Sun is in the sky, Oh why Oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?...

...Today has been a glorious day. The perfect day to jump on the Bandwagon and walk through town with Lily Allen blaring from my headphones. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a little spring in my step or even if I was singing out loud.
The Sun was out, the sky was blue, People were walking about in shirt sleeves and strappy tops and it really looked like summer was finally here. OK, so it wasn't London Town but near enough (When compared to Middlesbrough town of course) Why Middlesbrough? well they are big news at the moment as they have just secured a place in the UEFA cup final.

Back to this Bandwagon. I first heard of Lily Allen I think when I went to Aled Jones' (Of the Moyles Breakfast team) MySpace profile. Nik sent me the link to her MySpace profile and I become hooked on LDN. It is a bright and trippy summer song although there is a cynial even sinister background if you listen to the lyrics. There are worse Bandwagons to jump on. Even Jo Whiley is playing her now and calling her the female Mike Skinner...Well I am not sure about that but I can imagine she has bigger things coming.

The thing I hate about this gorgeous weather is that it is still cold inside the house and I still have to put the damn fire on so when I go outside in me big coat, I am sweltering....

Catching up on me

Last night I fell asleep at about 8pm and slept through most of The Bill. I wasn't even laying down or anything. Apparently DD was talking to me totally unaware that I was dead to the world. It is a wonder I wasn't snoring away.

This morning after the kids had gone to school I fell asleep in the chair. I must have been asleep for about an hour. I missed the end of Moyles and when I woke up I found I have scolded a big hole in my slipper :-O

I have no idea why I am so tired all the time...

This morning's audio clip

Here is the little clip from when Joel mentioned my Bell me and Tell me store :-)

http://www.jembie.5gigs.com/bellmeandtellmebag.mp3

This listen again thing is keeping me up again!!!

Update...

Yesterday after I finished my Bell me and Tell me section I sent a cheeky email to JK and Joel and also to Chris Moyles... Nothing to lose.

I was astonished when Joel did mention my ideas this morning. He didn't give out the address though and by the time Chris went to have a look (Praise the lord for Statcounter) Cafepress was down for maintenance (Those darned Time differences!!)

Thanks Joel anyway for reading my email and mentioning it on air

Bell me and Tell me

In honour of Chris Moyles' new feature at the top of his show - Joel Gold (featuring early clips of Joel Ross on local radio) - I have put together a new line in my store.

The whole range of products is there

T-shirts


To mugs


Caps


Our little Teddy bear mascot


And for your car the fashionable Bell me and Tell me Bumper sticker

Current favourite picture

Have been going through my pictures and sorting which ones I want to get printed out.
Have decided that this photo is my current favourite out of the ones I took Friday night.

Of course It's no contest when you look at Nik's photos HERE
So much for me being in charge of Visual...

Missing you already...

This morning I picked up my phone to send a text and it was out of power. Usually I have a battery on charge so that I am never left without power but because of going away, I just forgot. So I went to put the phone on charge and the charger just fell apart in my hands. EEEK!!!! Now what do I do?
I broke my own charger last week, this is the one from DD's old phone so now I have broken 2 chargers and I am left with NO PHONE!!!!

Well luckily I have just managed to purchase of a new charger from eBay and I am going to borrow Debz' old phone until i get that. The good thing about that is her phone does MP3 tones which mine doesn't so I can chop up a JK and Joel clip and make a ringtone out of that. Of course I will also have to have an Alistair tone too, maybe............Everything changes :-)

False starts, Cheesy tunes and lots of hugs & kisses

"I've been on your website"
"WHAT?!"

So many times I have travelled across the country staying in hotels and meeting up with people to go see Alistair doing gigs but this weekend was a new experience. Nik and I travelled down to Gloucester to see the Wonderful JK and Joel at Liquid Diva doing what they do best.

I got on my train at 3.38pm and quickly realised that Nik was getting on the same train when it got to Birmingham. That made it a lot better journey (For me anyway) as sometimes I would be on these long trains journeys on my own and totally lose track of what I am doing there. I had to pretend to have a child with me.
When booking the tickets, I couldn't find any decent cheap prices but if I used my family railcard, I could get an adult and child for £5 less than a full adult ticket. I felt a bit stupid pretending that my son was "In the toilet" for the whole journey though LOL

Now, didn't I say after Sheffield that I shouldn't be trusted to organise anything? Well here's more proof. Got to Gloucester and I hadn't taken the address for the Guest house we were staying in. I had to phone my sister and she had to look it up on the internet for me. Then I went to cash machine to get money only to find there wasn't any. So no drinking for me which was a let-down...

