Coastwalk

Dover → Deal

Distance: 10.2 miles
Ascent: 248 metres
Duration: 3 hours 32 minutes

Choreographed crossings
« Folkestone | Sandwich »

Between Dover and Deal the coastpath follows a chain of cliff-top National Trust properties. The downland was full of dog-walkers and holiday hikers.

Personal

The missing video

Jude rang. "I've got the solution to your problem," she said. "Buy The Sopranos."

"Joe Pantoliano (the cop in Memento) appeared in The Sopranos with James Gandolfini who starred in The Mexican with Julia Roberts. Memento to Pretty Woman in one move."

We're currently awaiting the adjudicator's ruling as to whether TV series are permitted. Pity I bought Jay some Audrey Hepburn films instead.

Coastwalk

Folkestone → Dover

Distance: 7.2 miles
Ascent: 387 metres
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Island no more?
« Hythe, Kent | Deal »

It was hard to believe the weather forecast this morning, driving through the rain and mist along the M25. But by the time I reached Folkestone I'd passed through it all and managed a dry walk to Dover.

Personal

The missing piece

Eight jigsaws later, we've only found one that has all its pieces.

Sorting out the family jigsaw collection: this is the post-Christmas lull at home with Mum and two of my three siblings (it's a bit more than a quick drive for Joanna and family to come back from Saranac Lake).

I'm sure there's a clever parallel to be drawn between jigsaws and families, but I'm too tired to work it out now.

Angels

Nelson's Angel

This Angel has descended to the Nativity scene placed in Trafalgar Square by St Martin's in the Fields.

Arts

Not just painting

The most appropriate characterisation of my day came from an eight-year-old stranger on the escalator behind me. "Art's not just painting is it, Mummy?"

I've been in London. Specifically to visit two galleries, and as a consequence I walked the south bank from Tower Bridge to the new Golden Jubilee Bridges.

Angels

The Angel

This being Angel Lane, I've decided to start collecting photographs of Angels wherever I see them. Absolutely no prizes for guessing where this one is perched.

Personal , Tech

Twenty-four

My front door took on a particular resonance as I closed it behind me this morning. Strange how I'd not made the link before.

I'm at work, as I have been every Christmas Eve for years. I love working Christmas Eve; there's a willingness to co-operate that's not so visible other days of the year.

Greenbelt

God Jul & Gott Nytt år

One side effects of send an issue of Greenbelt Festival Dispatches two days before Christmas is that I receive Christmas greetings from people I've never met in languages I can't read but still understand. Beautiful.

Personal

The first noël

And so the season begins. This morning, the snow; this evening, carols on the Market Hill.

The service began well. The town band played as the townsfolk sang, loud voices expelling warm breath that took the edge off the chill. It made a great start to the Christmas season for me.

But I'm ever the cynic and I can't help but laugh. Half-way through, we were collectively chastised for allowing the square's Christmas tree lights to be vandalised; and at the end of the service, Father Christmas put in an appearance from the top of the church tower.

This is Christmas in all its English eccentricity, dressed up like the town mayor presiding over this evening's Noël.

Personal

Snow!

Yay!

That euphoria lasted until I remembered that last night - against my better judgement - I parked my car in a tight spot on my steep lane. (It's the middle one on this picture.) It took a while to get out, and longer to coax it up the road but I eventually slid all the way to work without hitting anything.

And now I get to spend the whole day here, when I should be out making snowmen, throwing snowballs and sledging.

Personal

Escape to sea

Five sounds from Shingle Street this evening:

• aircraft passing high overhead
• footsteps and padding of dog-walkers
• the Union flag fluttering in the winter wind
• shingle being raked by the retreating tide
• silence as the sun set fire to the sky

Personal

Going home

I took the train into Ipswich today to complete my Christmas shopping. (Yes, really: it's done, five whole days early!). The train was heaving, excitement everywhere. Behind me the guard was arguing playfully with slick-haired teenagers about tickets; stacked on the seats in front of me was evidence that whoever Milly is, she won't be disappointed come Thursday.

