Weather: More than a bit nippy early on, but it turns into the most wonderful late summer's day: sunny, with a nip in the air. 19 C.

Travel: Irritating. Failed 0649 Vermin at Wolverhampton blocks the line, and causes us to be late into New Street. Coming back, a 6 minute hold outside New Street - there may be too few platforms, but this is inexcusable. Then the 1722 to Shrewsbury gets platformed behind the Redditch train and has to shuffle up, losing its path to the one from London. This is negligent incompetence from Failtrack, I fear. Slack ops at Wolverhampton mean I'm 10 late overall.

Mo Mowlam announces she'll be leaving the Commons at the next election. The former Northern Ireland secretary was shuffled out of that position in October last year, and has been the subject of a whispering campaign by The Party's ubercommand for some time.

University Challenge returns, with a rather nice orange set, replacing the blue-green they've had since the revival in 94. New arrangement of the theme, all violins and strings. The match is close and comes alive in the second half, tying at 195 with two minutes to go. At the end, Hull beats Edinburgh 225-205.

England wraps up the Fifth Test, beating the West Indies by 145 runs at the start of the final session. It's the only test of five to give a result after the third day, and England wins the series 3-1. That's the first time the side has beaten the West Indies since 1969.

Tom
I have no idea if that made sense, and it probably sounds like I would have wanted Rayanne to totally sell out, but I just think that the more mature Rayanne would definitely be a cool, hip Rayanne.
Odd. Most odd. She sounds a lot like sometime listie Bronwyn. Which might be a good thing.

For those who have never met her, Bronwyn is the ultimate coffee house dudette, reclining in her seat like she owns the place. Might well have done, for all I know. Always willing to share her opinion, Bronwyn's also great at organising things. Think Monica from Friends, only nicer. What else? Cute, married, reading for a masters in Celtic Studies at Oxford, and about due to resub...

Finally, someone else who doesn't go around telling me that "That Sabrina chick is hot!"
Are we talking looks, coz she's not. Are we talking acting talent, coz she's not. Are we talking plot device to help SM:TV plan a show? She's good at that, but it owes a lot more to Ant & Dec's talents, and the fact that C-list celebs will do *anything* for five minutes of television.

Weather: Yucky. Drizzle, rain and mist all the way, though somewhat sunnier after 6. 18 is the chilly top.

Travel: A disaster of a morning. The 703 runs around 30 late - I catch the bus into town, and it's listed on the board as leaving around 742. By which time I'm on the stopper to Four Oaks, finally making it in to work (thanks to a lift) just after 850. Coming back is less annoying, but the home train is held behind the stopper out of New Street. Inexcusable.

Another round of Premier League Football. MUN picks up where it left off last year, walloping Bradford 6-0. Completing a good night for Manchester, and a bad one for South Yorkshire, Man City wins 2-1 at Leeds. Sunderland and West Ham drew 1-1, and Spurs beat Everton 3-2.
Arsenal comes from behind with a quarter hour to go to draw 2-2 at Chelsea. Can no-one defend any more? Defensive weakness at Pride Park, as Derby comes from 3-0 down to tie with Middlesborough, 3-3. Leicester had a perfect defensive record, but the side conceded the closer against Ipswich; the Foxes were already two ahead, and 2-1 is good enough for a win. Southampton's problem isn't so much a lack of defense as a lack of strike, the side draws 1-1 at Charlton in what's already looking like a relegation battle. Liverpool beats Villa 3-1, thanks to a Michael Owen hat-trick. Newcastle wins 2-0 at Coventry, including his 200th league goal.
The results leave Newcastle top of the league on this season's performances, ahead of Manchester United. MUN re-takes the lead taking into account form from last season.

Weather: Very wet early, but sunny by mid-morning, though windy all day. 19 C tops, though it feels colder in the wind.

Travel: Far better - a slight day in the morning, and get on the 1707 at New Street, so home early. That it's a clapped-out 150 (there's no other sort) doesn't help, but that could explain the late running.

Track Of The Day: Love Shine A Light, Katrina And The Waves' Eurosong winner for 1997. It's just a great song.

Jadea
thanks to priceline.com I can get to everyones house now!
Now that Brendan's globe-trotting days are over, I suppose I need someone to do the dirty work, shoving bats up the night-shirts of people who spoil television for the rest of us. But then, how to get the bats to you in the first place. I could use some carrier chickens Wogan left in Birmingham the other year, but that would defeat the point rather. Any ideas, or shall I just shove these pips that came with the chickens into a few records...

[ctd radio 2]

Randi
who or what is Mazzy Star?
If Enya is the ethereal voice of the heavens and oceans, then Mazzy Star is the sound of a misty dusk. Everything is in minor keys, yet it's strangely uplifting stuff. The discography... "She Hangs Brightly" (1990), "So Tonight That I Might See" (1993), "Among My Swan" (1996), all on Capitol records. All jolly good records, too.

And thanks for the excuse to dig out the first album again. (:

Sara
although, I have to say, who is Mezzanine? :)
Good question. Who *is* Mezzanine?
[re-reads original post. suddenly turns into alex treebarking.]
Is the wrong response, Sara. You were looking for: What is Massive Attack?
[/alex treebarking]

Massive Attack is a Bristol-based collective, who first hit fame in 1991 with the sultry "Unfinished Sympathy." Spearheading the trip-hop fad of 1995, the Attack moved into more esoteric directions with every release. Discog: "Blue Lines" (1991), "Protection" (1994), "Mezzanine" (1998). None of them feature in my collection, though all are critically acclaimed.

