Snow Dog

Photo by Lewis Reid

The bad weather in Scotland yesterday led to disruption for many, but at least someone enjoyed the snow.

Read the full story on the BBC website.

Tintin's Anniversary

Blistering barnacles! Today marks the 80th anniversary of the first appearance of Tintin. Drawn and written by the Belgian cartoonist George Remi, better known as Hergé, Tintin was first seen in "Le Petit Vingtième", a weekly children's newspaper on 10th January 1929. Apparently, Tintin was based on an earlier character created by Hergé called Totor who was a boy scout. Tintin however, is a roving reporter, (not that there's ever much evidence of this in the books), who is drawn to dangerous intrigues in which his bravery and quick thinking save the day. He's usually accompanied by Milou, his white Wire Fox Terrier, more commonly known as Snowy.

There have been a few Tintin stories doing the rounds recently; I saw this story on Thursday asking if Tintin is gay. Not that it matters, of course, but I'm sure Snowy knows the truth ;)

Also just read in The Guardian that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are going to be playing the Thompson Twins in the forthcoming Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson film. Hard to imagine really as they don't look a bit alike. In the books they were impossible to tell apart except by their moustaches! The actor playing Tintin has yet to be cast and I'm guessing that Snowy will be some kind of CGI monstrosity, sigh.

Happy Anniversary, Tintin. And Snowy too of course!