Weather: Frosty for most of the day, but sunny. +5.

Travel: Crap both ways. Out is held badly by signals all the way from Oxley, behind the London train, which goes first. For no logical reason, and even though we were sat in the station at 651, the 652 stopper goes before us. Cue nasty letters.
And back... there's no logic in the trains heading north: 1710 (+7) stopper Wolverhampton, 1718 (+2) Edinburgh, 1704 (+21) Glasgow, 1703 (+25) from London. The London train arrived as the stopper left. Eventually get the 1804 (+2) from Walsall.

Police reveal that the bomber of BBC TV Centre may have been involved in a road rage incident shortly before the explosion. The suspect is thought to have cut up another motorist in Scrubs Lane, west London.

Rescue workers recover bodies from the river Douro in northern Portugal, after last night's bridge collapse that plunged a bus and two cars 50m into the swollen waters and killed around 70 people. Portuguese infrastructure minister Jorge Coelho has resigned over the tragedy, after local mayor Paulo Teixeira said he had warned the government about structural faults in the 116-year-old bridge.

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is punched by Zimbabwean security guards and left unconscious after conducting a citizen's arrest on illegal ex-president robert mugabe in Brussels today. Tatchell demanded mugabe's arrest for breaking the 1984 UN convention on torture. Shadow foreign secretary Francis Maude called for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Commonwealth after a 68-year-old was murdered on her farm at the weekend.

Things They Didn't Know On The Weakest Link
They're always tough if you don't know the answers.

• The difference between the earwig and the locust.
• The Mary Whitehouse Experience.
• Toronto is in Ontario.
• Pret a manger doesn't mean ready to wear.

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE

Balliol Oxford takes on Hull. Balliol's tactic - knowing all the answers - has paid off in the opening rounds. Hull has scraped through by margins of 20 and 10. The head gives a line of Balliol by 50.
It's a one-man show, as Bayley gets three of the first four starters; the other went to Hull. Then it all falls apart; Bayley loses his touch, Hull get some lucky decisions, and we're tied at 70, then Hull has a lead of 20, then of 40. The shock is on.
Hull keeps a 20 point cushion through the third quarter, thanks to Bayley consufing Newark NJ with Gotham. Getting starters right but bonuses wrong helps to run down the clock, and prevents the opponents from scoring. Though Balliol gets one starter, it's just too late. The all-Oxford final is off, and Hull makes the semis.
Where it went wrong? Eight starters for Balliol, six by Bayley. Hull got 13 starters.

Box scores
Person (starter) total

BALLIOL OXFORD (18 bonuses)
Lipetz     5 (25) Bayley 60 (93)
Strathdene 0 (18) Clark   5 (24)

HULL (19 bonuses)
Shepperson-10 ( 9) Clamp    50 (74)
Crawford   50 (77) Purbrick 25 (50)

BO 65 25 35 35
HU 30 80 45 55

The jury system is a hallmark of our democracy and an important safeguard of freedom. Civil juries stand as indispensable watchdogs over corporate negligence and corruption. The consensus among most judges, lawyers and jurors is that the system works extremely well. The erosion of this system, which is deeply rooted in our form of government, is especially tragic given the growing dominance of corporate America in our lives. �

JOANNE DOROSHOW, Executive Director, Center for Justice and Democracy
From a letter to the New York Times

Weather: Sunny for most of the day. Frosty to start, but it keeps warm. +9, I think.

Travel: Fine both ways, with the 1722 just +5 at Birmingham, +4 at Wolverhampton.

