"And What Did Santa Give You For Christmas This Year?" "Des Lynam"

Yes, it's that time of year again - the Christmas lights are up, the large tree is placed in the middle of Winchester Town Centre. Shops are stocked with Christmas goodies. And still, still, most people will leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute.

So what is the ideal solution for the quick-thinking shopper? Something that they know their loved ones will enjoy, something that will keep them mildly entertained, something that will be easy to wrap. A DVD Game.

Now, there's a limit, I feel, to what you can do a DVD game of. Countdown is fine - who doesn't want Des Lynam on their television screens with his busy moustache telling us quiet joke while Carol Vorderman - the most attractive geek ever - gives us another consonant. Other examples include Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Deal Or No Deal, even Bullseye, though if you do get this make sure you dissuade your loved ones from throwing real darts at the television screen.

But now everyone is jumping on the band wagon of DVD games. Frankie Detorri has a racing game out - wonderful, something to promote gambling! And then there's the string of "family games", like quizzes, music quizzes, TV quizzes, movie quizzes.

So, at this Christmas time, feel pity for the lonely board games, locked away in the attic or a cupboard upstairs, gradually gathering dust. Monopoly will never have a hotel put on it again, Cluedo will remain unsolved. Why? because there are DVD games of them! Please, don't buy those, buy the proper version - made of wood, paper and still bags of fun. Plus, you'll save a bit more energy than you would with a DVD game.

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In other news, I noticed that The English Cricket team, currently in Australia battling to save The Ashes in a futile manner, have ordered a curry. No problem there, I hear you cry. But this curry is being flown over all the way from England! According to Saturday's Times, the Bombay Nights restaurant has been paid by a brother of one of the players (It doesn't say who, but I'm betting it's Freddie) £1, 500 for the takeaway curry. This involves a 23-hour flight both there and back again, plus accommodation for the chefs, resulting in the total cost of the curry coming up to £150 a head.

Now, this brings two thoughts to my mind. Firstly, it's that old adage of a meal taking so long to prepare - in this case, 23 hours minimum - and been eaten in five minutes flat. What a waste of time and money. Secondly, what does that say about the Australian cuisine that the English Cricket team are so desperate for the home comforts? Too many barbeque's, guys?

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Finally, I have started to write again. After an absence of more than two months due to incredibly writers "can't-be-bothered-at-the-moment" a major rewrite has started on The Witch Sister. There will, unfortunately, be another break after this Friday as I will be making my way home for the holidays and am not sure when I will be back. But I've started, so I'm going to do my best to finish. The paragraph I'm writing at the moment, not the book.

Laters.