Freddie was also a massive cat lover, he adored cats and was owned by several cats. They stayed with him until his death and you can find some info about Freddie’s cats here

The Birds – Elbow

Today the Mercury prize will be awarded to one of 12 nominees and Radio 6 has been promoting this event for weeks now. If you love music as much as I do, you’ll be interested to find out who will get the award this year and the ever excitable Jools Holland will as usual present the show. I always assumed the prize was named after either the record label Mercury Records or the great Freddie (who is also the inspiration for the name of my dear cat Freddy). So when checking I was surprised that it was actually named and created by the communications company Mercury – and that was before I lived in Britain so I have never heard of them. Since its demise the Mercury has changed its sponsors to Barclaycard but kept the name.

I love the Mercury Awards mainly for the fact that I always discover some new artists I wouldn’t have otherwise heard of.

Since it was launched in 1992 by the British Phonographic Industry as an alternative to the mainstream Brit Awards it has seen some deserving winners (and I own most of these albums : Primal Scream’s Screamadelica (still a cracking album), Suede’s Suede, Portishead’s Dummy, Pulp’s Different Class (though my favourite Pulp record is We love Life – beautiful songs), Badly Drawn Boy’s The Hour of the Bewilderbeast (which I don’t own, but I own two of his other albums), PJ Harvey’s Stories from the City, stories from the Sea (brilliant album),Franz Ferdinand’s Franz Ferdinand, Elbow’s Seldom Seen Kids and The XX – XX.

But there were also odd choices such as Speech Debelle in 2009, a year which had a strong shortlist of fantastic artists and albums – among the people nominated that year were Bat for Lashes, Florence and the Machine, Kasabian, Friendly Fires and The Horrors (I heard a few songs of the latter two and liked them). M People also springs to mind as a  terrible choice – nominated that year when Britpop was all the rage – Blur, The Prodigy, Pulp and Paul Weller were nominated too –but so was Take That for some bizarre reason.

Anthony and Johnson’s was also an odd choice, although I have warmed to his music as it is so otherworldly. Odd- because he doesn’t live in Britain, though born here. Roni Size/Reprazent won it in 1997 – can anyone remember him? The same year saw The Chemical Brothers, Beth Orton, Primal Scream and The Prodigy nominated – but also the Spice Girls. The Arctic Monkeys won the Award in 2006  – I have their album and never listen to it, as I find it rather repetitive – and that year’s nominated albums  also included Thom Yorke’s stunning solo The Eraser, Muse’s epic Black Holes and Revelations, Lou Rhodes’ The Beloved One, Richard Hawley’s Coles Corner and The Editors’ The Back Room. All albums I still like to listen to.

The Klaxons won it in 2007 – Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black was on the short list that year, she also was nominated in 2004 for her stunning debut Frank (my favourite Winehouse album) but lost out to Franz Ferdinand.

Stronger Than Me – Amy Winehouse

Last year’s shortlist was very strong and it was a shame to see Laura Marling losing out to The XX, but it was still a good choice. I am sure if her new single Sophia is anything to go by, her new album will be nominated next year again.

So what about this year’s list then? There are a few bands I know little about, but heard a few songs from. Everything, Everything appeared on Jools Holland’s Later show and I quite liked them but wouldn’t want to listen to a whole album by them. Katy B isn’t my cup of tea and so is Adele, who unfortunately for her fans won’t be performing tonight because she’s ill. Tinie Tempah is also not my cup of tea – I don’t like hip hop, I don’t like R&B and I don’t like rap, bores me to death. I don’t know much about James Blake, so I had a quick listen on YouTube –and I really don’t like his voice or singing style.

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins however is worth a listen – I might be tempted to get the album. Creosote has a beautiful, fragile voice and has been making records since 1998, while Hopkins is a producer and musician specialising in electronica.

Bubbles – King Creosote and Jon Hopkins

Gwilym Simcock is a Welsh pianist and represents the jazz genre at tonight’s awards.  Jazz musicians never win it  and I am not super keen on jazz. Metronomy is another band I am not too fussy about.

