Happy New Year!

I'm writing this at 8.30 pm Seattle time - which is where I arrived back today.  It is 4.30 am UK time - and that is what it feels like.  So no long blog entry today.  Happy New Year!

Media Consumption

An average day - 3 newspapers, 3 TV news shows, and numerous hours of news and news discussion on the radio.  This is far, far too much.  All the same news stories regurgitated and dissected in one form or another, it is nothing short of pointless.  So please cut it down.  And since the news is utterly depressing most of the time, I don't think it is good for mental health.  Which is why I very rarely watch the news in the US - unlike the UK, there isn't any national news on in prime time.  It tends to be on in the early evening, which is when I'm invariably at work - instead I occasionally catch some of the local news at 10 or 11 pm.  But only briefly, since online news and weather is so much easier to consume.  And I have not, and never will, watch the offensive and repulsive people and rhetoric on Fox News.

Royal Borough of Greenwich

Just time for one last excursion into London, and I chose to take a walk around Greenwich - a part of London I haven't been to very much in the past but which I like a lot.  It is a nice little area with some attractions (e.g. Cutty Sark) and a lot of nice views - perfect for the clear and cold day it was today.  So long as I didn't slip on any of the numerous patches of black ice - which made for some tentative going.  And I particularly like the fact that Greenwich is the home/origin of 2 dimensions - longitude and time.  That makes it a surprisingly very important place.

After Greenwich, I took a quick diversion to Oxford Street on the way home.  But the hoards of shoppers/tourists there just did my head in so didn't stay for long.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed going to Oxford Street - it's just not worth it.    

Rugby

So, I went to see Harlequins versus Gloucester yesterday evening.  I had suggested this as something to do after Christmas whilst I was back home, and didn't think any more of it.  Two fairly mediocre sides in the top tier of English rugby with a few players good enough to play internationally - I wasn't particularly expecting much.  So imagine my surprise to find out that instead of the game being played at The Stoop - Harlequin's home ground with a capacity of 15,000 - the game was actually played at Twickenham in front of a crowd of nearly 78,000!  Didn't even realize all this until after the game - we had just followed the rest of the fans out of the train station to the ground (in retrospect, it was a huge crowd and didn't acknowledge the fact that it was actually Twickenham - despite all the signs indicating it as the home of world and English rugby).  As for the game itself - after a fairly forgettable scoreless opening 30 minutes, the game got a lot more interesting with quite a few tries and Harlequins managing to hold on for a tight win.  Squeezed into our seats, we were a bit unlucky to be seated in the corner where not a lot of the action took place - but still good to go and watch a top tier club rugby game for the first time in nearly 20 years.

More Celebrity Deaths

As has been commented upon, a celebrity who I remarked as being alive in a blog post just 4 days ago is no longer with us - sorry Liz Smith.  Jeez, what is going on with 2016.  Just the last few days has been shocking what with George Michael and Carrie Fisher.  Simply yet more names added to the noticeably long list of celebrities - many from the upper echelons of celebrity - who have passed away this year.  Is this unusual, or is this going to happen more often as the pool of celebrities exponentially grows each year?  We still have a few days left in 2016 - enough time for at least one more a-list celebrity.  I won't try to predict who it will be, though I wouldn't particularly mind or care if it is one of these definitely not a-list and extremely unfunny yet inexplicably popular British comedians: Michael McIntyre, Peter Kay, David Walliams, Alan Carr, Graham Norton or especially the Keith Lemon guy.  

Boxing Day

An old-fashioned Boxing Day - leftover Christmas dinner, family arguments, a game of cards, overindulgence on food and drink, rubbish TV.  Just like every other year I've been around!  Classic.

Christmas Day

An old-fashioned Christmas Day - Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, Queen's speech, family arguments, a game of cards, overindulgence on food and drink, rubbish TV.  Just like every other year I've been around!  Classic.

For my 250th blog entry, that is pretty lame.  Sorry!