The American election is looming large on the horizon, and now the rest of the world can pretend it has a voice. This site gives people from around the world the chance to learn about the candidates and cast their own cyber-vote.

And in reaction, here's my latest feelings on the whole thing:

The US is the most powerful nation in the world. A unique position. With great power comes great responsibility. The US is not living up to it's responsibility. By riding roughshod over the UN - the only organisation that could hope to rival the US's power - it's showing nothing but contempt for its neighbours. While the US is guided by arrogance and self-interest, it won't make the barest difference who's in charge.

The UN moves slowly due to it's nature. It doesn't represent one nation, with one governing body making decisions and acting, it represents dozens of countries and has to make decisions and take actions based on the interests of its member countries. How many countries was Iraq a thread to? How do we view the situation now that we know the invasion was based on false information? Can we see the UN's hesitation in a new light? The fact is, there was no actual need to storm into Iraq like we did. It was a threat to no-one, it had no active links to Al Qaeda, it had no discernable WMD capacity, it had been systematically bombed and emasculated by the US ever since Desert Storm. Yes, Saddam's regime was intolerable. Yes, he needed to go. But to fabricate intelligence and connect it to the great good holy cause of the War on Terror is simply wrong.

So many times I've heard it said that the US has the right to do what it wants, to serve its own interests and look after its own concerns. That's wrong. The US has a duty of leadership, and the first duty of leadership is to look after those beneath you. The US is not doing that, it's acting in its own interest and serving its own ends with no regard to the rest of the world. While it's true that it's actions are having positive repercussions, that was not the aim when the coalition began its action. The aim was simply to crush Saddam. So Governments around the world lied to their populace, they amassed their forces and stood in line with the biggest bully in the playground.

I claim no political allegiance. I do not dislike the American people, I despise American politics. I reject any cries of anti-americanism - it means nothing to me because I never signed up to those ideals and don't agree with them in the same way that I don't agree with the ideals that are supposed to make me British. I feel no national pride - what is there to be proud about? I would not fight for my country but I would fight for my family, in my own right, on my own terms - and if that requires me to join the military, then so be it. But inside, I still would not be a patriot. My head of state has no right to determine my ideals, morals and beliefs. In my heart, I remain the same person, at peace with my hypocrisies and contradictions. Comfortable with the compromises I have to make in order to run my life. I follow no flag, I claim no allegiance. The freedom that gives me is tangible, it's not a lie.

Whoever wins next month, it'll make no difference to anything. Life will go on, battles will continue to be fought, the american people will carry on believing the great lie that they live in the land of the free despite all the evidence to the contrary. Nothing will change.

I'm with Monty Brewster. I'm voting for None of the Above.

A landmark day for pagans everywhere, the first legal handfasting has taken place in Edinburgh!

Here's a report from Scotsman.com last week:

A COUPLE are set to tie the knot in Scotland’s first legal witch wedding.

Canadians Paul Cameron Rickards, 37, and Laurie Schedler, 42, are to take part in the landmark ceremony in a vault beneath Edinburgh’s Old Town later this month.

Followers of white witchcraft, also known as Wicca, have hailed the ceremony as a major breakthrough for their faith which is set to trigger dozens of other similar requests from couples.

But while the wedding has been welcomed by the General Register Office for Scotland, senior churchmen have expressed concern.

The couple will both jump over a broomstick and have their hands bound together with a red cord during the 30-minute ceremony at the Temple of the Source Coven of the Blue Dragon in Niddry Street on September 21.

George Cameron, known as The Hermit, a Wicca witch and grand master of the Source Coven who will conduct the ceremony, said: "This is the most important event since the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in 1951.

"I am delighted because I have been trying to make this happen for many years. It is the biggest thing to hit pagan witchcraft for years.

"This is very significant as the ceremony is classed as a religious ceremony, which gives credence to the craft and recognises it as a religious faith."

Mr Cameron, 53, said the ceremony - which will take place in a nine-foot circle lined with flowers - would be a blend of the traditional hand-fastening ceremony and a conventional wedding.

At the end of the ceremony, a high priestess will pick up the broomstick and ritually sweep the circle clear of all evil influences. The cake will then be cut with a ritual sword.

The only tell-tale sign of most Wicca followers is the pentagram jewellery they wear, which is often hidden beneath their clothes. They practise spells, foresight, exorcisms and pranic healing - using power channelled through the hands. Wicca followers believe the white magic they practise can be a powerful force for good.

