Knowing that I've taken a great photograph

Cornish light

Crisp Autumn air

Croissants with Nutella

The bruschette made by my girlfriend

My girlfriend's laugh

'Weird Fishes / Arpeggi' by Radiohead

Geoff Stelling on Soccer Saturday

the feeling one gets when one is listening to exactly the right piece of music in exactly the right place at exactly the right time...

The photographs of Josef Koudelka, Saul Leiter, Enzo Sallerio, Piergiorgio Branzi and many, many more...

Looking up at the stars in a clear night sky and feeling beautifully insignificant...

Meat vindaloo

Frasier

City beating United

People in shops, restaurants, on the street etc who are polite and friendly

Large wine glasses that can accommodate a whole bottle with room to spare

Waking up to the sound of birdsong instead of traffic

The Lake District

Memories of childhood

Homegrown fruit and veg.

Word podcasts

Tom Hibbert's "Who the hell column .." in Q

My wife and daughter

A good walk

Dancing around the living room with my daughter to You-Do-Right by Can (She's a big krautrock fan)

My wife, my kids, my health, my friends.

The kids coming home from school proud of what they've done that day.

Watching my lad make a great tackle, pass or save.

Watching my daughter's ever-increasing confidence on horseback.

The boss saying thank you (which, to be fair, he does pretty often).

The buzz that hits about an hour after I leave the gym.

Playing a fantastic advantage when I'm umpiring a hockey match.

Watching Arsenal when they get it just right.

Finding a proper letter on the doormat when I come home from work; or, failing that, a new magazine.

Pembrokeshire and Northumberland.

Music. (This week it's the new Mogwai album and the Nuggets Atryfacts compilation. Next week it will be something completely different.)

Reading, books not the town.

The internet and the possibilities it provides.

Leeds United at the moment

My son's face when he scores a goal (and when his team wins)

Our baby twins laughing

My wife's sense of humour

A lay in

Pretty much anything by Sigur Ros

Old Steve Martin films

Stephen Fry

Word Podcasts

Cooking something good and sharing it

Christopher Brookmyre

Carl Hiassen

Margaritas

Bike rides

Word magazine on the doormat when I get home from work

San Sebastian

New York

Tea, toast & marmite and the Telegraph

Tooling around the internet

ranting about dumb things in the media and elsewhere

receiving delivery of parcel from Amazon

looking forward to a great bit in a piece of well loved music on your MP3 player that you know is just about to come up when you are en route to somewhere - e.g. the guitar solo in 'Bitch' by The Rolling Stones

anticipation of reading a new book

the new Word magazine landing on the doormat

listening to an intelligent articulate person enthusing about something they know a lot about on TV or radio

a glass of red with my wife in the evening watching TV together, something good like Bruce Parry going through hell in South America so we don't have to

Stevie G's 100th goal last night

Real ale.

Watching a favourite band play live. Stackridge comes immediately to mind here.

The taste of cinnamon in food.

Discovering that Prog Rock is alive and well on the internet

Being emailed hilarious jokes at work and sharing them around the office.

Root beer

Browsing CDs and vinyl in boxes at the back of charity shops or wherever they may be these days

Knowing The Word is on its way - crawler

Reading a book that makes me laugh out loud. The life and times of Albertos Y Lost Trios Paranoias is the current chucklebuster

Unexpected pleasures: like this, something to make me smile rather than scowl!
Mrs Path.
The 40 minute drive in to work each morning. Yes, it's at 6.45 a.m. but the roads are relatively smooth and I can listen to my music.
Friday.
My stupid small dogs: convinced a lick cures all ills. (Who's to say?)
Charles and Sheridan (aka Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse)
The spires of Lichfield from the A38, heading home.
An occasional Lagavulin or Laphroaig.
The Hebrides.
Cooking in the kitchen (well, obviously)at weekend with a glass of red.
Catching up with whatever is new on the blogs Cover Lay Down and Star Maker Machine.
Bagpipes.
Banjo.
Pedal steel.
You guys...... (aaaaah)

Slade popping up on the iPod

U2 Live

Camel Cigarettes

Toots Hibbert

The wife and daughters dancing

A roast beef sandwich with horseradish

drinking and laughing with the fellas

having a job where I can come and go as I please

Guitars

Dublin

Flann O'Brien

The memory of my father

Jason Statham's movies

The books of George MacDonald Fraser
James Yorkson, King Creosote, The Aliens and a lot of other people from Fife
A lot of Radio 4 (but not all of it)
Mark Kermode in full rant on 5Live
The films of Powell and Pressburger, especially A Matter Of Life and Death and Colonel Blimp.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The laughter of small children
The thrill experienced by hearing a really good tune by a band you've never heard of (most recently "Look At Me When I Rock Witchoo" by The Black Kids) long may it continue.
The thrill of being quoted in a Word Podcast (I imagine)
Red Wine, fine malt whiskey and cloudy cider, though not all at once.
Sunny days at music festivals- last experienced at Camp Bestival
A lovely nap
Dinner made by someone else.
Walking up hills

A new Bob Dylan album

EDIT: The new issue of Word arrived in the post at the same time. Lovely.

