Boxing Day

I've never found a consistent use for Boxing Day.  In the past I've gone to the cinema on Boxing Day, been to sales, done DIY, rewritten web page templates, even gone to the pub.  This year, I went out and bought a newspaper.  That was it.  Believe me, even ten minutes or so exposure to the cold wind and freezing rain was enough for me.  I remember in the dim and distant past when I actually used to be involved in such things as family Christmases, it always seemed essential to get out of the house, for any reason, on Boxing Day, in order to preserve one's sanity and prevent outbreaks of violence.  After being cooped up together in the same house since at least Christmas Eve, by Boxing Day, tempers are getting frayed.  Most of the outbreaks of massive family arguments (including the one which finished family Christmases for me) take place on Boxing Day.  Spending Christmas on my own, as I do these days, I no longer have this imperative to get out of the house come Boxing Day, (although it took a few years to kick the habit), unless I've had a violent falling out with myself.

One of the great advantages of spending Christmas on your own is the lack of arguments over what to watch on TV - obviously, having sole control of the remote, I can watch whatever I please.  Surprisingly, in practice, this means that I frequently don't watch any of the main festive fare, preferring, as I did yesterday, to watch an old episode of Star Trek on CBS Action at one point.  (I did watch Dr Who, although I preferred my DVD of Roger Corman's Von Richtofen and Brown to any of the movies on offer and rounded of the day with Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman).  But, in an attempt to do something traditional on Boxing Day, I've just watched the BBC's big movie.  I have to admit that Avengers Assemble left me feeling that I'm really not the target audience for superhero films. Maybe if I'd seen all the films it was a sort of sequel to, I'd have engaged more with it.  To be honest, I was more excited by the opportunity presented earlier in the evening by Radio 4 Extra to listen to The GPO Show, one of three faux Goon Shows Spike Milligan wrote and appeared in for BBC Home Service in 1964-65.  It hadn't been repeated since Christmas 1964 and, of the three, sounds the most like a Goon Show due to presence of Harry Secombe as Neddie Seagoon and a script adapted by Milligan from an old Goon Show.  Various other Goon Show characters, including Minnie Bannister and Eccles also appear (although not named as such).  Interestingly, the 4 Extra announcer felt it necessary to give a warning along the lines of 'it wouldn't have been written this way nowadays', making me think that perhaps it contained what might now be considered racist characterisations and jokes (as do many radio shows of the era, including the Goon Show).  However, I can't say that I noticed any.  Clearly, the BBC fears that modern listeners are far more sensitive than they actually are.  Anyway, they've apparently already broadcast the other two shows (The Naughty Navy Show and the Army Show), so I'll have to catch up with those online.

I have to say, though, that the main thing that I've managed to do so far this Christmas is sleep, which has proven invaluable in my recovery from last week's horrendous cold.  I'd been having problems sleeping even before going down sick last weekend, but since I've stopped work, my sleep patterns have been far more healthy.  Which have resulted in me feeling far more healthy.  With copious amounts of whiskey keeping the cough at bay, I'm well on the road to recovery.