We make no apology for our recent radio silence: a combination of Eurovision season and stuff to think about has absorbed most of our time. Here are some links to be getting on with.

Television's most fabulous classic cartoon chicks, from After Elton. Possibly the only list where Cheetara from the Thundercats abuts Angelica Pickles, where Rogue and Daria hang out, where Natasha Fatale (from Rocky and Bullwinkle) is remembered, alongside Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls. Once again, the day is saved!

From the department of snark: Objectivist C, the computer language inspired by Ayn Rand. It takes nothing for granted.

        [self createTheUniverse];
        [self createStandardOutputDevice];
        [self print:hello];

When fifteen months is a whole career. Radio Info looks at the career trajectory of pure pop acts, and wonders why none of them had the longevity of Bananarama.

Blue Peter is who I am - a superfan writes. OK, so we didn't enjoy the jubilee party contest lately, that should have been a standalone programme, and we're rarely convinced by the pop star guests. But then we're not exactly the target audience. And every month or so, there's a programme that's absolutely brilliant from beginning to end. We're proud to have our blue badge, and we hope to be watching when we earned it a third of the way through the programme's run, many years hence.

"If you continue on this fucking line we'll just fucking wrap up and go, all right?" A UKIP media handler, talking to an Indotab journalist about the €200,000 UKIP has spent on anti-treaty propaganda. Ireland votes in a referendum on the stability compact tomorrow, and has been pestered by these foreign pests.

Mitt Romney as the school bully. "when millions of people decide that they will vote for an empty can of expensive spray tan if it happens to be wearing a red rosette, it's not because they're all stupid. It's about fear and frustration, neither of which is a respecter of intellect."

The M6 was closed last weekend after a boat stopped in the fast lane. Pics or it didn't happen, there.

Comments? | Permanent link

Jason O'Mahony is, by his own admission, an Irish political anorak; his background is in the centreist Progressive Democrat party (RIP). He recently wrote 10 things about British politics from this outsider's perspective. Here's our take on his work.

1. The Lib Dems need to rebrand as "the handbrake party" that keeps the Mr Hyde side of the Tory party at bay. In Tory/Lib Dem marginals, Labour voters need to be made understand that, whilst UKIP leaning voters need to be irritated into wasting their votes.

We're not sufficiently clued-up on the Conservative party internal politics to determine where the pivot points are. We don't know if there are a lot of small-l liberals like Ken Clarke, or a lot of Euro-obsessives like Daniel Hannan, or a lot of nutjobs like Nadine Dorries, or a lot of hard-working pragmatists like Justine Greening. Our gut feeling is that the fruitcake wing accounts for 5% of the members, 15% of the elected members, and 25% of the media coverage.

The Lib Dems are currently running along the lines of "look how we're working with the sensible Tories to implement sensible policies". What they're not doing is talking up the things they've got out of government, particularly the changes required by a distinctively Liberal voice at the top table. If the message is to be heard in the C-LD marginals in 2015, they need to start putting that sort of message out soon: a seat in The Wedge is a seat the Tories don't directly control, and could yet be used to support a Lib-Lab administration.

(More: UKIP, voting reform, Labour, gay marriage, the union, referendum votes, and the monarchy.)

Comments? | Permanent link

It's not just Eurovision, though we'll be seeing the show twice (once live, once to comment on Graham Norton's hosting), and hearing it twice more (through Ken Bruce and the RTE duo). Lip Service came to an end, with Lexy making her choice, and most of the plot points being wrapped up in a way that permits but does not mandate a third series. We wouldn't be tremendously sad if it ends here, the drama has never quite risen above the typical UK will-this-do level.

On this week's Blue Peter

Saturday Olympic Tour from Caerphilly / James from School Report on flame route and area profile / Crowd chat and live flame shot / Steve Redgrave interview and Gold Badge / Dai Greene - hurdles / Barney explores science tent / Horrible Histories - marathon / Redgrave test strength, rings bell / Dan Walker hosts Athletics Challenge, with Brendan Cole, Laura Wright, Adele Silva, Romeo Dunn, Helen and Barney: this week, hurdles / Plug for next week But where is next week's show? We're never going to love this tour.

Thursday - Jubilee party What are viewers doing / Brett Domino song about the queen / Travelling throne vox pops / Cake toppers make / Emblem story, winner Katherine joins again / Film: boat pageant: unpacking picture, Salford sea cadets, TS Royalist / Sara Cox ints Gary Barlow about concert Another traditional show.

