Following is the list of top 5 most read stories on the BBC News website:
1.BBC fined over contest deceptions
2.Mortgage arrears 'to hit 500,000'
3.Dollar and sterling slide further
4.Rwanda genocide mastermind jailed
5.Microsoft issues patch to fix IE

Now, is it me, or are we becoming a nation of cretins, more interested in a few chancers rigging a phone vote, than the fact the economy is on the skids? Or that finally someone has been called to account for one of the crimes of the century?

Oh, I despair!

I have to say I was baffled by the plaudits being heaped on the Fleet Foxes, and Tuesday's live performance on Later has proved me to be justified in my bafflement. They were awful. For a band that prides itself on tight vocal harmonies their performance was disgraceful. Surely they weren't nervous?

Also the album is average at best, with only "White Winter Hymnal" standing out. I can't even listen to it any more after they massacred it on Tuesday night.

I wish them all the best, but not in my collection,

Ta ta.

...I apologise, but has anybody else realised just what a classic album Teddy Thompson has just released?

Perfection from start to finish, and hasn't been off my Pod since I bought it.

Well done, that man!

Does anybody have any idea what David Bowie is up to these days? 5 Years since "Reality", and not even a rumour (not that I'm aware of anyway) of any new material.

I won't diss the man for not coming up with any new stuff (given that silence is better than rubbish: see Bowie's 1982 to 1995 output), but it's a strange thought that "Bring me the Disco King" may be the last new song we hear from the great man. Nice one to end on, mind you.

So, come on Word types, who has the lowdown on Mr. Bowie?

Hello lovely Word people.

Forgive me if this idea has been forwarded before, but in the interests of saving the planet, would it not be possible to make the free CD a free download for subscribers. It would also save me having to rip it to my pc.

I appreciate it might be a packaging & logistical nightmare, but hey, its just a thought.

I was talking to a customer yesterday, who had been to see Neil Young in Dublin. Rubbish apparently.

I can understand this, because I now really believe that these old stagers (Neil Young, The Stones, Dylan, Lou Reed, etc) have nothing more to offer in a live setting.

Don't get me wrong, Dylan's studio output in the last decade has been fantastic, but if you've "you tubed" any of his recent live shows, thay are truly awful (try "Lenny Bruce" from a recent show to see what I mean).

Actually, for whatever reason, I have recently become wholly fed up with all my back catalogue stuff (particularly Neil Young) and find myself looking for new music (Word CDs help in this respect). Is it a mid life crisis?

Oh boy, I'm confused....

Did anybody see Will Young's little acounstic number on BBC on Sunday. The boy oozes star quality, and surely deserves more from the critics who can't see past the fact that he won a talent competition. Excellent stuff. Keep it up, young man.