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Just returned from an exciting week. Three days snowboarding at Patscherkofel and the Stubai Glacier above Innsbruck in Austria. Then a wedding at the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi in Northern Sweden.

Both were great. Good snow and good snowboarding in Austria. The Ice Hotel then involved minus 30 outdoor temperatures, spending a night in an igloo room at minus 5, going on a dogsled ride across the Arctic wilderness and of course celebrating a couple of good friends getting married in an amazing and unusual environment. Photos to follow I hope.

Update: pictures ⁄ more pictures.

What a minger

Alright, I’m probably displaying my ignorance here, but could someone please explain to me when Sir Menzies Campbell became Sir “Ming” Campbell or even, from some commentators on the TV, Sir “Mingies” Campbell? Because I’m afraid I don’t get it. I’m sure he never used to be called that until recently. I assume it’s some sort of “Sinjun” (St John) posh bloke’s thing. What seems clear to me, however, is that one cannot realistically expect to become Prime Minster of this country if one goes around calling oneself “Sir Mingiss”. And that’s ignoring any other problems that the Lib Dems have as a credible electable force.

Respect my authoritah!

Tony’s Respect Agenda looks good. Some real classic soundbites in there:

“The only reason to withhold respect is because of what people do”.

Precisely why most people don’t respect politicians.

“Why not ask gay men and lesbians if they want to go back to the 1950s?”

Crazed British Prime Minster promotes gay Back to the Future in flagship legacy proposals.

“Not all parents find the task easy”.

Do any parents find the task easy? Surely such a mistaken belief is a surefire way of identifying bad parents; — piece of piss, this parenting. Do it with my eyes shut.

Booze

A recently publicised study about increasing deaths in this country from liver cirrhosis is interesting to me primarily because the statistics it provides indicate that you are still pretty unlikely to die of the disease during the period aged 15 — 44 (14.1 deaths per year per 100,000 of male population in 2001). What with all the hysteria about binge drinking lately, I was starting to wonder if I drank too much. But I’d be extremely surprised if I made it into the top 4,000–odd biggest male drinkers in the country in any given year.

Indefatigability

So, my representative in the House of Commons will now be representing me from inside the Celebrity Big Brother household. Great.