the pigeons are doomed

Spring is here! Or so I deduce, from the rather pleasing way in which the oak trees are shyly putting forth that gentle green mist over the bare boughs. Only to have the fresh new leaves cruelly nipped off: this is Cape Town, which is apparently reluctant to relinquish its fitful but extended naughty affair with Winter, and is clinging to cold, rain and snow-in-Sutherland with the desperation of your true psycho hose-beast. I like winter very much, but it's been a cold one, and my bedroom, being a converted* garage, does a spirited morgue imitation in the middle of the night. In order to avoid a scenario where the occupant is, in fact, blue, cold and dead, I have been driven to the extreme response of, in addition to the five layers of blankets, actually sleeping in clothes.

wytchfynder is in town, and we had a very pleasant lunch yesterday, catching up on things academic, social and role-playing in the hallowed precints of the UCT club,which incidentally has to have the worst service in the known universe, even for Cape Town. We were able to assure the waitress, on leaving, that we didn't actually hate her very much, but the assurance had a hollow ring.

The Disney class, inevitably, given my inflammatory fate-tempting statements, has woken up; specifically, my comments on Disney as American culture are gingering the American exchange students something 'orrible. It would be preferable, however, if I didn't have to field any more comments along the lines of yesterday's gem: "You can't say that a Disney film reflects American culture!" Disney being a multi-million dollar commercial enterprise with the bulk of its film sales in America, I can only say that I'm amazed at the popularity of their Albanian cultural content with American audiences.

* not with any real conviction. It's more dallying gently with the concept of religious belief, while luxuriating unrepentantly in its old sinful ways.**

** Scroobious has really infected me with footnotes. Or maybe it was Terry Pratchett.