Here's the deal: my colleague has taken to his sick bed and I've stepped in to lead his school trip to Paris for three days, leaving first thing on Tuesday. Trains, hotels, restaurants and other tickets are booked, but we will be needing lunches and we'll have a few hours each day to ourselves.

Your advice please. It's me, one other teacher and nine 14 year olds. Any Parisular advice would be useful.

This evening, like 99 others before, will see me putting off all other important business to settle in for a couple of happy hours with The Word. This is a great and wonderful thing, and one which still, 8 years on, fills me with joy and excitement.

I remember reading about a new magazine being published by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, men who I first knew as a kid with Smash Hits, then again at Q and in whose hands I felt safe. A man needs a magazine and on the strength of issue 1, The Word was for me.

I still have every copy; occasionally I get them together and file them in order, but inevitably I'll seek out a half remembered article or go back and look for a review of an album, book or film that, as usual, I've come to late. It means that there are back issues all over the house, but each has been read and re-read.

The Word has seen me through holidays, train journeys, happy afternoons in the garden and nights up with sick children. For all this, I am grateful.

Happy Birthday.

I have two tickets to see Arcade Fire at the O2 arena this evening. I'm meant to be driving from south Suffolk and joining the M11 at Stansted. This is what I need to know:

1: Can anyone report on the A120, the M11 and conditions around the O2?
2: How bad will I feel if I don't go?

Your advice please.

A little earlier I chanced upon 'X-Men' on Channel 4 just in time for this scene. In case you haven't seen the film, the man on the bed is a Senator on an anti-mutant mission who has just been mutanterised by the bad guys.

Now, that's one hell of a way to go, yet moments later, Storm (played here by Razzie Award winner, Halle Berry) legs it in to a meeting with Professor X and some of the other gang and announces,

'Senator Kelley is dead'.

It's possible, of course, that this kind of thing happens all the time to mutants, but I would argue that that is a whole host more than 'Dead'.

Any other lines or moments that don't really capture the scale of it all?

On Friday evening, I listened to this for the first time in ages, and it struck me just how badly out of tune the high slide guitar is.

Still reeling from that, Mrs Elliott pointed me in the direction of this Stax classic. Check out the slide guitar on the intro.

http://open.spotify.com/track/2ApTTZQohuw2MpcCDtzcCp

There must be others...

A fortnight ago, we the state of education in this country and I need your help in making it better for a small group of A level students in Suffolk.

My modern history class are going to be looking at American popular culture, 1968-2001 and the extent to which it was 'oppositional'. I want to compile a list of examples from music, TV and film that they could investigate over the next week.

Your examples, ideas and opinions would be hugely useful. Thanks.

Four times today I have come on here to talk about Bellowhead after seeing them last night in Colchester, but each time words have failed me. I've decided that the only way to say it is the simplest. So here it is.

There is no better band than Bellowhead at the moment.

Watch them here at the Proms last year, but understand that a YouTube clip cannot capture the sheer brilliance of Bellowhead live.

Your thoughts please.

Last week we looked at great comedy theme tunes and just below here we're investigating TV shows with great music integral to their very being. But what about this...

It's terrible: was there ever a worse theme tune to a great show? Words fail me here, but Mrs Elliott has described it as the pre-programmed reggae demo tune on a 1987 Casio keyboard, if programmed by someone who had never actually heard any reggae.

Your thoughts and suggestions please.

There are now more than 550 posts in the Bloody stupid fantasy musical partnerships thread below. Am I the only one who wants to hear some of these bands?

So because it's half term and Mrs Elliott has had her sister over for the afternoon, I offer you, from the archives, The Joe Jackson Five.

I tuned in earlier to a programme on BBC4 in which Ozwald Boateng was talking about style. Now I understand that he has single-handedly saved Saville Row and redefined the well-cut suit but the man's credentials have this evening been called seriously into question. As he took the viewer round his flagship Saville Row store he, and I'm still quite shocked now, had his bottom jacket button done up.

Is this yet another case of the BBC 'dumbing down'?

Last night I chanced upon Stephen Fry on BBC4, talking about the things in life that bring him pleasure. He mentioned Abba, Wagner, writing poetry, Led Zeppelin and Stanley Unwin.

Now I'm feeling quite ill today and need cheering up. So lets keep this brief: tell me about something good.

I'll put forward the Randy Newman compilation Mrs Elliott downloaded at the weekend. It's really good.

Your thoughts please.

I was recently introduced to this by Mrs Elliott

Now imagine this was your wedding. A woman you were once in a relationship with has been invited to your wedding. You're clearly on good terms now - she's met your intended and, seemingly, approves. Yet she leaves it until the wedding service to make her true feelings clear, by standing up and shouting at the priest.

There must be others who, through their own lyrics, prove themselves to be socially inept, mentally unsound or otherwise worth avoiding. Your examples please.

I've just seen on the BBC news website that Jeff Healey has died.
He was a real talent and will be sadly missed in the Elliott house.