One Woman Goes To ....

TV or not TV

In the past 6 months I can recall watching about 4 things on my TV. An episode of Jamie's Dinners,one Strictly, one X-Factor and Wallace and Gromit on New Years Day.

There are bound to be a few I have forgotten about but say it's double that. It's still not very much.

I have done a bit more viewing sat on other people's sofas. Including at the moment 'Lipstick Jungle' which we have worked out you have to save up 3 of to watch in one go as that amounts to a normal amount of programme when you have fastforwarded through all the ad breaks.

So I am now thinking - do I actually need a TV other than to watch DVDs and therefore do I actually need a TV licence anymore ?

But what is stopping me is that I have this fear ( yes - irrational, but I won't know if it's real until it happens and then it will be too late ) that I will ditch my TV licence and then be seized by this overwhelming urge to watch TV and switch it on - just for a moment - and then will somehow morph into an illegal TV consuming couch potato.

What to do ?

Possibly....

......in secret talks with Simon to take over from Danni ?

This was my favorite.

If you have worked your way through The New Capitalism then you might just be looking for something a little more lighthearted and uplifting.

Ivor the Engine is just the ticket.

Still can't get my Ivor impressions quite right!

Demons or Dockets

I can't be bothered with the details of the call that has landed Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand in the bird's nest soup. There's something about transcripts - be they Charles and Camilla or Squidgy that's too dull to read. It's like the print version of all those one sided calls you hear on the train or as I heard them described the 'have the dockets arrived in Uttoxeter yet?' conversations.

Although those don't usually involve 'Satanic Sluts'. So much of the world a mystery.

Anyway what I can't help wondering about is how is this being dealt with by J & R. Are they still talking to each other? Are they still allowed to talk to each other ? Or is it like when you and your best friend, the one your mum always had a downer on - 'they'll lead you astray, get you into trouble, and it's alright for them ...but it's different for you ...( I never got that bit ) and when trouble finally arrived - so did a lot of ' I told you so's and 'that's it's' and 'you're not to see them again, ever' and a few sharp questions aimed at testing my hearing and so on....And so some punishment or deprivation would be thought of, a period of awkwardness would pass and then you would be allowed to go back to being who you were before 'the incident' . Or does it not work like that in Celeb Land ?

And what if you are friends with either of them? What do you say? If you are Ricky Gervais you probably make some joke about - well at least I got to do my promo slot before this happened .

I was listening to Jonathan Ross on Saturday and he was quizzing a caller about what he and his wife got up to in the bedroom - but he went on too long and became tedious so I ended up turning the radio off which is a shame as otherwise he's fun and varied to listen to.

So whatever happens his obsessions will have to change. As will Russell Brands' presumably. The only problem is that contrite isn't funny. And if they aren't being funny then they become no more interesting than the destiny of the dockets.

Not so hot.

I know way too many people ( well, women) with a secret Cowell crush. Something to do with him being a 'real man' 'n all. But after last week - does a 'real man' wear a hideous Tshirt ( yes probably ), does he break out into an almighty sweat whilst sitting on a sofa listening to the singing/sobbing of 6 dream come truers ( no, should most definitely not ). ( It took that sweat patch to explain the sensible thinking behind Sinitta's golden girl get up. However it seems there will never be an illuminating explanation for Danni's Joanie turban.)

So can I recommend a real man alternative. From Jamie's Ministry of Food - Mick. Lives in Rotherham, works as a miner and has gone from never having cooked in his life to chopping, woking and cooking like a pro and having Jamie round to his for tea. Warm, charismatic and having worked underground for 30 years in hideous temperatures is never going to let anyone down with a spreading damp patch.

And with Simon out of the way it means we can spend the rest of this series indulging in our all new for 2008 crush - Cheryl.

No bonnets please.

Definition of a good friend. One who provides you with your evening's viewing AND the dinner to eat in front of it.

