Lord Prezza - You must be joking!

Baron Prescott of Pork Pie - it's official!!

So all you have to do now then to get a peerage is run two carbon belching motors, cheat on your wife, punch voters in the face and try to dodge flying eggs....

No wonder they want to abolish the House of Lords. This latest appointment just shows what a complete farce it is.

The last lingering dregs of a discreditted ex-government

Lord Prezza - You must be joking!

Baron Prescott of Pork Pie - it's official!!

So all you have to do now then to get a peerage is run two carbon belching motors, cheat on your wife, punch voters in the face and try to dodge flying eggs....

No wonder they want to abolish the House of Lords. This latest appointment just shows what a complete farce it is.

The last lingering dregs of a discreditted ex-government

A sense of Community

Last Thursday night I attended a meeting of my local Community Association.

Around 9pm, I was walking home about ten yards behind two men and a woman who had attended the same meeting when, on the corner of my road, a young woman ran past crying and in considerable distress. She was pursued a few moments later by an obviously angry young man who grabbed her and was clearly about to assault her.

I was not about to allow this to happen in broad daylight so, from some yards away, I yelled at the man to stop what he was doing. He gave me a brief mouthful. I told him again to cool it and the situation calmed down.

So why am I telling you this? Am I trying to blow my own trumpet? No. Far from it.

I am not a young man and I was on my own. My neighbours who are known to me all turned a blind eye and walked away. Both these men are younger than me, one considerably so. But did they stop and help? No.

And what makes it worse is that these two so-called community minded individuals are both committee members of the aforementioned community association. I will not name them here, but they know who they are.

They should be ashamed of themselves.

A sense of Community

Last Thursday night I attended a meeting of my local Community Association.

Around 9pm, I was walking home about ten yards behind two men and a woman who had attended the same meeting when, on the corner of my road, a young woman ran past crying and in considerable distress. She was pursued a few moments later by an obviously angry young man who grabbed her and was clearly about to assault her.

I was not about to allow this to happen in broad daylight so, from some yards away, I yelled at the man to stop what he was doing. He gave me a brief mouthful. I told him again to cool it and the situation calmed down.

So why am I telling you this? Am I trying to blow my own trumpet? No. Far from it.

I am not a young man and I was on my own. My neighbours who are known to me all turned a blind eye and walked away. Both these men are younger than me, one considerably so. But did they stop and help? No.

And what makes it worse is that these two so-called community minded individuals are both committee members of the aforementioned community association. I will not name them here, but they know who they are.

They should be ashamed of themselves.

RAPPER VANILLA ICE HAS PHOTO SHOOT

Rob Van Winkle Is Vanilla Ice

Rapper Vanilla Ice had a photo session at ROK nightclub in Las Vegas, NV. Sin City is heating up for the summer season.

Photo By: Scott Harrison / Retna Ltd.

RAPPER VANILLA ICE HAS PHOTO SHOOT

Rob Van Winkle Is Vanilla Ice

Rapper Vanilla Ice had a photo session at ROK nightclub in Las Vegas, NV. Sin City is heating up for the summer season.

Photo By: Scott Harrison / Retna Ltd.

It costs HOW MUCH !?!

Yesterday I reported on the view from the Taverna and how things have shot up in price here recently. Today, in my final report from the Greek front, I want to reflect on pricing in general here in Paxos. It's certainly not how I remember things...

My last Greek holiday was in a little fishing village on Samos - so generally comparable to here. There were two little supermarkets, half a dozen tavernas and not a lot else. Prices didn't vary a lot. A few cents here and there was about it. But how things have changed....

On our first day we went to the local shop for the essentials in life - Ouzo, Metaxa and a sixpack of Mythos beer. The Ouzo cost me just under €10, Metaxa €17.34 and the beer about €6.50. Purely in the interests of consumer research you understand, I replenished my stocks a few days later in a different shop. The price difference was about €6 on the same items. This variation would have been unheard of in Greece a couple of years ago!

Ditto that other essential of life - wine! After all "a meal without wine is like a summer without sunshine." After my earlier comments on the weather, I guess you can see this one coming : you can't buy a bottle of wine for less about €9 and that's the local stuff! On Samos I could get one for about half that. But never mind. The house wine at Onions was quite decent and he told where to buy it. So, problem solved -1.5 Litres of drinkable red wine in a plastic bottle for €3.50. Job done!