But I like Ghost Poet – his Liiines has been featured a lot on Radio 6, it has hypnotic quality to it, however I don’t know what the rest of his album Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam is like (great title), but I will definitely find out.

Liiines – Ghost Poet

And here are my favourite nominees:

Starting with Elbow and Build a Rocket Boys. Elbow have been nominated 3 times and so far won it once for the awesome Seldom Seen Kid. Instead of rushing to create a follow up album, Guy Garvey and his mates have taken their time and it has paid off.

I bought this album for my husband as an anniversary gift and it is on heavy rotation in our house. I love Garvey’s soulful voice and try to remember whenever I can to listen to his radio show on Radio 6 (Sundays between 10 and 12 pm). His show is highly recommendable as it feels like you get to know the man and  he has fab taste – where else would you get to listen to Talk Talk’s The Spirit of Eden – Talk Talk is also one of his favourite bands and I think they influenced Elbow’s sound a bit. My favourite tracks on Build a Rocket Boys are the slow and intense The Birds, the powerful Neat Little Rows, High Ideals and the achingly beautiful The River.

The River – Elbow

Anna Calvi is another musician I like and her album titled also Anna Calvi is on my wish list. Anna has been heavily promoted by The Guardian, and I tend to be suspicious when an artist gets so much attention, but I really like her deep voice which has an operatic quality to it, she sounds very different when she speaks. Anna, who often gets compared to fellow nominee PJ Harvey, also plays guitar and gives cracking live performances. So far she has released three singles from her album, Desire, Blackout and Suzanne and I – which reminds me vaguely of Goldfinger. Judging from these three songs I think the album is worth a listen and because she is a new artist she’d be a very deserving winner. Plus not very often in the history of the Mercury does a female artist win the prize, it’s mostly bands.

Blackout – Anna Calvi

Which brings me to one of my favourite singers – PJ Harvey who is also highly tipped to win it the second time around for Let England Shake. She’s been nominated 4 times in total and one of those rare artists who loves to explore new sounds, ideas and instruments. PJ never repeats herself, but always surprises and is a tremendous live performer (from what I have seen on TV – have yet to see her live). Each of her albums is different and she doesn’t take years to release new work. It’s not surprising she’s been nominated so many times, although they should have nominated her for my personal favourite album White Chalk.

Let England Shake is a wonderful album and it’s really hard to choose a favourite song, but I think it has to be The Words That Maketh Murder, The Glorious Land, On Battleship Hill, Hanging in the Wire & Written on the Forehead.

The Words That Maketh Murder – PJ Harvey

I’d be happy if any of these three artists would win. Who is your favourite and why? I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy the show.

However I admit I watched it last night and was pleasantly surprised. The gist of the programme is to bring together women who apparently suffer from body dysmorphia or at least very low body confidence and spend most of their time preening themselves, dreaming of (or actually having ) plastic surgery, and people with facial disfigurements (hence the stupid title). Aim is to show these women (I don’t think there are any men involved on the “beauty” side) that they have not only a distorted view on their own body, but also to show the risks of operations and what it means to live with a real disfigurement while at the same time combating the prejudice people with  disfigurements face on a daily basis.

The first episode brought together celebrity obsessed Yasmin, a pretty, slightly overweight girl with a big chest, and father-of-two Leo, who suffered 3^rd degree burns at the age of 14 caused by a horrific accident involving petrol. During his life Leo had to endure over 100 operations and knows exactly what plastic surgery involves. His view is that healthy women like Yasmin should really not have unnecessary plastic surgery just to confirm to a certain body image. Yasmin, who has a pretty face without make-up, takes over two hours to put the slap on including ghastly hair extensions. It becomes clear that this is simply a way for her to distract from her J-cup-size breasts.