On this week's Top of the Pops

• (NEW) Suzi Quatro - Roxy Roller - Blue jeans and zip-up top for this weakly-sung glam rock. "Exciting" says Kid Pension. Punk cannot come soon enough.
• (15) Heatwave - Too Hot To Handle (video) In the meantime, here's some disco from an over-exposed piece of film, flickering all over the place.
• (NEW) Linda Lewis - The Moon And I - Er, yes, as in from The Mikado, making this the first piece of Gilbert and Sullivan we've yet seen. Shot through a very dodgy coloured filter framing the singer in an oval. Why was this on?
• (21) Bay City Rollers - It's A Game (rpt) And why hasn't this been cut out?
• (NEW) Carole Bayer Sager - You're Moving Out Today - Introduced by Kid Pension on the trolly of a camera. Carole was writing music for the new James Pond movie, and sung like Janice from Friends: gobby and twangy. We don't think we've ever heard this before: it'll go top ten.
• (3) Joe Tex - Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman) (video) (rpt) Cutting this and the next two songs to have two gobby women back-to-back was too obvious.
• (23) The Trammps - Disco Inferno (danced to by Legs & Co) Featuring the Co in gold bikinis and strategically-placed cymbals. And all made unwatchable by overlying the image with some orange lights.
• (NEW) Tony Etoria - I Can Prove It
• (27) Joy Sarney - Naughty Naughty Naughty Aw, c'mon! The star of the show!
• (NEW) The Jacksons - Show You The Way To Go - Goodness, the singer with this lot will never amount to anything. Looking like a rejected Danish Eurosong, in Sgt Pepper-esque jackets and white tops.
• (4) Van McCoy - The Shuffle (danced to by Legs & Co) They really don't like the Sport on 4 theme.
• (41) The Jam - In The City - Punk has arrived, if one counts a bloke in a black suit as punk. Good punk cannot come soone enough.
• (1) Rod Stewart - The First Cut Is The Deepest (rpt)
• (20) Boz Scaggs - Lido Shuffle (and credits)

Next week's highlights

• Jubilee Night (BBC Parliament, from 6.15pm Sat) Beginning with Thursday's Coronation special, we've got the Silver Jubilee address (7.50), Golden Jubilee (8.30), an interlude for Booktalk, then 2012 addresses from Lambeth Palace (9.30) and Westminster (9.40), followed by Victoria's jubilee (10.10).
• Highlights of the actual jubilee: The Thames Boat Parade (BBC1, 1.30 Sun); The Concert (BBC1, 7.30 Mon); Service of Thanksgiving (BBC1 and ITV, about 10am) followed by the Carriage Parade (about 2pm).
• Eric Cantona and the Football Rebels (ESPN, 8pm Thu) Socially-aware soccer players.

In a co-ordinated move, a number of Western governments expelled Syrian diplomats from their countries. This was in revenge for an apparent massacre last week. It subsequently emerged that the deaths had been caused by knives, and not by shelling.

Britain's supreme court determined that Julian Assange could be extradited to Sweden. He is wanted for questioning over claims of sex crimes. He argues that this is a trumped-up charge at the behest of the FARCE, a regime he embarrassed by spilling its secrets in 2010. His defence in law was that the Swedish prosecutor requesting his extradition wasn't a judicial person under the meaning of the law; he has been granted permission to re-hear the arguments in the next fortnight.

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was kicked into jail for 50 years by the International Criminal Court. He had been convicted of funding the civil war in Sierra Leone.

The former editor of the News of the Screws was charged with perjury. Andy Coulson had told Tommy Sheridan's trial that he was unaware of phone-hacking during his time at the paper; this evidence helped to secure a perjury conviction against the former MSP.

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, after being convicted of ordering protesters to be shot.

In sport, Vishy Anand retained the world chess championship, defeating Boris Gelfand on pawns from the penalty mark.

Westminster (30MAR): C 305, Lab 250, LD 57, DUP 8, SNP 6, SF 5, SDLP 3, PC 3, Ind Lab 3, APNI 1, Ind UU 1, G 1, RESPECT 1, Spkrs 4. C + LD majority 80 (effectively 85).

Permanent link

• We did not write elsewhere this week.

Permanent link

The extreme heat of last weekend was eased by the arrival of cloud on Monday night, but the humid air remained in place until Thursday, when a northern airflow began to bear. The transition was marked by exceptionally sharp showers, and the new cooler airflow had long spells of light rainfall embedded: a particularly heavy band passed through in the early hours of Sunday. Unsettled conditions will persist through the new week - expect widespread drizzle on Tuesday, showers thereafter, and longer spells of rain on Thursday, so do wrap up.

28 Mo sun                 9/25
29 Tu cloud to sun       11/22
30 We sun, showers pm    11/23, 6.0
31 Th drizzle            11/16, 1.5
01 Fr cloud              13/18
02 Sa drizzle            12/14, 2.5
03 Su drizzle             8/10,30.0

Rainfall in May: 48mm; monthly average: 64mm

Rainfall in June: 32.5mm; monthly average: 50mm

Degree heating days: 746
2010-11: 1054/1056
2009-10: 1097/1098
2008-09: 924/927
2007-08: 810/810
2006-07: 497/499
2005-06: 684/684
2004-05: 556/556
2003-04: 754/754

Degree cooling days: 39
2011: 27/190
2010: 23/135
2009: 14/79
2008: 22/114
2007: 16/91
2006: 18/360
2005: 10/238
2004: 9/198
2003: 28/328

Permanent link