This month I am mostly reading.....

Apologises for the unimaginative title, as boring as 'does exactly what it says on the tin' is, it can be helpful.  Well I finished Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and now to continue my exploration of Susan I am reading Soul Music (no I don't read books in order, I don't like the idea that something as great as reading has to be so regimented). I am really enjoying it, Susan's discovery of her heritage is a brilliant mixture of logical thought fighting against ingrained instinct and memory, I am not too sure where the musician storyline is heading but I looking forward to finding out.
A large amount of my reading takes place on the bus on the way to work, I am still having trouble reading at home during the day or early evening, but I have managed to focus and read in bed so that's an improvement.

Fresh Air

Today I found this great little article on the BBC about children napping out doors in Nordic countries.

It is common place in these countries for children to nap out doors to get the best of the fresh air.  They are wrapped up like little parcels in wool and animal skins so no matter what the temperature they are nice and warm, but they get the benefit of breathing in cool, crisp air.
The reason for this tradition is a belief that children are healthier if they spend a lot of time breathing in the fresh air. It is thought that children who are kept in central heated houses with soaring temperatures while the out side temperature is in the minus' are more likely to become ill more often. The reason being that germs thrive in warm conditions not cold ones.

One of my former childcare colleagues visited Denmark to see their Forest Schools and children napping outside was common place at their nurseries. This usually produces gasps from most people when she recounted this fact, but the thing to remember is that the children are wrapped so much that they aren't cold at all, but they are breathing in crisp, fresh and mostly germ free air.

I have to say I fully agree with this theory and practice. I have always been angered by the common myth that exposure to cold weather caused colds and flu.  It is more likely to be caused by that the fact that most house holds turn up the artificial heat, jam the windows closed and stay indoors as soon as October begins, creating the perfect environment for all those cold and flu germs. Turning the central heating off and opening most of the windows would not only blow the germs away it would also make it very uncomfortable for the ones that remain.

I don't suffer from colds very often and I'm sure this comes from growing up in a house without central heating.  The drafts may have been cold but they meant the germs didn't want to stay around for long!

When I do suffer from a cold; stuffed up nose, soar throat, fuzzy head etc, all I want to do is open the window and get the breeze in.  As long as I wrap myself up warm, it doesn't matter how cold the room is. That always makes me feel better.  A blocked nose is always helped by going out in the fresh air.

You can see the article here, it is made up of some fantastic accounts of out door napping both modern and old.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21575562

Today I'm watching....

This video features a version of Kate Bush’s Running up that Hill. I have to say it goes against every bone in my body to even contemplate listening to covers of Kate Bush. She is without doubt a musical Goddess and I have never thought it was possible for any artist to successful make a cover of one of her songs.

However once you realise that Track & Field haven’t set out to cover a Kate Bush song but to cover a great song with some truly chilling lyrics then it is possible to just listen to it without comparing it to, in my opinion a Goddess. Let’s face it that comparison is never going to end well for the ‘mortal’ as it were.

Kate Bush has a very unique voice and that is an integral part of her songs. You may be thinking “well of course, that’s the same as all artists”, I have to say I disagree strongly. With some artists it is their voice that makes a song a success, with others it is the lyrics, Kate Bush uses her unique voice and groundbreaking lyrics to create some breathtaking songs. Track & Field’s version of this song doesn’t contain any remarkable vocals, there’s nothing bad about their voices but there’s nothing truly sensational about them either. Far from this being a disappointment it means the listener can focus fully on the lyrics.

Running up that Hill contains some of the best lyrics ever written, it really is poetry especially the line:

And if I only could,
I'd make a deal with God,
And I'd get him to swap our places,

Now on to the visual. The video is made up of cleverly edited scenes from Warehouse 13. This is fantastic series about a Warehouse full of dangerous artefacts from throughout history. Each artefact contains powers, mostly bad and there is a team of people trying to recover, store and stop others from using them to destroy the world. If you haven’t seen it, then I strongly advise that you put it on your to do list for this year. Trust me the song is a perfect accompaniment to the scenes being used. The song was used in the show and it suited the storyline very well. Without giving too much away the line quoted above was very poignant to one scene if particular.

All in all a great video:

Footnote: this post has given my OH the idea that I should start searching and reviewing cover versions of Kate Bush songs, well this could either be really interesting or........well it could be very bad.

Quote of the Day

Bill Bailey, on his guide to the Orchestra:

Describing the stage version of Mama Mia,
'It's a bit like being hit over the head with a piece of Ikea furniture, it hurts but you have to admire the workmanship'

 

New Year

So a new year is upon us.  I am going back to work tomorrow, it has been good to have a break but to be honest I won't feel relaxed until the end of January when our big deadline is behind us and I can focus on getting my life back to normal (by this I mean normal to me not 'normal'!). Over the last few months due to one thing and another I feel I have just been going through the motions some what.
Well no more, will I take this!  It sounds dramatic but to be honest it won't be.

Ponder of the day....

The good thing about wearing glasses is that no matter how horrid the things you see in the corner of your eye are, you can always blame them on a speck of dust on the lens.

What I got in my Yuletide Stocking....

Well Christmas was certainly a long time coming this year.  It is very bad timing that the most stressful time at the 8.30-5.00 happens to fall at the one time of year when I do not want to be stressed, in fact as far as I'm concerned 22nd December to 30th January is my reward for all the general stress that I have to deal with throughout the year.  Perhaps that is why I'm particularly angry that this normally relaxed time has been invaded by tension and anxiety.

Right rant over, let me tell you what I got in my stocking.  M's gifts to me this year were very thoughtful and somewhat insightful, he got me a Nigella Lawson cook book; Nigellissima (what the spell check have fun with that one!), chocolate, Ferrero Rocher and Black Magic, DVD of the Frozen Planet from the BBC and another book; Victorian Farm.  For those of your who don't know, Victorian Farm is a BBC programme about 3 historians who take up the challenge of living and working on a farm using ideas and techniques from the Victorian era.  
I got my first Loreena Mckennit album from my brother which includes the song The Mummers Dance.  I got cooking accessories from my parents and a fantastic satchel that will go well with my green coat. I also got various Spa 'smellies' that I shall enjoy relaxing into with the aid of a hot bath (that should help with the stress).  We have our little Christmas dinner soon, then winter soups are planned and flat sorting.....the possibilities are endless.  Such is the time of year.