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.

Boo Tyra Boo!

I'm pretty sure that each and every one of us has their own trashy TV secret. You know, a show that is low on quality but high on addiction factor? Mine is America's Next Top Model. Currently showing in the UK on Living, (at 9am and 6pm) ANTM as it's known, has been threatening to take over my life. It's on everyday. There have been at least 9 series. I keep getting to the end of a series and thinking, "Surely that must be the most recent one". But no, the next day they start all over again! I'm stuck in a cycle of trashy TV hell. Or should that be heaven?

Well today I wasn't quite so happy as I indulged in my now not-so-secret guilty pastime. Let's get something straight - I can deal with the skinny model thing. I may not be happy about it but it's pretty much a fact of life. The cool thing is that recently there has been greater move towards plus-sized models. ANTM has reflected that (although there is an argument that it has merely added a token plus-sized model to each series). But token or not, at least they're there. The series I'm currently watching (that's series 9, fact fans) is no exception. It features a lovely girl called Sarah. Now it just so happens that Sarah started losing some weight once she moved into the model house. She wasn't intending to, it just happened. This is where it gets ridiculous. The judges expressed their concern that she was now not big enough to work as a plus-sized model but nor was she skinny enough to be an average skinny model. What the heck?

So now size-ism has taken a new and twisted direction... if you're skinnier than the average woman then you can model; if you're bigger than the average woman then you can model; if you fall somewhere between the two and are in fact the size of an average woman then au revoir, arrivederci and goodbye! Bonkers.

Let the sunshine in

Finally! The sun is back - for the moment at least. I'm making the most of its most likely short lived stay by tapping this out in the back garden. The sun is shining, my bones are warming and I can barely read the screen due to the brightness of the aforementioned star.

There's no question that I feel better during the warmer months. Who knows why, but the warmer it is, the less pain I get. There is a bit of a trade-off involved - the heat is good for my aches but does tire me out fairly quickly. Still, I shall not moan for we have seen too little in the way of solar rays this June and July. Roll on August I say!

A mere 24 days to go now until the Olympics! Tell me, why have I arranged to be away with a group of 14-18 year olds for 10 precious days of the competition? Well it's a combination of stupidity and zeal for the gospel. If anyone asks, I will be focusing on the latter! Whatever events I do manage to catch, I hope that they don't involve Dwain Chambers. Chambers finds out on Thursday if his High Court case against the British Olympic Association's lifetime Olympic ban has been successful. I'm with the BOA on this one. He cheated. He admits he cheated. If he says sorry then I hope that the majority of people will forgive him. However, forgiving someone and allowing them to compete in an event that they have brought into disrepute are two very different things. In my mind, if you take illegal performance enhancing drugs then you forfeit the right to continue on in that sport, no matter how sorry you are. Chambers knew the rules and yet still broke them. He was in no way ignorant of the BOA's stance on drug cheats. He shouldn't be going to Beijing. Ironically this is quite the metaphorical storm in a tea cup. Chambers has as much chance of getting a medal next month as I do of marrying Jonny Wilkinson. Actually, he probably has less chance - my charms are not inconsiderable!

They want to ride their bicycles...

Poor little blog. I think it feels neglected. This past week it has been rejected in favour of tennis and studying. Perhaps I should buy it some flowers.



It's not like I didn't give due warning though! Pretty much everything goes by the way side during Wimbledon fortnight. Anyhow, my first OU assignment has been submitted, Andy Murray is out of the Championships and rain is threatening. It seems like a pretty good time to make a comeback and give some much deserved TLC to Ponderings and Ruminations.

So what's been getting my goat recently? So many rants, so little time. From the serious (Mugabe, the C of E, the British government) to the mundane (cyclists and cinema adverts) - most things have the capacity to turn me into a grumpy old woman. Cyclists are my most recent nemesis and it being summer, they've all come out of the woodwork. It's such a hassle trying to pass them. I have to make sure that I don't knock them over, that I don't hit a car coming in the other direction, that I don't lunge for their water bottles when it's a particularly hot day. I'm all for environmentally friendly transport - just not when it gets in my way! So to cap it all, where has my younger sister decided to move to? Cambridge - land of cyclists! No doubt I'll be visiting quite regularly and that can only end well! Oh how I continue to long for the day that teleportation becomes reality. It's been months since I asked those scientists to get cracking on it. Slackers.

Henman and a hen party

It's Monday! It's the last week of June! It's Wimbledon baby!

Ahem.

Apologies for that tennis related outburst of joy. I just love these two weeks of the year. I get everything that needs to be done out of the way in the mornings and then settle down for some glorious afternoons of sport. This year I shall mostly be supporting... Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Mario Ancic and Jelena Jankovic. Plus of course all those plucky unseeded Brits that make Wimbledon so special, for the first week at least!

This is of course the first Wimbledon in 14 years not to feature Tim Henman in the draw. The legend retired last year and although it is of course sad for such a career to come to its end, there is also a part of me that is relieved not to be faced with the prospect of another emotionally draining Henman epic. Much as I like Andy Murray, he doesn't inspire quite the same amount of heartache. Henman is of course not entirely absent from SW19, he's joined the BBC commentary team. I say team, it's more like a squad these days. Just how many commentators does a broadcaster need? Before I move away (no doubt only temporarily) from my Wimbledon love affair, I should probably stick my neck out and make a prediction. So here goes: Nadal for the men's title and Ivanovic for the women's.

I had a lovely day on Saturday at a friend's hen party. Despite not knowing most of the girls there I still had a great day. We went to a craft place and painted ceramics, had lunch in a little tea-rooms and then headed back to the bridesmaids' house for more food, chat and a DVD. It struck me as to how much more enjoyable it was than any pub'n'club crawling hen night. I think it's sad that it appears to be the norm these days for hen parties to be accompanied by drunken antics and hangovers. Ladies, I say we vote no to this 'new' way of celebrating and revert back to the good old days. I mean honestly, can anything beat a good cup of tea, a piece of cake and a natter? I rest my case.