Shakespeare wrote few verses that spake of Christmas. This from Hamlet - and the tree from home: "Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes, / Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, / The bird of dawning singeth all night long; / And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad; /

Understanding the ending of It Was Just An Accident. #Letterbxd 📽️ 🎥 grahamthomasauthor.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/u...

View towards the Isle of Dogs from Greenwich Park. December 2017. #urbangaze #cityscape #Stunday #photography #openhouse #BlueSkyArtShow @bskyphotos.bsky.social#urbangaze

As Christmas approaches time to hang this print by Jan Pieńkowski which features the Russian Orthodox church in Chiswick.

As I was coming out of the cinema after watching It Was Just An Accident it was the precise moment of the winter solstice. (Not that there is a link between the two.) youtu.be/9oHw2ubyWE4?...

Seasonal Red #1. みたままつりor the Banto Mitama Festival. Kagawa. Shikoku. #OpenHouse #BlueSkyArtShow #Japan @bskyphotos.bsky.social#1

The Pickwick Papers: "Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fireside and his quiet home!"

Cat lover or disliker I am sure you'll enjoy this video from the grumpy chat Francais - Henri. 'The Worst Noël' youtu.be/egtvaWzIh7o

There was a time, only twenty years ago, when this was about as good as it got when it came to celebrating Christmas in Tokyo. An inflatable Santa-like figure outside Hiroo Gardens.

The everyday ordinariness of a Japanese kitchen. Marugame 2007. #Openhouse #BlueSkyArtShow #ordinarimess

Further to my earlier post, and if you're wondering why The Dress )Klänningen) deserved an X-rating, here's a Michael Billlington review from the Illustrated London News, October 1968.

Watching Kwaidan 怪談 and revelling in its spiritual beauty. The second segment is The Woman of the Snow (雪女, Yukionna), which at one point was cut from the film and exhibited on its own. First shown in the UK in October 1968 at the Academy with the incest-themed Swedish film The Dress ( Klänningen).

He should have dyed his eyebrows too.

Morocco 1974: Travels through the Kingdom is a record of my travels through Morocco. Now available on Kindle. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HY7P954

Ferry on the Seto Inland Sea near Marugame. 2017 #seascape #Japan #瀬戸内海 #SetoNaikai #photography @bskyphotos.bsky.social#seascape

I have kept this cutting for years as it is simply the best recipe for coq au vin - ever. Robert est votre oncle, as they say.

Tokyo is very #UrbanGaze Thursday. #photography #ClassicMono #skyscraper #Japan #BlueSkyArt @bskyphotos.bsky.social

I was introduced to Olympic Studio Records yesterday. A lovely eclectic store with a wide range of vinyl and some interesting books. Two Scanda bands stood out: The Spotnicks and Family Four.

I have been sleeping but now awake and I saw this and started to read. Philip Larkin's poem, Aubade, was published in the Christmas edition of the Times Literary Supplement in 1977

Production designer Ken Adam's move into the world of James Bond very nearly didn't happen. midcenturybond.wordpress.com/2023/03/19/k...

What have garden sheds and tat got to do with Christmas? Welcome to the UK abomination known as the Christmas Market. This example in Trafalgar Square last year.

You might be amazed to learn this is the Thames in the heart of London. Barnes on the right; Chiswick on the left.

What's my burning literary question today? Where did James Bond live in London? midcenturybond.wordpress.com/2020/07/19/t...

Although they were not neighbours - as they lived on this terrace of houses at different times - I felt there were synergies oscillating between Gustav Holst and Ninette de Valois presence. And of course his music is today used in ballet. I passed these today. Dec 2025.

Anti-Sports Personality Of The Year. A good read but surely Gianni Infantino should have been included. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...

This is not something I'd heard before about Allen Jones and Stanley Kubrick. An example many artists and writers et al come across in the commercial world: 'can you do it for free because it will be great for your career...' marycigarettes.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/a...