But I digress: Costs in general here have rocketed. Petrol is at €1.75 per litre - so stop whingeing and £1.20 'cos you don't know how well off you are! A large sliced loaf is over €3, a frozen cheese pizza will set you back €6, a packet of plain biscuits €1.30 and mince is over €9 a kilo. Reflect on that next time you're pushing your trolley round Tesco's!

So everything that used to be cheap is now expensive. Partly because this is due to the VAT increase from 8% to 10% on food. But, of course, if you translate these euro prices back to sterling it looks even worse. No wonder tourists off to Turkey instead!

So what did my friendly Taverna owner think of the Greek bailout package? He doesn't think it will do much good. When I told him that Alistair Darling agreed to contribute 10 odd billion to the pot to support the Euro, he nearly pissed himself laughing.

"But why?" He said."Britain is not in the Euro! That's crazy!" I think that summed the situation up nicely.

Margaret Thatcher would have asked for her money back...

It costs HOW MUCH !?!

Yesterday I reported on the view from the Taverna and how things have shot up in price here recently. Today, in my final report from the Greek front, I want to reflect on pricing in general here in Paxos. It's certainly not how I remember things...

My last Greek holiday was in a little fishing village on Samos - so generally comparable to here. There were two little supermarkets, half a dozen tavernas and not a lot else. Prices didn't vary a lot. A few cents here and there was about it. But how things have changed....

On our first day we went to the local shop for the essentials in life - Ouzo, Metaxa and a sixpack of Mythos beer. The Ouzo cost me just under €10, Metaxa €17.34 and the beer about €6.50. Purely in the interests of consumer research you understand, I replenished my stocks a few days later in a different shop. The price difference was about €6 on the same items. This variation would have been unheard of in Greece a couple of years ago!

Ditto that other essential of life - wine! After all "a meal without wine is like a summer without sunshine." After my earlier comments on the weather, I guess you can see this one coming : you can't buy a bottle of wine for less about €9 and that's the local stuff! On Samos I could get one for about half that. But never mind. The house wine at Onions was quite decent and he told where to buy it. So, problem solved -1.5 Litres of drinkable red wine in a plastic bottle for €3.50. Job done!

But I digress: Costs in general here have rocketed. Petrol is at €1.75 per litre - so stop whingeing and £1.20 'cos you don't know how well off you are! A large sliced loaf is over €3, a frozen cheese pizza will set you back €6, a packet of plain biscuits €1.30 and mince is over €9 a kilo. Reflect on that next time you're pushing your trolley round Tesco's!

So everything that used to be cheap is now expensive. Partly because this is due to the VAT increase from 8% to 10% on food. But, of course, if you translate these euro prices back to sterling it looks even worse. No wonder tourists off to Turkey instead!

So what did my friendly Taverna owner think of the Greek bailout package? He doesn't think it will do much good. When I told him that Alistair Darling agreed to contribute 10 odd billion to the pot to support the Euro, he nearly pissed himself laughing.

"But why?" He said."Britain is not in the Euro! That's crazy!" I think that summed the situation up nicely.

Margaret Thatcher would have asked for her money back...

The View from the Taverna

You can always tell a good place to eat. Walk into any town past all the quiet restaurants and join the queue for a table outside the one that's heaving!

We've had a number of excellent Greek meals at a Taverna in Lakka called Nionio's - or Onions as the Brits call it. It's been in business since 1945 and you can tell why. The food is excellent, the front man positively exudes charm and the prices are reasonable.

Anyway, enough of the plug. I got chatting to the guy who runs it. His English is a hell of a sight better than my Greek. So I asked him where the people were? He replied "They don't come this year." simple, but sussinct and to the point. "Why?", I persisted. "They don't got no money." Good point.

Digging a little deeper, I asked what he thought had gone wrong? "Is your government", he replied. "They take all your money. And the exchange rate," he continued, "it's no so good for you. But now you have new government, so we hope this will be a good thing."

I explained that we thought everything was a good thing compared to the dreaded Broon. He replied "Your man did not seem very bright to me." So there you have it in a nutshell...

