Philip Pullman and Hell's Angels

Philip Pullman, revered author of the trilogy His Dark Materials and other quality bestsellers, has been condemned to 'eternal hell' and 'damnation by fire' by Christian zealots up in arms over his new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Well, they're upset by the title. They haven't actually read it yet, as it isn't out till the end of this week.

As it is a criminal offence to threaten someone with violence or death, the letters are being taken seriously, and Pullman is expected to be accompanied by bodyguards when he appears at the Oxford Literary Festival on Sunday.

Those who taken an interest in that side of religious belief that justifies harming or murdering those with different values may remember the writers and producers of Jerry Springer The Opera having to leave their homes for police protected safe houses when they were similarly threatened. In that case too, the Christians had not let seeing the show get in the way of deciding it was blasphemous. Of course, the trouble with reading the book or seeing the play is that you might, God forbid, change your mind.

But that's where faith comes in. You don't need information or insight when you have faith. It holds firm no matter what. That's why it's called faith, and not reason.

Yes, Yes - oh YESSSS! Never Mind the British: the Women are Coming

How fitting that the first Academy Award for Best Director to be won by a woman should be awarded within a few hours of International Women's Day. It's a headline writer's dream.

It's also a reminder that winners don't have to be blockbusters. True, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is a war film. But it is also an intimate portrait of characters under huge tension, because of outside forces - and their relationships with each other. The moment where the black soldier (Anthony Mackie) calls the white one (Jeremy Renner) "a white trash redneck" sets the movie apart from war films which are only about, well, war. It also serves as a neat metaphor for a challenge to the status quo. Way to go, Kathryn - and fellow Oscar winner, screenwriter Mark Boal. On which note, let's just check how many women have won for Best Screenplay....