Finished my latest edit of Book 10 of The Demonata today. I know I'll have to go through it at least another 3 or 4 times over the next year and a half, before it's ready to be published, but I'm very pleased with how it currently stands -- as I've said here before, I think it's a suitably action-packed, twisting, vicious finale, which should leave most fans with the big smile you get on your face when you finish a long series and find the ending more than matches your expectations. That happened to me with The Sopranos the other night, when I saw the final episode -- even though it was rather open-ended, which infuriated many fans, the episode built brilliantly and left me smiling sadly at the end, happy because it was great, sad because it was over. The best ending to a TV series ever, in my view, was Six Feet Under -- when that finished, I did something I've never done before or since, and immediately rewound to watch the last several minutes again. I'm hoping the tenth book of The Demonata has something of a similar impact on fans, although of course only time will tell ...

Went to see the movie of The Golden Compass tonight. Wow. Just ... wow!!! I often get asked in interviews what my favourite books by current writers are. I always give the same answer -- although I like a lot of authors at the moment, such as Anthony Horowitz, Eoin Colfer, J K Rowling, Marcus Sedgwick, etc, I think His Dark Materials blew everything else out of the water, and I judge the three books taken together to be probably the best thing to happen to the book world in the last ten years. They were fresh and stunningly paced and structured, and they had a huge impact on me when I read them -- they made me want to raise my game, to stretch myself further, to try to push my imagination as far as Pullman pushed his. I don't know if The Demonata would have been quite as ambitious as it turned out to be if I hadn't read His Dark Materials. I suspect not.

But that meant, of course, that the movie had a hell of a lot to live up to. I never worry about a film "spoiling" a book. I know it's something that troubles many fans, and I must admit it used to trouble me when I was a teenager -- I lived in fear of a Judge Dredd movie that failed to do the comics justice. But these days I look upon films as something entirely separate, which they are. A book doesn't change when a film of it is made -- if the book was good or bad before the film, it will be equally good or bad afterwards. Most film adaptations are dire (just as book adaptations of films would probably be dire if there were lots of them), but I think it's worth letting Hollywood at books because there's always a chance they'll hit gold and make another Godfather or Lord of the Rings or Shawshank Redemption. Chances are they probably won't, but hell, what's the point of living if we refuse to take a gamble?!?

The Golden Compass movie is definitely one of the finer adaptations around, especially of a fantasy novel. For the most part Hollywood does fantasy fairly craply. It's difficult to make a tale of magic work on the big screen -- things that fire your imagination on the page can look ridiculous when brought to life, especially if the film-makers don't have a lot of money. But when a fantasy film works, it can be truly spectacular. And The Golden Compass is just that -- a huge, ambitious, intelligent, beautiful, neatly paced epic, standing heads and shoulders above most other similar movies. Of course it changes things from the book, but far less than it might have done, and mostly for the best -- things that work well in books don't always translate to the screen, and only a fool tries to film a book exactly as it's written. My only gripe would be the ending -- they stop short of the finish in the book, to give it more of a positive finale. I can fully understand why they did that -- they're anxious to make the next two films, but this one has to make a lot of money in order for them to press ahead, so they were wary of ending on a downer and sending viewers away miserable -- but it still disappointed me. But, in the overall scheme of things, it was a minor disappointment. This was the best time I've had in a cinema for quite some time. HIGHLY recommended!!!! It also excited me because Paul Weitz (the director of the Cirque Du Freak movie) was one of the executive producers on this film -- let's hope he brings some of the magic from The Golden Compass on with him to Cirque Du Freak ........

Heh heh -- that has to be one of my favourite subject titles ever!! No, folks, I'm not coming out of any closets! I was answering some fan mail tonight and the first letter on the pile made me laugh out loud. I thought I'd read just about every sort of letter-to-an-author going, but this one caught me by surprise. Basically the girl, Lila, wrote to say that she's been a big fan of mine for a number of years. Back when she first started reading the books, she was about 11 or 12, and decided to look up stuff about them online. She found her way to a short story about Darren or Evra, only they had ... well ... a different type of relationship in this particular story!!! And that was how she learned about the in's and out's of gay sex!!!!!!!! The internet is a wonderful invention for the most part, but it does make it hard to stay innocent for long these days!!! Still, that's all part and parcel of growing up. We've all got to learn about the birds and the bees (and, indeed, the birds and the birds, and the bees and the bees!!!) sooner or later. I just never imagined, when I was writing these books, that they'd one day inadvertently play an important part in a young person's sexual education!!!!!!!!

