Monthly Archives: July 2006

Love Island – The love shack

What a change Love Island was tonight ! Very little Sophie Anderton, maybe the producers have realised that we do not want to spend all the episode watching her bitch and moan about Paul or how little she loves Farder Shane from Oireland !!! Great to see Eve and Emma going in tonight but the look on Denan’s face was priceless when he realised they had been listening to everything he had been saying about them – the fact that he called them fake, slappers and stop me if I get too close to them !!!! I think he has tickets on himself and will come a cropper before too long – I think he has a nasty streak and programmes like this do him no favours at all.

Brendan has been voted in to Shane’s (tis not the time, ti’s not da place) love shack, hired from him for a few days apparently !! and Emma and Eve will join him. Brendan has to choose who he wants out of the two (no unfortunately he can’t keep them both!). “Father” Shane seemed highly delighted that he wasn’t voted back into his love shack and genuinely pleased that Brendan had received the public vote. The fact is that nothing is going to happen when Shane goes into the love shack and the public have finally sussed out that a vote for Shane is a wasted vote.

One other comment I’d like to make, how much am I loving Jayne Middlemiss on Love Island Aftersun on ITV2? A lot !! She is hilarious !!! i never thought I’d like her after last year but she’s done good! I bet it would be a great night out getting to know the Middlemiss and I for one wouldn’t shun away any advances …

Mel Gibson Arrested DUI

Someone once said that you learn something new every day and today is no exception for me. I don’t know if I can be accused of being blinkered, out of touch or blind but I can honestly say I never knew anything about Mel Gibson’s problems with alcohol, the devil’s drink, the … you can go on! I don’t know how I could have missed this news but following his public arrest on Friday in Malibu it has now become apparent, the Oscar winning director and actor has a huge problem.

I know he had received a lot of criticism for his anti-semitic views especially following his film “The Passion of the Christ” and his alleged distorted view of the Bible etc etc. He has since released a statement on his drunken behaviour with many people especially showbiz reporters claiming he had received preferential treatment due to his fund-raising efforts for the police. Hollywood Split over Gibson’s future

The police did not charge him with driving under the influence because it’s the district attorney’s duty to decide if the arrest merits charges. After being taken into custody, Gibson posted $5,000 bond for his release, said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Will this have any affect on his future box office draw or will it increase his profile ? we all know he won’t be the last actor to resort to drinking but i for one do not condone any drinking and driving – I don’t care who you are. If you drink; you don’t drive, simple as that.

The statement reads as follows:-

After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed.

I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the LA County …

Hades Factor Part 2 (of 4)

Mira at the airport
The second episode of four was transmitted tonight and I am still enjoying the mini series. I was shocked to see the death of someone close to home tonight, unexpected in a mini series only two episodes in. I’m not going to mention who does die and how just in case someone hasn’t watched it that wants to !

The standard remains slick and certainly doesn’t appear to be a low budget production. One user on IMDB has suggested the following and despite this comment I still believe the drama deserves the chance to grow, especially as I haven’t read Ludlum’s original work.

If Bob Ludlum was to see this mini series, he would have cried. This was complete waste of time and money. I have read the book and even though movies are not exactly what the book may be, CBS wasted time and money on this and it is embarrassing to claim that this was Ludlum’s work.

If you have missed this series or haven’t read the book then you can buy the Book here or a DVD Copy here

Mira Sorvino is great in her role as Rachel Russel, accused of killing two fellow agents and a handful more as she tries to learn the truth. the fact is she has been compromised and double crossed, she will be out for revenge and to clear her name I’m sure. Angelica Houston (never been a fan) plays the American President and is a growing trend in US television to cast women as the Commander in Chief!! Don’t know who I’d prefer in the role but I’m swaying towards Geena Davies!!!…

Leo is Evicted from Fiji

The time has come, in the great British tradition of knocking a man on the top of his game – Leo has been evicted from the Love island folowing last night’s surprise eviction. it came down to three people as usual, Kelle, Leo and Bianca. Kelle was given a reprieve and it was then down to the lovebirds .. Leo going claiming it was truly “Big Dog”!!Leo leaves Fiji !

