1. They’re all pure gold

Taste is delighted to report that yet another of our favourite artisan producers has scooped several awards in the country’s top foodie ‘Oscars’.

2. Hit or miss...

Was it a vintage Reading Festival? Probably not, yet Carling Weekend fans were still treated to a highly palatable offering that was as fun and fierce yet cleaner and greener than ever before.

3. Henley Literary Festival offer – buy one get one free

Reading Alive and the Reading Evening Post have teamed up with the organisers of the Henley Literary Fesyival to offer readers 2 for 1 tickets to the shows featured here – Paolo Hewitt/Irvine Welsh/Mick Brown/Lucy Cavendish. Just call 01491 843404 quoting ‘Evening Post’. This offer is valid until September 6 and is subject to availability.

4. Just the one for the road

HUSBAND and wife thespians Nick Wilton and Lynette McMorrough are playing a married couple in One For The Road at The Mill at Sonning.

5. Looming like a spectre...

Picture the scene – you are in a large, high-ceilinged study, lined with books and music equipment, which is playing endless classical music. The decor is a peculiar mixture of grandeur and horror, a cross between a baronial mansion and something out of black comedy Sunset Boulevard.

6. Travolta and co are aiming to ride into your heart

WANDERING aimlessly through the video shop I was lost.

There was nothing I wanted to watch. So, somewhat reluctantly, I picked up Wild Hogs. I did this with misery in my heart, fully expecting to feel let down and disappointed.

7. Heard the one about my mate Paul Weller?

Best mates are good for lots of things – going to the pub, making you laugh, giving you advice, keeping your secrets.

8. Paging all book fans...

FOR one weekend in September, Henley-on-Thames will become a vibrant hub of literature, politics, comedy and sport, as the Henley Literary Festival rolls into town for the first time.

9. A real knock out comedy hit

Knocked Up is the latest comedy from 40-Year-Old-Virgin writer/director Judd Apatow and in this offering he proves he is so much more than a one-hit-wonder.

10. Smashing Pumpkins Review

There is something beautiful and frightening in the same package offered by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan; like something out of a Bram Stoker novel.