last christmas

ho ho ho

that introduction is of course meant in the festive way, look you see, and not in the manner of an independent businessman, resplendent in a purple hat with a feather on it and holding a cane what has a dagger concealed in it, addressing his exclusively female employees. for today (the day that this is published) is Christmas Eve, no less. 

as there is every exceedingly likely chance that there shall be nothing of interest or consequence to tell of this Christmas (being 2020), i figured that to try and evoke of what the season should be it would be best to look at the last. so yes, i have drawn on the celebrated words of Ridgley and Michael for the title of this post for that reason. a song which probably should have been a Christmas Number One, but was not, mostly due to Band Aid. actually exclusively due to Band Aid. 

be warned, dear reader, that there are some (two) images of me ahead. of the very limited number of people who read this stuff, i know it is only a small percentage that can tolerate actually seeing me. so, if for some reason you like the words but not the writer, you may well wish to skip all of this one. 

going all deep end with the prior warning then, there is me, or if you like moi, for you. no, i can assure you, one year later my appearance has not changed so much. maybe more grey, but nothing one would generally say is any sort of improvement.

i shall yield, or confess, that the above image does not immediately seem like i am engaged in any sort of traditional form of Christmas activity. and yet i very much am, to be sure. of the numerous things what William had requested in the shape (or form) of gifts that year (2019), one happened to be a splendid looking, as well as modestly priced, set of "walkie talkie" things. the packaging proclaimed that they had a two (2) mile range. it was a claim i was suspicious of, but all the same i was sent off to see just how far the range was. alas, i am no real expert in gauging distance, but i do believe it was some 600 to 700 (maybe 800) yards away that i got at they still worked. lots of houses and stuff in between seemed to stop them working, for radio waves appear not to care for concrete so much. 

speaking of William, and for that matter James, yes why not, a look at them opening up the gifts of the day that was the last Christmas we had. 

regular readers, in particular friends and family, shall no doubt have noted - now or just as they read this - that the boys have not featured too much over the course of the year this year (2020). this for the most part is because they have requested not to be featured so much, what with them now being of an age when all this social media stuff is off importance to their world. i have agreed to respect their wishes entire, but also said there are many dear friends and family members around the world who love them dearly and would wish to have visual confirmation that they are doing well. 

further, or also, this is 2020, the year in which as many of us as possible were "requested" (under threat of arrest or fine or both) to rather stay at home and not go out, so as that we may all win the invisible war against the new plague. so, it is not like we have done much during the course of the year that has involved doing anything interesting to take pictures of, let alone present updates. 

just another pic of the boys looking at presents, then. yes, that is James now wearing one of the ones what he got. also yes, William has read all of the books in that boxset over the year, some of them more than once. he is now what one may call well versed in the ways of Batman, then.

one other also yes would be, indeed, yes, in the background is the superb portrait of Bowie what my (at the time) (considerably) better half painted for me for the instance of my birthday 2016, marking her (then) care for me and my love of the man the world had just recently lost. 

but, you are probably far more interested in more tales of the walkie talkie thing, so here is a slightly smaller picture of me testing it. depending on what sort of device you are looking at this on (if anyone is looking), there should well be a splendid text wrap around thing on the go, a bit like one would find in newspapers or magazines or similar. 

what was i wearing when this picture was taken? i am not generally known for any particular level of sartorial elegance, if i am using that term correctly. unless i am quite mistaken, the shirt i have on is the pink one what Gran (no, the other one) really liked me wearing, so it seemed appropriate to wear it as a signature of memory, respect and missing. 

the jacket is, of course, my near legendary one, procured for me by Zama, from an independent, strictly cash only ad hoc retailer based at the back of Jozi's main taxi rank. despite the modest cost of this jacket (although i can recall receiving no change), Zama assured me that it was a legit Levi's one, and in no way a cheap knock off illicitly imported from China or similar. also, he gave me every assurance that it was perfect for the famous English winter periods, and was guaranteed to keep me warm. despite him never experiencing, or having any reference for, an English winter, or "proper" snow. 

so, right, anyway, that is that, i think. if for some reason you are online for purposes of reading this over actual Christmas, blessed be you for giving me but a moment of your time, and i trust you shall move on to further festivities.

merry christmas, one and all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!