When we got to the guest house it was clear to see why it was so cheap but as we weren't going to be there much it was fine. 2 beds, a toilet, a shower and a sink is all you need really. We lounged a while until we finally got round to getting ready.

We had a bit of a false start as we arrived at the club a bit too early so decided to go find a bar to sit in.
Great choice as they were playing great (Gay Disco) music. We sat in there until about 10.30 when we made our way back over to the club. The queueing rope was up now and the bouncers were checking IDs. First funniest moment of the night for me. Bouncer holds his hand out to me, then looks at my face and lets me straight through...obviously my face is showing signs of aging LOL

We were in Diva and it wasn't a bad little club at all. This is the upstairs bit of the club where they play the CHEESY SHIT (JK and Joel's words not mine) this is all the 80s 90s and early 00s stuff. There was a bit of Tiffany; Wham; Backstreet boys; 5ive; Peter Andre - You know all the usual stuff...

It seemed like forever until it was time for the boys. I swear I must have asked how long to go about every 5 minutes.

Finally it was time. We got ourselves a good place near the DJ booth and waited as the resident DJ kept teasing us...The first time I noticed they were there was when I actually saw Suzanne (which frankly pissed me off as I had said to Nik earlier I wondered if she would go but i didn't expect her to actually be there!)
OMG, the shakes really took hold as It sunk in that here we were and there they were, right in front of us...JK and Joel, in the same building and right in front of us!
It became obvious that Joel was slightly enibriated and so JK was doing all the work and Joel was basicly just pissing about.
There was lots of banter between the 2 and the crowd.
Joel declared that JK's dad is a Brazilian and he has put money on Brazil to win the World cup - JK said that his dad is not a brazilian but a Gippo.
JK kept trying to get the crowd to make some noise if they think Joel's gay!...Well that is just darn rude LOL so I stayed silent at that point.
He also kept Shouting "You fat Bastard" which I also disagree with as Joel is nowhere near fat...how can you call that fat?!!!


He is just lovely...

Joel spent a lot of time standing up on the DJ booth and at one point he started just wandering round the club.
After a while Nik decided it was time to test out her theory that Joel would give good hugs. She went up to the booth and poked him and he turned round and if you ask me that hug went on for ages... Then she told him I wanted a hug too... He looked at me and pointed and said "I've been on your website" "What?!" Nik and I looked at each other. Joel said something to JK and then started to open the door into the booth. JK shouted something to him and he shut the door but then he was shouting something at JK and pointing to me. I was starting to feel quite uncomfortable especially as Suzanne was stood there looking at me too. We decided this would be a good time to move away from the booth.

The rest of the set is a bit of a blur. Nik took lots of pics and we danced a lot until they said they were playing their last song. I couldn't even remember what it was. After they left we went round to find out where they went and found them in the VIP room. Great because it was behind a glass wall so we could stand and watch them. Nik tried her best to get the security man/woman/bouncer to let us in but apparently you could only go in if you know them. So we had to be content with watching them from outside. At one time somebody (Probably Joel) spilt a drink...the girl brought in a mop and Joel took it and carried on mopping the floor. At another point Joel ran to the end of the room (where we were stood) and lay on his back...Yes we didn't understand either.

Eventually the boys had to come out to leave and when they did, Joel came straight over to us. He gave Nik a lovely big hug then turned to me. He gave me a hug too and said the same as he had before. I asked him "Which website?" and he started going on about MySpace...How shockingly weird. I was hoping It would be a while before I would gain a stalker tag but how spooky that here I am never having met him before yet he recognised me from my Myspace profile straight away... So then he started talking about MySpace and how he can't work out what to do. He did this cute hand motion of using a keyboard to illustrate.

We got more hugs then he kissed us both before he left...WOW!!!! that point I think both of us could just have passed out there and then.

I always had to ask Alistair for a kiss but Joel didn't need to be asked

http://jen1.fotopic.net/c932691.html


Just had to add that I remembered they started the set with The Killers Somebody told me and ended it with The Killers Mr Brightside

From Spitfires to Space craft to Sports cars

Today I took the kiddies for a long awaited trip to the Science Museum in London.
Up at the crack of dawn to listen to Take That on Moyles show this morning then off to the train station.
The train journey to the Capital was non-descript...done it so many times before it flew by. Once we got to London we were hit by how busy it was. Where do all these people come from?
I am well versed at using the underground system now but it was odd to be going on a different line this time. So off to find the Picadilly line and all was quite simple.
We weren't prepared for the loooong walk from South Kensington station to the museum itself, If I had known it would go on like that I would have taken a picnic.

Anyone who has been to the museum will understand what a long and tiring day it can be. It is a fascinating and amazing trip through everything and you think that science means boring well how wrong could you be.

