Coronation Street Weekly Update, January 25 2010

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 really sad week for Tyrone.

Six Suspects

Just finished reading Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup. He's the author of Q&A, the book they turned into the film Slumdog Millionaire. Six Suspects was really good, highly entertaining and I thoroughly recommend it.

Other books I've read recently include Nick Hornby's new one, Juliet, Naked, which was pretty good. But don't read it if you're hungry for a thick steak of a book, it's more of a cheese omelette. And also very good was Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures.

Coronation Street Weekly Update, January 18 2010

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 rubbish-rage.

Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll

To the flicks this weekend to see Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, the biopic of Ian Dury with Andy Serkis playing the lead role. It's a great film, wonderfully done and although I gulped at paying £10.20 for a cinema ticket in London's West End, it turned out to be money well spent.

However, this time last year we'd been to see the Ian Dury stage play Hit Me! which I blogged about here and to be honest, that had the edge. But then, for me, live theatre will always beat cinema.

Churns

You don't see milk churns very often these days, do you?

Size matters

It's a good size, a nice size, well proportioned decent size, on the bright side, a nice size or small. It's bright, it's light, it's airy or dark.

And so, our house hunt begins.

Chris Mullin's Diary

It's finally out in paperback. A book everyone should read - from possibly the nicest bloke in politics, ever.

Chris Mullin is the MP for Sunderland South. He also wrote one of the best political thrillers I've ever read (possibly because it's the only one I've ever read, but it was great nonetheless).

Coronation Street Weekly Update, January 11 2010

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 Sheena Easton's 9-to-5.

Coronation Street Weekly Update, January 4 2010

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 very special anniversary indeed.

Posh people on the train

Travelling back from up north on the train the other day after a lovely, long Christmas break, I sat at a table for four people which I had all to myself until two posh people got on just before York. They sat at the table beside me, she was reading Tatler and he was on his laptop surfing comparison websites to buy a 10 seater jet. I kid you not.

They didn't speak to each other apart from a couple of exchanges, this one came just after the train pulled out of the station.

Him, cluelessly: "So is your father not right wing, then?"

Her, uppity: "Of course daddy's right wing. Why wouldn't he be right wing? He's my daddy; of course he's right wing."
They may have been right wing, they may have been posh, but from another of their exchanges it was made clear that they'd got on the train without tickets and they didn't offer to pay when the ticket man came round. Which means they nicked the train's wi-fi and electricity to power his laptop. I hate posh people, I really do.

Annie Get Your Gun

To The Young Vic theatre on New Year's Eve afternoon to see the wonderful Jane Horrocks in Annie Get Your Gun.

Now then, it's not got the songs in it that you think it's got in it, but it has got some songs in it that you'd forgotten all about. Jane Horrocks was superb and the whole play was magic.