Whiskers on kittens. Cats in general, come to think of it.

The last glass in a bottle of red.

Completing the last clue in a crossword.

The smell of rain on greenery at the end of a hot dusty day.

A woman's skin, warmed by the sun.

Walking around an Italian town I haven't visited before.

Buying a few new books or CDs at a time, then reading the blurbs in anticipation of the pleasures to come.

The last hour of a dinner party with old frinds when everyone is relaxed, a little drunk, and laughing.

Trees with autumn colours.

A pint of Adnams.

for american president?

...drinking Adnams.
Probably not a prime ministerial one, tho'.
Funny that.

The Skatalites and the fact that they're still touring and I'm going to see them in a few weeks.

My wife's growing bump.

Stevie Wonder, the man and his music.

Bill Bryson

Radio 4 comedy

French movies

Jimmy Stewart movies

Singing

The 11 mile bike ride to work in the morning.

The good lady wife, and the fact that we've been married a year
The darling daughter, and the cuddle I got at the breakfast table this morning
Music in all it's forms, and it's ability to provide a backdrop to everything human..
The first three songs/Tracks on Caspian's debut album and the rush that they provide
Nights when you know opening the third bottle of red won't matter because it's not a "school day" tomorrow
Nights when opening the second bottle of red won't matter because "Fuck it, it's only work tomorrow"
Guinness
A nice pint of a lunch time
The sound of the delivery man pulling up outside the falt ona Friday evening
Meeting a mate for a quick pint and getting in a few hours later than you planned, and the wife not minding
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Humph's closing speech
Norfolk in the summer
Norfolk in the autumn
Norfolk in the spring
Norfolk in the winter
Poetry
Anne Hathaway
The Wedding Present's Seamonsters
Getting a seat on the train in the morning
Remembering my dad
Seeing my mum, and her delight when she see the Darling Daughter
Occasionally convincing my brother to go for a pint
Occasionally wanting to go for a pint with my brother

Enough for now, but there are millions more (and don't involve drinking)

A new reply for this strand flagged up and none for Heppos dumbest!
What more proof is needed that we have finally emerged from this period of introspective pessimism!!!!!!!

Lie-ins at the weekend
A good drop of red (wine, not blood)
Laughing
Making people laugh
Well-written articles
Dark chocolate
Houmous (no, really!)
Buying a new album on its day of release
Jeff Stelling's Soccer Saturday
Early trains/Getting a seat on the Tube/Any kind of small commuting-related victory
The 15-second gap Belle and Sebastian leave in the middle of their albums so you can pretend you're listening on vinyl
LoveFilm (and portable DVD players)
The Wire (sorry)
Busy (but not too busy) traditional pubs
Parks
YouTube
The GLG (i.e. a few years before being a GLW)
The World War Two pilots on the Armstrong and Miller show

There, I feel better already!

are the only activity"

What about the loos, man??

and are profligate with their exclamation marks. Can't stand that.

Oh, sorry. Wrong thread.

Roast chicken with a glass of Malbec
The end of 'Soul Survivor' by the Rolling Stones
Shane Williams in full flight
The Princess Bride
Waking up at 5am, realising you have a couple of hours more sleep, and turning over the pillow to the cool side
Mitchell and Webb's 'Bad Vicar' sketch
Patting Paul Westerberg on the back
Playing an electric 12-string through a Vox amp for half an hour
The cats coming in and settling down during the Sunday lie-in
Getting an encore. A real, unscripted one
Norman Watt-Roy
Winning competitions (Thanks again, Matthew Ryan and Word)
Finding a really good charity shop
Making time to have a wander through central London
Hugh Laurie doing anything
Proposing and my girlfriend saying yes
Wee Willie Harris!*
GoHome productions
Futurama
Final score with tea and plain choc digestives

* someone had to

sitting in the Nightingale pub with a pint of ramrod and special on the bar, the week draining out of me and with the prospect of not having to go out tonight.

