The Blurb: December 2009

No Christmas Cowell, sorry

Sunday 27 December 2009  11.12 pm

Something in me always likes to fight for the underdog.  Maybe it's a British thing.  And that same part of me has to admit to rejoicing in the discovery that Simon Cowell's "sterile pop monopoly" has failed to produce a fifth straight Christmas Number One single in the music charts, courtesy of this Facebook campaign.  I'm no fan of Rage Against the Machine, but this did bring a smile to my face.

Meanwhile, whether the Queen counts as an underdog depends on your definition, I suppose (discuss).  But now that the figures are out for TV ratings, it seems she also struggled this year.  In a heated battle with Doctor Who and EastEnders, our reigning monarch just clung onto tenth place in the battle for our Christmas Day TV viewing attention.

I think a little working together might do the trick.  Do you agree?
 
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Happy White Christmas!

Friday 25 December 2009  7.02 am

It fell in the south east a week early, but covered everything thickly here at my parents' home in Inverness on Sunday and has remained long enough to be thoroughly white on Christmas morning.  Much of the rest of the country could be seeing the same; here's hoping you are too!

I have been enjoying crunching through the fresh snow in my boots and taking pretty photos with my new camera.  I've got to that age where I'd rather take photos of tobogganists than be one, but that's okay.  I still love the white stuff, and it's rare enough to be really special when it comes.

This BBC article makes interesting reading; it turns out that only once since records began have more than half the UK's weather stations recorded snow lying on Christmas Day, which, by the way, is a much better definition of "white Christmas" than the Ladbrokes minimum of a single flake falling at 11.59 pm on Christmas Day but failing to settle.  And there hasn't been a snow-lying white Christmas anywhere in this fair country since 2004.  So it's a welcome return to the traditional Christmas card look.

White Christmas 2009 photos on Facebook...

Happy Christmas to you all!
 
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Circle line goes non-circular after 125 years

Saturday 12 December 2009  11.16 pm

For almost exactly a century and a quarter (since 6 October 1884, according to Wikipedia), trains have been trundling round and round underneath the centre of London on the world's oldest and most famous orbital railway.  Despite being notoriously unreliable, the Circle line has a little place in the nation's heart, and has hosted everything from drinking parties to knit-ins (oh yes).

But from tomorrow, this 125-year era comes to an end, and a page is turned in the venerable Circle line's history.  It becomes a spiral.  Strangely, I can't find any evidence of special events being held to commemorate either the 125-year anniversary, or this momentous alteration of London's underscape.  But it's happening, and if nothing else, this blog post marks the spot.

In related news, the Bottle Challenge - visiting, in the fastest time possible, every station on and within the Circle line's famous bottle shape - currently has a world record time of 1h 52m 55s, set by a friend of mine.  My first attempt at this challenge, yesterday, came in at an unspectacular 2h 10m 40s, but that did include taking the wrong train at one point.  Rookie error.
 
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My first demonstration

Saturday 5 December 2009  8.05 pm

Not counting the G20 protests in April, where I only turned up to see what was going on, not really to take part as such, today's march through London about climate change was my first ever demonstration!  Go, me.

I learnt many things about how to demonstrate.

First of all, you need a placard.  Then you need masking tape when your placard falls apart.  It so happens that I had some in my bag, which I had purchased that morning for another purpose entirely.

Next, you need some friends.  These come in useful when the crowd doesn't move, and you can engage in good conversation.  One of our topics of choice, until we remembered what we were marching about, was our favourite airlines, and possible routes for one of our number's upcoming trip to New Zealand.

You also need something to shout.  Some people had slogans but most people just settled for making some general noise.  I felt a bit yobbish at first, but the making of background sound isn't too hard once you practise.  Alternatively, I found that Jenn's Anglican slogan worked quite well: "What do we want? Gradual change! When do we want it? In due course!"

Finally, you need the power to resist temptation.  The toughest point for us came just after the aforementioned friend had left us to go and book her flight to New Zealand, and we passed the street where the Mothers' Union were serving tea and cakes.  Yes, it was hard, but we kept on marching, and finished the whole course.  What a fabulous day.  Now we can go back to our normal lives again.  Right?

By the way, here are my photos of the day on Facebook...

 
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