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Mind matters: Aled Blake

HAVE a pressing question to ask society. Namely, when on earth did it become compulsory for us all to be so bloody happy all the time? This week in work I was in a particularly dour mood. It was Tuesday and for no reason whatsoever the Aled Blake Invisible Forcefield Of Grumpiness was on full blast – family, friends and close colleagues must know its telltale signs so well by now. Read

Matt Thomas: Home Truths

ROBBIE Williams will most likely be kicking himself just about now. Not because he’s suddenly realised that “each to his own” isn’t a particularly profound statement and it doesn’t become any more so even if you tattoo it across your chest in French. Read

Don’t let a lapse curb the right to speak up

FORGIVE me if I have mentioned this before, but one of the kinder nicknames I had as a young lad was The Milky Bar Kid. Read

Unlucky Gordon’s sinking ship

A YEAR ago this week, Gordon Brown tapped uncertainly at a microphone outside 10 Downing Street and promised to “do my utmost” as Prime Minister. Read

Why are we putting lives on the line?

THE death of Sergeant Sarah Bryant makes us all question once more why on earth our troops are in Afghanistan. Read

When the House shook in shock

“TORIES aghast” said the Guardian headline. Not only the Tories. For my part, as Frankie Howerd would have said, my ag had never been so gast. Read

Springsteen, the sonic craftsman, burns away the darkness

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN has written songs beginning with every letter of the alphabet except X and Q. Read

Sorry, Mr Brown, you cannot just round up the usual suspects

JUNE 9, 1940, and it’s business as usual in Di Mascio’s much-loved little ice cream parlour, customers ambling across the road to sit by the bandstand in Grange Gardens, cones or wafers softening in the sun. Read

Why my mum is aiming to make her final farewell a little bit easier...

MY mother’s on the phone. She’s been chatting to an elderly neighbour who’s been extolling the virtues of a funeral guide. This is a bit like a travel guide except that the journey will be the last and there probably won’t be many backpacking hostels to stay in. Read

Diary of a Diet: Mind over matter

CAN a hypnotherapist find the off switch for Hannah’s corned beef and crisp sandwich cravings? Read

RIN: Talking WM Sense

I DON'T have a lot of luck with wedding outfits. I don’t mean my own – the gorgeous princess-style dress my mum bought me as her wedding gift is my most cherished garment, and I still sneak it out of the wardrobe sometimes to stroke the silky fabric and marvel at the intricate beadwork (and the fact that I used to fit into it). Read

Wimbledon’s matchless loyals

WELL, Wimbledon next week, with Henman Hill re-christened (perhaps prematurely) Murray’s Mound, in anticipation of young Master Murray going just that bit further than Tiger Tim. Read

‘Make offenders pay price’

OFFENDERS who fail to turn up for their community sentences are not being punished promptly, with some escaping any form of sanctions, according to a report. Read

Don’t panic! The kids will sort it out

DON’T panic buy petrol. This was the message as we were urged to resist reacting to the tanker drivers’ strike by purchasing unnecessarily large amounts of fuel. Read

Jump off the rollercoaster of emotions and relish steady progress

THE Welsh rugby fan is often viewed by outsiders as a bonkers creature who needs only the merest whiff of glory to embrace delusions of world-beating grandeur. In fact, the reverse is true. Our default position is extreme pessimism – the mindset of the miserablist who on smelling flowers looks around for the funeral hearse. Read