Okay, so last night was the weirdest ever - and it’s not even Hallowe’en yet. Liberty City took the governor of Pennsylvania on a tour of gay and lesbian bars in Philadelphia, getting out the vote and rallying the troops. Apparently, it’s a lucky charm for Governor Ed Rendell, who does his gay tour before every election. All I can say is that they certainly love him here - every bar he entered was filled with screams and shouts, and he got masses of applause. Can’t think of a politician who’d get even close to that reaction, not even Tony Blair entering a room of Labour Students

Anyway, we all got our photos taken with the gov, and waved the signs we’d been making all day on Friday like crazy. He seemed a bit bemused to be followed around by a bunch of Brits - or maybe that was just the seven foot drag queens, various fairies and goblins and the odd Queen Elizabeth who were all out on the streets last night!

Americans seem to go for Hallowe’en in a really big way - so much so that every news programme for the last week has concentrated on the crucial issue of what costume to wear, not analysis of that pesky election, or, heaven forbid, international news such as the state of Yasser Arafat’s health or the crisis in Iraq. I also find it strange that such a consciously religious country goes so crazy for Hallowe’en - devout Christians that I knew growing up refused to take part in any festivities because it was a pagan festival, but that doesn’t seem to trouble even churchgoing folks here.