Good morning bloggers all from the luxury of a National Express train. We trundle through the sunny Suffolk countryside as we all sit quietly attending to our business while one pompous fool across the aisle lectures his wife and, by default, the rest of the carriage on his job, the government and the world. I can reveal that all are going badly.

I hope your weekend/bank holiday was splendid. As normal when away from the usual routine and having a day off, too many chips were consumed while distracted by seaviews and amusement arcades. This will be rectified today as rigorous exercise will accompany all tunes we play faster than 70 beats per minute. Anything slower will be greeted with a somnolent posture.

*Pompous traveller update. His 'wife' appears to have taken all she can and bailed out at Woodbridge. Silence returns.

Today we welcome Bill Bryson to Drivetime. Like many I have enjoyed his writing since Notes From A Small Island many years ago. His smart observations about life here, together with an increasing love of our odd ways has made him an unmissable writer. His latest is a tour around his house. Not in a 'Through the Keyhole' way but a journey around the rooms of his Norfolk rectory as he writes about how ordinary things came to be. He calls it a "Short History of Private Life" and though, at 600+ pages, it's not at all short, it is always entertaining and invigorating.

And let's try SEPP BLATTER and FIFA oldies today. In one weekend we have had the beautiful game (Barcelona) and the ugly game (old guys in suits). Let's be 'avin' you as Delia would say.

*pompous man update #2. He has now developed a cough and cold so we all notice him. Everyone out at Ipswich.

Have a slim-line and chip-free Tuesday, see you after 5.

Pizza and Smarties. Yes really. Top meal.

Last night it was down to me and child 2 as to what we should eat. I enjoyed the barbecued duck salad of course (the sauce was every bit as good as we said) but, as is the nature of salad, it wasn't filling. So more was required and, shamefully, the order was placed for the man on a moped. And when pudding was called for, the chocolate beans were the only thing handy. I see it as preparing child 2 for student life and not in anyway lazy, bad habit-forming gluttony.

Feeling portly, it is a 2 show day to run off the excess. First up a live movie show from the Phoenix cinema in Finchley north London with guest Noel Clarke. He stars in a new prison drama called (ahem) 'Screwed' and is always an engaging guest. He writes and directs as well as this acting thing so he should be a crowd pleaser. We are relying on him really as otherwise it's just Mark and me.

Then the taxi bike I think for the brief darting run through the bank holiday get-out-of-town-quick brigade to R2 central and the all-request-Friday. Even though it is confession/quiz/guest free, I love the Friday show and hope it gives that Friday feeling to everyone, even if they have a dull weekend on the horizon. Your opening song idea will be put to the jury (Me and Andy I imagine). We will vote (my vote counting for 1 and a half) and then we're on. Let's assume that Rush's "Spirit of Radio" is out as we moshed to it on Wednesday. Everything else is up for grabs!

Have a crisis-free and gently reassuring Friday, see you after 2&5.

Morning all. I can explain the discrepancy between the 'written' time and 'posted' time which was being discussed yesterday. I start this early (6.30 news on at the moment) but get interrupted by life etc. Then it gets sent to important people who then press buttons, in a very Heath Robinson way, and eventually it reaches you. Think of it as quality control. Or bureaucracy. Hey-ho.

And on the subject of 'Life etc' I can only reiterate my 'wisdom' from yesterday. If you have an exam timetable, try not missing your last exam. Chaos and tumult will follow and will reverberate for quite a while. Such is the situation here and I wouldn't recommend it. RTQ is the advice to those sitting a paper (sometimes with an added consonant after the T) then ATQ. I will add RTT... READ THE TIMETABLE! We move on...

Yesterday was one of those rare days when pretty much all Radio 2 presenters were in at one time or another, filming our bit for 2Day which is on its way soon. The idea is to highlight all the different shows,music styles and all-round loveliness that is on offer. I'm going to do 7am for an hour with Jamie Cullum and looking forward to it. We were told to wear our own clothes but my Nashville t shirt was rejected. I will, as a result, look grumpy.