Bianca was in shock most of the day sharing a cry with Kelle down on the beach after the arrival of the identical twins from Manchester nicknamed Trixie and Pixie. Leo wouldn’t be drawn on his future with Bianca, typical bloke then ! The one person still doing my head in is Sophie bloody Anderton, why does everything have to be about the bloody Anderton? Bianca was obviously upset but yet Sophie had to turn it around to “me, me, me” with Lee and Colleen both telling Bianca not to listen to her!

Anderton also tried to get her claws into the twins telling them to be careful and not to let on what they have heard. She also assumed that they would both want to share a bed with Anderton but there wasn’t enough room -Anderton said that she would share a bed with Chris but absolutely refused to share with Paul – I see the friendship is still going strong then ! It’s about time now that the British public vote out the worst celebrity to have ever graced love island in Fiji!

I for one can’t wait to see what Patrick Kielty makes of the new models, more on them later !!!! Hold him back missus !!!…

Schumacher wins at Hockenheim

Ferrari ended a superb weekend in Germany with a straightforward 1-2 courtesy of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. The only blip on the whole weekend was the pole position missed by the pair following a mistake by McLaren in qualifying when they failed to add the amount of fuel they wanted. The one plus of fuelling 5/6 laps short was that Raikkonen snatched pole.

Ferrari or rather Schumacher has now closed the world championship battle to just 11 points following Alonso’s failure to compete, the world champion finishing in 5th place ahead of team mate Fisichella. Button and Honda looked a lot more competitive in Germany but the Briton had to settle for fourth place.

With six races left, the championship is down to just two drivers. Next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix could prove decisive in a closely fought title race.

Results
01 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:27:51.693
02 F. Massa Ferrari + 0.720
03 K. Räikkönen McLaren + 13.206
04 J. Button Honda + 18.898
05 F. Alonso Renault + 23.707
06 G. Fisichella Renault + 24.814
07 J. Trulli Toyota + 26.544
08 C. Klien Red Bull + 48.131
09 R. Schumacher Toyota + 1:00.351
10 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 laps
11 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 1 laps
12 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 laps
13 C. Albers Midland F1 + 1 laps
14 T. Monteiro Midland F1 + 0 laps
Did not finish
15 M. Webber Williams + 9 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri + 30 laps
17 J. Villeneuve BMW + 35 laps
18 R. Barrichello Honda + 48 laps
19 N. Heidfeld BMW + 58 laps
20 P. de la Rosa McLaren + 64 laps
21 S. Yamamoto Super Aguri + 65 laps
22 N. Rosberg Williams + 66 …

Rodman leaves Love Island

The time has come, Dennis Rodman has walked away from Love Island in Fiji following tension surrounding Colleen and Lee the shorty who sings!!! I’m no fan of Rodman and it will be interesting to see what happens on the highlights tonight but Lee is a pain in the (insert area !!). He’d never get a sniff at Colleen in the outside world and why he think he has a chance here only he knows. It could well be the close proximity that everyone finds themselves and feelings are magnified tenfold.

Lee squared up to the Rodman and after saying his goodbyes, he left the island.

Demmis had earlier told Paul that he’d make Colleen his Playmate as soon as they hit American soil, little did he envisage the repercussions. So when word got out, and Dennis questioned her intentions with lil’ Lee, Colleen was upset and her man in shining, erm, shorts (that’s Lee everyone) came to the rescue and squared up to the 6’8” giant!

Don’t throw me in the mix. I’m a cool guy, a nice guy, I don’t hit people and I want to keep it that way.”

With that and a last supper together, Rodders left the resort. So I guess we are back to the Sophie Anderton show again then? Oh wait, don’t forget an eviction tonight on Love Island and the introduction to two identical twins Emma and Eve – both like to share the same man apparently ! Could make life interesting for a while.…

I was the Queen’s chauffeur!

