inFUSION

Santos website wins Investor Relations award

Damien Mair — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:30:00 GMT

If awards are anything to go by we are getting better at our thinking and craft.

After coming 6th in the 2008 AIRA ( Australian Investor Relations Association ) awards the Santos website has been presented with second place for 2009, making it one of the best investor relations websites made by an Australasian company. We are proud of this achievement.

The AIRA awards are judged solely by analysts and fund managers, major customers of listed public company websites. The Santos website and in particular the investor relations section offers customers targeted information and functionality including:

The current share price performance (also prominently displayed on the home page)

Current well activities detailing gas and oil rig locations and results
Shareholder login to view your own shareholdings, update bank instructions, change address, reinvestment plan and much more.
Dividend history
Reporting timetable and past and current company reports
Up to date news announcements
Community Blog

Have a look around the multi-award winning Santos website www.santos.com

Happy Birthday

Gavin Claus — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

As the Bible fails to mention the day Jesus was born, the 4th Century Pope Julius declared that Christ's birthday was December 25th, so Happy Birthday anyway.

Other famous people born today include:
Vocalist Annie Lennox
Singer Amy Grant
Comedian Kenny Everett
Singer Alice Cooper, but only according to Rolling Stone Magazine (it is really 4th February)
British Royal Princess Alexandra
Hotelier Conrad Hilton
Actor Humphrey Bogart
Model Helena Christensen
And Musician Dido

For the merely mortal people born around this time of year their birthday celebrations are watered down a bit by Christmas. A dear friend of author Robert Louis Stevenson, Miss Anna Ide, was lucky enough to inherit Robert's November 13th Birthday, as he knew she really disliked her own Christmas birthday. Read how he willed his birthday to Anna here.

A really good way to dampen Christmas spirits is to die today like:
Comedian Charlie Chaplin
Writer W.C. Fields
Singer Dean Martin
Artist Joan Miro
And Musician James Brown

If that has put a downer on your Christmas Day be thankful you're not living in England between 1647 and 1660. For 13 years, puritan leader Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas altogether, believing such celebrations were inappropriate for the holiest day of the year.

Anyway what are you reading this blog for today? Shouldn't you be unwrapping presents, eating lots and having a drink or two?

Happy Christmas.

Reliable and (some unreliable) information from
http://www.santas.net/generalchristmasfacts4.htm
http://www.pubquizhelp.com/christmas/births.html
http://www.brainyhistory.com/daysbirth/birth_december_25.html
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cromwell_england.htm

Will you receive enough Christmas presents?

Gavin Claus — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

What are the 12 days of Christmas? The traditional 12 days of Christmas are the days from 25th December to 5th January, being Christmas day to the feast of Epiphany on the 6th January when the three wise men visited Jesus and he was baptised.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
12 Drummers Drumming,
11 Pipers Piping,
10 Lords a Leaping,
9 Ladies Dancing,
8 Maids a Milking,
7 Swans a Swimming,
6 Geese a Laying,
5 Golden Rings,
4 Calling Birds,
3 French Hens,
2 Turtle Doves,
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

If you were to receive all of the gifts stated for each of the 12 days, you would receive a total of 364 gifts - but if you were to get the gifts stated only once you would get 78.

Some religious people believe it is highly significant that my true love has sent a gift for each day of the year, except for one day as the Christ Child is the 365th gift.

The 12 days of Christmas song has been sung since 1780 and is either English or French in origin. Watch an Australian version here (adults only) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOossz3z2Hc Or a family version here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ba5_DZUAI

A cheeky 'Christmas price index' has been calculated each year by the US PNC Bank by adding up the cost to purchase the goods and services of all the 12 days of Christmas gifts. Note that PNC bank calculates the cost of hiring musicians and dancers (as obviously people cannot be purchased), and the birds are alive so they consult with zoos.

In 1984 the total cost of all goods and services was $US12,623.10

In 2009 the Christmas price index stood at $US21,465.56. Apparently swans dropped in price.

The PNC Bank also calculates the 'True Cost of Christmas' by adding up all 364 gifts as a total.

