h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hugh Richardson was a diplomat who served in India and Tibet. I don't know very much about him, but he seems to have been a rather remarkable man. He was the first resident European in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital; where, against heavy odds, he succeeded in establishing close personal and professional ties with the Tibetan movers and shakers. He made himself unpopular with his former political masters by speaking out against the Chinese invasion, in Britain and at the UN. He is considered to be a uniquely qualified scholar of Tibetan culture... which is like authoring a description of the emperor's nudity, when most of the world's diplomats are busy conjuring Technicolor Dreamcoats.

JTG

That sounds like a pretty good obituary in itself

Your endorsement is good enough for me.

JTG

honoured

Dunnit!

Somebody must have been singing that White Christmas song again: We've had about half a foot of snow this evening, so far... and it looks like there will be a lot more before morning.

JTG

Lucky you
Apparently our garden is completely waterlogged after all the rain, and there is no chance of a white christmas in Cornwall

Lucky me, indeed! I'm off work, because it took so long to dig out from under the drifts: There is more than two feet in some places. So now I have the day to play on my 'puter. It's like being a kid again.

It was a very strange storm; I don't remember anything like it. It snowed like the dickens (sorry Charles) all night; but, later on, freezing rain started to fall, as well; and, sometime in the middle of the night, there was thunder... honest! It wasn't snow falling off the roof or the neighbours hotrod... it was thunder. Very strange.

JTG

Oh you're soo lucky
*jealous*
I love winter storms.
But I will go and see the Mousehole christmas lights when I get home, and be all cold

Winter storms are great when you're inside with a mug of cocoa; but they make getting around dangerous and not at all fun: The snow banks in our neighbourhood are already littered with the plastic whatsits that people think are cool extras to have on their cars in the Summer.

What are winters like in St Andrews?

JTG

Well we've had pretty dry weather (unlike the rest of the country), apparently it's less likely to snow here than elsewhere in Scotland, something to do with being in a little pocket on the coast.

St Andrews isn't ruled over by an eccentric aristocrat who sacrifices virgins for the sake of the apple crop, is it.

JTG

Dunno - not that I've heard.
I'm home for Christmas now, so cold, wet, grey, yukky weather all round.
And I brought a cold home with me *sniff*

Oh, dear. I hope it clears up before Christmas, the cold and the weather.

JTG

Ditto.
We have a Christmas party this week, and I don't really want to sneeze into the gingerbread I'm under orders to make

Do you make gingerbread people, or just regular bickie shapes?
JTG

I make people, angels, frogs, stars, whatever shaped cutters I can find to get the most out of the dough.

This was gingerbread cake - only I forgot the baking powder (oops) so it didn't rise. It does taste ok though, fortunately

That's what counts. I often felt that there is a definite need for really artistic gingerbread figures. The medium deserves some serious exploration. I don't think there is a Guide Entry on the subject either.

With the Christmas vortex drawing ever closer, and the whirl of distractions getting faster by the moment, I'll take this opportunity to wish you a very happy Christmas and a New Year (millennium really ) full of plums.

Cheers!
JTG

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year yourself
Full of many gingerbread shapes, and sugar plum fairies.

Swiv