Oh, how I agree!

Ian Bostridge is on Desert Island Discs at this moment, confessing his musical ignorance.

I am feeling very smug because I predicted, either here in in TOP, that Ian Bostridge would choose Fischer-Dieskau and Bob Dylan, and he has done, already!

Oh, I like things like that! (The Phileas Fogg conundrum etc.) I managed to make 2006 the shortest year of my life to date* by spending New Year in Mexico, which is 6 hours behind the UK. Of course if I'd spent New Year 2007 there then 2006 would have balanced out and 2007 would have been the shortest. On the other hand if I'd spent New Year '07 in Russia then 2006 would have been even shorter.

Portugal is incidentally the only European country in the same time zone as Britain. I actually find it harder to work out what time my other half's likely to phone me when he's back home than I would if he was an hour ahead. You weren't in Porto, were you, Ollie? I haven't seen the new Casa da Música yet but I believe it's stunning.


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*well, apart from 1979 I suppose ...

I have a friend with 4 as well.  I thought at first hearing that they might be extra efficient but apparently not.  Twice as likely to have infections. 

Getting back to Ross and Brand, I've just come across this on my newspage for anyone who doesn't know the whole story.  Nice class of people aren't they? 

The BBC is under pressure to act against presenters Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross after they made a series of crude phone calls to former Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs, which were then broadcast.

The pair left answerphone messages for 78-year-old Sachs in which they told him Brand had slept with his granddaughter and joked that the actor might kill himself as a result.

In the pre-recorded segments aired on Brand's Radio 2 show, the host and Ross, who presents a show on the same radio channel, began making calls after Sachs apparently did not answer his phone for a pre-arranged interview to promote a television show.

Ross, 47, left a message telling Sachs: "He f***** your granddaughter". Brand, 33, denied this, but added: "Oh no, I have revealed I know her name."

After discussing how Sachs might hang himself as a result, the pair made a string of calls in which they ostensibly attempted to apologise for what was "just a joke", but continued to leave lewd messages.

At one point, Brand sang: "I said some things I didn't of oughta, like I had sex with your granddaughter, though it was consensual."

A spokeswoman for Sachs said the actor, who played waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers, was "upset" by the incident but did not wish to comment further.

His agent Meg Poole said that she had emailed and written to the BBC to formally complain about the calls and was awaiting a response.

The controversy suggests that Brand has not learned his lesson after being reprimanded by rocker Rod Stewart in 2006 for similar claims.

Brand angered the singer when he told the audience at an awards ceremony that he had had "a little go at his daughter".

I was indeed in Porto. Stuffing myself senseless. Gosh the food's plentiful. And good. And cheap.

And I managed to have what will almost certainly be my last dip in the sea for the year. We were at a beachside café and it was quite essential to get my feet wet. Having done that it became essential to immerse myself fully. (A minimum of modesty was preserved, all will be pleased to hear.) The sea was pretty choppy though and the undertow was monstrous so I only went in as far as necessary to duck my head under.

I've had many such short and long years of course with various trips between Oz and Europe.
Is the word 'continental' missing there?

The Casa da Música is certainly stunning to behold at first but I was quite alarmed by certain aspects of it. The acoustic is problematic - it seems the middle gets sucked out of everything, which is not a good sign. The seats are really quite annoying - as in many concert halls they retract, but they slide under the seat back rather than folding up. This means that unless you slouch you get less seat base. I didn't find that pleasant (and of course I didn't sit in the hall for much of the concert... although I did stay for Remix's very impressive Thalleïn). Worst though are the metal steps, both in the hall and backstage. The ones in the hall are of uneven height and have already shifted a little with use; some of the metal on the exposed edges has become twisted as well. In other words it's much too easy to trip and if you do, try not to land on those edges or you'll probably tear something. The ones backstage are much too steep and the ceiling is much too low. We were told that so far 'only' one musician has fallen down them; quite a few of us had minor trips on the way up.

So not one of my favourite halls, I'm afraid. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they have to shut it for a while in a few years to fix some of that.

Oh, and apparently the organ's fake. They built the façade and ran out of money, I'm told.