The checkout assistant is ever so pleased that I've bought cakes with candy toppings, because she thought they were all plain, and is now going to buy the rest of the stock.

A little more on the RDA: the Producer's Best Bits including the fabulous Weathercam Challenge. And some video of the Slovenian Ear-Tugging Incident. [Previous]

Death of the shuttle Colombia at the age of 22, and her seven crew. Initial reports suggest the vehicle broke up during re-entry, over north Texas.

My instant thought: this could be the end of manned spaceflight as we know it. To lose one shuttle, as happened seventeen years ago last Tuesday, was very regrettable. To lose two, especially at a time when there's no obvious military role for research in space, may just be the end of the line.

A topic I'll no doubt be returning to over the coming days...

Meta-coverage review. Heavily slapped wrists to CNN, Sky, BBC, and CNBC. All of these networks had a semi-permanent caption reading "Breaking News." Totally inappropriate.

First got word after catching the closing moments of the Celtic League final about 1635, tuning in for the football results. BBC1 cuts to a news flash. Straight to News24, where they're re-running a phone interview from about 1440. Heavily out of date.

CNN gets the vote next, they put up a competent twenty minutes, but don't exactly tell us anything. Main footage is credited to WFAA, the Dismal/ABSuck affiliate in Dallas.

Over on CNBC Europe, MSNBC's simulcast has been extended, and they've got a former shuttle commander and a model of a craft to explain in simple terms exactly what's going on. Glad someone's putting it in sensible words. Remember, my 5pm is 9am in California, and it's a Saturday, and people are just waking and require a simple explanation even if the channels ran it an hour or two ago.

1717 and Sky is talking to a Fox news reporter in Dallas, saying there are 200,000 crash sites, and showing live pictures from KDFW's Eye In The Sky. They should be showing NFL Under The Hood. Bet someone somewhere's hacked off that the show has been pre-empted.

Speaking of pre-emptions, when Challenger went off in 1986, the resulting news special aired in place of that night's scheduled THE ADVENTURE GAME. That episode airs again on Challenge ? tomorrow.

Didn't think to check the radio coverage - certainly R4 appears to stick to its regular schedule, and I *expect* R5 will have carried extended bulletins into the regular Saturday football coverage, as they did when a tube train crashed a week ago. This isn't a good radio story, but it deserves more than brief headlines and Further Coverage On Radio 4. What's the point of a rolling news network if it doesn't.

1739: evidence that ITV News has been on a break, but this was the opt-out point for ITV, and we'll let them get away with it. 1750: News 24 is running an abbreviated sports results service in the top two-thirds of the screen, and warning of a NASA news conference shortly. No one's interviewed Reg Turnhill yet - if this story were being covered by Newsround, you can bet that John Craven would have had Reg lined up as guest 1.

The Brits are making a lot of the fact that the shuttle was out of radio contact. Both MSNBC and CNN have explained this: during re-entry, the shuttle is scheduled to be out of contact because its heat generates a plasma field around the vehicle. It's like being inside a neon strip light, and no radio signal has a hope of getting out there.

1757, CNN is scribbling on a still from the footage, using their video pen thing. Technology developed for the sports field, in use here. 1802 sees Sky reading a statement of the blindingly obvious from NASA. 1806, MSNBC is airing its shots of debris from KXAS, the NBC affiliate in the Metroplex. Eerie shots of the debris cloud appearing on the weather radar. The station's animated logo is really out of place. A still logo would be preferable.

Checking my email, I'm reminded that nine hours ago, we were thinking about Bonty Liar's visit to Washington and getting a further unresolution out of the junta. Totally forgotten about that. Knocked miles off the front pages. BBC inteviews Vicky Brightman from the National Space Centre, and Andrew Coates from UCL. Any word from Heather Couper? Not until Sunday morning, when she does R5 and Sky. Also a return for the "quiet whirr" from about two minutes into the BBC's Ten Minute News Music Mix.

NASA's news conference finally gets under way at 1821, and it's clear that the BBC is grabbing images where it can - Fox, ABC and CBS all get a DOG on screen.

Which brings us to 1830, and the considered professionals at Channel 4 News. They break to other news at 1843 (Iraq, and how the US is buying Angola, Guinea, and Russia in the unsecurity council; Lords reform; gritting) before returning to the history of the shuttle. Over on BBC1, the scheduled News And Weather Weakest Link is going ahead. With the President of the USA set to speak, I'll call it a wrap.

