And I'm definitely in Britain. On the way to the magazine today a lady on the train, sat a table away was reading through the Daily Mail and commenting to her companion about a news story. "Straying Alive! Married Bee Gee Robin Gibb has baby with live-in housekeeper 26 years his junior... " was the headline (and this from the newspaper that's valliantly always saying it's keeping sleaze and smut away from us) . " ...and his wife is apparently a bisexual former druid priestess." There was a distinct pause. Then... "Well, I haven't read THAT story in The Times today!"

I could barley keep a straight face at the sheer upper-lipiness of it all and could only hope the woman was being ironic. Elsewhere in the headlines being perused, and less happily, Big Brother reject Jade Goody is fighting cancer in the full glare of the media spotlight that picks her out whenever it's a slow news day. Or a day with a Y in it. Today she's telling everyone how she hasn't told her children about her condition yet. One can only hope they don't live near a newsagent or television screen. I genuinely feel slightly sorry for Goody as she's one of life's unfortunates - not incredibly smart and a person who mistakes people laughing at her for people laughing with her. Therefore she's been hugely exploited by the media and she's faced it all with a bewildered smile and a trade-off with dignity. And at this rate, they won't stop until she's dead. And one suspects people will still make money off the corpse... probably the Daily Mail who'll comment on how bad she was treated... in a double-page spread of papparazzi photos.

It's just started to snow here again (though it's actually more sleety and wet) in conditions that seem the polar opposite of Australia's horrific heatwave and fires. The snow was perfect last night - full-on heavy snow but falling with the christmas card grace you only usually get on a film set.

I think the parentals got it right when they headed to Florida, which appears to be the perfect average.