I'm suddenly reminded how much I enjoy public transport at this time of year. I'm reminded of another Christmas Eve story.

Personal

Ordered Kevinbaconly

Jay called excitedly this evening. "You're the only one who'll understand," she said. "I've made a run of thirty films." Starting with Strictly Ballroom she worked her way to Memento reeling off a list of twenty-eight other films, where any adjacent pair share an actor or director.

Personal

Cold, son of headache

As this week moved on, so my headache has given birth to a full-blown cold. Today the weather's turned to match, and I'm reminded of one of the biggest problems with living in a 350 year-old house: it's freezing.

My warm-up plan of an evening browsing through shops was defeated by the failure of Woodbridge's late-night shopping experiment. So I found myself in Budgens stocking up on foodstuffs that can be warmed and won't cling to the sides of my delicate throat on the way down: soup, fig rolls (30 secs in the microwave), hot chocolate.

Consume. Then a long hot bath, with the latest Time Out and heat. Sometimes I can be such a girl.

I feel miserable, but there is some good news: the jigsaw's done.

Arts , Comment

Downtown

"Jesus Christ is born today; he is born today"

So starts my all-time favourite Christmas-themed song, but I'll bet you've never heard it. (Next time you see me, ask and I'll play it for you.)

Building on a house-flavoured groove derived from Axel F (the theme to Beverley Hills Cop), in 1987 The JAMs added on the London Community Gospel choir, sirens and jingle bells, Petula Clark samples ("neon signs are pretty") and some thick Clydebank rap.

Arts

Film: Love Actually

Any film that shows London for the beautiful, bustling city that it is will win me over. Add a hundred plot lines about love, and a stunning ensemble cast and you've got the perfect way to finish off a relaxing birthday.

Summary: go see the film.

Subtext: today was my birthday.

Personal

How to kill a headache

A bad day: I woke with the knowledge that the headache from last night had evolved into a full-blown killer cold that would be with me all day. I needed a plan, fast. I needed an activity that would keep me occupied all day, but with little movement.

Comment

The gravity of December

Today was team-building at work. Or rather, "team-building" was the excuse for our extended lunchtime (I left after three hours).

And it got me thinking: this is a great thing to do, but why do we only ever have team events in December? There's a guy at work who's vehemently anti-Christmas, so excluded himself from today's meal despite the fact that it had about as much to do with Christmas as canoeing lessons. (We ate at a Mexican restaurant in Suffolk run by a woman with a thick northern accent; we weren't exactly going for authentic Christmas.)

So here's my conclusion: December has a strange gravity around it that alters behaviour. Suddenly it's time to send cards to work-mates you don't really like, time to tip the dustmen and smile sweetly in Tescos.

I wonder what it'd take to break free of its orbit and be pleasant at other times of the year.

Tech

Stop sending spam

So tomorrow, Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2426 comes into force. This is the legal means by which the UK Government hopes to tackle the spam problem.

Here's the key paragraph:

A person shall neither transmit, nor instigate the transmission of, unsolicited communications for the purposes of direct marketing by means of electronic mail unless the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified the sender that he consents for the time being to such communications being sent by, or at the instigation of, the sender.

Greenbelt

Management Monday

"I hope the champagne will appear on you blog," Pip said as we descended the escalators into Liverpool Street tonight. From the station concourse drunken voices lifted to the roof, calling on Sweet Chariots to carry them home. I'm on my chariot: the 2330 to Norwich. I'll be home just as Radio Four switches over to the World Service.

Personal

No pressure

Wonderful news from my sister Ruth this weekend: she's pregnant!

Of course this is fantastic in its own right, but doubly so for me since it means Mum will concentrate on that rather than trying to marry me off. The pressure's off for a year or so and I couldn't be happier for everyone.