Nigel cooks a BBQ duck salad today after 6 and what with the Cameron/Obama BBQ at Downing Street yesterday, I think we should do THE BARBECUE for our tunes today. For my money, it's the most over-rated way of eating. We do it because the man does the work, we go outside and we drink more than usual. But usually the food is poor in comparison with the oven/hob. But they're fun so we keep on doing them so get those flame-licked, marinaded tunes in...

Have a healthy and conflict-free Thursday, see you after 5

Listening to Chris talking to Neil Diamond this morning and enjoying hearing those old ND songs. Within 30 seconds ND had told Chris more than he told me in our entire Electric Proms chat. Neil sounds great I must say and Johnnie Walker's theory that pre-gig, he's not at this best is working I think. And you have to say "I am I said" is one of the strangest hits of all time. Seeing the adoring faithful at the Electric Proms (RIP) was quite an eye opener.

We can talk Bond today I think. Jeffrey Deaver has written the new 007 novel Carte Blanche and he is in today. There's a section early on where Bond is described as being in his mid-thirties, black hair with a side parting and a 3 inch scar on his cheek. Now at this point I had to stop and wonder quite who it was I was picturing. Our images of Bond are so strong, so iconic but they weren't the man as described. This, I imagine, is because I haven't read a Bond book for decades. Maybe he's always described like this in the books. As he fights in the present day, it's really quite an achievement to have Bond as the timeless ageless 'sexist, misogynist dinosaur' as M put it, fighting Islamic terrorism fresh from his cold war exploits. My first Bond was Roger Moore so missed the Connery years but enjoyed Pierce Brosnan and thought he had it nailed. But DC is a tougher, meaner Bond and maybe it's him that I'll see after all through Carte Blanche. More after 6.

And music today for TALL PEOPLE. Yes that's right it's HEIGHT we're after today. This is because I was watching John Isner lose yesterday to Rafa Nadal at the French Open in 5 sets. And John is 6'10". Now that's tall. I saw Ivo Karlovic at Wimbledon and he's 6'10" too. Playing Lleyton Hewitt, it was a little and large show with little winning the day. So tallness please if you have a moment.

Have a forgiving and forward looking Wednesday, see you after 5

Lots to do. Things to write. Children to drive. Film to see. Drama A/S level to worry about. Blog to write. Start at the end Mayo.

Up at 5am today which I put down to an over active mind and early morning sun. Then I notice that Tony Blackburn has been tweeting away for ages, saying how much he enjoys this time of day. And the truth is, I agree with him. Part of me is insisting that this is the most creative time of day and that I should get up and jolly well make use of it. No one to call, no one to talk to and no one to kick you off the computer. It may be a hangover from my years of doing the breakfast show (in the last millennia) and then the arrival of the kids, but it's the early hours for me!

The down side is of course the evening when I just doze off. Tonight I'm going to the Music Week awards (or something), invited by my bosses and it is very likely I will just fall asleep over pudding. They have been warned.

Top show today hopefully, with live music from The Pierces. We have been playing their new album here for a while and I think it's my favourite album of the moment. Great harmonies and terrific songs. And apparently they are very attractive but I haven't watched their videos or checked the photos that much...

And tunes today please (an annual occurrence) for THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW and all the paraphernalia that goes with it. GARDENERS and the TOOLS OF THEIR TRADE. That should do us.

Have a satisfying and enriching Tuesday, see you after 5.

Well well here we go with another week of Drivetime, I hope your weekend was full of wonderful things. My mother joined us for a statevisit which passed off well with a (family) walkabout and banquet (take away). It did produce one of those exquisite moments of embarrassment while watching Graham Norton on Friday night. It was always going to be a risky business and with Snoop Dog and Cuba Gooding Jr as guests, it was just a matter of time really. You always forget quite how different your tastes and sensibilities have become but when you are all sitting round watching an advertisement for erectile dysfunction, it all becomes startlingly clear. Then I tweeted on what was happening and the auto spell check changed my words to erectile distinction. This obviously changed things quite a little and gave quite a different impression. I looked for some Val Doonican to watch but failed.

