Today's show 30/08/11

The Bank Holiday Weekend saw the roads around here packed with cars, but fortunately we managed to avoid most of them by choosing our travelling times carefully. However...

Today's issue that affects me: Why do some drivers on North Wales roads give every impression that they have never driven a car before, ever?

There is no news at all anywhere in the world on a Bank Holiday Monday - apparently - so after a well-deserved day off let's see what inconsequential stories we have today...

1) DALE FARM - The largest traveller site in England is due to be closed down this week but critics claim that the evictions will amount to ethnic cleansing : You described this on Ken's show as "fascinating", although I would beg to differ. I've just checked and Basildon is over 300 miles from where I live, so this is definitely not one of those mythical "issues that affect you" that you erroneously claim to broadcast. Next...

 

2) CHARITY STUNTS - Are charity stunts going wrong too frequently? At least twenty five people had to be rescued after they were swept out to sea at Broadstairs during a charity swim to raise cash for the RNLI : Demonstrating the kind of imbalanced view typical of the BBC, you conveniently forget that there are many charity "stunts" - as you describe them - that go according to plan and raise money for good causes. Perhaps we should all just stay at home and watch daytime TV. Or perhaps not. I've never been involved in anything like this, and I have no plans for that to change, so I'll give it a miss I think. Next...

 

3) PREGNANCY - Were you devastated when your friend told you that she was pregnant? : Yes, years ago. She was devastated too. However, in your trail on Ken's show you made it quite clear that this was not the direction you would be taking, and you also mentioned that it was "aimed at our female listeners". Hmmm... last time I checked I was still male. Next...

4) PATHÉ NEWS FOOTAGE - And we hear some of the highlights of Pathé News footage : You're a bit late. The first two episodes of the BBC TV series "The Story of British Pathé" have already been shown, and I watched them with interest. I can't help thinking that some of the impact of Pathé's work will be lost on the radio though. I'll guess that this is an attempt to boost the viewing figures for the remaining episodes. Or is there really just no news today? I bet the Daily Mail found some old tosh to write about.

 

As a TV quizmaster I was quite surprised to hear on Ken's show that you were unsure if England's highest mountain was "Scafell Peak" or "Scafell Pike". However, you can take comfort in that you are not alone at having a poor knowledge of UK geography. The map shown below was displayed on-screen during the third episode of the BBC4 TV series "Timothy Spall : Back At Sea". For some reason, whoever did the graphic thinks that Bangor, Northern Ireland, is part of the Republic of Ireland as denoted by the tri-colour flag. Just remind me again why I should believe anything the BBC tells me?

 

The Jeremy Vine Show - fascinating in its irrelevance