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Christmas Cards
I wasn't able to feature the Christmas cards I received in videos because I didn't make any videos this year. So I waited until now just in case anything turned up late. One that arrived on Christmas Eve was one sent - again - with a customs declaration. It said "Documents". This time La Poste just delivered it and didn't screw me for €8 or so in import duty. Maybe they copped some heat for doing that last year?
It's good because it's a cute card with windows and a door that open up. Yeah, I know, small mind easily amused. ☺
 Do you see yours?
I didn't get many cards because I didn't send many. It's expensive - in both directions. But I do wish to thank those who keep this tradition going because an email just isn't the same, is it? Give it a year or two and email greetings will be sent by an AI assistant and people won't remember any important dates. So this is a tradition worth keeping, a small spark of human choice in a world increasingly controlled by opaque algorithms.
Fweeeeeeeeeeee...
I slept badly because I seem to have developed tinnitus. I don't know if it's the cold, or if have some weird side effect to not catching the flu despite meatsacks all around trying to give it to me... Nothing seems, to me, to be a particular cause.
Those of you with a similar age to me may remember going into the computer lab as a teenager in the early 90s, with a dozen or more cheap VGA monitors and their flyback transformers screaming at 15kHz - something the older teachers couldn't hear but you sure as hell could.
Well, that's what it sounds like. A rather loud very high pitched screech. As a person who likes silence, this is cruel because there is no noise. It's just something that has gotten messed up somewhere between my ears and my brain.
I can sometimes block it out, but sometimes it's always there lurking. And, the most annoying, I haven't abused my ears - I have never been to a rock concert, and I listen using headphones at a volume loud enough to hear the details but no louder (louder doesn't equal better, it equals headaches, so I just don't do it).
I have always heard a touch of this in total silence, which I put down to "noise" as my ears became more sensitive in the quiet (like an AGC). But now? It's sort of always there in the background, and has been like this for a few days now - like a slightly late birthday present to remind me I'm not a spring chicken any more.
I'm kind of hoping this will sort of toddle off or fade away (or my brain will get used to it and start ignoring it) because if I have the remaining 20 or so years of my life with "fweeeeeeee" always in the background, hello senility here I come.
Russian propaganda
Russia recently lobbed some ordinance at Putin's home to give him an excuse to reject any sort of peace accord - even though he shouldn't be at all surprised at his home being hit given that his country has been endlessly dumping explosives on Ukraine. But, like Trump, the Big Bad can dish it out but can't take it.
That being said, I feel that this was a setup designed by Putin to put some distance between Trump his puppet and Zelenskyy.
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot, a French film icon died recently at the age of 91. It probably shouldn't come as much surprise that the ex-National Front have suggested a national tribute...given that in her later years she became quite the far-right provocateur, having multiple convictions for inciting racial hatred/intolerance - particularly her comments on Muslims.
So, as much as her legacy in French cinema was impressive and important, as a human being she was lacking. But, then, "Epstein files", turns out that far too many "celebrities" and people otherwise deemed "important" are horrible excuses of humans.
Thankfully, I know her only by name - I don't think I could name a single film she's been in. When it comes to French cinema, Jean Rollin and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (both directors) are more my speed, and for some reason Dominique Pinon (actor) turns up in lots of things.
Jean Rollin directed loads of really low budget "fantastique" horror movies with weird storylines and a dreamlike atmosphere due to the use of colours and surrealism. Despite the low budget and total lack of recognition in his home country (titles like "The Rape of the Vampire" probably didn't help), it is worth looking out some of his work just to soak up the imagery - it's a different approach to film making. Just don't expect exciting things to happen, it's all about the ambience.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet... Amélie, Bigbug, and my personal favourite The City of Lost Children.
And Dominique Pinon has been in just about everything - seriously, look at his filmography.
As for Bardot? Meh, whatever.
Tidying up
Every so often I go out and scrape mossy stuff off the driveway out front. The tarmac is old and falling apart, and weedkillers that actually killed weeds are banned, so it's getting to be a mess.
This was last done, sort of, in January 2024, so two years ago. The other side was done... for some reason... at the end of September 2019 and again at some point about three years ago that I don't remember.
Well, it was 2½°C outside, and not much more inside, so I put on my coat, grabbed some tools, fired up Antenne Symphonic Rock and set about picking up the pile of gunk. It took five journeys and my back hurts again. Oh well, I guess I could have seen that coming. On the other hand, I was warm enough by the end that I took my coat off and went and got Anna to go stand in the sun, that was actually quite warm. But Anna didn't want any of that, she just wanted fed again. Huh - go catch a mouse furball.
Then I came in to write all of this and, well, I feel colder sitting here with a heat pad on my lap than I felt outside in the actual cold. Hmmm...
 Tidying up.
Speaking of cold, every time I look at AccuWeather, the week ahead forecast keeps getting worse. I see two -5s. It is supposed to warm up on the 7th, with snow (0.1cm so just a dusting). I'll believe it when I see it. It's my experience that winter cold snaps hang around for longer than predicted. Especially when it's like "just get through the next week and the lows will mostly be positive numbers". Uh-huh.
Météo France isn't quite so dramatic. They reckon -2s rather than -5s. We'll see.
So here's to 2025
And, just to shake things up a little, I have typed this part. You can click the picture to view a larger (and thus more readable) version.
 Click image for a larger version.
As far as I can see, the whoopsie with "W.H.Smith" and a double-space are the only mistakes that I made. There are some other glitches, but they're due to the typewriter. Still, not bad given that there's no spellcheck or wibbly red underlines when you're using a mechanical typewriter.
I think that says all that needs said really. I have no expectation that 2026 will be anything to celebrate. This decade has been a rapid slide downhill and I wonder how long it'll continue before everything falls apart in a way that our grandparents all swore "never again".
Happy New Year.
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| Zerosquare, 1st January 2026, 01:36 |
Happy new year, Rick!
Regarding tinnitus: if it lasts, tell your doctor about it. It can be a symptom of something else that's curable (things like high blood pressure, unconscious teeth grinding, or a neurological issue). |
| Rick, 1st January 2026, 01:51 |
Yes, I'll go see my doctor if this doesn't shut up soon.
I don't have high blood pressure, quite the opposite.
As for neurological issues... 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 This brain of mine has never worked quite right. Couple that with volatile digestion, naff lungs, and now a wonky back - it's pretty obvious that I got stuck into a body that was supposed to have been a Quality Control reject. |
| jgh, 1st January 2026, 14:38 |
If you ever read up about Eric Gill's life, you'll never use Gill Sans again. |
| Rick, 1st January 2026, 17:01 |
The first paragraph on his wiki page ends "and of his pet dog."
Duuuuuuude. 🤮 |
(Felicity? Marte? Find out!)
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Last read at 17:45 on 2026/01/17.
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- entry 2025/12/31