We discussed the other Broon stuff - i.e. the Broon stuff Greece seemed to be in. He replied "Keep the pound. Worst thing we ever do is to join the Euro. Prices went up 300% overnight." I've never heard a figure that extreme before, but this is a small island off the beaten track, so who am I to argue?

(I discovered a few days later that the reason for this was that Greeks tended to think of a minimum price of 100 drachma and when the Euro was introduced the thought processes moved to a minimum price of €1. Hence the 300% increase!)

Onions is a great place to eat and the prices are keen, but you still won't eat dinner for two there for less than about €30. A few years ago you could eat well for about €20 - and the exchange rate was better.

On the bill I was handed there were two columns headed 8% and 18%. These reflect the VAT rates of food and others (specifically booze). The current rate is 10% and 21%. He explained to me that these receipts were recently printed and if he were to change them every time the VAT rate changed, it would cost a fortune in printing! The higher rate is to go up to 23% shortly...

It made me reflect on what could happen in the forthcoming emergency budget once the true extent of the mess Broon left the UK's finances in is finally revealed!

The View from the Taverna

You can always tell a good place to eat. Walk into any town past all the quiet restaurants and join the queue for a table outside the one that's heaving!

We've had a number of excellent Greek meals at a Taverna in Lakka called Nionio's - or Onions as the Brits call it. It's been in business since 1945 and you can tell why. The food is excellent, the front man positively exudes charm and the prices are reasonable.

Anyway, enough of the plug. I got chatting to the guy who runs it. His English is a hell of a sight better than my Greek. So I asked him where the people were? He replied "They don't come this year." simple, but sussinct and to the point. "Why?", I persisted. "They don't got no money." Good point.

Digging a little deeper, I asked what he thought had gone wrong? "Is your government", he replied. "They take all your money. And the exchange rate," he continued, "it's no so good for you. But now you have new government, so we hope this will be a good thing."

I explained that we thought everything was a good thing compared to the dreaded Broon. He replied "Your man did not seem very bright to me." So there you have it in a nutshell...

We discussed the other Broon stuff - i.e. the Broon stuff Greece seemed to be in. He replied "Keep the pound. Worst thing we ever do is to join the Euro. Prices went up 300% overnight." I've never heard a figure that extreme before, but this is a small island off the beaten track, so who am I to argue?

(I discovered a few days later that the reason for this was that Greeks tended to think of a minimum price of 100 drachma and when the Euro was introduced the thought processes moved to a minimum price of €1. Hence the 300% increase!)

Onions is a great place to eat and the prices are keen, but you still won't eat dinner for two there for less than about €30. A few years ago you could eat well for about €20 - and the exchange rate was better.

On the bill I was handed there were two columns headed 8% and 18%. These reflect the VAT rates of food and others (specifically booze). The current rate is 10% and 21%. He explained to me that these receipts were recently printed and if he were to change them every time the VAT rate changed, it would cost a fortune in printing! The higher rate is to go up to 23% shortly...

It made me reflect on what could happen in the forthcoming emergency budget once the true extent of the mess Broon left the UK's finances in is finally revealed!

Where have all the people gone?

We have heard the news! The dreaded Broon is no more! I do a little dance and sink a beer in celebration!

This news has come by word-of-mouth as there no newspapers on Paxos. The local 'hotel' has satellite telly and apparently the BBC World Service appeared for the first 4 days and hasn't been seen since. No one seems to know exactly where it has gone...

Anyway, it must be true because last week I only got €1.09 for my good old British quid and today it has gone up to €1.14 so either the pound rallied on the news of the dreaded Broon's departure or the Greek Euro has gone even further down the crapper. Or maybe both?

Equally mysterious is the disappearance of all the tourists! Now I will grant you that Paxos is a little off the main tourist track, but the place is deserted. I've spoken to a few people who come here every year about this time, and they confirm it; the place really is deserted. Several businesses that are normally open now either haven't bothered yet or have gone bust. You only need to look in the bars and tavernas at night and see the worried look on the owners' faces to know that all is far from well.

Not sure there is any one reason for this. Admittedly the Eurozone has become expensive for UK visitors. Last time I was here, I was getting not far short of €1.50. Also, people have less money since the credit crunch so I guess they are either not travelling at all or are going to non-euro countries. Whatever the reason, they certainly are not coming here!

