Dan/iel Mudford

Arigato!!

Yeah yeah we all know Steve Rosenberg can play the piano. But why not, for a change, have Chris Mason laying down some analog synth jams, or Louise Lear dropping some of her trademark Gabba breaks?

#Radio4

It was a constant of the Student Union bar jukebox. I bought the album and it was *exhausting*

Amazing book.

I'm going to check out Top Chef pre-Toby. Never heard of it but I like Bourdain and cooking.

That is an extraordinary choice of replacement. I met TY a few times in my old life and he's everything you could imagine and more.

Thank you very much, it was the kick-off for my birthday week. Not something I've ever done but it is brilliant so far.

So it's a real pleasure to report that after 40 years of regular treats there, my 60th celebration dinner at Andrew Edmunds in Soho was as delicious and in an atmosphere the polar opposite of these types as ever.

dining room, several employees said, he would crouch under the counters in the open kitchen and jab them in the legs with...a barbecue fork.

Ben, a chef who worked at Noma in 2012, said that punishing employees for one person's mistake was routine. "He just went down the line and punched us in the chest" while yelling expletives into their faces. "Even the interns who had been upstairs picking elderflowers".

And it put me right off like *that*. Who wants to eat food cooked by an arsehole? And of course it turns out that such behaviour wasn't just for TV. People like René Redzepi deserve to end up in the bin with the slops.

Twenty years ago I got really interested in Great Food, reading Anthony Bourdain's and Jeffrey Steingarten's books led me to dream of dining at El Bulli, The French Laundry etc and the cooking of star chefs like G Ramsay et al.

But then Ramsay started making a career out of being a shouting bully.

Oh crumbs, what a massive disappointment and how terrible for the victims who just happened to get a job in the wrong place.

Doris would be happy with that.

Oh well then, good luck to you.

It seems daunting, but there's a link to very helpful advice from the pro-public service campaign British Broadcasting Challenge. And you DON'T have to answer all the questions.

Please save us the BBC from The World's Six Richest Men taking our broadcasting.

That's interesting, I've never seen that shot before. I assumed they'd handed over all promo duties to the robots by 1982.

That's precisely what Murdoch/Bezos etc want you to think. Please, it's worth the time, you don't have to answer all the questions and the article links to helpful advice on how to ensure it's funding and future.

In a just world that would be on the cover of a Bob Stanley compilation.

It was on a film, but I was behind-the-scenes!

You in another decade...

Your regular reminder of the absolute goldmine treasure trove of wireless that is Radio Echoes. Hitchhikers; On The Hour and 1000s more xx

www.radioechoes.com?page=series_...

I know, but we have to keep a little joy in our hearts. Burnt out people don't have the energy to fight for anybody else.

I'm making a note of that, thanks x

As a child I always thought/assumed that "Trieste" was a mythical undersea kingdom. It sounds like it anyway.

Yes, counterintuitive at the moment in fact!

Thank you! I'm normally a Don't Bother With It sort but this year I feel like bear-hugging and running down the beach hand-in-hand with it.

And I can imagine the joy at the @grindrod.bsky.social breakfast table when they turn to the book reviews. Wonderful.

Thank you. I worked with the girlfriend of one of them on Sexy Beast and I felt a twinge of guilt at how I felt. I'm sure they're Lovely Blokes.

Alan Bennett sitting, his trousers tucked into his socks ready for cycling.

Diane Morgan interviewed.

Diane Morgan interview: The song that changed my life Probably The Container Drivers by the Fall. I was always more into comedy than music. I found bands that took themselves really seriously embarrassing. When I discovered the Fall it was a complete revelation. The lyrics were just so funny and mundane.

Thank you to The Saturday Guardian for kicking off my birthday week celebrating three of my favourite English things: Alan Bennett, Diane Morgan and The Container Drivers by The Fall.

I bet Miami Vice had something to do with it.

Wow that's a heck of a thing to have experienced.