I’m so addicted to I’m a Celebrity that I had to watch the ITV2 follow-up last night, because the main thing had been ousted by the football. Grrrrr….

Anyway, there’s a bloke called Russell Kane doing witty little commentaries on the action, and he’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in years! I don’t really watch comedy on TV, so I prolly miss a lot of funny stuff, but I reckon Russell’s worth seeking out. I’ve not laughed so hard in years as I did just now watching his review of y/day’s show *g* Tragically, I can’t find it on YouTube. It’s still available on the ITV net-viewer thingy, though. Heh…

Browsing around on YouTube earlier I came across a series from the 1970s where Marco Pierre White, at the height of his Harveys days, cooks for Albert Roux (then of Le Gavroche), Nico Ladenis (Simply Nico), Pierre Koffman (La Tante Claire) and Raymond Blanc (Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons).

There’s a whole episode devoted to each of the chef he cooks for, and each episode is divided on YT into three parts. In each one Marco explains how he chose the menu, cooks it and then eats it over conversation with the guest at the end.

Gordon Ramsay was working at Harveys at the time, and it’s great fun to see him cooking away–quietly–in the background. That can’t have been easy *g*

Wow, that was great! I wish the Roux Brothers’ series was there too. Still, I think I have it squirreled away somewhere on a dusty video… (Edited to add: Ooooh! It *is* there!)

Here’s one eppy to get you started. Enjoy!

Here’s another. I insisted on singing this for the choir audition in the 2nd year at school, in place of the insipid thing the music teacher suggested, and failed to get into the choir. Ah, well… I was the only girl in the whole year who actually *wanted* to be in the choir, I think, but such is life. Or such was life, anyway, at my most peculiar school…

This recording is a little odd, but I like the arrangement *g*

Nana’s done one too, of course. It’s a little deadly, but WTF… I defo prefer the little girl’s rendition, except for Nana’s lovely resolving bit. (What is it with Nana and her endings???)

Another of my favourite tunes. At this stage in the game I’m not sure which version I heard as a child, but there’s a good chance that it was this one as my aunt was a Nana M. fanatic.

I confess that I like her too, as I inherited a pile of 33s and listened to one of them repeatedly as I read my favourite book of all time, about 30 years ago, so she’s rather stuck in my head… *g*

The ending on that version is dreadful, though, and I’m sure I’d have remembered that, so just in case it was Rolf Harris… *g*

Does is seem right that athletes with learning disabilities are to be allowed to compete against physically disabled athletes in the 2012 Paralympic Games?

To me it doesn’t seem fair. The whole point of having a separate set of games, I thought, was that athletes with physical disabilities are at a disadvantage when competing against able-bodied athletes.

Learning difficulties create difficulties of their own, but are they likely to adversely affect a person’s ability to move at speed/with strength, in the same way as a disability that affects limb function? In broad terms, I’d have thought not. (I say “in broad terms” because clearly some physical disabilities are more likely to affect speed/strength than others.)

All things considered, if I were a physically disabled athlete who had put in years of training I think I’d be feeling pretty fed up right now. Perhaps there should be a third category of olympic competition, specifically for those with learning disabilities…? It’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out.

I’m still mired in car-related chaos, here, but I hope to be finally getting it sorted out either today or tomorrow. I’ve settled on a Skoda Fabia Estate, subject only to the fates performing a further backflip and turning my plans around once again. Now, I hope, it’s simply a matter of choosing the actual car. Fingers crossed y’all, please, and a special mention for Mango Terrier, who knows far more about cars, and buying them, than I’d have believed possible until a week ago.

What is it with the contestants on Come Dine With Me, I wonder? I can’t understand why so many people who choose to enter a dinner party hosting competition appear to be averse to eating/trying such a wide range of foods!

