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Today’s Halloween, so predictably I’m gonna write about it. The leaves are orange and the party invitations are in so all that’s left is to don your costume and head out into the night. But first a little history.

Historically it was the Celts who created Halloween and it sprung from the festival of Samhain where people thought that the line between the real world and spirit world got blurred allowing good and evil spirits to cross between the worlds. It was also to celebrate the end of summer and the slaughter of livestock for the winter food reserves.

So why the costumes? Well apparently, you use them to blend in with the evil spirits. I don’t know how our ancestors would have felt about a high Scream mask. Choosing the right costume for Halloween is always a tricky one. You need to avoid the cliches like the joker last year and I’m guessing, for the lurid out there, Michael Jackson circa Thriller era.

Modern times have changed the rules a little. Now Halloween is all about trick and treat for kids and costumes and parties for adults. Trick or Treating used to be one of the best times of the year. A night where you went round to all your neighbours and pillaged sweets which you were then allowed to eat sending you into a dizzy vortex of sugar highs before bed.

When you grow out of trick or treating it’s all about the parties. Endless event invites roll in and all that’s left is to try and pick the best. One thing that always amuses me. Why is it that every Halloween, despite the cold, you see Hallowsluts in their stocking and suspenders? Any excuse, eh?

However, Halloween, for all it’s good points is somewhat dulled and tarnished. For this is a holiday that the Americans have truly hijacked and made their own. Going round London makes me feel that we’re some piss poor runner up in a costume competition.

That aside, it’s going to be a good night. If you see a drunken Zombie a shambling then make sure you say hi and whatever you do, have a good night.

Since the dawn of Big Brother, we’ve had to endure long running reality TV shows through stretches of the year. Obscure, unpleasant people are paraded in front of the nation to be ridiculed by the press. The press who fill their rag sheets with endless pictures of next years Heat and OK! victims. But X Factor seems to be taking it to the next level.

It’s pretty grim that these reality TV shows should be so successful. It’s like the lottery and that entices people. If that horrible creature who crawled out of Scunthorph or wherever they’re from can be singing live on national television then it could be you.

What makes it worse with this X Factor is that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to avoid it. Not only is it on TV all the time and you have to overhear mundane conversations between chavs on the bus, but the press seems to be endlessly harping on about the X Factor House.

The press won’t publish the address as they don’t want to add to the mayhem that’s already happening there. Hundreds of teens have descended, leaving in their wake mountains of pizza boxes, cans and assorted teenage rubbish. It seems to be happening every evening and the press are milking it for all their worth.

First it was the turn of the residents. The Chinese Ambassador, Madam Fu Ying, made an official complaint to the British government. Undoubtedly it interrupted her Ferrero Rocher orgies. Then other residents complained when the 18 year old twins, who Simon Cowell has admitted hating, danced in the window in their boxers.

Then, the story was that the council have shut the road to through traffic over safety fears for the hordes of children who have turned up over half term. The police have to maintain a presence to keep order. The police were also called when teenage girls flashed some of the contestants.

And apparently its actually getting dangerous there are so many teens there. One teen who had been punched in the head said, “It’s really aggressive, but I love it. It makes you want to come down even more.” No doubt the punch had left her without any brain cells at all.

But, if you want to go down there, maybe over Halloween to trick or treat the address is:

15 West Heath Avenue,
Golders Green,
NW11 7QS

First there was Guitar Hero, then there was rock band and now, lo and behold, there’s DJ hero. But unfortunately for the game’s publishers, there are terrible sales forcast for a game despite the fact that Jay Z and Eminem are on board to help launch it.

DJ hero launches tomorrow and will aim to capitalise on the success of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero was the game that bought the sexes together. It was no longer about being really good at something, it was truly the taking part that counted. Combined with the fact that a one armed chimp could master the game on easy.

So what’s DJ Hero about then? Well, instead of a guitar the game comes with a deck controller with a cross fader and effects dial. Five of the tracks were specially mixed by Scratch Perverts and there will be a special renegade version that will feature Jay Z and Eminem.

However, you have to ask yourself, will DJ Hero have quite the same effect that Guitar Hero had on the world. We are talking about South Park Episode greatness and you have to feel that it won’t.

