We got our Xbox 360 back from repairs today. Other Half cradled it in his manly arms and smiled. I kid you not.
Still Coughing
Meanwhile, British steampunk enthusiasts are now hiding their retro-styled reinventions of common househole items under their brass beds for fear of being visited by the long arm of the law themselves
io9 looks into a British newsstory about a rogue terrorist who turned out to be .. well, a LARPer with a steampunk bent?
Meanwhile, my Doctor Who prediction turned out to be a load of codswallop. Whoopsie.
A Few Links
My nose is running, my head is stuffed and my throat is sore. So, let's cut this short. The identity of the new Doctor Who is going to be revealed today on BBC1. I called Paterson Joseph in November after watching a potential slip-up during an interview. Behind The Sofa has an interesting discussion going with Stuart making a surprisingly good case for Hugh Grant(!) although the consensus seems to be either Paterson Joseph or Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Daily Dust points out that "if there’s a black doctor, it means that when the world gets round to doing all the press for Barack Obama and how black people are getting into positions never thought possible even just a few years ago, then Doctor Who is getting mentioned in those articles." We shall know very, very soon.
UPDATE: None of the above as it turns out..
BBC has one of those prediction things that they like doing: "we may be witnessing the death of the English indie scene that rose out of the embers of Britpop, and has now become tired and cliched." Which is utter nonsense, of course. We may see the end of identikit guitar bands pushed into the limelight by clueless record companies (The Pigeon Detectives, anyone? The Kooks?) but those bands have very little to do with indie music. Auntie Beeb also thinks that 2009 will be the year of electro-pop-rock which is a complete contrast to, say, Klaxons who vowed British audiences and critics in 2007 with their, er, electro-pop-rock.
I didn't like this site when it first popped up, but it has improved. Which Book? gives you reading recommendations based upon parameters of your own choice. I plugged in a few "musts" and was recommended Patricia Duncker's Hallucinating Foucault (which I have already read and absolutely love).
Have a lovely Saturday.
Christmas Time (Almost)
I smell like a smoked sausage. Sunday afternoon was spent outside in our garden carolling, eating mince-pies, drinking mulled wine and huddling in front of little wood burners. It was very, very enjoyable and I hope it will turn into a tradition as it was a good way to celebrate Winter solstice begin the Christmas holidays.
I was asked by some of my Scottish friends how Danes celebrate Christmas.
The most important difference is the actual date: we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. Most of December 24 will consist of preparing food, watching From All of Us (dubbed into Danish), attending church and then around 6pm sit down for the traditional meal. Obviously the meal will differ slightly from family to family, but we usually have roasted pork with crackling, roasted duck with prune and apple stuffing, caramelised potatoes, boiled potatoes, gravy, stewed red cabbage and halved apples with redcurrant jelly. David is a huge fan of the Danish Christmas dessert: ris ala mande: it is basically cold rice pudding mixed with vanilla-infused whipped cream and chopped almonds. It is served with hot cherry sauce. The pudding has a tiny game attatched to it: You put in one whole almond and whoever finds the almond gets a special present. After the meal people gather around the decorated Christmas tree, the (real!) candles are lit and you dance around it singing a mixture of psalms, traditional folk songs and a few recent Christmas songs. One of my personal favourites is the psalm Julen Har Bragt Velsignet Bud (Christmas Has Brought Us Blessed News). And then it is time for presents.
I think one of the biggest cultural differences for me is how the time up to Christmas is spent. In Denmark I was used to people gathering to bake or make candy together. You'd get together with friends or family to make decorations out of paper, branches and clay. The four Sundays leading up to Christmas would be marked by lighting candles and exchanging small presents. I have marked these traditions, of course, but it feels a bit odd when you are the only one excited by weaving Christmas hearts (such as the ones you can see in the photo of our tree), thinking about baking (which I actually didn't manage this year) or marking the Christmas Sundays. I have delighted in following the Christmas advent calender aimed at Danes living abroad, mind.
Tomorrow's blog will be all about knitting. Consider yourself warned. For now, let me leave you with a collection of the worst Christmas songs ever created. Enjoy.
Three Lists
Ten Worst Predictions of 2008 is US-centric, but still amusing. New York Times columnist Bill Kristol did not have a great year - not only did he predict that Hillary Clinton would sweep the Democratic caucuses, Kristol was also the man who pushed for Sarah Palin's Vice-President nomination. I'm still not sure whether to thank him or not. Fifty Things Every British Girl Should Have amuses me. Beret? Check. Breton top? Yup. A pair of gold leggings? Of co... what?!? The fifty things ranges from the sublime to the absolutely ridiculous - and so they should. I'm just not sure how a lot of these things would hold up in Scottish weather conditions.
2008: The Indie Music Alphabet takes you from A to Z in a 'ironic New Wave folk by way of Oregon and Lapland in a faux-Ossie Clark dress and checked shirts' way. I recommend Wolf Parade because I'm quite predictable.
And one final thing: Silent Star Wars. Turn up the volume and lean back to watch what Star Wars might've looked like in 1923..
Joss Whedon Is Crafty
It's an age-old war. Like the werewolves and the vampires. I think Underworld was actually originally about crocheters and knitters but they thought it would be too controversial so they changed it to vampires and werewolves.
Buffy, Firefly, Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog and Angel-creator, Joss Whedon opens up about his crafty side.
As a huge Firefly geek, it's particularly thrilling to hear Joss Whedon explaining Jayne Cobb's hat .. but the entire interview is awesome..
Like I'm saying, the sort of people who understand the DIY mentality are more about the doing than the having. So I think that ultimately, my advice is what my advice always is: Make stuff. You know. Right now, because of digital technology, you can make crafty little movies, you can make crafty little things that go up for millions of people to see. You can sort of combine the two ethos-ethoses-ethosees... And grab a video camera, tell a story. Be stupid, be something, just ... It is no longer the time of sitting around and thinking about doing something. If you're going to do that, you can, you know, crochet, and you're already doing it.
.. yes, awesome. Joss Whedon is awesome. Yes.