Big Kid #

30 November 1998

Perhaps I left it a little late, but I’m disappointed at the range of Advent calendars available this year. After scouring the supermarket shelves in the vain hope of finding a ‘Beatles’ calendar, a ‘Manic Street Preachers’ calendar or even just a ‘Dennis the Menace’ calendar, I had to settle on letting the Teletubbies help me count down the 24 days until Christmas.

At 99p I suppose it would be churlish to complain, and maybe I’m getting prematurely nostalgic here, but Advent calendars ain’t what they used to be. My spanking new Teletubbies calendar has inch-square doors, behind which lie milk-chocolate treats. Fifteen years ago my calendar was virtually two-dimensional, making it difficult to open the fiddly half-inch square doors, behind which lay only some meaningful imagery - certainly no Po or Tinky-Winky. I think I liked it better that way.

Regardless, I still wish I wasn’t stuck with a choice between just Teletubbies, Barbie, and Thomas the Tank Engine!

I see Netscape have been bought by AOL. Well, well, well. That’s more than a little sad, but I guess it’s better than Netscape disappearing altogether. Still seems a strange alliance though, like the dinosaurs in coalition with the dolphins or something. That’s a poor metaphor, I know, but it’s late and I’m tired… Here endeth the third age of web design.

Apart from these thrilling events, little is happening that is worthy of note. I’ve just been reading Richard Branson’s autobiography, which is more interesting than I expected. He comes across as being a fairly cool guy, if a little naive in his younger days. When I read autobiographies (and, for that matter, online journals), I often find myself comparing the traits described by the author to my own personality, or at least forming an opinion as to whether I can empathize with what is being said. Well, Branson’s personality type sounds very different to my own, but his underlying ideals and beliefs are vaguely similar, making it a fascinating read. Totally different from the Paul Erdos biography that I’ve almost finished.