Guitar Hero was about the music, the classic tunes that you’d heard your parents play when you grew up and you could actually “play” them without needing to learn the instrument. You could be Santana or the Strokes. You could be a rock God!

And there lies the problem. DJ’s just aren’t that cool. It’s a little bit geeky having to play around with all those fiddly knobs. Plus, you’re the person in the corner in a little box surrounded by people gurning and being sick. Those people that want to be DJ already are. Those that aren’t probably prefer hearing the music than mixing it.

Having said that, it doesn’t take a lot to make a game addictive. Sure, it may be fun, you may feel like you’re mixing for the screaming virtual crowd. But it is worth the £109 price tag is another question entirely. You could buy Guitar Hero with 2 guitars for that and I know which one I’d prefer.

People always talk about being grown up, but what does everyone mean when they say it? At what point do we stop being young and care free? Is it age or is there a deeper meaning behind it?

People talk about maturity; the ability to make decisions well. You can be mature in your youth but that doesn’t make you grown up. You’re still unsure and tenuously learning. The confused tumultuousness of adolescence doesn’t offer solace and definitely means you’re not grown up.

In the eyes of the law you’re grown up at the age of 18. Grown up enough to be tried in a court and face jail. The army assumes that you’re grown up at 17 and allows you to die for your country. But neither of those reflects emotional maturity or any signs of being grown up.

Many people come out of their teens and go to university. When they leave they get a job and that is the point at which many people consider themselves grown up. They have made friends they’ll keep for the rest of their lives and they’re on their life path. But having a degree doesn’t mean you’re a grown up either.

Maybe it comes with experience. Travelling the world may open your eyes to things but look at all those gap year kids who come back from their travels as childish as ever. Going through life experiences can change your outlook but again it doesn’t necessarily make you grown up.

The point at which you grow up comes when you have a burden of responsibility. You become grown up when you have people relying on you. Where what you do doesn’t just have repercussions for you but those around you. Kids have a lot to do with it but I don’t think we’ll ever know.

Sure they’re American, and a chain, but why is it so cool to hate McDonald’s? Even when most people do it hypocritically, slagging off Big Macs in the morning before devouring one for lunch. Let’s have a look at some of the reasons why people think it’s cool to moan about one of the biggest global brands.

If you listened to the average spoilt, middle class, East Londoner then you’d think that McDonald’s was the spawn of Satan himself. Child labour, poor quality etc, etc. But many of these “facts” are just malicious myths created by people who hate McDonald’s not for what it is but for what it stands for.

Many people hate McDonald’s because of the globaliasation aspect of it. It’s seen as an American Imperialist traversing borders at any cost to take over cuisine around the world. Well this is kind of true. Yes, they do expand at quite a rapid rate, there are over 31,000 world-wide.

But this expansion is due to demand. Take a guess at how many people go and have a McDonald’s in a day. It’s something in the region of 47 million customers. Every day. That’s a lot of people eating McDonald’s so they must be doing something right.

But what exactly are these customers eating? McDonald’s is targeted as being poor quality food with poor quality ingredients but I think you’ll find that the quality of the food is equal if not better than most other places on the high street.

The major problem that McDonald’s face is that their golden arches are so hated by everyone that they have to do everything 10x better in order to satisfy the numerous critics. And they’ve become adept at adaptation.

For example, in response to the Brits wanting better food that has been organically sourced McDonald’s has responded by using coffee beans that are Rainforest Alliance certified. They also now use organic milk meaning they buy 5% of organic milk produced in the UK.

Until 2008, McDonald’s owned a minority stake in Pret A Manger, which is seen as a healthy living alternative. And they certainly learned a lot from that.

McDonald’s is desperately trying to shake their old image and have introduced their salad and snack pack range. Globally they have been rolling out their McCafe range to rival Starbucks.. They are even about to open a McDonald’s and McCafe by the underground entrance to the Louvre. Mon Dieu!

But what really gets me is that people moan about McDonald’s then eat it. Obviously for a fiver you’re not going to get the best quality meat in the world and not the greatest service. You get what you pay for. Also, they aren’t Satan’s protege, sent to take over the world. They’re a successful business and as long as people keep eating their burgers they’ll continue to grow.