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Simply brilliant!
I am a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing as it is great to see people pushed to their limits week in, week out and to see just how much they improve over the series. However, after watching the latest episode of the US version, Dancing With the Stars, we have long way to go before our celebs can match the brilliance of Kellie Pickler and her professional dance partner, Derek Hough. It was quite simply magical – watch it here and see if you agree!
Holy Shit!
The end of an era! Batman’s young partner Robin will die saving the world in a comic book published on Wednesday, DC Comics has announced. Both the Boy Wonder and Batman’s son, the Damian Wayne character will meet his end in the eighth issue of the comic Batman Incorporated.
Apparently he does his job – he saves the world and dies an absolute hero. He will inevitably be killed fighting a vicious assassin who also happens to be his brother, ‘cloned from his genetic material’. Batman will not be there to save him.
This news reminded me of the hysterical episode of Only Fools and Horses, Heroes and Villains, where Del Boy and Rodney [David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst] dress up as Batman and Robin for a party with their usual calamity filled antics. This episode was shown on Christmas Day in 1996 and attracted a record audience of 21.3 million. If you’ve not seen it for a while, check out this clip and I’m sure you’ll agree that even 16 years on it definitely stands the test of time – an absolute classic!
More haste, less speed
2013 has been an eventful year so far for actress Jennifer Lawrence … and we’re only two months in!
Hot on the heels of her recent calamity at the Screen Actors Guild Awards where she caught and ripped the bottom of her dress on a chair in her hurry to get up on stage to collect her award, she’s created headlines yet again by falling up the stairs on her way to collect her Best Actress award at last night’s Oscars!
She must surely be the most accident-prone actress in Hollywood!!!
Now I am sure she’s delighted with all these awards but I’m guessing she may also be mortified at these mishaps. It’s one thing to fall over when few people are watching but it’s quite something else to do it in front of millions of TV viewers!
So Jennifer, if you’re reading this, I have a few words of advice. Take your time, look where you’re going and definitely make sure you sack your stylist – a shorter dress would be far less hazardous for you love!!!
Celebrity Stalkers?
I always thought that the reason I preferred to buy new-build properties was because I rather liked the idea of no-one having used any of the facilities before me. A blank canvas which I can then make my own with colours and textures and creative thinking. It looks as though I was wrong! I must have decided on this course of action to prevent previous occupants turning up, uninvited and unannounced, wanting to look round my humble abode and then making a cheeky offer to buy the property back from me!
Yes folks, this has actually happened and the culprit, none other than Hollywood actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins! The star arrived at the semi-detached home in Port Talbot (his childhood home) in a chauffeur-driven car with his wife and two bodyguards, and asked if he could look around. The bemused couple invited the actor and his group inside and he stayed for 30 minutes, posing for pictures before asking if the home was for sale.
The owners apparently admitted to being a little starstruck but pleased he’d had the opportunity to revisit the place he was born. I’m not sure I’d have been so amenable had I opened the door to find Hannibal Lecter standing on my doorstep – some fava beans and a nice Chianti anyone?????
and the answer is …
Well of course it’s me! Calista Flockhart was born on 11th November 1964, Demi Moore the 11th November 1962 and me, well I’m a tad older than that!!! Were you right?
Farewell old friend
BBC Ceefax, the world’s first teletext service, has taken its final bow as the UK’s digital switchover is completed.
Ceefax was launched on 23 September 1974 to give BBC viewers the chance to check the latest news headlines, sports scores, weather forecast or TV listings – in a pre-internet era where the only alternative was to wait for the next TV or radio bulletin to be aired. Its premise was to give viewers free access to the same information that was coming into the BBC newsroom, as soon as the BBC’s journalists had received it.
Initially developed when BBC engineers, exploring ways to provide subtitles to enable viewers with hearing problems to enjoy BBC TV programmes, found it was possible to transmit full pages of text information in the “spare lines” transmitted on the analogue TV signal.
It was called Ceefax, simply because viewers would be able to quickly “see the facts” of any story of the day.
Its audience peaked in the 1990s when it had 20 million viewers who checked the service at least once a week. Since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994, dozens of jackpot winners have revealed that they first learned their life had been changed when they checked their numbers on Ceefax.
Anyone who grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s will be familiar with Ceefax but because of the wonders of technology, these teletext-type services are no longer our go-to resource for the latest news and weather. ITV and Channel 4’s Teletext was shut off in 2009 and now those with a soft spot for the BBC’s Ceefax have been cut off, too.
Today we’ve seen Twitter users are sharing #Ceefax memories and wishing the old girl farewell. The image below is currently doing the rounds. I’m not sure who’s behind it but it certainly gave me a smile.
The launch of the UK’s TV digital signal, and the announcement that the analogue TV signal would disappear in a staged switch-off over five years meant a slow withdrawal of Ceefax, ending with the final broadcast tonight in Northern Ireland when Olympic Gold Medallist, Mary Peters, had the dubious honour of ending the service.
Another happy memory consigned to the virtual rubbish bin after 38 years of loyal service – what will we see disappear next?
Sir Gary of the Barlow
It’s been a good few weeks for Gary Barlow. After the success(?) of the concert he masterminded at Buck House, comes a week when he continues to dominate the tabloid headlines!
At the beginning of the week, his Jubilee single “Sing” reached No. 1 in the charts and he was awarded Premier Inn’s “Celebrity Dad of the Year 2012”
It is the first time Gary has won the accolade and he was chosen in a public vote. The X Factor Judge said winning the award felt “amazing”.
And then, today, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List it was announced that he has been awarded the OBE in recognition of his services to the entertainment industry and to charity.
I can’t help but think this last one must have come as something of a disappointment. There have been many calls for him to be knighted and Sir Gary does have something of a ring about it. But, more importantly, when us commoners regard the OBE as something being awarded for “Other Buggers Efforts” it’s just a wee bit of a smack in the face perhaps? – discuss!
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