At the beginning of the programme she is desperate for a liposuction and a breast reduction, which concerns Leo. Together they spend a day her way – which involves a trip to a beauty salon where they get their feet nibbled clean by tiny fish (a treatment actually used for Psoriasis, but is apparently the flavour-of-the- month treatment used by celebrities) and a consultation with a plastic surgeon. He tells her about the clear risks involved in both liposuction and breast reduction and advises her to lose weight the natural way and then, if she still wanted her breasts reduced to come back. Leo is relieved to see her take this on board. In the evening they go out together and it becomes pretty clear why Yasmin feels the need for this operation. Men gawping and commenting lewdly on her breasts is a daily occurrence for her and she had to deal with this since puberty.  Another reason for a reduction, which wasn’t mentioned in the programme, but would be a good reason for me, is simply that a big chest can cause a lot of pain. Spending this evening out with Yasmin made Leo more sympathetic to her need for surgery.

The next day is spent Leo’s way and they go fishing – an activity Yasmin would normally find boring – and to do a photo shoot with an artist who focuses on people with unusual faces. It transpires that this is difficult for him, who had taken years to come to terms with his new face, but he agreed to do the photo to raise awareness. This is quite a different photo shoot from the one glamour shot Yasmin had done and it clearly made her think.

What follows is a session with a psychologist involving VT comments of Yasmin’s concerned family and friends and at the end Yasmin agrees to take all her make-up off. The programme meets up with her and Leo eight weeks later to follow the progress and though she still wants her breast-size reduced she is not wearing any make-up.

Similar to some of Gok Wan’s shows there is also a campaign element to the show in the form of roving reporter Adam Pearson, who suffers from neurofibromatosis. He interviews an agency boss about why people with unusual faces are not used as models. She insists that the public wants to see perfect models, so he creates together with a female model with disfigurements (hardly noticeable though) to create his own photos posing in the style of Beckham and Eva Herzigova. This is followed by him asking people on the street what they think of the resulting posters and if they would buy the products advertised. Of course everyone agreed and said yes. The sceptic in me thought – how many people he asked did say no though? After all this is edited.

I thought this series started off with a strong episode and I think the makers were lucky to find likeable people in Yasmin and Leo. However next week’s preview looked rather worrying.

Beauty and The Beast: The Ugly Face of Beauty, Channel4

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/beauty-the-beast-ugly-face-of-prejudice/4od#3159942 )

Of all TV chefs I like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Rick Stein the most. Hugh, though terribly posh, is someone who is putting his celebrity status to good use and I like the fact that he is putting a lot of effort into his campaigns taking on supermarket giant Tesco (a supermarket I avoid) of which he is also a shareholder.

I thought his three-part series was very informative and shocking. It’s good that he raised awareness about salmon farming, idiotic fish quotas resulting in a colossal amount of waste of edible fish and the industrial scale of tuna fishing resulting in catching sharks, dolphins and turtles. The whole week was well thought out. Though Heston Blumenthal’s programme had mainly entertainment value, I don’t think his way of cooking is necessarily sustainable or practical. The ever enthusiastic Jamie Oliver showed some lovely looking recipes, but trying to cook them prooved tricky – some ingredients are out of season or hard to come by or too expensive (crab meat). We tried the Dab recipe without the Dab, because Cardiff Market’s fishmonger didn’t have it but sold us and other eager customers, Flounder, which tasted nice. I think I will stick to simpler recipes and invest in Rick Stein’s Fish cookbook. Yesterday we had Mackerel, another recommended sustainable fish and it tasted delicious. You don’t need a sauce for this one as it’s full of flavour and omega 3.

I watched the first half hour of Gordon Ramsay’s shark programme and gave up. Despite his good intentions  he is not the right person to do investigative journalism , plus I just couldn’t watch the sharks being finned alive –a revolting process that indeed should stop. What I don’t get is why anyone would want to eat something like a shark’s fin anyway? Apparently it’s pretty tasteless apart from the broth – and when it comes to taste I am sure Gordon knows what he talks about.

I thought the whole Fish Fight week was worth catching.

