Friday, December 29, 2017

hours before the winter sun's ignited

hello again


an invitation to cast your thoughts back, look you see, as far ago as four days. yes. in these modern times of instant gratification, coupled with an immediacy to disposal, our perceptions of memories can be something subject to change.

this would be a look back, then, at our Christmas, to be sure. hopefully, and it would be my sincerest wish that this is so, you all had a most wonderful time. for family, friends and those strangers who sometimes wheel by this blog, here's the tension, the drama, the buzz, the atmosphere of highlights from our day, then.

but first, this. prior to any sort of youthful celebration of Christmas, one requires a certain gentleman to come along and deliver things of stuffs for one to open on the day. as it happens, on Saturday he did indeed drive past our home, led or if you like powered more by a land rover than the expected or anticipated reindeer.



indeed, there to one side - the darker in the shadows side rather than the business end what is all red and lit up - the boys watch on. as point of fact, and as is his way, one can see James watching over his younger brother William, ensuring he is all ok, or if you like in the festive season way all fine and dandy.

speaking of business end, onwards, then, to the business end of Christmas morning, and the boys inspecting what gifts and presents Father Christmas, or Santa Claus if American or preferred, might have brought for free in curiosity.



yes, of course the boys believe in Father Christmas, and his generosity. well, they know that Father Christmas engages in conversation with their Mum & Dad to discuss the potential and possibility of what gifts may be appropriate. James elected to hold speculative talks with me about how it might be that there isn't really a Father Christmas. quite early in this conversation i put forward the idea that it would be a great shame if James was correct in this, as a lack of belief in him would probably, nay undoubtedly, conclude with a lack of gifts from him. James has not raised the subject since.

on we go, then, to opening up some gifts. no, i am not going to go into great or lavish detail about what they all got. it would, however, be appropriate to say that it very much did the heart of both my (considerably) better half and i much good to know that they were delighted with that which they received.



indeed that is young William, most delighted to have secured another splendid, smart and exceptionally dapper new shirt as part of his Christmas gifts. as many will be aware, William places a high level of value, or stock, in fashion. he wishes to look good all of the time, and why not.

what exactly is he wearing behind the shirt? his much treasured Kylo Ren out of Star Wars outfit. it is quite fair to say that the wayward, somewhat easily distracted and rather unruly one from the imaginary Solo and Skywalker families is a firm favourite of his.




a return to other gift opening, then. from what i can make out - my camera what has been welded to a phone seems to have gone blurry - and indeed recall, this is a most splendid quasi miniature table tennis set they are opening.

that was a gift which was bought on a whim, yet turned out to be a jolly good whim. it was an immediate favourite, has remained so after the day that was Christmas day and sees them play most splendidly with it. well, sure, there has been one or two minor incidents of them twatting each other with the paddles or if you like bats or if it is right racquets, but that is common and standard and normal for table tennis. or "flippy floppy" or whatever it is that Boris Johnson turned up in China, announced it was called and upset all of Asia.

now, then. the title of this blog. it, and certain lines throughout, are quoted from the song Christmas off of Tommy, the greatest work of art the twentieth century produced, by The Who. that quote was chosen to, in many respects, reflect my own morning, rather than the 75% of my family who you like a lot more than you like me.



of course yes, that above is indeed some mild, rather harmless stalking. that is me hovering over James at around 8:30am on Christmas morning. he is indeed asleep, but i had been awake for quite some time; north of 90 minutes. why? well, in her infinite wisdom my (considerably) better half had left her verk alarm clock set on her phone, and her phone downstairs. this woke me rather early, but no one else.

an exciting question to ask at this time of year is how do the people of other nations, or in another country, celebrate all things Christmas? conventionally, i suppose, is the best answer. but, as ever, where i can i am most happy to give some insights.



indeed yes, that is one of them cinema screen thingies, set up outside and with a projector and portable DVD player combo throwing an image upon it. so yes, this is from the Africa in the South, and so it is off Richard. certainly, Richard enthusiasts, there is an image of him later.

what's the idea of the above set up? for Richard, nothing says "Christmas" more than holding a screening of the superb cinematic experience that is Convoy for the benefit of family and friends. true, this is of slight difference from any other day of any other week within a month of any given year, but in this instance he would hold the screening whilst wearing a smart paper hat what he got out of a Christmas cracker. undoubtedly he would have also held a screening of Smokey And The Bandit, along with any one of the Vacation films what has Cousin Eddie in it.

for sure, yes, my (considerably) better half celebrates Christmas too. and not just by randomly leaving the alarm on her phone to wake me up. look, here she is.



being married to moi does pose that age old challenge; what does one get as a gift for someone who would apparently have everything, and then some, that one could wish for in this world or the next? a formidable challenge to be posed or faced with, truly. in the end i elected for an answer which came in the form of one of them Vinyl Pop! figures, with this one being a sculpture or if you will effigy of Jareth, the self-styled Goblin King out of Labyrinth, as portrayed by David Bowie.

