Baggage

"The Filthy Critic" likes flying for the same reason as the character played by George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (not that I've seen it yet). He says ".. you are untethered, free from all the anchors of a daily, pointless existence. You may be on your way to another pointless existence, but at least it's a new one and its pointlessness has yet to be revealed. If you're traveling, you are not weighed down by the people and obligations you've committed to..."
I'd noticed that somehow when travelling I feel less encumbered - well, apart from those occasions when the airline decides to separate you from the baggage you do have with you, when you feel more weighed down, not less!

Video version

Hope this works as nothing else seems to!

More Electrabel Nights

Electrabel Nights

The countdown

The show begins - and a plane joins in

You can't tell, but it was saying Happy New Year in different languages!

The sign-off

Happy New Year!

Yes, it says minus 5°(C)! It snowed again overnight so I won't be walking to work tomorrow.

I "saw" Santa..

I happen to know that the toy-painting Santa was adapted from a shoe-maker automaton - it used to raise and lower its right arm, holding a hammer, onto a little shoe on the workbench. It probably started its life in the window of a "cordonnier" but ended up in a sort of grotto they used to have in this shopping centre.
Where the saw-toting lumberjack gnome comes in, I'm not quite sure; perhaps it cut down the plastic Christmas tree? Anyway, this year these strange figures have been pressed somewhat haphazardly into service to guard the crib.