1. Toronto transit geekery, including the station seeing about one passenger per train.

2. The question was asked:

   FGW train (on time) just waited behind a delayed XC at signals north of Filton Abbey Wood (a FGW station). I thought that on the FGW bit of the network, their trains were prioritised. Guessing that's at least not universal.

   Not only not universal, but not so at all. Network Rail generally operates impartially: the first train available to come down a particular bit of line gets to go down it. In this case, the Cross-Country train got stuck at Wolverhampton, waiting for the Wales train from Aberystwyth to Birmingham Airport to cross in front of it. (The Wales train had lost three minutes at Shrewsbury, for reasons not obvious.) The train then lost its path onto the main line at King's Norton, and eventually turned up a quarter-hour late at Bristol Parkway.

   Would readers prefer that a train already 15 minutes late be delayed further just for the convenience of arrivals from Cardiff? And do readers fully realise just how a slight delay on a branch line can cascade down the network and hit people in Yeovil and Salisbury?

3. When England last played Ireland, a piece remembering the Lansdown Road riots of February 1995. That's the problem with round-ball football: not enough handpasses.

4. We note that a Phil Collins single has reached Serie A. Sussudio beat Living Doll in the promotion play-off, and becomes the first release from Collins' 1985 album No Jacket Required to reach the top flight anywhere. Another single from the era, West End Girls, is doing well in the Super League this year.

5. The lame excuses of advertisers.

   It's not the obligation of artists, feminists, anti-human trafficking activists and animal rights groups to tell you where you should not be advertising. It's your job. Grow up. Quit trying to force us to do your job for you.

6. A brief cartoon of Twiglet.

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1. The unexpected closure of ERT, the Greek national broadcaster. It's a coup d'etat, argues the New Statesman and Society.

2. "No platform" simply does not work, writes top liberal Emma Revell.

   The best way to defeat views which you deplore is not to ban them, it is to challenge them publicly and defeat them by showing that your argument is stronger and more well reasoned. If you believe something is a bad idea then prove it, convince me, don't ban it and hope it goes away.

3. Want to find a taxi in the middle of That London? There's an application for that, and it seems to be working better than previous attempts.

4. Meet the hexagons!. Remember the six-sided cartoon fun from the early 1980s? Now you can cut out your own hexagons, and relive the time Grandpa Hexagon got confused with a 50p piece. (Also works for when you have a game that needs grids made of hexagons. That's Blockbusters!) mefi

5. Yes! It's the Doctor Who policy tombola! Spend literally seconds putting together the latest half-arsed excuse for a plot. The folks at Us vs Th3m (including Tom Scott of The Internet) coded this in six working lines of javascript. One of them is:

   }
   

6. Picture of the day: duck solidarity.

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On the other hand, Kerrang has always been way too corporate for our tastes. It's never ever been anything other than a minor diversion, a station that was nice to have but that proved completely incapable of breaking new talent. It always left the heavy lifting to the print magazine and Radio 1 and Xfm, leeching on their efforts. Even Paramore and You Me at Six got their breaks elsewhere. Kerrang was a station better on paper than on the wireless.

Replacements? Internet radio is the future, and we're spending far more time listening to The Zone 91.3 in Victoria BC, Ego FM in Munich, and Triple M 104.9 in Sydney.

We are unhappy with the closure of Kerrang Radio, because it means all three of the "regional" stations are now national stations with no significant local content. Soft Rock 100.7 Heart FM long abandoned its distinctive qualities to be the aural equivalent of baby food, piped in from London. Saga 105.7 had five years of serving the over-50s before giving up and concentrating on undistinctive soul classics piped down the line from somewhere else.

We're watching 105.2 like a hawk, ready to challenge on failure to provide programming for the suitably young. We'll also be pouncing on 105.7 if it drops from stereo to mono on DAB when MXR West Midlands closes in the summer.

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The book divides into three sections. Preparations for the event, a week-long process during which Katniss is whisked off to the capital, groomed to within an inch of her life by a clearly-camp fashionistus, and given tips on survival by the organisers and her mentor. Then comes the actual event: twenty-four contestants are winnowed down to thirteen in the space of a chapter, and then picked off - mostly within Katniss's field of vision, often by her action. The final section covers the denouement, and the aftermath of (SPOILER) Katniss's victory (Oh). For much of the middle part, Katniss is alone with her thoughts and observations, and dialogue is at a premium.

Collins based her work, in part, on reality television. She gives her Gamesmakers complete omniscience - not only are they able to unleash a wall of fire on command, not only can they stop a stream from flowing, but they're able to control the weather, make hot days hotter and cold nights colder in ways completely unknown to meteorology. "The sort of thing the Big Brother producers would like to do", a thought that crossed our mind more than once. Perhaps some of the stunts they pulled in the final (2010) series were inspired by these pages. We had a few chuckles at the random stunts pulled by the Gamesmakers, it's just the sort of thing bored television producers would do for lulz and sod the contestants' sensibilities. We were intrigued by the sponsorship element, a way for outsiders to provide equipment and influence the events in the studio. Certainly the players know they're on television, but quickly forget it, except when they think about it.

