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It’s been a while since I’ve seen Neil Hannon, but every time I’ve seen him (often with completely different combinations of backing musicians as The Divine Comedy evolves) I come away thoroughly pleased with the evening’s entertainment. I’ve been a fan since the 1990s and although he had some success with ‘National Express’ he is little known by the pop loving masses. This is a real shame because he is a top class composer, lyricist and all round musician.

I was a little concerned about seeing him solo, because much of his music relies on heavy orchestration. However, I actually really enjoyed the stripped down versions, most of which he played on the piano (which was handy as our seats were slap bang opposite). He was his usual witty self, dealing with the expected heckles with aplomb and making the odd mistake which cued a characteristic humorous expletive.

The surroundings of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and his Hamlet/Richard III/Banker costumes added to the atmosphere of a fantastic evening listening to a fantastic musician.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, 30th October 2011

It’s back to Kempton this evening for our co-owned racehorse Shaws Diamond and trainer Derek Shaw was again giving off upbeat noises about the chances of the five year old mare.

“She is in really good spirits at the moment and I will be disappointed if she does not give another good account of herself back at Kempton.” Derek said.

“Her last run here was a bit disappointing because she went off a bit quickly but it did show us that she could run here and she raced with plenty of enthusiasm.  That was continued at Wolverhampton when she was just denied and at Yarmouth when she ran with plenty of credit despite finishing a bit further back.”

Derek concluded: “As I said, I’m going to be disappointed if she does not go very close and run a really big race.”

The race is due off at 8-05.

RESULT UPDATE: She came 3rd. It was a good run, but the draw did for her. She is entered to run at Wolverhampton on 4th November.

Tank the English bulldog as the ‘runaway bride’ at the 21st annual Tompkins Square Halloween dog Parade in New York

I visited one of my old haunts for an Organ Recital by Ian Tracey, the lord high god organist of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (or some other title). This was because the organ had recently been restored and they wanted someone famous in the organ world to ‘open’ it. So Prof Tracey was wheeled in, so to speak.

It was a good recital, although some of the pieces were stretching the boundaries of interestingness although they were nice. He managed to show off all the new colours of the organ which sounds gorgeous. It’s just a pity that the organ is stuck in the north chancel because some of its power is lost, but that’s a minor point.

WITH half term looming, Britain’s parents are steeling themselves for day trips that inevitably will end with at least one child weeping uncontrollably.

Wildlife sanctuaries, theme parks and heartbreakingly sad ‘farm parks’ are the top destinations for doomed family outings, according to research by the Institute for Studies.

Parent Nikki Hollis said: “I’m taking my children and two of their most hyperactive friends to a desperately sad former working farm recently converted, on a budget of 58p, into ‘Llamaville Adventure Land’.

“The day out will of course be curtailed by a tearful disagreement over who has the strawberry lolly, or some similar fucking thing.

She continued: “Hopefully we will at least get a chance to look at the llamas standing forlornly in the rain, touch a mummified duck’s wing in the visitor centre and buy a llama-shaped pencil sharpener before the tears start.

“But I don’t hold out much hope.”

Want a virtual assistant like Siri but not got an iPhone 4s? Then get Vlingo.

So far I’ve been impressed. It’s transcribed my instructions well and it seems to have a good following on iTunes. In fact, of all the iPhone 4s ‘improvements’ this was the one that I wanted to try the most. As far as I can see there is now little point in upgrading to the 4s. It is basically the same as the 4, but has the A5 processor rather than the A4. And the camera is slightly better.

Hang on for the iPhone 5. I suspect that will be a new game changer in 2012.