159. Seasonal Greetings and all that...

HOME.

Weather warning.
This lovely Fw email came from friend Ian Dillow.
There has been a weather warning advising that we could be getting two feet of snow.

  

                                                                  
 So take care!
Snow and ice.
I sometimes wonder whether we Brits are not citizens of the silliest little nation in the world. Where else does the entire bang-shoot suffer an ignominious shutdown because of the weather?
Do Canadians, Russians, Scandinavians, find it necessary to close their airports? I think not. Do their trains cease to run and their major roads become impassable? Not so far as one hears.
We never are, and never have been, ready for difficult conditions. Penny-pinching administration, local and national, fails to purchase the necessary machinery or employ sufficient manpower to deal with major changes in the elements. Everything has been farmed out to sub-contractors who cut costs by cutting corners; the slightest crisis finds us wanting.
On the Isle of Wight we have been lucky this time. We had an overnight four to six inches of snow which lasted two days before being washed away by overnight rain. Our kids only lost a couple of school days.
Sorry kids, I know snowballs and sledges are more fun than the classroom..
But at my age one simply counts one’s blessings.

AND AWAY.

It’s only footie.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, only a man with a heart of stone could read the death of England’s 2018 World Cup bid without laughing.
Prince William and Cameron and Becks, presumably all expenses paid, were wasting their time when they ventured into enemy territory.. They might as well have been bidding to win the Eurovision Song Contest. What chance was there when newspapers in this country were declaiming (no doubt rightly) that certain FIFA officials are unashamedly corrupt? Did they think the little tossers would turn the other cheek?
Oh, don’t confuse me with someone who gives a shit: I don’t.
It’s only footie.
WikiLeaks.
And when it comes to little tossers who will never turn the other cheek…
The claim by WikiLeaks that former PM Gordon Brown sought to nullify the extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon to America (unsuccessfully of course), shows the silly asses running the US defence system to be every bit as meanly vengeful as are their buffoon counterparts the world over.
Now there are establishment lackeys in hot pursuit of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. How true the rape and suchlike allegations made against him in Sweden may be only he and his accusers will know.
But, stones and glasshouses notwithstanding, the word payback springs to mind.
At least, to my mind it does.

TELEVISION.

Strictly Come Dancing. (BBC1)
Strictly from a dancing point of view, the judges’ current favourite is Pamela Stephenson. She, celebrating her 61st birthday, danced the perfect tango with partner James Jordan.
Matt Baker, Scott Maslen and Kara Tointon continued to impress.
Gavin Henson still looked like a lost rugby player in search of a scrum and Ann Widdecombe looked more and more like the reason why Anton Du Beke should be awarded a medal for conspicuous gallantry.
Merlin. (BBC1)
Series conclusion: King Uther finally discovered that Morgana hated him. Thick Arthur still did not twig that Merlin was a wizard (let alone the greatest wizard in the world) and a bevy of photogenic actors were conscripted to be knights of the round table in the next series.
How could anyone not enjoy it?
Garrow’s Law. (BBC1)
The end of another series here, too. Fine speeches from Southouse (Alun Armstrong) and Garrow (Andrew Buchan) and a reasonable conclusion to the adultery case brought against our hero.
There’s loads of mileage left in this one.
Miranda. (BBC2)
Miranda Hart is funny in the same way that Hylda Baker was funny. You find yourself laughing even when you are not sure why.
If current popularity is the benchmark, she will eventually appear in a Christmas special. She has the right qualifications. She is funnier the second - and even third - time around.
And, make no mistake about it, the repeats could run for years.

READING.

J.K. Rowling.
I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows right through with only a brief pause (in the middle) to see the film. This being J.K. Rowling, it was no less enchanting the second time around.
If you’re too grown up for Potter I’m sorry for you. You have missed out.

FILM.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1).
Four of us went to see this. Little Boo didn’t come because he had seen the trailer on television and thought it ‘didn’t look suitable for a five year old.’
Unlike the Independent columnist Johann Hari, who found it insufferably boring, we all found it very enjoyable. But we had seen every one of the previous films and read the books. It helps.
Incidentally, my rereading of Hallows had reached exactly the spot where the film ended.
Part 2 should be an absolute cracker!

AND FINALLY (In case I don’t get back beforehand)

A Happy Christmas, Dear Reader, and
All the Very Best for the New Year.