Have you ever played Chubby Bunny?
There's no bunnies involved.
And no animals were harmed in the writing of this post.
It's a drinking game. Although I can't quite work out where the drink fits in. But I do know that it is a game best played when drunk.
The objective is to see how many marshmallows you can stuff in your mouth before you can't say "Chubby Bunny" anymore.
Unfortunately, as I gave up eating marshmallows last year, it's a game I fear I shall never play again.
It was fortunate, therefore that we went to see Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker yesterday. If you enjoy dance, you'll enjoy Bourne's modern twist on things traditional. Most famous is his Swan Lake with an all male cast. Startling. Anyway, back to the Nutcracker, no longer set in a sumptuous house, but instead Mrs Dross' home for children. It's more like a prison. Mrs Dross is the epitome of bad, as is Mr Dross and their children. It's a completely different, and more coherent tale than you would normally witness at a performance of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, and all the better for it. Of the various highlights I shall pick out the dancing Knickerbocker glory and, of course, the Marshmallow Girls
I was planning to stay at home this week, but it says a lot about how relaxed the Christmas period has been that I felt positively enthusiastic about coming back to the office earlier. Obviously I was in a minority of one as the roads were almost completely empty this morning. Not that I was looking too closely as I fought to control the motorbike in gale force winds....but it must have been much easier for me than it was the brave souls on bicycles.
Most people in the media seem to be making predictions for the year...none anything other than gloomy. But my one and only prediction is that it will be the unpredictable that will be interesting, the rest just plain tedious.
Of my particular areas of interest, I suspect we should all be praying for an Obama victory in the Presidential elections. He may be as much use as a wet fish on a bicycle, but that may just be better than electing the Nazi alternatives. In the Middle East, we haven't really seen as much change as we might have hoped, but that is typical of the region. Egypt may yet implode, the Iranians are unlikely to be attacked overtly by the Israelis (but expect a few mysterious explosions caused by 'equipment failures), Libya is now a country ruled by various militias, and there will be blood in Syria. Oh dear. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Palestinian Statehood, although the wait may just give me arthritis. Russia is gradually slipping backwards politically, although not economically, and that may be no bad thing...at least everyone knows where they stand. Slowly but surely China will continue to make its presence felt....and that will do more to change the world's outlook than anything else. Europe will muddle along...the Greeks will be ejected I suspect, and that will be no bad thing. Here in Blighty, it will be all pain and no gain...but realistically it would be no different (perhaps worse even) if the Millibands were in charge. At least we have the Olympics to look forward to...and the Queen's Jubilee which means another bank holiday...
