News round up So, Coronation Street gets it's first gay kiss, drawing 14 million people to the Sunday episode to watch the dimpled puppy dog Todd lay one on the dreadfully wooden and orange Nick played by former gay icon, pop has-been Adam Rickett. Unfortunately, the ensuing episodes are a mess. First we have to deal with the menacing Nick calling Todd "a sick mind game player" and forcing him to out himself. Then, the endlessly shrill Sarah finding out her cute boyfriend is confused about his sexuality (or maybe just realising how common she actually is.) All around a mess, and annoying that Corrie is seeing more man-on-man action than I am.



Years ago I worked on the Mirage Resorts website. We put Siegfried and Roy on the web, meaning we had to sit through hours of digitised video and the endless loop of Michael Jackson's rank theme song. They seemed ancient by-products of plastic surgery then, but now it's the sad news that Roy Horn was mauled by one their famous, and endangered, white tigers. I'm increasingly against these types of animal shows having done the backstage tour of the chained elephants and caged lions of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. It's hard to be surprised that these animals act, well, like animals.



I have so little to say about Arnold as governor. Don't forget that California was responsible for hoisting Ronald Reagan into politics. He'll be a disaster of course, but the world is indeed a scary place.



The Independent, one of England's traditional broadsheets is experimenting with a tabloid format within the M25 (Greater London). Unfortuantely, they've kept Janet Street-Porter.



Lastly, ratings are in on the thoroughly disturbing Russian Roulette where "magician" Derren Brown whittles down a group of volunteers to the one who will load a single bullet into gun which Brown holds to his head or to a haystack depending on where he thinks the bullet is. I didn't watch, but 4M of my fellow citizens did. Now, if he was pointing the bullet at the wires holding David Blaine above the ground I'd have watched that.