Cavern Club

Cavern Club
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

The doors going down to the infamous Cavern Club where The Beatles were discovered in Liverpool

Will Young - Keep On

Keep On is Will Young's third album, but is it going to be as big a hit as his first two? The title track kicks it off, it is quite laid back, but still is quite catchy. The debut single Switch It On is next (although without the 'Top Young' video!) which is instantly grabable.

All Time Love is a ballad but is not as strong as some of his previous efforts but definitely a grower. Ain't Such A Bad Place To Be has a great intro and is one of the better songs on the album and is quite dramatic and likeable from the first listen. Think It Over is also a good tune and quite upbeat. Who Am I is another slow track with some lovely lyrics, which is followed by the jazzy, Latin beat of Happiness. Save Yourself is another ballad, but is quite disappointing and a bit of a nothing track. Madness is more upbeat and is a good little pop song. All I Want seems to be a bit of a filler track and Think About It is nothing special either, but could grow on me. The final track is called Home, and that is nothing special either.

Verdict: Very disappointing, some good tracks, some growers, and a high percentage of nothing tracks. Will Young is not as commercial, and I am not sure if his fanbase can cope with it. Time will tell.

Novelty Mice

A company called Pat Says Now have brought out an extensive range of novelty mice for the PC.

The X Factor - Week Seven

With Louis allegedly quitting the show earlier in the week, he decided to come back, but said Simon slagging him off had really got to him, but came back for his one remaining act, Shayne. So that was all a flash in the pan, and apparently not a publicity stunt. Honest.

Back to the acts (as opposed to the judges egos,which do have a tendency to get in the way) and it Was Chico up first this week He performed Billie Jean and, as usual, his vocals were a bit dodgy but his dancing and performing (with another child) made it a good show and possibly was enough to carry him through. Simon didn't like it, and called it a bad impersonation of Michael Jackson, but generally everyone else liked it.

Next was The Conway Sisters, who have to know that they were strong contenders for the bottom two before they even started. By performing their most upbeat song yet, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and being out of tune at the beginning was not a good way to prove the critics wrong. Louis was diplomatic and wished them luck without alluding to the bad notes and it was only Simon who broke the news to them that their performance was probably not good enough to get them through. The third act was Andy who unfortunately missed his cue which possibly put him off a bit at the beginning. I was not particularly inspired by the song, I Have Nothing, which was a Whitney Huston number but he managed to pull it back and belted it out come the end. Simon claimed he was struggling, and he had a point when he said it was not Andy's best performance. Pschophantic Louis sucked up as ever and offered nothing constructive.

Next up was Shayne attempting a rockier number for a change, with The Darkness' I Believe in a Thing Called Love, which I am guessing was chosen as he can show off his range and reach lots of high notes. It was crap. To his credit he did try and make it his own and put his mark on it, but it was definitely his worst effort by far. It was not out of tune but it was just wrong, although the judges liked it. He was followed by Brenda singing another Whitney song (or Dolly Parton song if you prefer), I Will Always Love You, which I feared at times could be too big for her, but in the end she did it brilliantly and I preferred her version to Whitney's and all the judges loved it too.

Journey South ended the show with a fabulous version of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For, which was appreciated by judges, studio audience and me alike.

The bottom two were the Conways and Chico, which was no surprise and no one can predict how Louis (the only judge with no act in the bottom two) would cast the deciding vote. This was not necessary in the end, as Simon chose to send his own act home, as he felt Chico, although not good, was more entertaining than the Conway Sisters.

Strictly Come Dancing - Week Seven

Again this week the couples are performing another of the dances they have not attempted before. Bill and Karen were to do the Waltz to What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love and it was quite a sweet dance and I could not find fault with their turns and footwork, although the judges had criticisms, but all in all saw an improvement and scored them 25 points.

