tractor_girl

Did you ever want to make paper aeroplanes as a kid?  I did but mine always crashed landed without fail, normally about 5 cms in front of me.  Clearly as a result the marketing team at work decided to mock me this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzMzjjVwi8k

The link above take you to this year's Christian Aid Week ad, and the whole thing is about paper areoplanes.  Well, actually no, that obviously isn't really what's it all about but that was the first thing that struck me about it.  I have to admit I think the ad is quite cool (if I didn't, I wouldn't be linking it here would I?)

Christian Aid Week starts on Sunday, and as part of the week, loads of staff have been asked to preach in churches around the country.  I've squirmed in previous years, said I do my bit by shaking a bucket at the station, doing door-to-door collections etc, but this year I couldn't get out of it, so I've got to preach.  Can you imagine it??  Before you make any smart comments, I know I can talk for Britain, but that's when the subject is Jason or Neighbours.  More serious (worthwhile) stuff is a bit more of a challenge.  Still I guess it's all in a good cause, in fact I know it is, so think of me on Sunday morning, and the people having to listen to me.

I have written what I'm going  to say but having seen the ad, may be I'll just fold all the sheets up and fire paper aeroplanes from the pulpit.  Could be fun!

A is for Age: 29.

• B is for Beer of choice: None - I'll stick to fruit juice!!

• C is for Career: PA - not overly ambitious, but sometimes think more money would be nice!

• D is for favourite Drink: Apple and Mango J20

• E is for Essential item you use everyday: Mobile

• F is for Favourite song at the moment: Friends will be friends - Queen

• G is for favourite Game: Trivial Pursuit to play or spider solitaire on the computer

• H is for Home town: Maidstone

• I is for Instruments you play: Piano badly

• J is for favourite Juice: Sainsbury's Exotic Fruit

• K is for Kids: None

• L is for Last kiss: From Theo, my friend's four year old - I'm such a cradle snatcher!!

• M is for marriage: One day maybe

• N is for Name: Helen Janet

• O is for Overnight hospital stays: Was in hospital as a baby both Maidstone and Great Ormond Street.  Two nights in Maidstone in 1995 when they thought they were going to take my appendix out.  They didn't!!

• P is for phobias: None that I've discovered yet.

• Q is for quote: 
Know this:

We have not come into this world for the sake of strife and division.
Nor for hatred and envy,
provocation or the shedding of blood.

We will not trade violence for violence, or hatred for hatred.

For we are come into this world to know God,
in the love of stranger,
the caring for neighbour,
the compassion of community and
the struggle for justice.

Based on the teaching of the Hasidic Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav


• R is for biggest Regret: Not keeping in touch with more friends.

• S is for sports: Watch a lot, play a little

• T is for Time you wake up: About 6ish most days

• U is for colour of underwear Blue today

• V is for Vegetable you love: Cauliflower is quite high up, but I like loads.

• W is for Worst Habit: Putting off stuff

• X is for X-rays you’ve had: Lots when small  Only teeth in recent years.

• Y is for Yummy food you make: Lemon dessert - highly unhealthy, absolutely lovely

• Z is for zodiac sign: Saggitarius

Current Music: It's a sin - Pet Shop Boys

I've bought a house!!!  Well I've had an offer accepted, subject to survey etc.  How unbelievely exciting (not to mention alarmingly grown-up!!) is that.  Can't believe it.  I'll post more about it when I've calmed down but for now hugs to everyone, thanks for your support over the last few weeks when i've been a bit of a grouch (okay a lot of a grouch) and WOOOOHOOOO!!

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: Brown-eyed girl - Van Morrison

1. Can you cook?
2. What was your dream growing up?
3. What talent do you wish you had?
4. Favorite place?
5. Favorite vegetable?
6. What was the last book you read?
7. What zodiac sign are you?
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
9. Worst Habit?
10. Do we know each other outside of Livejournal?
11. What is your favorite sport?
12. Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15. Tell me one weird fact about you.
16. Do you have any pets?
17. Do you know how to do the Macarena?
18. What time is it where you are now?
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21. Would you be my partner in crime or my conscience?
22. What color eyes do you have?
23. Ever been arrested?
24. Bottle or Draft?
25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
27. What's your favorite bar to hang at?
28. Do you believe in ghosts?
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30. Do you swear a lot?
31. Biggest pet peeve?
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33. In one word, how would you describe me?
34. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Current Music: The Sound of Music - Julie Andrews

Your Pirate Name Is...

