I know what you're thinking - How come all three semifinalists on Strictly Come Dancing got through to the final? No dance-off, no elimination, just an emotion-packed 'All shall be winners' moment... Well, the reason was an entirely predictable outcome of a three-cornered semifinal - two couples tied, with a lead over the third that couldn't be overcome even by a 100 percent audience vote in favour of the third couple. Like so much else in life (credit crunch, financial meltdown, death, Brown's madness) - entirely predictable, yet no one saw it coming. Least of all the fabulously inept BBC, who must have known well before the announcement, but, left with five minutes and more to fill after the end of the programme, couldn't think of anything smarter to do than show the tiresome, self-contratulatory trails for its Christmas ouptut again, and again, and again, until it was like being turned on a spit in some exquisitely refined version of TV hell. It wasn't as if those trailers hadn't already been done to death and beyond. A few minutes with the potter's wheel would have seemed like bliss indeed...Anyway, this cold, dank and foggy morning, just 20 yards or so along my road, I came eye to eye with a male blackcap (as in the picture) on an overhanging apple branch. It's always a thrill to see these quietly handsome birds, especially in winter. When I was a boy, they would very rarely overwinter, but now they stay in considerable numbers, adding a little extra dash of beauty to the winter scene. Global warming, they say - however perishing cold the winters get... Brrr.
I'm devastated by the result, Nige. Devastated.
ReplyDeleteBut I think Dick, in a very real sense, ballroom dancing was the winner...
ReplyDeleteHope you admired Vincent's cravat.
That explains it! I woke up this morning with one of those urges to wear a cravat. You know the feeling well, I suppose. That nervous tingling, the need to have something elegant beneath the chin... Well, I didn't know where it had come from until now.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most vivid memories is standing at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome in March and listening to a blackcap singing his heart out on a branch only a few feet away. Spring never felt more intense. The more of these chaps the merrier, imho. I just can't face anything in the Come Dancing line. It's a testament to the power of prejudice really. I associate it all with a row of semi-vacant faces parked before a flickering screen in an old folks' home. Oh well, it comes to us all no doubt. Top Gear is on tonight. That'll do in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous little feathered fellow. Long may he tweet.
ReplyDelete"I came eye to eye with a male blackcap (as in the picture) on an overhanging apple branch. It's always a thrill to see these quietly handsome birds, especially in winter. When I was a boy, they would very rarely overwinter, but now they stay in considerable numbers, adding a little extra dash of beauty to the winter scene. Global warming, they say - however perishing cold the winters get... Brrr."
ReplyDeleteSee Fill Up Your Backyard Bird Feeder, Create a New Species