Blue Witch

Every second counts

Congratulations to the energy suppliers in this area - we (in common with 2,200 other homes) have just had an hour and a half without electricity. Bet that had a few people worried!

Mr BW has finally understood why I always keep several hundred tealights in the cupboard (38 candle power was pretty for a while though, although not much use for sorting out my art cupboard, which was today's job) and finally been convinced of the need to purchase a generator :) (anyone know whether it's safe to run a PC with a surge protector from a generator ?)

In case the power goes off again...

Happy New Year to everyone, enjoy your extra second of 2005.

Me, I'm thinking of having an early night. I used to be shocked when my parents/ parents' friends/ aunts/ grandparents etc etc did that. It's another of those 'you know you're getting old when...' signs I tell you.

Year end saving

Today we are mostly teaching the newish GT&W Familiar to use the catflap into her house.

It probably wasn't very sensible to have let her keep herself amused by stalking the washing in the washing machine for the past few weeks, as she now thinks that the similar looking cat flap will be similarly impervious to her lunges.

I'd forgotten how very annoying untrained cats are. But isn't it wonderful how the Familiar matches the utility? :)

If you're with Pipex and out of your 12 month contract, be aware that there is £60 a year to be saved by getting your Big Teeth out and complaining about the amount you are paying, compared with the deals available to new customers (and maybe more than that if you're on a more expensive faster than 2MB package). Also be aware that they won't discuss it by email and that, even when they promise to call you to discuss it because you email to say you refuse to wait 20 minutes in their customer service queue at 5p a minute, you will eventually (after more than 2 weeks) lose your patience and send them a "Have you forgotten you promised to call me to discuss retaining my business?" email, to receive the reply,

"I apologise if you have not been called back. As we are an inbound call centre, we are only permitted to make outgoing calls if there are no incoming calls on the call centre."

What planet do these people live on???? On one hand they offer by email to call you, then, when they haven't, they say they can't. How much would it cost them to equip and set up a person with a new account? Several hundred pounds. I could have just taken my business elsewhere. Just like mobile phone companies, they seem to think that it's only new business that is important. One wonders if Pipex understand the concept of customer retention?

If I knew of an ISP who were reliable and could guarantee to provide a seamless switch, then I'd have moved to them. Maybe that's what they rely on - people don't want hassle so they keep paying last year's prices.

Actually - it could be worth a try negotiating the price you're paying your ISP if you're out of your initial 12 month contract, as I'm sure they all have non-advertised tarrifs for those who ask/ threaten to leave.

Oh - and avoid the 0845- 5p per minute number when you ring Pipex Customer Services by using 01707-299507 (and 18866 (see sidebar) which will only cost you 4p, regardless of how long they keep you waiting).

A £60 saving for 4p, to end the year. Happy Witch :)

Spot the D'Ove

My spell finally worked. *Huge* blobs of snow are falling :)

Of course, today was the only day this week we had planned to go out and be sociable.

We still could - 2 mile walk down a sheet ice lane... and back again... Maybe not...

Year ending

We now nearly have the past filed away.

All the mini-video tapes from the camera transferred onto the master tape, the photos into albums, and Volume 13 of the Memory Book (all the ticket stubs and other souvenirs from the year neatly ordered and annotated by Mr BW).

It's good to look back before moving forward into a new year - even if we do seem to have spent a disproportionate amount of the year burying things (viz: numerous cat-presents including shrews, pheasant chicks, mice and rats, an over-incubated brood of chicks, 3 quail, 1 white hen, 1 white D'Ove that I'm meant to know about and quite a few more that I'm not, 1 Ginger Familiar, 1 father).

I'm really glad we spend a couple of days each year sorting out... it helps put some permanent markers on time, and all these things are a wonderful record of social history (the only sort of history that I find interesting).

We ventured out of The Coven this afternoon for the first time since the FOTCR™ - the local road was like sheet ice and around the first bend a car buried in the hedge was proof enough that the council had once again failed in their gritting duties. It's still quite white and frozen round here. Not a flake to be seen by the time we got to the bottom of the M11 though.

Do all those people trudging round shops actually need things or are they just filling time? And why do people buy things that they didn't need, or even want, last week, just because they now have a "sale" ticket? And what happens to all the things that don't sell by the end of sales?

Glass pictures

Today there is more snow.
Probably 4mm more than last night.
Working on the premise that a watched sky never snows, BW Snow Watch is off duty today.

Why do boys always work in this much mess?

Me, I'm putting photos into albums.
I appear to have over 2000 of them taken in the last year.

And then I shall be reading John Humphrys.

Snow Watch in Pictures

Updated hourly if I remember - totally unaltered (apart from in size) images.
I'll keep this sequence at the top - commentary will be added in posts below.

A view from our bedroom window.
From the top left: 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm.
All images except the last (which needed the flash to stop it being totally black) were taken on auto-exposure, and are unaltered except for size.

Snow Watch: 17.00

There was a flurriette at 3.45pm, which had turned into a blizzardette by 4.15pm (which, according to Mr BW, is slightly more than a flurriette, and trying desperately to be a blizzard).

By 5pm it had pretty much melted again, and now only a few stray flakes remain to freeze tonight.

Bit of a disappointment really.

When we have (allegedly) been able to put men on the moon since 1969, why, oh why, are weather forecasts still so inaccurate at the end of 2005? I swear that some old boys with seaweed and pine cones could do better...

Snow Watch: 2pm

It hasn't snowed for a couple of hours, and what had settled is receding down The Coven Garden as the sun moves round. There's only a tiny bit left round the very edges of the fields behind us, as you may just be able to see from the 1pm picture. It's also up to 5.9 degrees now.

The GT&W Familiar has spent an hour or so chasing the glittery bits caused by the sun glinting off the CDs that we use on the vegetable patch as bird scarers. She hasn't quite worked it out yet.

Mr BW is more than half way through cutting the lead strips and differently coloured glass pieces for the first stained g1ass pane1. In retrospect, I think that that might have made a better hourly picture sequence...

I've given up trying to cut glass and have been making a paint chart instead - something I've been meaning to do for ages. Little squares of colour - 8 for each tube of watercolour paint I have, sequentially diluted. I seem to be in a sequencing mood today, don't I?

