‘Tis the season to be jolly. Jolly cold, for starters. Jolly annoyed about the number of preposterous all-terrain prams on Bond Street, too. And jolly fat after Christmas Everyone I know is feeling pretty ho-hum after the ho-ho-ho and who can blame them? We’re a nation of sun-deprived bankrupts who have little to look forward to in 2008. other than watching house prices tumble and unemployment rise faster than a globally-warmed tide. As a poster boy for December indulgence and credit-squeeze misery, Barclaycard have enlisted the services of trained assassins to shoot me if I visit Selfridges again. My exquisite range of 1920’s cravats has been put up for auction on eBay. And, like a fool, I’ve decided that a vegan lifestyle for January to purge myself of the associated timber that is gifted by foie gras and after-eight sarnies is a brilliant idea. No wonder suicide looks like an attractive, fast, cheap and thrilling way out.

Of course, I have a plan and a little advice for all of you who have fallen foul of this most mundane of month. Dress up. Yes, really. Dress up now. The party season might be over. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look like a French duke. Or bring back the cowboy hat. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with cheering yourself (and those around you) up with a sparkling wardrobe and a smile. You’ll be amazed what it’ll do for your spirit and this simple principal is backed by a resounding truth. You don’t need to be rich to be flamboyant. Think Noel Coward. Think Noel Fielding. And forget Noel!

Let me be the first to say, unless the Scott beats me by adding another cultural running, happy birthday to Blackbridge and thanks for a fantastic celebration last night! I’m sure an amazing time was had by all.

I’d also just like to say that Blogbridge is now open to non-registered users to comment, and also going through a few small cosmetic changes so please bear with us and feel free to contribute or offer suggestions (on how to survive this morning, of course).

There are things in life which are good (Clive James, espressos, Cesc Fabregas, the Vietnamese soup place around the corner) and there are things in life (when the bagpipes start on ‘Mull of Kintyre‘, getting wet walking to work, losing things all the time) which ain’t. To the latter list, you can certainly add being ill at Christmas.

Like a million other people in the UK, I had that ubiquitous sick thing. It’s not fun. Instead of having a fine lunch and lingering over red wine and four types of cheese from the Neal’s Yard Dairy, I spent Christmas Day in bed having bizarre lucid dreams - including one involving me being kidnapped and trying to find my laptop because they wanted a copy of the new Burial album. But anyway, I’m better now and things could be worse.

There’s plenty to be excited about in the new year and I’m looking forward to hearing, seeing, doing and reading some good stuff in 2008. But before 2007 fades, here’s a list of some of my favourite things from the year:

1) Walking into a simulated cloud at the Anthony Gormley exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

2) John Cale’s terrifically austere version of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All My Friends’; better than the original (though I love that piano line) - why bother getting some Hoxton/Berlin fool to remix it when you can hand your song over to a Welsh avant garde legend?

3) My friends Scott and Alice’s website Pinglewood - I’m terribly biased I’ll admit, but it is wonderful.

4) Brian winning Big Brother. Or more specifically, me getting £140 from the bookmakers as a consequence.

5) Loads of Victorian literature. Read very little new fiction this year, but spent some happy times reading or re-reading ‘the Moonstone’, ‘The Woman in White’, ‘the Good Soldier’, ‘New Grub Street’ and finally getting around to reading George DuMaurier’s ‘Trilby‘ - that’s some pretty mad stuff right there.

6) My piano attempts. I need more practice that’s for sure - but like books, a piano does furnish the room. Maybe that should be an ambition for 2008?

7) The Goshka Macuga Art Now show at Tate Britain; saw a lot at the Tate this year (Millais was good, Gilbert and George great to start with, Hogarth excellent) but this exhibition was the only show where you could sit on a wooden chair, put on headphones and hear a recording of my father talking.

8) While the Saturday magazine can increasingly do one as far as I’m concerned, I found a lot to love in the Guardian and the Observer this year - Simon Hoggart’s column, Hadley Freeman’s fashion advice, the cryptic crossword which I’m finally starting to make some proper progress with, Charlie Brookner in the Guide - and Victoria Coren’s Observer column about the death of her father Alan Coren was one of the most moving things I read all year.

9) My ‘Keep Calm and Carry On‘ poster; hopefully not too much of a cliché quite yet.

10) Plenty of album reissues came my way in 2007 but my favourite was the deluxe edition of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On‘; the deluxe ‘What’s Goin’ On’ had its moments, but this one had a whole CD of unreleased songs from the sessions - some are unbelievably good.

So there we are, happy new year to you all.

Happy New Year to everyone! Many of you will know that I was in my hometown of Reading, Massachusetts (which is 15 mins north of Boston). It was bloody freezing and there was piles of snow when I landed. Of course, this is standard for a New England winter, however it was the snowiest December (or according to my father and the Boston Globe, second snowiest on record ever) and I’m pretty happy I missed all the snow storms. There’s nothing worse than being stuck at work and knowing you were going to be stuck in a nightmare traffic jam on the way home in a raging nor’easter (hurricane snow storm - look it up!).

Anyways, here’s a picture of just how much snow there was on the ground when I landed. It’s in my friend’s driveway a few streets from my house. I’m just sad that I didn’t get a chance to go skiing…

Yes, that’s right. You, yes you, can help save Mother Earth. Those good old Aussies down under got a great thing going on last year, when they initiated some global action against global warming. For one hour, millions of people across the world took the simple action of turning off their lights to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming. Sydney’s energy consumption alone was reduced by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour! Rocking!!

This year, on the 29th March at 8pm, the rest of the world will again join in on a global action to tackle our environmental problems. Put it in the diary, go and get a candle and plant a tree for the new year.

Check it….!

http://www.earthhour.org/

Blogbridge seems to have taken a bit of a hit during the month of December, as did my unfortunate liver. But here’s to a great 2008 for all of us and all of you.