We appreciated Collins messing with the gender roles - Katniss is the hunter-gatherer-provider protagonist, Peeta just sits around being cared for. The work does pass the Bechdel test, of two named female characters talking about something other than a man, but only in the opening chapters.

Collins does a lot of foreshadowing. Some of this is only obvious in retrospect - the "Foxface" character is brilliantly played. A depressingly large amount is blatantly obvious telegraphing, amounting to a spoiler as soon as it's introduced: by the close of this book, the red-headed girl is still a mystery, but we know enough of Collins' style that she's not in as background.

And there are enough detail problems to make us grouse: Katniss throws table knives, uses the complex bow-and-arrow rather than the simple sling (ask Goliath). Almost all of the deaths are off-page, and too often the narrative focusses on Katniss being in a pickle rather than the abject horror of the setting. We get a distinct whiff of Rural = Poor = Good, City = Rich = Bad. This really ticks us off about Pulp's Common people song, it really ticks us off here.

Collins knew where she wanted her chapters to end - almost all of them conclude with some sort of cliffhanger, begging the reader to continue into the next chapter. At times, it feels like she's padding out the book - one chapter where Katniss is in a crevice and absolutely nothing happens could be excised. It's also clear that this is the start of a series of works: Katniss changes in the studio, her mentor Haymitch has depths we've not yet seen. Notwithstanding the flaws, it's a well-written book, sensibly paced, and while it sets up the next in the series, it works as a standalone piece.

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• Yeovil (9th in the Football Conference)*
• Crawley (12th in the Southern League Premier Division, a 6th-level league)
• Stevenage (4th in the Isthmian League Division II North, an 8th-level league)
• Franchise FC (as Milton Keynes Borough: 18th and last in the South Midlands League Premier Division, an 8th-level league)**

* - Wolves playing Yeovil is subject to the latter side not winning promotion next weekend.

** - The South Midlands League was affiliated to the Southern League, but promotion and relegation up and down was rare and by agreement. This situation persisted until the SML merged with the Spartan League in 1997, forming the Spartan South Midlands League at level 8 (now 9).

The BBC's random wheel of past-it popstars has this year alighted on Bonnie Tyler. Her last substantial hits were in 1985. The following world famous pop stars were all born in 1986 or later, since Bonnie Tyler was last in any way relevant.

• Aaron Carter
• Justin Bieber
• Charlotte Church
• Miranda Cosgrove
• Miley Cyrus
• Lana Del Ray
• Lady Gaga
• Ellie Goulding
• Jojo
• All of Legend in Japan
• Lindsay Lohan
• Danny Jones and Dougie Poynter of McFly
• Taylor Momsen
• All of Panic! at the Disco
• Christina Perri
• Rihanna
• Joss Stone
• Taylor Swift
• Florence Welch of the Machine

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(More: With number ones from Whigfield, Take That, Pato Banton, Baby D, and East 17. And a whole lot more in positions 2-5.)

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1. Philosophical notes

Attempting to extrapolate from local polls to the Westminster election scheduled for 7 May 2015 is a fool's errand. The interim poll with the greatest ability to alter the result and the debate is the referendum vote on Scottish independence, scheduled for 18 September 2014.

Local elections do help to set the mood music, establish a narrative of winners and losers. Journalists - print, broadcast, online - have a regrettable tendency to put out the first thing that springs to mind, relying on stereotypes. Local elections are the best opportunity to update those stereotypes. This blog has a sketchy sociological argument that voters do use them to send a message - not to the politicians, but to the journalists and broadcasters.

(More: On the UIP, other parties, a self-inflicted wound, and someone's invoked the Rhinoceros.)

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Bangladesh visited Sri Lanka, drawing and losing the Tests, and winning one of the three one-dayers. Zimbabwe were comprehensively beaten in two Tests and two 20/20 matches in the West Indies. Zimbabwe then hosted Bangladesh, each securing a strong win in a Test.

Ireland went to the UAE, and swept the board. Afghanistan hosted Scotland, and won all their games; the hosts lost a 20/20 match to the UAE. Canada and Kenya split a pair of 20/20 games; Kenya won the one-day fixtures. The Netherlands also travelled to Namibia, where they won the one-dayer but lost the "Test". The sides were joined by Kenya and a South Africa development side for a 20/20 side; the Dutch lost all their matches, and Namibia beat the Kenyans in their group and final games.

International cricket is effectively off during April, allowing for the quick money of the ITV4 Indian Premier League.