Snow Watch 4: Noon

Well, between 10 and 12 it has sunned and snowed alternately. It's warmed up to 4 degrees C too, so the ground is no longer cold enough to sustain the settlement of the few pathetic mini-flakes that do fall.

Call that a spell?
No, I don't.

Must try harder.

Snow Watch 3: 10am

The sun is now out and a few stray flakes are fluttering wispily down.

Looking at The Coven Electronic Barometer, the pressure fell to 1012 5 hours ago, and seems steady there. The temperature rose from -2.3 degrees C overnight to 2.3 degrees (yesterday afternoon it was 9 degrees at 2.30pm and 7 degrees at 3pm).

I still think the snow spell is malfunctioning - we might have had a few white flakes, which have settled as the ground is cold, but a white hen has clucked off into another dimension overnight. She's been looking a bit droopy for the last week or so,so no real surprise. Luckily the ground was still soft enough to dig a hole for her.

In other bird news, 2 sets of D'Oves have nests with eggs (I know, I know...), and the wild ones are eating their way through peanuts and fat balls with a greed that has rarely been seen before. They all seem to be playing eating nicely together too - goldfinches, robins, great tits, coal tits, sparrows, chaffinches, blue tits, and starlings.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to make the 3 stained g1ass pane1s for the front door that Mr BW started on FOTCR™ Day.

Snow Watch 2: 8.46am

The grey clouds filling the sky cleared in patches, bright blue sky shone through, then apricot-red sunlit clouds drifted in.

5 minutes later there were a few small flakes.

6 minutes later the few small flakes had become even fewer and even smaller.

7 minutes later the flakes had all clumped together into a 45 degree blizzard.

8 minutes later we were back to a few small flakes driting sedately, vertically, down.

9 minutes later: we've let the new GT&W Familiar out. She's never seen snow before. I love watching the reaction of animals the first time they see snow.

Snow Watch: 8am

The only progress on my longstanding snow spell that I can see so far is that the BBC weather forecaster is wearing a BW Blue coat this morning.

The 'snow blobs' on the weather map seemed to just miss this area too...

It's my poinsettia and I'll cry if I want to...

Seems my anti-FOTCR™ spell went a bit wonky.

Let's hope you feel better than this today ;)

And that my snow spells are more successful (remember we've only had 6 flakes - I counted them you know - at The Coven all year so far).

Oh yes, and my Press Release failed too. More on that later.

Season's Greetings to you all

Happy Holly-day!

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 9

Mistletoe should only be found in trees.

Like these we saw in Ickworth Park last Saturday:

The worst FOTCR™ custom must surely be the ritualised snogging (drunken or otherwise) under pieces of non-Value real, or plastic fake, mistletoe.

I can only ever recall having been attemptedly groped under mistletoe on one occasion.

Twas the FOTCR™ 1990, and I had been invited to a FOTCR™ Ball at an Army Officers' Mess in the south-western county where I was then working. All best dress uniforms and long dresses. I remember the appropriate outfit for the occasion cost me nearly £150, even then.

I frequently worked with the senior army brass as many of the schools I covered were army schools, with army family problems, that could not be solved without the involvement of army resources and family support, and 'carefully selected' future postings for the squaddies with problem kids. I'd got friendly with a Major, who'd just been unceremoniously dumped by his wife of nearly 30 years, and in return for listening to his tales of woe, I got to be frequently wined and dined at his/the taxpayers' expense. I suppose that what I saw then of the higher echelons of the armed forces at play has affected my view of those responsible for the defence of the realm ever since.

One of the teachers in one of my primary schools was the wife of The Colonel. She was a particularly poor teacher (in fact, probably the worst teacher I have ever seen, and that's saying something), but, wherever he was posted, she always walked into a cushy job in a nearby school. Strange that.

Anyway, I thought the children deserved better teaching than they were getting from The Colonel's Wife, and plotted with the Head of the school and the Director of Education to ensure that, let's say, she didn't get the next job she applied for. I wasn't scared of The Colonel you see, as I (not being employed by, or connected to, the army) had nothing to fear, and the Headteacher was about to retire so similarly felt able to take the stand that others had clearly felt they couldn't.

But, army camps are places of tittle tattle, and unbeknown to me before the FOTCR™ Ball, someone had tipped off The Colonel that I was spearheading the campaign to protect innocent children from the misguided pedagology of his wife.

I could see him looking at me during dinner (a three hour affair, with 12 courses, and different fine wines to accompany every dish). In fact, so could everyone else. He was positively staring at me. My Major and his female Captain remarked on it. "Top Brass is Brassed Off with you Witchy!" he said, "He's looking daggers at you!" she said.

Female Captain and I excused ourselves and went to the Ladies Room to discuss the best way of proceeding. We were rather tiddly and so couldn't think of a plan. The other uniformed lady present at The FOTCR™ Ball (there were only two out of maybe 50 or 60 male officers) came in, and she and Female Captain got talking. I slipped away.

On my way back, I inconveniently bumped into The Colonel, staggering the other way. He was clearly very, very drunk. "Oh, BW," he slurred, "I hear you've been trying to get rid of my wife!" I said nothing, fearing that, with the amount it had drunk, my mouth might run away with me. Instead I smiled. He slapped his thigh and roared with laughter, "That's my girl! I've been trying to do that for years!"

We were standing under the doorway into the oak-panelled bar with a huge FOTCR™ tree, decorated in regimental colours, and a huge log fire. He grabbed me, pushed me against the doorjam, pushed himself hard against me and drunkenly stuck his fat lips on my newly-re-applied lipstick, and his tongue in my mouth.

Horrified I struggled and pushed him away. In his drunkeness he stumbled, falling onto the floor. He looked shocked, and pointed up. "I was only giving you a friendly festive kiss under the mistletoe!" "Really?" I said in as sarcastic a tone as I could muster.

The bar stewards had seen it all, and left their glass polishing. One came to help him up, and the other said, "Come on Ma'am, let's get you back to the party!" As he led me down the corridor, he whispered, "Well done Ma'am, it's time someone taught the lecherous old bugger a lesson!"

My Major was shocked when I told him what had happened. Female Captain and her Female Officer Colleague reappeared, having heard of events from the bar stewards.

The Colonel came back a few minutes later, and shot a nervous look in my direction. I gave him a sustained BW Hard Stare. He looked away. He looked uncomfortable. But, he was soon laughing and joking again with his end of the table.