Catching up with a few episodes via the wonderful TV on Demand yesterday, I saw great swathes of people who didn’t like/wouldn’t eat/had never heard of/were unwilling to taste bog-standard varieties of fish, cheese, chocolate and meat. One bloke made what looked like an absolutely scrumptious fish stew, only to find that one of his 3 guests simply didn’t eat fish whilst another one couldn’t face fish that came in shells and “…looks like this!” she said, dragging a snarl onto her face and arranging her arms into a pointy, aggressive-looking attitude in front of her eyes. It turned out that she was referring to the langoustines. After that she folded her arms and went to sleep on the table, though she was eventually able to rouse herself for a bit of chocolate pudding. In another episode, a woman was so appalled by cheese, and everthing that it involves, that she had to leave the room and watch a bit of television next door while the others tucked into a bit of cheddar. Profoundly weird, ISTM…

I dunno about you, but I’m already addicted to this year’s round of I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here! It’s the only one of the ‘reality’ TV things I watch, and it’s always a lot of fun (unless you happen to be a creepy crawlie living in the Australian rain forest, of course, in which case I’m sure it’s all a bit depressing).

The celebs that make up this year’s bunch are less immediately entertaining than the last lot, but it appears that things are finally hotting up. Last night’s drama between Kim Woodburn (a bit of a bully) and Joe Bugner (a bit of a bully, but larger) made such uncomfortable viewing that I had to watch through squinted eyes, and Piglet became upset and had to be comforted by the cat. I reckon Jimmy White’s going to come through strongly as things progress, and that American bloke, George Hamilton, seems to have a sneakily wicked sense of humour.

Speaking of food, I’d like to have said something about Raymond Blanc’s The Restaurant, but it’s so extremely odd that it seems to have left me entirely unable to comment. Well, other than to say that I was very sorry to see the two army blokes go out, and that my money’s been on the two cheery peeps from The Front Room (or The Living Room, or whatever it’s called) from the outset. There! That’s prolly the kiss of death for them, then! *g* More next week, perhaps.

Last, but certainly not least, looking at the pictures that John Hee linked to on his blog yesterday I’m relieved beyond description that Piglet and I are no longer in The Licks…

I have a trial!

My interview went better even than I could have hoped. I’d gone armed with lies designed to conceal the fact that I’ve been working as a lawyer for ever–it puts people off, I’ve noticed–and I was afraid that the bloke might turn me away immediately when he spotted that I’m not a 16 year old bimbo, but when we started chatting I just told him the truth, and it turned out that he viewed my age and experience as the potential assets that they really are

So! I have a 3 hour trial next Friday evening, so that he can make an assessment of whether I’m able to work with his staff. I’ve never had a problem working with peeps before, and I’m very happy to be told what to do, so I’ll be very disappointed, and surprised, if that doesn’t go okay. Although I don’t want to count any chickens etc etc, and so I’m not assuming that all will be fine.

Still, though, it’s very happy-making not to be turned away because I’m ‘over-qualified’, or because I don’t already have experience of something that I know I can learn to do pretty quickly, or because I’m too old It really made my evening!

*does the happy dance*

Oh… and even more importantly, my darling Piglet is one year old today. I can’t help but feel a bit emotional when I think of it. She’s turned out such a lovely, sunny, friendly little dog. An absolute darling, in fact. Everybody loves her–even the cat! She’s downstairs, now, chewing on her birthday bone I love her more than I can say.

Darling Piglet -- the Wee Dote

Thanks for all the support re: the job, y’all, and the advice about what to wear. It was very much appreciated ♥ ♥ ♥

I know it’s not flash, but… there’s a v. nice little restaurant round the corner from here, and I’ve just spotted that they’re looking for waiters, 3 nights a week. I’ve got an interview on Thursday

It wouldn’t be a lot of money, but it would be something; and just think of all that lovely food, and the chance to see how people make it!

*excited*

p.s. Ummm… what should I wear? I’m not very good at clothes… *bites crubeens anxiously*

My car’s engine is apparently knackered, and I’m going to have to replace it.

Bearing in mind my requirements, which are:

1. inexpensive to run,
2. reliable,
3. something Piglet can travel in (her crate currently rests on the back seat, which isn’t ideal),
4. something that’ll let me nip up to the Lakes/Scotland from time to time, but won’t be used much, and
5. inexpensive to buy,

does anyone have any suggestions about what I should replace it with? I have a pal from the running club who works with and knows a lot about cars, and he’s going to have a look around, but I wondered what y’all think.

*cries a bit*