Puzzled

Clearly thinks he's some kind of stud. Despicable person. Needs stabling for life.

Pleeeeease let us get Greek stretcher bearers in our Premier League, might help discourage some of the drama queens spending so long writhing around and worrying about their make-up.

Amazingly good

Pul-lease! That really is a cheap shot, I can't see how the 3rd Reich's extermination plans has any parallels with the balls-up in Syria and Africa in general. Most of the victims of the holocaust weren't even living in Germany. We should not be impervious to the plight of these people and basic humanity dictates that we should all find within ourselves the support they need. Of course we have problems in our own back yard, there's still a lot wrong with the way people are housed in many areas of the UK, but I don't think that means we pull up the drawbridge and thumb our noses to the rest of the world. Given the way the population is growing, this kind of situation will be a regular occurrence somewhere in the world.

Amazing how many times the red guy returned what should have been a point-winning shot. I bet the yellow guy was thinking "how on earth do I finish him off?" As David Coleman once said: "Quite remarkable"

Lovely fella, great character actor. As the famous Arfur once said "the world is your lobster"

Pity the poor people that have tickets for the fourth day, it just doesn't seem to get that far these days. Great to see the English players with their tails up, they have a remarkable team spirit going for them at the moment. To come back from an abject thrashing at Lord's to totally dominate the Aussies to such an extent says a lot about them as a team.

Terrible shock to hear, she was a British icon and very much "our Cilla"

He must feel very proud of luring a wild lion out of his protected home, away from his pride and his family and then, bravely and without fear for his own safety (this was the most tamest and human-friendly lion in the reserve) unnervingly put a crossbow bolt into the beast. Then dedicated the next two days to doggedly tracking down the severely wounded animal so that the extremely risky process of shooting it at close range could be completed. I'm well aware that the white settlers of the great African continent did nothing but this day after day for many, many years. But that was then in their relative ignorance; surely in today's enlightened society we understand and respect the value of wildlife and its right to life. How primitive this man's way of thinking that it's an acceptable practice to pay silly money for the right to annihilate majestic animals that the vast majority of humankind want to watch and admire. I don't know and can't imagine why this man would view this type of "hunting" as an achievement or satisfying in any way, but here's clearly a market for it. And the African states will never look such a gift horse in the mouth, as it were. Money, above all, talks and a big cat like Cecil was no more than a big earner when it came down to it. Sad.

Someone tell Mickey Mouse!

Brilliant to see just how well we bowled today on what was thought of as a batting wicket. Young Broad was unplayable for most of it against what's considered the best batting team in the world. The team really played a great test match and the much-maligned Alistair Cook captained them excellently. Long way to go yet, but great to get the first one under our belts so convincingly. Bring on Lords!

In a word Chesters, yes. Kinda shows that we care about human life just a tad more than a jihadist that sees their eternal future being improved by being instantly transformed to millions of tiny burnt particles. You can't say F you to something that's been vaporised; it's the next ones in line we should be focusing on and I'm pretty sure our security organisations are well aware of that. After that lunatic in Tunisia did what he did, you sort of realise that the war on the west has widened to anywhere, anytime.

Absolutely, we should always remember them. Watched a brilliant play on BBC Sunday night, a Song for Jenny, which brought back a lot of sad memories of that day and how the whole sorry series of events unfolded. Really drove home how dramatic and devastating the impact was on ordinary, innocent people going about their daily lives. And made it even more puzzling why or how anyone would be so motivated as to do such a thing.

A character, certainly. Top minister in the country? Unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out completely.

Agree with above as unfortunately nowadays outside shed + fishing tackle = prime target for tealeaves. Happens all too often and, I think, is driven by the sell-on market at car boot sales. Keep everything except smelly stuff in the house.

If you listen in regularly to his Radio 2 morning show (which I tend to do) it would be no real surprise. He's a massive fan of TG and has been angling for this for some time now. Could be good for the show, Clarkson had run his course.

Wow! Who needs Springwatch when you have that on your doorstep? Fantastic to see.

Is this a coincidence during the same week that Christopher Lee has passed on?

.....or has he?

Probably one of the most exciting ways of fishing that I know of, just watch out for the wildfowl! Not a pretty sight (or sound) trying to land and unhook a duck as I have found out to my cost. Trying to answer your questions: 1) Not sure if fake floaters will hold enough of any flavouring, but it might give you an edge on the day, so worth a try. 2) Keep as low and as quiet as possible - might be an obvious thing to say, but it makes a big difference on a tough water. You can't make them take it off the surface, they'll either be feeding or not. Sometimes seeing the carp near the surface isn't always an indication that they'll be interested. I used to fish a club water where the carp had regular patrol routes and, even if I landed a tempting lump of bread or a Chum Mixer right on top of their noses, they would swim right on past without a second glance at it. The only way I could get them to show interest in the bait was to float it just under the surface, which meant partially soaking bread flake before casting it right in front of them as they approached. If they weren't spooked by it landing, I often got an approach as it slowly sank. Mind you, only ever caught one this way! Good luck with whatever you try, it's the anticipation that makes this such an exciting way to fish - just remember to keep your rod in your hand though!

Seems a shame that the best South African....sorry! English batsman we've had for many years cannot be man-managed by the various super-coaches that we've had involved with our national team. In days gone by, they'd have sorted out their differences in private round the back of the changing rooms, man to man and have shook hands afterwards - then just got on with it without all the posing and posting for publicity's sake. Brian Close, Fred Trueman, Ken Barrington et al would be cringing at it all.

With eyed hooks, I usually use the Palomar knot - fairly simple to tie, rarely fails.

I think we now all bend over and let "call me Dave" do what he wants to us for the next 5 years, let's hope he uses a reputable lubricant like tax cuts to ease the pain! Probably the better option than allowing the two Eds to present our b****cks to the trade unions to use as stress balls as and when they see fit. Good luck to the Sweaties, interesting protest vote for little Jimmy Krankie. Not sure what will happen next there.

Your "stick insect" - otherwise known as Jeremy Vine - is a well-respected vendor of ultra-condescension on the BBC. You only have to listen in to his daily R2 lunchtime "rant" where he regularly over-simplifies the issues of the day for what must be a reasonably adult audience. It is his style, but I think you have a good point in that the political commentators feel they need to explain in great detail what the vast majority of us have a sound working knowledge of. I found the whole evening (up until I folded at 2:30 a.m.) pretty entertaining though, great to see self-important prats denying the inevitable defeat for so long.

...was the title for a very unique two hours of TV last night. A BBC4 programme that had no verbal commentary at all and was just a camera on the front of a barge recording a cruise along the Kennett & Avon Canal. All you heard was birdsong, the odd dog / cyclist / passing boat and the lapping of the water as the barge made it's way through the beautiful surroundings. Very different, but somehow compelling after a while! Various bits of information about the canal were sporadically superimposed as you passed by, bit of history and even references to angling. I found it fascinating, I think mainly because it was TV without anyone talking over everything. Anyone else see it?