Watch the video presentation of this year's 2009 Christmas price index here http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com/CPI/index.html and read the details here. http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com/CPI/pressRelease.html

Watch this alternative version of 12 days of Christmas on you tube to get your fill of Christmas song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Information for this post came from
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071214103728AApudPL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/36749
http://www.pncchristmaspriceindex.com/CPI/historyFAQ.html

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter.

Big Bang

Gavin Claus — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

In 1998 Australian Ray Price built a 55.45 metre long and 3.6 metre wide Christmas cracker. It was pulled in the car park of Chatswood shopping centre in Sydney on 16th December. However, the English have also had a go at it, and built a 63.1 metre long and 4 metre wide cracker in 2001. Theirs was filled with balloons, a huge paper hat and the joke 'Why does Father Christmas always look sad? Because he's got the sack!'

The Christmas cracker was invented by confectioner Tom Smith in 1847. He thought it was a novel way to promote his business, hence the shape of a bon bon. The sound of fire crackling was the inspiration behind the banger.

The sound of a whip cracking was all convict Michael Dennison heard on the first Christmas Day celebrated in Sydney Cove, Australia in 1788. Michael stole a pound of flour and was sentenced to 200 lashes, but since it was Christmas Day he only received 150. Happy Christmas Michael!

Why do we say Happy Christmas and not Merry Christmas? It was suggested by Australian Priests, as merry refers to getting merry with the aid of alcohol. Cheers.

This information was sourced from http://www.noveltiesgalore.com/categories/41/christmas_crackers.html
http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/australia.html
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/canwehelp/txt/s1811899.htm

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter.

Nearly time to pig out

Gavin Claus — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

There's nothing like eating the head of your enemy to make you feel triumphant as a species. The wild boar has always been a menace to humans, and so has graced the plates of Roman feasts and medieval banquets. It was during Christian times that the boar's head was first presented at Christmas to symbolise the triumph of good over evil.

Surprisingly, in England today a pig's head is still eaten as part of a special Christmas dinner ritual. This ritual even has its own Christmas song that dates back to 1521. The Boar's Head Christmas Carol is sung as a procession leads a pig's head on a platter into the dinning halls of many colleges, schools and universities throughout England (and now America). See the full list here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar%27s_Head_Carol

The first college to start the boar's head procession was Queen's College in Oxford, England. The college librarian, William Henry Husk, wrote about the legend behind eating a pig's head in 1868 -

Where an amusing tradition formerly current in Oxford concerning the boar's head custom, which represented that usage as a commemoration of an act of valour performed by a student of the college, who, while walking in the neighbouring forest of Shotover and reading Aristotle, was suddenly attacked by a wild boar. The furious beast came open-mouthed upon the youth, who, however, very courageously, and with a happy presence of mind, thrust the volume he was reading down the boar's throat, crying, "Græcum est," and fairly choked the savage with the sage.

Here are the words to the Boars head Carol:

The boar's head in hand bring I,
Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary.
I pray you, my masters, be merry
Quot estis in convivio (Translation: As many as are in the feast)

CHORUS
Caput apri defero (Translation: The boar's head I offer)
Reddens laudes Domino (Translation: Giving praises to the Lord)

The boar's head, as I understand,
Is the rarest dish in all this land,
Which thus bedeck'd with a gay garland
Let us servire cantico. (Translation: Let us serve with a song)

CHORUS

Our steward hath provided this
In honour of the King of Bliss;
Which, on this day to be served is
In Reginensi atrio. (Translation: In the Queen's hall)

CHORUS

Other traditional foods eaten at English Christmas feasts include oysters, brawn, stewed broth of mutton, roast beef, capons, venison, partridge, minced meat pies, mutton with anchovy sauce, swan, venison in pastry, baby lamb, steak pies, roasted venison, roast turkey, chickens in pastry, and geese.

View a Boars head procession here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEnowF_JsVQ
More information about the Boar's head carol can be found from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar%27s_Head_Carol
And about the Boar's head feast from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar%27s_Head_Feast
If you want to know more about Old English Christmas dinner menus look here http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/686755/a_christmas_dinner_menu_in_jolly_old.html

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter.