So we make it to Monday and another Radio 2 Book Club. Today it's Gillespie and I by Jane Harris, a 500 page novel set in Glasgow in the late 19th century and features one of those unreliable narrators in the form of Harriet Baxter. Her first novel The Observations was a hit around the world and shortlisted for the Orange prize. Read a couple of chapters here, then listen live to Jane from 6.

And oldies today please for PRESIDENT OBAMA (O'BAMA?) as he arrives in IRELAND and thence to the UK. Plenty to go at there I would have thought...

Have a refreshing and satisfying Monday, see you after 5.

Friday again and that rather wonderful almost-the-weekend feeling. This is a bit like the Christmas Eve feeling:anticipation of a wonderful time imminent with nothing spoiled yet. So often of course weekends are exhausting/disappointing/tougher than Monday but still Friday evening feels great. I know that endless revision assistance, taxi service duties and tedious paperwork will be required, but viewed from here, it's looking great.

Interesting stuff on Paul Simon yesterday. The first album I bought was Bridge Over Troubled Water (WH SMITH in the Bullring, Birmingham £2.19) and the first concert I paid for myself was Paul at the London Palladium in 1975 (£5.00). I think I've got everything he's ever done including some obscure Tom and Jerry songs and a BBC recording he made for a 'Pause for Thought' type slot in 1965. The recent albums have been disappointing I think but the new one "So Beautiful Or So What' is lovely. And as I mentioned to Moby, it's 10 tracks at under 40 minutes. This seems about right really. Bale out before we lose interest.

And if I remember, we will discuss whether he feels under appreciated as a songwriter.

So, first movie chat with Mark and an impending mega-rant on Pirates of the Carribean 4. Also Asif Kapadia, who has directed a terrific new documentary on Ayrton Senna.

Then, it's the weekend juices in full flow, and the All Request Friday kicking off at 5. Your signature song for openers please!

Have a stimulating and rigorous Friday, see you at 2 and 5.

Let me talk of Kate Bush first. I see a few reminiscences on yesterdays blog about the albums, the only tour, and the free kisses (really?). It's an age and stage thing of course, as they say in parenting circles. I remember waiting for the radio to play Wuthering Heights. I'd heard it only once but hooked me at the first 'Out on the windy, windy moor'. Everytime it was played I turned it up and everything else had to stop. When 'The Kick Inside' came out I poured over the lyrics and photos (I was 17) and found it all very deep and meaningful. She was the epitome of the girl who was brighter and cleverer than you. Read books, made literary observations and wore a leotard. And so I did what anyone would do. I wrote to EMI and asked for a poster. I said it was for the student union building at Warwick Uni where in actual fact, its final resting place was my bedroom wall. The poster was the pink vest one, in case you were wondering. She gazed on my 3 years of History and Politics and helped me through the dark nights of Stalin, European 19th century colonialism and English Civil War. I know she feels this affinity too.Even if she does talk to Ken Bruce. And Mark Radcliffe.

(Wakes from trance) Ah yes the show. It's a Nigel day today so we are talking Kerala Crab Masala. Can't be doing with crab myself, put off by my grandmother's half-consumed pots of crab paste. But once Nige has worked his magic, I'm sure all will be lovely.

And songs today for THE OLYMPIC TORCH. One year today it will arrive in Cornwall and go on tour around the UK, ending in the Olympic stadium in July. 8000 miles and 8000 torchbearers needed. So TORCHES, FLAMES AND SPORTY CELEBS should do it.

If Kate Bush wanted a run out...

Have a smile filled and productive Thursday, see you after 5.

