First off, I just realised - I never changed the date/time on my previous postings.. which means they’ve got PST date/time stamps whereas I’m in the UK and on GMT time.. oh well.. I’ll frig it on this one and maybe go back and change it on the previous ones.. which immediately makes this whole paragraph redundant.. Fuck!

So.. Christmas Day.. how was it for you? For me it was pretty good.. more or less what I expected.. the immediate family stuff was very nice.. the extended family + lunch thing was “entertaining” (as was expected).

My parents got us all stockings filled with bits and pieces, a bit of a family tradition. Brian got one too and was chuffed to bits! There was the obligatory satsuma (which usually gets returned to the bowl along with the others), the traditional chocolate coins, some cologne, some hair stuff, some knick-knack bits and pieces..

We did the family gift exchange and I think everyone did well. I got a bunch of new tops, some really good DVDs (new Little Britain, series 3 of Teachers (yay!)), a new winter coat (really nice, from Next!). I gave my brother a Nintendo DS plus a couple of games and the system seems cool - Brian’s been playing it more than Matthew has, so far! My parents got me and Brian tickets to go see The Lion King when we’re in London the week after next - I was totally chuffed to bits, that was a really nice present! :-)

The extended family turned up, we exchanged gifts, and sat down to Christmas lunch. During the process Matthew knocked over a glass of wine which went flying, all over one of Aunty Pauline’s chairs, which was kind of funny because she’d only just taken the protective plastic covering off them.. oh well, at least it was white wine..

Dinner over, we vegged and chilled a bit.. The rellies went home around 6ish, we all chilled and vegged some more. 7pm was the Doctor Who Christmas day special - result! That show is cheesy porn but so good with it! It’s the kind of thing that you see in a totally different light if you’re British and/or grew up with it versus if you’re not and you’re watching it for the first time or haven’t followed it much. The really cool thing came afterwards - Sky Interactive is a feature of Sky, the digital satellite system in the UK. While you’re watching a show or a commercial you’ll see a little icon or message on the screen telling you to press the red button on your remote control for more info. You press it, and it can do anything from popping up more detailed information, to capturing your details and getting a brochure sent to you in the mail, to launching a fully interactive application. Seriously, television in the UK is light years ahead of anything in North America!

After Doctor Who there was an interactive prompt on the screen. We pressed the red button and it launched in to this mini game where you had to be the Doctor’s assistant and solve puzzles and stuff.. We all sat round doing it, debating whether it was actually more entertaining the than the previous hour’s show itself..

I think that’s about it.. No major drama, just some regular, to-be-expected family banter along with a sigh of relief when everyone went home and we could chill and relax a bit more. All seemed to fly by rather quickly and here we are, Boxing day already..