Monthly Archives: April 2007

The Apprentice: Episode 3

Ooh, I was expecting this episode to be exciting! I thought the idea of giving each team £200 to start their own business – any business (well, two in fact, one daytime, one nightime) – for the day was a good one. Except neither team came up with a particularly good idea. The boys did gardening and didn’t realise how much hard work it would involve or how to appropriately charge people; then pontificated for ages about what to do during the evening, and ended up being singagrams. The girls did face-painting for children. Except it was term-time and there were no kids about! At night they became kissagrams. And at £1 a kiss, they were hardly likely to see the cash rolling in. End result: boys win.

So yeah, not the best episode. Although they did show a bit of the romance between Katie and Paul. Well, when I saw “a bit of the romance” I mean she put her head on his shoulder (this image was on the front cover of Heat yesterday – talk about scraping the barrel!), and there was a shot of them walking arm in arm. Wowee.

Madonna in concert! Oh yeah, some other bands are too…

Maybe I’m getting this wrong, but today’s announcement about the Live Earth concerts (to take place at 7 venues around the world on 7.7.07 – ooh, how snappy!) seemed to concentrate heavily on the fact that Madonna is to perform at the London gig. Which is great, I know that she’s a major artist, but a lot of other acts will be there too! The line-up for the London event isn’t half bad, I don’t think: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, Snow Patrol, Beastie Boys, Keane, Razorlight, Black Eyed Peas, Bloc Party. Well, some of it’s good…bit of a mix in all. Tickets will be priced at £55 and pre-registration starts this Friday, 13th April. Tickets will then go on sale next Wednesday.

Livenation – UK Tickets and more info on the whole event at Live Earth

Otters hold hands, get famous

A pair of otters at Vancouver Zoo have become an Internet sensation after a video of them that was posted on YouTube has been viewed 3.8 million times. The video shows the two otters floating on their backs in the water in their enclosure, seemingly napping and holding hands. At one point they separate as they drift into the sides of the enclosure…before one gets close to the other again and REACHES OUT FOR HIS HAND! How cute!! Animals are great! Think of all those celebrities out there that are increasingly doing more and more desperate things for a bit of coverage…fake relationships, rehab, no knickers. And then two little furry creatures get all this attention by holding hands. This is the way forward. I expect a Heat-style magazine for the animal world to appear any day now.

If you’re not one of the millions that has seen the video:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno] 

The Apprentice: Episode 2

So the task this week was to design a doggy accessory, and pitch it to three pet-store type retailers. Both teams seemed to struggle for ideas – the girls even considering a good nappy at one point (ooh, how practical…!) – before deciding on a doggy cabinet (girls) and a body pouch for carrying everything you need when you take your dog for a walk (boys)…otherwise known as pockets, or perhaps a bag.

The girls team won by basically selling their item in quantity to the major pet retailer with nearly 200 stores in this country. The boys got minor sales, but only to retailers with one store each. A lesson in there for all of us, ladies and gentlemen.

 So what did we learn from this episode?

  • Tre is easily the most annoying contestant, possibly ever – mouthy and argumentative, and with very few redeeming features
  • If you’re going to miss your family a lot (and hey, I don’t doubt that that’s very possible), it’s probably not a best idea to go on a reality TV show and do so publicly and then do NOTHING of note and get booted out early on
  • Related to the above point – in my experience, if people brag about how much money they’re going to have by the time they’re XX…they’re spending too much time talking about it, and not enough time making it!
  • Don’t underestimate Sir Alan. EVER. He’ll do crazy things like fire TWO people in the same show! Wow!

Next week’s task sounds very interesting. Each team gets given £200, and told they can do anything…as long as they make a profit. Seems like one team was “out of control”….hmmm, I wonder what they sold?

H & M Madonna Cries Green Paint

A huge advertising hoarding promoting Madonna’s H & M line was vandalised in London yesterday. The massive advert is located near Old Street, East London, and depicts Madonna wearing some of her own designs. Vandals managed to scale the back of the hoarding, cut a whole in Madonna’s eye and then pour lurid green paint through it, so the overall effect made it look as if she was crying.

The hoarding is already being replaced. But I like it – it looks a lot more artistic than the original! And hey, anything to distract from the clothes…

 This Is London – Graffiti Vandals Make Madonna “Weep” In Poster

Shoppers Eat Billboard

In new levels of shopping insanity, crazed Londoners devoured a billboard today. Luckily for them, it was made of chocolate! British confectioners Thorntons unveilved a chocolate advert in Covent Garden, central London, as a Easter promotion. The billboard measured 14.5 ft x 9.5 ft and had Easter egg and bunny decorations on it. The ad was expected to last a week, but was eaten up in only 3 hours! Cue lots of wide-eyed, little kids on the telly, with chocolate-smeared faces, talking of how the ate so much they now feel sick. Cute!

Complaints about Abercrombie & Fitch London Prices

As noted in a post here before, the press are starting to make a thing about the prices charged in the London store of Abercrombie & Fitch. Generally, items in the UK are the same amount in pounds as they are in dollars – so a fleece jumper costing £70 here would be priced at $70 in the US. And with the current weak Dollar, that’s only about £36!

So, instead of heading down to A & F in Saville Row, jump on a plane instead! Just don’t tell customs how much you’ve bought when you get back into the country! …sorry, I mean DO tell customs, of course DO tell them…

Coleen’s 21st Birthday – Wayne Hires Lookalikes of Him & Her

The ultimate gift for your loved one’s 21st birthday? Why not hire lookalikes of her and yourself, as Wayne Rooney did for Coleen’s big bash on Saturday night.

No, only joking! Amongst the “celebrity” guests (i.e. Wayne’s team-mates, plus a few WAGs and their partners) were Coleen’s cousin Carly and Wayne’s younger brother Graham. The pair have been dating for a year.

And don’t they look startlingly like their more famous relations? If you squint your eyes a bit…

This Is London: Anything Roo Can Do…