Cannibal Bessie Backstabber

Current Music: Millennium - Michael Ball

Your Taste in Music:

80's Pop: Highest Influence Classic Rock: Highest Influence 80's Alternative: High Influence 80's R&B: High Influence 90's Pop: High Influence

Current Music: We have all the time in the world - Michael Ball

That was one helluva week.  In some ways I prefer it when all my meetings and rehearsals fall in the same week, as then I'll have another quiet week, but when it's actually going on I do often wish that my life was a little quieter.  Work is still very busy but hopefully will calm down after next week.  My desk is just a sea of paper and I don't know where to start.  On top of that my cold seems have returned with a vengence.  I still don't really feel ill, I just have no energy and a hideous cough (which can really hurt at times).  Still it's the weekend now so I've a couple of days  off.

It's not been the best of weeks though.  My sister-in-law had a miscarriage, she was about two months gone, which is obviously very sad.  On a far more trivial level I've had to cancel the birthday party I had planned for December (yes, I do plan that far in advance, but it clearly wasn't far enough!!).  I'm turning 30 and thought that for once I would mark my birthday and have a shindig.  However my Barbi group and the blokes' barbershop group have been asked to be involved in a charity evening that night, so I've had to cancel.  I don't mind in a way, and I know the evening will be great fun, it's just a shame as I was looking forward to celebrating in style for once.  I'm now already booked for every Saturday night in December 2007 - I don't know whether that's depressing or a sign of immense popularity, though if anything's popular it's the carols not me lol!!

On the upside, I have finally entered the 21st century and bought an ipod.  Now all I've got to do is master how to put music on it. 

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: Mudfootball - Jack Johnson

Did you keep your New Years' resolutions last year, and will you make more for this year?
I don’t know I made any last year. This year I intend to try and be healthier and greener.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Several close friends had babies last year, and lots of colleagues

Did anyone close to you die?
No family members, but several church friends.

What countries did you visit?
UK and er….UK

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
A place of my own and MSN and a sound card on the computer.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Raising over £2,500 for Christian Aid by doing a sponsored walk.

What was your biggest failure?
Who knows, there are several to chose from but nothing major, I don’t think. My boss, family and friends may think otherwise.

What was the best thing you bought?
My ticket to a Jason Donovan concert.

Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Various people who have held their tongues and got on with it. Life’s too short!

Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
On a public scale George W Bush. Personally there have been moments when I have wondered about the attitudes of some of my nearest and dearest.

Where did most of your money go?
Ebay – Neighbours/Jason stuff, CDs.

What did you get really excited about?
Feb/March – Jason touring in Sweeny Todd, August - going to Edinbutgh and all other kind of really worth while things.

What song will always remind you of 2006?
Not sure I’ve got a specific song in mind.

Compared to this time last year, are you:

Happier or sadder?
Happier I guess. I’m more at ease with myself, and less worried about what other people think.

Thinner or fatter?
A touch fatter I fear.

Richer or poorer?
About the same, possibly got fractionally more savings, but richer would be so over stating it!

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Having the confidence to be me.

What do you wish you did less of?
Moaning, eating, spending and so much more.

How did you spend Christmas?
At home with family.

Did you fall in love in 2006?
No.

How many one-night stands?
None

What was your favourite TV programme?
Neighbours was both good and awful in equal measure. I’m a celeb is grim, but Jason was great. Jane Eyre was good, and the last series of the West Wing was brilliant.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No. There are people who when I see I struggle not to groan, but I try not to hate.

