The best of 2008

Zil reminds us in her blog that the end of the year is always good for countdown lists. That inspired me to do a little "best of" list of my own, just for a laugh. Let's just call it, the best of 2008 (in no order what-so-ever), according to me...

Nicolas Sarkozy's personal life. I know very little about what he's done as the French president, but his love life is daily news.

Crocs' Alice shoe. It's a Croc I can wear to work.

Tony Blair finally left Number 10. I'm not saying politcs have improved since his departure but at least we don't have to see photos of him in the paper every day.

Paresh Pattni at Gold Town. Paresh not only runs a high standard of service in his store, but the jewelry he makes is gorgeous.

Anne Enright's The Gathering. Dark, dark, dark. Oh! How I loved it.

David Beckham's Armani underwear adverts. Gasp.

Control. Yes, I've commented on this film quite a few times already but it's all true. It's a must-see.

Kate Nash's Foundations. This song is fab.

Benagil, Portugal. My trip to the western Algarve this summer cured me of my "Florida has the best beaches" snobbery.

Flight of the Conchords. Pure fun.

del.icio.us. Keeping me tagged and happy.

Sometimes I'm OK with the nanny state

There's no doubt about, we get a lot of nannying in this country. First and foremost, there's the smoking ban. Yes, it is fab to enjoy interior public spaces sans smoke (especially now that I have a child). But there is a downside; droves of smokers are on the pavement and a walk down the street now involves dodging lit ciggies. A burn hole in the side of my coat or handbag isn't fun but isn't the end of the world when you consider lit ends are just at toddler eye height.

Next, there is the mighty ASBO and all the kudos gaining one has for a certain demographic in this society.

Consider CCTV, it's everywhere. It's so common I hardly notice it anymore but the other day I was waiting to fill up my car and had a moment to gaze around, counting 10 CCTV cameras for an 8-pump fuel station. This doesn't include the cameras inside the joint. Also, I heard a juicy statistic the other day; every inch of the motorway in this country is covered by CCTV. At least all the road rage is well documented on film...

There are more examples (and I would have a tonne more to discuss if I was a tabloid reader) but one I find completely reasonable is the ban on using a mobile phone whilst driving. I'm not saying I don't break this law, but I do my best not to, I swear, and am in complete compliance when it comes to the spirit of the law; it's dangerous to use a phone and drive. When I just confessed to breaking the law in a pinch, I can say I'm not the only one. People flout this one all the time and now the law is getting tougher. I'm all for it.

Thanking the BBC

Having lived in England for the last 13 years, I have come to expect some highly entertaining work from the BBC. Of course I'm a fan of Radio 4, but I also have enjoyed a few BBC television broadcasts. Probably one of my regular favourites is Have I Got News For You, a topical quiz show that always makes me laugh. Then, going old school, there's The Young Ones. I also enjoyed Men Behaving Badly back in the day. And a bit more recently, I became intrigued with Life on Mars.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that the television bar is pretty high. That's why I'm impressed the BBC has done it again and made me stop and look, this time for the series The Private Life of a Masterpiece. I first read about it over the summer, just leafing through the TV listings, and linked it on our Sky+ whilst it was showing on Sky Arts. I have had the joy of quite a few episodes since then and each one is completely engaging and enlightening. Right now I'm learning about Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross (and, no, I didn't know the piece is in Glasgow).

Evidence

Yes, we made it to the pantomime and here's the pic to prove it. Bailey loved it, Simon had quite a few laughs and I enjoyed a few of the dance numbers. All in attendance seemed to have a blast, and that's what it was for.

Panto everywhere

It's pantomime season and there are several opportunities to get in on the fun. We are off to one today, Cinderella in St Albans. I've only seen one panto before, the school production of Aladdin when I worked at Harrow School, and I must say it's an acquired taste. The primary intention of today's show is to entertain Bailey, which is not a bad thing (in moderation, of course). If it's the parents' responsibility to provided opportunities to become a well-rounded individual, this is just one of the steps.

Yesterday's nativity play

Yesterday morning Bailey had her first school nativity play. She was a sheep in the 30 minute production. Here's a video clip of one of the songs, with Bailey's friend Alice as her shepherd.

Admirers, listen up

For all my secret admirers out there who don't know what to get me for Christmas, please go for this. I think it's so cool.

Lexicon appreciation

Check out this summary of the year's newest words and phrases. I love it.

Weekend visits in London

The "new" London Transport Museum is fab. It impressed each member of our little family, mostly because the curators have made a museum that has something for every age (and a free cloakroom, which we really appreciated since we were dressed for the winter rain). It's the kind of place you can go again and again, and I hope to, because there is so much to see. Here's a pic I took of the of the main floor and one of the dedication plaque.

