Give Me Novacaine

I'm having difficulty getting up any enthusiasm to write anything. I just don't have anything I desperately want to say at the moment.

I'm not sure why this is so. It could be the dark evenings, I'm getting ready to hunker down as winter draws in and the night stretches from dawn to dusk - almost. It might be because of my role as a Citizens Advice trustee, which if I want to do it well, is pretty time consuming. There's enough to get angry about hearing what's happening to many innocent people around here as a result of the folly, madness and greed of others who appear to be unscathed by the events of the last three years.

We live in interesting times. Clergy dropping left, right and centre. Today the dean of St Paul's resigned as a direct result of "Tent City" encamped outside the classical portals of Wren's masterpiece. We still can't be sure that depression (economic that is) is not just around the corner. Do you trust our leaders to sort things out? And still the rich and powerful appear to continue to blindly fill their boots apparently unaware of a social time bomb threatening to explode in their faces.

We are witnessing the rapid and possible irreversible decline of the US as an economic power. It still has enough military clout should it get angry to cause rather too much trouble, but its society appears to be hollowing out. That can't be good for the rest of us.

The flat screen has provided some solace, as the darkness bleeds into the autumnal scene. We saw "Tintin" at the pics last week. You don't need actors: the CGI was astonishing and the film was "Indiana Jones" on steroids. The opening title sequence itself was worth the price of a ticket. It was an homage to those  fabulous opening title of "The Pink Panther" films.

On the small screen there was a frozen gem. David Attenborough's "The Frozen Planet" was simply devastatingly stunning. The immensity of the Arctic and the Antarctica were humbling. And those animals. So marvellous. And yet, the joy of watching was tainted with the fear that all that wonder, all that gorgeous creation may be passing because of us.

It makes you want to climb aboard a passing space ship and head for outer,outer space.