Here’s the link to Hugh’s campaign: http://www.fishfight.net/

And if you want to help another important cause you might be interested in the campaign against the Government’s plans so sell off Britain’s treasured forests to pay off the debts. 38 Degrees is an organisation that has set up this campaign and you can sign a petition, sign up for their newsletter and write to your MP by clicking on this link: http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/speakout/MP-forests

And if you want to give your opinion and ideas as to what should happen next for the National Health Service you might want to take part in this survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/449615/NHS-Legislation-Survey

I hope it’s good, cause it will take months until “Misfits” – E4s coolest show about ASBO-teenagers with super powers– will be back. I loved the last series which had some great twists and I hope that we will see more of amazing Welsh actor Iwan Rheon who plays Simon, the focus of last season. Iwan has also appeared in Simon Amstell’s brilliant “Grandma’s House”, so here’s hoping he will get offered more roles.

Last year was a good year for comedy – I enjoyed “Rev” with the brilliant Tom Hollander – and can’t wait for the second series. “Whites” with Alan Davies was also a pleasant surprise and I hope we see more of that.

Charlie Brooker has given up “Screenburn” (his review section in the Grauniad) but Brooker fans such as myself will be delighted to see him back twice a week now – in his new show “How TV Ruined My Life” (BBC2 on Tuesdays) and “10 O’Clock Live”  (Channel4, Thursdays).

I thoroughly enjoy “Episodes” (BBC2, Mondays) with Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig as a scriptwriting couple who are invited to Hollywood to adapt their hit sitcom for American television and in the process end up having to change the whole script. Oh and Joey from “Friends” is in it too. Matt Le Blanc playing a version of himself –and he’s very funny. I saw him interviewed last week on Graham Norton’s show and he came across as a genuinely nice and easy going guy. If you haven’t watched Episodes yet – give it a go.

Two weeks ago I also watched a programme remembering the great Pete Postlethwaite, which brought tears into my eyes. It was nice to be reminded of the many films he starred in including “In The Name of The Father” and “The Usual Suspects” which I have to watch again. Pete was not only believable as an actor but also a wonderful human being who used his celebrity for good causes like the climate change film “The Age of Stupid”. He was working until his death and one of the actors he filmed with happened to be “Misfits” gob-shite Nathan aka Robert Sheehan. “Killing Bono” will be released this year and is definitely one to watch. Pete Postlethwaits has just been posthumously nominated for a BAFTA for his role as Fergus “Fergie” Colm in Ben Afflek’s “The Town”. He will be missed by a lot of people.

I never thought I would ever write about the X-Factor, but here I am. I watch it, but never vote  (God forbid), because I don’t want to make Simon Cowell any richer than he already is. Why do I watch it? It’s a guilty pleasure and I love Dannii Minogue’s style. Her hair looks always great and as a jewellery designer I am interested in the jewellery  she’s wearing. Dannii is also the only credible mentor on the show, who often speaks sense on this panto panel and really seems to care about her singers. Plus she made the right decision by bringing back Paije Richardson.

This year’s X-Factor has the best talent of the series by far (after a dire last year with an obvious outcome): the elegant Rebecca Ferguson, who’s got an edgy voice you don’t normally hear on a talent show (not your usual warbler), Matt Cardle, who is sometimes painful to watch, but is in Louis Walsh’s words “likeable” and Paije Richardson.

And then there are those singers who for some bizarre i.e. tactical reasons were voted off – John Adelaye and Treyc Cohen (great voice, bad spelling). And the latest casualty –  Aiden Grimshaw. The first X-Factor singer I truly care about (I don’t know if this is sad or brave to admit?).  Anyway Aiden lost out to the most desperate singer in the competition. His fans didn’t vote enough apparently – well I guess like myself they just didn’t want to invest their dosh in ITV and Mr Cowell, but would love Aiden to succeed as a credible singer with his own material. Katie Waissell is wondering why she isn’t liked by the voting public – the answer is easy:  it’s not her voice, it’s the fact that she’s a little bit too desperate and unfortunately for her she’s not Gamu Nhengu, who would have stood a good chance of winning the competition.

When Aiden was interviewed by Konnie Huq on ITV2’s Xtra Factor he said: “I’ve never tried to be a pop star or thought of myself as an X Factor contestant really. I’m just a guy with a quiff who likes to sing.”