All tied up

Gavin Claus — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

As Christmas approaches, bribery seems to be the cornerstone of Yugoslavian family life. A tradition known as Dechiyi Dan or Children's day sees parents tying up their children and not letting them go until they promise to be good. The following Sunday, Materitse or Mother's Day, the children tie up their mother and sing "Mother's Day, Mother's Day, what will you pay to get away?" Mum then has to bribe her children with treats and small gifts to be untied. It's Dad's turn on the following Sunday, Ochichi or Father's day, "Father's Day, Father's Day, what will you pay to get away?" the children sing. However Dad's bribes are generally bigger and more expensive, serving as gifts on Christmas Day. While radical in its practice, bribery is fundamental to giving gifts. Christmas is really just a huge behaviour management technique. No one wants to receive coal, or sticks. (see post no.11)

It's surprising to learn that a choir master of Cologne Cathedral in Germany invented candy canes as a bribe back in the 17th century. The choir master got white sugar sticks specially bent to resemble a shepherd's staff. He gave the sweets out to bribe the children to be quiet during the long church service. Find out more here. http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/candy_canes.htm

When you think about it, aren't corporate gifts a bribe of some sort?

Information on Yugoslavian Christmas bribery from here http://www.ornamentshop.com/xmas_trivia/xmas_traditions.html
here http://www.chiff.com/a/mothers-day-international.htm
and here. http://antiqueshoppefl.com/archives/jsheluk/mothers%20day.htm

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed , or follow us during our Christmas twitter.

Bearded asset

Gavin Claus — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Depending on your geographical location, donning a Santa suit could be a lucrative short-term career decision for you this Christmas. English Santas with beards can bring in £20 an hour. But American Santas earn the really big bucks, being paid up to $US200 an hour. This kind of money is only available to veteran Santas, with the asset of a real beard, and who work on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

In Australia, novice Santas take home $AU25 an hour. Here's a recent job advert calling for Santas at seek.com.au

HO! HO! HO! WE NEED SANTAS!

Do you have lots of Christmas cheer?
Are you great with children?
Are you able to work Saturdays and Sundays 11.00 am - 2.00 pm
$25 / hour (flat rate)

If you have plenty of Christmas spirit and are keen to share it with young and old, this is the role for you. Each year children are filled with excitement as they visit Santa to share their wish list and have their photo taken. We are looking for extraordinary people who can make this moment special for each and every child and their parents/carers.

To be successful you will have an outgoing and jolly disposition, be patient and love the spirit of Christmas and the joy it brings to children. You will have a Blue Card (working with children) and be able to provide or obtain a current police check. Santa suits will be provided and also padding if required. Full training in the form of a DVD and some telephone training will be provided by the company's Head Santa.

If you've taken the time to grow a beard and are seriously considering a Santa career, you might want to join the Fraternity of International Real Bearded Santas. Here is part of their mission statement:

The Fraternity of International Real Bearded Santas has been established to enhance the fellowship, knowledge, growth, and enjoyment of the portrayal of Santa Claus and his many namesakes (Père Noël, Father Christmas, Sinter Klaus, etc.) by gentlemen across the globe who are privileged to wear and maintain their own real beard throughout the year.
Visit their website here http://www.sleighridermedia.com/firbsantas.htm

More information can be found
From Dr. Salary http://blogs.payscale.com/ask_dr_salary/2006/12/santa_salary.html
From ChaCha.com http://www.chacha.com/question/how-much-does-the-mall-santa-get-paid-an-hour
and from here. http://discuss.glasgowguide.co.uk/Rabs-Strange-True-Christmas-Facts-Hoho-t644.html

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter .

Sponges at the ready!

Gavin Claus — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

If you think that Christmas creates a whole lot of extra work, spare a thought for the women of Ireland. In Ireland there was an ancient Celtic tradition to purify your home during the Winter Solstice. Whitewashing the walls and cleaning the house were common practice at Christmas. This tradition lives on today in rural Ireland, and goes so far as to include a thorough car wash.