Good morning lovely bloggers, a beautiful Wednesday awaits. Hope all good/bearable with you. I'm writing this on Tuesday evening, after returning from a drivetime 'celebrate the Sony and the record listening figures' evening. Fizzy wine was consumed. Nigel arrived and more fizzy wine was consumed. Gary the editor left, but we carried on for a few bowls of crisps. And was that creme de menthe? No, that would be silly. We toasted you listeners and bloggers and sung sea shanties till he sun rose over the poop deck (this is making no sense, edit at will). When I left, Nigel and Matt were booking in at a tattoo parlour and Rebecca was hosting a reception for financial gurus and Nick Hayward look-a-likes. Maybe we wont get on air at all.

Moby is our guest from 6 tonight. I've enjoyed his music and strange take on the world for some years now and his new album "Destroyed' continues the synth/ambient theme of some of his previous albums. 'Play' was of course his huge breakthrough record and I remember having arguments at Radio 1 about how 'modern' and 'relevant' it was. initially I got nowhere but as the hits and licensing deals came, slowly it became the album everyone had to have. He brings with him a fiddle player and singer, you can hear Moby live after 6.

And songs today please (inspired by the sell off of the Tote, the state's bookie) on BOOKIES, BETTING AND GAMBLING in general You can even have the pools if you wish.

Have a windswept yet sun kissed Wednesday, see you after 5.

Well I am now ready to take my Year 6 History Science and Maths, followed by my AS Geography. I could thrill you with the Crusades and Jewish life in England in the Middle Ages. We could then move on to discuss TNC's, globalisation and the volcanic eruption in the Philippines in 1991. Really, I am a walking talking academic powerhouse. Feel free to test me...

This intellectual rigour is timely as Professor Niall Ferguson is our high-flying guest at 6. He is, amongst many other things, prof. at Harvard and the LSE, writer and presenter of 'Civilisation:Is the West History?' on Channel 4 and someone who is 'far too glamourous to be an academic' according to the Guardian. I've interviewed him a couple of times before and he is always charming and, I think, fascinating. I did History and Politics at University and always have a weakness for historians. Maybe it's to make up for all the lectures I missed. Anyway we'll talk about 'the west' after 6...

Tunes, therefore today please on the subject of THE WEST. This can be any west of course, not just Ferguson's west. Just not east. Or north. And,obviously, not south. Just to be clear.

Have a positive and upbeat Thursday, see you after 5.

Well here we go again bloggers with another week of (what we hope will be) rather fine drivetime shows. I hope your weekend was all you wanted it to be. Here, we are hunkering down for the exam season. Child 1 is doing it on his own at Uni, child 2 has AS levels this week and child 3 has those boring old end-of-years to worry about. This is of course then a tough time for all parents and siblings as they try to work out whether to get involved/hang back/try to help.Eventually it'll boil down to something like this: hunker down, smile, say positive things, buy pizza. Then go on holiday.

So here we go with Lawrence Dallagio on the show from 6. The former England rugby captain has put together an Italian cook book. Now retired sportsmen often put out books of sporting memories, jokes or self-help. Recipes are rare but Lawrence has impeccable credentials here;his father Vincenzo is a native of Turin and has spent his life in the food business. So Vincenzo cooks, Lawrence cooks and now his son Enzo cooks too. There's lots of great pasta, breads and risottos here and Lawrence will explain more after 6.

And for the oldies, we should, I think do SONGS WITH ADVICE FOR PARENTS. News today that a guy called Dr Brian Caplan from George Mason university says 'Parents! Relax! Stop Fretting! He's called it his serenity theory. The book is called 'Selfish Reasons To Have More Kids:Why Being A Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think' (needs more work on the title I think). Anyway it joins the long list of (often conflicting) advice for parents, so let's see what rock/pop wisdom there is too.

Have a healthy and flexible Monday, see you after 5

Forgot my phone.

The whole day without one.

Hasn't happened for a while but yesterday, in the chaos of the family morning, I ended up leaving it behind. It was like going cold turkey (I imagine) and my inability to talk, text and email made me twitchy and anxious. I was furtive, haunted. I looked at a phonebox with desire. After an hour or 2 of this nonsense, I got used to it and I came over all 1990. Quite enjoyed the peace and quiet really and actually started looking at people and architecture rather than watching my little glowing screen. Got home-15 texts, 10 missed calls and frantic folk trying to get me. I'm clearly ok as I've just been on the radio but the fact that I haven't been answering the phone means I'm not quite there really.

