Futtocks

I have just treated myself to a new penknife. Pretty...

A lot of the Twitter comments are from people who seem to just hate Harry Hill, whatever he does.

'Stars in their Eyes' returned to our screen last night, for the first time in years. Harry Hill is the new host, and brought a lot of his usual silliness to the show. I rather enjoyed it. None of the competitors played the dead relative card or spoke of "going on a journey", there wasn't a panel of judges delivering scripted ad-libs - it was just a bit of good-natured entertainment.

Currenlty just starting to bubble in the slow cooker, rabbit with prunes and mustard. Not exactly following the linked recipe, but pretty close. M&S have packs of wild rabbit legs during the game season, but you have to be lucky with your timing, as it disappears from the shelves soon after it's been put there. Sainsbury had Agen prunes, pre-soaked in Armagnac, so that's stage I didn't have to do at home. The rest of the ingredients are easy to find. I decided to use cider instead of white wine this time. You can use chicken instead of rabbit, but it isn't quite as good. Still rich and tasty, though. Serve with rice or lentils.

Some absolutely stunning pictures of libraries. I've downloaded them into a wallpaper folder for my laptop.

Don't you get a more-than-sneaking feeling that Ed was captain of his school's Dungeons & Dragons team?

It wasn't just sponsors saying they'd pull out if Evans was signed, but club staff have been intimidated, including one person who received a threat, naming the address of his daughter and threatening to rape her if Evans became an Oldham player.

They have just done a u-turn, due to pressures from sponsors etc. and will not now be signing him.

'Wish you were here' in a Reggae style. A very special Reggae style. You know, the one with bagpipes.

The Lord of the Rings, told in Princess Bride quotes.

What does a quid get you these days, even without hotdogs?

Four free Peter Gabriel tracks to download.

The Japanese one I had was, I'm pretty sure, a Yamazaki.

I tried one of the cheaper blends, and it was okay, but nothing special. The more pricey ones are well-regarded. My dad has a sampler of a whisky called Valhalla`s Goat. God alone knows what it'll be like.

Indeed. That and 'Hunky Dory' are brilliant albums.

[ben elton mode]She wanted to be the only person shafting the British, right?[/ben elton mode]

...and Carly Simon`s family are the Simon of the Simon & Schuster publishing dynasty.

Out of the window, i see salmon-coloured evening sunlight on snow-capped Cheviots - beautiful.

Just enough snow to settle this evening. Picturesque.

We had a glass of this before ploughing into the turkey and stuff. Very very tasty and suitably festive.

I wasn't really aware of his Footballing career, but I've heard him speak in his other capacities as pundit and for the PFA, and he certainly came across as a decent sort. It's never a good time for this kind of thing to happen, but before Christmas must be doubly awful.

Awful news.

If we're talking rum, several supermarkets now sell Angostura 1919, which is extremely nice. On personal experience, avoid Havana Club; it tasted harsh and with a metallic aftertaste to me.

Just popped into Millroys, the whisky shop just off Soho Square. Rapidly-emptying shelves and discounted stock, but it's because they have bought themselves out of the Jereboam Group and are going independent again. Hopefully, by February/March, they will be remodelled and open again, and offering the old wide range range of wonderful malts. I did get a bottle of their own-label Islay, though.

Forget the Ballon d'Or, you can vote for the Fallon d'Floor here!