However, the last laugh was on him. "That looks suspiciously like your colour of lipstick on his cheek," said My Major. "And I think his wife has just realised that too, from the way she's now looking at you..."

About five minutes later, Colonel's Wife, the Terrible Teacher, helped by one of his cronies, dragged him away. He didn't reappear. In January I learnt from My Major that he'd been "unexpectedly posted."

Anyone else got any reasons for hating (or liking) mistletoe?

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 8

Queues.

No.

Never good at any time.
Certainly not at this time of year.

So, when Cleaner BW told me yesterday that Local Small Town Sainsbury's, where she's currently working to pay for everything her kids want for the FOTCR™ (yes, I know, another spell that went wrong...), is opening at 6am all this week, I decided to get there soon after that this morning.

Also, as, by Company Tradition, Mr BW only has to do 5 hours today, we calculated that if he got to work at 6.30am, he could finish by midday.

I may have had to get up at 5.45am, but I was in and out of the supermarket in 30 minutes. Undoubtedly saved two hours of stress, driving round and round the car park looking for a space, and screaming kids later. And, for the first FOTCR™ I can remember, I managed to get absolutely everything that I wanted. Excellent.

One cautionary note though... they couldn't sell alcohol before 8am, which was causing some people a problem (not me, The Coven is always as well-stocked as the average pub). I was surprised at that. Is it just because they haven't applied for the correct new licence, or is there some other reason?

I did intend to take a photo of the shelf-filling trolley chaos to test Mr D's theory, but forgot in my excitement.

And I've just heard that the International Olympic Committee have sussed out my spell. The one I did back in the summer to make DG very, very happy for the next 7 years. Oh well, never mind, it served its purpose, it's too late for Madrid now :)

And what's with broadcasting bits of The Queen's FOTCR™ message 2 days early? Does it really need a trailer?

Snow Gallery 8 and 9

I really am going to have to do something about my spells. It's taken me all day to finish writing something that should have taken me 2 or 3 hours maximum. But that reckoned without Word unhelpfully scrambling together, in an irretrievable way, 2 documents that I had open, rendering both unusable (never heard of that happening before), then my 80GB external mobile hard drive (to which I religiously back up both laptop and PC data files every week) deciding that it didn't want to provide me with a previously stored version of one of them, me accidentally deleting an email with important info in it, and being unable to find it in the recycle bin, and the printer just throwing a hissy fit and refusing to print, even after being reset, for the first time in over 30,000 copies in 5 or 6 years in January (I can't remember which).

Snow joke I tell you.

Anyway, give or take a bit of proof reading I now have no work work to do until January 9th. I should be happy but I'm too knackered for emotions like that. My shoulders ache, my wrists ache (and click), the side of my right arm from my little finger to my elbow aches, and I've got a headache. But I have typed nearly 25,000 words in the last 4 days, so it's unsurprising, and I know should have used the VRS more, but I wanted to get my typing back up to speed as my RSI had been so much better...

All of which brings me round to the final snow creations... both of which wriggled rather than flew in, which was rather spooky, particularly given the 2 snow-references to Doctor Who that arrived independently yesterday.

In fact, this one, christened "SnowMaggot" took 10 hours to reach me from Ma MA in Devon (teehee, I like that new name, but I don't expect she will - hopefully she'll still be drinking celebratory champagne and won't notice for a bit. Oh... hadn't you heard? e got her MA :) Congratulations to her, and I honestly don't know how she does it all.)

And this one, which seems to be the last one, is a "snowcaterpillar", from GoodTwin.

Love the bow, but a most interesting arrangement of arms methinks :)

My thanks to everybody who's contributed to the entertainment.

2nd class post

A very creepy and spooky thing happened overnight re the Snow Gallery. Even creepier than the thing that already happened yesterday. All will be revealed in a bit. Just need to get some paperwork finished first.

And lest I forget...

Dear BW

Love BW x

Snow Gallery 7

I'm beginning to think that asking you lot to make snowpersonages and send me the results is as revealing as those ink-blot tests...

Here we have Jen's "Susie the Stripper taking a break from her 'exertions'."

Hmmmmmmmm ;)

(Actually, I must say, my snowcreation also had a wine glass in its hand...)

Snow Gallery 6

Well, what a fit (in the original sense of the word) snowman terreus has been training.

I'm not sure I've ever seen a snowman with a six-pack before, mind, but hey ho, there's a first time for everything :)

If you've just arrived and are wondering what's going on - it's a Build-Your-Own-Snowthingy feature, details here.

Snow Gallery 5

Chig (not sure about the FOTCR™ fairies photo there dear - BW prefers men a little 'beefier' but hey, some of my readers might enjoy it ;)), bored at work, has submitted his entry:

"Oh Witchy, look what you've made me do!

If you think this is bad, just be grateful that I didn't send you my first attempt, which I was going to say was for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square."

Can anyone clear up a problem I have with this one though... are those blue things on the body slipped blue eyes, or blue breasts? (oh fuck it, hello Google! the bandwidth's already well over this month anyway... might as well get Value from the surcharge :))

Definite Doctor Who theme developing here...

Snow Gallery 4

Help.... Avalanche!!!!

Bob's sent this, claiming:

"I had endless hours of fun making snowwotsit things...I can't remember what my life was like before...how did I ever cope?"

Well Bob, if you don't know... ;)

Still time to join in...

(if you've sent yours already and it hasn't appeared, thank you... and it's just that it's 'applications are dealt with in the order they are received')

Snow Gallery 3

Whoosssssh... (is that the correct spelling for how a snowball sounds?) NiC sends his entry...

"called "Exterminate"... a SnowDalek and heap of remains!"

Excellent - but obviously after the Odd-vote I'd say ;)

Still time to build your own (see link below CBA to recopy it) and roll it over...
(if it's within your technical skills, and not too much bother, 72dpi, 192 pixels wide and low res would be lovely and save me wrecking your artwork but chucking it through Photoshop very very quickly as I'm really meant to be finishing writing a report before Mr BW gets home ;))

Snow Gallery 2

Entry 2 for the Silly Snowwotsit competition announced below (ie build your own snowman here and send me a screendump or .jpg of the result) has just rolled in.

