Well, as days go, I suppose it was a bit of a curate's egg. So first, my apologies to those of you who loyally tuned in to Radio 4 to hear me speaking, and did not hear me. Long story, but in brief, the minibus from Dulwich College took rather longer than it should have done, and so we were allocated only about three minutes, which didn't really afford many opportunities for question! Still, you will have heard something about the project and ...............

.............. it was immensely humbling to have the opportunity to speak in Parliament, and to spread the word. The founder of the College, Dr Ahmad Sarmast, was very, very kind, in front of the media from around the world, and I know that I can tell you - and that you will understand - that I did feel a frisson of pride at having done something, however small, for the future of humanity. The College looks after a large number of orphaned, but musical children, and the images that accompanied Dr Sarmast's presentation really did bring tears to one's - OK, my - eyes. I wish you could have been there, so that you might understand something of this amazing project. My own role, which was to design the music curriculum for the place, took about 18 months, and it's wonderful to know that the whole place is now very much up and very much running. The facilities are amazing, and it goes from strength to strength.

Lunchtime brought an unexpected pleasure, as I found myself in a place called Le Pain Quotidien in Shepherd's Bush. Very nice, and effective in its simplicity, with lots of wooden tables, and plenty of evidence of fabulous French bread. A delicious salmon pate and a reasonable ( 6/10) quiche, with a glass of sauvignon blanc that seemed a touch chardonnay-ish to me, made for a very agreeable combination, and the coffee was superb. (I took a leaf out Matthew Norman's book and brought out my notebook, which ensured first-rate service. (!) I lost count of the number of napkins that were brought to me as one after the other tumbled to the floor!)

Anyway, that's that. Now I must give my time to your LMs. It's been a tad hectic recently, and I'd hate to think they'd missed out. So tonight we had a fairly liberal evening, with much hilarity in Curlew, foir various reasons! They are such wonderful company, and now that my portfolio of extraneous activity is over, I will re-focus between now and the end of term.

Goodnight.