What was the best book you read?
So many. Probably ‘Living History’ by Hillary Clinton or ‘Under Gemini’ by Rosamunde Pilcher

What was your greatest musical discovery?
Stephen Sondheim, Wicked and all the other CDs I bought. Berlioz’s Masse de Grande Mortes has to get a mention.

What did you want and get?
A ticket to Kylie’s concert.

What did you want and not get?
A happy ending for Stax, a place of my own.

What were your favourite films of this year?
Favourite wouldn’t be the right word, but United 93 was a very powerful film.

What did you do on your birthday?
Went to watch Ipswich play with my dad and brother.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
I have no concept of fashion

What kept you sane?
Friends, music and faith.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Jason of course

What political issue stirred you the most?
How long have you got?? Unjust trade rules, the war in Iraq, the stupidity of politicians, climate change. I could go on…… (and frequently do!)

Who did you miss?
My godparents, and friends when they weren’t around.

Who was the best new person you met?
The guys in Edinburgh, particularly that bloke……. Lol. Seriously the gals were fab.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
Consideration for others is important, but it’s more important to be true to yourself.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Keep smilin' Keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me for sure
that's what friends are for

Current Location: Work
Current Mood: excited

Hopefully more time for me. I'm knackered. Everyone keeps telling me I need to give up something, one of the church groups or something to get more time to myself. In a way I agree, but I'm just not very good at telling people no so I tend to take on more, without giving anything else up.

Christmas was lovely. Unfortunately my gran wasn't well so didn't come but there were still 12 of us. I did well on the present front and for once got nothing totally irrelevant. Result!

Was back at work on Wednesday but it was really quiet and I cleared loads of stuff so it was worth going in. New Year's Eve looks like it will be quiet. Mum and Dad are going over to my sister's. I know if I said I was at home they'd extend the invite to me, but as it is planned as an evening of my sister and her parents, and her husband and his parents, I would feel a bit like a spare part so I think I'll stay at home. Most of my friends are going to a friend's party but space is limited so they haven't been able to invite everyone. C'est la vie. I daresay the new year will happen whether I'm awake or not.

So what else does 2007 hold? Hopefully greater financial wisdom. I have periods where I'm great about saving and then I go on great splurges. Went to HMV in Oxford Street on Thursday and bought 10 CDs - I justify it was the sales and they only came to a total of £90. Not sure my bank balance sees it quite the same way. January pay day is a long way a way. Must learn financial self-control. Also hope 2007 holds a successful attempt to get fit and lose some weight. (The intentions will be good).

Most excitingly though, 2007, indeed next week, holds meeting Cath for the first time - woohoo!! as well as meeting up with Christine, Rosa, Niki and Alex again. It also holds a Kylie concert, while March will be Michael Ball and Dolly Parton and May will see.....Jason in concert again. I'm going to explode with excitment shortly.

Happy new year to you all - and if you're making resolutions best of luck with them.

H
x

Current Location: Home
Current Music: Kylie's greatest Hits - Wouldn't change a thing

Current Location: Home
Current Music: Especially for you - Kylie and Jason

Well hello! Sorry for not having posted for ages. Life has been manic!! Work remains absolutely full on, and the days of being able to use the internet in my lunch hour are over - what is a lunch hour??

Since last posting, I've been out for several Christmas meals (I will go pop before new year). The work one was at a nice little restaurant in London and all very civilised. The one for my church choir was organised by me and great fun. We went to a local pub/restaurant and had a great time. Excellent food, good company, the choir leaders liked the presents I'd bought them (phew) and we all sang Christmas carols to the apparent delight of the other people there. One of them even gave us some money, but maybe that was so we would stop. I also went for a meal with my train travelling companions which was really nice.

I've been to see Wicked again (Snuck a hlaf day). Bought front row seats that go on sale on the day of the performance for just £25. It was awesome being so close to everything. I also saw Cabaret, a long standing with bookings. It was really good, much darker than the film. On Tuesday night I went with a group of friends to see Acoustic Alchemy perform at Pizza Express in London. They are a fantastic jazz band. Their music was much better than the drunkenc carol singing that took place in the minibus on the way home. Lol!