That letter was easily the highlight of my day. Otherwise I did some more editing on Book 10 of The Demonata. (It features one of my favourite lines from any of my books -- "I gouge." Doesn't mean much by itself, I know, but in the context of the book it makes me giggle aloud every time I read it! You'll find out why when you read book 10 in a few years time!!!!) I went for a walk. Watched another episode of The Sopranos. It's punching hard now -- a main character was killed abruptly in the episode I watched last night, and my jaw literally dropped -- I was, like, "No! This can't be happening!!" Powerful stuff. Also saw Ocean's 13, which was slick fun like the other two films, but ... well, it wasn't very surprising. It told us very early on what the plot was going to be, and there were almost no deviations of twists from that -- it was simply a case of watching the story unfold the way we were told it would unfold. I kept waiting for the surprises to kick in, but I waited in vain. A pity, as I was really looking forward to this one. Not a bad flick overall, just a bit ... lame.

"Darren and Evra sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!!!"

Heh heh -- I'm still chuckling!!!

Started another edit of Book 10 of The Demonata yesterday. I did an edit just a couple of months ago, but I'd been working on the other books again over the last month and wanted to go through it again while all the details from those were fresh in my mind. When you work on a series, it can be quite tricky tying everything together and making sure there aren't glaring errors between one book and the next (e.g. saying a character has his left hand chopped off, and then in the next book mistakenly saying he has no right hand). I think most writers have a "bible", a detailed list of everything that happens in each book and to each character, so that they can simply refer to that when they need to. But I prefer to work without one -- I like things chaotic!!! It's like not using a spell checker on my PC -- I prefer to challenge myself, to keep my brain sharp.

Went to see the band Fred playing in Dolans last night. They're one of my favourite bands and I try to see them every time they come to town. They're never made the big breakthrough, alas, but they normally get a good local crowd when they play in Limerick. Not last night though -- there was hardly anybody there!!! I felt so bad for them -- they deserve so much better than an almost empty upstairs room over a pub. What's wrong with the world?!? Crap bands like Westlife and Boyzone (apologies to any of their fans!) sell loads of CDs and fill up stadiums, while a truly quirky, original, talented band like Fred staggers along without generating any real interest. It's just wrong. Of course you can't make people support a band, and we're all victims of trends, timing, management, etc. But it's such a shame when talent goes un-noted and unsupported. If you want to check out what Fred are like, visit their web site here: FRED SITE or their MySpace page here: FRED MYSPACE or look for their album "Making Music So You Don't Have To" on iTunes. And if you like what you hear, please do dig deep and buy and spread the word -- they need you far more than most bands do!!!!

For those of you who enjoyed the clip of me "dancing" as Scrooge the other day, here's anothing little routine that Bas put together, this time including herself as my dance partner. That girl definitely has too much free time on her hands!!!!! SHAN ELVES

Spent much of Monday catching up on bits and pieces -- post to be answered, emails to be replied to, etc. Started watching the final series of The Sopranos, which I've been looking forward to greatly! I was going to wait a bit longer, but I couldn't hold back -- it's time to find out how it all wraps up!!!!

Went to Dolans Warehouse later to see The Magic Numbers. I loved their debut album, and although the second one was a bit disappointing (the songs go on too long!!!), it still featured a few lovely songs. I saw them live once before, and they were great, so I went with high hopes. And all those hopes were realised!!! They played brilliantly, they performed a nice mix of songs, they threw in a couple of cover versions for fun, and ... well, it was just FUN!!! They're one of the most entertaining bands I've ever seen -- real make-you-grin stuff! And it's not that they're a cynical, highly polished machine like so many smiley-happy bands -- you just get the sense watching them that they're having a good time and enjoying their connection with the audience. Dolans is also a great venue for a band like that -- tiny, intimate, no barriers between the band and their fans, no sense of violence. At one point, the lead singer mentioned that it was somebody's birthday. Bas yelled out, "You should play Happy Birthday!" He agreed that they should, but invited her up to sing it!!! She probably would have gone up, except there were lots of wires stretched across the front of the stage and she was wary of being electrocuted!!!! But when they saw she wasn't going to rise to the challenge, they went ahead and played it themselves -- you'll never get a moment like that in a concert arena!!!!! I've been lucky enough to attend all sorts of great gigs over the years, in a variety of venues, but I have to say honestly, as biased as I may be, that Dolans is pretty hard to beat. When you get a top notch band there, like The Magic Numbers, Kasabian or Ash, you get an experience second to no other. It's the way live music should be -- great, established, popular bands in small, personal venues -- but almost never is.

