The Hogmanay Show

I'm back in Elgin after six days in Glasgow and this is my first entry in a replacement for the blog I was keeping on MySpace. The tiny new template on that site doesn't appeal to me at all so let's see if this works out...
Highlights of my Twixtmas holidays included: saying hello to Steven Moffat outside the GFT; being ejected into space by virtually the entire audience at "Flo White"; getting a last-minute ticket for "Aladdin", the PACE panto; drinks in the Tron with Simmy and Erica; soup with my mum and brother in Taylors in Strathaven (opposite) ;steak pie in the Goat with Lynette and Mary (below); playing superheroes with Jason and Lewis in Hillington;and meeting Neil and Phyllis in the West End.
The lowlights were probably finding more branches snapped off Gary's tree at "Steelhenge"; the imaginary shopfronts in Paisley which has become a depressingly poor ghost town; and Hogmanay in Haghill...

I love to see Christmas tree lights in tenement windows in Glasgow but New Year has never been a favourite event for me. As a kid, it meant a late bedtime, bringing in the Bells with a Snowball and the blackly comic inebriation of Rikki Fulton.
 In later years, Hogmanay was represented by a cider before early closing in the former Cafe Noir in Queen Street; or parties in Partickhill and a long walk back to Dennistoun; and at the tail-end of the 90s, bus trips down to Mansfield in the snow for a glass of champagne with Paul Caputa's inlaws, followed by a spot of first-footing. And of course, George Square with Gary, Lucy and Deacon Blue- is it four or five years ago?- with The Big Man yelping happily into my face.
There were also a couple of times I just had an early night, since I was working a call-centre shift in the morning (for double time, of course.) Most recently, I've been the Mollers' guest in the West End for Jools Holland and Bailey's. This year, however, I saw in the New Year on my own in my flat on Cumbernauld Road, since a surfeit of bad planning left me with no particular place to go. I tuned into Radio Scotland, watched the perennial fireworks and played the Eighth Doctor Big Finish cd Relative Dimensions.

Listening to this festive story out of order, I don't know why Lucie's back or what happened to Tamsin; I'll get round to The Resurrection of Mars in short order. This play's also a sequel to the subscriber freebie An Earthly Child and features Carole Ann Ford as Susan and Paul McGann's son Jake as Alex, the Doctor's lisping great-grandson. The family ties, both fictional and factual, lend a certain cosyness to what is otherwise a bland adventure with a giant, ghostly fish, written by Magical Realist scripter Marc Platt.  Master Alex Who was trailed as a companion for the Eighth Doctor on audio back in The Company of Friends but neither actor nor character grab me at the moment.
Hurrah then for The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who, a playful all-ages companion to Season Fnarg that reminded me of the Blue Peter annuals of the Seventies, with clever allusions to Facebook and Twitter. It replaces the Storybooks of the last five years, which, despite the wearisomely twee title, delivered new fiction from regular writers on the series. The Storybook was always a far superior product to the glossy and throwaway BBC annuals; but in a market where a slew of products commemorate the show, The Brilliant Book has the biggest sense of warmth and wit. And in a year where Michael-Bloody-Moorcock wrote a great bloody big Dr Who book, the B.B. features a short story by Brian Aldiss, OBE!

On Ne'er Day, I also enjoyed reading the premiere issue of the new DnA Marvel book Heroes for Hire, despite the completely misleading cover appearance of Ghost Rider (and the fact that Elektra is an assassin, rather than any kind of hero.) Better still , the festive edition of The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold featured a cameo by the Neal Adams-costumed Robin of Earth-Two; the Marvel Family; and a one-panel gag with the star of Mike Sekowsky's Jason's Quest- a 1970 Showcase tryout built upon the success of the quirky JLA alumnus's Mod revamp of Wonder Woman. Not only is this book good readin' for my 4-year-old nephew, I'd love to see a TwoMorrows book on Sekowksy.

I made my way up to Broomhill on January 1st  to deliver late Xmas presents to the Moller household and amid Brandy Alexanders, steak pie and trifle, heard a preview of Roy's new album. A beautifully produced and maturely reflective collection from the Moller Men, I look forward to seeing its eventual official release. (Emma's Pineapple, Fig and Ginger chutney and Cranberry, Apple and Cinnamon vodka were also pretty dang marvellous.)

So, back to work on Thursday; I'm feeling pretty good and still hopeful that I might get a tenant for Cumbernauld Road. Okay, 2011, let's see what you've got...