Getting a ticket for a Wales international.

The prospect of a night out with my friends (not my work friends, or my wife's friends or the parents of my children's friends - my old muckers)

The night before a holiday.

Its all about the anticipation with me..

The first taste of proper Autumn
The smell of rain on warm pavements
Beer brewed by people who aren't in it for the money
Zero Mostel in The Producers
Light through stained glass on a cold day
My partner
Songs of a Traveller
Wester Ross
A really - and I mean really - good BLT
The Hornbeam

So we can have Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt3?

The sight of the QE2 berthed in Liverpool's Princes Dock, backed by a beautiful blue sky studded with picture-book white clouds. It quickened my pulse as I drove onto New Quay about half an hour ago.

The grace and wit that is Leonard Cohen
Albert Finney
The strangeness/other worldliness that is Jane Siberry
Robinson's best bitter
Roasted Tomatoes
Roated Potatoes
Mushy Peas
The Band
Canadian Winters
Ice Hockey
The magic of Cec Fabregas
"Rebellious Jukebox"-The Fall
BBC Radio 3
The kids (are alright)
Ballads played by Miles Davis
Lee Perry
"Man In The Hills" Burning Spear
"The World At War"
The melodies of Paul McCartney
"All Things Must Pass"
Elgar, Delius and Vaughan Williams
Andy Partridge
Cate Blanchett
"This Is What We Find" Ian Dury
Alan Bennett
Alice Munro

Hearing my kids sing along to "The Crane Wife".

A pint of Betty Stoggs.

Gig rowing with your mates.

The part of the dinner party when the newish friends have taken their leave, and it's left to the old guard to open some more red, and sort the world out.

The GLW and the offspring.

Yearly get together with your mate, in a ridiculously oversized tent, at Glastonbury.

Seeing plays in the little village theatre.

The boy doing a head on tackle on their prop, who was no way an under 11, and getting cheers from all the other parents on the touchline.

The Stone Roses.

A sunny winter day's walk, followed by roast beef, and a little ziz.

Local Hero.

.....much the same as everyone else.

In no particular order -

My family.
Tom Morton(BBC Radio Scotland)
Ry Cooder.
Listening to a cd in it's entirety when I've not heard it for a long time....this morning it was Steve Earles "I Feel Alright".
A good book...at the moment Sebastian Faulks "Birdsong".
Red Wine.
Guinness.
Single malt whisky.
Playing chess on the internet when everyone else is in bed.
The end of the nightshift weekend(starts tonight unfortunately).
This blog....great banter!
John Hiatt.
Playing my guitar/ukulele/harmonica.
Watching/helping my son learn to play keyboards/piano/saxophone.

Discovering the music of a new group that you immediately fall in love with.

The internet. The greatest source of information in human history - plus, admittedly, quite a lot of porn, freaks and truly, truly mad people (I mean, have you read the comments sections on YouTube?).

Films so good that you want everybody in the whole world to see them immediately.

The iPod - now I've got one, I can't imagine my daily commute without one.

Buying a new book, with all the anticipation and excitement of what it might offer. The best-value entertainment you can get for £7.99.

The view from our window.

And, of course, my wife.

Having a week off work (end of quarter shutdown), having the whole house to myself and spending whole days playing music loud on an actual CD player, rather than the usual iPod in the car / computer......

.. It´s not all doom and gloom,

My own darling wife
Good friends round for a barbecue on a sunny day
The catching excitement of dogs just before you take them for a walk
Your second beer with the probability of more to come
Old cheese in olive oil
The Word podcast
NPR radio podcasts
A fine cigar
Laphroiag malt whiskey
A good Western
Roadrunner Cartoons
Randy Newman´s return
The end of the Bush years

....... my cockles are warmed - few more

Roger Livesey's voice
flapjack
saying the word 'tabard'
Twelve Angry Men
North Yorkshire Moors
Updating my list on Lovefilm
The Decemberists
A Hard Days Night
Eric Morecambe
Playing the Ukulele
The way the GLW smells after going swimming
Going to the cinema in the daytime
Jack Lemmon in The Apartment

You lot are very poetic in this thread...

Some of mine:

Wine - red, white or pink depending in the season/mood
A perfect baked potato with butter and salt
Cold water on a hot day
Crisp Autumn days
Bonfires
Singing
Chocolate brownies
A shower when you're really grubby
Heroes
Tea
Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic
My darling husband

I'm a lapsed Tori Amos fan. Went from buying everything to listening to nothing. Then I was sent this link for my favourite track Winter, taken from a new video but filmed before the release of Little Earthquakes. View it in high quality and full screen for best effect.

