BB Update

Oh Dear Makosi. After being stopped by police for not wearing a seatbelt, she has been interviewed by immigration authorities for breaking the terms of her visa, by leaving her hospital job to go into the Big Brother house. She needs to lodge an appeal or risks being deported in the nest 10 days.

Vanessa has been on the publicity trail for the show's sponsors Talk Talk.

Anthony has been falling out of nightclubs and has been branded talentless.

Eugene has had a feature with glam photos in heat and has a text stalker.

Kinga is losing weight and has a manager ready to launch her pop career.

Derek is hanging out with toff mates.

Craig is supposedly still mates with Anthony, even though he sided with Makosi for a while over the debate of if they did or didn't do it in the pool.

Orlaith has a stalker and has posed topless for lads' mags.

Kemal wants a sex change. Or maybe just more publicity.

Science wants to be a gigilo.

Maxwell and Saskia are still an item and will tell anyone who listens (especially if they pay them) about the fantastic sex they are having outside the BB house.

Rumours are that Roberto may have his own cookery show.

Sam got her tits out at every available opportunity.

Lesley has had hair extensions and is readily available to attend the opening of an envelope.

Mary has done sod all apart from look scary.

Downfall

I have watched this subtitled German film (originally called Der Untergang) and was very impressed with it. Originally slightly daunted by two and half hours of a 'war' film, I was soon sucked in with no concept of the time. The acting is superb, the film is carefully researched to be based on fact (the memories of Traudl Junge, a secretary for Hitler, and others) and the sound effects of the explosions are very effective. It is fascinating to see the accounts of the generals and other military leaders in their (mostly) unswerving loyalty to their Fuhrer. It is also interesting to see the 'behind the scenes' Hitler as known to Traudl in contrast to the war-mongering, desperate, slightly mad man that he became.

This film is not as dark and heavy as one would expect when set in a bunker in Berlin during the last days of the Third Reich, as the characters are so interesting and portrayed with a depth even when on screen for a brief time.

8.5/10

Niagara

Niagara
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

We did a Maid of the Mist ride and enjoyed the full Niagara experience including plastic ponchos and getting intensely sprayed. 1996.

X-Factor Update

Once again this Saturday we saw the usual procession of failures who thought they could sing, trilling away for our amusement. Apparently X-Factor is now trouncing BBC1's offer that goes head-to-head with it, and the Beeb are likely to axe He's Having A Baby. What with I'm a Celeb due back in a few months, are ITV making a come back?

Strictly Dance Shows

Strictly Come Dancing will return in October with non-celeb spin off show Strictly Dance Fever will have its second series in the New Year.

Jeffrey Sachs - The End of Poverty

It has taken me a long time to read The End of Poverty, it is quite a hard book to read. In fact I skipped chunks at the end which I dislike doing. I have an interest in the subject matter from Open University course on Third World Development and at times it read a bit too much like a text book. In parts I found the book inspirational and in other parts dull and repetitive, and at other times just wanted to throw it against the wall.

Sachs is an economist and there is a lot of economics in it, this alone is not a problem it is the way that it is spelt out and over simplified so that every formula is so carefully explained. This maybe a good thing for some people but made the book drag for me with a base knowledge, plus I think it would make people with no economic knowledge daunted as the over-simplification meant everything was explained in such detail it took a long time to read and then another example was given….

Some of Sachs theory makes sense certainly, but it does go over the same thing rather a lot. Writing it in a book isn’t going to solve the problem, if, as he says, it is a lack of support from the Western governments. Debt relief or cancellation is a bonus but a long commitment to projects is what is needed, as Sachs says. It is all very well Sachs telling me that, but my £10 a month to charity, while useful, is not going to help if it is billions of dollars that are required from governments in the West. There is little the individual can do other than write to their MPs and question governments that have other things on their mind (that is not an excuse, that is just how it is – giving money to Africa does not win elections).

We really only have Sachs word on it that this is the way to go. He has an impressive CV and details how he has helped countries like Poland get back on their feet and also refers to countries that he has not helped and their problems (an interesting, if over long and not always relevant part of the book). However, there is still an awful lot that needs to be done and regrettably I am not in the situation to ‘foster economic systems’ that will help.

The end of extreme poverty (living on less than the equivalent of US$1 per day per person) is the ideal and Sachs believes it is workable in the next 20-25 years. I hope he is right.

