The Specials

Brace yourself for a worrying heads-up

Is this a classic urban myth or callousness from the airlines?

The barbecue's origins: a burning issue

Like tattoos, the outside grill is a phenomenon of the newly affluent working class

Is Nigel Farage the new father figure of politics?

The leader may be only 45, but UKIP is cleaning up the grumpy old man vote

Our master's voice goes estuary

A strange experience listening to the Today programme...

This addiction has me totally Wired

If no one's looking, I'll sneak upstairs and watch a couple more episodes . . .

Lido rage simmers under the surface

The English middle classes love to put on their hairshirts

Coe's past is a long way behind him

The great runner divided my generation as surely as left or right, North or South

I swear you are less calm in the capital

The pros and cons of moving to the country; Terence Conran's 1-1 draw in the great green game

A derby match? With no cursing?

Watching sport in America is nothing like the visceral experience in Britain

I'm no punchbag for the children

The ridicule I suffer from my offspring has suddenly ended

Big wig gap for bigwigs in Baghdad

It's relatively quiet in the Iraqi capital but the comedy rugs should be causing a noise

Better than art: factories, don't you love 'em?

These are exciting places - things actually get made in them

I'll pay to see Hugh Grant get thumped

Why do we think we shouldn't pay to look around historic churches?

Spring: the time when I like to keep it clean

Is anything more fun than sucking six months' worth of fluff off the top of a skirting board?

Save the country: eat an exotic fairy cake

The oddity of farmers' markets during a recession

Inside look at a life that's no holiday

Anyone who reckons prison is a camp must have been on some fairly poor holidays

Exposing the flesh gets you the cold shoulder

In Qatar a glimpse of stocking is still looked on as something shocking

Jobs for the locals? You must be joking

Qatar is like Chicago in 1900 - but with less crime and better weather