Clair admits that "It doesn't take much encouragement to get me to do silly things...." :)

Keep throwing them this way...

Snow Gallery

Well, the entries for the Silly Snowwotsit competition announced below (ie build your own snowman here and send me a screendump of the result) are literally pouring in.

Well, OK, I exaggerate. Slightly.

I've just had the one entry so far, from LaP, who tells me that, "I am so computer challenged that my entry for the Build A Snowman contest is in black and white and hand colored. I call him "Snowball."" Thank you for sharing LaP, and sorry that the lovely textured background got lost as I dropped it from 200dpi to 72dpi.

Roll up, roll up, let's have some more snowpeople...

Art Class 2005: Session 7

As a Treat (haha, geddit?) for completing yesterday's ch0cfestquiz (well done to Harriet who finally polished the box off at lunchtime today), and as it's Witches' Special Solstice Day, here's a detail from a larger work in progress. A sort of winter scene.

What's that? Not much of a reward you say? Sorry, I'm doing my best... the trees are better than they were, honest. But I don't much like painting trees. I just can't seem to manage to capture their beauty. As I know I can take better photos of them, I just don't seem to have the heart for it.

Well, OK, build yourself a silly snowman to go in the winter picture then. If you take a screenshot and mail it to me, I might even put up a snow gallery.

Reminds me of a joke those snowmen. I'll bet you know the one...

Leftover clues

*surveys chocolate box from yesterday*

Excuse me, why are there only hard centres left, eh?

Oh come on 7 6 5 4 3 1/40 are still unsolved.
What is blogland coming to?

Right... free for all now. I want those 7 3 that last hard centre eaten before there's any dessert... :)

All solved now, well done everyone :)

A totally calorie- and guilt- free ch0cfestquiz for you

Two bites only please, until I decide otherwise...
OK you can have two more selections each now...
Free for all now...

12.40pm Wednesday: All solved, well done everyone, and thanks for taking part :)

The quiz is now to be found here, in case you want to print it out to keep some people entertained over the FOTCR™ (I've moved it as it's a jpg and so quite bandwidth-heavy... which also means that I can't easily correct the 2 errors that have emerged - both 16 and 34 have an extra plural 's' on them - I did say that the Nice Ladies who devised this were on the sherry at the time!!)

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 7

I looked in the cupboard and it was bare.

Unusual that, for BW's present cupboard is usually full of goodies, especially by this time of year.

But, it's been the sort of year where I've not had a chance to do my normal buy it as you go along stuff.

Plus, I've got beyond the need for 'stuff', and was sort-of hoping that Mr BW would have too. But, sadly, he's still in Big Kid mode. That spell may have gone wonky :(

"So Mr BW, what do you want for the FOTCR™?" I asked, on Sunday afternoon, during a break from report writing, with no enthusiasm at all. For either subject.

"I'll think about it," he said.
"Result!" I thought.

But.

By Sunday evening he had started compiling a list. "There's this pair of topiary scissors in a feature in Country Living..." he said. "Read out the net address," I sighed. I went to the website. "Plese sent a cheque to..." it said. "Like fuck," I thought, "if you can't be bothered to set up an online shop (and, let's face it, even *I* could manage to do that), then I can't be bothered either. And £35 plus £3 postage for a pair of scissors for snipping the parterre that is usually cut with the hedgecutter anyway, no, I don't think so."

Yesterday he was using up annual leave before he loses it, and was watching Richard and Judy. I was working (still writing reports) so didn't realise, or I'd have manufactured a power cut to save him from that fate. Anyway. Sometime later he said, "I'd like a book I saw on TV. 'The Farm' by Richard Benson." A quick Google later and I discovered that it is only available in hardback, RRP £15.99 plus postage. "I've ordered it from the library," I informed him, ten minutes later. "It's only a story book and I'm buggered if I'm paying that. They have 5 copies in the county, one is due back today, and you're second on the list. It might even be in before The FOTCR™." For some reason he didn't look impressed.

And then there's the chocolate fountain he's been eyeing up ever since he saw the picture of the one that dave and Darren saw in Vegas last February on their hols (I looked for the link but couldn't find it, so maybe it wasn't Vegas after all.. they have so many holidays it's hard to remember ;)).

But... let's apply some logic, shall we?

How many times would he melt a bar of Green & Black's in the microwave and dip fruit and mini-donuts (or even his finger) in it? Once? Well then, how much more use would he give a chocolate fountain? No, no, no. Not even at £29.99 from Curry's (*shudders*)(phone-call tip-off from Good Friend BW who believes in feeding rather than fighting addcitions. Or she feels sorry for Mr BW, I'm not sure which...). No. Sorry.

Oh, I'm such a Cruel Witch, aren't I? :)

Instead, I'll post a choccie quiz, a bit later.
There might be some left for him when he drops by at lunchtime.

You are what you eat

Dispatches.
Tonight at 9 on 4.

What's really in your FOTCR™ dinner?

We have nothing to worry about.
All ours will be home grown or home-produced :)

And while I'm on nutritious subjects...
what not to eat if you want a peaceful FOTCR™ (via)

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 6

This one, "An Untraditional Nativity" from the In-Box, is especially for NiC's daughter dee, currently lowering the tone at Planarchy providing the best comment box entertainment on the internet ;)

There's this bird called Mary, yeah? She's a virgin (wossat then?). She's not married or nuffink, but she's got this boyfriend, Joe, innit? He does joinery an' that. Mary lives with him in a crib dahn Nazaref.

One day Mary meets this bloke Gabriel. She's like "Oo ya lookin at?" Gabriel just goes "You got one up the duff, you have." Mary's totally gobsmacked. She gives it to him large "Stop dissin' me yeah? I ain't no Kappa-slapper. I never bin wiv no one!"

So Mary goes and sees her cousin Liz, who's six months gone herself. Liz is largin' it. She's filled with spirits, Barcardi Breezers an' that.

She's like "Orright, Mary, I can feel me bay-bee in me tummy and I reckon I'm well blessed. Think of all the extra weez gonna get on the social an' that." Mary goes "Yeah, s'pose you're right"

Mary an' Joe ain't got no money so they have to ponce a donkey, an' go dahn Bethlehem on that. They get to this pub an' Mary wants to stop, yeah? To have her bay-bee an' that. But there ain't no room at the inn, innit? So Mary an' Joe break an' enter into this garridge, only it's filled wiv animals. Caahs an' sheep an' that.

