Signed Hull’s Stop the War Campaign petition today and, soon after, heaved a big, somewhat depressed sigh. Is that all I can do?

Interviewed a shopkeeper who had put a big St George’s Day display in the window. “The English flag’s not all about football hooliganism or being racist. Some of us are just proud to be English,”… 

A Mexican restaurant. A buffet. All you can eat for £5.50. A waitress on the door refusing entry for our party of 10. Not because the restaurant is full – there’s maybe only 20 other… 

As I wandered through the centre of Hull today, with Shaun of the Dead still fresh in my mind, I thought how much this dull city would benefit from a bit of cartoon violence. And… 

Guilt got the better of me. Scope sent me an email thanking me for my support and outlining the tremendous benefit that giving a pound to Richard Herring will mean towards their work for children… 

I now feel wracked with guilt that I only gave Richard Herring a nominal amount for his London Marathon exploits. 26 miles for a quid doesn’t seem like a fair trade-off. But there it is,… 

How many people will say, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to run a marathon,” today? Poor Richard Herring. I feel entitled to read his blog now I’ve just sponsored him. Talking of people dressed as cakes,… 

Living with a vegetarian has made me realise that vegetarians are regarded by food vendors as lepers. That famous advert for gloablisation, McDonalds, has just changed its menu to include lots of items with ‘fresh’… 

People that read newspapers are absolute lunatics. I had to deal with a lunatic today. An 80-year-old woman who insisted on being anonymous phoned up to complain about a letters page I’d subbed. “I don’t… 

Things are coming together nicely. Yesterday I was asked to be the festival critic for Humber Mouth 2004, Hull’s annual literature fest, which has switched to the summer and takes place in June. I said…