Jolly Interesting Stuff™

The working title of my new project is Midnight Train To Georgia. No doubt I am violating some copyright issue by calling it that, but until Gladys Knight sends the Pips over to have a word, that is what it shall remain. As the name suggests, I am planning to catch the Midnight Train To Georgia. If indeed there is one. But that's half the fun. The seed of this idea started many years ago when I was at University. I thought, having just heard the Deep Blue Something song, 'Wouldn't it be fun to have Breakfast At Tiffany's?' And at the time my answer was yes. But I never got round to doing it. Eight years on, my answer is still yes. But it's also no. There is nothing much to eating breakfast at Tiffany's. Basically it involves eating and getting asked to leave. That may have been the type of thing a younger me would have done - in a respectable manner of course - now though, it seems somewhat, well, immature. Without giving away too much of what Is This You? is about, I end up inspiring people to reconnect with friends and family who they have, for whatever reason, lost contact with. That was never the intention. It started as a whimsical quest to try and find my best friend's look-alike. But it evolved in to something that I could never have foreseen. And it evolved in to something life changing. Partly for me, but more for other people. It was fantastic and I wouldn't change any of it, but it was fantastic because of the end point. The start of it was just silly. Very, very silly. So I don't want to do silly things anymore. Not that silly anyway. Everything I do will always have a quirky edge, because that's what I do, but there will also have to be stimulation. And that is why I don't want breakfast at Tiffany's, it's why I want to catch the midnight train to Georgia. I imagine it must be a fascinating thing to do. More fascinating than the midnight train to Loughborough anyway. The characters, the scenery (I'll have to take a torch), the sandwiches. Think Michael Palin meets Bill Bryson meets Jonathan Lee.

Catching the midnight train to Georgia is only the start though. I am going to embark on a number of other journeys that are inspired by song titles. The plan is to make a film of it and also make it my second book. And this is where you come in. Because you get to shape my journey. You get to decide where I go. Or at least you suggest songs and I think about them or ignore them depending on whether they might get me killed or not. Oh, and each song doesn't have to follow on from the other. I.E.: My second trip doesn't have to start in Georgia. And please, do me a favour, don't suggest Breakfast at Tiffany's. I look forward to all your suggestions - either in the comments section or in an email if you want to suggest something by Steps. And who knows, maybe you'll get to join me for a leg of the journey.

*One of these may still happen. I'll let you guess which.

Way back in 2009 you may remember me mentioning something called One Night, One Hundred Buses. I can't remember exactly what I said, but it can't have been much when you consider that back then I didn't really know what I was talking about. Not because I was on drugs or anything like that, I just didn't have the facts to hand. Now I do. Sort of. Between dusk on Monday 12th April and dawn on Tuesday 13th April 2010, I, along with one cameraman, one certified representative of Guinness World Records and one tea-lady, will be attempting to catch 100 London buses.

Let's start by answering what I imagine will be a popular question, "Why?" Well the answer to this lies in advertising. Just over a year ago I was working on ideas for a Transport For London campaign with a particular emphasis on getting people to use buses more. The way I saw it, the one thing buses had going for them was that there were bloody millions of the things. Oh, and they ran at night. That was about it. So one of my ideas - in very simple terms - was a competition. A competition that would create a buzz. A competition that would challenge people to catch as many buses as they could in a single 24 hour period. A competition that would mean the tubes were empty and I would have an enjoyable trip home. It wouldn't have been hard to monitor either, as Oyster cards record all that data. Anyway, some liked it, most thought I was mental. Probably those that actually caught the bus. In the end I expect they went for a poster that said, 'Catch The Bus!'. I really couldn't care less.

So, I was left with the idea. And now I want to prove it would have worked.

Using a little bit of common sense, I have tweaked the concept slightly. Twenty-four hours is a long time - it's pretty much a day in some places - so I have more than halved it. I think you'll agree that One Night, One Hundred Buses sounds much better than One Day, Two Hundred Buses. It is also sounds like much less work. So that's the first thing. The second thing is that there is no world record out there for 'the number of buses caught in a single night'. By 8am on Tuesday 13th April, there will be. And it will belong to me. (So long as there isn't a strike). In theory it will also belong to my cameraman given that he will be with me throughout proceedings getting the footage that will turn this baby into a film. But we'll gloss over that for now. I am doing all the planning after all. He is just going to be standing there holding a bit of expensive camera equipment.

By the night of the challenge we will all be aware of the rules and regulations I have to adhere to. Because I will have told you about twenty times. To reward your loyalty though, I am prepared to give you a sneak peek. They will look something like this.

1) I must not catch the same numbered/destined bus more than once. For example, I can only catch the 11 to Ealing Broadway once. However, I would still be able to catch the 11 to Liverpool Street or the 207 to Ealing Broadway or even the N11 to Eailing Broadway.

2) I must not stay on a bus for longer than one stop.

3) I must not go along the same part of road twice unless I am travelling in the opposite direction.

4) I am allowed to walk/run between bus stops but I am not able to use any other form of transport.

5) I must pay for each journey. An Oyster card swipe is sufficient.

6) The period 'night' is determined as the time between dusk on Monday 12th April and dawn on Tuesday 13th April 2010. Based on those timings from previous years, it will give me approximately 11 hours (7:45pm - 06:45am)