We were in such a good mood after the concert that we went and got kebabs from another Limerick institution, Abrakebabra!!! The brilliantly named kebab chain sports shops all over Ireland, and although the food they serve up is probably ridiculously unhealthy, it's damn tasty, and just the thing when you come out of a great gig and want to top up!!! You might feel guilty the next morning (as we both did -- I couldn't even go near the scales!!), but what the hell, life has to have at least the occasional guilty pleasure, right?!?

Did some more bits and pieces today, including writing a short foreword for the Taiwanese edition of Demon Apocalypse which comes out in January. Also went and got a Christmas tree, and decorated it once we got back. While I'm not a huge fan of Christmas, I have to admit a soft spot for Christmas trees -- they just look so magical!! I don't remember most of the presents I got for Christmas when I was a kid, or what I did on Christmas Days past, but I've very vivid memories of the trees we used to put up, decorating them, staring up at the lights and tinsel and ornaments, dreaming of Santa and magic and wonder.

Oh, by the way, Bas was fooling about online yesterday and devised the following little dance routine. I don't think much of it myself, but she's been rolling around in fits of laughter ever since, watching it over and over! So if you enjoy ritual, silly, childish humiliation, this could be just the thing for you!!! DARREN SCROOGE

Went to see the new movie of Sleuth yesterday. It left me decidedly unimpressed. The orginal was a stylish, witty, gripping affair, a little on the long side, but a near-classic. This one was shorter but that was its only real saving grace. A pity, as it's a great story. It just didn't work the way it should this time round.

Also did a bit of work in the Puffin offices yesterday. I've written an introduction for a re-release of the classic Huckleberry Finn, which is coming out in 2008. They're releasing a whole line of classics, all with forewords by modern writers. To help promote them, they've asked the new writers to record readings of their intros, read a short extract from their chosen book, and answer a few questions about why they picked it, to be made available to the public as podcasts (or so I think). I went in to record my lot, which I enjoyed, though it was strange to read from someone else's book -- I haven't done that in a LONG time!!! I'll post more info about this next year when it goes live.

My mother and an aunt, Maureen, came over for the weekend and to stay with me last night, so I stayed up late waiting for them. I pointed them in the direction of the shops today and let them off! Later, after a meal, we went to see Blood Brothers. It's the fourth or fifth time I've seen the show, but it hasn't lost any of its power -- it's one of the best musicals in the West End. I didn't cry this time at the emotional ending, but I did well up a bit, as I always do!!! It's been playing for 19 or so years now, and I hope it's there for another 19 and more!!!!!

I've had a busy few days in London -- life moves so much faster here than it does in Limerick!! Which is a good thing, but only in small doses as far as I'm concerned. I'm a mix of a city and country boy, but the majority of the mix is country -- I like the big city to visit, but I don't think I could live in one full-time.

Anyway, had lunch with my agent on Tuesday (lots of talk about the film, my D B Shan books, and other work), then went to see a new play called "Statement of Regret" at the National. It was a very interesting play about race, and brilliantly acted. Even the uncomfortable seats of the National Cottesloe couldn't mar the occasion!

Wednesday revolved around art. We had several paintings and statues in our flat which had been gathering dust for quite a while, so we had them shipped back to Ireland where we have more space for them. Then I received delivery of another piece (this one to stay in the flat). Then I popped over to Christies in Kensington to have a look at their latest 20th Century British Art auction. As I've said before, Christies and Sothebys are great places to visit if you're interested in art. It doesn't matter whether you intend to buy or not -- anyone is free to walk in and look around in the 5 or so days ahead of an auction. If you check out their web sites you can find their calendars and plan around them -- they're often the best free show in town!!!! Later Bas and I went out for a Christmas dinner with Geraldine, Mary and Stella, three of the HarperCollins Shan Team (Stella's my editor, Geraldine and Mary plan all my tours). It was fun to have a nice meal, plenty of drinks and a relaxed chat. They're a great little team, even though I'd never tell them that to their faces!!! (If you're reading this, girls, you shouldn't be!! Stop slacking!!!!! Get back to work!!!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!)