Patsy and Anton danced the chi chi chi in hot pink to A Little Less Conversation and although good in places and quite impressive there were parts where Patsy seemed a bit out of time, though it turned out that her dress was falling down as it was too big on top. Being in the bottom two last week had knocked Patsy's confidence and they were no doubt at risk of elimination with 24 points. Colin and Erin followed then with the Viennese Waltz to Stop which looked very elegant and accomplished. It was praised highly by the judges who did not find anything to criticise and scored them an impressive 34 (I thought they should have had 4 nines, instead of two).

Zoe and Ian did the Tango, this week, and the pressure was on after last week's ten. They danced a passionate and sophisticated dance that was loved by the audience and judges alike. Arlene Phillips said they had "sent the standard of the competition into the stratosphere" and their overall scores were 38, with two tens this time. Darren and Lilia danced the Foxtrot next, to Hey Big Spender and I felt that they interpreted the music really well, and it was quite a dramatic dance which impressed the judges generally and the steps and technique were there, although sometimes his hands were too much like a cricketer's (strange, considering it is his profession!), in spite of that they did score 34 which they must be very pleased with.

The final couple were James and Camilla doing a waltz, I thought it was well executed and quite dramatic. A huge improvement on last week's jive, it garnered them a score of 32 which they were thrilled with, and has made the scores at the top very tight.

The main show closed with a group Argentine Tango which was not scored but the judges did pass comment on. I thought all contestants did very well and the judges singled out Colin, in particular, for praise.

The bottom two couples this week were Bill and Karen and Patsy and Anton. It was Bill and Karen to go, which was probably right. Bill managed to take a turn with his nemesis Arlene before he left though.

Televisual Cheese

ITV, not happy with ratings winners The X Factor and I'm A Celebrity have decided to give us a right tea time treat: Movie Music Mania where famous singers with nothing better to do than turn up to the ITV studios and sing a song from the movies, all presented by Martine McCutcheon.

It all kicked off with the musical Tommy and the song Pinball Wizard performed, bizarrely, by McFly. I was pleasantly surprised by their efforts. Then tribute was paid to cult movie Pulp Fiction and the song chosen to be performed by ex-Atomic Kitten member Natasha Hamilton was Son of a Preacher Man. She did a poor impression of Dusty Springfield and by backed up by some strong voiced backing singers. The next film selected was The Graduate and Jamie Cullem was to be Simon & Garfunkel and performed Mrs Robinson (surprise, surprise). He did it in his typical blues/jazz style, and was not nearly as good or as catchy as the original or the rock cover version by The Lemonheads.

The next film featured was Breakfast At Tiffanys and the song Moon River which was sung by Audrey Hepburn in the film but was most famously a hit for Andy Williams. To prove that tonight was Easy Listening Heaven (or hell, depending on your perspective) they got in Katie Melua to warble in. Wobble was more like it. I would dread to think what Simon Cowell would have made of this if she had gone on The X Factor later, her voice just could not cope with it. Unusually the next film was Love Story and the song Where Do I Begin? which will help Rick Astley's career revival. I am not overly familiar with the song, but Astley probably has the most versatile voice over the previous performers and thus did it very well. For some reason the next film was the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman racing flick Days of Thunder which our hostess Martine McCutcheon sang the theme song Show Me Heaven and proved that she could no do better because (as Cowell would say) the song was too big for her and she just couldn't belt it good enough.

The show got more promising for the final number when Bee Gee Robin Gibb performed from the soundtrack that they did for Saturday Night Fever with How Deep Is Your Love, not strictly a cover version when he was a third of the original, but even he wasn't that good live, and on his own, as opposed to with his brothers. So not actually living up the promising final number at all really.

I'm A Celeb Update

Ten celebrities entered the camp last weekend, and we have been watching then since Sunday. It has been quite a busy week for them . Some parachuted in, some walked on a rope, and Elaine Lourdan managed too collapse twice, all on the first day. Elaine was taken to hospital and given a clean bill of health but producers did not allow her back into camp. Bushtucker Trials have been very challenging and mostly different people have been doing them, the only person to do two is Carol Thatcher, who joined Jilly Goolden for her second trail, the dreaded eating one, where they gained an impressive 8 stars and made me laugh a lot. Last night it was revealed that comic double act Cannon and Ball (or Tommy and Bobby as they are known to their families) entered the camp and have kept things light hearted.

