2009!

A happy New Year to you all! Out with the old, and in with the new, and all that...

2009 is the year in which Barack Obama becomes President of the United States of America; not long after that it becomes illegal to possess "extreme pornography" in the UK, whatever that is; it is the International Year of Astronomy; it is the two hundredth birthday of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln (whichever one was the greater emancipator is a matter of personal opinion); there will be a total solar eclipse, the longest lasting one of the 21st century; the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will be opened at last; the Large Hadron Collider will be restarted after a few technical bumps last year (and no, the world won't end); and much, much more...

Looking forward to it? And, as if all that important stuff wasn't enough, I'll be bringing you a review of George Orwell's dystopian science-fiction novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four very soon :) I'd be interested to hear what books you got for Christmas (or your local equivalent)...

I spent New Year's Eve being very cold, in temperatures of minus ten degrees centigrade! I forgot to sing Auld Lang Syne, but I did dance a little, though at nothing like a human standard, I'm sad to report. Much cider was quaffed. Much vodka was ... erm? ... slagged. Much fun was had.