1st off the block?

Surely not!

Hi again everyone





BEN by Michael Jackson



please Simon!



xx

Good Morning again –



“Sorry there has been a problem displaying comments. We are working to fix this.”



RAT TRAP – Boom Town Rats



WORKING FOR THE RAT RACE - Specials



BEN - Michael Jackson



RAT IN THE KITCHEN - UB40

Morning all





BEN - MICHAEL JACKSON

RAT TRAP - BOOMTOWN RATS

YEAR OF THE RAT - BADLY DRAWN BOY

RAT RACE - THE SPECIALS

RAT IN THE KITCHEN - UB40



Thanks

ROLAND RAT - RAT RAPPING

Morning Simon, team, NYM, and hump-happy bloggers,



I fear the queue may not be so orderly by the time we’re allowed to post, with everybody clutching a brace of...





RAT TRAP – Boomtown Rats



RAT IN MI KITCHEN - UB40



RAT RACE – Specials



BEN – Michael Jackson



That’s it!

PEACHES - THE STRANGLERS

Good morning everyone!



Now here's a spooky one, first song to come to mind is:



THE PIED PIPER by CRISPIAN ST PETERS



and, when checking the spelling on g**gle it turns out he died 12 months ago today. Surely that means it is in with a shout?

CATCH US IF YOU CAN – Dave Clark Five



CATCH – The Cure



POISON - Alice Cooper



LICENCE TO KILL – Gladys Knight & The Pips



CLEAN UP YOUR OWN BACK YARD – Elvis



LET’S CLEAN UP THE GHETTO – Philadelphia Allstars

Good morning everyone, is all okay today?

#10 It is now, thank you Peta!

Good Morning All,



It's a grey and gloomy one here, weather-wise, and otherwise after only 2 hours sleep last night! Grrrrr



Anyhoo, I've gone and tweeted my suggestions now, but they were...



BEN - MICHAEL JACKSON



I'M THE PIED PIPER - CRISPIAN ST PETERS



ONE WAY OR ANOTHER - BLONDIE



Of course there is always RAT RAPPING - ROLAND RAT if there's a gap to fill! :D

John - GT&T & RATS?

Hi



The blog comments were having problems a few mins ago, it wasn't just this blog, it was across all BBC blogs - I've reported it, so hopefully the blog fix team will be able to get it all sorted as soon as possible.

#13 Billie, I was nearly there, but resisted!





Songs for DIY rat-catching:



POISON – Alice Cooper (MID WEEK MOSH???)



THE BITTEREST PILL – The Jam



SLEDGEHAMMER – Peter Gabriel



68 GUNS – The Alarm



SWORDS OF A THOUSAND MEN – Tenpole Tudor

Full steam ahead then. Cant think of a single song, but hey ho!!



MTF.xx

The polite and humane way to rid oneself of one's rats:



GO NOW - Moody Blues

I’M GONNA GET ME A GUN - Cat Stevens -



Maybe direct it at the blog after the rats?



I’LL GET YOU - Beatles

We're back and I've had time to think (as you can see). How about:



NEWS OF THE WORLD by THE JAM



Well, they caught Ryan Giggs this weekend! ;-)

Simon's blog looks nicely set out today, with paragraphs for a change! It normally appears in one 'lump' so maybe... just maybe, the blog has now been permanently fixed!





RAT IN MY KITCHEN ~ UB40



CATCH US IF YOU CAN ~ Dave Clark Five



CAPTAIN BEAKY ~ Keith Michell (Timid Toad, RECKLESS RAT, Artful Owl and Batty Bat)!



x

For anyone interested in Jon Ronson's "The Psychopath Test", and Simon's guest this evening, it was reviewed by Will Self in the Guardian last Friday:



https://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/27/psychopath-test-jon-ronson-review?INTCMP=SRCH

Are we all bettered now?



Tweeted mine earlier. Most repeats from above apart from



Queen - Another One Bites the Dust



X

A few more.....



YOU CAN'T CATCH ME ~ The Rolling Stones



RAT RACE ~ The Specials



STREET RATS ~ Humble Pie



I THINK I SMELL A RAT ~ The White Stripes

#20 That's far too optimistic LuciesMum! : )



Can anyone with a mobile that connects to t'internet (android?) give some advice please. I got onto the blog via my phone last night, wrote a comment, but couldn't see the 'preview' and 'post comment' boxes! Am I doing something wrong?



