| To: Retort The Retort Secretariat has taken on extra staff who are bracing for the seasonal flood of lists that pour in to the Saturnalia Stocking Stuffers suggestion box. Remember that there is a limit of 5 books/CDs/DVDs per entry, but that not infrequently the Chris Riding Rosette has been awarded for one or two inspired suggestions. As always, entries close on the Monday following St Lucy's Eve, the all-night festival celebrated in the far North by the gift of pepparkakor ('ginger snaps') and the singing of Natten går tunga fjät ('The night walks with heavy steps'), a boreal adaptation of the traditional Napuletano warm-water song Santa Lucia, translated into Italian during the Risorgimento and later redacted by Elvis Presley for his 1965 'cross-over' album Elvis for Everyone. |