Personally I have enjoyed watching all the campers, but I think Sid Owen and Jimmy Osmond have a very good chance or winning.

Madonna - Confessions on a Dancefloor

The latest album by a woman who has been re-inventing herself regularly since the Eighties. Confessions on a Dancefloor he her return to clubland that she has not properly visited since Erotica and the track Deeper and Deeper. The whole album is full of dancer tracks. It kicks off with the stonking debut single Hung Up which samples Abba's Gimme Gimme Gimme. Next up is a real hip hop, technoesque track called Get Together (not the same track as on the Like a Prayer album). Third is a track called Sorry which reminds me a bit of any Seventies Studio 54-style disco number.

Future Lover is another soft techno track which would not have been out of place on any Hed Kandi or Ministry of Sound type compilation but was not particularly inspiring like Sorry and Hung Up which were more instantly grabable. Next was a track called I Love New York which was quite unusual, but I think it is a grower, with a catchy hook. Let it Will Be was an OK track, but a bit of a filler, but still fitting in with Madonna's latest disco diva incarnation. Forbidden Love is a more grabable track but not as strong as some of the others mentioned.

Jump is like the best of Hed Kandi and I had to check Stonebridge wasn't involved in any way. Amusingly (perhaps only to me) Jump is followed by a tack called How High. The intro sounds like when the game of Bejeweled starts up but it does not really pick up from there but stays in the disco background music genre. Isaac appears to have been influenced by Asian mysticism with some Indian chanting in the background. Bangra Knights it was not. Push is a better song and much more worthy of Madonna, a bit more funkier but nothing too risky. The final track Like it Or Not was more back to familiar Madonna territory and is a good track to end the album on.

Verdict: Some good tracks, some not so good, but all in all I think most will grow on me in a few plays.

Last FM Update

Last FM has had some probelms and has been getting by anti-virus checker over excited, but today (apart from beingtwo days out of date) it is working OK - so you have the artists I have listened too most since Feb until Monday.

1 Madonna - 69
2 Paul Weller - 63
3 Wet Wet Wet - 50
4 Stonebridge - 47
5 The Beatles - 44
6 Go West - 42
7 Stevie Wonder - 38
7 Thompson Twins - 38
9 Will Young - 37
9 Goldfrap 37
9 Kylie Minogue - 37

In America

I had heard good things about this Irish immigrant drama set in 1980s New York, but didn't no much else about it. Over time we discover that the family lost a son and are trying to come to terms with it as they start afresh in New York. The two girls in the family befriend a man with AIDS in the building whilst the parents come to terms with a pregnancy that will produce a sick baby. If you are recently bereaved then this is not the film for you. It is very moving, particularly at the end, but overall it does show that life goes on after death, though it may be a long and painful process.

7/10

Statue, Albert Docks, Liverpool

Statue, Albert Docks, Liverpool
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

There was no plaque accompanying this statue, but I believe it to represent the many migrant families that left Liverpool for the New World. Nov 2005.

X Factor - Week Six

After all the hoo-ha last week, The Conway Sisters were favourites to go, and they opened the show with a track they chose that was Whitney Houston's One Moment in Time - the sentiment was admirable, though their performance was lacking in certain parts where their vocals were a tad ropey. As Sharon said "Who could have sung that better - Conways or Maria?". Andy then came on to show everyone how it is done with Me and Mrs Jones , a superb and slick vocal performance. Nicholas had to follow Andy with his version of If You Ever which was originally by East 17 and Gabrielle and he was dreadful, completely flat.

Journey South did the crowd pleasing Angels, which was a safe choice, but it was acknowledges that the contest was too tight to take risks and expose yourself to the opportunity of being in the bottom two (and potential elimination by Louis). Brenda then came and showed everyone how disco is done with a feisty performance of Last Dance. For me, she was second best performance of the night. Louis also elected to play safe with Shayne and got him to sing Take That's A Million Love Songs, he did a bland performance of a bland song but he should be safe until the very end, but will need to be stretched and have the opportunity to challenge his voice and show what it can do as he is better than that song. Chico finished up with his own composition Chico Time complete with children as backing dancers and his own message of how we should all enjoy life.

