The Premier League is exciting. At halfway through the season there are only 10 points between the top 6 and 4 points between the top 3 (and Arsenal have a game in hand). While Ancelotti is not saying much about winning (and he's losing Drogba, Essien and Kalou for the African Cup of Nations in January), Ferguson, Wenger, Redknapp and Mancini are. Mancini, though, hasn't had any tough games yet - it will be interesting to see if he can pull off what Hughes couldn't. The relegation battle is also intriguing.

Wenger's confidence in the team is sweet, but not wholly warranted. They are all brilliant, but have an amazing ability to fuck up on crucial matches.

1) New Zealand sauvignon blancs are a lot fruitier than Australian ones.

2) Walking home from the bottle shop I was overtaken by a bunch of youthful 'Mexicans' off to a party for the end of Movember at Luna Park. Struck me that Movember, as a thing to do in November, is worthier than Nanowrimo.

3) In the late morning there was a drizzle of rain that set off those wonderful earth odours. Later on, when I walked over to the shopping centre, I was hit, in the middle of the median strip, by a strong smell of lemon-scented gums.

4) I stocked up (not that I needed to) on whodunnits and Australian fiction at the 3 for 2 stand in Borders. You can get Miles Franklin winners at the 3 for 2 stand :(

5) Finally replaced my Swiss Army knife - lost somewhere on the way back from Adelaide in May. This one is the first I've had that is made not by Victorinox, but by Wenger. It has some features that seem better than the Victorinox one - notably a more sturdy spring in the scissors - although in all other respects it is the same. I have had a Swiss Army knife, and carried it everywhere, pretty much continuously for the last 25 years - this is my third - and I've long considered it the most useful purchase I've ever made.

6) Speaking of Wenger, he really has to rethink how he puts a team together. Last night was unbearable. Arsenal had well over half the possession and the BBC commentator was raving about their play in the second half, but they couldn't score (except for the other side in the case of Vermaelen) and F...g Chelsea got 3. He very publicly told them that now was the moment they had to step up, and they didn't. They already know how to play football, now they need to learn how to kill. On Wednesday night they have to play Man City in the League Cup. The form of the latter has not been great recently (not since the Adebayor misbehaviour at Eastlands), but this match is also at Eastlands and Adebayor will be there.

7) The good news from the middle of the night was Barca's victory over the Royal Madrilenos.

8) Joe Hockey is being put forward and possibly is putting himself forward as a leader who can unify the Liberal Party. That's what they said about Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull before they were elected. You can't unify a party that has an excitable minority hell-bent on self-destruction. They are filibustering in the Senate at this moment. Hockey is my local member. He is a rugger bugger with an interest in politics. The idea of Joe Hockey as prime minister is only slightly less hilarious than the idea of Tony Abbott as PM. Nelson, bad as he was, and Turnbull, arrogant as he is, at least have grey matter inside their skulls.

Despite his haircut (which is atrocious), Arsène Wenger has been for years the nearest thing there is to God. I think it is mainly that he manages NEVER to lose his cool. The scoreless draw with Sunderland yesterday made me want to scream. Not Arsène however. I have yet to hear how he will explain the millions he spent on Arshavn.

The good news is that Eduardo scored twice against Cardiff earlier in the week. He's back after 12 months, so we're still in the FA Cup.