This is the impression most people had – whether they liked him or not. When I saw his audition and then again his mesmerising performance of Gary Jules’ cover version of Mad World ,  I just thought – what on earth is this guy doing on the biggest Karaoke show on telly? Even my hubby, who hates the X-Factor, was impressed by him. Aiden always looked out of place and slightly uncomfortable with some of the songs he was given. I mean that in a good way. You always got the feeling – this guy really wants to sing different songs, which are out of X-Factor judge’s narrow musical reach.

I hope, after coming to terms with his disappointment  - he is only 18, my sister’s age- he will quickly realise that leaving the competition now was the best thing that could have happened to him. Most X-Factor winners release a forgettable album and disappear. Leona Lewis was groomed mainly for the American market, and her warbling (I don’t mind her voice, but can’t stand her music) appeals to the masses who somehow think this is soulful music… Hmm- if you want soul, I suggest listening to Carmel, Lisa Gerrard, Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, REM, Editors, Emiliana Torrini, PJ Harvey, Amy Winehouse, Kristin Hersh, Laura Marling, Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, Depeche Mode, the XX and so many other great musicians who write beautiful and powerful music.

Anyway I digress..

The brilliant Damon Albarn recently said in an interview with Today reporter Nicola Stanbridge that he finds the X-Factor depressing and that he thought that the show doesn’t allow the contestants to develop “in the way music should allow young people to develop.” And of course he is right.

However it doesn’t mean that contestants can’t become credible artists in their own right after they’ve left the show. Duffy is a very good example. The Welsh singer came second in Wawffactor, the Welsh version of the X-factor or Pop Idol.  Appearing on that show was according to her the most miserable time in her life.  But instead of giving up on making music she decided to take her time and develop her own unique style by listening to a lot of the kind of soul music she wanted to sing. Being discovered and signed up by Jeanette Lee of Rough Trade helped – and teaming up with Suede’s Bernard Butler, who co-wrote the songs on her debut, which took nearly four years to make.  Award winning “Rockferry” sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide and ironically “Mercy” has been murdered by many wannabe Duffys on the X-Factor.

So what should Aiden do? Get more life experience, travel, listen to some great music and write your own material, learn an instrument  (if you  don’t already play one) and keep having singing lessons.  Enjoy the ride and don’t let too many people mould you into something you don’t want to be  ( i.e. a Twilight Vampire..)

I was in two minds if I should continue watching the X-Factor – but I still like Paije, Rebecca and have warmed to Matt, so I guess I will watch the Karaoke. Who do I want to win? One Direction of course – or Wagner.

And here is an idea of how to change the show to make it more watchable:

Mentors shouldn’t be judges. Have an extra judge and replace Cheryl Cole, whose main reason to be on the show is to look pretty and promote her own pap. Or just do away with all the judges and let the public vote. Instead of a vote to save, let the public vote contestants out.

Stop putting token joke acts in if you want a serious contest and give the contestants the challenge of writing and performing their own songs. Stop those awful themes – they are completely pointless.

And finally: Louis  should give Wagner an aria by Wagner to sing– now that would be fun to watch.  Or thinking about it – maybe not.

I leave you with the wonderful PJ Harvey -

If you are feeling blue, are fed up with depressing news and the world around you – watch Little House on the Prairie. It will cheer you up, make you think and give you back the belief in the good that exists in the world. Though a lot of drama happens to the Ingalls family during the 8 seasons, the stories have mostly happy endings, a positive outlook on life and there is a strong community spirit. The series doesn’t adhere completely to the book and stories have been added. There are also historical inaccuracies as pointed out in this Wikipedia entry, which gives a detailed summary of the whole series and cast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_on_the_Prairie_(TV_series)

I re-discovered this childhood favourite of mine because a friend lent me her box set of the first season. I used to love this show as a child and looked forward to my Saturday afternoon fix of Laura and co. I identified with the feisty tomboy Laura. My aunt, who is five years older, and I used to play LHOTP and there was little dressing up required as we actually had dresses, which resembled those of the girls on the show- minus the pinafores.  I loved wearing those dresses and they were tailor-made by a friend of my gran’s, who was a dressmaker. I loved the idea of living on a farm with lots of animals. Some episodes made me laugh and some cry. I remember one of the saddest episodes was the one where Laura’s older sister goes blind.  I cried buckets. I guess as soon as I reach that episode (series 4 if I remember correctly) I will cry again.