Come the results show it was no shock to see that Nicholas and the Conway Sisters were in the bottom two. They both did OK performances the second time round and Sharon was left with the deciding vote. She wisely decided to let bygones be bygones and sent Nicholas home, as he was the worst act that night.

Pride and Prejudice

Why I have put off reading this classic novel for so long is beyond me. The story is not damaged for being so well known and so often adapted. Some of the words used in the book are no longer in common use and you may need to think about their meaning, but the story rolls along and so much seems to happen in a short space of time. Maybe having seen the BBC dramatisation recently helped, but I think the book is so well written it doesn't matter.

I doubt I need to tell the premise of the story of the Bennet family, and mainly second eldest daughter Elizabeth, so I won't, but it has to be said that this book is the real deal when it comes to Chick-Lit!

Strictly Come Dancing - Week Six

This week the couples are doing all different dances, but always one that each particular couple had not attempted before. James and Camilla kicked off with a jive to Why Do Fool Fall in love?, which was quite flat for a jive, and not as energetic as I would have expected and they scored 20 points, which I thought was fair. Zoe and Ian were up next with their Quickstep, which was described by the judges as "Almost perfect", and inspite of it only being almost perfect, they still got the first perfect 'ten' points of the series to net 36 points.

Bill and Karen were up next and did a Rumba to Ain't No Sunshine. Bill's sore foot and caused an infection and a rash but he still insisted on dancing. They were criticised for trying too hard but I have definitely seen worse rumbas this series, and they scored 17 points, which they must have been disappointed with. Will and Hanna then performed a Tango to the rather unusual choice of Pretty Woman, and they were praised for being technically correct, although the dance lacked passion. They did manage one '9' to garner a respectable score of 28.

Patsy and Anton did the Quickstep this week, which was done quite well although Patsy's footwork was a bit off in places that even I spotted. However, they were right to be pleased with 31 points. Darren and Lilia did a jive to the Blues Brothers' Everybody Needs Somebody which was very quick with lots of fancy footwork and a 'caterpillar' (breakdance step) from Darren at the end. Although criticised for being a bit heavy in his steps and losing his arms, he managed to keep up with the pace and was in synch with Lilia and the music at all times. I think their score of 30 was a bit low.

Colin and Erin were the last couple to dance with their Foxtrot to New York, New York which was described by the judges as both 'fluid' and 'theatrical' and I really enjoyed it and it seemed that Colin and Erin did too and got a score of 32 (it should have been higher).

The show finished with a group Salsa where Colin and Darren were singled out for praise and Bill and James were weak.

Although Bill had the lowest score and James also had a poor score, it was Will who went home this evening.

Weekend Away

I'm off to Liverpool and Chester for the weekend.

Au Revoir

I'm A Celeb Line Up

The Ten Celebs (mugs?) going into the jungle for the latest series of I'm a Celeb has been revealed....

Carol Thatcher (Journo and daughter of former PM Margaret)
David Dickenson (Antiques expert and TV presenter)
Jenny Frost (former member of Atomic Kitten)
Jilly Goolden (Wine expert and TV presenter)
Jimmy Osmond (singer and baby brother)
Elaine Lourdon (used to play Lynne in Eastenders)
Sid Owen (used to be Ricky in Eastenders)
Anthony Costa (used to be in the band Blue)
Kimberley Davies (former Neighbours actress)
Sheree Murphy (Emmerdale actress)

More

Top 100 Toys

TV Cream have polled their readership to discover their favourite toys. So what on the list did I have:

Fuzzy Felt -I loved these, I had a Farm one and a Ballet one
Rubik's Cube - completely rubbish at it
Mastermind Game - I wish I still had it, it was a small portable game and easy to play anywhere
Wade Whimsies - since when were these toys? I had an owl.
Buckeroo - Good until it broke.
Connect Four - I had the travel version, I may still have it.
Simon - This game was running on the same batteries 10 years later. Mainly because no one would play with me.
Spirograph - Boring after 10 minutes
Tiny Tears - She lives on top of a wardrobe. Can't throw her out yet.
A bike

What did I want but never have? - A Girls' World. I asked for one for every birthday and Christmas for years but never got one.

