Weather: Sunny spells, cloudy spells, a heavy shower just as I'm coming down the Bristol Road. 15.

Travel: The signal remains locked down at Codsall until the train hoots, then it's plain sailing. Only problem coming back is a train crossing our path at Galton Junction.

Millionaire: Jo Webb has £64,000, and no lifelines.

£125,000: Which language gave us the word “robot”?
A) French B) German C) Czech D) Latin
Jo speaks French and German, but that gives no confidence whatsoever.
She thinks. Chris repeats.
Eventually comes down to Czech.
Has she the guts to play the answer?
She’d still be happy with £32,000.
CT: “The first £32,000 is [husband] Hamish's money. The second is yours.”
Chris repeats.
JW: “I really don’t know. Gambling half of it would be foolish. £64,000!”
“Czech. Czech does stand out, but...”
Jo smirks at Chris.
“Erm.”
“Er.”
Chris repeats again.
Jo sits there, eyes closed. Then giggles.
“You watch people and see the inner turmoil. So hard when you’re here.”
We’ve had three minutes of deliberating.
“What would you be shouting if you were at home.”
“I’d be shouting Czech, without a doubt. I’ve a degree in French, so if it’s French, I look a right fool.”
“You can walk away with £64,000.”
“I’m going to walk away with £32,000. I’m gonna say Czech.”
“Final answer?”
Jo gazes skyward.
“Final answer.”
C) Czech.
Chris pauses.
An irritated growl.
A pause.
“You’ve no longer got £64,000.”
Another, really long pause.
“You’ve got £125,000!”

Weather: A perfect autumn day until it starts raining just before dusk. 14.

Travel: The one from Bromsgrove is late, and everything falls late behind it. The Xcity stopper falls 7 down, and that bungs up the station. That the Shrewsbury stopper is short of staff doesn't help. Nor does the bus this morning that refused to stop. Nasty letters to WMPTE if this repeats.

The Canadian election begins, as Brian Tobin resigns as Newfoundland Premier. “The people of the province have given me ... a mandate to work for a full term of office, and I intend to put in a full day, everyday for the full term I’ve been given on your behalf,” said The Weenie after his last provincial election victory in February 99. Beaton Tulk steps into the shoes as Provincial Premier. The national election is expected for November 27.

Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan is killed in a plane crash while campaigning for a Senate seat.

DeathofJane:
Would that be a cross between South Park and Daria? As in "Ohmygawd, they killed Jane!" "Nasty."
Sorry. Back to the script.
i was wondering if any of you live in new york city.
Oh, to be in NYC now that the subway series is here. I am *so* envious, there can be nothing like the buzz that the Apple is going to get over the coming week. Assuming the series comes off, which (at the time of writing) is still up in the air.

also if any of you are punk or sleater kinney or bf5 or punk/indie fans thatd be cool. too.
Don't know if you caught my list of music last week, that's what's been rocking my boat in recent weeks, and might happen across the ocean, too.

in anycase. what kinda music are y'all into???
Good music. Whatever pigeon hole it fits into.

Weather: Cloudy, with the odd shower. Muggy after last night's rain. 15.

Travel: All clear both ways, bus on the final leg. This is becoming depressingly normal.

The Wolf Secret Song finally goes. The contest has been running since the end of January, and it's been bugging me since I moved back in June. A snippet - a guitar note, with a drum just peeping in at the end - comes from a song. Over time, we find it's a group, it's an American group, the vocal is female, it's not the Pretenders, it's not Blondie, and it's not the group's biggest hit. Finally, on Day 189, it goes. If She Knew What She Wants by The Bangles (From The Bangles, 1986). A #31 hit single as the follow-up to Manic Monday.

Henna : )
they're only showing here Champions league games (two full matches in a week) and then one Finnish league match and then Finland internationals.
Terrestrial television in the UK gets one European League game per round (always involving Manchester United, oddly,) UEFA Cup matches where the rights are available (Liverpool and Leicester,) an Italian league match, plus some cup matches in the new year. Highlights of the weekly league programme, and Dutch and US soccer.

Satellite viewers get 60 Premier League matches a year, lower league games, two cups, plus the Spanish league. Digital terrestrial viewers can *also* get two more live European League games a week, and delayed coverage of the other 12 matches.