The Irish Christmas is mostly a religious celebration - after the cleaning spree their festive season lasts from Christmas Eve to the epiphany feast on 6th January. After they have cleaned the house top to bottom (and the car), Irish women then bake a seed cake for each individual person in the house and also make three puddings for Christmas Day, New Years day and the twelfth night. If that's not enough work, after a Christmas Eve feast the dining table is set again for Mary and Joseph. They are provided with a meal of milk and filled bread. A candle is lit to offer out the household's hospitality, with doors left unlocked.

The final feast of epiphany, or the 'little Christmas', is when Irish women get their well earned break. On this day, the men of the household are supposed to do all the housework and cooking with the women finally getting a day off. I wonder how often that really happens?

Information from
http://www.santas.net/irishchristmas.htm
http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-world/ireland.html
http://www.members.tripod.com/~pg4anna/xmas.htm
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/36749

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter .

Which card is responsible?

Gavin Claus — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

So who was the first? John, Louis and Henry all played an important role in the invention of Christmas cards, but it's complicated.

In 1840, John Horsley was commissioned by Henry Cole to paint a card. The picture was of a happy family enjoying wine (someone was very insightful) with the message 'merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you' Henry had the idea of printing and selling the cards in 1843, but John painted it. Without knowing the original brief it's tricky to say whether John was more visionary than Henry - you can make your own decision. However, you should also know that Henry was a mover and shaker when it came to introducing a uniform postal system throughout Britain in 1840, known as the penny post.

So what about Louis? Louis was an entrepreneur. He is known as the father of American Christmas cards, as he opened a lithographic shop and produced the first line of U. S. Christmas cards in 1875. However, Louis did invent a way to reproduce colour paintings known as the 'chromolithograph technique', and his first card using this technique had the message 'Merry Christmas'.

With the easy penny post system, sending Christmas cards really took off in the 1850's and has been a lucrative business for many card manufacturers ever since. A lot of us have a love-hate relationship with Christmas cards; we love to get them, but hate sending them. Grappling with the Christmas card ritual has been around ever since 1873, when the Time's personal column ran the first advert apologising for 'not sending a Christmas card this year'.

With email and ecards, letter writing is becoming a lost art. It won't be long before the era of sending Christmas cards will be over too, as it is already in decline. It has been estimated that the number of cards the average American family received at Christmas fell from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004. Obviously email and ecards are making it easier and cheaper for people to send their seasons greetings.

Hallmark has a free ecard site http://ecards.hallmarkcards.com.au/ecardsCaption.aspx?cat=679

This information was sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cards
and http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/history.html .

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter .

Long live the tree

Gavin Claus — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:30:00 GMT

The average life span of an artificial Christmas tree is six years, whereas you are lucky to get four weeks out of your real Christmas tree, which has taken around 6 years to grow (depending on variety and geographical location).

There are plenty of issues to consider in the debate of an artificial Christmas tree versus a live Christmas tree.

Some things to ponder are:

Live Christmas trees are a renewable resource
Artificial Christmas trees are generally made from PVC (petroleum-based)
Artificial Christmas tree production has recently increased its use of recyclable PVC
In the past, lead was often used as a stabilizer in PVC, but it is now banned. How old is your artificial tree?
One entire acre consisting of 2000 Christmas trees creates the oxygen requirements for 18 people.
Nearly 80 million Christmas trees are planted every year.
Discarding your real tree needs consideration as it will emit carbon dioxide if burnt or left to decay.
The biggest downside to a real tree is the messy needle clean up
The lack of real tree smell, storage, and hassle setting up are the complaints of artificial tree owners.

If you do opt for a real tree this year here are some tips:

Make a fresh cut at the base of the tree so it can absorb water
Keep the tree in water all the time - if the base dries out, resin will form and the stop water absorption
Do not place the tree in direct sunlight
Arrange a funnel and hose if necessary to aid in the watering of your tree around decorations and presents
Research has proven aspirin, sugar and other water additives are not necessary - save the aspirin for your hangover.
Discard the tree in your council’s green waste collection so it is recycled into mulch.

Sources:
The Fight Before Christmas: Real Trees vs. Fakes
The full story on the artificial Christmas trees
Unbelievable Christmas tree facts
Tree care tips

To receive Christmas surprises daily - connect to the Fusion Christmas blog via RSS feed, or follow us during our Christmas twitter .