See here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13407712

In the latest issue Maxine (who was rather good in Silk, we thought) recommends the book Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.

It's about the village of Eyam in Derbyshire during the Great Plague in 1666 and she says that it should be made into a film.

However does anyone else remember a play on BBC TV in the early 1970's called The Roses of Eyam? It starred Ronald Pickup as the minister who persuaded the villagers that they should quarantine themselves until the plague had burned itself out, rather than risk infecting the outside world. It was rather grim, but as I recall quite riveting.

It's not been put onto DVD. I don't ever remember being available on VHS either. I suppose it could be one of those things the BBC wiped so they could reuse the tape.

I was reading The Independent website. I noticed one of the items under Editor's Choice is "10 best jams". My immediate thought was that it was a comparison of Grateful Dead / Cream / Phish etc albums when of course it refers to fruity conserves.

Tish! Silly me.

Postie made two separate visits today. Once at 11 to deliver the (month-old) January issue. At last! Any other subscribers still waiting? I'd already succumbed a few days before Christmas though, and purchased a copy over the counter. (Couldn't wait any longer I'm afraid...) Still, it was nice to read the subscribers' letter.
But hang on, what's this... an hour later and I return from walking the dog to find... ta dah! The February issue! I've been running around giddily for the last few hours or so. Yippee!
Please excuse the excessive use of exclamation marks. I'm really quite chuffed.

Is The Word going to sponsor Latitude 2011? Just bought our tickets - the addition of a fiver for a child's ticket does not tick me off half as much as them charging another fiver per ticket as a booking fee!
Hope you do sponsor it, and we see you there again.

Or has my copy gone awol again?

(Yes I've sent off a mail to the @servicehelpline, I'm an old hand at this.)

I am currently slightly obsessed with the Two Door Cinema Club album after they were recommended by one of the bloggers on this here website. In fact, it is probably my favourite albums since the Fanfarlo one, which was also acquired due to a tip-off from a fellow member of the Massive.

So what little things have made your life better that you wouldn't have come across without the ever-benign influence of The Word?

Apparently, Dunedin (my current home town) is the furthest city in the world from London. I therefore reckon that I have a fair shout at being the subscriber/massive member who lives further from Word Towers than any other.

In fact, according to http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm the precise distance from 90-92 Pentonville Road to my house is 11871.276 miles (or 19104.966 km). Can anyone beat that?

*eyes moist with tears*

"... I mean I didn't prepare a speech or anything. But I guess I should start by thanking the good people at Word magazine for making it all possible. And my fellow bloggers, I'd be nothing without you. I'd also like to thank my parents for raising me on a diet of good music and bad puns..."

*music starts playing, officials try to gently direct me offstage, I resist and try to shout over the music*

"They like me, they really like me! The women are coming!!"

*security appear on stage, and after an inelegant scuffle I am carried off by four burly men*

My goodness, I'm in a splendid mood today! Stepdaughter safely ensconced in school, Mrs. Oyster dropped off at work and the dog severely walked. Complete strangers have been 'Good Morninged' and I have the whole day to myself. Shiftwork can be a pain at times, but days like this are the payoff. The sun is shining, I've got 'The Lives Of Others' to catch up with on the i-player (thanks for the reminder) and I shall have seafood linguini for breakfast.

The only cloud on the horizon (bar the news about Mark Linkous) is the non-appearance of the postman. I've been one of the first to post re. the new issue in recent months (Chris Mullin/Sunderland scenario)and I've obviously been spoiled as I now feel deprived. Oh well, little can break my good mood today. Hope those 9-to-5ers out there have a good day. Fondest regards, Clint

Yesterday morning, on a day just like any other (to no doubt quote a film trailer somewhere), breakfast was unaffectedly joyous. Nothing special happened, mainly because nothing happened at all. The morning brought one of life's simple pleasures - a relaxing breakfast. Nothing more. The menu choices; a chocolate spread sandwich, a pint of tea, a copy of the Word and Neil Young's "Harvest" on the stereo. Again, not much in the way of a special occasion, but it worked.

I suppose this unadorned mixture, combined with the wearing of my "Sigur Ros" jumper (knitted by my mother in a traditional Icelandic style) genuinely brought a smile to my face. For a short time, in humble aberration, life wasn't the dire mess we've come to expect of late. There was no profiteering financial chaos (or an approximation thereof), no socially inept politicians trying to weasle their way out of theft allegations, murder, assisted suicide and the mind-numbing endless droning of Friends repeats. For one brief moment, when the harmonies of "Old Man" shone through, all of the mundanities of modern living fell away, allowing me to just be content in my own existence. To put it another way, what was an unremarkable grey morning like any other allowed me to experience joy at just being allowed to be. And you can't say fairer than that.

So, on that note, what modes of relaxation do the Massive employ to enjoy the days where they don't have meetings until 11 (like me) or have the strange rarity, the fabled day off?

I thought this was interesting:

http://www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/all/5765943/the-wiki-man.thtml

Not saying it would work on a monthly music mag, but very innovative idea. I think the Economist is something you might want to get every now and then depending on the content, while The Word is something where 'all-or-nothing' is maybe more suitable.

And just as well, I wouldn't want the job of trying to summarise the contents of a whole issue in a text message!

Don't bother with page 2 BTW - a very dubious analogy with health and education.

Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen the Best & Worst lists in the new issue and you worry about knowing them in advance, come back later.

The Sopranos - the twist surely is that we, the viewers have been assassinated. We suddenly find everything black. All the references and hints - the man who went to the toilet; the orange juice earlier; the "communion" of eating the onion rings, Tony and Pussy's discussion way back about when you get whacked, it all goes black.

Hang on - if Carlos Santana's guitar was out of tune and "bled onto the other tracks" then how would re-recording it help?
Grand feature by the way, especially the interesting comments on the malign influence wrought by the introduction of the 'undo' button. Always a pleasure to see Lord Hepworth of Islington heping out on the shop floor.

Hello Fraser - did you pick any of our suggestions for new T-shirt designs, or were they all so awful that it's best to forget the whole sorry episode?