"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT BUTTLE'S HEART CONDITION DIDN'T APPEAR ON TUTTLE'S FILE!" This is the plan so far: September 2002 - sell the house and move somewhere smaller and more central to London - probably Battersea September 2003 - move to Amsterdam for six months - it�s the only place to be if you're a non-smoking, drug free vegan involved in a secure and steady relationship. March 2004 - move to San Francisco for one year. After that we'll wing it. Whenever I tell anyone in London that we are going to be moving to the States they give me this funny look and usually ask why. It�s a valid question especially since I'm always banging on about what a fucked up place it is. Those of you that pay attention though will notice that I give London and the morons who live here a hard time too. Yes America is a mess of a country but I still want to experience more of it than just a few weeks holiday - plus I know all too well that all Americans are not the same... I hate that jingoistic slant that most Londoners have when talking about the States - most Americans didn't even vote George W in so they've probably got the moral high ground on all the dumb fucks over here who voted in his lapdog. The only reason that I bring this up is because I'm about to kick off about America yet again - read the following articles: citizen spies and the official website I was worried for a while that America was just going to revel in its new found McCarthyism but it seems that the powers that be would rather go a few goose-steps further and just implement the same kind of systems that the Nazis and East Germany found so successful. Of course its real easy to once again fall into the argument that if you're innocent you've got nothing to worry about - really depends on your definition of 'innocent'. There's me thinking our own dumb idea of ID cards was pretty fucked up but now you can get any 'patriot' ringing in information on any poor bastard who cuts him off on the interstate, refuses to wave a flag or has a beard and an accent. Don't start telling me that there will be safety measures in check to regulate the informers and those that are informed on - the whole thing stinks and is open to the worse kind of abuse. Plus you've got to key in the intelligence of the average 'patriot'. Compare it with the outraged mobs over here who would attack paediatricians in the mistaken belief that such a long and unpronounceable word actually had something to do with paedophiles. I still want to move to San Francisco and maybe later spend some extended time in New York but the longer this knee jerk 1984 meets Brazil thinking goes on for the easier it becomes for America and its inhabitants to become the targets of not terrorism but simple disbelief and scorn. The real scary thing is that the UK will probably follow them down every step of the way... Maybe spending more time in a more civilised European country is starting to become a better option. On a lighter note I'm glad to see that the message board is being used more frequently - even if only to comment on the size of Stu's johnson. I also just entered The Guardian's Best British Blog competition so if nothing else that should help me keep up to date content wise. I also just added a quick review of Iain Banks' new novel. I'll drag some more of the oldsite into the new design later today and hopefully add something new to the comic. Mike is blogging to: the weird and wonderful Wicker Man soundtrack