We looked around the space exhibit where DS managed to screw a nut and bolt together wearing the big bulky astronaut gloves.
We saw the Viking Lander


And also Apollo 10


DS got the chance to sit in a cool sixties sports car. The Austin Sprite Mk1 "Frogeye"


My favourite exhibit has to be the Pure Iceland. There was 3 rooms. the first room was a summer's day in Iceland and the second room was wonderful. As we walked in the ground under our feet was very soft and bouncy. We were greeted by 2 inhabitants of the country. It was dark and the 'sky' was full of stars. We could see the Northern lights in the distance and a great volcanic eruption.
We were invited to take a seat whilst the lively hostess told us all about the history of the country. I was absolutely fascinated...I could have sat there all day and listened and now I definitely would love to go to Iceland on a holiday
The 3rd room was full of poems that have been translated from Icelandic to English.

We also saw the history of medicine exhibit, DS spent ages looking round the energy exhibit, we looked round the history of computers and the who am i exhibit and although both kids wanted to go in the on air radio studio, there was a bit of a queue and by then we were getting tired and hungry so decided to give it a miss.

By 5pm we had been in the museum for 4 hours and only made it to the 3rd floor so we have promised that we will go back sometime and finish it off.

Leaving the museum was quite a different story. I knew we had quite a wait till our train so the plan was to get the tube back to Kings Cross and then go to Maccy Dees and get something to eat.
We got on our tube but were told that there were major delays and it could be quite a long journey. This didn't worry me too much as we had 3 hours but when the train got to Leicester square we were told that the tube would be held indefinitely because there were now trains stuck at every station to Kings Cross. We sat thre for a while but in the end we decided to get off and make it by an alternate route to Kings Cross. Well easier said than done as all the trains were packed but we eventually took our life in our hands and jumped onto a train on the Victoria line and got absolutely squashed. DD wasn't very happy, I think she was a bit scared that we were going to get sqaushed or split up. She was very happy to finally make it back to the centre although an hour later than planned.

I forgot to mention though that when we first entered through the Energy hall, I got the most almighty electric shock like lightning had struck my head. It hurt so much I didn't even want to go in. The kids went in and they didn't feel anything so I tentatively walked down the side and I felt OK..I iwsh I had been warned though as I am quite prone to shocks, especially in Woolworths which is quite random I know but it always happens in there...Oh and Sainsburys, I always get electric shocks off of their freezers...

Take That and Breakfast

OMG!!! Take That performing live on Moyles this morning. Of course I have been up since 5am to listen to JK and Joel but what an amazing way to start the day. Take That live on the radio.
I am going to have to Listen again tonight so I can maybe clip it for my own enjoyment .

They have already done Pray and that was Tremendous to listen to. Not sure what other songs they are doing but please if you have missed it don't forget to listen again on the Radio 1 website!!!

Boys will be boys

Today was a blast from the past when we were visited by 2 lads that my 2 used to spend all their time with. In fact way back in Infants school there was a great little group of kids that all used to play together both at school and out of school too. Us mums got on really well too. Me and the Twins' mum would often get together with a bottle of wine (Or 2) and have a good gossip and a few laughs but unfortunately they moved away a few years ago and although we have tried, with one thing and another it has been hard to keep in touch.
That is why it was so nice when DS got an email out of the blue the other day asking if they could come round.

The saddest thing today though was that DD felt very left out. When they were younger, it didn't matter that she was a girl and they all used to do things together but today they didn't even seem to acknowledge her. I know that as they are 13 now, Girls become an alien species, I have seen it happen with the boys in the street too that she used to play with but it would have been lovely for all 4 of them to go off and play together again.

Hopefully now they will keep in touch and as they are old enough they can get together a bit more and I might even get up to Spondon to visit me old mate again :-)

It's Easter - Lets Party!!

Ahhhh!!! You are expecting one of those drunken blogs again aren't you? Where I slurr my words and fill up the page with typos and then end with the gross details of throwing up in the wheelie bin...Sorry to disappoint you but it was a bit more sub-dued on this occasion.
I guess I just wasn't in the mood for alcohol this time. I took along the remains of my vodka but was drinking it very sparingly. To be honest, I was absolutely freezing all night and that may not have helped with getting in the mood although there was a point when I felt myself get a little tipsy but I soon sobered up.

I have to say though it was a lovely evening. Really just the family. I say the family because that is really what Zoe is. It was just my kind of party, shame I wasn't feeling in the mood for the drinking. It is nice that it feels so comfortable now after all the horrible awkwardness of a couple of years ago. It has taken me a long while to get to know her hubby (sorry but It is late and I don't want to be told off for wrong spellings) but I think we are OK now.