Today I did an interview as D B Shan, for The Bookseller. It's the first time I've been interviewed for the adult books (although I gave a few interviews years ago when they were first published), and it was an interesting experience. I treated it much the same as any interview. Luckily I've always tried to respond naturally and maturely in interviews when talking about my Darren Shan books -- I've never dumbed down or tried to act like a "hip, cool, down-with-the-kids" kind of guy!!! So I didn't really have to do anything different for this one. I just babbled on like I normally do, answering far more questions than the interviews asked -- I always like to give interviewers more than they need, then it's up them after that to edit it any way they please, to follow whatever line they prefer.

Bas and I went to a matinee performance of "Shadowlands" by William Nicholson (yes, the same guy who wrote The Wind Singer -- he does adult plays and movies too -- he's very versatile!). I'd seen the play years ago, but this was my first time seeing it one stage. It was very good, thought-provoking, extremely well acted. I'd love to try something like that myself one day, to see if I could write a play or musical or something. I don't know if I ever will, but it's good to have new goals playing around in the back of your mind -- you should never consciously settle for what you have, but always at least yearn to try something different. Those yearnings might never lead to anything, but I think they're good to have all the same.

Tonight I watched Spurs draw 1-1 away to Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup. That means we're through to the next round, which is a big relief -- we're playing very haphazardly at the moment, and were in real danger of self-imploding by Christmas. Hopefully this will now give us the boost we need to start putting some decent Premiership results together and advance in the domestic cups. And if that means nothing to those of you reading this, well, all you need to know is that it means I'll be a bit happier within myself than I would be if they were doing terribly, and a happy Shan is a productive Shan -- so keep your fingers crossed for a big-time Spurs revival!!!

Blimey!! I didn't realise yesterday's blog was so long until I had a quick look back through it today!!! Oh well, that's what happens when I don't blog for a few days -- it all comes out in a rush!!!!!

Went to see the new Beowulf movie at the Imax cinema in Waterloo today. I love Imax -- it's just so BIG!!!! The film was good too. It didn't quite pull off what it was aiming for, I felt, but it was more thoughtful and thought-provoking than most fantasy adventure movies, and some of the fight scenes were incredible. It had its flaws, to be sure, but I like films that aim high and try to be different, even if they fall short of their ultimate goals.

Later I went to see Madness - the band - at the Astoria on Charing Cross Road. It was my first time there, and it's a great little theatre -- very intimate, good bar service, you're close to the stage no matter where you stand -- perfect!!!! Madness were great too. Although I've been a fan since I was a kid (I can remember how cool me and my friends thought the Madness badges were in the early 1908s) this was the first time I got to see them play live. It was an impressive set, including most of their classic songs. They played some new material too, which suffered in comparison with the oldies, but it's refreshing to see a band still trying out new stuff after 30 years together!!!

There -- that wasn't too long a blog, was it?!? Normal service has been resumed ...

Came over to London on Thursday with a few of my young cousins, mainly to catch a couple of Tottenham Hotspur games. We were playing a UEFA Cup match on Thursday night. We were awful in the first half, as bad as I've seen us play for quite a long while, and went two goals down -- but then we turned things around completely and won 3-2!!!! It was bizarre but beautiful! On Friday I took the bosy around some shops, then we went to see "Spamalot". I'd seen it before, on Broadway, with its original cast. I have to say I didn't think it was great second time round. Funny, yes, with some good, jokey songs -- but a bit long, and not so funny that I burst out laughing too often. It's by no means a bad play, but I think it's only done as well as it has beecause of the love people have for Monty Python.

On Saturday I took the boys ice skating (I just watched -- I have a terrible sense of balance!!!) and then, after a nice walk along the river and quick pop into the Tate Modern, to see "Avenue Q". Now THAT is funny!!!! This is the third time I've seen it, and I still think it's brilliant and laugh all the time! What's so great about it is that, OK, it's a rude show about puppets who swear and have sex and do all sorts of bad things -- but at the same time it's a light, warm-hearted, uplifting show, and you leave with a big smile on your face and a feeling that the world isn't such a bad place. There are a few shows in London which I class as must-sees, and have been to on 3 or more occasions. "Phantom of the Opera", "Les Miserables" and "Blood Brothers" are my top 3 pics out of them -- but "Avenue Q" is right up there with them too!!!!

