So, just to recap…

Now, where was I?
Oh, yes. Attention spans.
When did we turn into a nation of goldfish?

This question was sparked by a tweet by Swineshead about ITV’s new flagship gameshow The Colour of Money. His fellow blogger’s enjoyment of the programme is seriously hindered by the constant recaps of what has happened just a few minutes earlier in [...]

The Apprentice fails to stay on message

In the run up to the new series of the £100,000 ugly business beauty contest that is The Apprentice, the programme-makers were keen to stress the “greed is good” mentality of previous years would not be repeated.
Even Sir Alan Sugar, top dog in the showcase of mongrels, made it clear that in these recessionary times the [...]

Saddle up

They do say that great minds think alike.
A couple of weeks ago Rachel sent me an emailed link to a group organising a 100km bike challenge. She tentatively wondered whether I would like to rise to the challenge.
It just so happened that around the same time I had been mulling over (quietly, within the confines of [...]

Greenwash for 6N’09

So the Six Nations rugby championship is over for another year and Ireland take all the honours.
There was a great atmosphere in Cardiff as Wales took on the Irish for the title and in the fine tradition of sporting encounters it went down to the wire.
Wales missed what would have been the championship winning penalty [...]

Will The Apprentice be credit-crunched?

Its back!
The Apprentice makes a welcome return to our screens in a week’s time.
So at least I know what I’ll be doing with my Wednesday nights for the next couple of months.
And at first glance, it looks like we won’t be disappointed. We will be exposed to the now familiar selection of caricatures, lined up to [...]

Speak up

We all have moments when we really need to get something off our chest.
And we all have different ways of expressing what is on our mind.
Some write letters to the editor of their local newspaper, others like to get a bit chopsy with their local councillor, there are those who subject their nearest and dearest to [...]

The future should not be televised

I have an enduring soft spot for the Cross City Line.
It might get consistently criticised, but many of these problems are basic human failings rather the fault of the trains or the line itself.
There is, however, one major irritation about the Cross City Line guaranteed to make me feel rather miffed…find out what it is [...]

Trailer trash

It never ceases to amaze me how often film and broadcast companies get one of their prime marketing tools so badly wrong.
The trailer is a precious opportunity to capture the audience’s imagination, whether it is a 5-second blip or a 3-minute stand-alone showcase.
And yet our film and TV screens are littered with examples of where [...]

Murdering Angels is more acceptable than smoking

I should begin by stating that I’m not anti-smoking.
Despite never being a smoker myself my tolerance threshold for a past-time that gets so many hot under the collar (not literally) is pretty high.
I’ve always been willing to adopt an “each to their own” attitude.
If people want to smoke, let them – although such an attitude [...]

On reflection…

It was three years ago today that I waved bye-bye to full-time employment having decided to take voluntary redundancy.
Despite having the best job on The Birmingham Post – I was Chief Feature Writer for five years – the time felt right for a change.
I was about to get married, the paper itself was in a [...]