Believe Your Eyes

Has anyone seen a picture or photo of the Northern Lights and not wondered if its been altered in Photoshop (other photo-editing software is available) Are the colours that bright ? Are the shapes that vivid and defined ? Im sure that not all have and Im sure that witnessing them in person is extraordinary but you cant always believe what you see these days . Whenever Ive seen a photo of them either in my hand or on a screen I've always wondered if some graphic artist had taken a green brush to an otherwise ordinary picture of a Icelandic hill in the dark.

Brunost Ahead

Best Headline of the day goes to "Giant goat-cheese fire closes Norwegian Highway". The cheese called Brunost is described as having "slightly salty and surprisingly sweet flavour with a hint of goat about it" - which reminded me instantly of Bob Monkhouse, but thats another story
A quick glance on Google reveals other surprising road spills over the years - cows, marmite, coffee, beer, bull semen and Mark Bolan amongst others.

Baked Off

Fascinating watching the celebrity version of 'The Great British Bake Off' last night. Reminded me of a little soiree a few years ago where everyone had to bring their own 'signature' dishes to make up a full five course meal. Kelly Monteith's Bourbon Chicken would've triumphed as Course of the Evening were it not for Gabrielle Drakes Caramelised Apple Puff. The less said about Windsor Davies' Pates au Fruits de Mer the better - alcohol based marinades and gas ovens should not be combined

Cheeky Winner

So sad to hear of Michael Winners passing. Spent an enchanting evening with him a few years ago watching Bernard Cribbins in Guys and Dolls at The National. A supreme raconteur with a cheeky boyish sense of humour that could carry him away if you weren't careful. A cheeky pinch of a bottom wasn't unusual when in his company. The stories he told me of Brando, Kirk Douglas, Oliver Reed and Wendy Craig will go with me to my grave

Sweet Jenny

Loved the first of the new series of Call The Midwife on BBC 1 last night.
Is there a single problem that exists between heaven and earth that wouldn't be made more bearable with a big hug from Jenny Agutter ? I think not. I imagine her to smell of sweet garden flowers and fruit preserve

Fishy

Interesting piece on the radio just now about whether fish, crabs and prawns feel pain - only been fishing once in my like. There was definite pain involved in spending five hours with Vince Hill at the side of a pond in Whitby, during filming for Seaside Special, but it wasnt the bloody fish

Whirlygig

What a terrible incident in London this morning - interesting hearing people on Radio 4 saying that its the fault of the size of the building - dont hear them blaming the fact that helicopters are buzzing about at such low levels in one of the busiest cities in the world.
I've only been in a helicopter once in my life and quite a terrifying and awful experience it was, having no metal structure around you to make you feel a little safer is one thing but having Gary Wilmot being sick on your shoes is quite another

Funny Business

Have noticed just lately that Im becoming slightly annoyed and irritated at the amount of people trying to make me laugh - stand-up comedians seem to have become rock stars all of a sudden, playing huge arenas and plastered on billboards everywhere. You cant turn the television on without a comedy panel game show or comedy showcase. Being funny is a serious business as legions of depressed comedians have testified to over the years, Ive known quite a few in my time and not many of them could be called funny people - it was their job and they took it very seriously indeed. Just the thought of getting up in front of a live audience of any size and trying to make them laugh is a nightmare for most of us but these people do it night after night after night with varying degrees of success - imagine doing a job that depends on getting positive emotional feedback from strangers. Failure in that task would be crippling to most of us - we learn pretty quickly as children to not repeat actions that cause us pain, either physically or emotionally, but comedians seem to be attracted to that flame sometimes at a great cost. Im ill at ease with their nakedness and bravery.