Certainly cheerful but with a little moisture around the eyes. It's definitely one for all dads with daughters. Life's been good.

I don't half like a good rant and the Word Blog does give you a great place to vent your spleen...but it's not all moaning about Keane and Coldplay in the Kitson household...

Things that have made me happy this past couple of weeks....

DVD box set of Minder, classic stuff indeed.
The Word Podcast of course.
"Took My Lady To Dinner" by King Khan & The Shrines.
My local Rebellion real ale.
The thought of going to football tomorrow now that we are playing well again (and scoring loads!).
"Broadway Jungle" by Toots & The Maytals
The Thames on a bright autumn morning.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives announcing a new album and tour.
"Indian Ropeman" by Brian Auger & The Trinity.
Giles Smith's book of football writing "We Need To Talk About Kevin Keegan".
"Di Doo Dah" by Jane Birkin.
Seeing "Pan's Labyrinth" on TV.
A wonderful family holiday in the South of France...
made even happier on discovering it was near the Villa where the Stones recorded "Exile On Main Street"!
"Midnight To Six" by The Pretty Things
Listening to the IPod on shuffle and discovering a fantastic track where you have to check who it is and what album even though it's part of your own damn collection.
David Byrne back to his samba style best on The BPA's "Toe Jam".
More Robyn Hitchcock albums appeared on emusic.
The Blue Aeroplanes playing gigs again.
"Short Skirt Long Jacket" by Cake.
Getting "Bowfinger" on DVD from Amazon this morning after Word Massive recommendations.

Super Furry Animals
Bill Bailey
My baby brother's macabre sense of humour
The Luminaire in Kilburn (venue of my other brother's band's first-ever gig)
Those of my colleagues capable of independent thought
Vampire Weekend
The German Film Museum in Berlin
Spaced and Black Books
Curry Mile in Manchester
Ritter Sport
Philip French's film reviews in The Observer
The city of Palma de Mallorca
Olafur Eliasson's art installations
Applewood smoked cheddar
Elbow winning the Mercury - get in!
The East Coast of Scotland
The 25th of the month-or-the-last-working-day-before
The films of Pedro Almodovar
Online knitting patterns
Rafael Nadal in general, not just at Wimbledon
Marcel Desailly on the BBC during Euro 2008
Savings accounts being back in fashion
A copy of "The Ghost Stories of MR James" found in the local Oxfam
The Royal Festival Hall
"The Count of Monte Cristo" and the Euro TV series based on it
Andrew Marr
My mum adhering to the Highway Code when playing "Grand Theft Auto" (and quite right too)
The current Spanish government
The sudden appearance of Green & Black's confectionery in our work canteen
Watching Jacques Tati films with my dad
Irn Bru ads
The Duracell bunny taking up free running
An old-style Bovril advert found on a neighbouring wall when the Redhill branch of Lidl was demolished
Brighton
Julio Medem's film "Lovers of the Arctic Circle"
Friends' and relatives' graduation ceremonies (much more thrilling than my own)
The Onion
The Bellowhead gig I'm going to at the end of the month

Rediscovering Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane's "Rough Mix"
Reading "Deer hunting and Jesus" thanks for the tip Vulpes.
Having a laugh with my wife and sons
Talking to my best friend either by web cam or phone who lives in Hampshire
Spending time with a friend who is quite ill
The intro to the Cure's "Friday I'm in love" it always lifts my mood
Watching Jaws, The Godfather trilogy (part 3 is a bit dodgy I know) Cracker, Band of Brothers and The Wire DVD box sets
Cranking up the volume for The Who, Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Graham Parker, Nine Below Zero, Steve Forbert and Robert Cray amongst many others. As Mary Poppins said these are a few of my favourite things

sorry, wrong Julie Andrews character

Here goes:-

A kiss from my wife and a cuddle from my daughter
My 18 year old son calling me mate and meaning it
Birmingham city fc - enduring love, wavering quality
Elvis Costellos King of America
The Felice brothers
Lucinda Williams
Buenos Aires
Paris
New York
Memphis
Padstow
Bacon sandwiches
Balti Chicken Tikka
Vimto
Fish and Chips from the chippy in Stonnall near Lichfield
Success for any underdogs
The scent of a woman (the film and the actual)
Fargo
Films that make you cry
Friends that make you laugh
Kids that make you proud
This country - not the flag waving patriotism but the pastoral beauty and the goodness and tolerance of the vast majority of people who live here.