Tony Blair makes another speech about the environment. It may sound good, but there's little substance behind the rhetoric. Since coming to power, Blair has emasculated Deputy King John Prescott's radical policies for persuading people to switch from their cars to public transport. Though ministers promised that road-building would be "the last resort", he has now forced through a massive construction programme.
He's reneged on a commitment to re-examine the dangerous and outdated practice of nuclear reprocessing and has consistently opposed environment ministers' attempts to clean up Sellafield. He held up the right-to-roam plans for months, but initiated the illiberal and irrelevant drive to ban hunting. And he's been the Government's chief cheerleader for GM foods.
Worst of all, his Government has betrayed the country and its own policies over fuel prices. Long before last autumn's fuel protests, ministers abandoned the automatic increases in the tax on fuel introduced by the Conservatives. Not surprisingly, he and his ministers made no attempt to make the environmental case for high fuel prices when the protests took place.
It was around that time that another speech was supposed to signal a much-hyped second green conversion. "It is time to reawaken the environmental challenge as part of the core of British and environmental politics," he began. But the speech produced no Government action, and little seemed to change. And it did not stop cuts in petrol prices to appease the protesters.

It's the destination for a prize in a tv mag. And, yes, the answer is subtly given away at the end.
To the east lies Port Hope, the oldest preserved area. Here you can browse through antique shops amidst beautifully restored Victorian homes.
A trip to the west will take you to the quaint village of St Jacobs, where you can visit the farmers' market and maybe even buy a piece of history at the antique fair.
(Still stumped? I was.)
This is also a shopper's paradise, boasting both the massive Eaton Centre and the Hudson Bay Trading Company. [And plenty more than that.] If you're worn out by a hard day's shop, why not catch a show and let Canada's top performers entertain you. [Only if they're far from home.]
You could take a day trip to the magnificent Niagra Falls. Or maybe you'll opt for a bird's-eye view, peering down on this natural wonder [ha! You'll be lucky!] from the 2000ft high CN Tower, only two blocks away from your hotel, where you can enjoy views over Toronto and Lake Ontario.

Not so much the memories as the sheer nostalgia value. Not much detail on most of these, links where I know them.

1) Sweets. Sherbet saucers. Sherbet dips. Fizzzzz.

2) Swap Shop. The Noel Edmonds Saturday vehicle that didn't outstay its welcome. tv.cream.org

3) The Beano being printed on newsprint. It's been all downhill since it went glossy in the late 80s. www.beano.co.uk

4) Laser 558. For eighteen months during 84-85, this was the most happening sound around, and challenged the venerable Radio 1 for audience supremacy. The idea? Play great hit music all day, every day. That it was from a ship, and of dubious legality, only heightened the sense of community. Do a Google.

5) Adrian Mole, the original television series.

6) The VIC 20. An early computer.

7) Holiday camp holidays.

More recently...

8) Tickets to the Manor Ball from my second year at uni. A new circle of friends, a date (she had a ball dress, I had a ball, the rest is politeness,) and some kick-ass joie de vivre.

9) Big band music. When you've been travelling for 20 hours, you need sleep. And the most relaxing thing on the plane's system is big bands. Loud enough to quiet the din of the plane, but not so loud as to keep one awake. It works.

10) Coffee through a one-cup filter.

Weather: Cloudy most of the day, the odd shower. 11.

Travel: Fine out. Back... disaster. 1722 is late, awaiting a driver. Shoot for the 1729, make it. 1804 will follow the delayed 1742 (my stopper) which will follow the very delayed 1727. Only the 1727 is full to the gunwhales, the 1742 pulls behind it. The 1804 is already in 2, and leaves *before* the 1742. Directly contradicting the station announcements. Cue very, very nasty letters to Cockup Trains.

There have always been two Gordon Browns, and the Chancellor's dual nature is once again on display in today's Budget speech.
The first Brown is the one who seeks the reputation as the ultra-prudent Chancellor who will go down in history as the man who broke the boom and bust cycle that has plagued us for as long as we can remember, and who finally set the country on a prolonged period of sustainable growth. This is the Brown who boasts of paying back more debt than any government in recent history, and of the soundness of our finances overall. This is the Brown who neglected to mention that the only reason for the debt repayment is a one-off payment for telecoms licenses. A payment that has crashed the telecoms sector under a crippling debt burden.
The second Mr Brown is the ambitious Labour politician who never removed his hat from the leadership ring and who seeks the favour of all sections of his party, including Left-wingers who believe in higher spending across the board, and an enhanced public image. This is the Brown who targeted the bulk of his generosity at young mothers, low earners and families on modest incomes, and who took the unashamedly populist decision to leave the duty on beer, spirits and wine untouched. This is the Brown who is only giving back a fraction of that which he has taken away, leaving your correspondent worse off than under the Last Tory Government.

