Gamut of moods

WATCHING Wallander (BBC 1) this evening, I'm gripped by a kind of fascinating existential dread; I mean you just know that things are going to end badly.

The other thing that strikes me is that the programme seems to be an extended advert for Volvo cars.

I'm not sure just how much I enjoy this detective series - indeed at times I'm quite bored with it - nevertheless somehow I can't look away, I have to keep watching.

Anyhow, this highlight of the evening apart, I have to say I feel somewhat restless tonight; My Good Lady decides on an early night - very early, she's in bed by eight o'clock, aching and tired as she is...

I do my evening chores - a tidy-up in the kitchen, my Sunday evening shower before the central heating kicks itself off, then I read for a bit before coming on here.

While listening to Sounds of the Sixties in the BBC iPlayer I search the net for, and print out a copy of, a route planner for our coming trip to Liverpool this week, complete with maps.

Still restless, I listen to Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats, this week about the wonderful Humphrey Lyttleton who, I know, played in Morecambe many times.

And somehow, the story of this man's life makes my mood pick up.

And I reflect that I've experienced quite a gamut of emotions this evening - from the edgy gloom brought on by a moody Swedish cop to the life-affirming cheeriness of a brilliant jazzman.

On the whole I think I know which one I prefer.