´óÏó´«Ã½

Off to drive the James Coburn car in Italy. It's a race called The Mille Miglia, The One Thousand miles, although when I say race, it's more of an event nowadays as overtaking has been banned and it's more about it being a precision timing discipline.

130 cars from all over the world driving for four days. Mrs. E is co-driver and is even more excited about it than I am. She's no slouch either when it comes to putting the pedal to the metal.

So I will tweet piccies whenever I can but before we depart on Tuesday, I have to work, work, work. The holidays don't start till those fasten seatbelt signs go on and I am on that aeroplane.

Have a lovely fortnight.

Clp

2010

X.

Here's a message my wise old pal sent me today:

"I refer to that first piece of advice I ever gave you. 'Be who u are, its easier and u won't get found out'.

It's really a paraphrase of Oscar Wilde when he said: it was easier to tell the truth as it's so hard to remember all the lies (he actually said it better than that, and it was probably George Bernard Shaw).

He's quite clever my mate.

Being a chameleon is so tiring, it's really not worth it and leaves you ending up confused about yourself.

´óÏó´«Ã½ 1 tonight. I fear a bloodbath.

CLP

2010

X.

Bath time with Jonny, my new Wednesday pastime. Off for a spot of bob skeleton as our Sporting Challenge No. 14.

If you'd have told me I'd be doing this when I was in junior school, staring out of the window and wondering what to do with my life, I would have sent for the men in white coats to take you away.

I love Bath - fabulous cafes and shops, one of the best hotels in the world and stunning architecture. It seems a crime to be going there for just a few hours. I wanna stay !

Head first, here we go, on the bob but without the snow.

Will tweet pics later @achrisevans.

Have a good one fine people.

Clp

2010

X.

...That's a tweet I just received... Made me chuckle. I love the fact that people bother to write things down and draw things that make us chuckle.

How simple is that ?

Life is generally very good don't you think? There's very little to get worked up about really and so much more to enjoy.

I have this new thing where I absolutely put off all treats until I have done all my work, no exceptions. It makes having cups of tea and biscuits feel like winning the world cup.

I'm working till 11. P.M. tonight - so watch out fridge when I do finally return. In the gym now, had an apple! Am I crazy or what ?

Clp

2010

X.

Father Brian D'Arcy, literally the nicest man in the world. A force for good and no doubting that.

I believe him, I trust him and I like him. Enthusiasm can often be mistaken for ego, but not in Brian's case. He is a servant of his faith one hundred percent, but never lets himself get in the way of what he is trying to get across.

What do I sound like? How do I come across? Did I do ok?

None of these thoughts worry him, so he is left free to get on with his message. Too much thought can hijack the moment, and the lag it causes can be heard/seen by the audience.

Learn, practice, prepare and then let it all go and see what happens - trust your industry but only if you really mean it.

They will always know if you don't.

This is Father Brian D'Arcy and Legs Lynn (she is mid-report here!)

CLP

2010

X

Trailer tents, caravan pods, roof tents, awnings, yurts and now floating caravans. I love 'em all. They have dominated the texts and e mails this week, and quite rightly so.

I have owned two Land Rovers and unwisely dispensed with both of them. Had I known roof tents were an option - with snazzy access ladders - I would never have let either of them go.

In other news - one in eight people who now make fifty will go on to be a hundred or more. Er - not me though, I can assure you. If this hayfever persists like it is this year, I may not even make next week. Quick - somebody tell Richard Allinson to stand by.

Shorts out and legs out everyone - that's what sunny days are for now, come on !

Clp

2010

X.

Just the best mood in work today. Yes the sun is shining, yes it's Thursday but there's something else going on. I have no idea what it is but it's definitely there.

Just been taken through latest website stats. All doubled or more. Thanks everyone! They peaked with the arrival on planet earth of one Noah Nicholas Martin Evans. He had over a million hits, bless him.

Loved the caravan, roof tent, trailer tent stuff this morning - more tomorrow please. . .