Emily:
I haven't really figured out how to do all the stuff on it.
You can switch it on? You can call it? You can answer it? You can switch off the ruddy annoying beep every time you press a key? You can change the ringing tone so it's not the William Tell Overture?

Congratulations, you just passed Mobile Phone 202.

the weekend after that my cousin's getting married. The wedding's in Louisville, Kentucky. It ought to be quite the fiasco...ah, family.
Wedding... fiasco... are not these synonyms?

Enrique Lopez:
Oh, and don't block your phone!! Everyone I know, when the get a new phone blockz it or something!!!!
There are many things about mobile phones that I don't understand. Like why the calls are so blisteringly expensive. Or why they don't work when you most want them to. Or what is the attraction of typing an alphabetic message on a numeric keypad. Or even what this blocking of one's phone malarkey is.

Now, give me a portable email system, or a simple phone, and I'm away. The technological hybrids that are currently in vogue just serve to confuse.

Weather: Cloudy, with a violent storm at lunch. +14 and very humid.

Travel: Fine both ways, making up (a bit) for yesterday's fiasco.

Angela Bigos:
How about everyone else- do you have more online or offline friends?
Right now, I'd say more online. Primarily because I'm moving out of this area in a few weeks, and most of my school friends moved away some years ago.

Besides, there can't be another [insert name of any listie. yes, including you] out there, surely. And that just makes the existing model more precious.

Surprised no one else has noticed that WG Walden, the Snuffy of MSCL soundtrack fame, has released a compilation album. What's the number for CD on import? Actually, can anyone comment on the online service of hmv.ca?

And then the argument about a cake on Roswell, produced by Jason Katims (another MSCL alumnus).

Thanks to everyone in the US for not spoiling what's been happening on Buffy lately. Flames have been sent to a list where there aren't people prepared to shove bats up people's nightdresses. Big, towering flames. Fifty feet high, and hotter than Rio beach.

While fire alerts at the BBC aren't good news generally, they do give me a chance to see the BBC WORLD top of the hour stuff. Usually, we get the domestic service, BBC NEWS 24, which is a pale imitation. Though seeing the 4pm news at 9pm, with an on-screen logo stack saying...

BBC WORLD
       LIVE
Recorded

does tend to make things more than a little confusing.

Weather: Cloudy, with some hefty showers. 11.

Travel: Fine out, looks slightly icky back. The 1710 stopper is running 11 late, with the 1703 from London, 1704 to Glasgow and 1718 to Edinburgh stacked behind it. At one point, *all three* are due to arrive at 1724. The 1722 homer comes into the station four minutes ahead of time, just ahead of the stopper. Sense reigns, as we get out before the stopper, and have to dwell three minutes at Wolverhampton. This never happens. Except it does.

Fun and games at work. I'm not bothered that it's just me in the office for a good half of the day - people get ill, and it wasn't *that* busy. No, problem is in the next door department. One of their key members left today, and interviews for his replacement took place yesterday. Six candidates, three internal. The preferred candidate is one of the internals, and has been doing a not too dissimilar job elsewhere in the building. That's the facts; there are rumours that she's turned the post down, as she can't work with the dept head. Given that she's working for one of the more demanding heads, this is no vote of confidence.
(Full disclosure: I've worked with this person on another project, and can vouch for her qualifications for the role. And she's probably the cutest person in the building.)

