My younger son is married to a girl from Rochdale and travelled down there for Christmas. Unfortunately his present to me got mixed in with the Rochdale ones. Hence I did not receive this lovely surprise till the New Year had arrived. A 1000 piece jigsaw depicting Boghead Park, home of the mighty Sons of the Rock for well over a hundred years.

Slightly belated but nevertheless very welcome.

(We currently have a different jigsaw on the go so this one will be on the back burner for a while.)

SPFL Tier 4, The Rock, 24/12/22.

A very good way indeed to celebrate the club’s 150^th anniversary.

From the reports I’ve read it sounds like we fully deserved the win. Goals from Gregor Buchanan and David Wilson did the job.

I can’t remember ever being top of the league at Christmas before. Ditto at New Year. (Our four point lead means we wil achieve that accolade too.) Mind you our next game – on Hogmanay – will be tough. We’ve found Albion Rovers to be difficult opponents this season.

Today is the 13<sup<th December – yet I saw my first Creme Eggs of the new season in a shop I was in.

Easter is not until the 9<sup<th April, 2023.

Sadly, this sighting is not even a record.

Merry Christmas one and all.

This song was on Tull’s Christmas album in a remastered form but originally appeared on Songs From the Wood. This, the earlier version, sounds warmer to me.

Jethro Tull: Fire at Midnight

From The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Though this one is more appropriate for New Year’s Day.

Jethro Tull: Last Man at the Party

Merry Christmas, everybody.

As you may know my birthday falls on Christmas Eve.

This means I get presents two days in a row (then I have to wait a whole year to get any more.)

No complaints though.

These are some of the things my family gave me this year.

Science Fiction: A Literary History edited by Roger Luckhurst:-

Five 1960s SF paperbacks:-

Eight Keys to Eden by Mark Clifton
Blue Moon edited by Douglas Lindsay
Path Into the Unknown: The Best of Soviet SF
E Pluribus Unum by Theodore Sturgeon
Nine by Laumer

That cover of Blue Moon is so redolent of the time.

A box of postcards of covers from Penguin SF books. Front of box:-

Reverse of box:-

Kurt Vonnegut themed Christmas presents. “And Soap it Goes” plus “Breathmints of Champions.” This recognises the source of my use of “So it goes.”

“And Soap it Goes” ingredients:-

“Breathmints of Champions” ingredients:-

And last but not least, a 2016-17 Sons home shirt. Sadly it wasn’t a lucky one on Boxing Day.

Not vintage Tull I’m afraid. But it’s that time of year so here’s Ian Anderson’s reworking of several Christmas tunes in the Tull style. From The Jethro Tull Christmas Album released in 2003.

Jethro Tull: Holly Herald

Merry Christmas everybody.

I leave here for five minutes (well, two days, but I had good reasons; the 24^th is my birthday and yesterday was Christmas) and two more rock stars have departed this world.

I had barely begun to think about what song I would mark Rick Parfitt‘s passing with when the news came of George Michael‘s death.

Parfitt was more my era but, unlike some, Status Quo had staying power: as did George Michael.

It’s been some year.

And it’s not over yet.

I neglected Tull last Christmas. Must have been busy.

Time to make up for it.

Tull’s main man, Ian Anderson, vocalist, flautist, guitarist, pianist, song-writer, was inspired to write this song as his daughter has a birthday close to Christmas (as do I.) It seemed appropriate, then.

Jethro Tull: Birthday Card at Christmas

My birthday is the day before Christmas.

I don’t usually get one big present but rather small ones two days in a row.

Here’s a photo of what my eldest son gave me for my birthday this year.

An old Quality Street tin.

You’d be excused for thinking I’d be miffed but I was actually delighted. In addition to the nostalgia trip the tin provided it added to my collection of old tins, which I mentioned a few years ago.

And he did fill it:-

He also gave me the latest Pink Floyd CD. (I’m not into downloads.)