Not Back to Work

We're at that time of year when, traditionally, I rail about the fact that Christmas is a twelve day festival, so why the fuck do we allow the media, employers and the authorities to cut it off at New Year?  Of course, this year, thanks to New Year's Day falling on a Saturday, we got an extra bank holiday Monday, so most people won't be forced back to work until the 4th of January, rather than the 2nd or 3rd, as is usual.  But, for the second year running, that's not my worry - I have no work to go back to as I'm still enjoying my extended time out.  So, I can sit at home and enjoy my Christmas decorations for a few more days, (unlike those mean-spirited bastards on my street who already switched off their lights and taken down their decorations, despite it not yet being Twelfth Night).  I'm thinking that maybe I should leave the lights up longer - in some parts of Northern Europe they keep them lit until at least February - as it is depressing enough at this time of year without removing yet another source of cheer.  Also for the second year running, I have alcohol left over, despite buying far less than usual for the Christmas break.  I remember the days when I'd have enough beer to float a battleship in the fridge for the festive period - and I'd drink it all.  I guess that without that hellish job, I don't feel the need to spend a couple of weeks trying to relieve the stress by steadily drinking all Christmas.

While I didn't drink to excess, I did watch a lot of films over Christmas.  Usually, I buy all manner of stuff  I've been trying for years to catch up with on DVD to watch, but this time, in part because I was so late in realising that Christmas was imminent, I instead decided to catch up with all the stuff that had been sitting, unwatched, on my DVR.  It was an eclectic bunch of films - some of them have been on there for over a year.  Anyway, the more recent ones - Man of Steel and Spiderman: Far From Home - just confirmed that I can't enjoy modern superhero films.  Perhaps it is my age, but I find the style in which they are made too distracting.  I just find it impossible to focus on them: the plots and characters slip by in a flurry of action, camera angles and lighting effects without ever engaging me.  Judging by their box office returns, however, I'm clearly in a minority here.  To be honest, I found I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle - a lame but strangely likeable attempt at a British horror comedy - more engaging.  At least it had no pretensions of style or art and made good use of its back street Birmingham locations (which made a change from London).  It even raised the odd laugh.  I also worked my way through a number of late sixties and early seventies films I hadn't seen in years, courtesy of a streaming service I'm convinced is going to be shut down at any minute for rights issues.  It's amazing how little I remembered of stuff like The Omega Man, The Midnight Man, Busting and Dracula AD1972.  (The latter is far better than I remembered it).  So, all in all, not a bad festive period - which still has a few days to run.