What is missing from the list?

Frustration
Sindy

The former was the only game we ever played in the mini-Essexgirl household, and I had tons of Sindy outfits and furniture.

Down With Love

A harmless rom-com with a minute Renee Zellweger and a skinny Ewan McGregor as the leads. Whilst the story is not particularly original (How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days is on a similar line), the 1962 setting, the fabulous costumes and set offer something different. There are a few rather desperate attempts at a comedic sequence with split screens which made me squirm.

Although it is supposed to be a comedy (I think) I don't recall laughing, that is not to say I didn't enjoy it as it was an easy to watch movie and I wasn't clock watching or fidgeting. Barbara Novak (Zellweger) is an author new to New York who has written a book called 'Down With Love' about how women should become more independent from men and reassert themselves in the workplace, she annoys magazine writer Catcher Block, who vows to make her fall in love with him so he can expose her as get his women back. This doesn't work out quite the way you expect, but there is nothing overly showcasing about it.

6.5/10

Cambridge

Cambridge
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

Punting. Diaster aversion. Disappointed. Oct 2005

X-Factor - Week Five

Shayne kicked off the show this week with a fabulous version of Cry me a River which was impressive. He was followed by Maria doing a rock number, Brown Sugar, a Rolling Stones track that she did quite well, her words weren't always clear and she was a bit reminiscent of Tina Turner. Simon Cowell said she wasn't 'dirty' enough to do that song.

The Conway Sisters had been unhappy with their mentor, Simon, saying he was not loyal enough and chose them the wrong songs, so elected to do Wilson Phillips' Hold On which they did quite well. Andy and his mentor Sharon had obviously decided it was time to do contemporary and he sung Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to You which I hate and is completely the wrong song for him.

Journey South also decided to rock it out with Living on a Prayer which was good. Chico decided he wanted to do a ballad - Enrique Inglesias' Hero, another track I hate, and his voice was a bit too ropey for it. He got a bit carried away at the end and did a little dance move and then trod on presenter Kate Thornton's foot. She wasn't happy.

Nicholas sang I Believe I can Fly, another song I don't like much though he did it OK, the show was then closed with Brenda doing Heartbreaker and I still don't understand why she is so underrated.

At the end of the night the Conways were in the bottom two with Maria, which was a shock. Sharon voted to keep in her act (Maria), Simon voted for his (Conways) and Louis shocked everyone by choosing to keep in the ropey Conways and sending the fantastic Maria home. In the week Maria was second favourite to win, and Conways second favourite to go home. Louis has subsequently admitted it may have been a mistake and that he had acted out of loyalty to the girls as he knew them from Ireland. Sharon, on the night, was furious and accused Louis of being part of an Irish Mafia conspiracy. The papers have been full of it since.

iPod Nano Devil

Podstar have developed some devilish cases for the Nano that I rather fancy (apart from the fact I don't have a Nano), so just as well they aren't in the shops yet.

Last FM Update

As usual:

1 Madonna 66
2 Paul Weller - 61
3 Wet Wet Wet - 48
4 Stonebridge - 47
5 The Beatles - 44
6 Go West - 41
7 Stevie Wonder - 38
7 Thompson Twins - 38
9 Goldfrapp - 37
10 Will Young - 36
10 Kylie Minogue -36

Strictly Come Dancing - Week Five

It was Darren and Lilia who kicked off the show with their Viennese Waltz to The End of the Road. The Vienesse Waltz is a very spinny dance, couples have to turn a lot whilst covering the floor in an anti-clockwise direction. Darren and Lilia's dance was done well and they looked graceful, although Darren's big build meant he looked a bit odd with the petite Lilia, and his stiff neck and raised shoulders were commented on. They managed a quite respectble 28 points out of 40. Dennis and Izabela were favourites to leave the contest tonight and wre to do the evening's first Samba. They danced to La Bamba which I thought they did quite well, the judges noted some improvements and were generally pleased, but did not rave about it. They got 23 points.

