The Meerkat Muse: 4th December 2024
It’s December, which can mean only one thing. It’s time to talk Christmas!
Starting the Season
When it comes to celebrating Christmas, I am something of a purist. For me, Christmas does not start until the 1st of December at the earliest. How can we appreciate this magical time of year if we put up decorations and start up all the songs and stuff in the middle of November? By the time the big day arrives, I for one feel burnt out if the festive season is prolonged. For it to be special, for it to hold the allure and wonder we so often desire from it, it should be kept to a briefer spell. Alas, what with the onslaught of adverts from the end of October onward (to say nothing of the appearance of Christmas stock on shop shelves as early as September), it seems society is bombarded with Christmas for months, over-saturating the senses, and leading – for me at least – to a sense of festive fatigue.
I love Christmas, I really do, even if my wife and daughter like to tease that I am something of a grinch. I merely believe for Christmas to be truly special, we should confine it to December. That said, I am realistic enough to understand that preparations need to be made. Presents, food, decorations and other stuff need sorting out, and ideally sooner rather than later. I just don’t wish to personally celebrate the season until December!
The Spectre of War
My friend Bruce Gerencser recently wrote a post about President Biden’s decision to send anti-personnel weapons to Ukraine. He also touched upon the decision to let Ukraine use long-range US missiles against targets in Russia itself. Once Biden made his decision, the UK government gave their own green light for a similar move.
To be clear, the root of the war rests upon Putin’s shoulders, and I loathe the idea of appeasement, which is something Trump may well do when he takes over the White House. That said, it seems like Biden is doing what he can to make sure the USA is well and truly entangled in the conflict, and Britain seems to be following suit. I do not believe Ukraine should have to give up territory to a dictator (that will merely embolden Putin to try again in the future, especially since he can manipulate Trump so readily), but equally, escalating the conflict endangers all of us. It’s all well and good to believe Putin won’t go so far as to shoot missiles into NATO countries, but from his point of view, NATO is waging a proxy war, and NATO weapons are being fired into his country. How many times do you poke the bear, even if the bear arguably deserves it, before the bear swipes back?
I don’t know of an easy answer to any of this. Ukraine has the right to defend its territory, and as I said, Russia is the aggressor here. Rolling over and giving Putin what he wants sets a terrible precedent. On the other hand, the current situation is not sustainable, and there’s no telling where it will lead. The whole state of affairs is awful, and has destroyed thousands of lives.
Council Collection Catastrophies
You might recall that in my prior Muse, I wrote of a problem with a local council collection. Did this get resolved? Nope. The bed, lawnmower and desk are all still where I was told to leave them, and the council is throwing up barriers. Since I am feeling quite bullish on the subject, I have dug my heels in. I am not prepared to accept responsibility for the council’s failure to fulfil its obligations, and not prepared to pay any more fees relating to this. We’ll see how it plays out, but the way I see it, I honoured my side of the agreement by having the items available for collection, at the collection point, on the arranged date. That was a month ago.
The Jacket Conundrum
Another element from the last Muse was the saga of a Linkin Park jacket. After two failures from the company that makes them, I requested a refund. I feel I’m quite justified in doing so, after all, I paid a reasonable sum of money for a product that is inadequate. Is it me, or am I being failed left, right and centre with various things?! My first email went unanswered, though they did acknowledge my second request. Would they honour that request?! Well, they were more interested in it after I left a scathing review on Trust Pilot. I loathe leaving bad reviews, but this company has repeatedly failed me, and left me with no choice.
The Panto!
It’s become something of a Berwick family tradition to venture to Stevenage for the pantomime. This year it was Peter Pan, and for the first time in a few years I would be accompanying my wife and daughter to the festivities. My absence in the past has been down to either work, or spending time with my dad, so this year marked a change of pace. First up came a train ride via King’s Cross, which featured an enormous Christmas Tree:
King’s Cross also hosted a bizarre 3D light show, which sadly didn’t translate very well in photo form.
Was the panto any good? Oh yes it was! As is quite typical, there’s a lot of slapstick humour, a lot of singing (and I really do mean a lot), and the classic risqué jokes that pantos are known for. I can’t declare it the best panto I’ve ever seen, but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless, incredibly damp weather notwithstanding.