(More: The full tables)

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On this week's Blue Peter

Katherine to finish Grow / Cook / Eat It, with recipes for cheesecake and smoothies with unexpected herbs / Helen - Jet the pony package, on his retirement / Barney - Springwatch, inc Chris Packham interview / Make - Butterfly cafe / Being Me - Daniel, dwarf sportsman / Letters - badge, to mark the badge's 50th anniversary on Monday / Email - smoothie combos

On this week's Top of the Pops

23 June, with David "Kid" Pension hosting.

• (7) Goldie - Breaking Up Again (and charts)
• (21) Black Sabbath - Never Say Die - The cameraman saw "rock music" in his script, and rocked the camera from side to side. Ozzy Osborne on vocals, Tommy Armenia in the band.
• (72) Showaddywaddy - A Little Bit Of Soap - Performing in front of a bubble machine, for no obvious reason.
• (19) Marshall Hain - Dancing In The City (danced to by Legs & Co) Go on, guess.
• (61) David Coverdale's Whitesnake - Bloody Mary - Tedious blues rock.
• (22) Heatwave - Mind Blowing Decisions (rpt) Smooth soul on a stage dressed like the CBC logo.
• (15) Brotherhood Of Man - Beautiful Lover (rpt)
• (43) San José & Rodriguez Argentina - Argentine Melody - As heard on the BBC's coverage of some football tournament, and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber of Evita. It's performed by three blokes in sombreros at synthesisers.
• (20) Thin Lizzy - Rosalie (rpt)
• (37) Bob Marley & The Wailers - Satisfy My Soul - In the studio, in front of And Co's city backdrop. Bit of a Legends Special, with Ozzy and Coverdale and Lloyd Webber and Marley.
• (1) John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - You're The One That I Want (video) Except we see Floyd and the And Co from three weeks ago.
• (12) David Soul - It Sure Brings Out the Love in Your Eyes

More censorship means another missed week, costing us JALN Band Get up, The Motors Airport (again!), Patti Boulaye Memories don't leave like people do, Blue Oyster Cult Ne ver ne bosie ne prosije, Ver And Co dancing to The man with the child in his eyes and Jim Rafftery Never let another good day go by.

Next week

• Shinty (BBC Alba, 4pm Sat) The MacTavish Cup final.
• The Archive Hour (R4, 8pm Sat) Very British distopias.
• Goodbye Granadaland (ITV, 8.30 Sat) A clip show, hosted by Peter Kay.
• Parkinson's Law Revisited (R4, 8pm Mon) Matthew Sweet looks at "work expands to fill the time available". Not "you'll always be upstaged by an emu".
• Scientologists at War (C4, 9pm Mon) A defector's view.
• The Route Masters (BBC2, 9pm Tue) London's roads.

10 Mo cloud to sun        9/14
11 Tu drizzle am          7/18, 0.5
12 We showers            13/18, 3.0
13 Th heavy showers      12/17,10.0
14 Fr showers             7/17, 1.0
15 Sa showers             9/15, 5.0
16 Su sunny spells       10/16

Rainfall in June: 19.5mm; monthly average: 50mm

Degree cooling days: 1
2012: 39/127
2011: 28/190
2010: 28/135
2009: 15/79
2008: 31/114
2007: 29/91
2006: 60/360
2005: 14/238
2004: 48/198
2003: 47/328

Greece's government closed down its public service broadcaster ERT, claiming that this would save a lot of money. The opposition cried foul, saying that this all aimed to silence dissenting voices.

It emerged last week that the United Stations government had been tapping into huge amounts of data on the internet. The whistleblower sought asylum in Hong Kong. Reaction against the illegal tapping has been tremendous, with self-proclaimed United Station leader Barack de Bouwer allowing his spokespeople to say that the whistleblower was "mad", bringing back painful memories of the Soviet Union circa 1970. British foreign secretary William Vague asserted that UK operations had always been entirely legal, but did not adduce any evidence to support this remarkable claim.

M. de Bouwer also decided to send arms to the opposition in Syria, after concluding that the government there had been using illegal means to quash dissent amongst the population. Evidence to support this remarkable claim has not been published.

Still, at least M. de Bower and his acolytes aren't listening to the actual telephone calls, or reading the actual emails. Oh.

The British parliament determined that G****e had deliberately been dodging taxes, and had been telling fibs to get away with it. The advertising-to-espionage company has constructed highly contrived arrangements to avoid paying tax, and lied to parliament when it said that no UK employees sold adverts.

Essex cricket club lost their match after being bowled out for twenty/20. Sadly for the players, this wasn't a three-hour hit-and-giggle tournament, but the deadly serious county championship, where a match is meant to take four days, not forty minutes.

The death was reported of Donna Hartley, sprinter; Iain Banks, writer; Henry Cecil, racehorse trainer; Rory Morrison, radio announcer; Pierre Mauroy, French prime minister.

Westminster (03JUN): C 303, Lab 252, LD 56, DUP 8, SNP 6, SF 5, SDLP 3, PC 3, Ind Lab 2, APNI 1, Ind UU 1, G 1, RESPECT 1, Ind C 1, Ind LD 1, Spkrs 4. C + LD majority 75 (effectively 83).