Eggnog and Oranges

Christmas has landed with a thud here. The refrigerator is full of eggnog, the kitchen counter is piled high with mandarin oranges and Chris is working his way through another chocolate advent calendar. There's snow on the ground too. We both enjoyed this week's episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, "The Christmas Show". Is it just me, of is Studio 60 slowly turning into an actual hip variety show? Corinne Bailey Rae's appearance last week was spellbinding and the jazz tribute to New Orleans this week was magic.

Having Chris with me this week means I have someone to boss around. Helps me keep busy... We had a long argument this afternoon about his squash lesson; it was planned for today but at the last minute he wanted to go on Thursday instead so he could play RuneScape online longer. That didn't pass the sniff test, but he pushed it as far as calling his mother and asking if he could walk over to her house (foolishly, she agreed). In the end he stayed here and although we were too late for his lesson we did a treadmill workout together. Surprise, surprise, he enjoyed it. Especially since we discovered that my health club was offering hors d'oeuvres and music in the lobby and was holding, of all things, a pie eating contest. We didn't stick around for the pie though.

Last Sunday I met up with Sheryl for lunch. We walked down to the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, hoping to find an open table at Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner. No luck because the kitchen had closed (they only serve lunch) but we did run into Sheryl's good friends Colin and Mary Jo there. They were at the bar while their children worked some clay in the next room. We joined them for a drink but had to keep quiet as we were all trespassing on a private function! It was about 4:00 when we left and I still hadn't had anything to eat, so we stopped in at the Montreal Bread Company (their web site is too irritating to deserve a link) for a sandwich on they way back. Then it was back home for me as Sheryl was having a girlfriend over for dinner. And we're not seeing each other any more...

By the way, I saw The Queen a few weeks back with Sheryl. What an amazing performance by Helen Mirren! I had to keep reminding myself that it was Helen up there, not the monarch herself. Although the event the film is structured around, the death of Princess Diana, is the. biggest. thing. evar. for some people in reality it was just a pop culture sideshow. Watching the Royal Family's response was interesting though, revealing how out of touch and irrelevant they have become. Although certainly a competent film in all areas, with the script and supporting actors standing up particularly well, it's really a character study of Queen Elizabeth. So see it for Helen's performance unless you're a Princess Diana freak, in which case see it so you can hate the Royal Family.

I note two interesting developments south of the border: John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned. Bolton served 16 months even though he was never confirmed by Congress because of his combative attitude and bias against the United Nations. Also the Democrats have confirmed Robert Gates' appointment as Bush's new Secretary of Defense in spite of his involvement in Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal back in the Eighties and in the CIA's Iran-Iraq War entanglements during the same era. Anything to get Donald Rumsfeld out the door I suppose...

Listening to: Trouble Sleeping by Corinne Bailey Rae from Corinne Bailey Rae.