Last night I started to feel a little warm. You know those restless nights where you just cannot achieve a state of blissful comfort no matter what permutation of bedroom artifacts you choose? Yes, it was one of those nights. I decided the atmosphere was a bit stale and opened a window, plodding back to bed in the vain hope of sleeping.

As I lay there staring at the gloom I could hear rainfall. It is curious what a gentle sound it has, how soothing it can be (providing of course, you're not out in it). It came as no suprise. We had been warned.

Recently they changed the weatherman. Instead of the happy "Hey you guys are in deep trouble" presenter we've gotten Mr Quiet, who informs us almost apologetically that we're all in deep trouble. You see, so far October has been relatively benign with no hurricanes, tornado's, cold-snaps, or welly-threatening floods. All that is about to change. Our indian summer is making way for nasty 'orrible cold, wet, and windy weather. So I lay there with eyelids growing heavy safe and secure in the knowledge that for the time being I was still in Kansas. If you see what I mean.

Palm Trees?

Out on my exercise jaunt yesterday I went down the old railway line at the bottom of Swindon. There's a rock cutting there that has Jurassic Period carved all over it. On one of the gardens that back onto the artificial canyon the owner has planted a series of palm trees. With all the surrounding foliage turning yellow and falling off like aboreal baldness, it looked distinctly odd. Still, it proves global warming has one positive side effect. We can now create tropical paradises in our own backyards. Hang on... Is that bloke doing rain dances or something? Or does he own a captive ape of enormous size? I must admit, I haven't seen any dinosaurs around just of late.

Survival Challenge of the Week

Dizzie Rascal is set to take to the stage of the Oasis Sports Centre tonight. Hopefully he'll last longer than Morrisey did. Erm... Then again...