On the way home, we stopped off at St Pancras station, which is neighbour to King’s Cross. Here, we took some sights inspired by the Wicked film:
There was also a statue of Poet Laureate John Betjeman, who was instrumental in saving St Pancras station from being closed.
Finally, how about a demonstration of some amazing Victorian architecture?
The trip finished with chip shop chips, never a bad way to end a day!
Howling Winds
Storm Bert has caused havoc across the UK, and my little corner of Essex did not emerge unscathed, though thankfully it seems we avoided the worst of it. Nonetheless, the powerful gusts that blew across the town were quite spectacular, and they were enough to fell some smaller trees in the area. I don’t recall a storm that held quite as much of a gale as this one.
Rocket ‘Kat
The other night’s nocturnal adventure brought me to working for musical legend Sir Elton John! He wanted to arrangement for stuff for his guests, and what I remember is scrambling to make these things happen. There was something about a delicate piano that kept cracking, and something about having to jump on a train to some distant place to get something for a restaurant. It seems the main theme of the dream was running around, feeling a bit like a headless meerkat, trying to meet every whim and want of the great man. I don’t know what brought this dream on, but then, I never do.
Wicked
My wife, daughter and I saw Wicked the other night. I had no idea what to expect from this much-publicised film, which is based on the famous musical (which is in turn based on The Wizard of Oz). The story of how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West is quite a heartfelt one, and there is a strong theme throughout the film of discrimination (not to mention the idea of creating an enemy to distract people). It is impossible not to feel a great deal of sympathy for Elphaba (brilliantly portrayed by Cynthia Erivo), who stubbornly wishes to defy convention, whilst secretly desiring nothing more than to fit in. Glinda (played by Ariana Grande) preens for everyone, wanting to bask in adulation, and the appearance of doing good, but by the end of the film, I feel she has come to realise that appearances are not everything.
The singing is fantastic. Ms Erivo steals the show, especially with the heart-pounding rendition of Defying Gravity. I had wondered if I would enjoy this film, but I loved it.
The Schism is nearly there
Well, I say it’s nearly there, but there’s still a fair bit of work to do! Nonetheless, the first round of edits of The Awakening’s sequel is now complete. Needless to say, this marks a major milestone towards getting it published, and I am very happy. It’s back in the hands of Jumpmaster Press, and it will go through another round of edits. I have already started working on the third – and final – part of this story, which is perhaps a bit premature, but there ya go!
The Next Tattoo?
I have been seriously deliberating over my next ink. The current forerunner is a Sonic the Hedgehog tattoo, inspired by the movies.
I would probably place him on my left forearm, so as to have balance (it would mean four tattoos on each arm).
Torrential Downpours
December arrived with rain, lots and lots of rain. What a cheerful way to ring in the festive season! I should not surprised, winter is often a damp spell in the UK (to be fair, spring, summer and autumn are often damp as well). Would things improve? Well, the rain did appear to ease off in the afternoon.
The Advent Calendar Fiasco
It is something of a family tradition to have advent calendars in the house, and this year, mine – via my mother – is themed on Celebrations. These mini chocolates feature Mars Bars, Snickers, Galaxy Chocolate, and a few others. They also include Bounty Bars, which I do not care for. I am not a fan of coconut, and Bounties are pretty much all coconut. I was therefore slightly dismayed that the first door revealed… a Bounty. Ah well, there’s always door number two, right? Nope, that also proved to be a Bounty.
Surely, surely, door number three would yield something different? Three Bounties in a row would have to be some sort of prank on the part of Mars Incorporated.
Well, as it transpires, there was indeed a third consecutive Bounty!
All I can imagine is that I am somehow cursed.
Returning to Twitter
Against my better judgement, I returned to Twitter the other day. This is less to post there, and more to prevent anyone from scooping up my ID. That way, I can retain some measure of control. The odds are I won’t post, save for the occasion book blurb. It goes without saying that I’ve already blocked Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Nigel Farage.
Thus comes to an end the tale of this particular Muse. Until next time!