So now I am home and catching up on the chart show on Listen again (And tucking into my Cadburys deluxe Easter egg - my pressie to myself)
It is great that tomorrow I can just lie-in as long as I want as long as I am up for kick-off at 3pm!

Balloons really do last longer than Flowers - It's official!

Well it is a month since my birthday today(Saturday) and I can report that my Happy Birthday balloons are still up and floating about.
The flowers that I recieved went a couple of weeks ago and it was sad to have to throw them away but they were starting to smell bad.

I have to admit some of the Balloons are starting to flag but 3 of them are still going strong.

It's only Bliddy Good Friday

And what a Very Good Friday it was too.
I woke up this morning and looked at my phone for some indication of time and the power was gone. I leaned over to pick up the cordless and that too was off, obviously the electric had gone off in the night. I came downstairs to get my watch and found it was 10.30am. No one was up and I had no intentions of gettin up and going out to get electric so I just tripped back off to bed. I woke again at about 12ish and heard DD so I texted her a little bribe to go get some electric for me.

So after getting up around 1pm I decided to do HOT CROSS BUNS for Breakfast/lunch. I made sure I bought loads this year as they are so moorish and I know I will probably start wanting them for breakfast every morning. I missed Kwik save for them so I had to get them from Sainsburys but they were 2 packs for £1 so that was good value.

The kids went off to town later and I spent the afternoon listening to Colin and Edith on radio 1 and editing The Games streaming. It sure did take me back a couple of years having to be on the ball to press the pause button at the right time as well as making sure to get all the little bits of JK sleeping ;-P.

Of course as I had only been up for 3 hours, 4pm seemed to come out of nowhere. Although I really look forward to listeing to JK and Joel all day I am afraid that at 4 they have to lose out to the Gorgeous Adrian Paul and the Highlander series. This is the very last season of the show and I believe it was never shown on Sky when I originally got into it back in the late 90s so I don't want to miss any eps. (That is why Radio 1 listen again is so brilliant) So I sat down with my cup of coffee and me choccie biccie to watch that. In the ad breaks though I like to switch over to BBC1 press red and look at the webcam...I don't know why cos all you ever see is Joel's bottom or JK's arm...they have to get that webcam 2 fixed or make sure JK tries to sit in range of the camera. (Maybe this is a cunning plan by JK to not get on the webcam!)

The kids came home from town about 5 and DS had traded in some of his PS2 games for a ds game.

I don't know why I am feeling extremely tired. I have only been up for 12 hours but I really can't stop yawning. I let the kids stay up and watch My name is Earl tonight while I went in the bath, they won't get to see it every week but as it is the holidays I can allow them some treats...

Mission accomplished

Back here I moaned about not getting into town to fetch some chairs from Debz shop.
Well I am pleased to report that I now have the chairs.
It is great to have a proper computer chair again. We have been using that tatty old dining chair for so long. Now I can actually relax and come away from the PC without breaking my back.

The MySpace Revolution

OK I have done it, I have jumped on the MySpace Bandwagon.
My profile page is nowhere near finished but It is a start.

http://www.myspace.com/jembie
But you probably worked that one out for yourself already - Am I right??!!

Demure Thoughts: Lamont's Rules of Jen

Demure Thoughts: Lamont's Rules of Jen

Everything you ever wanted to know about us Jens...

1. Jen is an exceptional person who is to be worshipped and adored at all times

2. Jen is always special

3. Jen is frequently up to something

4. Jen can usually get away with it.

5. If your relationship with Jen fails, it is your fault.

6. (The Jennocious Tenet of Remote Control Ownership) If Jen wants to watch a particular movie or TV show, she will. Even if it clashes with The Game. You may, however, purchase and fit new batteries in the remote.

7. There is no rule 7

8. Jen isn’t easily fooled. She has Her own reasons for letting you think you’ve pulled one over on Her, which will only become clear when it is advantageous for Her so to do.

9. (The Srey Maxim) Jen does not like being kept waiting.

10. If and when she so desires, Jen is to be cuddled and comforted without question or hesitation.

11. Thou shalt not taunt Jen, lest ye be consigned to the fifth circle of hell-dating where the women are all named after department stores.

12. Jen is always right, especially when she isn’t.

13. Jen does not procrastinate; she waits until the time is right.

14. (The Goldfinch Guideline) Dating Jen is a commitment to a lifetime spent worshipping the wonder that is Her, even if you never see her again (see also #5).

15. Jen will cross the road when and where she wants, which may be before or after everyone else.

16 . (The Jezzie Precept) For the duration of your relationship or acquaintance with Jen these Rules (and any personal supplements) will render null and void any or all of your own rules, at her discretion.

