An apology to fanatical blog readers for the lack yesterday of the traditional post-weekend traffic round-up. (That's 'traffic' as in 'wow, 15,000 people in Moldova clicked on our page 17 brief on tap-dancing armadillos', not 'tailbacks as far as the eye can see on the A406 heading into town'.) Irksomely, the Observer Site User Stat-O-Tron didn't deliver the goods until late.
Kicks Site User Stat-O-Tron hard. Nurses foot.
The picture that now emerges a day late is one of stealth, internet geekery and gravel-voiced bards.
While our front page splash about a renewed Irish republican terror threat naturally scored highest, followed by the second front page lead: Blair acts on Jamie's plan for schools. We're glad to see that by Sunday evening Observer food critic Jay Rayner had polemicised on that particular subject on the blog.
But lo! what's this coming round the outside? Storming into the lead by Tuesday morning, it's Tom Waits's top 20 records. And still hanging around in the traffic charts for the second week running is our interview with Bjork. (Matt, if you're reading this - you were right.)
From which we conclude that fear of terror and despair at the state of British children's diet inevitably leads people to seek solace in the arms of quirky-voiced musicians irrespective of gender. Or perhaps we should conclude that Tom Waits and Bjork have solid fan bases in the US, which is where all the bloggers are and so where all the traffic comes from.
A quick Technorati search shows that Tom Waits piece reeling around the blogosphere like a drunken piano. Last spotted here. Oh! there it is again.
Always remember: you read it here first, loyal readers.
