All happy families are the same - they paint nurseries and go on camping trips

Another dull weekend painting the nursery, but thankfully the end is in sight. Next time, we pay some guys to do it, its been a real drag and we've done something of a shoddy job, at least on my bits.

Last weekend was ace, though. We went down to southern New South Wales for a camping trip at a place called Pretty Beach. We had a lovely, dozy time playing games and reading and bushwalking an ting. Michelle's sister Karen and her hubbie Steve were staying at the next beach along with a gang of mates so we also got some boozy socialising in at their gaff.

Photos available! Check out www.flickr.com/photos/tomgoodfellow - and bookmark it, a few more will be added each month.

The Pope died! Geez, I never saw that coming.

Oh, we saw REM last week who were very good, if not quite brilliant. Stipe is very much the Rock God frontman, as is required in the enormodome which we saw them in, and some songs were superb (Orange Crush, The One I Love) but, I dunno, maybe the preposterously priced beer had put me in a bad mood. Still, a fine band.

Some good movies too - Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (stylised and yet heartfelt - clever stuff) and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Spinal Tap for real) were the standouts. Looking forward to Star Wars 3 and Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - although either or both are potential duds.

I've finally got my reading head back on and am thoroughly enjoying Anna Karenina. It'll all end in tears but, hey, that's life innit?