Tortie x

Morning Everyone and, of course, Simon The Drivetime Dude, The Team, The NYM and the Interactive Team,



Ha! For the first time in ages, I've thought of one - haven't looked through so expect it'll be a duplicate but I don't care, it's theme relevant and that's that :)



THERE'S A RAT IN MI KITCHEN, UB40



Off to catch up now, back in a bit.



~ xx

We live in hope Tortie!!! ;o))

Hurrah! Here we all are then. I have emailed the r2 team.



I suggested "RAT TRAP" via Facecloth - along with probably 8 million other people.



Fortunately, we don't have rats, but we do get the occasional mouse, dealt with in the following manner:



THE CAT CREPT IN - Mud



followed by



STOMP - The Brothers Johnson (I think)



A-G

Well, it's very quiet in here this morning. Could it be that all's not well in blogpoppet land?



#5 - Hey Mark, long time no see - hope all's well with you :)



Zoe UU, can you catch a few zeds at some point today?



Tortie - I haven't a clue m' Lovely - technology seems to be passing me by these days. The boys roll their eyes in despair at me, just as I did with my Mum many moons ago. Another sign of middle age, I fear.



Yay!!! nearly the weekend. Which will be spent, trimming hedges, cutting grass, using the new grass trimmer doobray (all in between the showers which are forecast), giving the older boy a driving lesson (gawd 'elp us!) and all for free. No wage increase there and only a very small wage increase from the employer earlier in the year so no financial gains to be celebrated BUT who cares??? It's the summertime and it's not long 'til the holidays :D



~ xx

Halleluliah etcetera etcetera.



At last I'm in.



I tweeted POISON - ALICE COOPER.



Message for tweeters only - whilst undertaking this onerous task whilst thinking of a suitable word for blograge, I got distracted by the hashtag #londonliesfortourists.

Very very funny.





More about rats:

Next door's renovations is actually a complete gutting and rebuilding - hence the sledgehammering and plaster dust of last week.

There are several skips full to the brim with stuff and yesterday a yellowed page of a newspaper drifting across me front garden - The Evening News October 9, 1959!!

Obviously it had been released from an exposed wall/floor cavity.

However, the developer himself popped in to give me an update - on taking up the rotted kitchen floor, they have exposed a large rat population.





*shudders*

Here's a mid-week moshing song for Matt! :o)





RAT BAT BLUE ~ Deep Purple

Ah, here we all are again!



#29 Katy - re. the rats, that's horrible! Presumably they will be dealing with the rodent inhabitants?

Morning all,

Spurs fans, Moshers, blog poppets and the like - all of life is here (when we can get on the bloomin' thing)

I have already tweeted my RAT suggestions - so won't clutter up the blog with them agian - but do want to recommend, if anyone wants to watch a film involving/mentioning rats:

Truly, Madly Deeply (Juliet Stephenson, Alan Rickman) - it is a bit of a weepie, but OH the acting (and not just by the rats who're superb)



I suppose we could have

'PUSSY CAT, PUSSY CAT' by the mighty TOM JONES (an alternative to traps/poison surely has to be more people geting a cat?)



Have a nice day y'all,

#29 Katy Mac.... The sound of a large rat population next door sounds quite scary to me... especially as they take only 21 days to have babies and can breed whilst quite young! I think it's the tails that make them look so awful... if they looked like Guines pigs they'd be rather cute!

Ah, there you are. You all disappeared again. So, Simon says "It'll be the weekend erelong and all will be well. You'll have enough sleep, your boss will have given you a pay rise and the blog will be fixed." We live in hope. Might as well add world harmony, we all win the lottery and all disease is eradicated to that list!



#29 I second your shudder, Katy. Yuck.



Let's try posting and see what happens...........

I sense a bit of a push from our fearless leader and Mme Petawomble to encourage the powers-that-be that this here blog needs fixing.



So please do your civic duty and use the email address above to register frustrations about problems posting, refreshing back to somewhere random on page 1, the 3 min delay, and any other technical challenges that discombobulate you, like using your new phone, finding the woollens programme on the washing machine, or changing the clock on your cooker to summer time.