Then these three geezers turn up, looking proper bling, wiv crowns on their 'eads. They're like "Respect, bay-bee Jesus", an' say they're wise men from the East End. Joe goes: "If you're so wise, wotchoo doin' wiv this Frankenstein an' myrrh? Why dincha just bring gold, Adidas and Burberry?"

It's all about to kick off when Gabriel turns up again an' sez he's got another message from this Lord geezer. He's like "The police is comin an' they're killin' all the bay-bees. You better nash off to Egypt." Joe goes "You must be monged if you think I'm goin' dahn Egypt on a minging donkey" Gabriel sez "Suit yerself, pal. But it's your look out if you stay."

So they go dahn Egypt till they've stopped killin' the first-born an' it's safe an' that. Then Joe and Mary and Jesus go back to Nazaref, an' Jesus turns water into Stella.

Wicked!

Thought for the day

World peace could be a possibility... if it weren't for all those damned foreigners.

- Spike Milligan

A Good Upcoming Year for Blue Witchery

I reckon that the moon was full at the beginning of my WitchDay. It certainly looked full, and the moonthingy in the sidebar on the right said 99% at 12.01am. (As this is probably only the second time in my Witchy life that this has been the case, if it astronomologically wasn't, I don't want to know, OK? ;))

Therefore it will be a good year for spells :)

Plus, there was a sign.

I have the laptop's screensaver set to display random selections from the nearly 1500 images on it (they've got there in a year, hmmm, that's not bad is it?). The image changes every 5 seconds. So, the probability of me walking back into the room yesterday to find a picture of last year's cards and presents as the image displayed is pretty small isn't it? (0.00067 if my calculator serves me well)

Plus, on Wednesday night I dreamt about buying a whole Yarg for the FOTCR™. I love Yarg. Especially the nettle wrapping. However, I decided, reluctantly, that, faced with that quantity, even I would go off Yarg. But, what did I discover in Sainsbury's on Thursday but mini-Yarg's. My Witchy Powers are working overtime :)

And we won't mention my prediction a couple of weeks ago about the EU budget rebate that some of you scoffed at me about. Oh no, we won't mention it.

Because its loss is going to cost every single person in the UK £16.67. Or, as many in this country are too young, too old, or too poor to pay tax, I'd guess it's going to cost those of us who do pay tax an extra £60-75 a year each. Scary when news gets translated into personal monetary figures isn't it?

Now, the sensible thing to do would be to get the hell out of Iraq and save most of that money. But, that isn't going to happen, is it? What are you going to give up to pay the extra tax?

Oh, and I have hamsters. In blue thongs. Scroll down :)

My WitchDay, continued

This afternoon we ventured north to see Victorian Santa and partake of hot chocolate and mince pies. Back to what it should be Mr BW assured me. Ho hum. Santa was the wrong colour for the period (he should have been green, not red, even MrBW, who is colourblind, knows that) and someone had forgotten to tell the catering manager about the promises they'd printed in the publicity, so there was neither chocolate nor pies. Still, the place was fairly deserted, and we had a lovely walk round the park, took loads of photos as the winter light was fabulous, and travelled back accompanied by wonderful skies as the sun set.

Mr BW is now busily preparing my WitchDay Feast. Anyone who has their NatalDay within about a month of the FOTCR™ will know that it is not worth trying to go out to eat, because the ambience is invariably spoilt by party poppers, crackers and drunken festive twits.

So, he always cooks for me. This year it's a surprise. I know that it contains haricot beans, as they've been soaking since yesterday, a pot of double cream, as he bought that while we were out last night, and a carrot and some new potatoes from the Coven Veggie Patch, as he just ventured out with a lantern to get them.

Other than that I've not a clue. The recipe (it appears to be a print out from the net, so, fingers crossed) is being jealously folded over every time I go near . But haricot beans (the beans used in baked beans for the culinarily challenged amongst you) in cream sauce doesn't sound so good, does it?

And those cushions, the ones I mentioned earlier, the felted ones, containing bits of the Sadly Deceased GF, the ones that look like MrD's WitchDay Giraffe - well, they do, don't they?

It's my WitchDay!

And many thanks to my lovely reader who emailed me a present :)

Apparently his name's Gerald.

He looks pretty much like the cushions I've recently made from some felting Mr BW and I did a couple of months ago. I might post a photo later, see if you can tell the difference... Oh, and the cushions are sitting just over from where I am still working, at gone midnight on my WitchDay :(

Update 11.45am: Another lovely pressie from my other reader :)

Update 2 - 8pm:
*excited*

Look, I have 3 readers!

Update 3 - 10am next day:
Another problem with having a WitchDay near the FOTCR™ is that often your cards arrive late. But it's quite nice in a way, especially when there's no snailmail post on a Sunday. Thanks to drD, and his rather Oddly reminiscent little Verse ;)

Thank you all of you.

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 5

By mutual consent (not all instigated by us either) and negotiation, we've managed to reduce the number of people we're buying FOTCR™ presents for this year from 20-odd down to 3, plus 'staff' (ie Cleaner BW).

I don't see the point of giving people who have everything they need, and the money to buy anything they might want, presents for the sake of it. And often, no matter how good my intention, not something they particulalry like. I'd sooner give people 'personal presents' (ie something that has taken me time (the one commoditiy that money can't buy) to make or create - jams, chutneys, produce, painting, home-grown plant etc) at other times of the year.

How many people are you buying presents for this year, and would you like it to be fewer?

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 4

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 3

"So, Nice Lady Known to BW, about all those lights outside your house... electricity is over 10p a unit now, and the world's slowly losing the global warming battle..."

"But BW, my husband's worked it out, they only cost about a fiver a night to run... mind you, he wasn't very happy that our household insurance won't cover them... there's over £2,000 worth of lights in total this year. We've added 3 new displays - they cost nearly £400!"

"But why, Nice Lady Known to BW? You and your husband are both well past retirement age, your family all live in Australia."

"It's all a bit of fun BW!"