May be if I had Eurosport I could watch more footie but I don't...
British Eurosport majors on international games, with the odd UEFA Cup match as well. Celtic's UEFA campaign, for instance, is relegated to the pay-to-view nightmare that is U>Cantseeit.

Hmm, somehow they're very often showing ManU games here too. I have to admit that I don't really like ManU.
When they're the only British side left in the competition, there's a valid reason for concentrating on them. When Leeds have been playing on the same night, and not once in four rounds have they taken top billing, something is wrong.

And Last spring when Real Madrid-ManU met in champions League (and those matches were shown in tv) the commentators where so sure that ManU would've won the matches and it was sooo irritating...
Never knew you got the ITV commentators (: I know Murray Walker's F1 commentary goes to some export markets (including TSN at one point) but wouldn't there have been commentry in Finnish?

>What a result on Sunday, eh?
Depends about the match, but yeah. :)
Oh, it was a good result. Now that it's out of spoilers, Kansas over Chicago, 1-0. *Great* result. Rotten match, great result.

Weather: Sunny, clouding over later. 15.

Travel: Getting crazy. Failtrack has given in to panic, and imposed go-slow orders on a number of stretches of line. Services around London are really badly hit, while those to the West Mids shouldn't be that bad. The only go slow is in Bedfordshire, adding 2 minutes to travel times. But Vermin trains decides to cancel the trains from Euston to Wolverhampton, while making the ones that would usually finish at New Street run on to Wolves. (Confused? You're just reading it.) The practical upshot is that I come on a train that doesn't exist, behind a stopper that is crawling up the line, and still somehow make it for just after 6.

Ulrike:
Ah, I forgot that you share the same horrible fate. I pay by minute, too, though I can use the university connection and just pay a normal local phone call - whihc is pretty cheap during nights. But really, when will it all change? My good modem broke and now I'm stuck with my old slow one - do I really deserve such a fate? :)
Pens down, voting over. Did Ulrike deserve this fate?
Andrew: "No"
Bill: "No"
Charles: "No"
David: "No"
Egbert: "No"
Francis: "Yes"
Gary: "No"
Herb: "No"

Francis, why yes?
"Erm, I thought you were asking if Ulrike deserved better."
Do you need your ears cleaned out with soap?
"Erm, er, ah."
Don't quiver when I'm talking to you. You are the weakest character ever invented for the sole purpose of sympathising with a fellow listie. Get stuffed.

Ah, and even if I'm being indescret and a lady does not ask such things: How much do you pay per minute at GB?
Too much. Depending on the service plan one is using, and how the discount structure is applied, it's between 0.8p and 1.3p per minute evenings, 0.8p to 1p weekends, and 1.6p to 2.7p weekdays. All prices do *not* include sales tax (very rare for the UK.)

To put it another way, the pound will buy 66 minutes at best, 18.9 minutes at worst. It will also buy 56% of a Big Mac, 2.25 Mars bars, or 2.2 quality newspapers.

---

But thnxs for the rest of them, it's always nice to have some people sympathizing with you in alphabetical order.
In strict alphabetical order, natch. Hope Nieske got the underlying joke.

Really? Damn. I think you don't deserve *such* a fate and am therefore handing over the sympathizing guys to to you.
Thank you. Anyone unhappy with the move?

Andrew: "No"
Bill: "No"
Charles: "No"
David: "Yes"
Egbert: "No"
Gary: "No"
Herb: "No"

David, you know what we do to dissenters, don't you?
"B-b-b-b-b."
You are the most pointless continuation of a one-gag post ever. Your cyberlife is over. Pull the plug.

This is damn pricey. I just hope they'll get sensible and make it cheaper soon. I'll believe it when I see it. Flying pigs, anyone?

Weather: Cloudy, showers later. 15.

Travel: After yesterday's crackpottiness, today sees a derailed train at Stafford blocking the line south. Which means there's no 1718 to Edinburgh at New Street, though there is a 1725 to Wolverhampton - Vermin has found yesterday's revised timetable too complicated even for them, and quietly thrown it away. The 1722 follows behind, natch. Good to see that there's no attempt to service the London train at Wolverhampton station when it arrives - I still reckon that's an unsafe practice.

Jamie Morrison:
I was reading this terrible tabloid for Media class today
"Terrible tabloid." Now there's a tautology. There is no tabloid that *isn't* terrible. Even Sport First is blinkin' awful.

