Dory Previn

I'm sad to hear that Dory Previn has died, but quite impressed that somebody as non-mainstream should be featured on the Radio 4 news. I do wonder if one of the editors is a fan and swung things a little? It was odd to hear clips of songs that I thought so personal and confessional (and so directed at me) on national radio.

Oh dear

Radio 4's 6.30 comedy spot doesn't get any better. A hilarious programme set in a tourist information centre, anyone?

H2G2

I'm currently enjoying the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy in its best form: radio. The original series, broadcast from 1978 to 1980, were a formative experience for me. I can still remember lying on top of my bed one evening listening to that bit about the Shoe Event Horizon (a section that is both manifestly true--you try living in Swindon--and which curiously failed to make it to any of the series' other forms). I didn't know before that how effective radio could be. And I didn't know you were allowed to be that funny.

Hitch-Hiker also meant that I later had a few shreds of status (at least among other geeky 14 year-olds) through being able to recite some of the Good Bits.

For years I owned a tape version of the first two series, but my tape player doesn't work these days, and I own too few audio tapes to be bothered buying another one. So a purchase seemed in order, and the chance to get all the later series too seemed too good to miss.

Today

New Job seems very good so far. It's only the second day, but coworkers seem pleasant and the setting is lovely. We went for a walk through the sunny parkland at lunchtime and watched a foal with improbably long legs. Aw!

I also get to experiment with some new bus routes, which should keep me amused for a while.

And so back to the flat, and the chance to hear Ed Reardon's Week, which proves that all Radio 4 comedy is not atrocious.

Aarrgghh!

I thought I had become accustomed to how crap the drama and comedy on Radio 4 can be, but Blood in the Bridal Shop plumbed new depths. Variously described as a drama and a comedy, this really was dire. I enjoy a challenge sometimes, and decided to listen to all 15 minutes of it rather than switching off at the end of Front Row, as I would normally. This felt a bit like trying to hold your breath underwater: you end up diving for the off switch with bursting lungs.

Bring on Front Row

I am a hopeless Radio 4 addict, but my loyalty is cruelly tested sometimes. The 6.30 comedy slot is extremely variable. Last week I had the misfortune to listen to the awful Not today Thank you. I'm ashamed to say that I've listened to this week's just to see how poor it was. The synopsis says:

"Brian is shocked to discover that someone has defaced his precious brand new statue - of himself!"

Words fail me. Why would any commissioning editor fall for a pitch like that? At least the word "hilarious" didn't appear. And then the Archers, where "Ed goes too far". Which means I take comfort in my blog.