Will had been stuggling in training with his pro, Hanna, with his Viennese Waltz which was to Queen's Somebody to Love. A bizarre choice of tune, but I thought they did it quite well and Will seemed to take the lead (which is the idea). Unfortunatley the judges slagged off their dance big tme and you had too feel sorry for them, although managed to score 23. Colin (with a bruised foot) and Erin did a sexy samba to Naughty Girl with lots of gyrations and the judges loved it awarding them 32 points and nicknaming Colin 'Action Jackson'.

Bill Turnull also had a bad ankle injury and almost did not dance. He and partner Karen did their Viennese Waltz to Golden Brown and Bill was not happy with it as they made a few errors, but the judges saw past it and recognised some of the complicated moves and the techniques and praised them accordingly, awarding them 27, which they were pleased with, if slightly stunned. Patsy Palmer and Anton did lose their routine in a couple of places as she wrong footed herself. Their Samba was danced to Back to my Roots and they were rightly criticised for being awkward and unsexy and got 26 points.

James and Camilla had also had a tough week and danced the Viennese Waltz to Mr Bojangles. It wasn't the most exciting dance, but the judges (mainly) decided they liked it and awarded them 29. Zoe and Ian Samba'd to The Age of Aqaurius which was lively and fun and scored three nines to get 35 points, the highest of the night.

It was announced at the end of the show that it was Dennis and Izabela were the ones going home.

The Constant Gardener

Having not been to the cinema for ages, we decided to go on Friday night to see the highly acclaimed The Constant Gardener directed by Fernando Meirelles who did City of God and with an heavyweight cast of Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Bill Nighy.

The film is set in Kenya where Justin Quayle (Fiennes) works as a diplomat and lives with his aid worker wife Tessa (Weisz). After Tessa is mysteriously murdered, and all hints point to a crime of passion by a doctor colleague of hers, Justin takes up her work and tries to find out the truth of what she was up to and why she was killed.

This is not as good as City of God, and whilst there is some spectacular scenery and crowd scenes, there is also a lot of juddery footage (not always connected to supposed home video), which gets quite annoying. Almost as annoying as Weisz's eyebrows. Admirable story, fabulous setting, but just not as moving and inspiring as other films.

7/10

EG's Televisual Update

Am still liking Lost at the moment, it still has its weird bits but mostly I am enjoying the bunch of glamorous, self-centered weirdos who seem to be stranded on a South Sea Island for the foreseeable future (if not a couple more series) with some polar bears....

The BBC are doing a more than credible version of Bleak House at the moment, whilst trying to keep to Charles Dickens' mainstream work (as it was then) in a soap-opera style. The star-studded cast include The X-Files' Gillian Anderson, Dennis Lawson, Charles Dance and Johnny Vegas. The two half-hour episodes per week mean you don't get daunted by having to sit down and watch a huge, heavy drama (and it is not particularly heavy, though I believe the book maybe).

I have yet to see last week's episode of Sky One's The 4400, which is currently in its second series about returned abductees that claim to have been taken by people in our future. It is not as sci-fi as that sounds, and is much more character oriented. The week before had a weird episode, where one of the agents dealing with the 4400 lived temporarily in a parallel universe where he discovered he was married to a stranger (who turned out to be a 4400) and they have rediscovered each other in their more familiar universe. Which is nice. I am interested to see how that develops.

The second series of Nip/Tuck on Sky One is also keeping me keen. It is much more character led this series, and less patient stories, but with the on-going Carver serial slasher mystery.

The BBC's spy drama Spooks is about to conclude its fourth series. It still has some gems, but generally is not as good as the first two series, but I am still making the effort to watch for the original stories that they come up with.