"But, hey, your 'fun' has a huge cost! If I'm not mistaken, you've had them up since November 23rd? And you'll keep them up until - Twelfth Night? That's um.... 45 days by my reckoning. So, this year that will have cost you £225 worth of electricty, plus the £400, and I know for a fact that at least one of your neighbours isn't happy about the light pollution. Then there's the cost to the rest of the world of all the carbon dioxide you'll be causing to be made unnecessarily. Hmmm. Interesting idea of 'fun'. Do you know, for £625 you could have bought several farms' worth of animals from Oxfam to help some families somewhere in the world who don't even have water piped to their homes, let alone electricity to waste."

"Oh but BW, a few goats wouldn't have given people so much pleasure would they?"

"So, Nice Lady Known to BW, you think that a shop-full of flashing kitsch outside your house for 6 weeks every year is worth more than human life? I feel very, very sorry for you."

(Apologies for the quality of the image - it was taken from a long way away, using a long lens, and it was hard to capture the full garishness of the scene as everything flashes at different times. The house is situated in a non-street lit, very rural area, too.)

Thought for the day

Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Male logic

Large man in car park this morning: Your car is filthy, you should wash it, my coat is now all dirty and you should offer to pay for it to be cleaned!

Me: I wasn't aware that it was customary to wipe oneself down the side of other people's vehicles! Still, maybe you should lose some weight, or learn to park rather more centrally in the allocated space, then you wouldn't have the problem?

It's amazing how much more you get done if you're in town by 8.10am on market day, 11 days before the FOTCR™.

Time for a meme...

... well, just about time.
Mad, frantic busy at the moment.

********************************

What time did you get up this morning?

6.45am. Had to take MrBW to work on the way to mine, as he's gone to a FOTCR™ piss-up paid for by an ad agency whose livelihood he now controls. Piss-up includes a free taxi home. How the media world lives. Most interesting info for a non-consumeristic Witch on 'The Manipulation of the Common Person' coming from that source.

Diamonds or pearls?

Oh diamonds. I wear 3 every day.

What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

Pass. Absolutely no idea at all. Ah... no... wait... it was that one about Nice Ladies.

What is your favourite TV show?

Anything garden-y.

What do you usually have for breakfast?

Fruit. Particularly mango, melon or grapefruit.

Favourite cuisine?

Aga cuisine.

What food do you dislike?

Meat. Stodgy puddings. Pastry.

What is your favourite CD at the moment?

Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts Now (in your own back yard, in your own home town).

Morning or night person?

Morning. I'm CaveWitch - as soon as it's dark, I need my bed.

Favourite sandwich?

Tomato, or brie and grape.

What characteristic do you despise?

Duplicity and dishonesty.

Favourite item of clothing?

Fleece.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?

Back to the Australian Red Centre. But, until I can convince myself that £6K each for a business class ticket is a good use of Witchy Funds, it ain't gonna happen, because I can't do monkey class for that many miles (or, more correctly, Mr BW can't do BW doing monkey class for that many miles).

What colour is your bathroom?

White, all white. Apart from the blue towels.

Favourite brand of clothing?

Brand? Sorry? They're only for sad people, who lack lives, surely? Hardly a Value concept that.

Where would you retire to?

The Coven, with about an acre more land.

What was your most memorable birthday?

40th - balloons and Art Deco.

Favourite sport to watch?

Athletics (as an ex-England-standard athlete myself); I will tolerate Formula 1.

When is your birthday?

Oh, you mean WitchDay! Soon :)

What is your shoe size?

8 and a half. Sometimes 9. Broad fitting. I am a large-footed Witch, who needs good basal stability.

Pets?

AKA Familiars. D'Oves, Hens, Fish, Quail, the GW&T Familiar (fast becoming non-kitten-sized).

Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?

Good Friend BW is a medical miracle and has defied all predictions and prognoses... and is being written up for medical journals. Whilst not out of the woods totally, the 'cancerous' cells are no longer. No-one can understand it. Well, us Witches understand, but the medics can't. That's been a very hard few weeks.

What did you want to be when you were little?

A (medical) doctor. In retrospect, while I could have done, I'm glad I didn't go down that route.

What is your favourite flower?

Fuchsia.

What date on the calendar you are looking forward to?

Tomorrow?

One word to describe the person who you snaffled this from?

Environmetallyaware (in every sense of the world). Ooops, did I miss a space? ;)

**************************************

Feel free to cut and paste to your own blog (or complete it in the comments if you are blogless but would like to participate).

Original code is here (end of 13th December entry, can't find a permalink) to make filling it in easier (put your answer between the 'dd' and '/dd' pointy hats to the non-htmlers amongst you).

Leave a comment if you do it so people can follow it on.

And, yeah, I've cut out the introductory crap. Sorry.

FOTCR™ survey

Sorry I've stolen this one from NiC's comment box. Bad Witch. Sorry NiC. All in the interest of increasing the sample size you understand :)

Do/will you have a real FOTCR™ Tree?
Does it come with or without roots?
What happens to it after the FOTCR™?

Thought for the day

At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity: idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political ideas.

- Aldous Huxley

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 2

Many people who have the ability to have a fire in their grate only do so at times such as the FOTCR™.

I've been shocked and horrified in past years at the DIY stores selling bags of logs, scarcely bigger than a carrier bag, for £5-£8. Two or three hours burning time at the most. That's a bloody expensive form of heat!

Worse still, this year I'm seeing small plastic bags full of chip-sized pieces of offcut wood - for £3.99. Three pounds and ninety-nine pence to start one (or at most two) fires? The world's gone mad!

I would hazard a guess that anyone who lives in an area where it's possible to have an open fire lives within easy strolling distance of a tree or hedge, whose dead twigs would provide an abundant supply of free kindling.

In fact, Mr BW and I took a dozen carrier bags for a walk yesterday afternoon, and returned with 12 ready-to-use-size bags of fire-starter. Took all of 15 minutes, and we had a nice walk in the winter sunshine into the bargain.

Lightening up

Nice piece by DG today on the logistics of the timing of the shortest day.

And by following one of the links, I discovered that the fewest hours of daylight we ever have in this country are 8 hours and 4 minutes (third week of December - Ha! my WitchDay, that explains a lot :)), and the most 16 hours and 22 minutes (third week of June).

But, sadly it doesn't explain why we noticed yesterday that the sun was setting a whole tree-on-the-horizon to the south of the furthest south it's ever set in the ten and a half years we've been at The Coven. That's very spooky. Global warming. Bound to be ;)

Thought for the day

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.