Guess who's back. Buffy 703 will popup.

The businesswoman who wanted to save five seconds on her way to work, went a little too quickly down the hill, and wrapped her car around a lamppost.

1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why? Depends on your definition of superhero. I always liked The O Men on Jigsaw, though they weren't quite so much superheroes as superpains. Hector the hedgehog was also a hero, though he didn't have any super powers (other than being a talking hedgehog, which probably counts.)

   Of the comic book characters, probably Bananaman from when he was in the Nutty, and hadn't yet generated a regular cast of baddies. Remove General "Beaky" Blight and you're left with a little lad against the world. Struck closer to home than I realised at the time.

2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got? Parents who could give me emotional support. Grouch.
3. What's the furthest from home you've been? Tucson, a distance of 5211 miles (8386km). Worth every step.
4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet? German. I decided to take Latin in preference to German at school, figuring that I could pick up the living language later. Never have. Yet.
5. What are your plans for the weekend? I was thinking about getting my hair cut, but with the forecast continuing to indicate a cold snap, think I'll take an ice check. Instead, might visit the far-away grocery store to get some exercise. And it's Observer Sport Monthly, always worth a gander.

Quotes of the day...

From the MSCL Livejournal community: "i abolutly loove the show. i'm also reading the book but it's not as good. and jared leto is sooo hott...."

From the perfectlywonderful Perfectlyvague: [what musical styles do you like?]: everything but the current trend for foetuses singing other peoples songs

A Demi Grauniad reports that C5 has bought up ROOBARB, a show that "hasn't been aired for many years." Not on terrestrial since 1998, when it was last shown on, er, C5.

How many sexy women have tattoos? One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. And that's just the ones I've met.

Hidden European Indicator of the Week: Russian black market prices were denominated in US dollars until a few weeks ago. Since the Euro rose above the dollar, the Russians have been charging Euro, and making a healthy profit.

All the five-foot-something ants, scurrying around with their heads bowed, bodies covered by thick black coats, scuttling out of the icy north wind.

Great Political Mistakes reviews Attlee's Blunder - selling out the pound as the world's leading currency in favour of a short-term reconstruction loan. Was negotiator Meynard Keynes intimidating the government? Perhaps. Was this a long-term blow to British prestige? Certainly. And yet... had the Eden / Macmillan government accepted this diminished role, they would surely have found it easier to join the nascent EEC. Had Keynes not sold out the pound, and it remained the world's leading currency, would Britain now be leading Europe? We'll never know.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. The BBC's matches for the fifth round of the cup are in, and they're crockes. Arsenal @ Manchester Untied, match of the tournament, deserves a prime time slot. That'll be kicking off at 1215 Saturday lunchtime, then. And do we get Liverpool - Leeds? Chelsea? Southampton? Nope, the walkover of Wolves -v- Rochdale, live on BBC2viewers. Sounds like they'll be airing Colne -v- Altrincham in the first round next year, then.

Quarterly radio figures are out, too. Radio 4 is slightly down, but nothing to write home about. Radio 2 continues to rise, Wogan making 7.8m; Radio 1 falls, R5 and 3 also hold. The commercial Classy FM is up 24% in the 15-24 age bracket, showing the parlous state of Radio 1. Chrysalis announces plans to launch an LBC clone in the West Midlands, cunningly entitled WBC. Not to be confused with classic oldies station WABC, mind...

The man walking down the street, announced from twenty yards away by the clack-clack-clack of his steel-toed shoes.

Mr George "Grover" Bush, chief spokesmoron for the republican junta in the US, delivered his shadow "States of the Onion Addressification" last night. This is what he said...

We will answer every danger and every enemy that threatens the American people. The American system of medicine is a muddle. A child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free. The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you. I ask you to set a high standard for humanity. We must also remember our calling as a blessed country. Our government must have the very best information possible.

Outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass murder. Small groups of men seized control of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit.

We continue to see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction, and supports terror. All people have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny. An oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation. Nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation, and continued hardship. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons -- not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world. The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole cities.

Your enemy is not surrounding your country -- your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation.

Painful as it is to leave this unedited, all grammatical mistakes are from the original. Transcription by Het Grauniad.

