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James Martin drops in to give Chris a flavour of what exciting things he's cooking up for his new tour. Dave Coventry is the Not-So-Mystery Guest, talking about the thrills of three-wheeling fun in racing Reliant Robins plus wise words from Dr Jim Harris in the Pause For Thought.

2 hours, 59 minutes

Music Played

  • Belinda Carlisle

    Heaven Is A Place On Earth

    • A Place On Earth - Greatest Hits.
    • Virgin.
  • Rod Stewart

    Please

    • (CD Single).
    • Capitol.
    • 001.
  • Echo & the Bunnymen

    People Are Strange

    • Echo & The Bunnymen - Ballyhoo.
    • Korova.
  • Stevie Wonder

    We Can Work It Out

    • Stevie Wonder Greatest Hits Vol.2.
    • Motown.
  • Keane

    Somewhere Only We Know

    • (CD Single).
    • Transcopic Records.
  • Texas

    Black Eyed Boy

    • Hits Zone - The Best Of 97 (Various).
    • Polygram Tv.
  • Scouting for Girls

    Life's Too Short

    • (CD Single).
    • Warner Music.
  • Carpenters

    (They Long To Be) Close To You

    • The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More.
    • A&M.
  • Them

    Here Comes The Night

    • The Greatest Hits Of 1965.
    • Premier.
  • Them

    Baby Please Don't Go

    • The Greatest Hits Of 1965.
    • Premier.
  • Bryan Adams

    Brand New Day

    • Get Up.
    • Polydor.
  • Cliff Richard

    Carrie

    • Cliff Richard - Private Collection.
    • EMI.
  • Cliff Richard

    We Don't Talk Anymore

    • Cliff Richard - Private Collection.
    • EMI.
  • Cliff Richard & The Drifters

    Move It

  • Bob Dylan

    Like A Rolling Stone

    • Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits.
    • Columbia.
  • Jamie Lawson

    Wasn't Expecting That

    • Jamie Lawson.
    • Gingerbread Man Records.
    • 001.
  • Ray Charles

    Hit The Road Jack (feat. The Raelettes)

    • Ray Charles - The Collection.
    • Castle Communications.
  • George Michael

    Faith

    • George Michael - Ladies & Gentlemen.
    • Epic.
  • Pulp

    Common People

    • (CD Single).
    • Island.
    • 5.
  • Suede

    Trash

    • (CD Single).
    • Nude Records.
  • Michael Jackson

    Rockin' Robin

    • The Best Michael Jackson & Jackson Fi.
    • Polygram Tv.
    • 8.
  • Guy Garvey

    Angela's Eyes

    • Counting The Squall.
    • Fiction.
    • 1.
  • Olly Murs

    Troublemaker (feat. Flo Rida)

    • (CD Single).
    • Epic.
    • 1.
  • Danny Wilson

    Mary's Prayer

    • Now That's What I Call Music! 12 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

    Born To Run

    • Born To Run.
    • CBS.
  • Naughty Boy

    Runnin' (Lose It All) (feat. µþ±ð²â´Ç²Ô³¦Ã© & Arrow Benjamin)

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin EMI.
    • 001.
  • Kylie Minogue

    Can't Get You Out Of My Head

    • (CD Single).
    • Parlophone.

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

From Dr Jim Harris, Art Historian:

I do a lot of stupid things.  Some of them are just dumb.  And some of them are a bit dangerous.  Last weekend I lost my glasses because I didn’t notice I wasn’t wearing them.  That was just dumb.

When I was thirteen, I bought a catapult, which I hid from my parents because I didn’t think they’d approve. I used it to fire stones and bits of potato down the garden from my bedroom window.  And that was a bit dangerous.  But that’s not the stupid bit.

One day I thought it would be interesting to fire something else, so I went and got a meat skewer from the kitchen and put that in the leather pouch of the catapult.  Don’t try this at home.

I stood at the window, pulled back the elastic and let go.  The skewer shot out of the pouch at tremendous speed, straight into the back of my hand.  It stung a bit.  Did I mention don’t try this at home?  Really. 

So the question now was, ‘show and tell?’  or ‘duck and cover?’.  I was never going to tell my Mum I’d shot myself with a meat skewer so I pulled it out, ran my hand under the tap for a bit, had a little lie down, and then buried the catapult at the bottom of the garden.  I put a plaster on the hole in my hand where the skewer had been and never mentioned it. That’s how stupid I felt.  That’s how stupid I was.

Christians believe that God knows we’re all a bit dumb – but also that no matter what we’re like or what we do, he thinks we have the potential to be absolutely brilliant.  It’s the point of Jesus, really – to show us how good we can be and to give us the chance of a fresh start, a new crack at reaching our potential, not once, but every day.

I reckon we all need that – an opportunity to forget the stupid and catch sight of our potential. Without it I’d have been crushed by my own dumbness a long time ago.  But with it – well, it’s what makes getting up in the morning worthwhile.  Anything could happen.   And that’s worth a song of praise. Or is it a hymn…?

Broadcast

  • Thu 15 Oct 2015 06:30

Farewell Chris Evans: The best bits from his last shows at Radio 2

After eight years of hosting the Breakfast Show, Chris Evans leaves Radio 2.

500 Words

91Èȱ¬ Radio 2's story-writing competition for kids.