The upside of this was highlighted by a man I met in a bar last night - please note that there are no sacrifices I am not prepared to undertake in my pursuit of a story! He was due to go to the USA in April but had his holiday cancelled by the dreaded ash cloud. Having taken a full refund, he booked himself into a "basic but clean" small local hotel within easy walking distance of the waterfront, courtesy of Olympic holidays.

Amazingly, two weeks has cost him and his wife the princely sum of £425 - yes, two weeks two people. He rang Monarch Airlines to enquire the price of two return flights. They quoted £410. So given that for his £425 he has the same flight, transfers from Corfu and B&B in the hotel, that looks like a pretty good deal to me. Other people booked a while back and are doing the same. They are paying considerably more and they don't look very happy about it.

So the message seems to be a lack of tourists is hitting the Greeks hard and there are desperate last-minute deals on offer. Good for us. Not so good if you are a Greek businessman.

Tomorrow,the view from the Taverna....

Where have all the people gone?

We have heard the news! The dreaded Broon is no more! I do a little dance and sink a beer in celebration!

This news has come by word-of-mouth as there no newspapers on Paxos. The local 'hotel' has satellite telly and apparently the BBC World Service appeared for the first 4 days and hasn't been seen since. No one seems to know exactly where it has gone...

Anyway, it must be true because last week I only got €1.09 for my good old British quid and today it has gone up to €1.14 so either the pound rallied on the news of the dreaded Broon's departure or the Greek Euro has gone even further down the crapper. Or maybe both?

Equally mysterious is the disappearance of all the tourists! Now I will grant you that Paxos is a little off the main tourist track, but the place is deserted. I've spoken to a few people who come here every year about this time, and they confirm it; the place really is deserted. Several businesses that are normally open now either haven't bothered yet or have gone bust. You only need to look in the bars and tavernas at night and see the worried look on the owners' faces to know that all is far from well.

Not sure there is any one reason for this. Admittedly the Eurozone has become expensive for UK visitors. Last time I was here, I was getting not far short of €1.50. Also, people have less money since the credit crunch so I guess they are either not travelling at all or are going to non-euro countries. Whatever the reason, they certainly are not coming here!

The upside of this was highlighted by a man I met in a bar last night - please note that there are no sacrifices I am not prepared to undertake in my pursuit of a story! He was due to go to the USA in April but had his holiday cancelled by the dreaded ash cloud. Having taken a full refund, he booked himself into a "basic but clean" small local hotel within easy walking distance of the waterfront, courtesy of Olympic holidays.

Amazingly, two weeks has cost him and his wife the princely sum of £425 - yes, two weeks two people. He rang Monarch Airlines to enquire the price of two return flights. They quoted £410. So given that for his £425 he has the same flight, transfers from Corfu and B&B in the hotel, that looks like a pretty good deal to me. Other people booked a while back and are doing the same. They are paying considerably more and they don't look very happy about it.

So the message seems to be a lack of tourists is hitting the Greeks hard and there are desperate last-minute deals on offer. Good for us. Not so good if you are a Greek businessman.

Tomorrow,the view from the Taverna....

Greek weather

As I left you yesterday, we had arrived safely on Corfu.

We are actually going to Paxos where, as my itinerary points out, we are due to collect our hire car five minutes before the plane lands on an entirely different island. Does anyone ever read these things before they send them out?

Anyway, we have survived the dreaded volcanic ash cloud and even the flight on Shitijet- just - so they take us to the nearest port and shove us on to a "sea taxi". This is a small high-speed motor vessel which takes 12 people and luggage - again, just. It is rather noisy and somewhat uncomfortable.

Off we go across to Paxos which takes about 90 minutes on a calm day. Thankfully, we get a calm day and only one passenger reaches for the vomit bag. All is well. We land, collect hire car, and head of for what turns out to be rather nice villa - although it is about a mile from anywhere.

As I write this, we have been here about a week. I have a great view across to the Greek mainland and have been watching for a while what happens when it's not a calm day! I'm praying for a calm day for the return trip to Corfu.

There is some debate here as to whether the prevailing wind is the Melteme or the Mistral. I simply refer to it as the bloody great force nine gale! It was sufficiently strong this morning for us to abandon a circular walk along a clifftop for fear of being blown onto the rocks below. We retraced our steps to the village where we didn't stop for a beer as it had started to rain.

