From willhowells.blogspot.com:

My usual base of operations, http://www.willhowells.org.uk/blog, has gone on hiatus. I have no idea how long it’s going to take to resolve – not too long, I hope (touch faux-wood desk surface).

In the mean time, I’ll be roughing it in this blogosphere backwater. Once (not if!) my site comes back, I’ll use the magic of WordPress to import blog posts hence thither.

It will be as if I were never away.

Update: Back now!

Here’s something that puzzles me: the frequency of stretched limousines on the streets of Falkirk in the early evening during the week. I’ve lived in, worked in and visited many different places, and never have I seen such a preponderence of limos.

There may be only two in total (one white, one pink) but, walking home from the station, I might spot them three or four times a week, nearly always accompanied by sound of the young female occupants shrieking at passersby. Six o’clock on a Tuesday evening surely isn’t a common time for hen nights? Occasionally a rentable fire engine with a similar clientele passes, Sirens wailing.

Possible explanations:

• Falkirk is the hen night capital of Scotland
• Limousines are the place to be seen if you’re an affluent young woman in Falkirk.
• It’s actually dirt cheap and undercuts the local bowling alley for low-priced fun.
• There is a very small group of girls who enjoy the experience so much they hire a limo over and over again.
• The local novelty car hire company is trying an innovative method to promote its service.
• The daughter of the owner of the local novelty car hire company likes taking her friends out for a spin.

Alas, I fear this is a mystery that will remain unsolved.

Freema Agyeman will be joining David Tennant in the TARDIS for the 2007 series, the BBC has announced. You may remember her from such TV series as Coronation Street and The Bill, and from such Doctor Who episodes as last Saturday’s, in which she was taken over by the Cybermen, killed by the Doctor and had her brains spill out.

It makes sense then that the new companion is a different character. Martha Jones will join the Doctor at the beginning of series 3, but won’t be in the 2006 Christmas special (“We’ve got another surprise in store for that,” says Russell The Davies). First, though, there is the matter of the current companion, Rose Tyler, who’s fate will be revealed this Saturday in an episode that has a stonking cliffhanger from last week to resolve…

Hello from London. I’m on the move with little time to blog, but I had to pop in to say congratulations to Ming, Ben and the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election campaign team for running the Tories so close. I’m yet to Bob Neill’s repotredlty ungracious acceptance speech, but I caught the declaration on the news this morning and couldn’t help laughing at the absurd fist-in-the-air gesture the new MP sported when the result was announced.

Alas, no time at the moment to comment on campaigning techniques, but I associate myself with James Graham’s comments on not contributing to the fear of crime.