Christmas Links #5


Links  This will have to be quick because I'm writing thison the evening of the 4th, it's almost bedtime and I'm going to Southport tomorrow.  Review 2006 flipped the paradigm of the previous year and was the first year I asked readers to submit questions for me to answer on any topic.  There's a full list here with subsequent comments.  As you can see there were a wide range from asking how to fix Torchwood to why Doctor Who was "so disappointing all of a sudden?" which is a bold moment after what's now considered the imperious second season with the Tenth Doctor and Rose.  

There's some satire ("What are your views on the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?"), some genuine fact finding ("What is the significance of the Wolf in American Indian teachings?") to others which really challenged me to do some of the personal blogging which I'd probably leave on Twitter if at all now.  Looking back at that final link, I realise that I was more progressive than I thought in those days.  Now I think I'd identify myself as being on the ace spectrum in that I fancy women and want to spend time with them but don't think I could go further.  Or something.

You weren't expecting that, were you?  Anyway, my favourite post is the answer to "Which famous 5 people, dead or alive, would you invite to a dinner party. What would you eat/drink ? What entertainment would you lay on for the 6 of you afterwards?"  Whereas I could have simply dashed off a list, I went into some detail on the choices which were chosen because they'd been meaningful to me in 2006.  It's also the moment when I realised I'd left a huge factual error in the introduction of my MA dissertation and none of the markers had noticed (I'd accidentally credited Tim Bernier-Lee with coining the term "hyperlink".  Sigh.  Anyway, I'm off to bed.  Good morning.

"Charitable donations peak in December, but what about the rest of the year? Sally Howard meets the people dedicated to random acts of kindness – and learns why giving anonymously is even better for you."

"Channel 4's terrestrial premiere of Season 30 of The Simpsons in the UK began on Tuesday 1st November. A Tuesday. I ask you.  Anyway, it wrapped up earlier this week; back in September, I predicted which episodes might be cut, dropped altogether or otherwise moved around for the fourth year in a row, and here we see how the battle of expectations versus reality panned out."

"Nationwide investigates whether the recession is having an effect on shoppers this Christmas."

"It’s refreshing to have a Jamaican cook from Britain write about Caribbean food culture."

"Christmas market stall holders fear their profit margins will be badly hit this year as their goods are costing far more to produce."

"It's an event - you don't get Wetherspoons prices at an event."

Tie-in author Una McCormack's amazing AMA on the Star Trek Reddit.

"With December finally gracing our doorstep, the season of Christmas candles is officially here, meaning it's time to bring out all the warm, spicy and cosy scents to help us get into the festive spirit."

"Christmas food, parties, celebrations and festivities of all kinds including stage plays, singing and dancing, became illegal under Cromwell making him the original Grinch."

"A Hokkaido-grown Sakhalin fir tree towering about 20 meters was set up for the event at the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse commercial complex next to the city's harbor, and a fireworks display drew oohs and aahs from residents and tourists."

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