On Sunday, after a game of bowling in County Hall and brunch, we went to see Spurs play Birmingham. We played much better this time ... in fact very well indeed ... but somehow we lost 3-2!!!!! Football -- it's a mug's game!!!

Oh, and while I remember, about my books "not maturing with their readers" ... This was a comment from someone on my message boards. It was a rather rambling comment overall, with much that I swiftly ignored (heh heh), but that one part of it made me want to reply. The person was 18ish and complaining that my books weren't giving them the same buzz that they did when s/he was younger. S/he wanted me go further with the books, to appeal to those readers who've been with me for a number of years and now want MORE. S/he even accused me of "betraying my original fans". (I suppose to should react hotly to ludicrous, over the top comments like that, but I've made plenty of ludicrous, OTT comments myself on many occasions, so I'm not one to cast stones!!)

Well, the simple answer, as one fan pointed out in reply to the message, is that (hold the front page!! world exclusive revelation on the way!!!!) ...well ... they're children's books. Um. I think that pretty much gives the game away. To put it another way -- They're. books. written. for. children. Heh heh -- I know how sarcastic that sounds, but, honestly, it's not meant to me. I remember writing an angry letter to the people who make the comic 2000AD. I became a huge fan when I was 12 or 13 and collected it without missing an issue for several years. But then I started to read Watchmen, Killing Joke, Love & Rockets and others, and they went much further than 2000AD ever did. They worked on all sorts of darker, more adult levels, and I wanted 2000AD to do the same, to go on a journey with them, to appeal to the more developed teenager that I had become. "By heavens," I wrote (and I'm paraphrasing here!!), "this reads like a comic written for 12-14 year olds!!!" The good folks of 2000AD never wrote back to me, but if they had, their answer probably would have been (and should have been), "Well, you presumptuous idiot, it is!!!!!"

Look, I appreciate each and ever one of you guys. That should be clear from the amount of time I spend on my blog, updating my site, replying to your letters, etc. I know there are hundreds of other writers you could be reading, or films or TV shows you could be watching, or computer games you could be playing, instead of reading my books. But it's impossible to cater to the changing demands of each and every one of you. I do my best on each book. I try to evolve and do different things with story structures and plot line and characters. I go to some very dark places and sometimes push at the boundaries of what is acceptable in a children's book. But at the end of the day, when all's said and done, they ARE for children. Older children, to be sure, but children nevertheless. I've been called Stephen King For Kids in the past, and have said in numerous interviews that I like to see myself as a kind of bridge to adult horror and fantasy, that I hope my fans go on to read the likes of King, Clive Barker, Raymond E Feist, etc.

But "go on" are the key words there. Most of you reading this WILL "go on" to other writers, or will just stop reading so much at some stage. Most of you WILL grow up and leave my books behind and look for more challenging, darker , sophisticated material. Some of you reading that might very well go, "No! It isn't so! I'm your fan for life, and maybe even beyond!!!" Trust me -- many have said the same thing before you over the last 8 years, and with just a very few exceptions, virtually all of those have moved on from my little world now. I'm not sad about it. I don't feel upset or aggrieved when a fan decides (consciously or otherwise) that they've had enough of my books. That's life. It's something we all go through. We all hold flames close to our hearts for certain periods of our lives, then let them grow cold and cast them aside. I did it with 2000AD, with David Eddings, with TV soap opers, and loads more besides. I'm sure that I'll do it again with certain writers and shows that I love now. We're constantly changing in life, becoming new people, developing new tastes and desires. That's not a bad thing -- indeed, I think it's the very core of being human, and the thing that drives us on to be the species we are.

I try and do a lot with my Darren Shan books, and I like to think I do. I've gone places other children's writers never went (and maybe won't go again!). No matter how simply they're written, there's an air of sophistication and complexity to the books (count the number of characters in The Saga, or the number of themes covered, or genres played with; study the structure of The Demonata as it becomes clearer (and, as an aside, although lots of you love to tell me how you see every twist I write coming in advance, nobody has yet written to me to say they've spotted what that structure is -- six-tenths of the way through, and I've managed to keep the shape of the series a mystery from all of you!! though not for much longer methinks ...)). I think long and hard about these, spend at least two years working on every novel, and do the very best I can with them.