- Stevie Wonder

Signs that I've got beyond the need to engage in the FOTCR™ traditions: Part 1

I managed to get 80 FOTCR™ cards printed off before admitting to Mr BW that the art he commissioned for the front (a gold and blue watercolour depiction of a number of baubles) actually has another meaning ;)

Well, they're all ready to keep a few postpeople in employment in the morning. I do like to keep in touch with people I don't often get the chance to see these days, and I know that I wouldn't ever get round to writing or ringing them all in a year, every year, so even *I*'m not giving up the card tradition completely.

Presenting...

A Dalek for the man with everything (12"), or two 5" ones here. Batteries not included.

The origin of the FOTCR™

Following back a couple of recent searches, I've just edited an incorrect (it said 'Festival' rather than 'Feast') and incomplete entry someone had made in Wikipedia. And we won't mention removing the stray apostrophe either ;)

I certainly wouldn't have bothered to put it into Wikipedia myself, but, as it's there now, and as I can't bear inaccuracy, I had to alter it.

As I couldn't be bothered to read their house style notes, it'll probably get altered, so, for my own satisfaction, and for posterity, I'll post my version here:

FOTCR: Feast Of The Cash Register; Christmas, in all its over-commercialised glory, first used by Blue Witch in the run up to Christmas 2004, and believed to derive from a Dave Allen (comedian) sketch from the 1970s.

Actually, I think it was November or December 2003 when I first started using the term, en-blog or in a comments box somewhere. But, Google isn't helping me too much there, so I can't be sure, and it's not important enough for me to bother doing a mouse-tip search of my own archives.

My recollection of the Dave Allen sketch it derived from is hazy, but it was something about the different reactions of children of various religions to the festival. If anyone has a better memory than me, do say...

Thought for the day

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Imagine

It's hard to believe that it's 25 years today since John Lennon died.

These days, it seems that not a week goes by without a singer or star of TV dying, so it's lost its 'shock' factor. If you happen to notice the announcement, by and large you shrug and forget about it.

But the world was shocked by news of John Lennon's death. He was one of the first of the new emergent breed of 'superstar' to meet an untimely end.

I was only 11 months old when JFK was assassinated, so I have no recollection of that.

But, I vividly remember coming out of a college A Level English lecture about Virgina Woolf's 'To the Lighthouse', given by an failed, ageing, luvvie-turned-literature-lecturer, and seeing the white-faced President of the Students' Union flying down the corridor in a dreadful state, shouting, "John Lennon's been shot, John Lennon's dead! It's dreadful, really dreadful, we're all meeting in the bar!"

Shocked and stunned, a few of us congregated in the bar and we sat and talked and drank the afternoon away in a haze of 'super-smoke' and Beatles tracks on the jukebox.

I can't quite work out the chronology - even given the different time zones - how what happened one evening took until mid-morning the next day to reach us, but news travelled slowly in those days...

But was it really 25 years ago?

Do you remember what you were doing on that day?

Thought for the day

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.

- Henry David Thoreau

George Orwell estate to sue Government over breach of copyright

"Trustees of the George Orwell estate yesterday announced that they intend to sue the British government over copyright breeches relating to the George Orwell novel '1984', a novel about a futuristic police state.

Professor Ramsbottom, a trustee of the Orwell estate, said: "Our lawyers have compared George Orwell's novel '1984' with a number of Labour documents. These documents include the Labour party manifesto, known in the Labour party as the 'The Book', and a number of laws passed by the Labour government over the past five years. Our analysis shows there are clearly great swathes of text that have simply been copied and adopted as Labour policy, far too much for this to be just coincidence."

Home Secretary Charles Clarke, said: "This is clearly absolute rubbish. A police state is a political condition where the government maintains strict control over society, particularly through suspension of civil rights and often with the use of the police. We thought police should not be used for that purpose as it is inherently anti-democratic. Name me one thing that demonstrates Labour is heading that way? OK - name me two things? OK - name me three things..."

Prime Minister Tony Blair added: "I flatly deny that we have used material from George Orwell's novel '1984' in any of our manifestos and subsequent laws. There are clearly very many differences such as: this is Britain and not Oceania, we have the Home Office and not the Ministry of Love, and the majority of people in this country believe that everyone must listen to the government in order to have an orderly society at the expense of some of the freedoms of the people. I have no idea what the 'Proles' who come up with these ideas are talking about. Now enough of this nonsense – fancy a game of chess?"

Meanwhile, the 82-year-old pensioner Walter Wolfgang, who was thrown out of this year's Labour party conference, and who had not been seen for several months, was tracked down by DeadBrain reporter Greg Mullet to his local pub the 'Chestnut Tree'. Walter said: "I took a bit of a holiday and feel fully re-integrated...I mean fully reinvigorated."

"I am looking forward to next year's Labour conference," he added. "To make up for last year they will be putting me up for free in room 101 at the Grand. I will get my chance to show Big Tony I love him. It is not enough to obey him, you know; you must love him. After all, war on terror is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength."

29 Nov 2005, Peter Gee

Value FOTCR

If you (or maybe your child(ren)) send a letter with a first or second class stamp on it to:

Santa
Reindeerland
SAN TA1

as long as it is received by December the 13th, and includes a reply address, some student employed at £4.90 an hour by the Royal Mail Santa will write back to you (for free - none of this £10 for a letter from Santa nonsense that I've seen advertised).

Or, Santa is now online at: http://www.northpole.com/Mailroom/, and will respond to emails

Alternatively, put what you want for the FOTCR in the comments, and Santa BW will do a spell...

Thought for the day

Nobody has things just as he would like them. The thing to do is to make a success with what material I have. It is a sheer waste of time and soul-power to imagine what I would do if things were different. They are not different.

- Frank Crane

In Other Blues

As someone commented on the radio earlier, one can now predict who the Prime Minister will be after the next election. A Scotsman.

Even less hope of an English Parliament then, I'd say.

Still, it's an improvement on Bliar. But, anything would be an improvement on that.

The queen's cousin five times removed, eh? (ie according to Debrett's, Cameron is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of William IV and his long-standing mistress, Dorothy Jordan.) What a load of twaddle.