The official report into the resignation of Peter Mandelson shockingly concludes that nobody in government did anything wrong. Sir Anthony Hammond's report clears the former Northern Ireland Secretary - and junior Foreign Office Minister Keith Vaz - of any impropriety in connection with the Hinduja brothers, their passport application and the �1 million they gave to the Dome. It says Mandelson acted "honestly" and that although it is "likely" he made a call to Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien in 1998, he sincerely forgot that he had done so.
The report is the least convincing whitewash since the invention of limestone paint. It's like the ending to Murder One I, where a character came out of left field to do the murder. Why is Peter Meddlesome's career in ruins? Did he do the deed, or did Tony Blair make the biggest cockup of his career? "It's not my job," claims Hammond. He declines to speculate and convict anyone on suspicion, only that's exactly what Blair did.
Rejected Headlines: "Review Of The Circumstances Surrounding An Application For Naturalisation By Mr S P Hinduja" Lives Down To Its Title.
Hunt For Smoking Post-It Note Concentrated Down Back Of Ministerial Sofa. "I Knew I Had It On The Election Plans," Claims Peter.
Report Overuses "There Is No Evidence That..."
Mandleson Guilty Of Lapse Of Political Judgement, Claims PM.

The future of the Spice Girls hangs in the balance after Melanie Chisholm (Dykey) announced she no longer wants to work with the band. Chisholm, 27, is quoted: "I don't intend to do any more work with the Spice Girls. I've not been comfortable being in the Spice Girls for probably the last two years. It doesn't feel that natural to me anymore.
"I've grown up, and I just feel that I want to do things my own way and not compromise. We were such a huge phenomenon, and there's not really anywhere else to go with that. It was a question of sacrificing our lives and trying to maintain the success, or just being honest with ourselves. We've all been very honest and we all want to pursue solo careers."
Well, it was fun while it lasted. Dykey goes off and has a massive solo career, based on huge talent. Northern may be able to carve a decent niche for herself, while Red has the gay market to play to. Giggly may well end up presenting SMTV after Ant and Dec leave in the summer. As for Common... she'll never make it.

Surprisingly, the Spice split isn't the headlining story on LIQUID NEWS; the BBC's entertainment bulletin leads with charity fund-raiser CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER. Worthy, but Anthea Turner is involved, so it must be dull.

A tight episode of BUFFY 5, including the closest we've yet come to a two-handed episode. Soap operas like two-handers, they're cheap, and they're high drama. Unlike this week's big fight scene, which is all gone in 90 seconds.

Weather: Heavy showers and sunny bits. 12.

Into town, and showers don't prevent me from getting more miscellaneous bits for the house. Also (finally!) pick up Eva Cassidy's Songbird CD. Great article on Billboard's Chart Beat Chat about the first lady of song.

A major security alert after the police receives a warning that a bomb was on board a plane. The aircraft, from Pakistan, landed at Manchester airport at 9.10am and all passengers were evacuated. It then taxied to a safe area away from airport buildings and police waited till 6pm - scheduled arrival in New York - before investigating further. None of the airport buildings were evacuated, and passengers were being advised to arrive at the airport as normal.

THE TRIBE moves into the second phase of the season. The plot that's been running for - how long - the series so far? The last series and a half? The long-running plot finally reaches a denoument, and change is total. Alice loses her mind, Luke puts himself in the Aslan role, Lex is objectionable and KC is annoying.
DARIA 1:8 - The Fashion Police. Last in the current run, which has been going every week since April 99. I've really enjoyed the simplicity of the early episodes, after the overly-complex season 4 that immediately preceded it. Heck, there was a *running storyline*, which is so not Daria.

Football: Wycombe Wanderers score what must be the biggest upset in this year's FA Cup. An injury time goal puts the side into the last four 2-1, at the expense of Leicester. Wycombe is mid-table in the Second Division, while Leicester is pushing for European League football next season. Wycombe becomes the first Division Two side in four years to make the semi-finals; their immediate predecessors, Chesterfield, were unlucky not to beat Middlesborough in a supremely fantastic 3-3 draw.
Arsenal joins Wycombe in the last four, after dispatching Blackburn 3-0. They will meet local rivals Tottenham, who dispatched West Ham 3-2. Wycombe will meet Liverpool, 4-2 winners over cross-city rivals Tranmere.

Hints for prospective homebuyers.