Today, I'm all charged up and the phone is packed already, back in the 21st century. Tweet like there's no tomorrow.

You might have heard that Drivetime had some pretty good audience figures yesterday. We have another 250,000 listeners and a record reach of 5.65 million. Which is a lovely thing. And welcome if you're new to the blog too-it's not a bad place to hang out for a few hours!

2 show Friday. 2pm on 5Live with Mark K for movie chat. 6 Music's Joe Cornish has made a film! It's called Attack the Block and you can hear him discuss it today. Then the mighty ARF takes to your radios and the weekend is well and truly on the way. Shall we rock? Shall we dance? Shall we boogie? How do we start the whole darn thing? That's where you come in of course...

Have a rewarding and prosperous Friday,see you after 2&5.

Bright and sunny here and swifts accompanying my early morning meanderings (could be swallows but I think not). I've never been a birdwatcher but Simon Barnes book 'How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher' a few years ago really changed the way I looked at birds. "To the greater glory of life' is what he put on the cover. He says wherever you are, city or town, you can always see birds and that watching and listening to them is life-enhancing. And he turns out to be right. And the sound of swifts high above feasting (I imagine) on pesky bugs is one of the great noises brought by the warmer weather.

And it's school play season also, at least in this house. Last night saw one of those, now customary, post 7pm dashes. I tend to miss all parents evenings but school productions can be reached. Child 3 was in The Tempest last night and as he was Miranda (it's an all boys school should you be wondering) a big effort was required. All highway code and legal requirements were observed of course-no more speed courses for me thanks very much-parking found-half a mile away-and a less than impressive run brought me to the school hall. I made it in time for Miranda's last line and to join in the whooping and applause. Well done to all!

It's lamb something-or-other in breadcrumbs tonight with Nige (just breadcrumbs for Sally) and let's do the 64th CANNES FILM FESTIVAL oldies. Glamour, glitz and shallowness. Stars, cameras and vacuous nonsense.

Have a positive and inspiring Thursday, see you after 5.

Here we go then with another blog and thanks for all the nice messages yesterday. I shall bring the trophy of elaborate perspex in today and let Matt and Rebecca fight over who is to be award monitor. 'Tis a heavy thing to take home on the tube but a useful door stop once there. We promise not to go on about it that much, but we raise a glass to you, the DT blogger collective and your patience. I think there will be more problems today so I write this not knowing if you'll be able to comment. Keep calm and carry on.

Today's show will feature a chat with the always engaging Mark Radcliffe and not Jeffrey Archer as Chris has just said). He's written "Reelin' in the Years' which he calls 'the soundtrack of a northern life'. He has taken a record from every year of his life and uses that as a starting point for a whole series of great stories and recollections. Here's something else from the cover - a quote from Brian Eno no less:"Brilliant, funny and original. If I wanted to study the history of modern music, I'd have Mark Radcliffe as my professor". Hear more from Mark after 6.

And oldies today please (if you are allowed to add stuff) on SUPERINJUNCTIONS. Yes it's time to let you loose on this subject which is causing so much celebrity angst and legal consternation.

And have a surefooted and clearthinking Wednesday, see you after 5

Just a wee word.

Not on the show today as I have a funeral to attend and Richard Allinson will take up the reins. But last night your Drivetime team emerged triumphant with the Sony Gold for best Music show. This was a fantastic result for us as we are all very proud of the show. John Dunn, Johnnie Walker and Chris Evans gave the show it's reputation and to carry on its success is enormously satisfying. And the fact that you guys help with the music every day, means that you should all take a bow!

Jezza Vine had an even bigger night, winning 2 golds-well done to Jeremy and the team.

So thanks to Matt, Rebecca and Sally for making the show what it is and the off-air team who lovingly construct the show by hand every day;Gary Bones, Andy Warrell, Carmella Di Clemente, Ben Backhouse and Johnny Kotsiofides.