#29:

re twitter #londonliesfortourists

Good shout, those are SUPERB!

I especially like the fact that Luton airport is now called 'London Luton' and Standstead is 'London Standstead' when did they shift them? overnight??!

#33 LuciesMum - "Guines pigs", is that a new recipe from Nigel? Sounds very tasty.

Morning all



Just managed to get on - kept refreshing but to no avail! Here's my ratty two pen'orth:



Catch - Kosheen

The Shadows - The Rasmus

Deeper Underground - Jamiroqui

Suspicious Minds - Elvis (We're caught in a trap...)

#29

You are on the right track - when lifting floorboards for whatever purpose, is when the little varmints get in - a friends' hampster got stuck under theirs (dived down the side of the radiator pipe) and had fisticuffs with the local rat population before he could be saved...

Good morning Simon, Team, NYM, Interactive Team and blogpoppets!



Another one from me



Led Zeppelin - Trampled Underfoot



Simon, you are doing a grand job chivvying along the blog fixers. Could you also have a go at our bosses for pay rises ;-) ?



Will have a look at Twitter trend at lunch time, Katy.



X

#37 John B Good.... Haha... yes a Gallic delicacy from down near Calais! :o)

Good Morning Each! I've twitted me brains out!

#35 Ooh, can they help with the clock changing, JBG? Perplexes me every time - I have to go in hunt of the manual. These R2 bods do offer a wide service - other than blog fixing of course.



Lunchtime. My hour will be spent buying presents for a new baby. As she already has an ipad (as previously advised on this here blog), I am thinking Nintendo games (other games available) or a Wii. I have a feeling the usual fluffy bunny will be looked at with disdain. I am a bit nervous about meeting said baby - they might ask me to hold her or something.

#29 Katy, re: #londonliesfortourists ........... yes some of them are quite funny but then you get the dipsticks who write "always thank your bus driver. It doesn't make you look like a northern monkey". No wonder it's such a friendly place to live!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

The Racing Rats by Editors

#45 Paul - lovely poem and beautifully read, if I may say so.



Please can I have 1/2 dozen, shucked, brought to my desk with a drop of Dom Perignon for lunch? Ta muchly..

On the Rattus Norvegicus album - (can one still say that?) by the Stranglers

There is 'DOWN IN THE SEWER' (midweek mosh track?) or, a bonus track, which maybe doesn't quite suit the blog topic, but suits me just fine:



"Choosie Susie".

Paul: still awaiting my oysters and champers, Old Bean.

hello



rat in mi kitchen-ub40



rat trap-boomtown rats



ben-micheal jacson(its about a rat)0r



ben- marti webb



streets of london-ralph mctell

#43 AlexG - a Scalextric usually goes down well. It was the first thing my husband bought for our very new daughter the day after her entry into this world.



#21 Harry. Thanks for the link re. Jon Ronson's Psychopath Test.

Will Self's review is a turgid read - luckily for me, I followed the link on the right to Jon Ronson's own extract dated 21 May. Utterly fascinating.





Rat update: Despite the shudders and all the disruption, am delighted the old place is being completely renovated.



:^)

Katy, shudder indeed. I hope there's no chance that your underfloor area is harbouring a similar colony? Sorry, but as LuciesMum said, they are prolific little breeders :s xx



PoS - our resident poet and we didn't know it. What a fabby poem - loved it, thank you for sharing :)



~ xx

Alex~G - no suggestions re: baby pressies from me - although a piggy bank with some dosh in to allow the little poppet to start saving a deposit for her first hoose may be a consideration?



~ xx

#50 Katy because my arrival into the world was somewhat tardy (2 weeks late), the grandmothers decided that I was going to be a boy(?), so my Dad and Grandad went out and bought a train set for me! I did enjoy playing with it, but I think my Dad enjoyed it more! : )

#50 Katy, turgid? In what way? Pompous or bloated? Or both?



Personally, I think Self's writing can be challenging but always worth the effort.

i see the voice of zippy and george from rainbow has died(roy skelton)



im off 2 work now bye x

1. RAT IN MI KITCHEN - UB40

2. RAT TRAP - Boomtown Rats

3. POISON - Alice Cooper

4. TRAPPED - Colonel Abrahams

5. BIG SCARY ANIMAL - Belinda Carlisle

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

They say you're never more than 6 feet away from one of our furry friends, so...



HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE - The Beatles

Hi Simon,

Any room for Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and MonserRAT Caballë ???

Thanks

Anybody still remember the graphic details in James Herbert's THE RATS?



Ooh, and all the other things I learnt from reading those books (The Fog, Lair, etc) as a young lad.

Harry & Katy, I struggled with Will Self's review so I read the excerpt from Jon Ronson's book - I'm always on the look out for something different to read so will probably give this a go.



JbG - Ooooh no, I've never ready any of James Herbert's books. Toooooo scary for me.



~ xx

#50 & #53 Dads, eh? Bless 'em all. Mine bought me a cement mixer lorry. If I see one driving down the street, I still point and shout " 'ment mixer"!



I have been to my favourite baby shop that sells organic baby stuff and where the staff are great. I stand there, look helpless and they help me. I have left with an all in one pyjama thingy with kitties on it and a "blanket buddy". A sort of rabbit with a blanket attached. Or is it a blanket with a rabbit attached. Who knows? Apparently it is very popular with babies this season. And how they know THAT, is anyone's guess.



I have had a very nice email from Peta Womble following my email to R2. Apparently, the problems were BBC wide but are all fixed now. Do email if there are further issues. (Thanks Peta!!)



A-G

I feel as if I,ve been a bit of a traitor, so i will re-iterate my earlier tweets 'pon here...



'Rats Live On No Evil Star' by Ookla The Mok



'Dead Cats, Dead Rats' by The Doors



'Eat That Rat' by The Ramones



'Pressed Rat And Warthog' by Cream



'Down In The Sewer' by The Stranglers



'Furry Happy Monsters' by R.E.M.and the Muppet Rockers



Hows about this, at the very least as a 'bed'....



'Tales Of The Riverbank' by Steve Hackett



'Rat Salad' by Black Sabbath. (Another bed?)

#45

Paul - the creative rhyming with oyster is very clever!



And I meant to congratulate Simon earlier - so now I shall - for his excellent use of the phrase 'ere long'.



:^)

Hello, just dipping my toe in from "next door"!



I read this blog most days for so far haven't plucked up courage to post a song suggestion! I tried earlier but the blog was broken. Anyway, how about:



RAT RAPPING by ROLAND RAT



Rx

Hiya Rosie :)



Right early start for me today.



Will tune in at 5.05, hope we get to hear some of the more random suggestions.



Cheerio.



MTF.xx

#60 I have only read 1 James Herbert book. "The Secret of Crinkly Bottom" or somesuch. The only reason I read it was because James Herbert stayed in a hotel we used to frequent in Lynmouth (MTF land) and the book is set in a thinly disguised Lynmouth. I was terrified.



Just heard that I didn't get the contract I had the interview for yesterday. C'est la vie.

Spooky Alex :O



MTF.xx

#67.Are you an old folk?

Seriously, sorry to hear about your disapointment, Alex.



I never really got into James Herbert, apart from one he wrote, I be;ieve' called 'The Cottage' or somesuch. Funny how some things appeal and others just leave you cold, despite similarities between them.

Glad the blog's fixed!



Surely, for songs about rat-catchers, it has to be - Boomtown Rats - Rat Catcher!



Maybe a stretch, but also how about The Cure - Love Cats? Cats, catch rats, rat-catcher? No? Worth a shot.



Cheers,



CJ.

Sorry to hear about the contract :(



Gotta fly...



MTF.xx

Hello All



Apologies for my tardiness - quite apart from the blog problems my hard drive crashed this morning. Literally - it just suddenly and randomly tipped over on it's side onto the floor. Good thing my feet were out of the way... No explanation as to why this happened - a mischievous ghost is my theory... Anyways, one of our lovely IT guys fixed me up with a new hard drive, and apart from having to reset all my favourites no real harm done.



So, for the record my earlier tweeted suggestions were:



RAT IN THE KITCHEN by UB 40 (along with half the nation, I think)



SUSPICIOUS MINDS by Elvis Presley (for the first line "caught in a trap")



I'M THE PIED PIPER by Del Shannon



CAUGHT IN A TRAP by ELO



THE TENDER TRAP by Frank Sinatra



A friend of mine used to breed and show rats for a hobby. Never quite saw the attraction myself.



