I can't believe we're a third of the way through December; stop the clocks now, this year's getting out of hand.
It just caught up with me out of the blue and, once again, I can't help but wonder where the year went.

I haven't even finished planting my vege garden yet. In fact I haven't started planting my vege garden yet, but at least this year I started planning to plant it a little earlier than usual (I always plan to plant a vege garden) and it is, as they say, the thought that counts.
They say that about Christmas presents too – it's the thought that counts – but I find it to be rarely true in practice. People, or at least the ones nearest and dearest to me, want stuff, and merely the thought of stuff doesn't really cut it.
With that in mind, I'll try and use the year's three remaining columns, as has become the traditional way, to suggest some pressie ideas of a musical variety.
And there's so much out there. For a start, and for those inclined to reading, there's the Keith Richards biography, Life, that I mentioned last week. It really is a fun read. In case last time's extracts weren't enough to whet your appetite, here's another:
'Dunedin, for instance, almost the southernmost city in the world, in New Zealand. It looked like Tombstone and felt like it. It still had hitching rails. It was Sunday, a wet dark Sunday in Dunedin in 1965. I don't think you could have found anything more depressing anywhere.”
Yep, Dunedin was just as much fun back in the swinging 60s! Keith's idea to beat the boredom? 'I think I'll stand on my head, try and recycle the drugs.”
Or you could opt for tickets. A lot of shows are coming up in the days and weeks after Christmas and all of them have tickets for sale now. There is, of course, the Blues Brews & BBQs gig on 15 January, embattled by the police and anti-drinking lobby in New Zealand's recently discovered Complain-About-Booze Culture. The Marchwood Blues Picnic is also back, not until February 5, but it's on sale now (only $20 this time!). See www.bluespicnic.com.
And Mills Reef have just announced their Summer Series shows, the perfect chance to show off the best of the Bay to visiting friends or simply get some time out from the chaos of the Christmas period.
This year there's an international flavour to the music and there are three separate concerts.
First up, on December 29, is Club Manouche with chanteuse Carolina Moon. These guys are great! Club Manouche kicked off the National Jazz Festival a couple of years ago with their expert brand of French gypsy swing. They play the type of jazz made popular in 1930s Paris by Django Reinhardt while Caroline, one of the country's top jazz singers and also a favourite at jazz festivals here, sings classic French songs by the likes of Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg.
The following week there are two shows. On January 4 it's Cuban time with Orquesta Amadeus, the country's only authentic orquesta tipica cubana, or Cuban charanga band. The charanga movement gave birth to the classic Cuban rhythms and dances, the mambo and the cha cha cha, the origins of what we now call ‘salsa'.
Basically it's the music you hear from the Buena Vista Social Club. They got a standing ovation at this year's National Jazz festival and you can check out clips from that concert at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvcbXEFfIuw.
And the following day (January 5) it's Summertime Blues, with the Self-Righteous Brothers Blues Ensemble (moonlighting members of Kokomo) hosting acclaimed Kiwi bluesman Mike Garner for an acoustic blues summit. The SRBBE specialise in early blues and ragtime from the Mississippi Delta while Mike Garner has been playing festivals throughout the world – including a stint at the Kathmandu Blues Festival! – and the stage will be set for jamming and a whole bunch of fun.
These concerts begin at 6.30pm and you can enjoy a relaxed outdoor dinner or just go for the show. Tickets are $20, available from the winery (ph: 5768800). Numbers are very limited, so get in quick.