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One down. Five to go.
Posted at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
This clip is quite old but the first time I saw it was last week when it was shown on Have I Got News For You. I laughed so hard it hurt. Alcohol may have been involved.
Posted at 07:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Saw this story in the Guardian yesterday. It is a laudable endeavour that echo's a genuine desire to do something for the environment unlike supermarket giant Sainsbury's bandwagon-hopping bag amnesty on April 19 which had more than a faint whiff of marketing stunt about it.
A story in the Guardian a couple of months ago about an initiative by a group of retailers (one of which is Sainsbury's rival Tesco) to cut the number of bags they hand out by 25% by 2008 puts the problem into perspective:
For every 1bn plastic bags produced, 9,000 tonnes of plastic is used and 18,000 tonnes of CO2 produced. The new initiative could reduce CO2 emissions by 58,500 tonnes a year -
the equivalent of taking 18,000 cars off the road for 12 months.
Again very laudable and yet I look at Ireland where a 10p tax on plastic carrier bags was introduced five years ago.
The €0.15 (10p) tax on every bag saw the number taken by shoppers fall from 1.2bn a year to 85m. Although that number has started rising again, it is still well below the pre-tax figures.
Carrier bags use less plastic now than they did 20 years ago but they still contain non-biodegradable polythylene which can take 100 years to break down. They are a scurge on the environment, not just in the energy and resources used to produce them but the place they inevitably take up in landfill. They are also a menace to the visible environment, littering public spaces.
Taxing carrier bags is a relatively quick and easy way of raising awareness and making people be a bit more environmentally friendly, so why can't we follow in Ireland's shoes and stop leaving it to the big corporates to pay little more than lip service to green issues?
Posted at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Went to see James at the Brixton Academy last night with Mosh, Nadia and J.
Dinner and wine before the gig set us up for fine evening of entertainment.Posted at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
I reckon Yeltsin would've stormed it in a dance off...
and Ricky Gervais owes him a credit.
Posted at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
This morning I was nearly run over by Vivienne Westwood who happened to be cycling the wrong way down the middle of one way street near where I live.
I'm going to count it as one of my claims to fame.
Posted at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Bit behind the rest of the world but following glowing recommendations by several people including Nadia and AKA Vasquez I bought the first series of Six Feet Under on DVD. Three episodes in and it's certainly living up to expectations. Particularly enjoyed the spoof ads for embalming products in the pilot.
But what I can't get out of my head is how much Peter Krause, who plays Nate Fisher, looks like American Idol presenter Ryan Seacrest. And yet I kind of fancy Peter Krause a bit but don't feel the same about Ryan Seacrest.
Posted at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I love my job. Sometimes. But particularly this morning. I arrived in the office after a couple of days out to find a rather large package waiting for me on my desk.
It is not unusual and generally means one of two things:
An enormous press pack which gets filed under 'B' as that is the only space for it in the office.
OR
The fruits of several hours labour of marketing minds - maybe even days I don't know how long these things take - distilled into a heavily branded freebie which is generally pointless, ridiculous or rendered such because of the logo's slapped all over it. For example, last week I received a pack of Top Trumps cards with 'different products' on each card.
Today sort of falls into the latter category. I say 'sort of' because it both created a lot of amusement in the office but also a great deal of incredulity at the bad timing and total lack of politically correct thought, which isn't always a bad thing.
In the package was a toy gun. Yes a gun. Complete with plastic 'bullets' and little plastic bottles to shoot at.
When I needed one for part of a fancy dress costume I couldn't find a toy shop in London that stocked them.
The packaging was heavily branded of course and, now here's the marketing bit, the connection between the freebie and the product was evolve with the letter 'r' stuck at either end, in a lighter shade. Clever eh?