Deebee ~X~

Alex, sorry about the contract, specially after the torture you were put through.



X

#67 Alex, are you confusing James Herbert with Noel Edmunds? ;-)



Sorry to hear about the contract; they don't deserve you anyway!!

#64 Katy, the poet in question is Guy Whetmore Carryl, and i wenty searching for that particular poem as I had only a vague recollection of it, and the rat featured less prominently in actuality than it did in my memory. I like this poets verse, and can remember being surprised when I discovered that he was dead, thinking him to be quite modern in his outlook. He in fact passed away in 1904, aged only 31. This was the first poem of his tyhat I discovered, whilst sitting on the loo in my Uncle Georges house. Too much information?



THE EMBARRASSING EPISODE OF LITTLE MISS MUFFET



by: Guy Wetmore Carryl (1873-1904)



LITTLE Miss Muffet discovered a tuffet,

(Which never occurred to the rest of us)

And, as 'twas a June day, and just about noonday,

She wanted to eat--like the rest of us:

Her diet was whey, and I hasten to say

It is wholesome and people grow fat on it.

The spot being lonely, the lady not only

Discovered the tuffet, but sat on it.



A rivulet gabbled beside her and babbled,

As rivulets always are thought to do,

And dragon flies sported around and cavorted,

As poets say dragon flies ought to do;

When, glancing aside for a moment, she spied

A horrible sight that brought fear to her,

A hideous spider was sitting beside her,

And most unavoidably near to her!



Albeit unsightly, this creature politely Said:

"Madam, I earnestly vow to you,

I'm penitent that I did not bring my hat.

I should otherwise certainly bow to you."

Thought anxious to please, he was so ill at ease

That he lost all his sense of propriety,

And grew so inept that he clumsily stept

In her plate--which is barred in Society.



This curious error completed her terror;

She shuddered, and growing much paler, not

Only left tuffet, but dealt him a buffet

Which doubled him up in a sailor knot.

It should be explained that at this he was pained:

He cried: "I have vexed you, no doubt of it!

Your fists's like a truncheon." "You're still in my luncheon,"

Was all that she answered. "Get out of it!"



And the Moral is this: Be it madam or miss

To whom you have something to say,

You are only absurd when you get in the curd

But you're rude when you get in the whey.

#75 That's very good Paul - I must G**gle him to see what else he wrote!

#75 Paul, I'm surprised that these poems are quite that old. My Mom, who had a fondness for poetry, used to read them aloud to us as kids. Re-reading these now they do sound as if they could have come from the pen of someone like Roger McGough. Thanks for reminding me.

#75 and now I have the annoying voice of Pam Ayres reading that one out - 'Out, out, damn spot I say' -

I will try and imagine it being read by Sir Ian McKellan instead...ahh yes, that's much better.

Super pomes, Paul! I will look out more of them.



All - thank you. Your comments are much appreciated. What a lovely warm bunch of people you are. To be honest, I could do with some time off (couldn't we all!) so I am not too bothered......so long as something else comes along reasonably quickly!

#77,78. I only had a vague recollection, too, and google came to the rescue. I actually quite like the sound of Pam Ayres reading them aloud. Can't quite visualise John Cooper Clarke...

#21 Interesting review, sounds like it might be my sort of book, I used to enjoy Jon Ronson's Channel 4 series, when he looked at conspiracies and other such things.



#28 Thanks Toots :) I managed to get a few Zzzzzz in between Mr Hammer Head next door, deciding that today was a good day to thrash the living daylights out of his walls!!



#67 Sorry to hear about the contract Alex G :(





Did anyone see the documentary 'Poor Kids' on BBC 1 last night? It was heartbreaking and humbling, I think all politicians should be forced to watch it.



This is a funny article, on gaffes that Prince Philip has made over the years https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ninety-gaffes-in-ninety-years-2290148.html He really just seems to say whatever he's thinking! :O

#81 I saw about 20 minutes of "Poor Kids", Zoe. I was incredibly moved by it and astonished by the erudition of the children - particularly 11 year old Sam. It is heartbreaking that there are children in this country who have those lives. I count my blessings.

