It's 2009..

...and apparently the year of the bull! No doubt we'll get a fair amount of that from our glorious leaders, assorted economic egg heads and the media in general...so, it'll be business as usual then ;-)

But in a more humorous vein here's a link to a brilliant classic. May Warden ( then in her 70's) and Freddie Frinton. They'd been performing the sketch in Blackpool, England, during the summer of 1962 and were invited to perform it in Germany. As a result of it's very positive reception it was subsequently filmed in Hamburg the following year, a month before I was born!

Remarkably it went on to become a new years eve institution in Germany! and is an essential part of tv viewing each years end....so who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour?

Einen guten rutsch ins neuyahr! to all my German freinds and everyone else, too.

Another odd custom from that part of the world is called; "das Bleigießen". This involves melting a small amount of lead in a teaspoon and pouring it into a cup of water. The resulting shapes are interpreted as omens of the forthcoming year. I might try that...but use pure gold, you never know, it may help improve finances ;-)

All the very best to you all and Namaste,

Ford