(no subject)
I'm sitting on my sofa right now, listening to the sounds of the Thames on my television. I can hear the traffic in the background, people walking by talking and laughing, and every so often Big Ben chimes.
Ah yes, this is what I pay my licence fee for! *laughs*
Seriously, what I am actually doing is following 'Comic Relief Does Fame Academy' on BBCinteractive. People who've had the misfortune of reading my journal for a couple of years now may remember the last time they did this, when I was manically supporting Radio One DJ Edith Bowman.
This year, her former partner on the afternoon show, Colin Murray, is taking part.
This is the closest I ever get to the reality-tv crap such as 'Big Brother' and 'I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!'. I only ever seem to go for the music competitions, and only when there's a specific celebrity I want to support. As a rule, it seems to be Radio One DJs as I was avidly following 'Celebrity X-Factor' when Chris Moyles competed.
The difference with Fame Academy is that they're locked up in, literally, a music school and taught singing techniques and dance moves. Most of these celebs have no singing talent to begin with and go for the sympathy votes *coughTaraPalmerTompkinsoncough* or by making viewers laugh. Hell, if good old Ade Edmondson could last till the semi finals last time despite a complete lack of singing talent and a nasty case of laryngitus? Anything's possible.
I know a good percentage of the celebrity contestants this year - which makes a nice change. I do wish judges Lesley Garrett and Craig Revell-Harwood would sod off though *sigh* I can't even stand Craig when he does 'Strictly Come Dancing', and Lesley? Yeesh....
But anyway. Last time, when you called up the interactive service, you got to watch what was going on inside the Academy in between shows. When the show was on, all you'd get would be an exterior shot, and a message somewhere along the lines of 'Show currently transmitting'. When Mam wasn't home (this shows you how long ago this was....) I would watch it for as long as I could, 'cause I was enjoying seeing Edith in action.
This year they're doing something very similar. The only difference being that when the shows are transmitting (the performances on BBC1 and then the analysis on BBC3) they're included on the interactive. So if you've been glued to the live feed all day, or are watching a repeat of a particular moment from that day the Beeb found memorable, you don't miss the actual show. However, where last year you could see what was going on in the Academy between the performance and the results show an hour or so later (I remember watching Dawn French chatting to a number of the contestants last year in between shows) this time it's just that damn shot of Big Ben from the other side of the Thames *sigh*
Still, enough of my babbling about that. Colin to win!!! *laughs*
Isaac came along to Rowan's gymnastics club after school today. We all went round to Isaac's house for a cuppa to kill the hour before the club started, and Jen and I had a bit of a natter before we rounded the boys up and walked the short distance to the community centre. Isaac's used to a more sophisticated gym, so he was a bit unsure what to do with such a basic scenario (warm-up floor exercises before splitting into two groups to do either the balance beam or the box) and Rowan was rather wound up 'cause he had company. As a result, both boys were a bit unsettled.
After we left, I had to place Rowan on a delayed punishment, resulting in much tears and tantrums. When I collected him from school, his teacher walked him over to me (never a good sign in the first place) and explained to me that he'd bitten one of his classmates! *facepalms* He and this kid have had a tempestuous friendship for a couple of years now, and Gwyn apparently laughed at him over something today so that's how Rowan chose to react... Thankfully, other than a wet sleeve and a slight red mark on his arm, no actual physical harm was done to him. I was so shocked and humiliated though, so I banned him from watching TV and denied him his bedtime story and song.
Not sure what we're going to do tomorrow, as Mam will be waiting in for Nan to bring over an old bookcase/cupboard-type thing she doesn't want anymore. Nan appears to be doing some kind of decorating in her house, and has replaced her living room cupboards; it was really wierd to see the old shelving unit - that's been in the house pretty much my entire life - dismantled on the floor of the dining room.
I also had a interesting text on my phone this evening from my friend Robert in Birmingham. Long-term LJ friends of mine will also remember him as the guy with whom I went to the Queen concert in Hyde Park in 2005. He's looking to see if any of his friends want to go see The Police with him at the Birmingham NIA in September, and he included me in his group-text! *pleased* I figure this is as much of a good opportunity as the Queen concert, considing The Police are no longer actually together, so I'm giving it some serious consideration and asked him to email me the details once he knows the ticket price. Could be an awesome gig!
Ah well...the Fame Academy results show is back on again now and I'm pretty much babbling so I'm gonna stop here. I'm glad to say I'm feeling much, much better now - not that my productivity today is any indication *sigh*. My neck no longer hurts, at least.
Ah yes, this is what I pay my licence fee for! *laughs*
Seriously, what I am actually doing is following 'Comic Relief Does Fame Academy' on BBCinteractive. People who've had the misfortune of reading my journal for a couple of years now may remember the last time they did this, when I was manically supporting Radio One DJ Edith Bowman.
This year, her former partner on the afternoon show, Colin Murray, is taking part.
This is the closest I ever get to the reality-tv crap such as 'Big Brother' and 'I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here!'. I only ever seem to go for the music competitions, and only when there's a specific celebrity I want to support. As a rule, it seems to be Radio One DJs as I was avidly following 'Celebrity X-Factor' when Chris Moyles competed.
The difference with Fame Academy is that they're locked up in, literally, a music school and taught singing techniques and dance moves. Most of these celebs have no singing talent to begin with and go for the sympathy votes *coughTaraPalmerTompkinsoncough* or by making viewers laugh. Hell, if good old Ade Edmondson could last till the semi finals last time despite a complete lack of singing talent and a nasty case of laryngitus? Anything's possible.
I know a good percentage of the celebrity contestants this year - which makes a nice change. I do wish judges Lesley Garrett and Craig Revell-Harwood would sod off though *sigh* I can't even stand Craig when he does 'Strictly Come Dancing', and Lesley? Yeesh....
But anyway. Last time, when you called up the interactive service, you got to watch what was going on inside the Academy in between shows. When the show was on, all you'd get would be an exterior shot, and a message somewhere along the lines of 'Show currently transmitting'. When Mam wasn't home (this shows you how long ago this was....) I would watch it for as long as I could, 'cause I was enjoying seeing Edith in action.
This year they're doing something very similar. The only difference being that when the shows are transmitting (the performances on BBC1 and then the analysis on BBC3) they're included on the interactive. So if you've been glued to the live feed all day, or are watching a repeat of a particular moment from that day the Beeb found memorable, you don't miss the actual show. However, where last year you could see what was going on in the Academy between the performance and the results show an hour or so later (I remember watching Dawn French chatting to a number of the contestants last year in between shows) this time it's just that damn shot of Big Ben from the other side of the Thames *sigh*
Still, enough of my babbling about that. Colin to win!!! *laughs*
Isaac came along to Rowan's gymnastics club after school today. We all went round to Isaac's house for a cuppa to kill the hour before the club started, and Jen and I had a bit of a natter before we rounded the boys up and walked the short distance to the community centre. Isaac's used to a more sophisticated gym, so he was a bit unsure what to do with such a basic scenario (warm-up floor exercises before splitting into two groups to do either the balance beam or the box) and Rowan was rather wound up 'cause he had company. As a result, both boys were a bit unsettled.
After we left, I had to place Rowan on a delayed punishment, resulting in much tears and tantrums. When I collected him from school, his teacher walked him over to me (never a good sign in the first place) and explained to me that he'd bitten one of his classmates! *facepalms* He and this kid have had a tempestuous friendship for a couple of years now, and Gwyn apparently laughed at him over something today so that's how Rowan chose to react... Thankfully, other than a wet sleeve and a slight red mark on his arm, no actual physical harm was done to him. I was so shocked and humiliated though, so I banned him from watching TV and denied him his bedtime story and song.
Not sure what we're going to do tomorrow, as Mam will be waiting in for Nan to bring over an old bookcase/cupboard-type thing she doesn't want anymore. Nan appears to be doing some kind of decorating in her house, and has replaced her living room cupboards; it was really wierd to see the old shelving unit - that's been in the house pretty much my entire life - dismantled on the floor of the dining room.
I also had a interesting text on my phone this evening from my friend Robert in Birmingham. Long-term LJ friends of mine will also remember him as the guy with whom I went to the Queen concert in Hyde Park in 2005. He's looking to see if any of his friends want to go see The Police with him at the Birmingham NIA in September, and he included me in his group-text! *pleased* I figure this is as much of a good opportunity as the Queen concert, considing The Police are no longer actually together, so I'm giving it some serious consideration and asked him to email me the details once he knows the ticket price. Could be an awesome gig!
Ah well...the Fame Academy results show is back on again now and I'm pretty much babbling so I'm gonna stop here. I'm glad to say I'm feeling much, much better now - not that my productivity today is any indication *sigh*. My neck no longer hurts, at least.