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Into London again (why did I ever leave?) for an appearance on Loose Ends. It's a very Radio 4 show, but always fun, as you end up meeting all kinds of amazing people. I first came on in the mid-90s when Ned Sherrin was very much the face of the show. He was lovely, though quite insistent on having Stew sat next to him. We went to the pub for pies after (this carried on for a while after his departure, but is no longer the case) and he sent us a hand-written note thanking us for being on (which is still on my cork board in my office).
Today I was sharing the round table with amongst others Eddy Grant and poet laureate Simon Armitage. And it was apparently the first run-out for a new host Stuart Maconie. It was quite a thrill to meet Eddy Grant, who kept himself to himself in the green room (I respect that and have never felt comfortable approaching anyone) but who opened up in the chat about his fascinating and important career. I'd been talking about my bollock as usual and referenced Hitler Moustache and Eddy referred to me as our Hitler friend (and I didn't get a chance to explain that I wasn't pro the Fuhrer, but I think he got it) and revealed he'd come close to losing a testicle himself and had later had a serious heart attack as a young man.
Very difficult not to sing his songs to him, but I think I managed.
Anyway you can hear it all on BBC Sounds I am sure. And it was lovely to see my friend Natalie Haynes as well.
I was a bit under the weather still - my sickness has given way to a nasty cough and a now familiar general tiredness and malaise. Ernie's been feeling unwell all week and saying he was going to be sick, but he's the boy who cried "I'm going to be sick" and it usually came up when he didn't want to go to school. But he was clearly a little poorly too. I was looking after the kids alone tonight and he woke up at about 11pm feeling unwell and saying he felt sick. This went on for a while and I told him that he wasn't going to be sick. But then he was sick. Luckily in the toilet, as he'd believe himself. I don't know if it's the same thing that got me last week, but he was up most of the night and managed to be sick through his nose, which is impressive.Catie got home and took over the sick duty in the hope that I'd get a bit of sleep ahead of my gig tomorrow.