Still it's been great fun playing with the 'gun' today. I longed to have moment like the scene in Spaced where they pretend to have a big shoot out using their hands as 'guns' and run around ducking behind the desks, rolling across the floor pretending to dodge bullets. Nadia quickly became the office hot shot and could get the bottle down almost every shot. In fact I'm a little worried at how comfortable she's a gettin' with the gun...
Posted at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a massive fan of the Harry Potter books. Regretfully I got into them after seeing the
first film but I've lost no time in catching up and joining all the other fans in eagerly anticipating the each new installment.Posted at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Recently bought the new Shins album Wincing the Night Away. Have already got Oh, Inverted World which I really like so I was expecting good things and wasn't disappointed. It's a sunny day album. A driving on a sunny day to somewhere nice album. A mellow spring Sunday morning album.
I particularly like the first track:
Posted at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
It's nearly 15 years since I graduated - if I say it fast it doesn't seem like so long. I've been back to Liverpool but haven't had a chance to have a proper look around in recent years and the city is changing fast.
I'm writing a piece on Liverpool so it was the perfect excuse to explore and AKA Vasquez, who knows the city well, obliged taking Nadia and I on a great tour, despite his feeling a little 'self-induced' worse for wear.
Now it seems like the city is having its time again with developers scrambling to build the next generation of iconic buildings. In fact much of the city centre feels like a building site which I'm not sure is the most sensible strategy but it does mean older buildings are being given a new
lease of life. The Old Post Office is one which has been reborn as a trendy shopping centre called the Met Quarter.It also means the appearance of some interesting new architecture. The
'wave' roof has given way to this grey/black block cladding as the favoured architectural feature and could become the signature style of this period, particularly in the North West.Unfortunately as our tour came to an end and we were enjoying a much needed cuppa and sit down, time ran away with us. And, for the
first time in nine years of traveling for work, I missed a train. By two minutes.Posted at 06:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
The fabulous Malmaison boutique hotel chain used to be within budget for work trips but they put up their prices as they expanded.
And especially the bathroom with its lovely walk in shower:
Posted at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
It's late. Very late and I'm in a hotel in Liverpool staying over night for work. It's a very nice hotel as we managed to negotiate a deal that would get approved by the expenses police. I didn't intend to be in bed this late but the bar was really nice, dark, comfy sofa, good conversation and music that wasn't in your face. Ended up having a champagne cocktail which was v. expensive but hey I don't do it that often.
Liverpool is a city close to my heart because I came here to University. But it has changed so much since then I don't feel like I know it. AKA Vasquez is going to do a grand tour tomorrow morning and I plan, weather permitting, to take some photos to post...
Posted at 02:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Jeremy Sisto
Oooh ain't he got lovely eyes...
* ie a lame excuse to post pictures of male celebrities I think are gorgeous
Posted at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 08:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
If you could eat anything you wanted, and not have to worry about gaining weight/being unhealthy/inhumane, what would you totally pig out on?
Submitted by Jay.
Posted at 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
...wouldn't be the same without going to see comedian Ross Noble. He doesn't so much tell jokes but talks nonsense, brilliantly. The tickets are booked just have to wait... until November. Boo.
But did find this clip which is a taster of a video he is making while on tour in Australia...
Posted at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
There's been little of interest on at the cinema post the Oscar scramble and pre Summer blockbuster season. I have, however, been looking forward to The Lives of Others since I heard about it and started seeing trailers.
It's won quite a few awards and generally received rave reviews.
Set in the GDR initially in the early 80s, it is about a group of artists - directors, writers, actors - living through the socialist regime and it's secret police. It is also a love story.
Intelligent, interesting and well acted it is a very moving piece. Probably the best film I've seen so far this year.
Germany seems to be producing some cracking films at the moment, as does Spain.
Posted at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Not quite. But almost. I'm going to a wedding reception tomorrow and I've met neither the bride or groom before.
Mosh plays fives with the groom and led me to believe that is was some sort of casual do as the actual wedding was a while ago. So I was thinking jeans, free drink, scran, slightly tipsy and doesn't matter too much if you make a bit of a tit of yourself by dancing stupidly at the disco.