19. Jen can always read maps perfectly. You, however, can’t follow her clear, precise directions, no matter how many milliseconds she give you before screaming “Left! Left!” as you pass the turning.

20. The last piece of candy, brownie, popcorn, soda, beer, slice of pizza, breadstick or spoonful of ice cream belongs to Jen.

21. Jen always looks beautiful.

22. Whatever Jen has to say is worth listening to.

23. (The Powroz Principle) The subject changes when Jen says so.

24. However Jen want to pronounce or spell her name is the correct way.

25. Jen is a tidy eater. That piece of food on the restaurant floor fell off your fork. If it’s something only Jen ordered, you must have picked at her plate while she wasn’t looking…

26. (Corollary to #20 and #25) Jen does not like people picking at her plate while she isn’t looking.

27. Jen should not be expected to work on her birthday.

28. (The Stevens Sutra, addendum to rule #27) Jen’s birthday is a holiday, and should be treated as such, even if it means taking the day off, calling in sick, or cancelling other plans to be with her.

31. Jen is exceedingly clever.

31. Jen doesn’t like seeing two rules with the same number.

32. Jen always has the last word. Anything you might say after that is the start of a new discussion/argument.

33. As soon as your relationship with Jen starts she has the right to borrow your clothes, especially comfy sweatshirts, sweaters and t-shirts, but (being kind and considerate) she’ll probably let you keep your fifteen-year-old “lucky” underpants all to yourself…

35. Jen always does things her way. Don’t ask.

36. Jen knows what information you need to know about Jen.

37. Addendum to #36) There is always more to Jen than she is letting on.

38. (Greg’s Theory of Jeneral Relativity) If you are behind Jen, you are walking too slowly; if you are in front of Jen you are walking too fast.

39. If and when Jen makes an appearance, consider it a gift.

40. Only Jen decides if the temperature is right for opening the window.

41. Any poetry by Jen is good poetry.

43. Withhold Jen’s chocolate at your peril.

50. Jen does not like having any sort of camera pointed at her without permission. Carefully consider rule #8 before attempting a rule #21 defence.

51. (Corollary to #12 and #19) Jen always knows where she’s going, even if nobody else does.

52. Jen always knows what she’s talking about, even if nobody else does.

53. Jen does not like having to make decisions.

54. (Addendum to #53) Jen’s decisions (when made) and opinions are always valid (See also Rule #12).

55. Withhold Jen’s chocolate at your peril. (Yes, we know that’s the same as Rule #43, but it’s VERY important to remember this…)

61. Jen is sometimes inclined to wisecracking or being a smartass. It’s cute.

The Jencyclopaedia

The Jencyclopaedia

So doing research for the last blog entry I found this. Now I am addicted to the Jenerator

Indeed she does

I was going to comment on Corinne's blog but I decided to blog myself instead.

I agree that every girl should have a mug with her name on (And I would design myself a nice one from CP if I wasn't so sure that it would turn up in a million little pieces) I had a very nice mug with my name on once - also from Sheffield - but on this occasion it wasn't as nice because the name was JENNY.

All my life it has totally pissed me off that I would introduce myself to someone as Jennifer and then rather insultingly they would refer to me as Jenny for the rest of eternity. I wouldn't have minded so much if they had asked me (Although I certainly wouldn't have given them permission to be referred to with such a hideous name) but no one ever does. I even had name badges made up at various different workplaces with that horrid name on and although i would complain and stamp my feet I couldn't get it changed. So the domino effect happens, Everyone after that will address you that way. I couldn't turn round and say anything because they would just say "Well that's what it says on your badge."

To me a vision of someone called Jenny is one of it girls in riding hats and Jodhpurs (No offence if you are called Jenny)

So that is why from now on I introduce myself as Jen, It is what my sisters call me anyway and I would much rather be called Jen then Jenny anyday.
So if you do slip into the Jenny trap...Be ready to face my Wrath!!!!

Day 2 Strike 2

So it's day 2 of the Easter Hols and we struck out again. Yesterday the plan was to take DS up to Debz shop to fetch some chairs. I need DS as I can't carry them home by myself. DS went off to the Park with his mates but I expected him home for lunch...He didn't actually arrive home until gone 5 so here was me sat in the house like an idiot all that time waiting.

So today i told both kids they were to stay home as they would both have to come with me. Get up and it is throwing it down...It has been throwing it down all morning and doesn't look like stopping. There is no way I am walking home from town carrying 2 chairs and bags of shopping in the pouring rain. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a bus stop near the shop but the nearest stop is like walking half way home...So will try tomorrow now

More T-shirts and such guff

Well as I already put together the I Love JK store, I thought it only fair to put together a I love Joel store too so as not to leave him out.

