A belated happy new year

It has been, I will admit, a while. At this stage I am not too sure who is still reading this (but according to Google's ever helpful 'Stats' function, I am still resplendently popular in Thailand, Russia and Canada. God/Buddha bless you one and all).

We were away over the holiday period, though admittedly only for 10 days, so that still leaves a further three weeks to account for. But in those three weeks, I have been composing furiously on behalf of you, my dear readers in Bangkok, Moscow and Moosebay, and over the next couple of days I hope to brighten all our lives with my blogs.

If I'm not too busy shoveling snow.

So my new years resolutions for 2012 are:

(a) break through the magical 100 blog mark for the year. I came close last year but topped out at 89 due to a sudden outbreak of tropical heat induced lethargy just after Christmas (but more of that anon).

(b) And, you know, the old world peace gig; saving some whales should they happen to cruise into Muroran harbour; getting the Chinese to cut the Dalai Lama some slack; and finding an immediate cure for advanced male pattern baldness.

Yes, a tad conventional I know, but that's the early middle-aged latent Republican in me beginning to emerge.