1) Find out how much you can borrow, and can repay. These may not be the same amount. Start with a trip to your favourite bank or building society. They will happily sit you down and crunch the numbers. Your salary, deposit, debt repayments and inside leg measurement will be thrown into a spreadsheet, which will then come up with a lot of numbers. Six of them are lottery numbers, guaranteed to make a losing ticket. Others will relate to how much you can borrow, and what the monthly payments on this loan will be.

2) Still interested? Contact the current owner of the house, and offer what you think to be a fair price. It must be less than the loan figure in 1) above plus the deposit.

3) If the owner bites, all well and good. If not, consider revising your offer and return to step 2.

4) The bank (or whoever) will eventually send round a surveyor to value the house. If the surveyor reckons the house isn't worth as much as the bank wants to lend, he'll say so and the bank will be a lot less welcoming. No coffee when you drop in ):

5) You will have contacted a solicitor to handle all the paperwork and such involved in the transfer. This will take far too long, and cost masses more than you budgeted. Researchers into the field of imaginary numbers are currently hard at work in the vicinity of lawyers' offices, as the normal rules of number are concentrated into a singularity.

6) In theory, you eventually move. At least, that's what it says here.

7) In time, you may want to sell up. This tends not to be too difficult, as there's usually someone who sees flowers where you just see mud. Sometimes, this person is a visionary. Sometimes, this person is an imbecile. In fact, this person is usually an imbecile. But if you've left a few years between buying and selling, the march of inflation means that you will not have any difficulty selling the house for more than you bought it.

The details of international practice may vary, but the above principles seem to hold. *Especially* #5.

Weather: Cloudy, with some sunny spells and the odd shower. 13.

Into town, to swap an electricity extension cable for another one. A simple task - I know what I'm after, but there's only one person at the swapsies counter, and it's almost 20 minutes between joining the back of the queue and getting served. Another quarter hour to get the lead. Then look at washers and driers. The choice is smaller than one might expect, as most of the market seems to be Family Models (TM) Only a few are appropriate for a single person, and fewer are quality models. There's no significant variation in price. And they claim there's no price fixing...

Chart News

On the album side, Dido keeps #1 for a sixth week, heading off a strong challenge from the late, great Eva Cassidy; and the flavour of AD 2000, Coldplay. Eric Claptout, flavour of AD 1000, has the highest entry.

