JANUARY 25

TODAY I've amazed myself by actually getting 60 pics from the Palos Verdes run we went on Sunday up on the site. They're here if you want a shufty.

JANUARY 22

TODAY we went on our first run as members of MOALA, the Mini Owners of America Los Angeles. The run was from the Ports of Call car park in San Pedro up through Palos Verdes and back. We kicked off at 9.20am and were back at 1pm after an exhilarating drive with lots of other Minis, both classic and BMW. More pics to come Wednesday or when a pig is spotted over LAX.

JANUARY 19

TONIGHT I went for a coffee and ended up being trapped in the lobby of my office by some homeless nutcase who followed me in through the door. She blathered on for 15 minutes about the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq and God knows what else as I debated what to do. Unfortunately I couldn't jump in the lift to escape as it's crap and the door takes about an hour to close, and going out the front door was no good as the nutter would just follow me. Eventually her barrage of craziness trailed off and she left. I mean, I know she probably wanted someone to talk to, but why didn't she go to the 7-11 where the rest of the homeless people hang out?

JANUARY 17

I POPPED out for a coffee and fag this afternoon and was standing outside the building when some car drives by with a bird flashing her tits at me. I never have the bloody camera when I need it, do I?

Later on, when I was leaving work, there was a police helicopter circling round Orange Avenue. As I was driving towards the freeway I get a call telling me that there's five police cruisers, a K9 unit and armed officers on Central Avenue. So I do a U-turn and head back to the car park. On the way I called the photographer and she headed out to the scene to have a look. After 15 minutes waiting she calls me back to tell me that someone threw a rock through a store window and the cops were investigating. I'd hate to see the police response to a real emergency.

JANUARY 12

I CANNOT believe I got locked out of work tonight. Actually, I'll rephrase that - I can believe I got locked out of work, I just can't believe no bugger answered the door phone even though I rang it for 20 minutes solid. I ended up having to borrow some woman's mobile to phone the editorial department to get them to let me in. So much for going for a relaxing coffee and fag.

JANUARY 11

AFTER dinner in Ruby's tonight (we'll stop going there, honest) we went to the frozen yoghurt store.

Girl behind counter: "Hi, can I help you?"

Evva: "Yes, can I sample your Mounds?"

JANUARY 3

I'VE finally got a Mini Cooper thanks to the clutch on my Subaru giving up the ghost. It's not red and there's no dragon on the roof but it will do 102mph on the way home from work so I'm not complaining. More piccies just as soon as the weather clears up / I can be bothered / hell freezes over.

JANUARY 2

WE WERE heading out to Wal-Mart today when we heard a load of sirens heading towards Studebaker Road, the direction we were heading in. When we got to the junction there were police cars blocking access to the 405 and we could see a couple of news helicopters hovering over the channel that heads into the ocean. Ev got the news on the radio and it turns out that a car's gone through the fencing and into the water. We headed over to the bank opposite for a look with a group of other people who lived nearby.

There were loads of ambulances and other emergency vehicles on the road by the bank and a large gap in the wire fencing. Emergency workers were on the bank helping divers who'd gone into the water to try to get the driver and any passengers out. A guy we were standing by said he'd heard on the TV that there could be three people in it.

There was an oxygen tube leading from an ambulance under the water to the car and we could see the divers going down to try to rescue the trapped driver. Someone had heard from their car radio that they'd already got the driver out and she was on her way to a local hospital. At the scene there were more divers going into the water but we couldn't work out if they were looking for any other occupants or fixing the tow ropes to the car. Eventually the vehicle started to be lifted out of the water.

By now there was a large crowd on the opposite side of the canal watching in silence. A police car came down and the driver got on his PA telling people they had to leave, but then one guy in the crowd pointed out we were on public land and the cop left.

Either the divers couldn't find any other passengers or if there were any they were dead as it was decided to raise the car from the water. The tow truck pulled it out slowly to right it with some of the emergency workers helping to attach more cables.

Some medics and firemen were standing by with a stretcher in case any bodies had to be removed.

The car, a Jeep, was lifted slowly out of the water and pulled up the embankment.

The Jeep was pretty badly smashed up. For a moment Ev thought that some weeds hanging from the back passenger side window was a person's hair. We heard later on the radio that the divers had smashed the rear window to get in, meaning the front was broken when the Jeep hit the bottom of the channel.

It was pulled up the embankment and onto the road. No effort was made to cover it up and a TV cameraman was allowed to shoot some film of it, so there couldn't have been anyone else in it. But the divers continued to search in the water as there were eyewitness reports that there had been two or three people in the Jeep.

After a few more minutes the divers gave up their search and got out of the water.

A crowd of eyewitnesses on the embankment where the crash happened were giving statements to the police.

We decided to make a move home. A CBS newstruck pulled up, displaying a superb sense of timing as everyone else - emergency workers included - were packing up to go. Still, if it ain't got a celeb in it it ain't news as far as the TV's concerned.

I took one last shot from the footbridge over the freeway. We heard later on the radio that the driver, a 16-year-old girl, had died in the crash. Police weren't sure if there was anyone else on board the Jeep, but as the channel flows straight into the ocean there's not that much they can do unless a body washes up.