Found an interesting story (of sorts) in the Daily Mail Online today, not that I’m a Royal follower! Russell Town a local shopkeeper in Ardminish on the Hebridean island of Gigha had spotted Princess Anne on a push bike. She walked into his shop and asked if he knew of a village taxi which could take the Queen from Eilean Garbh beach three miles away to the island’s Achamore Gardens.

Twenty minutes later he found himself collecting the Queen, who is on a cruise of the Western Isles, and ferrying her to the local gardens in his Peugeot people carrier.

He said: ‘It was just so bizarre. One minute I was serving in the shop and the next I was sitting next to the most famous woman in the world. She is very down to earth. I’ve never been an ardent royalist but I have always quite liked the Queen and now I have real respect for her. I didn’t realise just how nice a person she is.’

Now that doesn’t happen every day does it !!! I expect he’ll be dining out on that story for years to come!…

Taylor Hicks

Living in the UK we are very fortunate to get a lot of the US shows and that includes American idol. I’ve enjoyed watching it over the last few seasons especially for the country element and this year was no exception. However I wasn’t prepared to be amazed by Taylor Hicks and each week I would tune in hoping that the American public in their wisdom would send him through and to at least reach the final of the show so that at the very least he would gain a recording contract due to his popularity.

I silently hoped he would win the contest especially once the Pickler had been kicked off the show. He doesn’t conform to the usual pop idol, he dances a little weird and certainly doesn’t dress like a youthful pop star someone would want on their walls but I have to say, the guy for me delivered weekly without fail. Long live Soul Patrol.

I’ll certainly be getting his debut album when it comes out, anyone else ?…

The West Wing is over …

I’ve just sat through the very final episode of arguably the greatest drama to come out of America – The West Wing !! It has held us fans gripped for the last seven seasons and I for one will miss it. I can’t believe they can’t find a way to give Santos one season as Pres but hey you can’t have everything. Great writing for the last episode and included some touching moments including Sheen’s goodbye and thanks to Charlie, handing him a copy of the Constitution and unwrapping “Bartlet for America” from Leo’s daughter – befitting that it was the final scene of The West Wing.

I wonder what will happen to Martin Sheen now that he has retired to new Hampshire ? !!! One of my favourite scenes in the whole drama was the President calling a hotline asking how he should cook a turkey for Thanksgiving – classic and all from the Oval office ! One of the other momentful episodes had to be in response to 9/11 when the writers threw together at the last minute a programme in reaction to the terrorist attack in New York – the episode was called Isaac and Ishmael.

Thank you Mr President, it has been a pleasure to share the last seven seasons with you and your staff. You will be missed. I wonder what I’ll find to take its place or maybe i won’t bother looking and just start watching The West Wing from season 1 through to its conclusion on DVD !!!

One site I quite enjoyed when I stumbled across it today was Bartlet for America, it has a great one liner on there and certainly worth checking out if you haven’t already or indeed need a West Wing fix !…

Sri Lanka pile on the runs

After restricting South Africa for just 169 in their first innings, Sri Lanka, courtesy of captain Mahela Jaywardene and Kumar Sangakkara scored 6 for 756 declared. The pair broke the previous best partnership (set in 1997 by Mahanama and Jayasuriya (576) ironically at the same ground in Colombo with a stunning partnership of 624.

Jaywardene was also unlucky falling just 26 runs short of Brian Lara’s world record 400 and six runs behind Australian Hayden (380). The total of 756 is the sixth highest score in Test history.

The 374 scored took 11 hours to score and included 43 4′s and a solitary six, Mahela had faced 572 in his long innings before falling to paceman Andre Nel. Nicky Boje was the most expensive bowler conceding 221 runs off 65 overs.

At the other side of the world, England continued to dominate at Old Trafford taking two early wickets as Pakistan try to salvage something from what really is a lost cause. On a decent batting strip Pakistan failed in their first innings and are surely facing certain defeat.…

Love Island – Fiji Eviction

The only shock with tonight’s Love Island eviction was that Colleen was one of the three in danger of leaving the show after just four weeks. Chris Brosnan has always flirted with premature eviction on the show and new girl bikini model Emily was never going to survive against an original house mate.