I'm A Celebrity 5

The fifth series is due to be shown in November and already neams are being touted, which includes Ian Wright and Jan Leeming, and the usual assortment of soap stars and Page Three modelas and a few people I have never heard of.

Top Ten iTunes

Top tunes played on iPod and iTunes since June 2004:

1. Paul Weller - You Do Something to Me
2. Sugababes - Killer
3. Supergrass - Moving
4. The Lightning Seeds - Marvellous
5. Dodgy - Good Enough
6. Wet Wet Wet - If I Never See You Again
7. Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love
8. Skunk Anansie - Hedonism
9. The Lightning Seeds - You Showed Me
10. Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body

All*Star Cup

Celebrity Golf is you prefer. Perhaps in an endeavour to make golf more of a spectator sport they have got a lot of celebs together to play in a Europe vs USA cup. Contestants include Michael Douglas, Michael Chang, Boris Becker, Catherine Zeta Jones and others. This airs on Sy One over the Bank Holiday weekend. I hope to be busy. I also hope Ratboy is too busy to watch it.

Out

I have just finished Out, a gory crime thriller set in Tokyo. This is Kirino's first novel to be translated into English, and apparently (according to the blurb on the back of the book) she has written many other highly acclaimed crime books in Japan.

In this book we know the crime and the perpetrator at the beginning. Yayoi Yamamoto kills her abusive, cheating, stealing husband Kenji and enlists the help of colleague Masako Kitori and two others to chop up and dispose of his remains. However, part of his body is found and a casino owner is arrested for the crime and upon his release attempts to track down Kenji Yamamoto's real killer and those that helped in losing his livelihood.

Whilst I query the ease in which Yayoi got her colleagues to help chop up and dispose of a body (with a small monetary offer), if you let that niggle go you do have a good crime book with strong (if not always likeable) women characters. The book is very gory in parts and is very graphic so not for the queasy, but you will be gripped and happy to go along to see what will befall this women.

Popcap

This is bad. Free games off the internet. It is a miracle anything ever gets done.

City of God

Finally I got round to watching this film after it had been recommended to me by various people many times. It is a worthy recommendation. One of my favourite all time films was also Brazilian, Carandiru, and whilst similar in places, it is not as good as that.

Like Carandiru, the film has flashbacks into the past of different people in the Rio slum that they live in (nicknamed City of God, hence the title). I initially found this more confusing than in Carandiru, and it didn't immediately grip me, but it picked up half way through, and loose ends got tied up and you saw the film for the amazing, moving slice of life that it was.

The cast is broard and talented, you see our hero, Rocket, try and fulfill his dream of becoming a photographer from his childhood days where child hoodlums rob and kill (including Rocket's brother murdered by Lil' Ze, who ultimately went on to run the neighbourhood).

Most of the kids help with drug dealing and when battles kick off between rival factions are given guns to kill the rival gang members.

The film is very violent and shocking but absolutely worth buying/renting.

8/10

Boston

Boston
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

The infamous Quincy Market in a wet and windy Autumn Boston. 1996.

Latest kitchen Accessory

Yes, I know. It is poor....

Departure Lounge

My new favourite travel show has been on air a few weeks now. It is presented by ex-Celeb Fame Academy student Nick Knowles who tries out wacky tests on your luggage, CBBC presenter Angelica Bell and travel expert Simon Calder. Calder will also descend on any package holiday that needs a shake up.

The show goes out live on Friday night, so can respond to the latest news, bring interesting travel reports, and send celebs off around the word on £500.

Lost

The only programme with any credibility worth watching at the moment (X-Factor doesn't count) excluding The Apprentice USA on BBC3, is Channel 4's new American drama Lost. One needs to suspend one's disbelief considerably, to see that only glamorous people have survived the plane crash in the polar bear inhabited South Pacific island, including a Labrador dog. Also there are 'miracles' in the form of crippled people walking again post-crash, eight-month pregnant women flying long-haul and a lot of untold stories about a range of extreme characters. I will be tuning in next week to see the fantastic adventures of the beautiful people in paradise on E4.

X-Factor

It's back! The audition shows kicked off yesterday and the Great British public got to see a hint of some of the (limited) talent there was to come, the freaks who think they have something, and the not-quite-got-it-but-has-eyebrows-plucked-to-oblivion contestants who have (allegedly) had their lives ruined by the supposedly calous judges of Sharon Osborne, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh.

Roll on the next episode of failures for my amusement.

