I'm a Celebrity Get me out of Here - The Final

After three week it is the final of "I'm a Celebrity Get me out of Here" and what a great show it has been this year. Thankfully unlike Channel 4 that have given up on Big Brother ITV haven't given up on a format that clearly makes for interesting TV. This year they really got the contestants right and they have entertained us since the show started. They have all proved interesting and entrained us. Tonight is the final and we come to point when someone is crowned the winer of the show.

We have been left with to people that really deserve to be the last out of the jungle. Both Stacey Solomon and Shaun Ryder deserve their place in the final two. Stacey because she has proved herself to be the honest person that we saw on the X-Factor and Shaun for just being himself and true. Both played no games and they were just themselves in the jungle. I was just pleased they both made to the end. In my book both were winners, however I think Stacey deserved it slightly more despite her annoying accent. She was up for anything and did it without compliant and had fun doing it.

I hope Stacey gets out of it what she wants. She has a amazing singing and I really do hope good things come of this for her. We all deserve the best and it nice to see and hope she has achieved it. Good lucky to her.

X-Factor - Act of the Week - Semi Finals

Well at last we are at the semi final stage of the X-Factor and like last week there were two rounds to show and like last week I going to pick one act from each round. It's been a great show this year but there is one thing I fear about the show is that judges decided on the image and the sounds of the acts to soon and it is becoming a bit repetitive so it is probably a good thing that the final is next week.

The choice of the first round artist was simple, it went to Matt and his rendition of "You've got the Love". I think there is a downside with Matt, he reminds me of David .Cook who won pop idol in 2008 and I fear once he is in the pop machine that is Simon Cowells world he will suffer the same fate. He will just become another talented person that falls by the wayside like so many that that try and further their career in music this way. The machine will change him so much he will just become ordinary. On another note there are other acts that the machine can make like Rebecca that the machine can't change but I fear she has a limited audience. In terms of a modern audience Cher could do well but her attitude is sometimes of putting. As for Mary she will do well on the cruise ship circuit.

In the second round I thought Matt did well with "She Always a Woman to Me" and that would have won him the second round as well but then at the end One Direction came on and did such a good job of singing "Chasing Cars" they pipped him at the post. They could have so easily have murdered the song for me, after all it has to be one of my favourite songs of all time and always will be, but they didn't. Alright nothing will be as good as the original for me but they managed to make to do their own version of it and pull it off in the time they had. They have really come and they deserve a place in the final. I can see them doing in the teen boy band market, especially since there is a hole in the market as a lot of the older boys bands have now matured.

Cold Friday

It was really cold when I got up with temperatures sinking to minus ten in the village. It has to be the coldest morning of the year. Even in coldest spell of the snowy weather earlier in the year the temperatures never fell so low as this. Even the deicer was having trouble clearing the windscreen of the car of ice and as soon we got going it instantly iced over agin, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The frist thing I did after making my morning coffee was to check which schools were closed as yesterday Emily's school failed to open and she had a extra little holiday where as Catherine's school in the village, true to form, managed to open as normal even if half the pupils were missing.  Thankfully both schools managed to open as normal this morning so I had both of them to hurry along. We were doing fine until Emily discovered she had lost her trousers somewhere in the family room while they were cleaning it up yesterday. Thankfully they turned up but not until Emily was late for school again but in this weather I guess she won't be the only one. I'm sure a lot of parents won't even and try and get there children to school in temperatures like this even if it is possible.

By the time I got back from taking Emily to Oakham there was less time than normal but I managed to get everything done but I was still a little late picking up Lucy as I wanted to get the car warm inside before she got into it. The pick up was rather swift and soon we were heading carefully towards the car at the end of the street chatting as we went.  She was telling me the things that had been happing and all about the snow. She never stopped and carried on all the way to the Co Op. It sound like she had been having a grand time. At the garage we picked some milk and some sweets, one for now and some to talk back later. I love the way she includes her sisters when she buys her sweets.

Soon we were back home to be welcomed by an excited George. It was all I could do stop Lucy being knocked down in the snow as he bound towards her as I opened the door. Thankfully he stopped just short and I told him to sit. Once inside Lucy headed straight to the family room where she noticed the Christmas tree that is awaiting decoration. It didn't take her long to find some ball balls and start hanging them on the tree.  She had a grand time hanging them on the tree, she even forgot to remove her coat the task was so important.

Once she finished with the Christmas tree she moved onto play Kerplunk with me in the family room. She had a different idea of winning, to her collecting more marbles meant you were winning rather than less which is the aim of the game. Every time loads of marbles fell she would cheer. After a while of playing with the marbles we moved on to playing trains on the carpet for a while before turning her attention to the other toys, including her dolls house. She was really good today tidying up after herself. At one point she poured a box of toys on the carpet and when she had found what she wanted she tidy the rest away. 

Just before one thirty we head out to the shops and get some lunch with Lucy dressed up warm and all snuggled in her coat. She loves the snow as much as she did last winter and she so good on her little feet. She positively marched down the walk asking where we were going. We headed to Corby and when we got to the bakers she had a pizza for a change and she absolutely it. She just kept saying how yummy it was as she got more and more of it on her face. In the end because of the cold we decided against the shops headed out into the countryside to look at the snow. 