And so it came to pass that Emily was evicted from the show and Chris survived another week. It’s quite possible that given ITV’s form of introducing new people in as someone is evicted we may see Chris staying for another week !

Well that’s it, she didn’t do enough to keep her on and let’s face it even though I don’t like Sophie Anderton she does keep viewers amused by her behaviour – she’s still going to get a hell of a shock when evicted though !!! — Sophie Anderton Rant at Paul Video
Emily Scott has left the show, more astute viewers will recognise her from Robbie Williams’ Rock DJ video. Another surprise eviction follows tomorrow ITV have just announced so it looks possible Chris or Kelly (my prediction) might be leaving. Only time will tell.…

Big Brother Eviction – The Pairs

An emotional episode tonight, a combination of highlights and an eviction saw the prisoners released and all received letters from home. Unfortunately Pete being a former prisoner (he swapped places with Richard before knowing about the secret beach) wasn’t allowed his letter and he took it hard.

Richard heard that his mum was surviving Chemotherapy and Glyn that his family were proud. The rest of the house mates were in tears as the letters were read. Quite easily the most emotional part of Big brother this year.

On to the eviction, the result was expected and we saw the back of both Spiral and Michael, both receiving the fewest amount of save votes from the public. How the hell Susie can still be in the house after all she does is drink tea is beyond me. I’ll be glad when she goes, she certainly doesn’t deserve to be in the final five.

All three groups received boos when Davina introduced the couples during the channel 4 highlight show but by far the less were for Pete and Richard. Spiral and Michael received the most vociferous negativity from a partisan crowd.…

Marion Jones runs at Crystal Palace, London

I’ve just watched Marion Jones run in the 100 metres at Crystal Palace and she was beaten by Sherone Simpson of Jamaica into second place. Jones didn’t have a terrific start and looked a little lethargic in the first 40 metres and when Simpson moved away Jones reacted but didn’t quite have enough to overhaul her competitor. Simpson clocked 11.00 with Jones a short distance behind ina time of 11.05.

It was the first time Jones had raced in the UK for 2 years and given the number of allegations regarding drug taking by her former husbands and her four coaches, Jones has always been guilty by association, unfairly in my book. She has never been caught taking performance enhancing drugs in her career and given modern technology and the fact that she has won so much in her track career, surely she would have been caught by now if she had been taking drugs? EDIT:19th August: Jones Tests Positive

“I’m a competitor, I like to win. We had a heavy win in our face and that’s why you didn’t see a great run. I’m feeling good and getting back into it.”

Talking of the great reception she got from the local crowd she had this to say “Absolutely, people know the truth, I have lots of supporters around the world and here in Britain.”

“I’m not tainted by what people are saying, they are going to say what they want to say and the fact that I’m out here this year, running better than I have since I had my son in 2003 I think it’s proven to a lot of people that I can’t spend my time worrying. I have to concentrate on running”.

Only time will tell if Nike will stand by her. She is out of …

Flicka Movie and Tim McGraw

McGraw and LohmanHas anyone seen Flicka starring Tim McGraw and Alison Lohman ? I have to admit I didn’t know about the movie until I searched for news on McGraw being a fan of his music but am now curious to see what other people think of it? Not sure when it comes out in the UK but I’m sure we’ll have to wait a while. Is the soundtrack any good ?

Based on the novel “My Friend Flicka” by Mary OHara, “Flicka” is set against the backdrop of a modern-day ranch in Wyoming. It tells the story of Katie (Lohman), a teenager who dreams of running her familys ranch, much to the dismay of her father (McGraw); his hopes are pinned on her older brother. In the tale, Katie finds a wild horse she names Flicka and claims it for her own.

Any comments on the film, the scenery (believe it was filmed on a ranch in Wyoming), the acting etc ? I hope someone has seen it !!…