Tonight he shows me the invite which looks quite posh and the dress code is suits for the blokes and frocks for the girls. Bloody frocks and it actually said frocks. They have got to be kidding. I don't do frocks.
So it looks like its going to be dressing smart ie like I have to dress for meetings at work, be well-behaved and make polite chit chat with complete strangers.
Hmmm reminds me of something I'd have to attend one evening mid-week :0(
Posted at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
What was your worst cooking experience?
Made a cheese cake from scratch in a school cookery class. Sieved the cottage cheese and everything. Was v.v. proud. Took home in tin to show off to parents. Gave tin to brother to hold while I unlocked front door. Brother tripped up the step and dropped my glorious cheese cake.
Oh and I attempted souffle's for a dinner party once. Ha!
Posted at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
There is a rather smart Chinese restaurant called Shanghai Blue near my office that Nadia and I have longed to try. It is out of the price range of a casual work day lunch so we've been pinning our hopes on some company involved in the industry we write about offering to take us.
Today our wish was granted.
I'm not overly fond of the usual MSG-laden, different-flavoured-gloop-cooked-with-the-bog-standard-choice-of-three types-of-meat-or-prawn-and-crispy-duck-if-you-are-lucky that seems to be standard Chinese restaurant fare. But from the outside menu that we have regularly drooled over we knew it wasn't going to be in the bog standard league.
And we were right. No MSG. Just a varied, unusual, beautifully cooked and presented menu.
We went for dim sum or the Chinese equivalent of tapas with everyone ordering a couple of dishes which all go in the middle of the table to share.
Had some amazing charcoal grilled pork and duck but also tried some completely new dishes:
Baby octopus - not at all like the pulpo served in Spain as they looked more like alien octopus.
Razor clams and jelly fish - razor clams I've had served in their shells as tapas but these were served without their shells. The jelly fish was thankfully un-jelly fish looking being shredded to look like glassy, flat, rice noodles and cooked with chilli. It was quite chewy but surprisingly quite nice. (Wonder what the nutritional value of jelly fish is?)
Thousand flower tea - they bung a large seed-like thing in a special pot add boiling water and it buds into an exotic looking flower.
Now we just want to go back and try some more...
Posted at 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Eating meat again after an absence of 18 years has meant a culinary voyage of discovery and a general dusting down of old cooking skills. Decided to attempt a roast yesterday with the help of Mosh. Probably the first time I've cooked one for 20 years. It's been a long time for Mosh too.
Chose a leg of lamb as it's my favourite and am quite pleased with our first attempt. Wasn't pink in the middle as I'd have preferred but Mosh said it was probably best to err on the side of caution for the first one.
Adam and Dr T, our guinea pigs, asked for seconds so it couldn't have been that bad.
What with the lamb, a mountain of tatties and veg and chocolate pecan pie for dessert I think I managed to eat the equivalent of my own body weight in food. In fact I haven't felt that full since I last spent Christmas day with my parents. I won't be eating again until Thursday.
Mind you I'll probably still be wading through the washing up on Thursday.
Posted at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
Finally got what, in theory, could be some interesting telly coming up. I like TV which challenges and shocks, something that is provocative. But not just for the sake of it. I also like telly which take actors outside the sphere of roles to which they inevitably become associated and type cast.
Channel 4's one off drama, Secret Life, which is due to be broadcast next week has the potential to do all these things. It is about a paedophile and, unsurprisingly, there has already been a lot in the press about it. Here are a couple of interviews, one from The Observer and one from The Sun
Posted at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Made our annual trip to France for a nice luncheon and general stocking up of cheap booze, as is the custom if you are a Brit.
