Eurobeat

To the theatre this week to see the daftest thing I've seen this year.

Eurobeat, where Winning is Everything, is excellent fun and comes highly recommended, especially after a few drinks. Les Dennis and Mel Giedroyc (from Mel and Sue) are hosts for the evening all the way from Sarajevo. Terry Wogan even appears too.

So buy your ticket then grab your badge, flag and don't forget your clackers. It's daft but good.

Coronation Street Weekly Update

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week the update remembers Lucy, the dithering florist.

Amen for Amelia Jane

Amelia Jane was my favourite of the Enid Blyton characters and I read and re-read her stories as a child. Amelia Jane was the biggest and most clumsy of the dolls in the toy cupboard and at midnight every night, wreaked havoc. We had a lot in common, AJ and I back then and have had ever since.

Boots, shoes and the B52s

While I'll never forgive Bowie for selling his songs to the adman and the sight of Suggs advertising fishfingers gave me a wobble, there's something quite sweet about one of my favourite bands' tunes being used in a telly advert.

Yes, the B52s really are being used to advertise Clarks Shoes.

Blogging the Lord

To the Old Vic theatre again this week to see the second part of the Alan Ayckbourn trilogy The Norman Conquests. While the play was cracking stuff, we only had Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber of the TV and Theatre sitting in the row behind us, gamely signing autographs and taking in the stares of the audience.

Coronation Street Weekly Update

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week the update comes with a packet of HobNobs and Heat magazine.

Oi! You! Stop nicking my blog posts

There's a person online who is making me peeved. It's been going on for months and when it started, I blogged about it in a poem right here.

It's no longer flattering and if it doesn't stop soon I will publicly embarass the blogger online because blogging another person's ideas - especially when they're getting paid for their blog posts - just isn't fair.

I rather hoped this person would have had more intelligence and creativity not to nick my ideas.

Strictly Come Dancing

I always wanted a sister but ended up with two brothers. However, that means I've got two wonderful sisters-in-law so I'm not complaining, I'm just saying, you know.

But if I could have an honorary sister, It'd have to be dancer Karen Hardy from Strictly Come Dancing. She's fab. We could do each other's hair, nails, make up and then I could show her how to string a blog post together and she could teach me how to dance.

Rose Tremain: The Road Home

I read my first Rose Tremain novel recently and can't recommend her book The Road Home highly enough so I thought I'd blog it.

It's about an outsider coming to London. I know just how he feels.

Still Looking North

One of the many joys of Sky TV is watching BBC local news programmes from other parts of the country. And so, instead of watching the London news and finding out nothing about what's really going on - well, how local can local news be in a city the size of London? - I watch the familar Look North news instead.

It's like coming home and putting a pair of comfy slippers on to be met by old friends on the telly. And it stops me getting too homesick.

Karaoke Kylie

Travelling to work by tube this week, the music was blaring from someone's iPod so loud that not only could I hear what tune it was, I could make out every word. I even started tapping my foot in time to the music as a smile spread on my face.

My fella looked at the bloke whose music was, er, brightening up the carriage.
"Strange," he said. "He doesn't look much like a Kylie fan."
"Neither do you," I reminded him.

Coronation Street Weekly Update

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week the update isn't impressed by Corrie's murder week but is loving Becky Grainger.

Alan Aykbourne

Having a bit of a culture burst at the minute with theatre outings every couple of weeks planned for the next few months. The burst started with the first of three Alan Aykbourne plays at The Old Vic which was very good indeed. As you'd expect from Mr. A.

Amazing art adventure

Being a tourist when you live in London is a must otherwise it's too easy to forget why you live here. Of course, when I say you, I mean me. Anyway, my lovely man and I had a special day off work together last week when we went a bit art mad.

First to the Royal Festival Hall to see the Koestler Award 2008. Amazing art by offenders and the highlight of my day. A free exhibition highly recommended.

Then to the Hayward Gallery to see Andy Warhol which wasn't free and I only recommend if you're a huge fan of his work. If you're hoping to see screenprints of Marilyn and soup cans, they're there but some of his better stuff like the Judy Garland we stumbled across in Portugal this summer, wasn't. There was also something else going on in the Hayward but it didn't do much for me so I won't give it a plug.

Then t'Tate for Rothko at a whopping £12.50 each. A room full of big pictures that your eyes want to make sense of and your mind wants to sink into isn't done justice when said room is full of gawping tourists and crying babies.

So if you want to do just one art thing in London in the coming weeks, head to the Royal Festival Hall for the best (and free) exhibition I've seen in a long time.

Lauren Laverne is a Mackem

I've just read a post on Bloggertropolis that describes Lauren Laverne as a Geordie. Why man, she's not, pet. She's from Sunderland which makes her a Mackem, just like me and telly's Chris Cowey.

Facing up to Facebook

"I'm on it," said brother one. "So am I," said brother two when I was there at the weekend visiting family up north. I already knew niece was on it and pictures of a friend's award winning guinea pig were on there too along with a video of me mother embarassing herself in Scarborough.

Real friends were on it, people I hadn't seen in years were on it but still, I resisted. But now, I've crumbled. Yes, my name is Flaming Nora (*) and I am on Facebook.


(*) It's not really.

Shopping

I took myself shopping on Oxford Street today as I needed new clothes. Well, I didn't need but you know, I wanted. Anyway, I tried on stuff that was mis-shapen, cheap, snagged, frumpy, out of fashion, too expensive, frayed and made me look fat. And then I realised something. There was nothing wrong with the clothes at all. It was me. I did buy a nice top though.

I also saw Victoria Wood walking past Selfridges. She was in disguise but the big, dark glasses couldn't hide the fact that it was definitely her.

Grand Central

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm fond of train travel (exhibits A, B and C) but not so keen on the tube (A, B and C).

Anyway, ever since I moved to London over seven years ago there's been talk of a rail link from Sunderland direct to London without the inconvenience of changing at Newcastle. I waited months, years, and have now been on my first rail journey from that London to up north in one easy swoop courtesy of Grand Central trains. There's only three trains a day at the moment, bless them, but they're friendly and cheap and best of all, go straight from where you are to where you want to be without having to go through that place where no self respecting Mackem ever wants to lay foot. Thank you very much, Grand Central trains. I'll be using you again.

Coronation Street Weekly Update

I've been writing Coronation Street weekly updates since 1995 and this week's Coronation Street update has just gone live here.

This week the update wonders where Weatherfield Barbie's gone.