Trash TV

Oh dear. With the demise of Big Brother next year what is the British public going to do in their search of misfits, weirdoes and Z-list “celebrities” who’d turn up for the opening of an envelope, get drunk and then have the cheek to charge you £200? I’m sure even Hello magazine is panicking over the forthcoming lack of material. Still, I guess Katie Price will keep them in pictures in stories for the next millennium. Worst of all, Channel Four are now going to have to fill their airwaves with “new” programming – so stand by for repeats of Friends and Fraiser.

I could never understand the fuss behind the series and even less so one of my friends. During the first series he actually sat up most of the night watching the extended coverage of the “housemates” sleeping. Obviously watching people snore and break wind is more interesting than getting some sleep of your own. Bonkers.

And let’s not forgot those “famous” housemates. You know, over the past ten years there has been umm, and err, and you know, the one with the thingy. Yea, those Z-list “celebrities” are just that – instantly forgettable and thoroughly encouraged by our dour red top newspapers. But, if you asked any one person to name somebody off Big Brother then I’d guarantee you that they’d all name one person – Jade Goody.

I guess you should never speak ill of the dead, but just what the heck was Jade Goody famous for, apart from being labelled a racist? It’s not as if she was a mathematician (far from it) or the most photogenic of people, but she ended up making exercising videos, having her own perfume, presenting television shows and even writing a book. At one point she was even ranked as the 25th most influential person in the world!! Truly the world has gone mad – even more so when you consider that her lifetime earnings were suggested to be over £2 million pounds.

So rant over, you’ll forgive me if I don’t shed a tear over the cancellation of Big Brother.

The Missing Five Months – Part II

Earlier in the year we all headed across the water to the emerald isle for a wedding. One of P’s friends was, unsurprisingly, getting married and P was the matron of honour. It was quite funny really as I kept on asking her whether she’d written a speech and if she’d be ready to stand up in front of everyone at the reception and thank everyone for coming. P did get a little hot under the collar for a while, but her friend soon assured her that none of that was necessary and all she had to do was witness the signature.

All of P’s other university friends were there too so it was nice seeing her catch up with old friends and being introduced to them – especially as I’d only ever seen them on pictures and heard about exploits that would make the most outgoing of people blush. It was also nice to hear from them that they’d “heard so much about you” – although I’m not really sure whether this is a good or bad thing!

I do like Southern Ireland and find everyone so friendly. Unlike the UK, where every village use to have a Police Station, Post Office, Village Shop and Pub, the villages in Ireland still have them with supermarkets reserved for the larger towns. Every body knows every body else and, even if you’re a stranger, they all seem to know who you’re visiting and where you’re from. Needless to say, if you’ve a secret, it won’t be a secret for too long!

The country side is wonderful too, and once we’d driven into Southern Ireland away from the grotty cities and depressingly run down towns on both sides of the border, the pace of the cities gave way to enchanting landscapes. Where we were staying was a short drive from a deserted beach that could have been lifted from a postcard. Given that we’ve not exactly had the best weather this year, the weather for our trip was perfect and strolling down a sandy beach with only the sound of the waves gently rolling in was bliss.

I’d really like to retire there (assuming there’s anything left in my pension pot that hasn’t either been lost by some reckless banker or stolen by Gordon Brown) but P said she wouldn’t like the isolation and the lack shops. So, although she hates shopping, I think P secretly loves the Trafford Centre and her local Tesco Superstore too much.

The Missing Five Months - Part I

Apologies, apologies and even more apologies.

Gosh is it really five months since I last updated my blog? Blimey, you won’t believe how much has changed in that apparently short period of time – and it’s still all good news without any doom or despondency about my previous lack of love life.

Rounding things up in a nice and short way, P and I are still together and we’re still happily loved up. The biggest, no the hugest, news ever to have to have occurred in my life is that P is currently seven weeks pregnant!

We weren’t really expecting things to happen so soon, especially given that we’re both approaching 40, and we thought we’d be “practicing” for a few more months yet. But when P’s period didn’t materialise on our holiday, I began to suspect that a bun might well be in the oven! As soon as we got back home from holiday P duly performed the embarrassing task of peeing on a stick – twice. And, low and behold, both came out positive.

So, there you have it, I’m to become a Dad. So far, I think I’ve been very calm about things – especially since P is still not showing any symptoms or is there a bump to look at (and rub!). But today P came back from the doctors with a book all about pregnancy and, as I flipped through the pages, it sort of started to hit home of what is ahead. After all, it’s not as if you can hand over a screaming little imp and clear off back home – this little bundle of joy is for keeps!

But, given our relative ages, P and I are naturally concerned about abnormalities such as Downs Syndrome so we’re going to pay for a special scan. Also, given that P suffered from pre-eclampsia in her last pregnancy I made the mistake looking it up on the Internet and terrifying my self in the process. Still, the midwife said they’d be keeping a closer eye on her – and they’re not the only ones!

So, there you have it, you even have an exclusive as not even our respective parents or friends know about the (very small) bump yet and we’re waiting a few more weeks to make sure things are OK before announcing it to the world.

Given my lack of time these days (doing heaven knows what!) I’m going to try and do a bit more blogging over the next few months – after all, I’m going to have a lot to blog about!!