Mr Cameron has practised witchcraft for 30 years and gave up his day job as a car mechanic more than a decade ago.

The happy couple themselves are not actually involved with the practice. Miss Schedler, who works as a singer in Ontario, said they had chosen the ceremony because of its old-world beauty.

She said; "Paul had a friend who followed Wicca and we saw descriptions of the binding ceremony and it just seemed so beautiful.

All our friends had been saying Scotland was incredibly beautiful so we contacted George and arranged the ceremony.

"When we found out it hadn’t been performed before we thought it would be really difficult to arrange, but the registrar were really helpful."

A spokeswoman for the General Register Office for Scotland said: "It is the first Wicca wedding to be authorised in Scotland. It is a recommended form of religion. The Registrar General for Scotland attaches great importance to the principle of marriage."

But Bill Wallace, a former convener of the Church of Scotland’s board of social responsibility and a minister in Wick, said

: "I think this illustrates people’s desperate need for some spiritual dimension in their lives and their willingness to go to any wild extreme.

"It would be a sad reflection on the state of our country [if more weddings like this took place]. It emphasises all the more need for Christian affirmations."

And Lothians MSP Lord James Douglas-Hamilton said: "

Many centuries ago, witches were burnt in Scotland and this was an intolerant way of dealing with dissident women who disagreed with official policies.

"Happily, we live in a tolerant society today, but the state has to be very careful before endorsing practices which may be seen at least as bizarre."

Buried non-story of the week award goes to the daughter of our illustrious leader.

Apparently at some point in the last six months, Kathryn Blair attempted suicide an undetermined number of times.

reports can be found at Indymedia and The All Seeing Eye

The Blairs requested a media blackout on the story and the result has been a stirring in the underground press with cries of censorship going up from all quarters.

For myself, I find it quite reasonable that a kid in that position would find it detrimental to have her image spashed over the tabloids. Would she be expected to do the chat-show circuit perhaps? I can just see her on the Frank Skinner show.

Say what you will about press freedom, sometimes a little sensetivity is in order.

The public interest crowd really aren't helping their cause by screaming COVERUP, CENSORSHIP and CONSPIRACY about this. If they show themselves as unrepentant sharks and bloodthirsty sensation-mongers, they'll never be treated seriously by mainstream media.

We may have the right to hear about this story, but wouldn't the responsible thing be to let this private moment remain private?

(Yes, it does sound like I'm being a hypocrite there, but my intention is not to focus on the Blairs, but to share my opinions about the commentators)

This is what Byzant Mystical has to say about Mabon:

Mabon is the solar festival that marks the transition from the light to the dark half of the year: day and night are of equal length. On this day, the sun rises due east and sets due west. The autumn quarter of the year runs from Lughnassadh to Samhain, so Mabon marks the mid-point of autumn. By Mabon, the land is showing clear signs of the journey towards winter - leaves are beginning to turn and birds are gathering for migration.

Mabon is the time of the second harvest, when fruits are ready for collection. In Celtic mythology, Mabon was the Young God, abducted and imprisoned, only to return at a later date. This is thus an appropriate title for the day on which darkness gains the upper hand over light until the following equinox, Ostara. Mabon is the point at which, conceptually at least, the Sun enters the sign of Libra, the Scales or Balance - the most appropriate sign for this day of perfect balance between darkness and light.

Mabon is a time to consider which aspects of your life you wish to preserve and which you would prefer to discard. It marks a time of thankfulness, equality and balance when you should try to appreciate and enjoy the fruits of your labors. The dark half of the year brings a greater emphasis on reflection, rest and planning, and Mabon is the point at which these influences begin to be felt.

This is the first week of autumn and the pagan festival of Mabon. More info on Mabon is a sec, but first something from my favourite poet:

To Autumn
(John Keats)

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Next on my movie hit-list is Catwoman

I went into this film determined to not like it and I wasn't dissappointed. It's impossible to watch this film without comparing Halle Berry to Michelle Pfeiffer, and her portrayal of the clawed one in Batman Returns. And Berry doesn't come off well in the comparison.

Nothing in this film fits. I can accept a non-batman related exposition for there being a line of Catwomen dating back to ancient Egyptian times, but the point was laboured overmuch. There was an air of desperate justification to it all which destroyed the plot completely, which wasn't difficult - the word plot in itself is pretty much of a misnomer. I've seen skeletons with more meat on them. And I just didn't care, either.

