Thursday, October 25, 2007

I borrowed this from the Guardian..

Bong! News at Ten is back. Again

Is Sir Trev the only newsman worthy of our trust?

Copywrite - John Plunkett

I have got my diary out to check the date. Yes, it's 2007, and yes, Sir Trevor McDonald is about to return to ITV1 to present a resurrected News at Ten. No offence to Sir Trev, but isn't he a bit of an analogue bloke in a digital world?

You can see why ITV chairman Michael Grade might want to bring it back. News at Ten is one of the great TV brands (although it remains to be seen how much it has been damaged in its absence).

Ever since the 10pm bulletin was first axed back in 1999 - yes, it was that long ago - ITV has struggled to fill the slot. Remember Mr and Mrs with Julian Clary? Not many people do.

But a glance at the last few weeks' schedules suggests they are still having a problem, with the likes of Don't Call Me Stupid and Police, Camera, Action! padding out the 10pm slot.

These are probably not the sort of ratings winners ITV bosses had in mind when they axed it all those years ago, and the channel is regularly walloped in the ratings by Huw Edwards' 10pm news bulletin on BBC1.

News at Ten will also get beaten in the ratings, but at least it will free up the network to play some half-decent comedy, drama or documentaries in the 10.30pm slot. Providing they can find the commissions, of course.

But the bulletin's return will also bring with it all the scheduling issues that prompted the channel to axe it in the first place. What will happen to ITV1's successful 90-minute dramas such as Rebus and its season of Jane Austen adaptations?

A 30-minute break for the news at 10pm? Eugh. An 8.30pm start? Watershed issues. Move the 10pm bulletin? It's "News at when" all over again. And what about when the football - an increasing part of the ITV portfolio - runs over?

Still, as Channel Five's Chris Shaw noted on this website six months ago, bring back News at Ten would be "exactly the kind of loud, splashy statement Michael Grade would love to make. It would be confident, bullish, and underscore his determination to bring back the glory years of ITV."

It may also serve to shift attention, for a moment at least, from the devastating fallout from the Deloitte report into ITV's premium phone line abuse.

Now Grade has finally made the move, all he has to do is fit the rest of the ITV primetime schedule around it.

News at Ten's return also caps a triumphant return for the 68-year-old newsman, only two years after his "last ever" bulletin.

Is it me, or is there something faintly depressing about the fact that the nation - or at least, that part of it that watches ITV News - appears only to trust Sir Trevor to read the news. What's his secret? And why haven't any other newsreaders got it?

A reality engagement - can it get any worse!!!

I have just read on The Daily Mail online that Chanelle and Ziggy (or Chiggy) from the last Big Brother 8 are now going to get married a-la Posh and Becks style..and Chanelle possibly thinks she could be pregnant. Ye gods can it get any worse. This couple are as volatile as a volcano, and are on and off like a light switch. They have only known each other for 5 months and they are already declaring undying love for each other, well she is to him. I'm not sure about him, he doesn't look that pleased to me:



This sounds very similar to another reality couple that met on a celebrity Big Brother the other year. Well she was a normal person off the street type girl and he was from a boyband. And guess what? They got married and split up after a short amount of time...

Oh well I suppose they have to fill the papers with something other than news..

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The world has gone weird!!

I was having a nosey on the BBCi website and came across this picture:



Apparently this poor dog is modeling a rain coat and a rescue jacket, designed to be used in emergency situations, at a Security and Safety Trade Expo in Tokyo, Japan.

Now I wonder if either Bear or Jet would be able to wear something like this, and do they do it in pink?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Ugh @ Royal Mail..

And it still continues. Royal Mail are holding the country to ransom, as per usual. This is getting ridiculous, how can one company do this. Well it seems that RM can..

I am not going to go into the whys and wherefores and my feelings on the RM strike, but one thing I will say is if they worked in any other environment then they would not be allowed to do this. I mean if my D left work early because he had done his job he would not expect to be paid for the time he was not at at work, yet this is one of the points that RM are striking over- they want to be paid for going home early. Hmmmm

Now I am off to try and post a parcel while the strike is on one of its days off, until Monday of next week. Fingers crossed it gets delivered.

Monday, October 01, 2007

A sad day..

Today has felt so unreal.

After waking up to an email from a very close friend S to say that her mum was in hospital and would I send positive vibes. I get a phone call to say that she is now in ICU on a ventilator and the Dr's think she has a blockage or something in her abdomen. So of course I wait by the phone for the day. S rings me, I ring S and get updates that way.

Then tonight I make that phone call. How I wish I hadn't. Sadly S's mum S has passed away. OMG how can this be I ask myself, she only went in with stomach pains and coughing up blood. S has been like a mother to me since my mum died last year, and here we are nearly a year later..

My thoughts are with S and her family.

*it doesnt help that S's mum also has the same initial..ahhh!!*

Asbestos or not asbestos..that is the question.

Well after my little water leakage disaster in our living room the other day what I thought was going to be a simple insurance claim and a s...