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I took a last-minute decision this morning to take the westerly route from Glasgow to Inverness, by Loch Lomond, Glencoe, Fort William and Loch Ness. It’s four hours, as opposed to three and a bit, but what a wonderful drive. All of the Highlands’ autumnal glories were on display, and by the time I hit…

…you’d bury the dagger/in your silhouette window light go… Ah, there’s nothing like a bit of Tom Waits’s Tom Traubert’s Blues (that’s Waits Mark One, when he had proper tunes), especially in the vicinity of Bushmills itself, which is a real village, with a pub called The Distiller’s Arms. Sandy, Elaine and I had the…

Arrived at George Best Belfast City Airport yesterday courtesy of FlyBe, on time and in good shape, and then got comprehensively lost trying to get the hire car (petrol, not diesel, so I kept stalling it)out of Belfast and onto the Cookstown road. Not helped by the SaNav, which refused to recognise the existence of…

…BBC Radio Five Live carried an astonishing interview (by, of all people, Nicky Campbell) with Paul Gambaccini which is easily the most revealing piece of journalism associated with the entire saga. A full transcript is available, courtesy of Ian Wylie at the Manchester Evening News, here.

Seth Lakeman in brilliant form on today’s TM Show – check it out for seven days atBBC Radio Scotland.

A beautiful day in Shetland…and the Radiocroft with its digital heart relocated to the main room downstairs..

Here’s a confession: I’m a Jonathan Ross fan. I think his Saturday morning radio show frequently ascends to brilliant heights, though the pally interviews with the likes of Ricky Gervais and the constant puffing of David Bowie can become wearying. Well, I say I’m a Jonathan Ross fan. In fact, I’m a Jonathan Ross and…

…details of our weekend trials at The Shetland News. Ferries are all over the place…no imported food in the shops (‘sooth bread’ has vanished) and looks like severe disruption for the rest of the week. I’m due on the boat south on Thursday night – let’s hope things have settled down by then.

There’s Neville, psychokiller cat, hypnotised by the candles last night. No, it’s not Photoshopped! And that’s Hillswick, on one of those fantastic post-storm days when you really just have to get out for a wander. And now…the northerlies!

…or thereabouts. This is Eshaness at about 2.30pm today, Saturday, from the lighthouse car park. Sorry about the shoogly video. It was extremely windy. With gusts of anything up to 80 mph even the Mighty Torslanda was creaking on her springs. As for the three thrill-seekers who had left their car and were leaning almost…