On the proper singing front, we've done one Barbi gig which went well, had the carol service at work, and sang at a friend's Christmas party last week. Last night we sang carols in John Lewis in Bluewater. It was slightly surreal, but went well. The fog on the way there and back though was hideous. The highlight though has to have been our carol service at church last Sunday. It was all done by candlelight and was absolutely wonderful. We have lots of children singing with us for the first time, which was really nice, and some of the carols were just so beautiful.

Anyway life is beginning to quieten down now. I'm off work until Wednesday and today and tomorrow are quite quiet, until the evening. And then we're into parties, and midnight mass etc and obviously Christmas Day when we have 13 people to feed. Thank heavens mum's cooking.

If you've made it to the end of this ramble, well done. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas, and happy, healthy and peaceful 2007

H
x

Current Location: Home
Current Music: Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin' Stevens

Just to say yesterday was the most excellent day. It started off brilliantly with me booking tickets to go and see Mr Donovan in concert next May. A proper tour, the first for 15 years - how excited am I??

It ended brilliantly too. I went carol singing at Westminster Tube Station with a group of colleagues and we raised over £650 in under 90 minutes. How fantastic is that? The Christmas spirit is alive and well in some people.

Current Location: Cloud 9
Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: None, haven't put my radio on yet

Well, there you go three sets of carol singing - and they were just the ones I've done in the last 24 hours. I love this time of year, but it is exhausting!

Another week seems to have flashed past in an array of meetings and rehearsals. Yesterday my choir sang in the carol service for the Kenward Trust, a local charity that helps those with addictions. It was really nice, though a bit long. We sang 6 anthems, plus carols, readings, sermon, testimonies. Still all in a good cause.

Then today it was singing carols at the local tennis club's Christmas do, after church and this afternoon a carol service for another local charity. Tomorrow I'm singing carols at Westminster tube and got a rehearsal for a gig on Wednesday. C'est la vie - it must be Christmas!

Other than that not a lot to say really, there isn't the time to do anything else.

Hope all is well with you guys and the Christmas spirit is beginning to infect you.

H
x

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Radio 2 - Michael Ball's show

Thanks to Kylie, who I have shamelessly copied this off.


1. Overall, have you had a good year?
Yeah, I guess. So I’m still healthy, employed, got family and friends so yeah. There have been the odd freak out though.

2. What has been your biggest achievement?
Raising nearly £3,000 for Christian Aid when I did a sponsored walk and learning not let the little things get to me (well most of the time)

3. Did you take any exams, Pass?
No exams thankfully, but my biggest challenge was the sponsored walks which I completed without blisters and that felt as good as passing any exam.

4. Have you had your birthday yet? What did you do?
Extended celebrations. Lunch at work the day before with a few friends, and then a tea in the office in the afternoon. On the actual day went to see Ipswich play with my dad and brother. Then had more celebrations at work on the Monday as a joint thing with my boss, whose birthday is two days after me.

5. Have you been on Holiday? Gone away anywhere?
Yes

6. Where (list and when)
Edinburgh for three (well two and half days) in August and a week in Boscastle in September to stay with my godparents.

7. Have you bought anything expensive?
My season ticket! Renewed it at the weekend so I can travel to work. Cost me £3088!!!

8. Have you had a job?
Now been in my current role as a PA for just over 3 years.

9. Made any big decisions?
Not really.

10. Lost a friend or loved one?
No-one really close to me has died, but as a church community we lost a lot of special people in the first half of the year.

11. Met anyone amazing?
Define amazing. The excitement of meeting Jason Donovan and Stephen Lovatt (separately) can not be put in to words. The inspiring people that you meet about the place though are the really amazing ones.

12.Made new friends?
Yes

13. Moved house?
No, but I don’t think I’ll be giving the same answer this time next year.

14. Changed College?
No – people gave up trying to teach me a long time ago.

15. Tried something new?
Hanging around stage doors is becoming a habit as is texting people in Australia!

16. Been more happy or sad?
Happy definitely – the squeals and squeaks are proof

17. Made any enemies?
Not that anyone has told me, though I do keep getting threats made about my safety. I believe mini-cheddars are likely to be the weapon that bring about my downfall.

