You know it's Christmas time when... 2

Nuts. And Crisps. All kinds of foods your family would either not buy at all or, at best, buy in moderation. Suddenly, they're everywhere... When the fridge is full, they spill out onto the shelves, and when the shelves are full, they end up on whatever flat surfaces are left: worktops, tables, counters and even floors.

Christmas is coming, and the family is set to be couch potatoes - tube of Pringles in one hand, bottle of Christmas Ale (OK, I bought that, so I'm not completely blameless) in the other. Presents will be opened. TV will be watched.

In other news, this morning/early afternoon, I watched the last six episodes of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig - yes, back to back - and I was frankly disappointed to find they copped out and let the Tachikoma 'think tanks' save the day again. And they did so by sacrificing themselves again. Deja vu, anyone? Yes, I'm sure it's wonderful that these artificially intelligent machines developed enough self-awareness to understand that their actions would lead to their demise, but that it served the greater good, and all their (humanoid) friends would be saved... but when they're part of Section 9, the elite cybercrimes unit with largely military backgrounds, you'd kind of expect the humanoids to be able to sort things out by themselves once in a while.

Don't get me wrong - it's been a brilliant series. Perhaps slower and less dramatic than the first (the rather eerie Laughing Man logo replacing people's faces whenever he spoke through them was a wonderful touch to series one), it had plenty of action when it counted. The whole 'Individual Eleven' thing - are they real, or are they a fabricated means to a political end? - was cleverly played, and the subtle delving into the Major's past was a welcome sidetrack.

Here's hoping series 3 doesn't turn into Fuchikomatic Days...

This weekend, we played host to my sister and her husband as they had things to do uptown. They've gone back home to Swindon already, and I barely set eyes on Helen. Didn't see Mark at all and, come to think of it, didn't even hear him. Weird.