LW	TW	wks		pk
1	1	10	It Wasn't Me Shaggy feat Rick Rock	1
Like I asked last week, hands up who is surprised to see this here? A lot more digits waving about there, if I'm not mistaken. Still a mile ahead on airplay, still doing great stuff on the international scene, but selling well behind the #1 sales this week. But such is the appeal of Shaggy that there's genuinely no other choice for the most popular record of the moment.
2	2	7	Ms Jackson Outkast	1
Popular, but I think headed for a very fast fall. Airplay is petering out, sales aren't holding up, and it's tumbled 1-12 in three weeks in the US.
3	3	6	Whole Again Atomic Kitten	1
Ha! Look at this! Kerry Katona left AK to be a brood mare for one of Westlife, and her old group has now outperformed his new single. Ha! and Ha! again!
74	4	1	Uptown Girl Westlife	4
This year's Dodgy Comic Relief Cover is the Irish band of the moment covering a retro track from the mid 80s. Hang on, I seem to be reading from the 1999 press release there. Uptown Girl was, of course, originally recorded by Billy Joel about his then wife Chrissie Brinkley, and spent three weeks at #1 in late 1983. This is a note-for-note cover of Joel's song, adding nothing to anyone. Except Comic Relief fundraising. Previous Dodgy Comic Relief Covers were... Living Doll - Cliff & the Young Ones (#1, 1986) Rocking Around The Christmas Tree - Mel (Smith) & Kim (Wilde) (#4, 1987) Help! - Bananarama & Lananeeneenoonoo (French & Saunders) (#4, 1989) Elected - Smear Campaign (Bruce Dickson, Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton) (#9, 1992) Love Can Build A Bridge - Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry, Eric Clapton (#1, 1995) When The Going Gets Tough - Boyzone (#1, 1999) Beside the relatively obscure Judds cover for 1995, there have been some Comic Relief Originals. The Stonk - Hale & Pace / The Smile Song - Victoria Wood (#1, 1991) Stick It Out - Right Said Fred and Friends (#4, 1993) Who Do You Think You Are - Spice Girls (#1, 1997)
4	5	5	Teenage Dirtbag Wheatus	2
8	6	4	I'm Like A Bird Nelly Furtardo	6
Airplay goes through the roof.
Highlights
34	11	2	Jaded Aerosmith	11
The aging rockers prove they still have it in them, coming within spitting distance of the top ten.
N	12	1	Clint Eastwood Gorillaz	12
The cartoon band hides Damon Albarn and other collaborators. The single is inconsequential stuff.
35	18	4	He Loves U Not Dream	18
Perhaps they're underperforming. Perhaps the market for girl groups is past saturated.
N	23	1	Think About You Artful Dodger	23
N	25	1	Shit On You D12	25
N	29	1	X Xzibit	29
N	31	1	Piano Loco DJ Luck & MC Neat	31
Four records - two hard rap, one rap/garage, one garage. All were expected to do great things - Artful and Luck have built strong careers over the last year, while Eminem is involved with D12 and Xzibit. None of them are remotely as huge as the teams behind would expect.
24	39	14	Case Of The Ex Mya	1
If Outkast wants a warning of how the mighty can fall, consider Mya. She was #1 just four weeks ago. Since then, she's fallen 1-7-10-24-39, the fastest fall out since the Manic Street Preachers' "The Masses Against The Classes" in January 2000. That was a limited release single; this is a limited appeal single. Plus ca change.
46	40	2	Thank You Dido	40
N	47	0	Daylight In Your Eyes No Angels	47
N	96	0	Pure And Simple Herasey	96
Let the battle of the Popstars commence! In the red, black and gold corner is No Angel, the five-piece German group, with a song that would be perfectly in place on an S Club 7 or Steps album. In the red, white and blue corner is Herasey - they bill themselves as Hear'say, but as the old joke about inadmissable evidence at the Spanish Inquisition goes, if we listen, it's not hearsay, it's heresey! Their output is dull, anodyne and ceaselessly tedious.
N	49	0	Just Another Day Johnathan Wilkes	49
He's only attracting media attention because he's Robbie Williams' flatmate. He may have signed on his own merits, but a massive tour of tv and radio leads to a flop single.
N	54	0	This Year's Love David Gray	54
Single three from White Ladder, and proof positive that losing at the Brits doesn't help one's career. See also...
N	75	0	Rendezvous Craig David	75
Charting on airplay interest alone.
N	80	0	Tender Heart Lionel Richie	80
This is the third single from his album, none of which have cracked the Roaring Forty.

Personal Airplay Stats: 53 contemporary hit records passed my radar this week (53 last), for a total of 76 plays (94 last.)

Debuts:
"All For You" - Janet Jackson (pop)
"Airhead" - Girls At Play (pop)
"Daylight In Your Eyes" - No Angels (German Popstars winners)
"Drive" - Incubus (mr #1)
"Follow Me" - Unkle Kraker (adult top 40)
"Heard It All Before" - Sunshine Anderson (R&B)
"Invalid Litter Dept" - At The Drive-In (college rock)
"One More Day" - Diamond Rio (country #1)
"Special K" - Placebo (college rock)
"Want You Bad" - Offspring (modern rock)

Adds:
"Daylight In Your Eyes" - No Angels
"Drive" - Incubus
"Follow Me" - Unkle Kraker
"Heard It All Before" - Sunshine Anderson
"Want You Bad" - Offspring

Most Heard: 3 plays apiece for Nelly Furtardo's "I'm Like A Bird", U2's "Beautiful Day", Aerosmith's "Jaded" and the Manic Street Preachers' "So Why So Sad."
U2 has the Most Heard Record, as that was the most consistent over the past two weeks. B-Day was previously #1 for the week ending October 8, fully 22 weeks ago.