Father Christmas #

12 December 1998

That’s it, I’ve finished my Christmas shopping! All presents bought and wrapped! I hope you’re impressed (I certainly am).

OK, so when I say all presents, there are one or two exceptions. I couldn’t find anything kitsch enough for the Jamster but then I’ll probably not see him until the summer anyway. He received his 1997 Christmas present (a huge mug in the shape of Chucky from Rugrats head) on the day of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.

Oh, and I don’t have anything for Simon, but given that I rarely see him, and he doesn’t even know his own postcode, I think I’ll be forgiven for the late arrival of his gift. Besides, I’m not expecting anything in return - he’ll probably claim to have forgotten it was Christmas, like he forgets our birthdays… ;)

This years’ Christmas shopping was disturbingly easy. Two shopping trips, eight major chain stores, no queueing. You don’t need to track the retail sales figures to realise that something is most definitely ‘up’ with the British economy.

For the few Brits who read these pages, I think you should check out this site, and help to block the proposed encryption bill from passing onto the statute books. Let’s face it, you know a helluva lot more about the net than your MP does, so why not educate him/her?