Cookalong syllabub

Thought I would share my fabulous(!) creation, lemon and lime syllabub, courtesy of week 2 of Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live.

As it's the first Cookalong I've tried, I just went for the pud this time. And it went down very well. Of the four of us, only Ben wasn't keen when he tried the leftovers tonight, which did not surprise me as it's a strong taste for a 5 year old. Everyone else wanted seconds!

Whilst it was dead easy to make, it was still difficult to keep up with the swearing one. You really do have to have everything laid out, poured out, cut up etc.

Maybe I will to do the whole meal in one of the future shows...watch this space!

But only 2 people complained...?

18th October. A couple of people said some inappropriate things on a national radio station during a pre-recorded show. Two (2) people complained (out of a regular audience of 400,000) about the use of the F word. The world moved on.

26th October. The Mail on Sunday reported the incident.

Fast forward to today, 31 October. The two very well known broadcasters are no longer on Radio 2, one has quit and one has been suspended for 12 weeks. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has commented on the incident. A much-admired Controller of Radio 2 Lesley Douglas has resigned. And aspiring actress and dancer Georgina Baillie is getting all the attention she no-doubt craves and is surely loving every minute. In fact she is quoted as being "really happy". I bet she is. Meanwhile millions of people are denied an entertaining TV show on Friday nights and radio shows they have enjoyed.

Let's consider for a moment the people who complained after the story broke.

Either they heard the broadcast, did not consider it worthy of a complaint at the time and later changed their minds. Or, they did not hear the broadcast and are raising a complaint about a piece of radio they have heard only because it is newsworthy.

Why does it matter that, after the prank calls became international news, 37,500 sheep picked up the phone and effectively moaned "oh yes, me too". If they weren't bothered about the broadcast at the time then how could they possibly be offended by it now?

Let's be clear, I accept that what Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross did was wrong, stupid, childish, thoughtless, unprofessional and plain rude. I accept that they shouldn't have done it. I accept that an apology was due (and it has been made).

But my point is that we all make mistakes. You do. I do. It's part of being human. It's part of living together on this thing called Earth that's spinning through space. Can't we just move on?

Ross and Brand are two entertaining and popular stars - not to everyone's taste, but then no one is. Millions of people enjoyed their radio and TV broadcasts.

This week they've been caught doing 40 in a 30 zone and have had 12 points put on their licence.

That's a shame for them, and a shame for all who enjoy their output.

I was going to finish with some more about Georgina Baillie but Hugo Rifkind puts it far better than I ever could.

As Manuel would say...kraazy!

Time gentlemen please

Whilst searching for a photo clock (more of that in a later post maybe) I came across http://www.humanclock.com/. A fabulously simple idea (aren't all the best ideas simple?) that has been implemented extremely well. The concept - every minute you see a photo of someone/something displaying the time...I told you it was simple.

There doesn't appear to be any photos from Maidenhead on the site....I'll have to remedy that one.

Edit: Look at 12:29 and you'll see my addition...

The usefulness of the internet in everyday life part 2

I discovered a new concept on the web today - the Land Registry have decided to bulk sell house price information. And some sites are giving it away for free, which is nice.

Take OurProperty.co.uk for example which allows you to register and perform 20 searches per week. An excellent tool for nosey neighbours, people who are just wondering what their house might be worth this week and, probably most importantly, estate agents.

One of the most important jobs for an estate agent is valuing property and, clearly, knowing what neighbouring properties sold for recently is of great benefit.

In fact I am surprised such valuable information is available for nothing.

The aforementioned OurProperty.co.uk website is very well implemented, quick and simple to use. However there are other similar sites mentioned and linked from this BBC News article.

Must go, I need to find out how much a mate spent on his house.

Ivan Noble

Like many people I have been following Ivan Noble's diaries on the BBC website. The dairies follow his fight with cancer. For about 18 months I have been reading the thought provoking words posted every 2-4 weeks.

Today I heard that Ivan has died.

I submitted this to the Your Tributes page.

Ivan

You have touched many people with your honest and frank diary, me included. Thanks for sharing.

I truly hope that your son, who you lived to see born last year, and daughter inherit your strength, courage and compassion. They will surely go far.

Take care up there.

Paul

The usefulness of the internet in everyday life part 1

The Problem
Heard a very catchy tune on Radio 2 in the car on the way to a client. Sang along. Listened carefully to who the artist was at the end. Got to client but by then, of course, my memory had failed me.

The Solution
Visit Google. Type in 5 words from the song plus the word "lyrics" and up comes the answer.

So that was nice. A CD for my Chiristmas list.

(Not so) Fastpay

I have just successfully signed up and moved money around with Nat West's FastPay. It seems like a good service in that it appears to work OK. But the sign up procedure is almost too painful for words.

You have to give them your credit card number for charging against, which you would expect. However they then charge the card with a number of pennies from 1 to 99. You then have to login and type in that number which proves the card is yours (well, to be more precise it at least proves you have access to the statements).

This might sound very secure - but having to wait for your statement to pop through the post does not blend very cutely with the first part of their name (Fastpay?) And yes, I know some people have access to their statement quicker than that on line or on telephone banking - but not everyone does.

Maybe this approach could be limited to those Fastpayers who want to transfer vast wads of cash - say over £100. It certainly seemed overkill for what I wanted to transfer...a measly fiver.

Random Thoughts About This Blog's Name

Clearly, I don't yet know what this blog will eventually be all about. So I chose a name for it that reflects some very basic "givens" -

• I'm a bloke
• I live in a leafy Berkshire town
• I'm not quite sure what this is going to be about

It happened that the initials were close enough to rtfm¹ to be worth noting and so I added those as well.

So now you know.

1: Read the Flipping Manual

Hmmmm, what does blogging feel like then?

It's nearing the end of 2004 and even though I've been wired up to the net since 1996 this is my first ever blog post.

I have a lot of catching up to do.

Lots of people seem to enjoy it. So let's see if I do.