So, my conclusion is that is that, when the sun is out, it is lovely. But the reasonably reliable weather I remember seems to have gone. This appears to be the case everywhere these days and Greece is far from unique. Irritating, but that's life. Global warming, my arse!

And it seems to change at short notice too. For the first few days we were sleeping with covers off the bed and sweating; but the last few nights we've curled up under a blanket. 20 minutes ago, the sea was rough, but now it looks quite calm again. It is overcast but give it 10 minutes and the sun will come out for an hour or so, then the gale will start again or it will rain or even both!

What's life coming to when you can't predict the weather in Greece?

(Just to add insult to injury, when we got off the plane at Gatwick yesterday it was 6° hotter here than it was in Paxos!)

Greek weather

As I left you yesterday, we had arrived safely on Corfu.

We are actually going to Paxos where, as my itinerary points out, we are due to collect our hire car five minutes before the plane lands on an entirely different island. Does anyone ever read these things before they send them out?

Anyway, we have survived the dreaded volcanic ash cloud and even the flight on Shitijet- just - so they take us to the nearest port and shove us on to a "sea taxi". This is a small high-speed motor vessel which takes 12 people and luggage - again, just. It is rather noisy and somewhat uncomfortable.

Off we go across to Paxos which takes about 90 minutes on a calm day. Thankfully, we get a calm day and only one passenger reaches for the vomit bag. All is well. We land, collect hire car, and head of for what turns out to be rather nice villa - although it is about a mile from anywhere.

As I write this, we have been here about a week. I have a great view across to the Greek mainland and have been watching for a while what happens when it's not a calm day! I'm praying for a calm day for the return trip to Corfu.

There is some debate here as to whether the prevailing wind is the Melteme or the Mistral. I simply refer to it as the bloody great force nine gale! It was sufficiently strong this morning for us to abandon a circular walk along a clifftop for fear of being blown onto the rocks below. We retraced our steps to the village where we didn't stop for a beer as it had started to rain.

So, my conclusion is that is that, when the sun is out, it is lovely. But the reasonably reliable weather I remember seems to have gone. This appears to be the case everywhere these days and Greece is far from unique. Irritating, but that's life. Global warming, my arse!

And it seems to change at short notice too. For the first few days we were sleeping with covers off the bed and sweating; but the last few nights we've curled up under a blanket. 20 minutes ago, the sea was rough, but now it looks quite calm again. It is overcast but give it 10 minutes and the sun will come out for an hour or so, then the gale will start again or it will rain or even both!

What's life coming to when you can't predict the weather in Greece?

(Just to add insult to injury, when we got off the plane at Gatwick yesterday it was 6° hotter here than it was in Paxos!)

The joys of package holidays

It's been a couple of years since we last had a holiday in Greece. Well, I'm pleased to report that despite the heralds of impending Euro doom, it's still here - it's just not like we remember it!

My review is, I must admit, a little coloured by the fact that tour company decided to bump us on to Shitijet - otherwise known as Thomson fly - at the last minute so my bright idea of booking a hotel with parking right next to the terminal at Gatquick went right out the window when they changed terminals on us!

And, in case you're wondering, the bright new interterminal monorail that was due to be opened for the start of the holiday season is now scheduled to open just as it comes to an end instead.

Our flight on Shitijet was further delayed by the fact that so many people had been bounced off Monarch (no explanation given!) that the pilot had no idea how many people were actually flying with him and, as I overheard the man on the gate say, that sort of info does affect the fuel load. As the captain remarked on takeoff, it helps if you actually have enough fuel for the entire trip rather than just part of it. Still, I suppose we could have swum the last bit...

So here we were, surrounded by screaming ankle biters who should have been in school ("But it costs more during school holidays, dunnit?" as one bloke was overheard to remark!). We refused to eat the most disgusting airline meal I have ever seen - and believe me I've seen quite a few; even cold sushi for breakfast on a flight back from Japan on one occasion. This so-called food looked like a reconstituted chicken shit spiced to hell to cover the taste, served lukewarm with cardboard massed potato which you could have used to repoint an industrial chimney.

