On which note, we're singing in Sheffield Cathedral next Saturday 18th. If you're local, please come.

Sang in Bolsover those afternoon. Show tunes. A joy. One we're doing is a medley of a song per decade from 1920s to 2010s. Starts with Show Boat, up to Come From Away. Could well be the best thing we've ever done.

Further news of my old school chaplain. I went to a CofE comp in Wolverhampton. I don't not have enough venomous words for him. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rob is great live. Go! I will be booking. Fortunately, he's playing a mile down the road from me.

Sadly rare for me these days: I have something managing in the fridge.

Very pleased to have got the blue category first on today's NYT Connections. Denotes a childhood well spent.

Resistance is an art form! Kevin Champeny's work celebrates the beauty of accumulation how countless small elements can create depth, movement, & meaning that no single piece could achieve alone. A reminder that the smallest details often carry the greatest impact. 🔥🔥💙 #pinks

I shouldn't be surprised by Haaland scoring, but still: blimey.

I'm listening to this cracking Dylan cover. Is it #MerryClayton on lead does anyone know? I know she was in the group - The Brothers & Sisters of LA. #TheMightyQuinn www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJpe...

Dad had a fall today. Don't think he's done a huge amount of damage, though that's still to be confirmed for definite. But he sounded pretty shaken up. Your parents ageing is awful.

This has popped into my head, and was worth the price of admission into the Kinks musical - Sunny Afternoon - on its own. A genuinely version of an already superb song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BmX... #Days

Met a friend in the city centre and had cannoli at Caffe Tucci. Seriously good cannoli - best I've found in the UK. Get down there Sheffield folk. Unless it's a day I'm going.

Yup. It was either that or go on a trip down a coal mine.

BBC Radio 2's 21st Century Folk kicks off today! My brand new single 'The Long Way Home', written for this landmark programme, is out now across digital platforms. Tune into the #JeremyVineShow this afternoon to hear me playing it live and discussing this incredible project.

Darren Chapman's outstanding capture of the famous Western Reef Heron in Wales is this week's winning image:

Just discovered I've put my car keys through on a cool wash. Good work. Their continued functioning still to be checked once they've dried.

Well, I've made it to Slough for what I think is the first time ever. We have a choir weekend with events in Beaconsfield and Windsor. Wish me luck remembering my parts. Hazy at times.

As - sadly - one of their few UK fans, I still reckon this is a banger. #TheRainmakers www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJqi... I put it forward recently for a "sad songs you can dance to" playlist. Defo deserved a spot.

Also, got a reply from Carole King. Blimey.

No dipper on the Porter today, only a gray wagtail. But I did get Daniel Kitson tickets for the autumn. Pleasing. Plus a nice day in the office. I'm well down on the low side at the moment. Making myself go in helps.

I'm not sure that this is what Graham Gouldman intended. But it is brilliant. Marriott firing on all cylinders.

A dipper day on the Porter! Not seen one for ages.

Catbus is REAL!!

Raise the Colours are having a rally in Sheffield today. They can fuck off back to their caves. Shameful.

I wish this goose would come closer so I could say there's a goose loose about this sluice.

Lovely to have Raul Jimenez back. Not least as it finally moves him on from that horrific injury he had. Hope he's as much of a success this time around too. Should still be a force in the Championship. #WWFC

I'm doing something brilliant. Which is shortlisting for the first #WeeklyMusicCall since before Easter. Our biggest ever hiatus, for the very best and most fabulous reason I can think of - transplant op recovery. But I have really missed them.

Melbourne (Derbyshire) church today, which is outstanding. Mostly Romanesque, and on the early side for that, I think. It also has a sheela na gig.

Went to Fishlake church (St Cuthbert's) with Dad and my sister today. Cracking building, interesting village, superb Romanesque doorway.

'78. Wanted Argentina to win the final (for now reason I recall) but was to shy to say that in front of my Dutch supporting school friends. Wasn't allowed to stay up watch the final. '94 - Hagi 😍 and Stoichkov 2010. England dreadful, and those fecking vuvuzelas.

@chuckdpe.bsky.social Afternoon sir. On the bill with Darlene and Mavis? That's when you know you're getting legendary too.

What is presumably a very bewildered tawny owl hooting away like a good 'un in Nether Edge. 13.51 as I type.

A couple of reasons I've not been great of late, but I'm off to London today to see my son and his wife, friends, Hadestown and Nerina Pallot. Oh, and a couple of nicer meals too. That should all be top drawer.

Things not going as I'd wish at Tringham HQ, and I don't think I can change them. Gloomy even by my standards as a result. Mostly my doing, but that's just further cause for self-flagellation. Fortunately, that's a speciality.

Right, I'm off to The Pixies tonight. Not looking forward to the Snake Pass. But the gig will be great. Support from GANS, whom I don't know but my mate I'm going with says are great.

Singing in a charity event at The Crucible tonight. Only one song amongst many, but it's still a thrill, given how many productions I've seen here.

Just back home. Met my sister on the train back. Neither of us knew the other was making the journey.

Meanwhile, my minor contribution about David Attenborough is to say that I had a book as a kid of a children's series he did called Fabulous Animals. It was about mythical beasts - the lamia, yetis. I have had an ongoing fascination with kraken ever since. I read the book until it fell to bits.

How would one diagnose gout in a toe? No reason.

Voted. Saw a kingfisher on the Porter at Pear St bridge, the furthest into Sheffield ever for me. And a nuthatch nest. Trained a couples of v promising newbies at work. Off to choir this evening. All good today.

I'm listening to long-loved favourites by way of good vibrations. You may know that I love Wir Sind Helden, and Nur Ein Wort in particular. And this is a brilliant a capella cover. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAD8...

The good news is that someone's just decided to let off a shed load of fireworks in Nether Edge.

Now I'm in tears at Tom Waits. Which is fair enough, but it does speak to my being a bit haywire.

Weird day mood wise. Very upbeat this afternoon at our choir rehearsal, despite my mistakes and some rubbish news about one of our members. And then in tears just now watching Sam West going birdwatching. My mind generally is in anxious and full force gale overdrive. Normal things are awkward.

Spoke to one of my oldest friends today for the first time in a couple of years. Really lovely. I said to myself I should try to reconnect with a few I miss knowing. Not all have been successful, but it's definitely a worthwhile pursuit.

@barcajim3.bsky.social @thejase.bsky.social @beardedgenius.bsky.social @stanchow.bsky.social 🙏🙏❤️

Meanwhile, I've just opened my balcony doors in a failed attempt to ID a bird song. High double peep. But I was greeted by a badger ambling down the path alongside my flat. Pleasing.

I see Dubai authorities have arrested Daniel Kinahan. Eyebrows duly raised. He's an OFAC (US) sanctions target, amongst other things. I will follow with interest.

Just finished Elif Shafak's novel There Are Rivers In The Sky. Sad, and horrifying, and hopeful all in one. And then there's the Tigris running through it on the nature of identity and how that can be appropriated, both now and from centuries past. Recommended.