Puzzled

...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?

There were also just under 10,000 French dead on our side too (more than the Aussies) which never seems to get a mention. I suppose that of the numbers of young men slaughtered (on all sides) the proportion relative to the total male population of their countries was much higher for the ANZACs. And it would have been the first major overseas conflict that they were taking part in on behalf of the British Empire. And what a place to get involved! Churchill was vilified for the whole campaign which, had it been executed with any degree of military skill, would have been far more successful. The strategic objectives made sense (it had the backing of parliament) it just wasn't carried out very well. That's the most frustrating aspect of Gallipoli - far too many lives were needlessly wasted as a result of incompetent leadership. And nor did we heed the folly of just throwing vast numbers of brave men against machine guns and cannon - they did exactly the same on the Somme a year later.

Now I understand why my NI contributions are as high as they are. Pretty sobering thought when you think that we pay for all of that I'm clearly in the wrong profession, I should have trained to be a healthcare manager. The NHS ought to learn a bit from what's happening at Tesco and Morrisons - the bosses in the know have realised that you can't be efficient if the ratio of chiefs to Indians is out of kilter.

BGT is mainly harmless Saturday night drivel but occasionally, just occasionally there's the odd thing that makes you sit up and take notice. Two last night - I couldn't stop laughing at the incompetent magician, may have been accidental but shades of Tommy Cooper, he was that bad - but very funny as a result. And the younger guy that came on later and shut everyone up with a card trick that no-one could believe, let alone work out how he did it. If you can mentally turn off Simon Cowell in your head, it's just about bearable.

Still waiting for the first cuckoo in south Hertfordshire, 'twas about this time last year that I heard the first one that I had heard in many years, so eagerly anticipated. The Red Kites are around in big numbers, loads of woodpeckers active (audibly) and even seen a couple. Tawny Owls have been pretty noisy of late as well, love to hear them late at night "at it" as it were. That's until it rains and they go very quiet; apparently it's then "too wet to woo".

Agreed, but what I find even more aggravating is Fly Tipping. A posh phrase to describe yobbos who think that's it's OK to dump their unwanted s**t anywhere that they think they can get away with it. Unfortunately, they get away with it far too much. I see a future Britain where it's roadsides are permanently decorated with plastic bottles, old carrier bags and empty takeaway food containers. Our laybys and country road passing places are chock full of old mattresses, car tyres and broken Ikea furniture. We sadly have a high number of our populace who think that this is acceptable and not enough enforcement to convince them otherwise. You don't see it anywhere near as bad in other European countries - what have we done to allow people to think rubbish in the streets is OK? I recently drove down the A1 from West Yorkshire to Hertfordshire and was disgusted at the state of the roadside, I was ashamed that this was our countryside and what people clearly think is alright to chuck out of their vehicle windows. Rant over for now.

Just renewed mine and the wife's online and, for the first time in many years (at least for ever time I've purchased online) didn't have any issues and was able to buy both first time without a hitch. They seem to have sorted themselves out with their website at last and actually made it customer-friendly - and not before time, they have made me swear at my computer more than any other site. Creeps up every year though and at £27 is this still value for money?

That's a fine fish to hook into when expecting something else, apart from your reel disaster, it must have been fun playing it on a float rod.

Great man, superb ambassador for cricket, will be sadly missed but more fondly remembered.

That's what the boy's agent has very cleverly engineered and I believe he'll be in line for a cut of any transfer fee. I know this is part and parcel of professional sport nowadays, but please what does my head in is the hypocrisy of the boy geniuses when they whine that it's not about the money. Of course it is, what do you take us for? Just be up front and honest by making it quite clear that you're out for everything you can squeeze out of the game whilst you can.

Genuinely wants to be holding a significant lump of silverware in the near future or just another very greedy young man? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32149613 Discuss! Personally, it's clear that he (or more likely his agent) is attempting to engineer a big-money move to Spain.

Can he be neutered on the National Health? Probably save the UK a fortune in the long run.

Has something happened with Jeremy Clarkson?

Dear Iain, If elections were won on barefaced cheek, you lot would be in with a good shout. You fail to tell anyone why you have this apparent obsession with "beating the Tories" and why the British public would be better served by Milliband and Balls controlling our lives and finances. I would have to think twice before even donating something I'd wiped my a**e on to help your pathetic cause; you really need to concentrate on what's best for the country and it's people before worrying about how you are next going to "dis" the incumbent government. The Conservative coalition aren't the best I've ever seen, but you lot are proving to be a p**s poor alternative. I would respectively decline the option to give you money.

We'll probably never know why he did it, but my god it makes me shiver. They descended from 38,000 feet as if it was a planned descent into an airport and flew at top speed into a mountain - and it took them 8 minutes from start to finish. What must those poor people have gone through in those 8 minutes, hearing the pilot hammering on the door trying to get into the cockpit. Just imagine the realisation when you look out the window and realise you're going to die horribly and very shortly. It's just beyond comprehension.

Would have thought that leaving the window open wide and telling everyone "I'd give it ten minutes if I were you" would have sufficed, that's the normal courtesy we extend to fellow workers having parked a brahma.

Agree, probably about the best all-round value fishing line going, comes in virtually every size and has never let me down.

Belting fish, bet that woke you up!

Totally agree with the above and would add, for sheer entertainment value, The Great Rod Race Great topic, not until you see them all listed do you realise just how many there have been.

Personally, I think he's now an ex-monk If he hadn't been mummified in the lotus position he would be pushing up the daisies.

God bless yer Dierdre, I've grown up with you on our box for many years. Shame she's died so young.

There was only ever two good things about The Sun and it looks like they're a thing of the past now. Can't believe it still sells in any great numbers, but hey-hoe, each to their own.

Apparently, according to Wikipedia, it's Kim Jong-Un's birthday today. No idea how old he might be, but I wonder what they do to mark the occasion in PRK. Be careful with any speculation, they are strongly rumoured to have internet access.

Judge didn't exactly make it clear why, when the offence was clearly deserving of a custodial sentence, he effectively chose to let him off. Maybe the judge expects to be shooting at this place in the near future. Does the irony of the fact that this gamekeeper was killing birds to stop them killing his birds that he was rearing so that people could pay to kill his birds strike anyone else as sad?