Sometimes I’m better off catching the news late. I was mildly lost for words on hearing that Geoffrey Perkins had been involved in a terrible accident that took his life. In his mid-50s, he doubtless had a lot more mileage in him if left to natural causes… unless investigation proves otherwise.

Geoffrey had a long career in comedy, which some might consider had a significant peak in 1978, when he took over production duties on Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. However, I will remember him as Mike Flex in Radio Active, a show I listened to avidly in my teens, mostly very late at night while tucked up in bed. My eldest brother had a bright red Sony Walkman with a built in radio and cassette recording function, so I would lie in the dark, restraining chuckles and recording shows for future re-listening (almost to destruction, though I still have some recordings in a box). Flex was a detestible character with all the charisma of a mid-African dictator and a general distaste for the stupid, the young and co-present Mike Channel (played by Angus Deayton).

I will, undoubtedly, dig out the old tapes and have another listen. If you can find a copy of Mike Flex’s Master Quiz where the three kids involved showed an astounding and complete ignorance to the point of Flex’s utter exasperated distraction – go for it… it’s worth the listen.

Related reading:

Charlotte Green had a fit of the giggles this morning on the 8am bulletin for the Today programme. Charlotte reported the news of an American researcher team who have discovered the earliest known still playable voice recording, which predates Edisons effort by 17 years. Recorded with a phonoautograph, which records sound on smoke blackened paper, the 10-second clip features a scratchy though audible rendition of ‘Au Clair de la Lune’. At the conclusion of the piece, listeners heard the clip played back, before Charlotte launched into an obituary piece for Richard Widmark. Moments into the obituary Charlotte started to stutter and stumble over her own fits of laughter, presumably highly amused by the mildly bizarre song. I’m sure nothing could be more embarrassing then ‘corpsing‘ during a serious news item, but sometimes you simply can’t help yourself. I know I’ve been set off my the smallest of things, then sat grinning and giggling until tears stream down my face and my jaw aches. Poor Charlotte.

I woke last night a little before 1AM and felt the rubble beneath me. The earthquake rippled past and a moment of sleepy conversation erupted over what had just happened. I haven’t felt a quake like that in years and then I experiened the ripple pass beneath me as I worked at my desk. The experts say we have around 200 quakes a year in the UK, but most of those only register on sensitive machinery designed specifically for the purpose. Having that many noticable quakes would certainly take the novelty value out of it.

Oddly, when I heard the quakes originated from near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, one of my first thoughts was whether Jim Broadbent still had family in the area who might be effected. A big fan of radio comedy, the series ‘Saturday Night Fry‘ (which you might just be able to track down on the Internet or BBC7) featured a skit where Stephen Fry probed Jim on his family background, which noted that there had been Broadbents in the Market Rasen area since the 60s (or something like that). The essence of the skit comes down to the fact that Hugh Laurie had spent the last week trying to forget something but he can’t remember what. Only when Stephen takes an interest in Jim’s family history do we discover Hugh had in fact spent the last week trying to forget Jim’s surname – an activity now rendered completely pointless.

Funny how these things come to mind entirely at odds with the sort of things you probably should be thinking about – like whether half your roof has come off during the night.

I was a little concerned yesterday when Eddie Mair asked Steve Clegg, new leader of the Liberal Democrats, to tell him something we didn’t know about him that didn’t involve his politics or his family upbringing. I have to admit I may have misheard the constraints of the question – or perhaps Steve did – but, Clegg promptly rolled out an answer that involved his post-War family upbringing shaping of his world view and current political bent.

Anyway, that aside, I seriously think I’m going to need someone to win me over to the Liberal Democrat cause for the future, especially the leadership (now that it’s changed yet again…). I have found myself swayed by the views of David Cameron far too often of late – and it’s possible I may have no choice but to reevaluate my options come the next General Election. Ten years ago, I’m certain I wouldn’t have had these sorts of doubt… but, now I’m constantly concerned about the way the current government seem to have gone off the rails and the ‘other option’ no longer holds the same allure.

Me… a Conservative (with a capital ‘C’) – whatever is the world coming to?