Audioscrobber Update

1 Madonna - 43
2 Wet Wet Wet - 37
3 Stonebridge - 36
4 Will Young - 28
4 Kylie Minogue - 28
4 Thompson Twins - 28
7 Sttevie Wonder - 26
8 The Beatles - 24
8 Gwen Stefani - 24
10 Go West - 23

Before Sunrise

We rented Before Sunrise, but didn't finish watching it as this dialogue-based film had nothing else going for it. There was no action, just two people talking on a train and walking around a city, still talking. The sequel Before Sunset is coming straight off the to-watch list.

2/10

Smokey Mountains

Smokey Mountains
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

We took a fantastic drive through the Great Smokey Mountains NP, which is the most visited park on the East Coast and has some truely spectacular scenery. 1992.

No Thanks

Burberry check iPod covers, and now a gold version. Classy.

Why?

£7 for a duck for the bath? Even if it looks like an iPod, that seems a bit steep to me.

Essexgirl goes to Prague.

And then came back again four days later. We flew with CSA which was an odd experience - told to put seats upright, tray tables up and turn off electronic devices half and hour before we were due to land - and don't even get me started on what they consider a suitable meal for a vegetarian.

The hotel was nice and very centrally located by the Old Town Square. We enjoyed the castle, found the Charles Bridge over-rated (pictures to follow - when I can be bothered), as were boat tours, but we liked the Museum of Communism, as we are both interested in modern history. For the most part we enjoyed wandering around the city.

Generally the food was rubbish, especially for vegetarians. My best meal was breaded cheese (with cranberry sauce) and potatoes, followed by Brocolli Fusili which was a bit heavy on the garlic. Pizzas were also disapointing, and we often were surcharged for sitting outside, or having a basket of bread we hadn't ordered. The beer was cheap, spirits less so, and we really enjoyed the nightlife, but it helped that there was a group of us, as the Czechs liked to dance to Crazy Frog and Jive Bunny.

All in all we had a good time, but I don't feel the need to go back.

BB Results

Old news, but to tidy up loose ends, Kinga was 4th and wasn't that embarrassed about pleasuring herself with a bottle. Makosi was third and unrepentant whilst being booed continuously. Eugene was a worthy second but would have been a more worthy first, but that spot was taken by Anthony.

Now what am I going to do with my life?

BB Eviction

Yay! A midweek eviction to make up for the fact that I won't be here for the final. And given 30 seconds notice to leave is Craig!!!! Double yay as he left to boos. He will be interviewed after the pilot episode of Lost.

But there is yet another twist....

Craig gave a good interview and was very funny. He works better with an audience.

Twist time. A housemate was called to the Diary Room. Eugene went. Big Brother told him that he could take £50,000 (half the winner's pot) now, leaving £50,000 for the eventual winner (although he doesn't know he is the bookies' favourite). What Eugene wasn't told and what BB told the other housemates that if Eugene says 'no', the pot will double to £200,000.

Eugene took the money, and the housemates were supportive. Only a fool would turn down £50,000 for doing nothing.

Will report on the final after Prague.....

The Passion of the Christ

We rented The Passion of the Christ on DVD ages ago and I had two abortive attempts to watch it where I fell asleep on both occasions (I guess I need something a bit livelier on weekend afternoons).

That said it is not a bad film. It does take a while to get going and the early scenes are filmed in a dark forest and it is hard to watch and work out who is who.

However, it is also one of the most gory films I have seen. The scenes where Jesus is beaten in the courtyard and nailed to the cross are very graphic, and the beating scene in particular goes on for a long time. I watched most of this film behind my hands.

The film has been criticised for being Anti-Semitic, but I can't see that myself. It is another time and era and should not be judged by how we treat the blasphemous these days! I also cannot comment on its historical accuracy as I have not read the bible since school and am hazy on the details.

All in all it was quite good, but I found the violence far to gratuitous for my taste.

6/10

Audioscrobbler Update

Audioscrobbler has updated and now calls itself Last FM. Hopefully it will run quicker than it has today.

My Top Ten artists up to today are:

1 Madonna - 40
2 Wet Wet Wet - 35
3 Stonebridge - 34
4 Thompson Twins - 28
5 Will Young - 27
5 Kylie Minogue - 27
7 Stevie Wonder - 24
7 Gwen Stefani - 24
9 ABBA - 22
9 Go West - 22

I am in the Top Twenty fans for Wet Wet Wet now, and possbily some others but the slowness of the site makes me feel like I really can't be arsed to check further. There is a lot of info that you can find out about the tastes of other music fans if you have plenty of other things to check out whilst waiting for the damn site.