We timed our trip to perfection and on the way home we picked up Emily from school. Of course she got a big welcome and they both chatted away in the car on the way home via a stop at the shops for some extra lollipops. Once home they both went into the family room to play. Lucy didn't see Catherine for a while as she was having dinner with her friend tonight but Catherine did pop back about four to see Lucy and give her a cuddle.  

With dinner for two the meal table was a bit quieter than normal but all the same Lucy made sure she was heard and they giggled at the table. After dinner it was back to some serious play before Lucy had to go home. Catherine came back to join in the games at six and for the cuddles before Lucy returned to Oakham.

Taking Lucy back came to soon as always and soon she was dropped off and that would be the last I would see of her for a while. I miss her when she has gone and but I never show it as I'm taking her back and I try and make everything positive for her. It's funny how Lucy is quick to give cuddles when she see's someone upset or unhappy and she even tries to calm them if they panic. I didn't notice it  because know it a thing that toddles do but the way she does it is grown up. It's lovely to see but she she is so caring but she clearly emotionally grown up than her age.

Thankfully given the weather, it was minus five when we left, the drive to Leeds was uneventful if a little boring. If anything the traffic was lighter than usual with fewer lorries than normal and traffic that was on the road was moving a lot slower than normal to.  When we got passed Newark it was clear that further North the snow was a lot worse than it was in Rutland. Several more inches had fallen although it was a quiet a bit warmer being a barmy minus two. With Emily and Catherine dropped off and a warm coffee in hand it was time to return home to a quiet house via the supermarket in Oakham for some essential supplies. 

I can't wait to see all the girls again, especially Lucy who we have something magical planned for the next time she comes to visit. I just know she going to love it. It been a fantastic day with everyone at home and while we were out and about. Despite the cold weather we have all had warm smiles generated by little Lucy and her antics. She turning in to such a little character and I'm as proud of her as I am of Emily and Catherine.

More Music 2

There are so many great artists out there that are signed to independent and major labels, most of which we never notice but all have their own fan base mainly in their country of origin and never make it onto the wider music scene just because they didn't get the breaks or because they are not promoted outside their country of origin. All the same this does diminish their talent or the hard work they put into their art. Here are a few artists that as new me at least who I have come across in the last few weeks.

Tim Easton for example who is a fine example of the sort of music that is coming out of the independent lables at the moment. I love the way that you could go and see someone like Tim Easton in a bar or a pub and end up having the time of your life. The music is so intimate that when you listen to the live songs you just connect and want to be there and join in the experience. He won has won three independent music awards and despite this success he is hardly known of outside of America.

The next artist plays a more unusual instrument, Lili Haydn is an accomplished violinist who by the age of 15 was playing in the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and she makes wonderful use of this talent in her compositions. She has been described as "the Jimi Hendrix of the violin" and from what I have heard of her music so far, that is not far off the mark. The energy and she puts into her work is amazing and you can see why she either opened played for, sung with, and played for many of the great names in music.

The final artist is Greta Gaines who was the winner of the Women's Extreme Snowboarding World Championship in 1982 it was during this time she started playing guitar and writing songs. This led to her dream job of presenting MTV’s Sports and Music Festival which combined her love of music, extreme sports, adventure, travel, lifestyle and the environment. This time marked the start of her artistic career and like everything she has done in life it is done with passion. I belive you can hear that passion in her music and that is what attracted me to her music.

I hope you too have found something new to listen too and know I have and I will keep searching for new music all the time. Look out for more in the "More Music" blog posts that are sure to follow.

University Fees

For years I have voted for the Liberal Democrats ever since I heard David Steel in an open debate with students in Brighton University. What he said that day made my mind up to which political party I would support for the coming years and I thought for the rest of my life. That is until now with one stroke I am without a party to support. The one thing I believe is free education for all and that nobody should refused education because they don't have the money to pay. I see the current Governments position on University fees completely in opposition to my own. The one party that has the power to change things are the  Liberal Democrats who until they did the biggest political U-Tune in recent history supported free University Education.

In the latest protest a letter was delivered to Liberal Democrat headquarters in Westminster by the National Campaign Against the Cuts, which announced further demonstrations which said "No amount of twisted reasoning from either you or [Business Secretary] Vince Cable can hide what everyone can see: you have lied to us." Well that is so true the Liberal Democrats have lied to us and as a long time voter of the party it is going to take a lot to win my vote back. It would serve them right if at the next election they were punished by the voters for their actions. They have sold their ideals for power and can't be trusted to follow through there promises.

What this policy is doing is not letting the best students go to Universities but the ones with the richest parents. It is a real step backwards as far as education goes in the UK. Families of poorer students won't go to university and I know this from what my own students have said at work. I tell them what they will be missing out on but the idea of owing money and having to pay it off is a real turn off for students whose families already have deep financial problems. Shame on every MP that supports this policy especially those who are Liberal Democrats.

I never thought I would say this but I will think twice before Liberal Democrats at the next election. This sort of policy has been at the core of their polices and to do what they have done is almost unforgivable. They have sold their ideals for power something I never thought they would do.