The Cook and I have been getting ahead of the OC with the PS3 while she's away with her grandparents. Singstar was meant to be for her (because in no way were we going to drink too much and get vocal) but I couldn't help it dear readers (as sober as I was...and I was, which is of real concern) I had to get the microphone out to Razorlight which brings me to why I took a second look at tomdispatch this morning.

This arrived in my inbox today and it kinda sums up why at this time last year we weren't thinking of using LAX as a stopover on our way to or from Europe. As we prepared the route home to New Zealand, I was thinking of the kids. What better way to finish than a trip to Disneyland! It was the airport shenannigans that turned our head away from Uncle Sam. We live life close enough to the edge as it is; the possibility of having a full body search coupled with the guaranteed and now legendary attitude of US govt officials at the airport (together with the YC) were enough to make us run in the other direction. It seems locally that quite a few people feel the same way and prefer now to travel to Europe via Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong etc. Razorlight speaks for the thousands of us who love the US for all the good things we appeared to grow up with, but like most adolescents, we grow beyond our nostalgia and want to stand on our own two feet.

And talking of nostalgia, I happened to look up from The Cook's dinner the other night to see Deirdre Barlow hiding behind her glasses and hubby Ken hovering in the background confused as ever. Blow me down if there isn't a whiff of murder in the street. Deirdre's glasses tell us so! I have a feeling I know how this ends.

To be honest, the photo is an old one from when Deidre's glasses were on trial for murder, but if I were to send you a birthday card this year, don't be worried if it came out like this(beware the spoiler)
I gave up following Coro years ago but remember fondly watching a superb piece of drama whilst at my conference in Manchester where Tracy confessed all to her harrowed mother - nothing will let me forget her plaintive "Treaarrrceee" And now I get to see it all over again. Can't wait!