I nearly met Chris Eubank today. He and I have had a number of close encounters in the year and a bit that I've been coming down to Brighton, most of which have involved me narrowly avoiding crashing into his illegally parked Hummer, but sadly we always seem destined to be no more than casual acquaintances.

Today's close encounter, however, was on foot at the Brighton courthouse, where Mr Eubank was making one of his regular appearances, this time for some kind of wanton vehicle hijacking. Possibly in jodhpurs. Anyhoo, it just so happens that the courtroom steps are conveniently situated halfway between Lisa's workplace and the Mind charity shop, so needless to say I pass them quite frequently. And I couldn't help noticing the TV cameras, outside broadcast vans, satellite transmitters, and national news network presenters all lining up as I arrived to meet Lisa for lunch. Forget Katrina, the biggest news story of the day is obviously Chris.

Personally I was keen to loiter with the intent of getting on TV, but Lisa (to whom fame clearly means nothing) was more keen to get to the pub, so I was over-ruled and forced to go and drink Bacardi instead. I did return an hour later though, to find I hadn't actually missed anything, which lulled me into a false sense of security, so I popped around the corner to the Age Concern shop, went back ten minutes later, and found I'd jutht mitthed the mithcreant bokther.

The greater tragedy is that I didn't even buy anything in Age Concern.

But on a brighter note, I'd just like to pay homage to the culinary talents of Lisa, who spent most of yesterday following up the success of her Miracle Weight Loss Lasagne, by making me a Miracle Weight Gain Cheesy Cottage Pie. The recipe (by Fern's hubby, Phil Vickery) was from 'This Morning', and Lisa sent off for it in February 2002. This is the first time she's made it. It's almost as if she's been waiting for a victim all this time.

But I'm pleased to report that it was an unqualified success (emphasis on the unqualified), and well worth the price of that stamped addressed envelope. Although I still think we should sue over the quoted preparation time of 20 minutes.