Holiday

This could be my last post for a couple of weeks. I'll pause now to let regular readers come to terms with their shock.



I've got two weeks off work and they are going to be busy. I'm going to be spending the first week studying and taking Biology A-Level exams so probably won't have a chance to update my blog. The exams are going to be a bit strange as I now have no reason for sitting them. I originally enrolled in them to help my Physiotherapy application but I got an unconditional offer from Robert Gordon so I could just stop doing them. However I have done about three quarters of the course already and it has cost a fair bit of money to enrol for the exams so I may as well finish them. The study will also come in helpful when I start at Uni. I found it really difficult at first to study but I am now used to it again which will be a bonus when I start it full time.
Once the exams are finished I'm then off to Ibiza for the week which will be nice. In fact there is only a matter of hours between my last exam and the holiday. The exam finishes at 4 and we need to be at the airport to check in at 8. Should make packing quite interesting, just chuck a few summery items of clothing in my case along with lots of books and I'll be sorted. I'm looking forward to spending some time lying by the pool and catching up on all the books I have bought recently. Perhaps I may even have one or two beers.
I hope you all find something else to read over the next 2 weeks to fill the blog shaped hole..........

Sugar Sugar

The third series of The Apprentice has now drawn to a close. If you had told me before the final episode the Simon would win, I'd be a bit surprised but from the way the task actually went it made sense.
Did the best overall candidate win? Probably not. I think Kristina and Tre were the most impressive based on their performance in all of the tasks. However Simon probably fitted the profile better of what Sir Alan was looking for in this series.
It does create an interesting query though. You'd think it would be the best candidate that would be chosen but ultimately it just depends on what Sir Alan needs at that time. It does explain some of the apparently random reasons for sacking people, sometimes it's based on their performance in a task but at other times Sir Alan looks at the bigger picture. Simon probably could have been sacked a couple of weeks ago but Sir Alan obviously saw something he liked. Amstrad are moving into real estate and Sir Alan seems to think that Simon would better fit the profile of this role which is fair enough. The final task involved the redevelopment of a building and Simon seemed to come into his own here, I suspect this helped swing the decision in his favour.
However it seemed that the decision was a surprise for a number of the former candidates. They all watched the show in the studio for the follow up programme You're Fired and apparently a few of them actually wanted to leave as they felt that Kristina deserved to win.
Despite some quibbles, overall The Apprentice does make for an excellent TV programme. Here is my quick guide to winning The Apprentice if anyone plans to enter for the fourth series:

Don't become visible too early.
Don't antagonise other contestants, may come back to haunt you.
Don't badmouth other people behind their back.
Study up on Sir Alan and try to figure out what he is looking for from his apprentice.
Talk yourself up but not in an arrogant way.

One final point on the pantomime villain of the piece, Katie. I developed a real hatred of her over the series, there didn't actually seem to be anything likable about her. She was forever slagging off other contestants on camera, even wishing death on them. The way she went about things just seemed to wind me up no end, there was a real arrogance about her. It did backfire on her though, after leaving The Apprentice, she was fired from her job which had originally been left open for her! Serves her right, I can't see many people wanting to employ her now.
However I guess she was good for the show, there is always space for a villain in these kind of things. Makes me wonder how much of the show is genuine and how much is actually decided in advance....

You're Hired

After years of complaining about the lack of good shows on British TV and never regularly watching series (apart from on DVD) I've recently found myself watching 4 different series, all of them on BBC. Does this mean the BBC are actually starting to make quality shows again or is this just an avoidance technique for when I should be studying?
Whatever the reason, the following 4 shows have proved to be enjoyable, informative and entertaining:
The Apprentice
Doctor Who
Andrew Marr's History of Britain
Peter & Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

If you get a chance to watch these then I would recommend them although it's the last in the series for The Apprentice tonight.
It's good to know there are still shows out there for people who don't like soaps and reality tv. Let's hope some other TV stations follow the lead of the BBC.

Dark Horse

If people are discussing a sporting event or some kind of competition, usually they will start speculating who the winner may be. If you are around people doing this then you need to chip in with the following:
"I'll tell you who the dark horse is"
This generally gets the attention of everyone as no-one likes to miss out on a potential tip. You need to drag this out a little to ensure that they all want to know.
You then hit them with:
"Black Beauty"

Priceless, has me in stitches every time I do it.

Head

A couple of things that have amused me:

I think the following quote direct from a hairdresser is brilliant:
"Being a hairdresser is a lot like being in the police. It's a 24/7 job, I'm always a hairdresser"
This was said to Sarah last night. I've been racking my brains and I can't even come up with one way in which being a hairdresser is like being in the police. The amount of self delusion is staggering.

It's good to know the self proclaimed leader of the free world can't even pour himself a beer. On TV this morning there was footage from the G8 conference where all the world leaders were sitting having a meal. George Bush tried the simple task of pouring a bottle of beer into the glass and couldn't even manage it. Rather than pour gently he just seemed to turn the bottle upside down so that the beer turned into head as soon as it hit the glass and then it spilled over the top all over the table. Bush just looked at it for a minute and then just started drinking even though the glass was still full of foamy head. Class.

They're All After Me Lucky Charms

This morning I had my first bowl of Lucky Charms for almost 2 years and it was great. I'd forgotten how much I liked having it for breakfast. They are full of marshmallowy goodness.
I used to love it when I was younger, probably due to the marshmallow pieces, but then shops in Britain stopped stocking them. I was gutted. The only time I can get them now is from trips to Canada or when people from Canada visit. So thanks very much to Jen who kindly brought over a big pack of them for me yesterday.
I feel it's about time that shops in Britain started stocking Lucky Charms again. Perhaps I can start a petition and then submit it to Tesco. There aren't enough leprechaun's advertising food so it's time we brought back Lucky.

However if that doesn't work then I could always buy them from here at £5.99 a box......

Benchwarmer

I think I may have found the footballer with the best games to medals ratio.

Do you remember the goalkeeper Pegguy Arphexad? He found fame with Leicester before signing for Liverpool. He then spent 3 seasons at Liverpool from 200o to 2003.

During this time he made a grand total of 2 appearances.
He ended up winning 6 medals. All as the unused sub keeper. This includes the FA Cup, the League Cup (twice), the Uefa Cup, the European Super Cup & the Charity Shield.

I bet when he brags to people about all the medals he won he probably won't go into detail about how he played.