I love JK

I love Joel

Where are all the good songs gone?

Ever since I got interested in two of the hottest talents in UK broadcasting I have been listening to radio 1 a lot more than i have for years.
Originally i gave up on the breakfast show when Sara Cox took over but then I gave up altogether as a protest at them not playing Bring it on or even You and Me (tonight).
I went over to local commercial radio where I was very happy thank you very much! I even got to know the 2 presenters of our local breakfast show and myself and my family were invited into the studio to see it all put together. I regularly exchanged emails with the 2 presenters and their lovely producer until they moved onto another station.

After a while I saw past the euphoria of the personal contact and realised that the music they played on these stations was dire. Yeah so they play all the hits of the 80s 90s and today but they still had a set playlist and if it isn't on the list it ain't getting in the show.

So i came crawling back to Radio 1 and got whisked up in the hilarity of Moyles and got swept of my feet by the handsome early morning duo. I even started to enjoy the Mr & Mrs of the airwaves (Colin and Edith) when I couldn't stand them on Breakfast.

For the past 2 weeks I have come back to the Radio 1 chart in an attempt to get a weekend fix of JK and Joel but this has made me realise that all the charm and wit in the world can't make the Radio 1 playlist smell of roses. 1 after the other it is just more and more dross. I have read so many complaints on the BBC boards about the state of the chart show these days and it is all true.
Back in my day you would get the whole chart all 40 (Or maybe 30) tracks so along with the dross you would get to hear your favourite and even if you didn't get to hear it in the week you would hear it on a Sunday and decide that you really like it and go out and buy it...Mind you, that said, it is hard to even be able to buy the entire top 40 in any store these days..probably why a lot of bands have resorted to downloads only. Why don't the BBC listen to the complaints and re-instate the whole top 40 chart? So less chat from JK and Joel but then that is what the Chart chat podcast is for..less music more chat!! That way everyone's a winner, we all get what we want and the boys might even get more air time.

What is it with this chick? She got beer-flavored nipples?

Ever since this conversation. I have been desperate to watch 10 things again. I even got it down off the shelf and put it next to the TV but still I haven't got around to putting it in the DVD player.
Why do I want to watch it again? Well why not?! It is the movie that introduced me to the Gorgeous Heath Ledger.



Sadly that little obsession never took off because of the arrival in my life of a certain Mr Griffin. However I did make a start on collecting the films.
The Patriot is excellent although extremely sad when Heath's character gets killed off. Of course A knight's Tale was fantastic and I admit to having watched that nearly as many times as I did 10 things...The blonde hair was a bit of a shock at first but you soon get used to it and he is rather Yummy.


Another of his movies that I managed to get hold of (I actually think it was a pressie from Deb) is Two Hands. It is a low budget Australian movie which is very dark but it is great seeing Heath in his native Aussie land. I admit to even watching that a couple of times too.
I never got through Monsters Ball though. It really isn't my kind of film and I just had to switch off about half an hour in.

I have so much to catch up in his career. I especially want to see Casanova, Brothers Grimm and Ned Kelly and i guess eventually i will get to see them...wonder if it too late to put the DVD on now.

You have to promise you won't fall in love with me.

I went to bed last night and put the TV on. ON BBC1 there was a movie that looked like it was just up my street. It was called A Walk to remember

I thought I had the plotline all sewn up. Bad boy cool dude most popular boy in school falls for Plain Jane geeky preacher's daughter. He has trouble with his mates when they find out about it but they live happily ever after in the end.

How wrong I was. Yeah they ended up together and yes he had trouble with his mates but then it got more complicated. The girl found out she had Leukemia. He built her a huge telescope and married her but then she dies. How could they do that to me?

I was crying my eyes out for the whole movie...I was crying through the happy stuff cos I was so happy and crying as it got sadder but no happy ending had me distraught. As the credits rolled I turned off the TV and cried myself to sleep.

Remind me to check up on the review before i watch a movie like this in bed again LOL

Just refer to me as VT co-ordinator

For the past few days I have been attempting to download a certain set of videos and edit and prime them in order to send them across MSN to Nik.
I must have downloaded umpteen freeware video editing tools . None of which were any help at all. I struggled and swore and threatened to chuck the whole blessed computer out of the window before I found that I had the tools I needed were on my computer all along. Windows media encoder, just sitting there in my programs list most unbeknownst to me.
So after tinkering with a few settings and trying out a couple of them first, the videos are now all ready to go and only a quarter of the size and much better quality than they started.

Job done!!!

Nah, doesn't have the same ring to it...

I came across this picture...