. . . I go home to edit now. I will be in my hovel till 5 p.m. If you see my wife in the meantime, please give her my love.

X..

Clp

2010

The new One Show host remains a mystery. Christine being happy is obviously very important, and I'm sure she'll have a say in who her new co-host will be. Someone is going to get a great gig, good luck to them, exciting times.

Just arrived at Lords Cricket ground for this week's Sporting Challenge.

Jonny is bound to win (it's his favourite sport) but this is awesome. A beautiful day and Michael Vaughan thrown in for good measure.

Have a great one and remember - Who Is The One ?

Clp

2010

X.

You gotta smile. It's really important. Not all the time but as often as you can.

I see the same bloke every day on his way to work, and I swear a smile is the furthest thing from his mind. His jaws appear locked with the gritty determination of grumpiness. What a waste of energy.

I have a wonky jaw and rubbish yellow teeth, but I still love a smile. I dream of a full set of perfectly formed gnashers that have that steely blue tinge to them because the are so dazzlingly white, but I'm happy to make do with what I've got.

Oh and let's not forget how alluring a lovely pair of pink gums can be to an unsuspecting admirer.

Your mouth is the spring from which your spirit flows out, so look after it, enjoy it and if you feel it appropriate to do so, why not share some of your mouth with a friend.

Clp

2010

X.

It's a lot like hay fever but it hurts your throat a bit more. It's definitely what it is - I think.

I suffer from hay fever really quite badly but never this early. My pal has the same symptoms if further medical proof be needed. There you are.

The skies over London and the South East remain dormant, and a world looks on still confounded by the hiccup of a small mountain somewhere far far away causing all this fuss.

Wille Walsh flies off on his own last night on a jumbo jet to ask are we sure we are sure about all this grounding. Thousand of kids abroad on school trips are loving the adventure of having to stay away for an extra week or two, but of course thousands more are seeing their annual holidays ruined and there are much more serious repercussions to what's happened.

The latest is 1 a.m. tomorrow morning. I fear that is a little optimistic, don't you ?

CLP

2010

x

Look, here's the figures for The Three Stooges Show from last night - 9.4 million with a peak of almost 10. Much better than I thought they would be.

So, who wins the bowl of fruit ? Well blow me if it isn't: Jonny Saunders!

Congratulations - and now the benchmark has been set. Sky next week. . .

I can feel a SWEET-stake coming on.

Listen you lot, have a fabulous weekend and I will see you back on the radio Monday at five past seven.

I'll be tweeting all weekend at @achrisevans.

Clp

2010

X.

What do we think about the leaders debate due to air tonight ? I am so worried they are going to "safe" both the fun and the value out of it all. Please don't !

The viewing figures will tell us all we need to know. It's not all about how many people tune in though. Rather, it's all about how many people stay with the programme.

I predict the ´óÏó´«Ã½ show will win the most viewers overall, with Sky's Adam Boulton ranking up there with Dimbleby (David) as best hosts. Alistair Stewart is a strange choice for ITV, I think. As I said this morning, Sir Trevor McD must be spitting feathers.

I hope the leaders realise it's not what they say we'll be taking note of, but how they say it. Do they mean it ? Do they believe it ? Or are they simply saying it to get their hands on the keys to Number 10? Not that Number 10 has any keys, but that's another story.

Alright - 8.30pm ITV it is then.

See u there.

X.

Clp

2010

Routine.

Wake up - turn off all three alarm clocks, run shower, brush teeth in shower, dress - tracky and hoodie and trainers. Phone and wallet, kiss wife, pat dog, exit house, let out chickens, get in car with Marky Mark.

Go through e mails from Hells - Exec Prod; write opening of show and send through to Hells. Listen to 6 o'clock news, power nap - if time, usually not.

Arrive - hug girls, pat boys on the head, beg for tea. Papers - separate headlines into 3 categories:- General Interest, Political, Sport.

Sift and sort listener emails. Loo.