The idea is that a face cream is poisonous. Well, tell the drug regulator agencies then, simple. But then there'd be nothing for her to do. Shame.

I've seen reviews that call Berry's outfit "Skimpy". I've seen skimpier things on my way to the store! Sorry, but I don't call a pair of leather jeans and an uncomfortable-looking bra-top "Skimpy" or "Sexy". Pfeiffer's outfit could make a grown man weep. Her big entrance was spellbinding. Berry's big entrance was bitty, choppy, uninspired and erm...done by a man. No Comparison.

Choppy is a good word to describe this film. I don't know what the editor was on, but someone please make him stop. I was dizzy through most of the film.

Iwas about to say that it's notas bad as Van Helsing, but really it's pretty much on a par.

Don't bother. There's no way of getting those 90 minutes back, you know.

Coming soon: The Bourne Supremacy.

It's film review time. You know what to do if you haven't seen it yet and don't want to know.

This time it's Super Size Me

Inspired by the legal action taken against McDonalds by two overly obese teenagers, Morgan Spurlock plans an experiment in which he will eat nothing butMcD's for a month.

The multiple and wide-ranging medical exams he takes before hestarts put himin above-average fitness.

The rules of the experiment include having to accept the super-size option if offered, which he is on his second day. It takes him an hour to eat it and the results are, well, splashy. Even after this, his enthusiasm isn't dulled, but he's already feeling the effects, which aren't relegated to the expected bloatedness of eating so much grease. A walk up the stairs exhausts him, he begins having mood swings and he begins taking a cab for the less-than-half-mile journey to work.

His vegan chef girlfriend is nonplussed, his GP, dietician, psychologist and personal trainer (all employed for the experiment, Spurlock seems to be quite a regular guy) are already worried afterjust seven days.

Things do not get better, and by the endof the monthhe's a physical wreck on his way to an early death.

The experiment is only half the story however. During the month he investigates the evidence given in the legal cases. Interviewing the lawyer doesn't go too well,as his sanguine money-chasing attitude guarantees he gets only two minutes screentime. The attitude of the food industry executives are far more telling, as they unconvincingly try to defend the fast food sellers. You have to wait until almost the end to hear the most revealing statement. Only six words, but they cost the guy his job. A true jawdropping moment.

This is a fascinating film. I'd been putting off watching it but as it turns out, it's one of the better choices I've made in my little challenge to watch the latest releases in order to see if Hollywood really is churning out mostly crap. Let's put it this way, I want the DVD.

Now it has to be said that I'm naturally predisposed to apportion blame for most things at McDonalds feet, having followed their more underhand practises, via the underground press and the brave admissions of their employees, for the last 17 years. However, no effort is needed in order to dislike McD's during this film.

McD's have a certain line they follow consistently: The food is not intended to be eaten exclusively but is not harmful. By the end of the month, Spurlock reveals that he's eaten as much in 30 days as would normally be eaten in eight years. Now this is fair enough. You immediately think, well, that's OK I can't have eaten that much, so I won't turn out like that. But then think again. After one week, he would have eaten two year's worth and still was doing untold damageto his body. And most of us have eaten two year's worth.

All in all, a must-watch. As soon as the DVD comes out, my kids will be sat down to watch it. This will do more for your weightloss program than any exercise tape.

I am a Light Cycle. I drive fast, I turn fast, I do everything fast. I even breakfast. I tend to confuse people with my sudden changes of heart. Sometimes I even confuse myself, which tends to cause problems. What Video Game Character Are You?

Another "getting to know you" session. This one gleaned from the "Life and times of the Merry Piper"

• What scar are you most proud of? The one my daughters came out of.
  
• What's your favourite condiment? Soy Sauce
  
• Do you have freckles? Nup. The thai blood kinda put paid to anything like that.
  
• What's your preferred method of cooking? Quick 'n easy. Stir fry or "gas mark 7 for 30 minutes". Anyone noticed just how many frozen foodstuffs come with this instruction? Weird.
  
• What shoes are you wearing? I'm not. Today I wore para boots, however.
  
• How many children do you have? Two girls.
  
• Who was the first person you ever French kissed? Catherine Fellowes, behind the Junior school shed, age...umm...dunno, nine, ten. Everyone was watching while we sucked face under our coats. I had a reputation for years after.
  
• What's your preferred breed of dog? Apart from the cross collie in the kitchen, any one I don't own.
  
• Where you were born? Just over four miles away.
  
• What colour underwear are you wearing? I'm not wearing any. Ooer missus.
  
• Where your keys are right now? Next to the phone, on top of my bus pass.
  
• Do you have split ends? Probably not. The old mop's in amazingly good condition considering.
  
• What's your opinion of airline food? I once saw an episode of a sitcom where the main character was getting told off for slipping a note inside one meal which said "Help, I'm being held captive in an airline food packaging factory!"
  
• What cosmetic surgery you would consider? Nah, I've seen the documentaries. Sod that! I'd have the ol' snip though.
  
• When did you last get laid? A few days back.
  
• Where's the most interesting place you've had sex? On the bed. The position was plenty interesting - fantasy-fulfillingly interesting! As far as odd locations go...maybe over the back of the in-law's sofa, or up an alley which seemed quite dingy but turned out to be quite well lit upon our exit.
  
• What's the best kiddie playground equipment on which you've had sex? I always wanted to have a go on the climbing frames with a couple of pairs of handcuffs, a blindfold and a consenting adult.
  
• What's been your worst every injury or illness? Gout.
  
• Does your Mum love your Dad? I don't think so.
  
• Can you can sing well? Ask my shower head.
  
• What would your Olympic event would be? Sod the olympics, I wanna be on Mastermind.
  
• Name someone you admire. Steve Redgrave.
  
• Which country would be hardest for you to locate on a map? I think I've got a decent grasp of where most places are.
  
• Which part of the Sunday papers do you read first? The arts reviews.
  
• What languages do you speak? English, French, Spanish, some Sign Language, some occam, celtic, ancient egyptian.
  
• In what religion you were raised? Baptist.
  
• Can you can draw well? I couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler.
  
• What's your favourite photograph? This one has me stumped. Maybe the first ones I took of my daughters, one about ten minutes after Allison was born, and one after Bethan had been stabilised in the Neo-Natal Unit.
  
• What you should be doing instead of this? Sleeping.

A quick look back at my free 'n easy years:

Monday it'd be a quick snifter at the pub (Xposure Rock Cafe, now a strip bar)

Tuesday night was Student Night, but one to avoid because the music was shite.

Wednesday was Cattle Market night at the Dirty Duck, then another Student Night (Snobs, which at least used to play Green Day now and again).

Thursday, Friday, Saturday would be Pub (The Fleapit...erm...Foundry - now luxury apartments opposite the new home for the BBC in Birmingham) & Club (Edward's No. 8 - still good apparently - or XL's - now half strip joint, half closed).

That did me till I was 25.

These days it's get the kids to sleep for eight and flounder around for something to watch, or more likely read, marking time till I can collapse into a coma at midnight.

Oh the joys of growing up!

I can't bear singers who bleat on about how terrible their rock-star life is in their songs.

I listen to Radio 2 a lot and lately they've been playing Bryan McFadden's latest ditty to death - it's all about how all his fame and fortune isn't real. My reaction is, well, WHY did you make the record??

He walks out of Westlife and does what? Retires? Buys a chip shop? Writes a novel? No, he records songs about how onerous it is to keep recording songs! Get over it! If it's such a pain in the backside, then stop!

Eminem's the same. Washing his linen on vinyl. Gah!

Robbie Williams, Geri Halliwell, Prince, grrr!

For god's sake get over yourselves!

(deep breath...rant over...carry on)

I had something in mind before I clicked the "Create" button, really I did.

OK, time for some interaction...

Picked this "Getting to know you" questionnaire off a newsgroup I read. Answers can go in the comments or you could copy the questions to your own blog and post a link to your answers in the comments if you like.

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES?

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOARD GAME?

5 .FAVORITE MAGAZINE?

6. FAVORITE SMELL?

7. LEAST FAVORITE SMELL?

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE
MORNING?

9. FAVORITE COLOR?

10. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR?

11. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE?

12. FUTURE (or First) CHILD'S NAME:

13. WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?

14. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

15. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?

16. FAVORITE TV SHOW?

17. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?

18. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY?

19. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?

20. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE PERSON (LIVING OR DECEASED)?

21. FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?

22. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN & YOUR BIRTHDAY?

23. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEAL?

24. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE?

25. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

26. IS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

27. FAVORITE MOVIE?

28. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS?

29. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?

30. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?

31. WHAT IS YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST FEAR?

32. SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU!

33. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD?.

34. HAMBURGERS OR HOT-DOGS?

35. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOFT DRINK?

36. THE BEST PLACES YOU HAVE EVER BEEN?

37. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER NOW?

***

Let's kick off with my answers:

1. An eclectic mix of colours and styles. Mostly beige unfortunately.

2. Bravemouth, a biography of Billy Connolly
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Porno, sequel to Trainspotting

3. Haven't got one. It's the arm of the sofa. So, strictly speaking, me.

4. Toss up between Trivial Pursuit, Reversi and this african game where you take it in turns to move stones into different pots. I've always wanted to
learn how to play the ancient egyptian game of Senet, but can't find the
rules anywhere.

5 . "Q" magazine for me, I think.

6. Lemon Meringue

7. Ammonia. Rose scented disinfectant.

8. Hurrying up so I won't be late.

9 & 10. No Preferences

11. Depends who's hidden it.

12. Allison Penny

13. Living

14. Vanilla

15. If I could drive, I'd want a hummer or one of these 7-seaters, so prolly wouldn't drive fast..

16. It varies, most of the treks except VOY, Dead Like Me, Red Dwarf, Hitch
Hiker's Guide, MASH

17. That's no stuffed animal, that's my girlfriend.

18. Cool if you're not in florida, or the caribbean.

19. See 15.

20. Too many to mention

21. Lagavulin (16 y.o.), Jim Beam, Abbott Ale.

Not together

22. June 13, Gemini. Friday 13 is therefore one of my favourite days. It seems
to be put off for a day however cos foul things happen to me on Sat 14th!

23. Oh somethng self-made and chinese.

24. If I won the lotto, I'd buy a farm and turn it into a campsite and corporate
outward-bound centre. I'd buy a few teepees to hire out and advertise it as
a place to celebrate the pagan sabbats in style.

25. I'd take it back to the almost-black it was before all this grey turned up.

26. Half full and in need of a topup, whose round is it?

27. For me nothing's topped LOTR, but Super Size Me was insipirational!

28. I'm advanced, I use the left ones too.

29. The previous occupant...oh I mean erm...

30. I tend not to watch any, but the kids liked the gymnastics.

31. Brain disease, like Alzheimers, parkinsons etc.

32. She's nice when she's not talking about pollyticks

33. Ketchup, mustard and cheese please.

34. After watching Super Size Me, an apple.

35. Apple, cranberry and lemonade.

36. Snowdonia for me.

37. An aquarium.

The Earthship

Another stunning eco-house to add to my wishlist. Clicking on the pic takes you to the Earthship homepage, where you can view galleries of the houses they build out of old tyres, naturally dead wood, aluminium cans and concrete. They're designed to be completely self-sufficient and basically incredible to look at. They call this one the Hybrid Earthship and it's frankly gorgeous. Have a look at the rest of the Hybrid Gallery here.

I'll be watching "Super Size Me" by Morgan Spurlock soon, so I thought I'd whet your appetites for my review by posting this article from the BBC Arts Collective.

“If you know someone who goes to McDonald’s, next time they go tell them to get a burger and scrape everything off of it. Throw away the bread, scrape off the cheese, get rid of the lettuce, the ketchup, the dehydrated onions, till you’re just left with that beef patty all by itself. And take a nice big bite of that and tell me what it tastes like. Because I’m not really sure it tastes like meat… to me it tastes more like a meat-flavoured chewable.”

If anyone’s qualified to run taste tests on fast food, it’s Morgan Spurlock. In his hit documentary, Super Size Me, the 32-year old filmmaker subjects himself to a month-long, McDonald’s-only diet, Super Size portions mandatory if offered. The weight gain was expected, the depression wasn’t. “I was amazed at how bad I felt all the time on this food,” he recalls. “I would eat it and feel great. Then an hour later I would hit the wall and just crash and be moody, angry and unhappy. I didn’t anticipate it would hit me that drastically.”

Things got worse. Never mind a decreased sex drive (“I always have to be on top,” gripes his vegan chef girlfriend, Alex, in the film), by the end the medical experts tracking Spurlock’s condition are stunned by his “liver, like pâté” and insist that he calls off the experiment. The result, though, is a vastly entertaining, Michael-Moore-with-charm polemic, which has brought unexpected success and awards from Sundance to Edinburgh. McDonald’s, though, who announced the phasing out of their Super Size portions within weeks of the film’s release – “Just a coincidence, they said,” laughs Spurlock - certainly aren’t lovin’ it.