Trebles all round.

Lets hope the blog continues to be the creative flow of consciousness it always seems to be!

Have a top Tuesday and I'll be back on Drivetime tomorrow.

Unusual battle to start the day as my computer refused to obey my every whim. Needed to shut it down-refused. Needed to start it again-refused. Pressed combinations of buttons in a random order-nothing. Walked away, did school run, got coffee-everything worked again. Truly, these are confusing times.

So here we are for another fine week of DT and the Sony radio awards tonight. We are up for best music show (think that's right anyway) but up against many fine shows including Dermot's and Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's. I believe Matt, Rebecca and Nigel B and I are all on one table and I am hoping that Nige will bring some food as the food at these dos is er, variable. How great it would be if he flourished a quick Cornish Pasty while everyone else is struggling with rubber chicken on a pool of liquified kidneys. Or somesuch. I'll take the tomato sauce. I will not practice a speech of course but invite Matt in his Dr Mosh mode to do the honours.

(And in case you assume I'm not on tomorrow because I have over indulged, this is not so. A family funeral takes me away on Tuesday but I'll be back on Wednesday).

Good reports of the bloggers day out at the weekend, glad it was a success and doubtless the first of many. A national convention of DT bloggers is where it's heading I feel.

Book Club today and it's a corker. 'Before I Go To Sleep' by SJ Watson is a psychological thriller about a woman who starts each day with no memory at all. It's a great read and I am surprised to find out that SJ is a bloke called Steven. I was sure SJ would turn out to be a woman. Wrong. It's his first novel but already being made into a film. Try out the first chapter while you're here.

And SCRABBLE oldies today to mark the publication of the latest Scrabble Bible which lists the words that are acceptable. Now allowed;keema, gobi and alu - or aloo, as are internet phrases wiki and myspace. So SCRABBLE (and great high scoring words?) will be good today.

Have a refreshing and calming Monday, see you after 5.

Hi folks, a warm day in prospect here and the weekend shaping up nicely (whatever that means). 'Essential blog maintenance' being carried out this morning apparently which will be why some frustration has been endured. Again. Maybe everything will be better from now on... *said in small voice*

A busy Thursday passed off well but doing the movie show on the wrong day has thrown me right off kilter. We mark our day and week by the radio schedule and when things change, there is a momentary pause as we re-programme (this might be just me however). And as we reach a certain age, we like to know where we are. And we are here on another Friday with an all requester on the way.

Interesting posts yesterday on revision and exams. I think it's one of those areas where we forget quite how miserable the whole revision/exam slog is until we see our family going through it. Except they have more of it. This AS year used to the Lower Sixth and a year of less-important exams and less stress. No more. Every test, every exam, every week seems to bring more assessment.

Last night however I enjoyed discovering that a few things never change. At the age of 13 I was the proud owner of some Potty Putty. It came in a small bowl-shaped container and did all the bouncy/stretchy stuff expected of it. I also discovered, while 'revising' that if you heated it with your bed side lamp it bubbled and gave off enough of a stench to gladden the heart of any child. So I walk into child 3's room last night and there was his 'Science putty' (clearly inferior and in a tin) being heated under his bed side lamp. He was me and I became my dad. Goodness knows what the gas is that it give off but seemed slightly less disgusting than I remember. Now I just need to make sure he doesn't find 10 No.6 in the pantry...

So your opening tunes welcome as ever to start this non-royal, non-bank holiday weekend, welcome. Go crazy. Surprise us.

Have a wonderfully fresh and fragrant Friday, see you after 5.

Another early start after a late night of revision 'advice' and counselling. What a miserable time of year this is for exam takers/families of exam takers. We are experiencing our 2nd wave of academic angst with one more to come in a few years time. I am inclined to say it is more stressful for the families than those taking the exams, but child 2 might hit me with her Geography text book. More cake needed (and it would have to be the king of cakes. Those who suggested otherwise yesterday are wrong. A moist, ginger cake is still the lord of all it surveys).