18. What music will you remember from this year?
Loads. There will be music I bought this year that has been out for ages, and music that came out this year that I liked. No one track sticks out though, yet.

19. What movies have you seen at the cinema this year?
Have I been to the cinema this year? Narnia was last year, as was Hotel Rwanda and Nanny McPhee

20. What was your best night out?
Too many to name – all for different reasons but if you’re asking me to make to pick…..night in Edinburgh having a drink with Stephen Lovatt.

21. What was your worst night out?
Don’t have one.

22. Best Day?
So many – holidays, protests, birthday – but I guess meeting Jason Donovan after Sweeny Todd probably tops the list.

23. Worst day?
I’m lucky – there isn’t one that sticks out though the realisation that yet another person at church had died was grim, and over the months, sadly the day became a bit like groundhog day.

24. Best month?
August and December

25. Worst month?
January/February

26. Was summer a gooden'?
Not bad, but would have been better if we’d played football properly in Germany.

27. Have you made better friends with anyone?
Yeah, several people who were names on a website have become real people and real friends.

28. Lost any friends?
Not sure, depends whether the Christmas cards come or whether I have to realise that they have moved on.

29. How many people have you kissed in the year of 2006?
I’m guessing you not just talking a friendly peck on the cheek here!

30. Did you fall in love?
Not in the way you mean.

31. Did you have your heart broken?
Not really.

32. Made any plans for next year?
Hoping to go to Edinburgh in the spring and am definitely going to Winchester in the summer to sing in the cathedral woohoo! Going to see Kylie in concert on 3rd Jan, and Dolly Parton and Michael Ball in March. Other than that just meetings, rehearsals and gigs.

33.How many hair colours have you had?
Just got the colour I was born with

34. Got pierced?
Nothing

35. Got inked?
No way – don’t like it, and too much of a coward anyway.

36. Changed your image?
Not really, just gained in confidence so that I’m happier for people to know who I am and what my interests are etc.

37. Missed anyone?
My godparents in Cornwall. They’ve been there for nearly seven years, and I still miss them like crazy. They’re not just up the road anymore.

38. Enjoying this survey?
Done worse

39. Know what you want in the future?
Carry on enjoying my job, and be able to afford a place of my own. And should Mr Right appear on my doorstep that would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath – blue is not my colour.

40. Regret anything?
Nothing major – there’s no point, you can’t change the past.

41. Who have been your best friends through 2006?
Martin (who understands me better than most), Sarah, Bek, Angela, Christine, Shanna and my Barbis. At work Lorna, Judith, Lisa, Deb, Bay-lou and Sarah B. Then my ‘virtual friends’ as my mum calls them who rock and keep sane: Alex, Kylie, Cath, Rosa and Niki. Apols to anyone I’ve missed off.

Current Location: Work - it's lunch hour
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: None but the radio will be going on shortly

OMG, it's the weekend again. Where did this week go? I don't understand I've worked exhaustingly hard all week, yet my to do list on my desk seems to lengthen, rather than get shorter.

Alas the week did not end on the high I hoped for and Jason did not win the jungle. However he did put in an awesome performance, and came over brilliantly in his interview after he was 'evicted' from the camp. Then he was reunited with Ange, and his kids. Lump in the throat time or what!! I remain as ever a mega Jason fan, and will be buying his new greatest hits collection when it comes out on Monday! :D

Thursday night I went to the Royal Albert Hall to the Salvation Army's celebration of Christmas. Although it was earlier this year than normal, it felt really Christmassy. They had the national band and choir and a children's choir and they did both sacred and secular music, as well as congregational carols. I was in the front row of the top circle and have to say when we first stood up to sing, I felt a bit wobbly but it was great. Salvation army band - one of the key ingredients of Christmas.

Yesterday I was a bit spoilt at work, when the girls took me out to lunch. Later on we have a tea as well with cake etc - all very lovely. There is really no greater feeling than feeling loved.