Google Game

Guess the Google is a web game that is perfect for time wasting. You have 20 Google images and then you must guess the word that would have generated those images.

Old Boy

A Korean film and as weird as fuck. But I liked it the more I think about it, and that has to be a good thing.

Oh Dae-Su was kidnapped and held captive in a room for 15 years. Then one day he was released. He meets a girl in a restaurant who offers to help, then he discovers he had five days to find out the truth or she will die. It is a dark, interesting and original film, with an novel twist. It can be very violent in places, enough to make the toughest squirm, but the originality and black humour keep you watching, waiting to find out who kidnapped Oh Dae-Su and why.

7.5/10

The Naming Game

I have always been interested in the names people give their kids. It is often an insight into popular culture and other trends. A new survey by Bounty baby product and service suppliers. Such names for girls include Tame (an acronym for The Apple of My Eye), Tiger, Fire-Lily, Caramel, Ikea and Apricot. Boys don't fare any better with Moet, Tudor and Finchley.

To me this shows a trend to have a different name (though possibly the children don't think much of it) from their others, a contest to out do each other. This gives me another reason to despair for the future of the nation, when I hear from a friend that it is the kids with the fancy names that are the ones that hold back their peers with the more conventional names. I doubt it is the stigma of their name that holds them back, more likely that the parents think they have done enough to set their child apart by giving them the name, and probably don't have anything else to give.

More here and here.

Tai O

Tai O
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

Tai O fishing village on Lantau island. 300 gazillion degrees and 400% humidity coupled with the smell of fish. It is lucky I kept my lunch. Apparently they have plasma TV and all sorts in the shacks, it all comes on boats in the night...

The X-Factor - Week Four

Brenda kicked off tonight's show with a fantastic rendition of Somebody Else's Guy where she held a note for over 11 seconds. The judges (rightly) raved about her and I think she was the best performance of the night. Nicholas was up next to sing I Want You Back and, like the other judges, I am confused by the songs given to him, he needs to do something contemporary like Lemar, as I have said before. He tried to make the song his own and I think he did quite a good job of it, but the judges didn't like it.

Andy was next up and had just lost his mum so had not been around much that week. He sang the Andy Williams' song Can't Take my Eyes off of You and the audience loved him. The judges comments played it safe, but I found the performance (and the song) a bit too hotel bar/lounge-like for me. Chenai then sang Always on My Mind which I thought was an odd song for her and her vocals were still a bit dodgy.

Chico sang Prince's Kiss, and his vocals were also weak, especially at the beginning when he tried to do the high notes, but then the song and performance became more fun and lively. Journey South sang acoustically with just a guitar with First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. The judges all hailed it as a brave decision but they pulled it off OK.

Maria had been urged by the judges to do a contemporary number so sang James Blunt's Beautiful. Personally I hate the song, but she did a good version and the judges raved about her and claimed it the best performance of the night (I think they had forgotten about Brenda). Shayne was next singing You Make Me Feel Brand New, yet another odd song choice by Louis's camp. He did it OK and was also urged to try a contemporary track. The Conway Sisters were the last act on and sang some musical number called One Voice that I was not familiar with. I think they did it very well, though the judges weren't too impressed.

Come the results show it was revealed that Chenai and Nicholas were the bottom two. I was surprised about the latter but after Sharon had voted to send Nicholas home, and Simon had voted to give Chenai the boot, it was left to Louis to choose which of his acts he was going to send home. Louis isn't as daft as you would think as he made the right choice and opted to send Chenai home.

Strictly Come Dancing - Week Four

This week's episode was kicked off with Colin and Erin's Pasa Doble. They had been impressive in the first two weeks, and less so in the last week and the contest has been flung wide open. Tonight they danced to Thriller which I thought was an odd choice. For the dance Colin had to dance more on his own than usual and he did not seem particularly confident, though generally the judges were pleased with it and he got an OK 31 points. Zoe and Ian (the other main contenders for the final in the first two weeks) did an impressive Foxtrot to Isn't She Lovely (someone is a Stevie Wonder fan after Part Time Lover last week). It was described as "top" by the judges and they were awarded four nines for 36 points. Poor Dennis, and his partner Izabela, struggled this week with their Pasa to Eye of the Tiger. It was quite a fun routine but timings were out and they were truly slagged off by the judges and awarded a terrible 15 points.