Personal

A Coastal Christmas

Of course I should have expected it. Woodbridge may not look out to sea, but it's a coastal town none the less. It therefore submits to the rules of tacky tourism when it has to.

Today was the Christmas Street Fair. The Thoroughfare (we are too posh to use the term High Street out here) was packed with stalls selling porcelain replicas of local landmarks and at least a dozen tombolas offering nothing more exciting than a bottle of cheap plonk as the top prize.

This was all to be expected, along with the charity shops, the cheap Christmas cards, the 'make an angel' kits and the bacon butties.

But Mr Punch came as a surprise.

Arts

Film: Timeline

Today I corrected yesterday's error and walked into the right screen. I shouldn't have bothered. Timeline was a trashy book, but compelling enough for a transatlantic flight. Now name one novel that fits into that category and has made a good film. Can't? Exactly.

And Anna Friel was totally unconvincing as a cocky fourteenth century French lady. Maybe that's why she had the sum total of about two lines of dialogue.

Avoid.

Personal

Under Pressure

I find I perform best under pressure.

Today I tried to do my Christmas shopping. I armed myself with a list of ideas for friends and family, and headed out into the bustle of the High Street. The first Saturday in December. The shops were busy, but not hectic. Cashiers were queue-less and Ipswich sported only one carolling brass band.

But I came away empty. I bought nothing.

Arts

Film: S.W.A.T.

It's got guns. It's loud. It's mindless. And I walked into the wrong screen at the multiplex. Ah well, at least it took my mind off the shopping.

Arts

Film: In America

(Three films in three days? This is getting to be an artistic week.)

In America is pitched as a film of the American Dream, a story about a family moving to America with nothing and taking their first tentative steps. Superficially that's true enough, but it's dishonest of the trailer to omit that at its heart, this film is about death and tragedy, and how they effect our lives.

I'll not say more than that this is highly recommended viewing. It was emotionally tough to watch at times, but ultimately a rewarding, cathartic experience.

Comment

Getting into the spirit

Today I received my first Christmas card of the year; and at the office, the Christmas lights were put up. I did my part too: I ran up Xsnow on my desktop. (Mac and Windows users: don't feel deprived, you can have snow too.)

Oh yes, I'm getting into the spirit. I'm spreading the word: 'tis the season. Christmas is coming.

Arts

Film: Seabiscuit

Quickie review: it's okay.

A compelling enough story about the triumph of the little (or in this case, big) guy against all the odds. Some neat moments too - like showing the reaction of radio listeners rather than the key race itself. But all in all, it's only average. Fine fare, but nothing to go out of your way for.

(On the other hand, it got me all excited about horse-racing. Almost makes me wonder what Cheltenham's like for the three hundred and fifty days we're not there.)

Greenbelt

Freedom Bound

Greenbelt has a theme for next year's festival. It's Freedom Bound.

You can read more about the theme on the Greenbelt website.

Arts

Film: Finding Nemo / Knickknack

Just as For the Birds outshone Monsters, Inc., so the latest from Pixar is eclipsed by the short that preceeds it.

Don't misunderstand: Finding Nemo is a great film. It's technically astonishing, with beautifully animated seascapes and so much realism in the fluid movements that it's hard to conceive they were animated by software.

But the ten minutes preceding the feature stole the show. Knickknack provides the humour, the thrills and grins that are as lost as Nemo.

When short features can be this good, why are cinemas not screening them more frequently?

Personal

December

Let me describe the ritual. (It's important to use the right terms for things, and anything you've done three years in a row should be considered established practice.)

On 30 November, wait until a quarter to midnight.
Slip on a warm jacket, step outside and blend into the darkening shadows.
In the empty streets, pick out the scent of woodsmoke and the silence of sleeping.
Past the midnight hour, return home.
Turn on the fairy lights, Over the Rhine's Darkest Night of the Year and a mug of cocoa.
As the cello solo starts, light the candles.
Sit back and drink in the first hour of December.

"Thank you my angel for the clutter of my life."

Welcome to December.