Blogwatch

Welcome...

Reluctant Nomad, the blog of an acquaintance who's just departed Nottingham for pastures new (thanks to Mike for the link)

Southern Bird, home of a suvvern lady resident in Manchester

Welcome back...

Casino Avenue, back with us after a short hiatus

Meanwhile...

He Who Cannot Be Named reproduces a pre-Illinois interview with "Suyfan Stephens" - "[Greetings From Michigan] will find a happy perch in a climate that has begun to swarm with concept records like A Grand Don’t Come For Free and Magnetic Fields’s I. Alongside them, Michigan is fighting the long-player’s battle against the tyranny of the iPod random play button, and is fighting it well".

Elsewhere...

Donna watches 'What Are Men For?' on Channel 5 and finds much to object to - "The whole thing looked rather spiteful and bitter, and if I'm supposed to think that I've got it good, well, I'm sorry but I haven't changed my mind".

Jonathan offers his thoughts on Art Brut's debut LP Bang Bang Rock 'N' Roll - "The most fun pop record I’ve heard all year".

Jane reacts to the revelation that Victoria Beckham has never read a book in her life - "Shit, poor Posh! So exhausted is she after a day at the celebrity coalface that, by the time her nanny has served up a hearty plateful of Orbit, she's good for nothing other than a quick moisturise before her eyelids clang shut. It's amazing that she finds time to exfoliate her tits, let alone read a couple of pages of Jeffrey Archer".

London Calling gets political - "I reckon the Tories are onto something this time: Ken Clarke - beer, ciggies and a slap-up dinner. Gordon Brown - 40 watt bulb, put a jumper on NOT the heating, boiled potato and ham dinner"

JonnyB goes pram shopping - "I don't know when it was that prams became so complicated. Certainly when I was a child, they were very simple affairs, just a box sort of thing on wheels. The one I travelled in didn't even have any brakes, and kept hurtling down the steep hill into the river, or that is what my mother said to the policemen when they brought me back".

Willie ponders a career in the porn industry - "Gay movies are probably the only ones where the Best Boy is more likely to be the lead actor than someone working on the set. But, despite my boyish good looks, I'm probably unlikely to be engaged for either role. Frankly, I'm a bit long in the tooth and I don't think the dental department is where the producers of this oeuvre look for length. Not that I would disappoint on either score, you understand".

And finally...

Swiss Toni goes to the fourth Ashes test at Trent Bridge dressed as a Spanish cardinal. There was a perfectly good reason for it, too.