I wanted to find out what happened to the main cast. While some actors like director and actor Michael Landon are no longer alive, others like Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary) and Melissa Gilbert (Laura) are still acting. Melissa Gilbert  see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Gilbert and http://www.gilbertboxleitner.com/melissa/index2.html had a dramatic life herself – which was completely the opposite of her on-screen persona. She was adopted as a baby by a comedian, dated stars such as Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise and John Cusack and had problems with alcohol and drugs.  She managed to carve out a TV career after LHOTP and was appointed as President of the Screen Actors Guild twice. Today she plays the mother “Ma” CarOline Ingalls in the musical version of LHOTP.

Fans of LHOTP can visit the various sites the stories are set in: http://www.laurasprairiehouse.com/ and a museum devoted to author Laura Ingalls Wilder:  http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/

This website http://www.littlehousebooks.com/ gives an overview of the books.

Bobby watches a wildlife documentary

Our cat is full of surprises and the latest is that after 4 years with us she finally has discovered the joys of watching  television. Usually she doesn’t care much about it when it’s on and often  just snoozes, but for a couple of days now she is transfixed by it. She responds to noises and on Monday she spent an hour watching a wildlife documentary about the Yellowstone River in Canada. At some point they showed how the snow came down and she started touching the screen. So I am wondering what cats actually can see when they watch telly. They usually do respond to sounds, certainly animal sounds and of course other cats, but what can they actually see and recognise on the flat screen? So I googled to find out.

 Here some links that shed some light on the question:

http://www.pawnation.com/2009/07/23/what-dogs-and-cats-really-see-on-tv-and-elsewhere/

 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081221171729AAPq4kU

What do you think? If you own a cat, does she/he  also stare intently at the telly? Does she/he prefer specific programmes?

Bobby watches a wildlife documentary

Things have changed a lot in Germany. The education system has dumbed down, just like the British, and universities are now offering BAs in order to avoid students from not finishing their degrees. My dad works at the university and told me about the many changes the English department had to make. I can only say, I’m glad that I don’t have to study now. There was much more freedom when I was a student. You could create your timetable and choose courses and it was possible to study in more depth and write long papers. And I was always able to work while studying. The new BA system is not much different from being in school – it seems to take away much choice and freedom and you have to adhere to the modules. There it not much time for in-depth study and because they have to cram in stuff into 3 years, it is harder for students to work while studying. I wouldn’t like it that’s for sure. Per semester students now pay about 500 Euros in fees. So that’s new too and I guess that will increase. It will certainly be harder for my sister and her boyfriend when they want to study. I really don’t envy her.

What else did I observe? Germany has a polite version of Gordon effing Ramsey. Polite, because Christian Rach doesn’t really swear much on his programme “Der Restauranttester” which is like Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. I am sure there are plenty more programmes similar to the British ones. The Office is called “Stromberg” and according to my uncle it is actually really funny. I haven’t seen it though.

The monkeys were dressed like human babies or toddlers, in some cases allowed to eat unhealthy food clearly not suitable for a monkey and in one case got made up with lipstick and eye make up, because according to its owner, the monkey likes it and doesn’t protest.

They also wore nappies (as they were not housetrained yet) and got to play with human toys.

Now people think we are crazy because we walk our cat and I jokingly refer to her as our fur baby – but we treat her like a cat and not like a human. We also didn’t steal her from her mum – she was an orphan.

But I think keeping monkeys as baby substitutes amounts to animal cruelty. These animals are also difficult to keep. When they grow up and reach puberty the can get quite aggressive. Leaving them to roam around in your house can cause chaos. Unfortunately it seems quite easy in America to buy a monkey as a pet; about 15,000 monkeys live in American households.

What do you think? Would you watch a news programme, which only features positive news?