Had a day off yesterday and did London things. One of the things I had left undone that I thought I ought to have done was visit the Saatchi Gallery at County Hall. So I did that.

I'd seen a lot of the work there before at Sensation at the RA. I didn't like a lot of it then and it still left me cold now, although I'm starting to think Away from the Flock may not be the rubbish that I thought it was to start with. Damien Hirst has got some other pieces there as well. In fact he may have made the best fish tank in the world ever, or maybe it really is a profound memento mori piece as the blurb on the wall said it was.

I managed to control my mounting ire at the work of the Chapman brothers. God I hate their stuff. There used to be a Scottish indie band called Urusei Yatsura which depending on how you translated it was Japanese for something like "Noisy Boys". That's how I think of the Jake and Dinos Chapman - noisy boys. Their art is all about "look at us - we're crazy - we don't care - look at us - please - just look at us - woo". In other words ultimately it's all about them. So when they are displayed near something like Jenny Saville's amazing piece, Plan they can only suffer by comparison. Mind you I sometimes think we get the art we deserve: hence the success of the Chapmans. I hate them even more for that.

There is one quite extraordinary piece on display. Richard Wilson's 20:50 is a simply incredible, transcendent, creative work. The room is full to waist height with black engine oil. There is a walkway into the middle of the room and there you are surrounded by this extraordinary, slightly smelly, sea of oil. But soon you see that the perfectly smooth surface of the oil makes a wonderful mirror, perfectly reflecting the ceiling and walls of the oak panneled room it sits in. Suddenly it becomes dizzying! You could be hovering in the middle of an enourmous space. All sorts of new perspectives are opened up. I found it one of the most profoundly effecting things I had ever seen. Nice concept, nice execution. Well done everyone involved.

Well it's come to my home at least:


I always say you should decorate your flat for two events: Christmas and major footy tournaments. So I'm well into Euro spirit. How 'bout that Henrik Larsson?

As for England v France. Well the last 3 minutes were a freakish aberation. We shall rise again. The biggest pity about not winning the game was that the song comming from the England fans half way through the second half "Are you Scotland in disguise?" was bitterly disproved. Alas.

Last night I did something I've never knowingly done before.

I listened to Radio 2.

It wasn't easy to find. I didn't know my radio had an 89 FM. But it does and there it was.... Radio 2.

It was the first helping of Mark Radcliffe's new radio show. And it was pretty good I thought. Well any show that plays Belle and Sebastian in the first 15 minutes has got to be quality. Good music and good comedy items; I particularly enjoyed "Vladimir Putin brings you the story of Racey".

I then thought that what boys do on the interweb is make lists of things they like. So I thought I would make a list of my top 5 radio presenters...

1. Mark Radcliffe
2. Adrian Chiles
3. The hapless boy Lard (aka Marc Riley)
4. Umm...
5. Err...

Not very good at this am I?

60 years ago today my dad landed in Normandy. He was amongst the second wave of British troops that landed on Sword Beach on D-Day. I've always known this but the current comemorations have made me stop and think how incredible it is to be so closely connected to one of the most important events of the twentieth century. I'm very proud of him.

I found the coverage of the acts of rememberence and interviews with servicemen on the TV today profoundly moving. It's odd but I watch a lot of news and bad news never affects me. I'm not one of these people that can't bare to watch the news, however grim or depressing it may be. But stories of quiet heroism, personal sacrifice or anything that shows the majesty of the human spirit always make me cry. I know I get this from my dad. Thank God he made it back all those years ago.

A winter in Canada seems to have done wonders for my cricket! The great British weather permitted us our first game of the season last weekend in Abinger Hammer which ended in a thrilling draw - a perfect Habgoods CC result really. My bowling was a bit rusty but I managed 2 wickets for 15 runs off 7 overs. But then I went out to play one of my most cavalier innings with the bat ever. My first four scoring strokes all went for 6! In the end I got seven sixes and finished 75 not out! I had to have a lay down after I'd finished: I thought it might be the end of the world.