...and it brought to mind this picture...


which led me to the conclusion that Joel is actually the Fox to JK's Griffin.







I have to say though that the Hogg and King (Or King and Hogg) pub really doesn't have the same ring to it as the Fox and Griffin (Or indeed Griffin and Fox)

Photo credits - Joel - Radio 1 gallery archive
JK - Tottyland
Fox - Devoted to James Fox
Griffin - a-g.co.uk

I just love to love

Ever since I was about 14 I have had to be obsessed with some celebrity or another. I can't remember a time when i haven't had pictures and posters of some gorgeous bloke surrounding me.

When I was 14 it was then Manchester United legend Bryan Robson. My best friend of the time was into Norman Whiteside so we used to make up our own little fantasy stories about the 2 hunky footballers. I am not sure how long this little crush lasted. I never stopped admiring him as a great footballer though, both for England and ManU..I even still had a little soft spot for him when he went on to Manage Boro. I still have my signed photo of Bryan on my wall now in fact.




The next obsessive crush was Simon le Bon of Duran Duran (Although he had to share my bedroom walls with Nik Kershaw & Paul Young) I had a huge larger than life poster of Simon on my ceiling over my bed. I was totally in love with simon and disregarding the age difference I was convinced I was going to meet him and marry him one day. I was devastated when Simon married Yasmin after a whirlwind romance but I have to hand it to them...20 years on and 3 beautiful daughters. He did lose a bit for a time but he still has it on stage..I so wish I could have made their UK tour last year. I have seen them live only twice in my life. The first was around 87 at the NEC in Birmingham. Christmas eve with my (then) little sis (She is now way taller than me LOL) The second time was a reather surreal evening out with my sister and my housemates of the time in about 89 at the Nottinghan Royal centre. We were on the fourth row and I thought i would pass out being so close to the Gorgeous Mr. Le Bon.



I am not quite sure what the next big thing was after Simon Le Bon. I had a huge poster of Sean Penn on my wall for a time but the first few years of the ninties are devoted to this man
Bret 'the Hitman' Hart - The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be! He was my all-time favourite WWF wrestler. I have hours and hours of tapes of him doing what he does best and I even convinced my sisters to go with me when they came to the UK on tour. Just so I could see him in the flesh. I even bought the Merchandise - The classic Hitman shades and the big black and Pink foam Heart.........Confession time - I even painted my bedroom Pink with huge black hearts too. I do still have posters of Bret scattered around the house and I do still love to look at him.

Next - Ashley Ward. Footballer in case you didn't know. At the time he was playing for Derby County and I Luuuurved him. I had my replica Rams shirts with his name and number on the back and I loved to go down to The Baseball ground on a Saturday to see him arrive and get his autograph and take loads of photos of him (With the 2 chilcren in tow in the big bus sized double buggy)
I did build up quite a collection of signed pics of him. He was brilliant and everytime I wrote to him he would sign whatever I had sent plus a couple of his own pics. The best moment was after he left Derby, I wrote and asked him for a signed pic in his new team strip and he sent me a signed 10x8 of him celebrating his goal which turned out to be the last ever goal for Derby at the Baseball ground. I felt very honoured that he took the time to send me that picture. Best footie moment was definitely when he scored against ManUtd when we beat them at Old Trafford. I bought the video of the match and watched it so many times over and over again.



At the same time as Ashley was another gorgeous footie player. Jason McAteer. At the time he played for Liverpool and Eire and I even recieved a Liverpool shirt with his name on as a birthday pressie. I would record every Liverpool game on the TV (and they were always on) I even had a few moments of torn loyalties when I was lucky enough to go to Anfield to see Derby play them...I would be distracted if he was warming up on the sidelines but I would pray that he wouldn't play so that I didn't embarrass myself by accidentally cheering for him. I have a lovely signed picture of Jase that I recieved when I wrote to Bolton FC on the off-chance that they might have any leftover pics of him after he left them. I think my thing for Jason wore fizzled out when he left Liverpool and I didn't see as much of him as before.


The next big crush was the extremely talented and gorgeous Gary Barlow of Take That. I had many friends around the world that were close to stalkers so I was sent what must be hundreds of photos of Gary from different parts of the globe. While everyone else was swooning over Robbie or Mark I went for the one everyone called fat and ugly. I didn't mind, it was nice to be in a minority and Gary was the one that wrote all the songs so when I was dreaming of marrying him and living in a huge mansion, I wasn't far wrong! (about the mansion I mean)


That almost brings us up to modern day. After Gary, there wasn't a real mad obsession until Alistair and you know all about what happened after that which brings me up to modern day and the gorgeous Jason King.

It's been real fun writing this and searching out pics that I haven't looked at for a long time...