We used our time in London to make the most of the Christmas spirit. The weather was awful so we didn't make it to see the ice skaters at at Somerset House but we did manage a great bus ride up Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights and a refreshment break at Ed's Easy (Bailey will not be able to fight her genetic destiny when it comes to love of diners; it's in her momma and daddy). We also relaxed in the original Wagamama, and talked about the years we ate there under the androgynous staff regime. It's nothing like that now.

But that was Saturday...

On Sunday Bailey and I visited Dr Crook and we three took the plunge and went to Hamley's. Yes, it was brave and daring and, yes, we deserve some sort of prize. It was packed, even after we stood outside in a well-managed queue to get it. Bailey was in pure bliss and after four floors of toys, we made it out.

This week at work

This week the homemade Learning Centre calendars were distributed to each campus. The point of this project is we each get to submit photos of people we find attractive and one of the guys at another campus uses work time to make them into a calendar for each campus team. We have six staff based in the Watford Learning Centre so we each got to pick two. It's quite amusing to see the images of who we, a range of ages and nationalities, find hot and there was a lot of having to ask each other who so-and-so was because we had never even heard of that calendar entry, nonetheless found them easy on the eyes.

My entries? Simon Armitage and Idris Elba. You can't get much hotter than the man who should be the next Poet Laureate and the man who plays a smart (and well dressed) drug ring leader.

Saturday plans

Today is Bailey's last ballet class of ther autumn term, so parents get to watch. I'm taking the camcorder because ballet class is such a sweet thing to see.

After ballet we're heading into London for the day. The agenda includes visiting the recently re-opened London Transport Museum (check out their fab photograph collection), watching the ice skaters at Somerset House, and seeing the Christmas lights on Oxford Street. It's going to be fun.

It's raining on a Thursday

We've had several days of windy rain, resulting in damp shoes, crazy hair, and inside-out umbrellas. If I could wear Wellies to work everyday I'd be at peace but I have to wear my sensible librarian shoes and therefore I come into work with mud-flecked tights and wet shoes.

All this grey weather and the crazy-long nights seem to be bringing out the strangeness in people...

Example A, this guy has been missing for five years, assumed dead after a canoe accident, but it turns out he faked his death for the insurance money.

Example B, a teenager got an ASBO for boasting about his stupidity on a social networking site. I'm not quite sure who comes out worse in this story, the kid for being so ignorant or the government for thinking ASBOs mean anything to people.

Example C, a group of evangelists tried to stop the a BBC broadcast of the musical Jerry Springer - The Opera, citing the show breaks the country's blasphemy laws and that the BBC Director General should be directly charged. I'm clearly saying this group is the party way out of line on this one, and am relieved to report they were not at all successful.

Example D, our government continues to claim all fundraising officials knew nothing about the well-monied donor who contributed to the Labour party through third parties. How can they possibly think we are this stupid?

Example E, the English Bridge Union is setting a dress code for bridge matches. I had no idea scruffy dress mattered one bit when playing cards.

I'm sure I could go on.

Happy birthday, Bobby!

Today is my only nephew's birthday. Happy birthday to you, Bobby! Go have a Slurpee to celebrate! We love you!

Humour and joy on a Monday morning

I'm up for humour and good vibes any day (and any time) of the week but here are a few random bits to start out the week on a strong note:

I don't use emoticons. I don't see the point if you've got command of the language. The only time you'll see a smiley face in my typing is as a closing when I can't use "Love" or "Hugs". Regardless of your point of view, this Shouts & Murmurs from Tom McNichol is a hoot.

Wearing make-up to work? Does it matter? Is it better to look confidently bare or confidently made up? Read this and see what you think.

I like the Guardian's EcoStore. It's a fun browse.

Crowded House in Nottingham

Last night Simon and I went to the Nottingham Arena to see Crowded House. I became a fan of theirs as a proper grown up; an old boyfriend had given me their greatest hits CD and Simon and I ended up playing it in the car quite a bit, during our courting months. Their music brings back happy feelings, of zipping up or down the motorway at the weekend with Simon.

The band was in fab form last night and it seems as if everyone in the sold-out crowd was wrapped up in the charm. They played a range of their music so everyone had some song they could really belt it out to. We had some impressive seats (11th row centre...again, thanks to second-hand ticket vendors on the Internet) so we really enjoyed everything they did.

I had been to Nottingham only once before. It was over 10 years ago and the purpose of it was a visit to Newstead Abbey. That day was gorgeous but it gave me frame of reference for the part of town we visited last night. Simon and I had a walk around before the gig, really just looking for somewhere to eat dinner. It seems as if Nottingham has a pretty hopping nightlife and all restaurants we visited were completely full and booked up for hours. We ended up just having a drink in a very funky pub and really enjoying the good vibes.