#82 It certainly made me put some of my recent problems into perspective. I count my blessings that my twins don't live in that kind of poverty (well for now at any rate!)



The children were all so aware of their situations, I found it very upsetting in parts, especially seeing the kind of conditions that Paige and her family and friends were living in, with the damp.

Great poems! And I agree with Harry that they do sound quite McGoughian (not sure that's a word!)



Hi MTF!



Rx

#83 I found those damp conditions appalling, Zoe. I assume it was council property? Total neglect. As Paige and her friends said, living in those conditions will make them ill. However, Mr P (who was in cynical frame last night) did point out that every house had a large flat screen telly and most of the houses shown had a satellite dish.



One of the saddest pieces for me was the little girl who said "I can't play. I can't do colouring. There is only the TV". Again, a satellite dish was in evidence. I wanted to shout at the parents and say "get rid of the satellite subscription and get your little girl some crayons and a pad of paper".



As you say, the children were all so aware of their situations - nay, even stoical. Very sad.

Thanks for the poems. I shall read properly when I get home.



On that note, it has been a very frustrating day at work so am about to hit the road (Jack). May even get the roof down to blow some cobwebs and my sore head away.



Shall return at 5.05 prompt ;-)



X

Peta Womble, i_amrosieposie is a regular Chris Evans blogger. She doesn't need to be pre-modded! Please let her in!



Hiya Rosie - don't give up!



Is everyone else still having to press refresh whilst the comment is loading in order for it to appear?

#87 yes, Alex. Something else to add to my list of frustrations today. However, I shall take note of Zoe's posts about the "poor kids" and stop moaning!



X

#87 "Is everyone else still having to press refresh whilst the comment is loading in order for it to appear? " Don't know but I'll try

#85 Yes, there were some questionable aspects of the children's living conditions. This blog by the film maker sheds a bit of light on a couple of them https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2011/06/poor-kids.shtml



Yesterday I said I was going to check out the new band 'We Are Augustines' on the recommendation of the wonderful 'The Civil Wars' on Twitter. Apparently their album 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships' isn't out here until August, but I listened to a couple of tracks on their website, and they sound like a band I would like to hear more from https://www.weareaugustines.com/

#87 I am still having to refresh the page for my comments to appear :(

Alex - sorry to hear about the contract. But it's their loss, and at least you'll get a bit of a break. And time for blogging!



I didn't see that programme last night, but I have seen similar things in the past. It really does make you count your blessings, seeing how some other people are forced to live out their lives. On a similar subject, Mr B and Son have gone to Romania today. The last time we were there was 20 years ago, just after the revolution. Since then, Romania has become part of the EU and is supposedly more affulent. But we know for a fact that the country still has it's problems, both economical and political. I will be very interested to hear from Mr B his perception of how much (or how little!) it has changed.



Rosie, wecome to this side of the fence! Hope you'll soon be able to post without having to be modded.



~X~

#87 Alex, yes, here too.

Thus far, I have had no problems at all posting. I guess it must be to do with our own particular operating systems, etc.

See, I said that as if I have some sort of clue what that means, when in fact, I don't.

I will email Peta again and report the issue.



Deebee, hope Mr B and the GB have a good time together. It's the 21st birthday present, isn't it? Hope you and the GD get to spend some quality time together whilst they are away. Btw, just texted you re next week.



Heading off shortly to visit new baby - yikes. Just started to lash down with rain so likely to get soaked on route.



Have good evenings everyone! As usual, thanks for your company today.



A-G

X

#84 Roseposie, if "McGoughian" wasn't a word before, it is now! And I sincerely hope that the OED records you as the first person to use it. And welcome to this side of the fence.

All, I have emailed Peta Womble and will let you know the response. I mentioned the posting comments issue (and made the point that it does not affect everyone but does seem the majority) and the 3 minute delay thingy.



Baby awaits - must dash.



A-G

Just by way of info... I'm Windows 7, accessing the internet via Mozilla Firefox. When I post, there bis a delay of perhaps 2 seconds

Thanks Alex Girl for vouching for me!



Let's see if it's third time lucky...



Rx

Time to go home ............. best of luck with the menshes, everyone. And have a great evening.