Hell's Kitchen USA

Looks like Gordan Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen in the USA has done well. I would rather he did a new series of kitchen nightmares or some such over here as I find him quite entertaining (if a little scary).

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Usually I read my Harry Potter's in paperback, but a friend who had the hardback insisted I read it as she was traumatised! As I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't read it, I will keep the review brief with no story descriptions.

The book is a lot darker than The Order of the Phoenix, and Harry is less angry. There are a few teenage hormones and snogging flying around, but then they all turn seventeen in this book.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this book, nothing is clear cut and you are never sure what will happen next, I am also not sure what will happen in the next book as everything is upside down!

Chilli Fiesta

Yesterday we visited the Chilli Fiesta at West Dean near Chichester.

Although I feel £6 admission was a bit steep to look around some stalls, there were quite a few interesting ones. We are now the proud owners of a Medusa chilli plant, some chilli popcorn, crisps, ketchup and cooking sauce.

Chilli popcorn is delicious and we also enjoyed some chilli bread. My taco lunch was very disappointing but others went to different stalls and had nicer stuff - marinated meat skewers, sandwiches etc. I also tried chilli ice cream and my verdict is that it is very wrong and I have no desire to try it again.

There were greenhouses of chilli plants to look at if you were so inclined, and a few other places to visit, but it was very busy so we didn't get the best out of the place.

My verdict is that it is very interesting trying all the different chilli products, and if I went back would try to go early when it maybe less busy. The £6 admission was too steep, and they really needed a stall that sold bottled water as a few to many people were walking about complaining their mouths were on fire.

Not sure about this.

I found a link to a Japanese site that offers Hello Kitty chess sets. Twee.

BB Eviction

With 58% of the vote it was Derek who was evicted last night. He gave good interview.

The five remaining housemates, Craig, Anthony, Kinga, Makosi and Eugene (who cried when Derek left) are through to the final week, and you can vote for your favourite now. Hints are that there will be an eviction of somesort on Wednesday.

Now I have seen everything

The perfect gift ideas for birthdays. Get in now for Christmas! Who could resist cards and gifts made from recycled elephant dung?!

iPods and babies

I have to admit, I didn't realise there was a connection between the two, but there is a website that has combined their love of babies and iPods.

iPod Hoodie

It gets better! Instead of dressing up a baby in an iPod babygro, dress your iPod up as a teenager in its own hoodie!

Decadent

I cannot condone using a dead mink to dress a human, let alone a gadget. Sick.

Better

At least these Kimono cases look better than the mink jobbies. Am probably too tight to spned US$40 on them though.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This is the movie based on the third of the Harry Potter books. One very impressive factor about this series is the calibre of actors that it can attract. This time the elite cast are joined by Emma Thompson and the divination teacher Professor Trelawney, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black and Michael Gambon has taken over from the late Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore.

Any one who is familiar with the book is familiar with the story, which keeps pretty true to the book (although I feel this one differs more form the book at the end than the others). It is a long film at two hours, eleven minutes, but a lot of detail is included in so much as the anecdotes and minor details that I remember from the book (which was years ago that I read it).

All in all it is a good film and entertaining, but could do with some trimming at the beginning where it can be painfully slow at times.

6.5/10

Disneyland Palace

Disneyland Palace
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

The eponymous Cinderella's castle as DisneyWorld, Florida.

BB nominations

Nominations for the penultimate week have been announced. Surprisingly Kinga didn't receive a single nomination, thus it is Derek and Eugene who face the public vote. Which is a shame as I am absolutely desperate to see the back of clingy, pathetic Craig. Get a fucking life.

Tacky!

The not very publicity shy Jordan and fiance Peter Andre have decided to get married on TV.

BB update

After an ungrateful Orlaith walked on Saturday, BB decided to throw another housemate into the mix - Kinga, the third (and unsuccessful) Secret Garden housemate.

There is less than two weeks until the final, and Big Brother recognised that the housemates will all nominate Kinga next week, so have given Kinga (who is also able to nominate, and win the show) a secret mission. If she succeeds in making at least one housemate NOT nominate her, then she will be immune from eviction on Friday, thus ensuring her place in the final week.