“You think fast food, you think of the Golden Arches,” he reasons, denying a personal vendetta against the corporation. “For me they represent every fast food, every franchise, every chain.” And for all his sharp digs at McDonald’s, Spurlock has a far broader agenda. “The scariest thing was finding out what garbage we’re feeding kids in our schools,” he marvels. “Then we’re like, ‘Wow, I wonder why the kids are gaining weight, I wonder why they can’t pay attention in school?’”

Just don’t question Spurlock’s patriotism: “People say, ‘Why are you and Michael Moore making these anti-American films?’ I look at this film as being the most American thing you can do: question a problem then say, ‘We’ve got to do something about this.’”

Now the thing is, we live not far away from a cut-price frozen food shop that gets good pargains on surplus McD's stock - which is fine sometimes because they have a regular supply of those chicken breasts they put in the salads and in the wraps and the new no-crap-in-them nuggets, but once they had a supply of quarter-pounders in, so we tried them.

Frozen, they look like manhole covers, with the raised squares and everything. When they're grilled...well let's say the crud that came out of them almost filled the grillpan and put us off eating them. The bite I did have tasted of nothing much more than cardboard. Not an experience I want to have again. Since then I've stuck to the Chinese takeaway over the road from our nearest McD's and Benji's for my supply of junk/comfort food.

I'm off to find some kind of gif that says "Mc Do-not's" or something...

Oh! Oh! Oh!

Big "HI!" To Paul and Debbie of Snowbabies who I've just discovered have linked to me.

Cheers folks and congrats on the marriage thing!

The "Atom Feed" button works now. I'd got the address wrong. D'oh!

Paganbrum, one of my favourite pagan websites and online home to some good people in the Birmingham Pagan community has been hijacked and closed down thanks to a few idiots. Isn't it always the way?

It does seem to me that there are so many different paths and beliefs involved in Paganism that it would be incredibly hard to construct a lasting community, but PaganBrum did a really good job and I'm gutted to see it go.

If there's a rennaissance or any other news, I'll be putting it up here as soon as I find out.

I've been pretty disappointed at the poor quality of the movies that have come out recently, so I set myself a bit of a challenge: To watch the majority of the latest blockbuster releases and see if I've been choosing badly, or if, as I suspect, Hollywood has actually forgotten hw to make good films.

Today's offering: Alien Vs Predator.

I like the Alien movies. I don't like comic book movies and I'm pretty indifferent to the Predator movies, so I went into this film determined not to like it.

And for the first hour, I didn't. From the outset, it was screamingly easy to see what was going on, and who was going to survive. The Alien and Predator films have all been about suspense and human drama, both of which were lamentably lacking in this film.

To be honest though, I wasn't expecting a classic. This film has been many years in the making, just waiting for someone to bring the project so beloved of comic book fans to the big screen. I've never read an AvP book, so don't have anything to base a comparison on, but I'm pretty sure this would satisfy anyone who had read them.

The whole point of the film is to set up a wanton, all out, hand to hand battle between the two most famous alien killers in moviedom. The one big unforgivable failing of this film is that it tries just too hard to involve the humans in the plot. An entire hour of setup is just too much.

Once the actual film does start, the enjoyment begins, with a great early sequence of an Alien being spun by the tail by a Predator. Cinematic gold! This is what we've come to see, the Acid-blooded ones getting their asses kicked in fine fashion. I was determined to hate this film but that one sequence won me over.

From then on we have another half an hour of quality ass-kicking, with a predictable but nonetheless satisfying alliance formed between Predators and Humans.

I could really have done without all the ancient history stuff, but by then I just wanted to see the next fist fight and didn't really care if the Dreadlocked ones had been the founding fathers of ancient American civilisation.

Overall, if you ignore the first two thirds of this 90 minute slugfest it's enjoyable, but your enjoyment relies heavily on whether you want to see Aliens getting beaten down in hand-to-hand combat. If you don't, don't waste your money. If you do, get in there and cheer!

The first UK Download Chart:

1 Flying Without Wings - Westlife
2 Blazin' Day - Blazin' Squad
3 She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
4 Lola's Theme - Shapeshifters
5 American Idiot - Green Day
6 This Love - Maroon 5
7 Dry Your Eyes - The Streets
8 Bedshaped - Keane
9 Laura - Scissor Sisters
10 Apocalypse Please - Muse