But they're still children's books, and always will be. I know I have lots of adult fans, and I hope to keep some of you entertained for a while longer if you're willing to go along with my on my somewhat restricted journeys.  But I don't write for you guys, just as I don't write for the 6 and 7 year olds who read my books (and, yes, there are a few!!). I write for those between, those torn between the worlds of childhood and adulthood, those who go to school but are moving towards the adult world beyond, those who are ready to ask questions of the world, of life, of themselves, of the universe, who want to have fun but who also want to be made think. My books DO mature (The Saga developed a lot between Cirque Du Freak and Sons of Destiny), and The Demonata is maturing too, as the characters grow older and learn more. But I'm not interested in letting those characters grow beyond a certain point, because that would make the series a rough ride for the fans who started out with the earlier books. We're all on journeys through life -- but what you have to realise is that you're going to journey with very many people along the way, and very few (probably none) of those are going to be with you all the time. For me, writers and stories are all interconnected. It's irrelevant if, coming of a certain age, you decide to cast my children's books aside and move on to someone else. There are places I can't go with you, areas I can't explore with you ... at least, not as Darren Shan.

As D B Shan, however (to finish on a nice self-promoting note!!!), I can go as far as you like,and probably a hell of a lot further than you'd wish!!! So all you older Shansters and adults out there, make sure you watch out for Procession of the Dead in March 2008!!!!!!!!

The numbers of fans who have become MySpace friends with me passed the 7000 mark today -- coolio!!! Of course that's not an entirely accurate number -- it includes spammers and people who maybe joined for a short time but don't check back any more. Still, it's nice to see the figures going increasingly up -- no chance of me feeling lonely with you lot around to cheer me up!!!!

Spent most of today working on the Shanville Monthly. It took a bit longer than normal because I had to set up a large, complex competition -- this is probably the last time I'll run 12 competitions simultaneously -- ai yi yi!!!!! Still, what was a pain in the posterior for me is good news for you guys, with loads of signed books up for grabs, covering fans in most of the globe. It was a good issue of the Monthly, I think -- I also reveal the title of Book 7 of The Demonata in it, for the first time anywhere!!!! To check it out, click here: SHANVILLE MONTHLY

I did want to write about a comment I received a few days ago, about my books not maturing at the same rate as my long-term fans, but it's late and I'm tired, so I'll leave that for another blog. I'm just putting this in to remind myself, or else it'll slip my mind!!! I don't plan these blogs out in advance (as you've probably noticed!!!). There are no firm themes running through them on a day-to-day basis. I simply decide what to write each night that I sit down at my PC, sometimes recording what I've been up to that day, sometimes responding to something I read or saw or a fan said. Maybe it would be a better blog if I thought more clearly about it and took a direct line of approach. But, hell, I quite like the chaos of it, and I think it gives you a better idea of what I'm actually like. With my books, I'm always a shadowy figure, giving my characters as much space as possible, not getting in the way whenever I can help it. And in interviews I put on my Darren Shan front, focusing on the books most of the time. It's only really here that you get glimpses of what life is like away from that world, and what passes through my thoughts when I'm not applying them to writing. You'll never get a complete picture of me, of course -- this isn't about laying myself bare and exorcising all my inner demons (assuming I have any!) in public. But I think this comes pretty close.

Right -- I'm rambling!!! Time to stop and head up to bed. Might not be blogging tomorrow (I'm going to London to see a Spurs game), but I'll see you all back here soonish.

Added some new photos to my web site today -- you can check them out by going to the DARREN SHAN SITE and clicking on the PHOTOS link. Then spent a large part of the day buying Christmas presents online. Computers have made Xmas shopping a whole lot easier than it used to be -- I was able to order most of my gifts online, which saves me the hassle of having to huff and puff around the place looking for them! It's not so bad if you live in a town or city, but when you live in the countryside like I do, Christmas shopping can be a curse!!! My Christmas cards also came today (Bas and I always design our own every year), so I'll probably start filling those out later, meaning it's been a highly festive day all round!!!

Watched the last four episodes of season 3 of Deadwood. I'd normally have spaced them out more, but it sucked me in and I just HAD to watch on!!! It was an excellent season overall, though I was somewhat disappointed in the final episode. The entire season had been leading up to a huge climax which never actually came -- instead it just fizzled out quietly. A pity, as I was looking forward to gun fights, massacres and blood aplenty. Oh well -- as Mick Jagger once so aptly put it, "You can't always get what you want!!!!!"