Today I'm off to Ipswich with my dad and brother to watch my boys play Burnley. Here's hoping we get a result (and that it stops raining).

Hope all's well with you guys and if it's not hugs.

Helen
x

Current Location: Homer
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Throw down a line - Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin

Well advent carols were fab. It was all done by candle light, other than a couple of dim lights up in the choir. Four anthem books, small children and lit candles wouldn't work. There were lots of little solo pieces which is always nice plus a couple of really big anthems - just fantastic.

The hymns were great too. Have to say music for Advent and Christmas rocks and the descants are awesome. Roll on 17th, when we get Christmas carol service, more candles, more singing, more descants. Hurrah!!! And don't worry about screeching, you hear our Alto line when we get to Christmas and they do the descant for Hark the Herald! Lol!

Current Location: Work - but it is my lunch break
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: None - been too busy to put the radio on

I don't know I'm going to be able to keep this up. I feel exhausted all the time, and there's still so much more to come before the Christmas break. Hey ho! I daresay I'll survive.

Went to the theatre on Thursday night. My uncle is one of the reviewers for the Olivier awards (British theatre awards) and gets free tickets for various plays. He doesn't do the top shows but kind of the next rung down, smaller theatres. Anyway he had a spare free ticket and asked me if I wanted to go. Free evening out - so that was a yes obviously.

The play was called 'Scenes from the back of beyond' and was set in 1959 in a suburb of Sydney. It was about a couple who were communists and were waiting for the world to see the light and realise that that was the answer to the world's problems. They felt further knowledge and education was the solution to everything. It was against this back drop that you followed a year in the life of the family through their dramas. I really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure my uncle was so keen.

Other than that life continues much as normal. Got Advent carols tonight, can't wait. It's just such wonderful music, and it might help get me into a bit of a Christmas mood. I think it's the weather's fault but it really doesn't feel like it's nearly December at the moment.

Right that's all I have to say really, other than hope if you're reading this you're not too bored. Oh yeah, and keep voting for Jason to be king of the jungle. I keep going nuts every night worrying that he's going to be voted out but so far so good.

H
x

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Radio 2 - Show tunes

I’m thought about posting here, but then I decided I had to get this off my chest. I didn’t want to post on NF.com because I didn’t want to cause offence to anyone, nor did I want to infringe the rules about what we can say about the TPTB. This isn’t meant to be a rant, but hey, it’s my LJ and I guess it’s here for me to say what I think, so here goes….. (May include references to spoilers for UK Neighbours viewers).

I’ve been watching Neighbours pretty much since it began in the UK, and daily since it moved to 5.35. Since working full time I tape the show everyday and watch it when I get home. Some would describe me as obsessed, and they might have a point. Over the years there have been good and bad patches for the show. Characters I have loved (Scott Robinson would be just one example) have come and gone, and equally there have been characters who have never warmed to or cared about in the least (Lisa Elliot would be an example). There have been storylines where I have laughed, and cried, episodes and scenes I have watched again and again and then there have been storylines which have seemed OTT or pointless. But there has always been good with the bad and so I have stayed a loyal fan.

Now though things are changing. When it was announced that Paul Robinson was returning to the show, I went nuts. I was sooooo excited. Now I almost wish he hadn’t returned. While I accept that Paul was out of the show for 12 years, and we don’t know what happened to him during that time, that character that now masquerades as Paul bears only a physical resemblance to the character I was such a fan of in the 80s and early 90s.

Before, while Paul could be a ruthless business man, he never completely sacrificed his family and friends. It was more a case of not thinking than setting out to hurt them and he never set out to bad. Even when he set his brother-in-law up for fraud, it was the act of a desperate man, who only picked on Phil because he thought Phil had done the wrong thing by Julie. When he realised the errors of his way he made a full confession so that Phil was in the clear. Nowadays Paul seems to relish being bad. Indeed his character has become so wrapped up in being evil that he is nearly a caricature. They have completely re-written Paul’s past, which I feel is insulting to long-standing fans, particularly as we were the ones who rejoiced so much when Paul’s return was announced. To me it is complete character assassination and they would have done better to bring in a new character to fulfil this role than resurrect Paul.
The concept of anyone brought up by Jim and Helen not only condoning but actively supporting their child in pretending to have a life-threatening illness is just absurd.