Watching old videos this evening, and an episode of The Recommended Daily Allowance from May 2001. Hosted by John Gordillo, The RDA was BBC Choice's attempt at The Daily Show. Three series in 2000 and 2001 were broadcast to an audience of possibly as many as 5000 viewers. A very small cult programme, but those of us who watched the show loved it. Scheduled to return on September 24 that year, but events rather took over and the show rather disappeared into the ether. With BBCC becoming BBC3 in a matter of days, the slot for a daily - or weekly - news satire looks open. The RDA is perhaps the model. [More...]

Other media news today: BBC4 moves ever-closer to becoming the new C4, by reviving After Dark, the very-late-night discussion show popular on the commercial station circa 1990. I vaguely remember watching this show during Gulf War I, or was it two and three hour long C4 News Late?

The lad of five, in school uniform, unhappy at being put in the seat at the back of the supermarket trolly, because he's just too big for it now.

First in a new series of Grange Hill, too, and a cameo appearance by Tucker. The whole plot today is a homage to the 1978 debut episode, right down to the troublemaker left over in the hall due to an administrative error. Or computer glitch, as they call it these days. Today's episode wasn't inspiring, but the first two of the series rarely are.

Yes, GH is 25. 70% of Brits have seen at least one epsode. Generations are defined by their similarly-aged characters. Tucker and Benny. Gripper and Jonah. Zammo and Banksie. Gonch and Robbie. Chrissy and Justine. Dennis and Rachael. Arnie and Chris. Tom and Ozzie. Leah and Shannon. And so it goes on.

My era was Gonch, Robbie, Mauler, Ziggy, Ronnie, Calley, Danny Kendall, Trevor Cleaver, Mrs McCluskey, Mr Bronson, et cetera. The seasons I remember most fondly were during the university years, 94-95, from Mrs Keele's breakdown through the mad American teacher who almost - but not quite! - got hitched to Robson. Jessica and Joe made wonderful eye candy for everyone watching, Paula was the tart, trips to Germany, trips on the school roof, AIDS, groping, and scarcely a shot out of place.

Sewing is an acquired knack, as is threading a needle. Both require nimble fingers and colossal heaps of manual dexterity, so won't be doable by everyone. While baking doesn't require quite the same lashings of fingerwork, it's still not trivial for everyone. He said, confidently unable to put the thread through a hole half its size, nor bake anything more complex than flapjacks.

Front-page article in Le Figaro about SMSspeak in French. «G 1 frR Gnial kan il n'é pa OQP sur son PC il pass son tps sur mon Vlo ki é tjrs Kssé». Or, more traditionally, «J'ai un frere génial. Quand i'l n'est pas occupé sur son ordinateur, il passe son temps sur mon vélo qui est toujours cassé.»

As in Anglophone SMSspeak, some of the abbreviations are completely impenetrable to non-native speakers. «Meuf» is the short form of «ma fille», «maison» becomes «kaz». A car, «voiture» becomes «caisse» and hence «KS». Others are a bit more penetrable to anyone with a smidgeon of French: «kelkechoz» anyone?

Seriously, next time someone tries 2 b hip n trndy by talking in SMSspk, I have a weapon up my sleeve. G 1 Gnial rpst pr plus cnfusn. +bien.

The old lady with the alsatian on a very short leash, taking her for a walk.

Some thoughts on this week's releases.

Erasure put out Other People's Songs. The tracklisting...

1. Solsbury Hill
2. Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime
3. Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
4. Everyday
5. When Will I See You Again
6. Walking In The Rain
7. True Love Ways
8. Ebb Tide
9. Can't Help Falling In Love
10. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
11. Goodnight
12. Video Killed The Radio Star

Wild and Chorus were the greatest example of gay disco circa 1990, but they rather lost it after Abba-esque. Lead single Solsbury Hill wasn't as good as the original, and I fear the chaps have bitten off more than they can fit in their mouths with this collection. I reckon at least a third of the album falls into that Almost Impossible To Improve On The Original section.

Fave single releases...

t.A.T.u. - All The Things She Said, because it's the first kickass Trevor Horn production in ages, and reminds me a lot of the glory days of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The record's an insta-classic, the best thing I heard in the entire fourth quarter last year. Not that that took any doing whatsoever... It's also steaming up the Hot 100 even faster than the latest Eminem track.

Supergrass - Seen The Light, because everything they do is anthemic and sunny and we're *so* going to need that when the cold snap begins at 9pm tomorrow.

