White Christmas

We're looking out the window now at another 1-2 feet of snow, and judging by the forecasts it will probably all stay right through to Christmas. It's wreaking havoc on those who have to travel. Several of my colleagues are having their Christmas plans seriously altered by the inability to keep airports open, and Fiona has many friends that are worried about family and friends making it into Aberdeen for the holidays. As we're staying put until at least New Year's Eve, it doesn't bother us too much, but it is tough not to feel for everyone else.

The only real effect on us has been to delay the arrival of Christmas presents bought over the internet, as delivery companies are now refusing to deliver into Scotland. Fortunately almost everything has arrived, including our Christmas present to ourselves (a new MacBook Air) and a certain little turquoise box that has Fiona quite intrigued. So we'll just tough out the weather working on our Christmas puzzles, drinking mulled cider or hot chocolates, listening to Christmas tunes and watching the odd movie on TV. We watched 'White Christmas' this morning, with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. It was a quite good and certainly puts you in the festive spirit. We're looking forward to a few more Christmas Classics - new and old - over the coming weeks.

We're also getting our daily dose of darts watching the World Championships, which take place from this week through to New Years. All the old favorites are doing well, including last year's runner-up, Simon Whitlock. Yesterday was quite a rousing session, as the English fans we're in a party mood, looking to drink away the awful cricket results from earlier in the day (the Ashes against Australia is all tied up 1.5-1.5 after three tests). Things really caught fire when a qualifier from Japan called Hashimoto won a match to get into the main draw. The crowd really got behind him, chanting his name and singing multiple rounds of "Stand up if you like the Japanese". Unfortunately he was on the receiving end of thorough drubbing from the Flying Scotsman, Gary Anderson, who looks in fine form for a long run in the tournament. Phil Taylor did not look sharp in his opening match, so maybe there is a chance that someone else will get to win this year?

We're also reading a lot of movie reviewer's Top Ten lists for the year, of which we have seen almost none. We really have to get out to the arthouse cinema a little more, althouh a lot of the titles seemed incredibly depressing. Anyway, in honor of those lists, I thought I would post my own, but with a twist. Here's my Top Ten list of movies I've seen this year - not necessarily made or released in 2010, but seen by me during that time. In no particular order:

1. Inception. I know it has its haters, and I can see some of their objections, but to me it was still original and cool.
2. Kenny. I think we've recommended this movie to everyone we know. It may seem like one giant poop joke, but if you're not rooting for Kenny by the end of the movie, you're not human.
3. Push. A cool little sci-fi movie with an interesting cast of characters which never takes itself too seriously. Plus, drunken Dakota Fanning is hilarious.
4. To Catch a Thief. Fiona will claim this makes the list purely for the Grace Kelly element. Wrong. Great movie with fabulous dialogue. They do not make them like this anymore.
5. High Society. Do two Grace Kelly entries prove Fiona's point? Maybe?
6. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Best animated movie ever.
7. Despicable Me. Possibly a close second.
8. Kick-Ass. Take it with a grain of salt. Very funny, but darkly so, with great action scenes.
9. Bottle Shock. Interesting little character movie about wine making in California. Can't go wrong with Alan Rickman.
10. 500 Days of Summer. Clever. Likable characters.

Anyway, let the mocking of my cinematic tastes, or lack thereof, begin.