I spent the last two weeks on the family holiday, lazing about in sunny France stuffing my gullet with crepes and butchering the language. Little did I know the world around me stepped up a gear, and I have a lot of catching up to do.

My beloved Liverpool signed players for lots of money. This is new ground for Liverpool fans, and it makes me optimistic for the new season. This, of course, is the classic failing of the Liverpool fan, as every year the team seems to spectacularly not live up to their role as title challengers.

E3 happened, but very very quietly. Mario Kart is coming to the Wii (gasp!), and there’s a new, smaller PSP. The highlights have undoubtedly been the Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2 trailers. The PS3 is looking like an essential purchase upon my arrival in Japan.

(incidentally, according to lowbrowculture’s rundown on EDGE’s Top 100 videogames, the original Metal Gear Solid is nowhere to be seen, whereas games like Crackdown sneak in. Now, I did enjoy my Crackdown, but Metal Gear Solid is perhaps second only to Resident Evil 4 in the blockbuster-videogame stakes. But hey, it wouldn’t be EDGE without a little controversy…)

I’ve also got a lot of cinema to catch up on - the most pressing concern being Die Hard 4.0. By all accounts a balls-out action fest, the over-the-top action may excuse that the franchise seems to be drifting away from the claustrophobia of the original movie ever more.

(incidentally, I read Scarecrow while on holiday. Imagine, if you will, all the explosions, torture scenes and car chases of a typical season of 24. Then, compact that into a 12 hour time-frame and wrap it up in a ridiculous globe-trotting, infantile plot. There are some bitterly harsh reviews on Amazon, but I found that, despite all these obvious criticisms, the book had a certain charm. If you’re too old to act out this stuff with GI JOE, but still hanker for these kind of escapades, give it a go.)

The day after returning from France, I had pre-departure orientation at the Japanese Embassy. For the Japanese, orientating is something of a national sport, and they really take pride in it. My arse has been numbed on countless occasions to absorb information that could have been given in a combined total of 20 minutes. Still, it did manage to make me even more enthusiastic for Japan, inexplicably. The 3 days of orientation I face upon arrival in Tokyo may dampen my spirits, however.

So, in 2 weeks I’m off to Japan. Tick-tock!