Default - Wasting My Time, because it's the sort of classy US rock that sells to almost three people over here.

[rockfact category="useless"]
If Tatu take the #1 sales slot this week, they will be the first Russian act to achieve that honour. The top Russian is currently That Bloke Out of Deee-Lite, who came within 8 sales of the top slot in September 1990.
[/rockfact]

Book quizzy from anthologie and muruch

Q: What are you reading now?
A: "I Am An Oil Tanker" - Fi Glover, and "Servant of the People" - Andrew Rawnsley.

Q: What are your favorite books?
A: "Thin Skin" - Emma Forrest, "This Sceptred Isle" - Christopher Walker, "The Handmaid's Tale" - Margaret Attwood, the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, to name but eight and a half.

Q: What books did you think you would hate but loved?
A: John Christopher's Tripods trilogy. Part of the set reading at middle school, suffered from a Rubbish Telly working, but the books aren't so bad.

Q: What books do you dislike most?
A: Romance, gory crime.

Q: What genres do you like?
A: Real life fiction, high culture fantasy, history, memoir and biography.

Q: Do you most often read contemporary works, older works, or both?
A: It's rare for me to read anything more than about ten years old, other than for fact-checking.

Q: What are some of the funniest books you've ever read?
A: Jasper FForde's "Lost In A Good Book" has been doing it lately. Along with the HHGG, the Big Brother television tie-ins, and (for completely different reasons) Mrs Thatcher's memoirs.

Q: What books have made you cry?
A: Don't recall one doing that in ages.

Q: What books have changed your mind or influenced your life?
A: Adrian Mole got me writing, HHGG and Sarah Vowell's "Radio On" inspired and refined the direction of my writing, Atwood made me think, and Nikki Arend's "Lost!" was an inspiration in a very sticky situation.

Q: What books have echoed or confirmed your thoughts and beliefs?
A: That Thatcher book (: And Simon Garfield's "The Nation's Favourite," confirming everything that this listener thought about Radio One during the mid 90s.

Q: What books do you consider most underrated?
A: As a genre, television tie-ins. Often written very quickly, so they are either quick and shoddy, or better than a newspaper. As an individual, Emma Forrest, hugely talented. I'd also like to be able to read more Sarah Vowell over here...

Q: What books do you consider most overrated?
A: Schlock fiction. Jeffy Archer and the other denizens of the bestsellers piles.

Q: What books have you changed your mind about?
A: Good question. Don't have an answer.

Q: How many books do you own (books of all kinds, including cookbooks, manuals, your own journals, etc.)?
A: Of the order of 2^9 (probably somewhere around 700, for those stuck in decimal.) Plus around 1200 magazines, comics, and newspapers.

Q: How many books are you generally reading through at one time?
A: Usually one, rarely more than two.

Q: Do you often read in bed?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you often read while walking, and do people give you a hard time about it?
A: No.

Q: Do you ever read while riding? (Bike or horse)
A: No.

Q: Do you ever read while driving?
A: No, don't drive.

Q: Do you and your family or friends read aloud to each other?
A: Not with family, occasionally with close friends.

Q: What book was the most difficult to read?
A: "Thin Skin" cuts easily.

Q: Do you more often buy new or used books?
A: Roughly equal proportions new at full price, new at remainder, and pre-read. Also in a library, only taking out one book at a time.

Q: What is the first book you remember reading?
A: Cripes. Probably a Dr Seuss or Mr Men tome.

Q: What is the first book you remember having read to you?
A: Andy Pandy?

Q: What was the best textbook you ever read?
A: The set English texts were always, perpetually, a pile of shite. Least worst was the Shakespeare - Midsummer or Romeo.

Q: What books would be good to have around for guests to read while staying with you?
A: The Griffin & Sabine series.

Q: What books do you often re-read?
A: The faves.

Q: What books did you think you'd like but hated?
A: John Simpson. Great on the telly, fine in the newspaper, but too extended in book form.

The detritus blown into my garden over the past few weeks:
Three chocolate bar wrappers
One disposable plastic shot "glass"
One large green plastic sack
The lid from a sandwich box
A paper napkin decorated with sunflowers
Sundry pieces of plastic that might once have been a plant pot, but are now too fragmented to be discernible.
Various leaves and branches.

The man standing at the bus stop, smoking a cigarette and looking around furtively, as if he's committing some heinous crime against humanity.