Land of my fathers

I was talking to my friend Rob yesterday about the introduction of ID cards in Britain. I am not very happy with the idea at all. Not least because the fact that they won't be implemented until after the next election gives the Tories a large political boost to use in the campaign.

But there's also the fact that my attitude can be summed up as "I don't want to be constantly tracked - I don't want an ID card, and you can't make me have one". Were I a hardy defender of human rights, I would doubtless take on the government in a series of high-profile legal battles or something. However, being one of nature's slackers, I have decided to take the easier approach - I'm applying for Irish citizenship.

I think I qualify. Both my grandparents on my father's side were Irish and born in Ireland, which should make my dad automatically an Irish citizen even if he never had the passport. As such, I can register with the embassy here in Beijing. So, since the ID cards aren't compulsory (for now) unless you apply for a new passport, I should be able to get an Irish passport once my current British one runs out.

Mirrormask

Just watched this last night, after reviewing it in the magazine in the afternoon. Luckily, the review was accurate, so my credibility (ha!) remains intact. Like all the critics are saying, it's a bit of a mess and the story isn't very involving, but it looks amazing. It would be much better at the cinema, I think. Neil Gaiman's writing is as stilted as ever (I like his work, but he's just so heavy handed sometimes - ooh, a girl in the circus wants to run away to real life, no one ever thought of that before!) but it's OK. I'm still thinking about the images from it this morning. Definitely worth seeing - it's like a new Labyrinth.