Tick, tick, tick ... . Another year almost used up. And I’m still not a rock star. Sigh. Well, at least I have my guitar with me at work, hanging in my press gallery office at City Hall. I can noodle around on my axe whenever the mood strikes.

Wait! Back that up.

Just kidding, boss. Yes, I’ve got a guitar here. But just for decoration. Column? I’m on it, boss. (Right after a few bars of Smoke on the Water).

w A hot shower and strong coffee helps. It always does on the morning after a serious binge. You look in the mirror at bloodshot eyes and ask yourself those same old questions: How can food cause a hangover? Why did I eat that much turkey? Then you vow to eat less next Christmas. Alas, the human mind is a funny thing. Just as women forget the toil and agony of pregnancy and labour, we foodies erase traumatic memories of gastrointestinal trauma. What was I saying? Whatever, let’s eat.

w In truth, your humble correspondent did have a brush with rock stardom this past month. I was part of a band, Last Call, that rocked Red’s at West Edmonton Mall.

OK, it was a Sunday afternoon and the place was empty, save for friends and relatives. And yes, the gig was sponsored by Axe Music, as part of their fantasy-camp-like program, Weekend Warriors.

But there was a stage. There was an audience. We rocked. They cheered. Then it was over. Fame is oh so fleeting.

- In 2004, I picked Shaun of the Dead as my favourite movie of the year. This year, it’s Serenity, the sci-fi action flick from Joss Whedon, the man who brought Buffy the Vampire Slayer to TV.

The characters are fleshed out deftly, too. Serenity’s antagonist, the Alliance’s operative, is the most disarming, charming and evil bad guy of memory. Well, outside of federal politics.

 So Coun. Mike Nickel and his lovely wife Leanne welcomed a baby into the family on Christmas Day. Congratulations are in order, for more reasons than the obvious.

Nickel wanted to follow a conservative theme and name his baby boy after a symbol of the political right. The Nickels’ firstborn is Reagan. Naturally, Nickel wanted to call the second Thatcher.

Leanne, at one point, argued to call the baby Scott. That was rejected. But she prevailed, eventually, with her Scots theme. The new baby is called Duncan.

Hmmm? You probably don’t know this, but your humble servant’s given names are Duncan and Scott.

Happenstance? Or did council’s leading fiscal conservative secretly name his progeny after a liberal hack?

Coun. Nickel, I never knew you cared.

 Another reason to see Serenity? It’s star, playing the role of the reluctant hero, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, is Nathan Fillion, born and raised in Edmonton. More on him in Friday’s column.

 The biggest news story of 2005 in Edmonton was the police Overtime stakeout debacle. I’m not the first one to point this out, but did you notice that the police officers involved are being either cleared or given a slap on the wrist by independent adjudicators.