Hope you had a nice Christmas, I did. On Boxing Day we went to see Coram Boy at the National Theatre - very nice production with creative staging and beautiful singing, some courtesy the music of Handel. It was a sort of Oliver Twist, but a century before.

The only bad thing this Christmas was being second-on-the-scene at a group of escaped horses in the road, at 2 a.m, one of whom had a very badly broken leg after it was hit by a car. We called the police and slowed down traffic. A passing young security chap was excellent, but the police were not so impressive, unfortunately. We left, but I doubt the injured pony saw another day. Distressing.

I had a very comicky Christmas, so here's a photo of my swag.

Been very busy work-wise these past couple of months, but the kind of work I'm doing is getting better, ie. more illustration and less web design. Even better than that, some comic strip work too, but more on that next year (you'll like it). It has all resulted in me being rather strapped for time though, and Christmas has really rushed up with no warning. However, I did manage to get my Christmas card done for this year thanks to an all-nighter on Sunday, finishing it at 6.30 am. All posted yesterday, but I apologise for the inevitable lateness of international cards.

In temperature news... yesterday our boiler decided to stop working on the first really really cold day of the winter. My pinkies are freezing. I've also had to take a few weeks break from karate due to some trouble with my left knee - really quite painful in certain situations. Has it finally worn out, or is this just temporary? We'll see - my knees went through a lot in my younger karate training and maybe it's all catching up at last.

I didn't make it to the Birmingham comics show, despite having the hotel booked. This was a decision made while still working at 3 am on Saturday morning when I realised, realistically, I was going to need the weekend to continue with work. Really disappointed not to go, but I was able to cancel the hotel with no financial loss. Have a gander at Dave's report for how it went.

I did get to go to the AP Watt 'Author Party' in London on the previous Wednesday though, which was very nice indeed, and not at all like a page from Posy Simmonds' Literary Life as I feared, at least not in the corner I occupied. Thanks, Anjali, for looking after me.

A little note on Christmas... not being religious, I always struggled with a meaning for Christmas, as I do enjoy the holiday part of it (not so much the commercial frenzy), until I decided that my own celebration at Christmas is to basically say "well done, we survived another year, congratulations, and here's to the year ahead". So well done all, and make the best of the next one.

I have recorded a short (12 minute) audio message as a little thank you for all Rainbow Orchid readers. You can listen to it here.

I was just thinking how this Litvinenko business almost seems like the good old days, it has a warm cosy feeling compared to the sharp reality (or perceived reality) of terrorism and bombs on buses. Ah, the cold war, when it was just our spies versus their spies, and we knew who the enemy were - it's almost been nostalgic. But then today's announcement from the Prime Minister about our £20 billion re-investment in nuclear weapons reminded me of the very real fear of growing up under the shadow of The Bomb. I remember thinking it really would happen. Mum even stockpiled tinned foods and bottled water in the bedroom cupboard. I used to walk home from school wondering if taking the door off its hinges, leaning it against the wall and getting under it really would save me from the fallout. Maybe it's time to give The Power of Nightmares another viewing...

Top: 'When the Wind Blows' (1982), bottom: 'Marvelman' (1983),
and blog post title from 'Ticket to the Moon' by ELO (1981).