Random Flashbacks

You know when you've had one of those nights and the next morning you can't remember anything??

Today I have just been getting random flashbacks of last night, some at the most weirdest times...

I think that the Arctic Monkeys were playing when everyone was leaving as I have a memory of people in coats and chuckling to myself that Red light indicates doors are secured was on the stereo.

I remember a conversation about Aliens with Zoe's hubby but can't remember the outcome of the discussion.

Oh another conversation with Zoe's hubby...Yes I really did name my son after that wrestler and no it wasn't me that loved the Sexy boy ;-) (we have had that conversation before)

Curiously I found a rubiks cube on the piano - A completed rubiks cube. Now I know that it wasn't completed at the beginning of the night but I don't recall it being done...I guess that B-I-L did it.

I'll add more randome flashbacks as I get them.

Oh yeah, I concede, Davey Boy Smith did die a few years ago...How did I forget that?
Davey Boy Smith - The British Bulldog

Oh NO! The proof...

Debz says:
hi, im great thanks , hows your head this morning
Say that you need me or I'm walking away.... says:
don't ask.....
Say that you need me or I'm walking away.... says:
was i the only one that was drunk last night?
Debz says:
yes
Say that you need me or I'm walking away... says:
i thought so
Say that you need me or I'm walking away... says:
i can't remember Ange being drunk which is a change
Debz says:
she was a little but you were steamin
Say that you need me or I'm walking away... says:
i hardly had anything to drink but i didn't eat anything
Say that you need me or I'm walking away... says:
then i was sick so serves me right
Debz says:
and that would be why

Class Reunion

10 years ago, parties used to be the regular thing in this house. Back then it was the usual crowd but then they were all young free and single and I had 2 toddlers running around the house.

Last night the old gang all came back together again in my house for an unofficial reunion. Only now it has all changed as they all have partners and babies and toddlers and as mine are older I don't have to worry about them being entertained. It felt quite weird having the house so full of children...I loved it. I put all the toys out in the front room and let them go wild (regretting that now as I am looking at the mess and not looking forward to clearing it all up.) The best thing about it though is that as they are not my kids I don't have to take any responsibility for what they are doing.

It was especially great to see Justin & Lisa again. I think the last time I saw them was a couple of years ago at my sister's house. I know it can't have been much longer than that as I remember her playing Oblivion over and over again and singing it at the top of her voice. They haven't changed at all and it is great to hear that they are finally going to be tying the knot...then they can get on and complete the pack of children at parties...

The interesting thing, it was the first time Tori's hubby had ever been to my house so he seemed mesmerised with all my footie autographs. It made me realise that i don't even notice them any more. It is years since I got any new Footie players in my collection and most of the ones on my wall have moved on from the the teams they were with then...or even retired from the game altogether. That started a little frenzy of everyone looking round to see which players are still at the same clubs...Robbie Fowler and Seth Johnson don't count as they went and came back again.

I don't really know what happened to me last night, I spent so long preparing the food that I didn't eat any of it. I hardly drank much compared to some nights yet by midnight I was throwing up in the toilet. I do know that I was getting very tired of my own voice at times. I think I managed to beat my sister to constant talking final.

I can't even remember everyone going home or even going to bed. When i woke this morning I still had my glasses on and my party clothes and the TV and light were still on too. Banging headache of course....

The food obviously went down well as the table is empty so that makes a change.

A special Thank You blog

It's not often I get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday to blog but I had to do this one.

I want to say a very big massive Thank You to the person I will now christen as my Fairy Godmother...She knows who she is.

This morning my postman had to knock at the door as he had a parcel for me....I wasn't up for getting up that early so I just grabbed my glasses and idley tripped down the stairs.
Along with the parcel he passed me an envelope from the BBC no less. I was very curious as I haven't written to anyone from the BBC for a long while.

I opened up the envelope and I am surprised I didn't wake the whole street with my shriek of delight...Inside? An official JK and Joel picture card signed by the pair of them...I think I hyperventalated for a while as I held it in my hand and now as you can imagine I can't stop looking at it.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!

We are a local shop for local people...NO more :(

Today I went round to my local Kwik save store to get the food I need for tomorrow's party - Only to find it isn't there anymore.
I know it was closing down at the end of the month but I thought that would be at the end of today.

It is quite a sad day for the area as now there isn't anywhere you can just nip for something for tea. The nearest Supermarket is about a mile walk away and it is Sommerfield which is quite a lot more expensive than Kwik Save...I always used to like KS because they always had a good reduced bin and lots of budget items like Bread items, Orange squash, cat food, toilet rolls etc....

Another end of an era...I hear that it is going to be a furniture place in there...As if we don't have enough round here!