Guinea pigs vs Sex and the City

GOOD THING: GUINEA PIGS
I'm not one to go in for cute things (well, not that often), but I make an exception for guinea pigs, which are just about the best pet going. I got a rabbit when I was four, and although he started off being tiny and adorable, he grew up to be vicious and the size of a small dog. But I always liked my friend's guinea pigs, who seemed much better natured and affectionate. You can play with them without them getting too pissed off and biting you (unless you make them participate in Guinea Pig Olympics, as my friend used to do), they're less likely to squirm and make a bid for freedom, and they make that lovely squeaking noise. I think I'd like a CD featuring guinea pig squeaks - I'd find it quite relaxing. You can also get very funky-looking guinea pigs, which look as though they're suffering a permanent bad-hair day; some with so-called 'rosettes' (ie. sections of hair you can't comb down - I know that feeling) and some with ludicrously long tresses. Whatever they look like, they bear it very well.

BAD THING: SEX AND THE CITY
The sex lives of four unattractive women who can't dress themselves - was that the premise pitched to the big TV bosses when the idea for Sex and the City was first mooted? Thank the lord that programme is no longer with us. I think I have a particular objection to it because my ex-flatmate was virtually obsessed with it - she used to leave the DVDs playing on a loop, even when she wasn't in the room. And, despite the fact that the show was aimed a woman and - hey!- I am a woman, I just don't get it. Why were we supposed to be interested in these women? There was the horse-faced one, the old slapper, the ginger one and the non-descript one, and I'm not surprised that they were all struggling to hold down a relationship. Carrie in particular was supposedly some sort of fashion icon, but looked as though she'd dashed into a few charity shops in her lunch hour - in fact, I've seen more appealing lines of clothes in my local Red Cross shop. And Samantha started to look more and more like a man in drag as the seasons wore on - she was better off as Steve Guttenberg's love-interest in Police Academy, and I don't say things like that lightly...