I happened upon a showbiz article about Noel Gallagher's new girlfriend
For those who don't know, Noel Gallagher is - er, hang on a moment. Who is Noel Gallagher?
[rifles through books]
Ah yes. A piss-poor songwriter from Crater Manchester.

Sara MacDonald. :)
What will Ross say?
Don't trust everything you read in the papers. I have it on just as good authority (I made it up ten seconds ago) that Noel Gallagher is actually dating Rhys Hughes, producer of Radio One's Chris Moyles show until last week. Wondered why he left the show with so little warning? That's why.

Yes, I know the "fact" above is so totally made up it comes straight from The Not. But it's as true as the tabloid "facts."

TWL thinks Ross would say:
um ok..
Well, knowing Ross, he'd be right round there and giving Noel a black eye before you could say "It's all been a terrible misunderstanding! There are actually two Sara MacDonalds out there!"

Actually, maybe that's why the over-rated one always wears shades...

Weather: Cloudy, 15.

Football: Chelsea downs Coventry 6-1, with four goals from Hasselbank, and climbs to 4th. Everton halts Newcastle's climb with a 1-0 win. Liverpool beats fading Leicester 1-0, thanks to a strike from former Fox Emile Heskey. The Reds go third. Charlton takes Middlesborough 1-0. Man U betters Leeds 3-0 to stay top. Two goals for Oyvind Leonardson takes Spurs to a 3-1 win over bottom side Derby. Ipswich goes 8th after winning 2-0 at bottom-but-one Bradford. Arsenal beats West Ham to keep pace with the MUN side. Sunday: Aston Villa and Sunderland share a 0-0 draw.

Back comes the cold. Boo.

Cory of Corydom:
What am I doing for halloween? welll. ..
That's if you're unlucky. If your luck holds...

I'm still trying to find a good tinkerbell costume (I decided to go with the orginal J. M. Barrie tink this year, rather than the Disney.
Well, yay for you! Disney has its place, but the originals of these are always better. Most United Stations don't understand English literature. Cory is not most United Stations (:

plus getting a new tat, but taht's really a b-day present.
Is that a new cat, a new rat, a new hat, even a new bat? My money's on a nice new titfer. Keeping up the English feel.

Which is in 4 days. the 24th. I'll be 18. happy birthday calls would be appreciated. ;)
Gee whizz, I'll need to be over this cold by then, then. Otherwise you'll never be able to hear me over the general hubbub. It's a long way from here to deepest Arizona.

Best birthday wishes, and hugs, and more.

---

Think of all the money he would save if he just crossed the pond and talked to me, er, I mean us, in person.
Well, there's the air fare, the hotel bills, the meals, the flight, the entertainment, the tickets to a taping of WWTBAM (or Rosie - I'm not fussed,) the ball game, the presents, the postcards. It's not cheap. Especially the postcards.

On the other hand, it *is* an excuse to spend time with the coolest person on the face of the planet.

Which makes me wonder, would the end result be worth the pain of getting there?

yes.
That's told me. Your place or some place else?

Weather: Sunny, 14. First frost was possible last night, but temperatures remained just above freezing.

Back to UK Millionaire...

Duncan Bickley has provisional membership of The Thirteen Club, and 50/50 in his pocket. To tie the UK record:

£500,000: What was the name of Amy Johnson's plane in which she flew solo to Australia in 1930?
A) Achilles B) Pegasus
C) Hercules D) Jason Duncan has to think about this one.
"Let's go 50/50."
B) Pegasus D) Jason
Duncan looks determined. There's something steely about his gaze.
"What are you thinking, Duncan."
"It's got to be Pegasus."
"Why has it got to be Pegasus."
"Pegasus had wings. A winged horse. Is it worth the gamble?"
Nervous laughter from the audience.
"You lose £218,000 if you're wrong."
"It's only money, isn't it."
"It's an awful lot of only money!"
Duncan remarks that he'll go down in history one way or the other.
"Pegasus"
"Final answer?"
"Yes."
B) Pegasus.
The tension has been missing all the way up the run. Suddenly, it's come back.
A really, really long pause.
Almost ten seconds.
"You've just lost......"
The audience groans, drowning Chris' consolations.