My virtual Christmas card view for this year. It is part of the series Miyako meisho nijūgo kei (Twenty-five Views of Famous Places in Kyoto). Artist: Morikawa Sobun (1847-1902).

My description of the background music in the Roi restaurant, Grand Hotel Kanazawa. It was written in 2000 but I'm struck by how similar it is to a pattern now adopted by #BBCRadio3 Unwind service. Namely tunes interspersed with the sounds of nature. grahamthomasauthor.wordpress.com/2024/01/03/a...

I'm afraid this is incorrect. The 'promise' was only to start negotiations.

Other than the adage 'the old ones are the best ones' clearly The Guardian has no comprehension that narrative in any form is retelling and retelling. I mean as it never heard of the history of mother-in-law jokes?

It is unsurprising that the organisation that mounted OsakaExpo 2025 continues to be inept.

Quality Street when the tins were big. From the 1950s. (For those not au fait with this Christmas tradition, buying a tin of the Quality Street assortment is still a big part of Christmas in the UK. However more recently the tins have started to shrink.)

The Shikoku mountains Japan. More precisely the Iya Valley area. 2025. #mountainmonday #landscape #scape @bskyphotos.bsky.social

My essay called Japan Never Changes is #1 in terms of viewings after it was published earlier this week. grahamthomasauthor.wordpress.com/2025/12/11/j...

Re-organised my print store into "collections". Adding more new images throughout this week. If you're interested in an original print by me on your wall. Or want to buy one for a gift, do take a look. And re-post and share this if you feel inclined. Every little helps. 🙏❤️ japanorama.darkroom.com

Released this week in 1971. Way before Ibeza became a thing: "See the mice in their million hordes From Ibeza to the Norfolk Broads." What on earth was Bowie being prescient about? How did he know? Spooky.

First Fish Story and now Beyond the Infinite Two Minutesドロステのはてで僕らshare commonalities: the butterfly effect; the end of the world in 1999 and then 2012; Sci-fi and comedy. BI2M is also low budget. In this instance very low budget. And also has a huge cult following youtu.be/FHNflgKa4UA

Further to my earlier posts on Anne Coates, three photos of her from Pinewood Studios. #letterbxd 📽️

Christmas drinks #2. 2023.

Pat Marriott is now largely forgotten but she designed two particularly interesting covers for Fleming's Bond novels. midcenturybond.wordpress.com/2019/04/28/p...

Planned as a dissolve the greatest cut of all time was due to David Lean playing with a temporary jump cut. 'David gave it back to me and said make it perfect,’' said Anne Coates. 'I just took two frames off the outgoing shot, and that’s how it is today. #Letterbxd 📽️ youtu.be/HlUFxO0wxVQ?...

First year selling my art at Christmas without the Other site, where most of my sales came from, as well as losing US orders to new tariffs, so it'll be a tough one - I put huge work into every order, so even if you can't buy, shares help get them in front of eyes. GRMA! www.ciaraioch.com/artprints

Anne V Coates was born in Reigate, Surrey on 12 December 1925. Over her long career as a film editor Coates was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award, to sit alongside her five nominations and one win – for Lawrence of Arabia. #letterbxd 📽️ youtu.be/ODsDNDXFjvA?...

"Turn social media profiles to public." This has just appeared on social media issued by the Embassy in the UK. This is just for visa applicants at the moment but it's the first step.

I've published a short essay on why Japan's political landscape never changes. grahamthomasauthor.wordpress.com/2025/12/11/j...

Seto Inland Sea near Marugame. 2010. #seascape @bskyphotos.bsky.social#seascape

My essay on the early book jacket designs of the James Bond novels. midcenturybond.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/t...

Christmas drinks #1: Lynch Bages 1989 and Warre's 1996.

A Bfi article on 10 great 70mm films - though I would have included The Sound Of Music. www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-gre...