With my education pointed hat on, I'm pleased to read a few details about Samantha, Cameron's wife. That should push a certain under-resourced issue a bit higher up the political agenda. And she has a tattoo. That should improve her husband's electoral chances. And Cracroft's Peerage's research has revealed that her great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother was Nell Gwyn, the mistress of Charles II. Truly, truly spliffing spiffing.

Thought for the day

Moral indignation is in most cases 4 percent moral, 46 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy.

- Vittorio De Sica

Quick Survey

Just reading an interesting article on the use of debit and credit cards, which made me think of two questions:

1. What is the lowest purchase amount you would pay using your credit or debit card?

2. Roughly what percentage of all your purchases do you make using a debit or credit card?

A note to a few unwanted lurkers

Yeah, so I write controversial things sometimes.

And I don't expect everyone to have the same opinions as me.
Compared with some places around my views are positively middle-of-the-road.

What I don't do is slag off other bloggers whose opinions I disagree with, on my own blog, or stick long blog-knives into recently departed bloggers who were once my blog buddies or, even worse, my real-life friends.

If you don't like what I write, then stop coming back, you're wasting my bandwidth. I can see you, and I do know who you are.

Judge not, and all that stuff.
And above all, do have some respect.


Apologies to the rest of you.

Bad manners, bitching and two-facedness are things I just cannot abide, and I've put up with [what's been going on] for a long time now. Up to now I've just been quietly ignoring and saying nothing, but, there comes a time in every Witch's life when enough is enough and a stand has to be made.

Normal service will be resumed shortly...

Thought for the day

Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.

- Francis Bacon

Naughty Kitty

The New Familiar is scaring me.
She's already somehow got through the 10 cm squares of electric netting surounding the hens in the orchard and had a go at them. Luckily, I was on hand and forcibly removed her, but she was not happy that her sport had been spoilt.

I do not know what she's thinking, or planning...

You took the words right out of my mouth

Ken over at The Nanny State has been posting about some of the politically correct madness that has so far seen FOTCR lights renamed 'winter lights', tinsel banned, carol services banned lest they offend people of other religions etc etc.

An anonymous commentator has posted the following (which may or may not be a made-up story, but I broadly agree with the sentiment):

Australia - The Right to Leave

After Sydney not wanting to offend other cultures by putting up Xmas lights. After hearing that the State of South Australia changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered. This prompted this editorial written by an Australian citizen.

Published in an Australian newspaper.

Quote: IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It

I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.

This idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, Learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our National Motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, Because God is part of our culture.

If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like " A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, And we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this.

But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our National Motto, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

"THE RIGHT TO LEAVE".

If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted. Pretty easy really, when you think about it.

Why should we have to change our customs, while at the same time being encouraged to welcome and embrace theirs? There's room for both!

Personally, I wouldn't have the audacity to go and live in another country and complain, be offended, or expect people to accommodate me. I'd make every effort to fit in and learn from the indigenous population. And, let's face it, if I went to live in most other countries, I'd have very few rights - and certainly not the right to complain about the dominant culture's festivals and beliefs!

The world's gone mad.
Or, more correctly, England's losing its way.
Because there is no 'England' any more.

More to the point, I'm not convinced that ethnic minorities themselves are offended - so why are our political 'leaders' behaving as they are? Why are they imposing stupid bans on our customs and traditions? What are they trying to achieve, or start?

Sinister.

Strangled

So, what do you suppose are the requisites for attending a Stranglers concert these days?

Knotty question

Flying along in the Blue Broom this morning, through the rush hour (taking Mr BW to work so that we didn't end up with the Black Broom in an inconvenient place for the weekend, as we're going into Town tonight to see The Stranglers - good job I checked the website, I'll need to go in disguise - "The Shepherd's Bush gig will have the unusually early start time of 8:15pm, to accommodate the following special program: 8:15 Stranglers acoustic set; 9:00 Premiere of the film "Norfolk Coast", staring Susannah York, Nicholas Ball, Lynsey Baxter and the band; 9:30pm live show; the show will be filmed for release as a DVD, accompanied by the film"), I noticed something most odd.

Everyone seems to be wearing their scarves tied in the most peculiar way.

Now, surely, a great hard lump of fluff pushing into your neck cannot be (a) comfortable, or (b) practical, in warmth terms, can it?

Why are they doing it?

Thought for the day

Look, I really don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive, you got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death. And therefore, as I see it, if you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts should be noisy and colorful and lively.

- Mel Brooks

Pensions - ongoing from yesterday - a rant by Mr BW

What no post from BW today I hear you cry?

So... I'm elevating Mr BW's comment on the pensions debacle from the comments under my post from yesterday to post status, because (a) it deserves wider reading, and (b) I need to do other things than write posts this evening, if only to prove that I don't have internet addiction, which is now a clinically recognised addiction (only in America of course, although no doubt some suitably qualified person will start making money out of diagnosing and treating it here soon... hmmm... now there's a thought ;)).

"The young woman on TV this morning mentioned by BW summed it up for me. She listed 'credit cards' as one reason for not having a pension. This is usually backed by the argument that 'us youngsters cannot afford to save now'.

Well, when I left home at 23 I had a mortgage of 4x salary and within 4 years interest rates were 15%.

I survived because I stopped spending money unnecessarily.

I wanted a video recorder so I bought one from a second hand shop. I was also putting a very modest £20 in to a pension fund on the basis that once started it is easier to slowly increase contributions, and I did.

I am not trying to be smug in having planned, I just want to ram that point down the throat of the next twenty-something who says that they cannot afford a pension (but hs a new mobile, DVDs coming out of their ears and an ipod with a grand's worth of downloads), and that people don't understand how expensive it is for them to live these days.

I think the proposed compulsory (but you can opt out) pension scheme is an excellent idea. Stakeholder optional schemes didn't work because people preferred to buy the latest mobile phone rather than save for their future; they simply have to be forced I am afraid (and I think that, once in, few will take the trouble to opt out).

Given the trillion pounds of debt in the country I doubt if there are any socks under beds that aren't full of broken off nail extensions and tattoo plasters these days either.

This problem is here because we are all living too long for old style pension schemes to remain viable, so celebrate old age and save for it.

Rant over.
Mr BW"

Thought for the day

Couldn't our money squandered in Iraq have been put to better use?

See also2003 and 2004.