Broadcast News

Day off work today after spending yesterday researching a monumental act of genocide for a story I've been asked to write. Probably shouldn't have taken the break - especially with Christmas steaming in and eating into the deadline - but there are only so many pictures of dead children you can look at before calling time on it.

Concentrated instead on last-minute shopping, including one final Christmas present (how hard can it be to find a Little Mermaid dress-up costume? Think 'Holy Grail' ...) and something for tomorrow's anniversary. That'll be eleven years my wife and I have been together, for those who've lost count.

It'd be nice to think we could get away for some time alone tomorrow night, but with decent babysitters like gold dust it's unlikely. Instead our big day out is going to be rolling up to Cottesloe beach with the kids for the broadcast by UK breakfast show GMTV. Every year they transmit from several Australian locations, and with Perth housing such a huge ex-pat Brit population it's sure to be crowded down there. Obviously that means that we'll be eight miles from the cameras, visible only as pinpricks to the viewers, but if you're one of the people we should have been seeing this Christmas and you fancy tuning in to squint for us, we'll be there from 2pm local time (that's 5am English).