Lewis Carroll's vision. 

Try it once before scoffing it off as 'girly’ because you are bound to change your mind.

Club Penguin - when fun translates to benevolence
Kids are delightfully cheerful little folks who love helping out. And Club Penguin is one online Disney game that enhances this trait. While there are numerous tetchy programs that offer grownups a chance to give back, Disney’s Club Penguin has managed to become the biggest online altruistic effort completely driven by children. Over 200 million kids engage in club penguin games as they earn and buy 'Coins for Change’. They can donate these coins for a cause of their choice.

Rule Your Virtual Magic Kingdom
Virtual Magic Kingdom can rival even those countries voted as the happiest in the world. 

Unveiled as a surprise gift for fans on their 50th anniversary, Disneyland certainly know how to tickle the wildest fantasy of a childlike mind. 

VMK’s popularity led to the launch of several replicating attempts and predictably, they all tanked miserably.

Disney Infinity - A World With Infinite Fun & Learning
Disney Infinity is one of the famous online Disney games, featuring a slew of epic boss battles throughout the capricious playsets. Even though the 'bosses’ are not that hard or confusing enough to figure out, they do pose a reasonable gaming challenge. They have recently updated the game with even more baddies to make battles more engaging.

Summing it up
The world of Disney is infinite. They say no childhood is complete without willingly losing oneself in that miraculously virtual world. Indulging yourself in online Disney games is certainly one way to do that.

About Today's Contributor:
This article was written by Eleventy Traveller Blog writer.

Jay Baruchel Joins Forces With Captain Canuck On Free Comic Book Day 2017!

Jay Baruchel joins forces with Captain Canuck on Free Comic Book Day 2017! (CNW Group/Chapterhouse Publishing)

Jay Baruchel (Goon, Goon-Last of the Enforcers, This is the End, Man Seeking Woman, How to Train Your Dragon) joins the Captain Canuck team to co-write the Free Comic Book Day edition of Captain Canuck: Year One for Chapterhouse Comics with Editor in Chief and series writer Kalman Andrasofszky.

"Captain Canuck is a true Canadian icon and it is a humble honour to be involved in helping to shape the next generation of Canuck sagas for a new generation of readers and fans, as well as the die-hards that have followed Cap on his journey from the beginning", says Baruchel. "Chapterhouse is doing very awesome stuff as they breathe new life into the world of Canadian comics. I am proud to be joining their ranks in this incredible adventure as we work hard to bring exciting stories and classic heroes to life for readers across Canada."

"The Captain's ranks keep growing" says Fadi Hakim, President of Chapterhouse and Captain Canuck Incorporated, "and we're simply overjoyed to have a consummate talent and Canadian like Jay on board as we march forward!"

Canuck creator Richard Comely echoes Hakim's sentiment: "Jay is one of the most prolific, well-spoken people I've met in this industry - I know the Captain is in good hands!"

The first of the three part series is drawn by Canadian superstar Marcus To (The Flash, Red Robin, Joyride) and features a cover by David Finch (Batman: The Dark Knight, Avengers, Ultimate X-Men). 

The issue also includes an 8-page backup story - Die Kitty Die: Summer Beach Party created, written and illustrated by Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz of Archie Comics fame.

About Captain Canuck

Created and launched by Richard Comely in 1975 with over 250,000 copies sold worldwide, Captain Canuck was rebooted in 2013 beginning with an Animated Web Series starring Kris Holden-Ried (Lost Girl), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Laura Vandervoort (Smallville) and Paul Amos (Assassin's Creed). 

The comic, published by Chapterhouse Comics was released with over 80,000 copies in May of 2015.

Free Comic Book Day is May 06 2017.

SOURCE: Chapterhouse Publishing