18, December 2009. We were dumped on by a Siberian snow storm featuring an unusual, if not unique Thunderclap, coinciding with the simultaneous Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

The pictures were snapped by Mrs Monk on the morning of this event, before and after dawn. That morning the car got stuck in the middle of the road and I missed a game of tennis, where my presence would have brought about a change of outcome, of little significance to the remainder of the world.

Johnny Mazcko, the next big thing, and endorsed by these pages, provides the song, intended to mean something completely different, but nevertheless portentous.

shoestringonline.co.uk/