Studio - rehearse top of show - do show. Say goodbye to everyone, haircut, gym, back to car to leave for Sporting Challenge (today gymnastics !) write blog, post blog. . .

Current time 11.37a.m.

I feel like Jack Bauer but not as handsome or daring.

Have a nice day you crazy cats.

Clp

2010

X.

Get home as quickly as possible re write phase of book ll.

Write like billy-o for four hours, go for a drive and a cuppa somewhere with the wee one and the ex-girl on the sofa.

Feel great today, really really positive, no reason in particular. Had seven solid hours sleep last night, maybe that's something to do with it.

I know I had seven hours because my wife has a new "app" on her phone. You put it under your pillow and it tells you what kind of sleep you had, and for how long you had it. I think it's "app" one billion and four - something like that.

Right, power nap, then brekkie and then power up that PC baby, power it up I tell ya.

Clp

2010

X.

How is it that whenever I get hardly any sleep the show seems so much easier to do than when I grab an early night ?

Three and a half hours is all I managed last night, after staying up to watch the golf and then setting the alarm an hour early by mistake.

Maybe it also had something to do with the fabulous weekend I had, which was off the scale and seemed more like a week than just a couple of days.

Hey ho, I don't know. Off to lose some weight now, I have the cover shoot for book two this Friday - lock all the food cupboards.

CLP

2010

X.

Today, three pals and myself are meeting up for soup and a sandwich at lunchtime. They are three top bods - the best of the best and I'm very much looking forward to it.

One is an artist, one is a scientist, one is an actor and I, as you know, am a humble DJ.

I once heard a story about how we came to know the weight of the earth. The tale goes that Sir Christopher Wren was having dinner with Sir Isaac Newton, and they had a wager about who could come up with the answer first. I believe Newton won the bet and the world became a little wiser about the planet we inhabit.

I'm now wondering what we four might discover as a result of our bite to eat. . .

Yours ever optimistically,

CLP

2010

X.

. . . a sun dappled hammock, softly swaying in the warm breeze beneath a majestic old oak tree on a day like today - teasing you to drop everything at hand, encouraging you to put your schedule on hold and succumb to its seductive charms ?

I would say no - not for a second.

And that's what I saw today, as I pulled into our drive when I returned home from work this lunchtime.

So - what am I gonna do ?

I'm gonna go buy us a hammock because I may have seen it - but only in my mind. We don't actually own one !

Beautiful out there it is.

Clp

X.

2010

Poor Lenny and Dawn - having decided to go their separate ways...

But then again I always say - the next ten years can be the best ten years - and they are better doing something about their situation now, rather than letting it "fester" as my Mum used to say.

So, even though it is sad on the one hand, it can only lead to good on the other. And of course it can always be much worse.

Just today I received a message from Billie, wishing me a good morning and letting me know she was listening to the show on the way to work.

Once together but now friends forever. In no way can that be a bad thing.

Clp

2010

X.

A dangerous day today: in as much as it feels like we're still on holiday, but we're not. We're very much at work, it just that it doesn't seem that way.

London looks like the seaside in the sun this morning, the banks look more like boarding houses, the cafes look like tea shops and the Marylebone Road has something of a Victorian promenade about it.

It's amazing how a bit of shut eye, blues skies and down-time can raise the spirits. . .

. . . oh oh but hang on a second, we have just hit bumper to bumper traffic on the A40.

"Thud"

That was the sound of me coming straight back down to earth.

Regards and the best of 'em

CLP

2010

X.

So what a lovely show the team put on for me today, surprises non-stop. The Golden Oldie from my Mum nearly set me off. . .

44 years now on the planet and I still feel like I did when I went to the big school, no older. Sure - I look older - but I feel and think exactly the same as I have always done.

D'ya wanna know a secret ?

I was up all night with food poisoning and had it not been my birthday, I would have taken a rare day off - felt like death warmed up to be honest. I just now worry for my fellow travellers on the plane to Portugal this afternoon !

Happy Easter you lot.

Clp

2010

X.

Cake time! Chris celebrates his birthday in the studio below: