Where the Music is Bright

I suppose one occasionally does miss things not watching (non-Arabic) television, so I'm grateful that the YouTube gods conjured up this lovely profile in my Recommendations this morning.

Petula Clark is a survivor, and as this lamentable old year limps to a close, it's nice to be reminded that there are still troupers out there, doing the work. She's in damn good voice for 85, too. I very much enjoyed her 2013 album Lost in You, which featured a slow and reflective version of her greatest hit, and now I'm inspired to seek out her new one.

We had a quiet and generally pleasant Christmas.  An evening in on the Eve, with some good sparkling red and a little of this that - crab legs, some good cheese, that kind of thing; then dinner last night at my brother's (proving one more time, as if proof were needed, that I'm married to a saint). Now the odd inter-holiday week, a few of us dutifully showing up at the office to do very little and wonder why we've bothered. It really is foolish, isn't it, that Boxing Day has never quite caught on on this side of the water?

But one soldiers on.  I'm planning to use the downtime to try and catch up on gym-going, which while not particularly festive is increasingly necessary given the amount of festivity that's been going on.