And I mean that most sincerely folks

When discussing the concept of sincerity, one man stands colossus over all others. Bob Monkhouse.

Remember his famous touchstone motto? The secret of success is sincerity.

Don’t be fooled by that oleaginous mien. No man can ignite such true* empathy so quickly.

I witnessed him in action at

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The Blue Peter garden

Proof that the Blue Peter garden lives on.

But would it have been better to let it die so we could remember it as it was, rather than resurrect it like this?

The Blue Peter garden - dug up from the back of TV Centre, London and transplanted to a plot next to the tram stop at Media City, Salford. Former Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon, wearing headphones, asks some bloke: "How soon before we can go back inside/down south? It's bloody cold out/up here and nostalgia won't keep me warm. Assuming there was any. Which there isn't. Because of the wind."

Having camped it up one night in the original Blue Peter garden with

Thank you Culture Northern Ireland

Thank you Culture Northern Ireland for giving me a £100 Amazon voucher (for winning a writing competition completing a survey). And thank you Gerry Anderson and politician Gregory Campbell for helping me spend it. Well, to be more precise – they had a row. But

What I learned from George Michael today

"Hello, it's George here..."

George Michael rang up today. Yes, that one. He wanted to deny newspaper claims that he and partner Kenny Goss had split up. But the conversation soon veered off the subject.

The jumper

THE JUMPER, worn by somebody or another.

Black and white. Or navy and cream? Chunky, practical, ratty, bobbly. Definitely Faroese. Stabbed in the shoulder, but since recovered.

The new star

Bad memories

I joined our village’s Remembrance Sunday parade and service this morning. Though I have an instinctive uneasiness about people in uniform marching through my community – a hangover from growing up in Northern Ireland – this is one of the few such occasions of which I am proud for my family to be a part.

There is nothing grand about our

The biter bit (or when political interviews turn nasty)

Blues Brothers remake - in Jordan. As seen on the My Treasure blog at kinziblogs.wordpress.com (She writes about abuse, families and Jordanian life.) Or click on the pic for the original fail site

Politicians are in the firing line in the UK. The general election campaign is underway so some are just weeks away from being fired. (Except for those sneaky quitters who are retiring, thus denying us voters the chance of kicking them out. Drat them.)

Respect for politicians is so low that other disdained groups might think they’re in the clear. Not so.

Here’s a ferocious clip in which the biter gets bitten…

The future exclusively revealed today…

Jesse Schell - juggler, Disney veteran, comedian, game maker, mime artist.

Soothsayers, clairvoyants, prophets and other charlatans – eat your heart out. Here comes the future for real. This is what the world is going to be like.

Coming up – how social media and games will invade your real life – your cereal box, how you brush your teeth, your journey to work and the legacy you leave your children.

And – how GIANT SNAILS are to be integrated into London’s public transport system. (Not an April fool. Check out the date, and the photographic evidence below.)

But first – whether you like it or not – this man (that’s him up there snacking on plastic) is telling you how your life is going to be transformed.