Posted at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Chris, my best mate from Uni, is from Preston. Whenever possible I
volunteer to write on the city so I get a chance to visit.Preston is a curious place. Its roots are firmly in the industrial revolution and like all cities that grew and collapsed in the 19th century, has spent much of the 20th and 21st century trying to recapture glory days.
For a city it has quite a parochial feel but there are pockets that hint at it's grand past.
Posted at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Every time I hear this track on the radio I immediately think it is Jarvis Cocker/Pulp. It's actually Maximo Park. Is it just me?
Posted at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
What's your suggestion for the Question of the Day?
Inspired by Princesskasren.
Any of the zillions I've ALREADY submitted including one not dissimilar to this one!!!!!
Posted at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Is tonight. Why? Because it is the eve of the long Easter holiday weekend.
Tomorrow is Good Friday or Great Friday as I prefer to call it, because most of the working population of Great Britain, me included, gets the day off. The weekend starts now and it's only Thursday.
And if that isn't good enough we get Monday off too! Four whole days off work without taking any holiday.
That is why this is my favourite night because I have that prospect stretching ahead of me. And no I'm not going to be joining the multitudes sitting in traffic/railway stations/airports for the great Easter weekend getaway. I'm staying here in London (apart from Saturday when I'm going to France for a lunchy, booze-choose) for some R&R, perhaps a little bit of cultural stuff around the capital, plenty of good food and wine, and hopefully some good company.
Oh and my favourite night of the year? My birthday eve of course...
Posted at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
I love and loathe gabby cabbys with equal measure. When you just want to sit back in quiet contemplation or collect phone messages they behave like someone who's just been let out of solitary after a week.
But then when you are in the mood to listen they don't half come up with some amusing old twaddle and the occasional pearl.
Take my cabby today he took pleasure in telling me, after a tirade about pedestrians daring to use zebra crossings, that he has a 'philosophy' on driving which goes as follows:
1. Drive 90% for those outside the vehicle and 10% for yourself
2. Everyone outside the vehicle is a moron
3. Always beware of big brother (not speed camera's and the police as I thought but any vehicle that is bigger than your own).
All very, er, sound.
I think I might start collecting cabbyisms...
Posted at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
It is as anticipated. ITV mangle all the subtlety out of a perfectly decent Jane Austen novel by shoe-horning it into a two hour adaptation. The production was particularly shoddy in places with puzzlingly inconsistent, contemporary camera techniques and bizarre choice of locations which smacked of cutting corners.
Didn't like the portrayal of Mary the central characters sister. She is annoying in the book but in this she was just ridiculous.
Nonetheless, it is still a great story, certainly the best out of Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey which ITV have shown over preceding weeks and the two leads were excellent. Rupert Penry-Jones as gorgeous as ever. Had me blubbing at the end.
Posted at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Am v. v. excited. First there was sexy spy no 1 who went on to play Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Now there is sexy spy no 2 playing Captain Wentworth in Persuasion, my current favourite Jane Austen novel. Well OK the one I've read most recently. And it's on telly tonight.
Now I'm not expecting it to be as good as if the BBC had got their hands on it, after all they would have run it over at least three episodes while ITV is doing one story-squashing episode.
Still it's got Rupert Penry-Jones in it which'll undoubtedly be enough to sustain my interest.
A strict DO NOT DISTURB two hours of my life is about to start.
Posted at 09:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I admit it, I'm a spoilt car snob. I miss all the fancy cars Mosh used to drive when he was a staffer on a car mag. Now his regular car is a knackered old Golf. It doesn't have the sort of equipment such as air conditioning, heated seats, sat nav, electric windows and stereo to which I have become accustomed and still has the faint odour of the soap-shy previous owner.
Occasionally Mosh does get his hands on a new car and it is a real treat.
This weekend ahead of some work he's got doing towing tests he was lent a car that, well, sort of stood out. One chap in Sainsbury's car park had a good look as Mosh was carefully easing into the barely big enough parking space and then slowly shook his head disapprovingly.
Posted at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)