On the tie issue, I choose not to wear one on Fridays because it is a drop-down, unwind, get-ready-for-the-weekend sort of day. That's all. Paxman and Snow can elevate it to an issue of intellect if they want, but for me it is about chilling out. Just wanted to get that off my chest - or neck.
Second, I am told cycling is the second most popular sport in this glorious land of ours, second only to swimming. I'd have sworn fishing was up there but, hey, I'll accept producer Faye's statistics, hook, line and sinker.
More of those sports in a moment but we start with a case of dumb naivity, cynical greed or total innocence.
The drama is unfolding in Ghana, west Africa, as I write. The dramatis personae include two 16 year girls, who we think hail from north London; a team from UK Customs and Excise on an undercover operation in west Africa; and some heavies from the Ghanian authorities who say the penalty for drug smuggling is a minimum 10 year term. At the heart of it all is 6.5 kilos of cocaine: and it's our top story tonight.
Cycling at great speed is, apparantly, compelling. Right. They even do it really slowly and then..... shoot off, at great speed. Apparantly THAT is even more compelling. Indeed, compelling on an Olympic scale. Where they will be doing it in 2012 will be revealed to Simon Harris, our man in the peloton...
Swimming is different: elegant, almost an art-form, it can be enjoyed by giggling babies, thrown in at the deep-end by parents who have read the latest text books, right through to gods and goddesses who glide through the water at amazing speeds, propelled by a range of amazing strokes. Then there are the strange folk who Chrissie found. They have swum across London, via all manner of swim-places and they end up on Hampstead Heath, tonight. Worth tuning in just to fathom, really.
Easier to fathom is why 36 Sat-Navs are stolen every week in London - rapid turn-around and good retail value for the scum who lift them. A good-guys-and-gals guide to how you can avoid becoming this week's number 37.
Also, Dave Stewart on how he picked an Annie Lennox sing-alike for his show at Tower of London from hundreds of wannabes. And an invitation to you to nominate the really good people in your community who deserve a public, and very spendable, pat on the back: details at 6.
Katie and I really hope you can make it... unless you are fishing. In which case, we are so sorry.
Alastair