Weather: Threatens rain all day, but it never arrives.

Travel: The 703 is a few minutes late, and things are held up at Wolverhampton on the way home, but nothing too bad.

Track of the day: Sweetest Thing (U2's Greatest Hits 80-90, 1998) In the whole scheme of things, this is a glorious side-show, from the pulsating disco stomp of 93's "Zooropa" through the more mellow "Pop" (97) and this autumn's forthcoming album, there's been something of a common thread. This single, re-recorded to promote their hits compilation, is no part of that thread. But it's a wonderful moment on its own.

The Millooneyum Doom will get yet another 45 million quid. It's cheaper to give the hand-out than to close the attraction early, but that doesn't make the siting in deepest darkest London any less stupid than it was in 1996.

Henna
Today the new episodes of the 70's show are starting, so I'm going to my mates' to watch it...
In the ultimate irony, "That 70s Show" finally debuted in the UK on Monday. I've written often in the past about how itv bought rights to the format, turned it into an English sitcom, and saw it sink like a stone. Channel 5, RTL's British subsidiary, picked up the rights for a song, and slapped a double-bill into their Monday night schedules. It got a perfectly respectable (for the channel) 1.2 million viewers. The last episode of the itv adaptation, "Days Like These," secured a futile 0.7 million.

The only problem is, the show *still* isn't funny. For a sitcom, this is a critical omission. It's clear that the jokes weren't lost in the translation of the format; more that the show just never had them to begin with.

Old episodes of Seinfeld continue late nights on BBC TWO.

Meantime, the British Film Institute released a poll of the best British television ever. "Fawlty Towers" came first, ahead of a one-off play, "Cathy Come Home"; "Dr Who"; "The Naked Civil Servant"; and "Monty Python." Only one international co-production makes the top 100, "Michael Moore's TV Nation" at #90 (BBC/NBC/FOX) "Millionaire" makes #23, there's no place for "Countdown", nor for "Days Like These."

And I understand that "Big Brother" in the US is dull. So dull that the show's producers offered people £7000 to leave the show. It's been slightly more successful in the UK, grabbing front page coverage in all the press, but a mere 6 million viewers. OTOH, that's as many as the US version, and that's going to about five times as large a potential audience.

Weather: Still threatening to rain all day, but a brief shower after lunch is all.

Travel: The 1702 goes totally AWOL, I only find out when the rostered guard is told by the driver of the Phantom 1710 (which starts at University.) Bus into town, grouchily.

Track Of The Day: Black Coffee, the new All Saints track. It's not an instant track, but none of their really good ones ever were. It kinda sits there, and will gradually get that bit more of an ear-wig until it hits.

Really annoying twerps on the train home. Yuppies, up from London. He shouts into his mobile phone in a loud posh accent; she tries to paint her fingernails (on a 150? The bus on rails? Fat chance) then whines and whinges loudly when the polish lands on her fingers, not the nails.

Leslie
I actually took off work and went to the Cowboy game Sunday, not a smart move on my part.
It all went down after the kick-off. In fact, it all went down from the coin toss, allowing the Eagles to kick off. Onside kick, for those who didn't see the highlights. PHI 41 DAL 14, or something like that.

The Packers started winning only when Dallas lost a lot of their players to free agency.
Yet if Dallas were a really successful side, this would not be a problem. Witness Manchester United in English football, which has won six of the last eight titles and regenerated its side from within.

The Cowboy talent level fell down to the rest of the league because of free agency
I'm not going to dispute the cause, but I'd suggest that any side that can get knocked off in the play-offs by Arizona didn't deserve to be there.

and Green Bay took advantage of that. But that wont last for long...
Wait - you said the side fell apart to free agency, so how can you so confidently predict a revival so quickly?

Weather: Cloudy for most of the day, humid, and 23.

Track Of The Day: Aveline by George Hamilton IV. The country number one in the US on this date in 1963, and something of a neglected classic of its time. Not by this contributor!

Into town, just for the fun of it. Couple of shirts are liberated from C&A's bargain rail, along with greatest hits album for Deacon Blue, Del Amitri and Prefab Sprout.

Football: On a weekend where all winners are expected, Man U goes top with a 3-0 beating of Sunderland. Leicester in nose-bleed territory is second, downing Southampton 1-0. Villa - 2-1 at Ipswich, Liverpool - 3-2 against Man City, and Everton - 2-1 at Middlesborough - also win. Bradford gets a 1-1 draw against Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea fight a dull 0-0, as does Coventry and Leeds. Charlton comes from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Derby in the Sunday match.

Weather: Cloudy, turning to sun mid-afternoon. Very humid, very sticky, no wind. 22. Not good.

British army chaps held hostage are rescued from Sierra Leone, but there are casualties amongst the rescuers, as well as around 17 of the kidnappers. Unfortunate, but necessary.

The revolution may yet be televised. After demonstrations in France over the past week, lorry drivers start to blockade oil refineries and tanker centres. After just 36 hours, petrol stations in north-west England start to run dry. The trucker's beef is with the high level of tax imposed on fuel oil, and the general hike in oil prices over recent years. Their chosen targets are not government buildings, showing the fallacy of their argument.