indeed, my (considerably) better half is quite the fan of Bowie, Labyrinth and the whole concept of the Goblin King, so this was a most splendid gift idea, methinks. she, at the least, seems to really rather like it. so either i got it right, or it's just the power of voodoo.

how about some more mild, minor stalking? well, sure. the one i took of my (considerably) better half is over on that facebook thing, but here i am with a not quite awake William.



i believe he was slightly woken by my stalking the remainder of the family, but was also aware of the fact that it would have been highly beneficial for him to be up. to this end, then, yes, he is quite awake as he peeks over the bedsheets to see what exactly Daddy is up to. taking a picture, as it happens, taking a picture.

further images of celebrations of Christmas from around the world? surely. come, let us go even more south, i think, if my geography is correct, to the realm of New Zealand.



yes, Grant enthusiasts, as a treat there you go, an image of him with family. of the many disappointing things what have happened in 2017 i know for many a key one was the lack of images of Grant appearing here on this blog. may this image of them all celebrating in some way make up for all of that.

what of me, you say or maybe ask? quite possibly no you don't, as i dare say that most of you would rather read this without seeing or hearing too much of me specifically. for that peculiar, unusual minority interested, then, yes but of course i did indeed celebrate Christmas too.



and there i am. yes, that's me with a most smart set of Teletubbies branded bath and shower gels for me to use on my person, presented as a gift from my family. also, another gift is on display in terms of my smart new Brock Lesnar "Supplex City" t-shirt. apparently, and as far as i can work out from what i was informed, Mr Lesnar is now my totes favourite wrestler, what with Honky Tonk Man retired, and despite me having no idea who exactly he is.

would i know who Brock Lesnar is if he came up and punched, or "Supplex City"-ed, me in the face? yes, of course, if he helped me back to my feet after that and introduced himself. otherwise, no. but anyway, i will, during the course of the year ahead of us (2018), do a full rundown blog on the shirt. for now, then, back to those of my family who you actually like.



indeed, that there above is James most thrilled - chuffed, even - to have secured the gift of a Chocolate Orange as part of his Christmas haul.

oh, to be sure, a Chocolate Orange is a particularly splendid thing to get at any given time. for James, though, they are extra special. he knows that these are a fine treat which his Grandad loves, and so getting one allows him pause for thought to think of Grandad.

yes, over on the other side of the world, Grandad did indeed get one for Christmas too. so he and James took to all that "video calling" stuff to show each other their respective gifts and comment on how excellent it was to have such a thing.



above is indeed William, still resplendent in the robes of Kylo Ren, being most pleased to have got, yes for Christmas, a portable (as in you run it off batteries rather than a power cord) light up Death Star off of Star Wars.

did James get one too? yes, but not of the Death Star. he got one of Chewbacca, or if you will Chewie, instead. and here he is showing it off, with James now resplendent in a Seth Rollins (i think) t-shirt what he got for Christmas too.



a really, really strange thing happened as we, erm, consulted with Father Christmas in respect of what gifts to get for the boys. something we wanted to get them was a gift related or otherwise pertaining to Star Wars, as both love all that space battle stuff. our ambition was to get something pertaining or relevant to The Last Jedi, being as it is the most recent film. there is a significant lack of marketing merchandise related to the film available. at least this was so on the shelves of the shops, as no one had any sort of action figures or similar related to the film.

hey ho, it matters not. as i would certainly hope is the case, the above two pictures show that the boys were most happy - thrilled, indeed, even - with the Star Wars related items what they got. but i shall have a bit of a gander on the internet; see if there is any reason why the usual avalanche of marketing associated with Star Wars has not come along with the most recent film, or if you will "episode".

right, then. for all you Richard enthusiasts who were patient and didn't simply scroll down, your patience is here rewarded, for here is Richard and family.



true, surely, yes. from what i can work out in respect of the above picture, they all had a magnificent Christmas where they were. also, one which was much, much warmer than what we had. although in fairness it was ever so slightly close to mild here.

did we, what with it being cold and indeed Christmas, just stay at home the whole day? no. off we went for a stroll, prior to a most splendid of Christmas lunch, to see Gran. or, from the point of view of the boys, Great Grandma. although surely, truly, all Grandmas are great.



a most lovely morning, then, with some splendid coffee and further gift exchanges. indeed, Gran had suggested not to get her anything, but of course we got her something, and she was most delighted with it. as too, to be sure, were the boys with their gifts.

well, anyway, or if you like phew, that would be just about that for this. just one further, and i would suggest most splendid, picture of the boys on Christmas day, then.



and so there we have it, or had it i suppose. oh yes, there was much more merriment and celebration to be had, to be sure, but that will do for a glimpse.

once again, then, i do hope you all had a most splendid of Christmas this year, whether you actively celebrated the day for what it represents or just had the time off.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





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