• Southend Pier in the thick fog. When you look back and can’t see the land.
• East London.
• The four and a half hour cut of Until the End of the World.
• The birds in the garden, especially the robins.
• The original Asteroids videogame.
• Southend hospital: Its myriad intricacies; the high ideals and the flawed reality; the goodwill of the staff.
• The Origami of Robert J Lang and Eric Joisel.
• Rifling through the box of Lego that belonged to me when I was a boy, searching for the right pieces to support my Nephew’s building projects.
• A good poem – something outward looking.
• Lying on the floor of my bedroom listening to CDs.
• Swimming in deep water.
• The ritual of buying paper at Shepherds on Southampton Row: Making your selections from the binders; checking the price list; watching the staff as they ascend metal stepladders and pull down sheets of paper from the palette shelves which line back of the shop.
• Waking up alone in a silent house.
• Kimi Räikkönen’s bravery; or indeed any F1 driver who commits to a manoeuvre knowing that the outcome is not entirely in their hands.

Visiting my great aunt and listening again to stories about the family

Visiting my 1 year old neice and thinking that one day I'll be able to tell her the same stories, and hoping she might be interested

Any film with Terry-Thomas

Walking to the local bakery on a Saturday morning

Listening to Ann Peebles

Waking up and turning the pillow over to the cold side

Knowing I have a ticket in my desk drawer to see Al Green in three weeks

Re-reading 'Revolution In The Head' every time I go on holiday

Bob Dylan

Singing along to the guitar solo in 'Kid Charlemagne'

Spending a rainy Saturday afternoon watching Laurel Hardy on DVD

Watching the kids play on Rossnowlagh Beach on a late summer evening.
Getting that Cd you've wanted for ages on Ebay.
a nice meal out with friends (a rare pleasure).
the smell of the bikes warming up prior to a Speedway meeting.
that first sight of the sea.
pizza express
The Wire (predictable - but true)
that first sight of the grass when you go to a football match
the warmth of the sun on your face.

Being at home when it's pouring with rain and not having to go anywhere.

The Wire. And knowing I'm going to start watching the whole thing all over again as soon as me and the GLW have finished season 5.

The knowledge that you have a little build up of podcasts on your ipod to get through. I don't get a lot of brownie points for wearing headphones around the house or whilst cooking though.

The Lives Of Others, which I have declared the best film of the decade.

4 player Pro Evo with friends. (And as for the night when we put it through my mates projector...)

Having all but 3 of Dickens novels still to read. And half of them are right there on the shelf.

The new Dylan album has been dispatched and is on it's way.

The fact that I've only been reading Private Eye for about 2 months and buy it with joy every other Tuesday.

The Sun reflecting off the Estuary on a warm Saturday afternoon.

Curry. Ready meals, homemade from scratch, takeaway, eat-in, made at home from a Lloyd Grossman jar. Pretty hard to balls up.

Waking up and realising no matter which way you lie, you are still comfortable.

The first cup of coffee of the day.

Full English breakfasts.

Freshly laundered bedding.

Hot showers.

The West Wing.

Stephen Fry.

Bill Bryson.

Jaffa Cakes.

Hartlepool United winning.

Darlington losing.

Wine.

Hearing a piece of music for the first time and wondering how you've managed to get by without it.

Smell of fresh bread.

5 o'clock on a Friday afternoon.

Stephin Merritt.

My iPod.

Ham & Cheese toasties.

Listening to my daughter say 'thank you', which she's just learned

My wife and daughter

Coming home after a time away and using your own toilet again!

Your own bed

Being caught by an unexpectedly funny comment and guffawing like a seal

Debussy's 'Clare de lune' segueing into Ray Charles' 'Unchain my Heart' on ipod shuffle.

A really strong and thick cappucino

The Sopranos

Fender Stratocasters

Getting a lick or riff right for the first time

Big thick socks

Red wine

Freezing cold bright blue sunny days

Midtown Manhattan

Bamburgh, Northumberland

Druridge Bay

Black leather jackets

PG Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster novels

Stevie Ray Vaughan playing quiet and funky

Cadbury's Fruit & Nut

Victoria Wood comic song lyrics

Alastair Sim

Grapes

Graeme Garden on ISIHAC

Paul Jones Blues on Radio 2

Boots, not shoes.