My life having been hijacked by Walker watching I am now going to blog the TV dinner to go with it. ( Yep - it may have been ondes Martenot and Wagner yesterday but it's back to bad Balthazar and siblings today)

Raised on a diet of Pollyanna and forced school feeding of Jane Austen where visitors added to the woes of the unwell by ta ta ta ing a bowl of calves foot jelly from under the covers of their quaint baskets, the ill of yesteryear could amongst other things, only dream of having a branch of COOK nearby,instead of a surplus cache of calves feet to boil up. ( For a moment it makes me wonder where the calves feet of today trot off to but I can hear some throat clearing coming from Gillian and Hugh's direction so I'll stop that).

In comparison my freezer is thoughtfully stacked with 'homemade' COOK dishes, each with its simple, almost austere label, instructions and the name of the person who made it. So to Robert Stevens who 'cooked' for me this evening, compliments.

Bet Mr Darcy couldn't rustle a Roasted Vegetable Lasagne to match yours.

Missing from yesterday's post

Today's photo is of the house from Brothers and Sisters. I don't know if it has a name. It may just be known as 'Mum's'. But as Southfork was the Ewings so this Pasedena pile is to the Walkers. This is not going to become a B&S blog but yesterday having forgotten how to link I am going to correct that today. Plus a bonus link.

Here's the B&S's box set I am watching and one for 'The Brothers'. I don't rememember the plot detail of 'The Brothers' but I do remember the excitement it brought to otherwise deathly Sundays. Were there any sisters in it? If so, no title acknowledgement for them.

The bonus link is to Kitty's engagement ring. Yes, a plot spoiler I know. But the ABC website is full of spoilers. For those who come late to the party there is no respectful 'if you don't wish to know the score look away now'. But I enjoyed the 'you may not be engaged to a senator but...' and wanted to share....

What 70's treasures might 'The Brothers' merchandise line have given us....

Sometimes when you can't do what you want to do ... you find something even better instead....

Back to blog after an extended summer break but to the temporary colonisation of the sofa to recuperate after an op. Surrounding me are piles of magazines,books and DVDs ready for distraction and entertainment. Enforced rest is a bit like being plunged into a powercut. You can't do what you were planning to do or what you would normally do so you think - never mind - it's a great opportunity to do this or that instead . So you go to get started and then - guess what- that also requires power or light of some kind. So I keep thinking now would be a great time to do...and then realising that my mind can think what it likes, my body is on candle and swan vesta wattage right now and until the power comes back on that's that.

However my limited range is not without obligations or responsibilities. My loaned DVD stack includes many ' this is one of my absolute favorites'. Each one presented and pitched by its sponsor as if not to watch it would be akin to pinning my recovery on the slickest of snake oil purveyors.

Of the 'Brothers & Sisters' season one box set, at 988 minutes it was a tough sell. 'Perhaps if you watched 1 or 2 episodes before going into hospital then knowing you had 21 more still to come, it would be something to look forward to ...'

Not wanting this healing burden to rest so heavily on Calista's slender shoulders I desisted. The right decision. Knowing what I know now, how could I have counted backwards into anaesthetized oblivion without knowing how it worked out Walker wise ?

'Brothers & Sisters' is the perfect mesh of my 1st grown up TV must watch 'The Brothers' with the shimmering gloss that the 70's just didn't have ( hair,interiors,perfectly catered parties,cashmere,lip, kitchens large enough to host any family sized showdown).

So with 19 episodes still to go of season 1, the whole of season 2 and with season 3 starting this month in the US I am a gluttinous late adopter.

There had better not be any power cuts.

Funny faces

I have a lovely dentist and there has only been one occasion on which we didn't see eye to eye and I felt that maybe a jab in the eye for a painful tooth would have been in order. Since then I have always asked for plenty of anaesthetic.

This time when I get out of the chair, treatment finished, the nurse laughs and says well you certainly look well numbed now. I have a look in the mirror and see Les Dawson staring back at me. Still more Les for less pain has to be a fair exchange.

With laughter in mind I hope they are now done with filleting Fern so that she can go back to doing what she is brilliant at.

Making you laugh till it hurts - in a good way.