2 shows today. This is because 5 Live have moved the movie show to allow them to wallow in the Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish/local/referendum results as they come in on Friday. So today from 2 Mark and I will talk to Joe Wright the "Atonement" director who's new movie is an action thriller called "Hanna" and also "Chico and Rita" director Fernando Trueba. Plus assorted reviews as ever.

Then it's on the taxi bike to R2 for Drivetime and Nigel promises a lemon and mint pea risotto. Now this is my favourite risotto of all time so expectation is high. I suspect that risotto might be one of those dishes you grow in to. It feels healthy, it doesn't need chips and you only need a fork. That'll do.

And songs today please around the theme of NATURISM. Yes that's right. Edinburgh has said it's hosting another Naked Cycle Ride cycle in June as a "fun and peaceful protest against car culture". Quite why you have to be nude to protest against the car culture, I'm not sure. And what an uncomfortable nude sport that must be. But there is plenty to go at there I think.

Have an energised and stimulating Thursday, see you after 2 and 5.

Good morning bloggers of the world, a chilly morning here with the central heating kicking in again (southern softies indeed). I'm sure many have turned it off for good but frankly if your early morning shower has you shivering as you towel, then something is very wrong. God bless the thermostat.

Interesting chat yesterday on food and servants. I think we always had breakfast, (elevenses as a kid) then lunch, tea (bread and butter, cake), dinner and then finally supper if you needed something else before bed. It never occurred to me that anyone did it any other way. The greatest tea ever was, post-school, peanut butter and marmite on toast and a chocolate cup cake, washed down with a glass of milk (delivered by the milkman who also left bread, eggs and fruit juice). This kind of talk is a foreign language to the kids of course who might not even have seen a milkman, never mind the coal man, the rag and bone man et al.

Anyway, now you're distracting me. It's Roger Waters today. Yes we have the Pink Floyd man with us after 6. The Wall has been toured by Roger for a while, it has cost £37 million to perform and is one of the most ambitious rock shows ever staged. He always has lots to say and this is a rare chance to hear some words from one of rock's greatest stars. Don't miss Rog!

And tunes today please on the theme of GAME SHOWS. Lovely Simon Cowell has announce a new million pound gameshow called Red or Black to be hosted by (inevitably) Ant and Dec. So the thrills, delights, cheese and despair of gameshow tv in a musical setting please.

Have a creative and idea-strewn Wednesday, see you after 5.

Well I think we are back to normal now. All bank holidays done and dusted, kids back to school and University and the routine returns. And actually I quite like that. The long walk to your summer holiday begins now...

The long weekend was marked in these parts by frantic revision and granny-visiting. Fish and chips on the sea-front in Worthing is a splendid way to spend a sunny and windy bank holiday. Even if it was more batter than fish and we all had those wretched sachets of sauce they inflict on you (is there a more inefficient way of squirting the stuff? Don't think so). And they've just been running a story about being over-weight in your middle-age on the radio. Fewer bank holidays, fewer chips. We stride on.

The blog got blitzed of course, as so much of the BBC on-line stuff did, by the Royal wedding of Friday. So much traffic came its way that it gave up the ghost for a while, refused to let you post anything and refused to allow my movie show to be live-streamed. That is all gone now, the old blog routine (hardly blemish-free) returns. Apologies for it's temporary freeze. At least it's not jumping.

Today sees the return of Matt so we are all back and some live tunes from Clare Maguire whose debut album Light After Dark has made Q magazine call her 'The Voice of 2011'. I don't think we should be downhearted that she was born in 1987. She has some good tunes-hear for yourself after 6.

And as for oldies (a slightly more challenging day to find a topic) I think we should do it on SNOOKER. John Higgins came from 12-9 down to beat 21-year-old Judd Trump 18-15 and win his fourth World Championship crown at the Crucible yesterday and a very exciting final it was too. So lets take Snooker Loopy as a given and take it from there...

Have an innovative and idea-strewn Tuesday, see you after 5.

*Warren G Harding's campaign promise in 1918. A lousy word indeed