Will and Hanna were in the bottom two last week but lifted their game to do a very delicate and immaculate Foxtrot to Dream a Little Dream and got their highest ever score of 34, with two 9s. James and Camilla did a very dramatic Pasa Doble, inspite of Camilla accidentally elbowing James in the face and cutting his lip. James was very impressive with his cape twirling and generally they were praised by the judges, I was quite surprised they only got 29. Fiona and Brendan had previously always been bottom, but a weak performance by Dennis meant they had a chance to get off the bottom spot for the first time. There were many signs of improvement in their dancing and Fiona's confidence, and she at least seemed to be enjoying it this week. However, they did lose it a bit in the middle and she reverted to looking like she was being dragged around the floor by Brendan, unable to keep up by herself. They got their highest score of 20 points.

Bill and Karen has a mauling from the judges last week and were finding it difficult to build on their promise in the first week. They did a very reasonable Pasa Doble and were much improved and were a lot happier with their score of 25. Patsy and Anton had won last week's show (based on judges' points) and performed and elegant and simple Foxtrot for 31 points. Darren and Lilia did an excellent Pasa Doble and it was nice to see cricketer Darren taking the show seriously, applying himself and reaping good results (34 points - joint second), he was surprisingly light on his feet also.

In the second show it was revealed those with the lowest number of points once judges and viewer scores were combined were Fiona and Dennis. Fiona was then the forth woman to be eliminated in a row. Brendan looked very pissed off, but there you go. I think it was the right choice as Fiona was never going to be a good dancer.

iPod XS

I have no idea if this is available to buy, but someone has decided to make an iPod even smaller.

Last FM Update

1 Madonna - 64
2 Paul Weller - 60
3 Stonebridge - 46
4 Wet Wet Wet - 44
5 The Beatles - 42
6 Go West - 39
7 Stevie Wonder - 37
7 Thompson Twins - 37
9 Will Young - 36
9 Goldfrapp - 36
9 Kylie Minogue - 36

The Autograph Man - Zadie Smith

This is the second novel by the much acclaimed Smith. I found her debut novel White Teeth, quite hard going and this one kicked off a lot better, which a bunch of kids being taken to the Albert Hall to see Big Daddy wrestle Giant Haystacks.

After the death of his father as a child, Alex-Li Tandem starts to collect autographs like his friend Joseph, and ends up making a profession out of it, and is obsessed with what he sees as the Holy Grail of autograph collectors, the retired actress Kitty Alexander. A business trip to New York gives him the opportunity to try and meet her in person.

The book can be hard going in parts, especially in the second quarter when Alex seems permanantly angry and bitter and is constantly arguing with everyone. It gets better once he goes to New York. Alex is not a sympathetic character and I could not relate to him and had to wonder why his friends and girlfriend stuck with him, however this is an interesting journey over his life for a few weeks.

The Grudge

A horror film based on a Japanese one of the same name. Yes, it is very scary. But it is jumpy scary rather than psycologically scary. It was also a bit annoying when people kept going to the haunted house when they knew better. Over-rated.

5/10

Elbow - Leaders of the Free World

I have been lent this CD by a friend and have been very disappointed in it. I like the singles Forget Myself and Leaders of the Free World but have found the rest of it rather boring.

Pink Dolphin

Pink Dolphin
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

Yes, really! It is a proper all-over pink dolphin and is native to the mixed salt and fresh waters of the Pearl River delta. No one is sure what makes them pink, if it is the pollution, their food or a combination of factors. I have several shots of empty sea, and we have 12 mins of video footage of the South China Sea, and about three seconds worth of dolphin. September 2005.