Paul is not the only character to have received this treatment. When I read several years ago that Karl and Susan were to split, I couldn’t believe it, I thought it wouldn’t work. But it did and made some really powerful television. It was done gradually and she saw the relationship disintegrate before your very eyes. The same cannot be said of Stax.

The recent Max/Steph storylines have been hard to watch. While performances, particularly Stephen’s continue to be excellent, the storylines are unbelievable. As a Stax fan who has been a firm believer in their relationship before they were (pre-kissage drove me mad, I thought they were never going to get there), to see this relationship dismantled at a rate of knots is insulting. With all the angst that Steph and Max have endured over the years, the show has placed them as one of the main couples, particularly now so few relationships last the distance in the show. Yet now they end it with Steph doubting Max’s feeling for another woman, and then later on announcing that she’s giving up on her marriage, and she’s almost ready to move immediately. I feel that well-rounded characters are being sacrificed for the sake of supposedly sensational storylines.

For the record I don’t believe that Max would have gone away with Katya for the weekend in the first place and I certainly don’t believe he would have run down Cam like that (even if he did believe him to be Rob). I also find Steph’s sudden friendship with Toadie (they haven’t spoken for years) hard to buy. I know Stephen wanted to leave and something had to be down, but thus far (and I know there’s more to come we haven’t seen) I’m not convinced by what I see, not because of the performances, but because the characters are acting in a way that makes a mockery of all that went before. Lyn is another character who has changed beyond all recognition and again I can’t understand why.

I love this show and I’m not going to stop watching. It’s too much of a habit, and I guess I’m hoping somewhere down the line it will sort itself out. Neighbours’ strength used to be its mixture of comedy and drama, the fact that in many ways it was almost utopian with the way problems were always solved. It sent out a positive vibe. While maybe the demands of an audience today are for more dramatic storylines, more relationships breaking down and more youth focus, it seems a shame for Neighbours to have to make such drastic changes (at least that’s how it feels) so quickly. I guess the seeds were sown with Paul’s return but now they seem to be gathering speed like no-body’s business.

As I say I’ll still be watching, but I have to say this, whereas once this show was the highlight of my TV viewing, and I laughed and cried with the characters, I’ve a feeling I’m heading towards using it as background noise, and heading into the ever increasing world of nostalgia, where Neighbours did become good friends, and the friendships endured rather than remaining in the world where Neighbours jump in and out of bed with each other, and issue death threats on a rather regular basis.

This may be the wrong place to say all that but I had to get it off my chest. If you’ve made it this far, well done! I promise my next post will be slightly less of a moan.

Hope all’s well with you.

H
x

Current Location: Work - sssh!
Current Mood: discontent
Current Music: White flag - Dido

I am so cold. We did a gig this morning in a large medieval barn. It was a charity fayre and we were just muzak, but it was so cold. There was no proper lighting in there just several rows of fairy lights. It looked lovely, but the lights didn't generate much heat, and with big doors open either side on a concrete floor, it was so cold. At one point I couldn't turn my music over! Warming up slowly now.

Been a quiet, yet busy week. Work is just mad at the moment. People don't seem to realise that there are only 24 hours in the day, and that you can't be at work for all of them. They are making impossible demands of my boss, and I naturally get caught in the tail wind. C'est la vie I guess.

The highlight of the week has naturally been Jason Donovan being on 'Celebrity' every night. I'm in love with the man. Have been for 19 years. Nothing else to be said.

Hope all is well with those of you in the real world.

H
x

PS - Posts may be increasingly infrequent over the next few weeks. I've only got 8 free evenings between now and Christmas, so time is going to be a bit of a rare comodity.

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: cold
Current Music: Especially for you - Kylie and Jason