Our mouths are still agape after watching Channel 4’s Country House Rescue tonight, in which an annoying woman in a big necklace named Ruth Watson – apparently a businesswoman – tried to make the country house home of Nigel and Jennifer Whalley profitable. The Whalleys, living up to their surname, have only owned Albury Park [...]
Entries from December 2008
December 29, 2008
You Couldn’t Make It Up…
We were watching The Simpsons on Sky One tonight with subtitles on (so much noise in Journopig Towers that we couldn’t hear ourselves think…). We were a bit flummoxed when Marge was shown walking down a corridor talking to some women about Wayne Scotting. Wayne Scotting was mentioned several times. Wayne Scotting?! It was, actually, [...]
December 28, 2008
A Random Aside
This isn’t about the media, but we felt this was worthy of a Journopig complaint. Father Christmas sent Junior Journopig a Cambridge University-branded chemistry set. Santa – erroneously as it turns out – assumed that the university would only put its name to something of high quality. Doubts were raised in our minds about this [...]
December 27, 2008
Justin Watch #2
Just turned on the TV and saw our favourite children’s presenter, Justin Fletcher, in another programme. Called Captain Adorable. We couldn’t stop laughing for, ooh, milliseconds.
What sized ego must you have to think you should play a character called Adorable? Answers on a very big postcard, please.
December 23, 2008
Who’s the story?
Silly season is upon us, with the newspapers struggling to find lead stories that are of any interest to anyone. This week’s Banbury Cake – a free weekly newspaper – has a vitally important story taking up the whole of the front page:
“Josh is off to Canada”
A Banbury schoolboy is going on a trip to [...]
December 21, 2008
How Not To Sell A Programme.
The Radio Times has a brilliant synopsis of the Charlotte Church Nutcracking Christmas Special (on Channel 4 tonight). It really sold the programme to us…
“The feisty Welsh hostess welcomes comedians Ronnie Corbett and Jo Brand…Jeremy Edwards holds crazy panto auditions, and the Nativity story is retold from a Cardiff perspective. Rhydian Roberts joins Charlotte to [...]
December 19, 2008
Can’t Spell, Won’t Spell: # 2
From page 17 of the Jan/Feb ‘09 edition of Men’s Health:
“Ah, that old chestnut, or rather, advocado.”
We thought spelling avocado with a D was something kids did at school, but obviously grown men still do it, especially sub-editors on national magazines who you’d thought would have a dictionary somewhere nearby.
And is it just us, or [...]
December 18, 2008
Three Cheers For The Monkeys!
Brilliant story in today’s Times (read it here) about a group of performing monkeys in Sizhou, China who turned on their trainer after he hit one with a stick. They pulled out his hair, bit him and then hit him with his own cane. With an understanding of the monkeys that he sadly failed to [...]
December 18, 2008
Gawd Bless Fiona!
Britain came to a standstill today as the country paused to cry over the departure of Fiona Phillips from GMTV. Obviously, this event was of some magnitude, and needed the country’s leaders and top public figures to all comment on what a wonderful person she was. Our favourite quotes, which showed our country’s politicians’ priorities, [...]
December 17, 2008
The Ego And Sarah-Jane
Here is the intro to one woman’s website, with her name edited out:
“XXX has worked in the entertainment industry for many years. Best known today for her work as a comedy actress…”
A comedy actress with years of experience – who do you think it could be? Maureen Lipman, maybe? Brenda Blethyn? No, no-one so mediocre. [...]
