Paul Newman

I was saddened to hear of the death of Paul Newman over the weekend, as I'm sure were many others. The man seems to have been a true gentleman and I reckon you don't find a whole lot of those in Hollywood.

If you've never seen a Newman film then I suggest that you rectify that forthwith. I know that a lot of people turn their noses up at old films these days (heathens!) but there are some true gems out there. Chances are that you won't be able to find them in your local Blockbuster but if you're signed up with an online rental company then they should be easy to get hold of and if not, just take a gamble and buy one from Ebay or Amazon. I heartily recommend The Sting as your starting point. It's a joyous film; one of my all-time favourites. Newman and Redford have brilliant buddy chemistry, the plot is clever and the feel-good factor enormous. If you like that then Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid should be your next stop. You may have guessed that I have a bit of a thing for the Redford-Newman combo.

Personally my next port of call is Cool Hand Luke. It's one of Newman's most iconic roles and it has taken me far too long to get round to seeing it.

Frank Sinatra may be the official 'Ole Blue Eyes' but I'll take Paul Newman anyday.

I shop... markets don't drop...

I'm on a one woman mission to sort out the world economy. My weapon of choice? Shopping.

Selflessly I am giving up my worldly savings in order to get this recession off our backs. I started today. In Next. I won't pretend that it started out as a international plan of fiscal and monetary responsibility. I just rather liked the coat. And the slippers. And the jeans. And well you get the picture. But somewhere along the way I realised that my shopping was in fact making a hugely useful contribution to society. Economics 101: people buying things = people making/selling/transporting things = jobs = a growing economy of happiness.

So that's my plan. I hope that you all appreciate the lengths that I am going to in order to help others. I'm off to HMV.

P.S. This is not a picture of me. I do not own a 'so-small-it-may-as-well-be-a-rat-dog'. Nor am I so thin that I'm in danger of disappearing when I turn sideways. Thank you.

Been a long time...

Boo!

Ha. Did I scare you?

It's been very quiet around here for far too long.

I wanted to come back with a bang but I fear that it is like to be more of a pathetic mewing noise. No matter, I shall continue undeterred for I know how long you've all been holding your collective virtual breath, just waiting for Miss G. Raffe Alicious to end her silence.

So a few things to get off my chest.

1.) I turn my back on my blog for a couple of months and what happens? The country, nay the world goes into economic meltdown. Good grief. Banks are being bailed out. Stock markets are in panic. Banks are merging. Politicians are back-stabbing (although that's nothing new). Unemployment is rising. The Liberal Democrats are conferencing (not quite so interesting that bit). I can't read a paper or turn on a TV without hearing about the credit crunch or mortgage rates or investment bankers or A. N. Other huge company I've never heard of going into receivership. Perhaps I should be reading The Sun and watching Channel 5? My friends and fellow citizens of the world, I have the solution: STOP PANICKING! I'm convinced that we're talking ourselves into a far deeper recession than we'd otherwise have experienced. Please note that this is coming for a certified expert on the subject. That's not just any A-level I have, it's an Economics A-level.

2.) Finally a reality concept that I can get on board with - the Revels Eviction. Oh joy! It appears that no longer shall we have to face the horrors of the Coffee Revel! Please excuse me as I take this moment to do a little victory dance.

My victory dance has been sadly cut short by a rumour that they plan to replace said evil coffee flavoured confectionery with a mint creme centred creation. Now I nothing against mint per se
but it does have a terribly unfortunate habit of contaminating everything else that it comes into contact with. I fear a world of minty-orange revels, minty-caramel revels, minty-raisined revels and the like may be upon us. Oh the humanity!

3.) Weather people - I know that it is cruel to accuse them of inaccuracies, meteorology is a rather inaccurate science (or so I'm told) but honestly could they not just hold off on their declarations of 'an Indian summer is coming - get out your sunglasses!'. Indian summer? Indian summer my foot. I was wearing three layers of clothing today AND a scarf - inside! I mean I've never been to India but I'm pretty sure that's not what they wear in their summer.

And finally, I feel moved to utter a few cheers for certain individuals who have made a favourable impression on me over the last few months of blog inactivity.

Giraffe-a-licious salutes:

• Andy Murray, for his wonderful run to the US Open final
• Chris Hoy, for his 3 Olympic gold medals
• In fact, I salute every British Olympic and Paralympic Gold Medallist (and some of the non-gold medallists too for that matter).
• The Script, for their wonderful debut album
• Christopher Nolan, for making the quite simply brilliant Dark Knight.
• ITV4, for buying the rights to and showing the Guinness Premiership Rugby Highlights.