Well thank goodness for ABC2 last night. I only wish I had realised Father Ted was on when it started at 8 and not just accidentally falling into it halfway through. Still Mrs Doyle’s cake jumper made it all worthwhile. If you missed it, you missed seeing a knitted jumper cooked into a banana cake. As visual comedy it was a sight to behold.

Then Spectacle again with Elvis Costello. My admiration and adoration of Elvis Costello is growing every episode of this series. Not only is the music fantastic, but here is a man who can speak intelligently about popular music with his guests. A bonus is his jaunty taste in hats. Last night’s red number was a wonder.
The opening song “If I only had a brain” was heartfelt and set the scene for Rufus Wainwright.

I have to admit the Rufus Wainwright phenomenon has passed me by, but after listening to him speak and hearing his beautiful songwriting and singing, I am determined to seek out some more. Here’s the final number where Rufus and Elvis were joined by Kate McGarrigle to sing the folk song, Willie Moore.

And I think this is the mark of quality interviewing and disucssion about music, or indeed any topic. If it makes you want to seek out more about the topic, then it’s done its job. Our own man in the hat could learn some lessons here perhaps.