Anyway, after a few hours retreat into the iPod we hit the runway in Corfu - rather fast and hard actually, but the wheels stayed on - so, as they say, any flight you walk away from is a good flight!

First leg done, then. More tomorrow....

The joys of package holidays

It's been a couple of years since we last had a holiday in Greece. Well, I'm pleased to report that despite the heralds of impending Euro doom, it's still here - it's just not like we remember it!

My review is, I must admit, a little coloured by the fact that tour company decided to bump us on to Shitijet - otherwise known as Thomson fly - at the last minute so my bright idea of booking a hotel with parking right next to the terminal at Gatquick went right out the window when they changed terminals on us!

And, in case you're wondering, the bright new interterminal monorail that was due to be opened for the start of the holiday season is now scheduled to open just as it comes to an end instead.

Our flight on Shitijet was further delayed by the fact that so many people had been bounced off Monarch (no explanation given!) that the pilot had no idea how many people were actually flying with him and, as I overheard the man on the gate say, that sort of info does affect the fuel load. As the captain remarked on takeoff, it helps if you actually have enough fuel for the entire trip rather than just part of it. Still, I suppose we could have swum the last bit...

So here we were, surrounded by screaming ankle biters who should have been in school ("But it costs more during school holidays, dunnit?" as one bloke was overheard to remark!). We refused to eat the most disgusting airline meal I have ever seen - and believe me I've seen quite a few; even cold sushi for breakfast on a flight back from Japan on one occasion. This so-called food looked like a reconstituted chicken shit spiced to hell to cover the taste, served lukewarm with cardboard massed potato which you could have used to repoint an industrial chimney.

Anyway, after a few hours retreat into the iPod we hit the runway in Corfu - rather fast and hard actually, but the wheels stayed on - so, as they say, any flight you walk away from is a good flight!

First leg done, then. More tomorrow....

RUSSELL BRAND HITS LAS VEGAS STRIP

Russell Brand and Jonah Hill

Russell Brand and Jonah Hill were photographed at the 'Get Him To The Greek' film screening in Planet Hollywood Las Vegas.

Photo By: RD / Kabik / Retna Digital

RUSSELL BRAND HITS LAS VEGAS STRIP

Russell Brand and Jonah Hill

Russell Brand and Jonah Hill were photographed at the 'Get Him To The Greek' film screening in Planet Hollywood Las Vegas.

Photo By: RD / Kabik / Retna Digital

JULIA LOUIS-DREFYUS AT HEAL THE BAY

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Drefyus was all smile at "Heal The Bay" Night Under the Stars Gala in Santa Monica, California.
Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

JULIA LOUIS-DREFYUS AT HEAL THE BAY

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Drefyus was all smile at "Heal The Bay" Night Under the Stars Gala in Santa Monica, California.
Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

THE FOX 2010 PROGRAMMING BASH

Lea Michele

Lea Michele (Glee) was snapped attending the FOX 2010 Programming Presentation at Wollman Rink, at Central Park in New York City.
Click Here For Tons Of Star Studded Photos......

Photo By: RD/Kim/Retna

THE FOX 2010 PROGRAMMING BASH

Lea Michele

Lea Michele (Glee) was snapped attending the FOX 2010 Programming Presentation at Wollman Rink, at Central Park in New York City.
Click Here For Tons Of Star Studded Photos......

Photo By: RD/Kim/Retna

JAKE GYLLENHAAAL AT L.A. PREMIERE

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal attended the Los Angeles premiere of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
Click Here For Premiere Pics.....

Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

JAKE GYLLENHAAAL AT L.A. PREMIERE

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal attended the Los Angeles premiere of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
Click Here For Premiere Pics.....

Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

THE STARS COME OUT FOR SHREK

Melanie Griffith With Antonio Banderas

Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas attended the Los Angeles premiere of "Shrek Forever After" at Gibson Ampitheatre, Universal City, CA.

Click Here For All The Celebrity Photos......

Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

THE STARS COME OUT FOR SHREK

Melanie Griffith With Antonio Banderas

Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas attended the Los Angeles premiere of "Shrek Forever After" at Gibson Ampitheatre, Universal City, CA.

Click Here For All The Celebrity Photos......

Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

JOAN RIVERS HITS MISS USA PAGEANT

Paula Deen

Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers was all smiles at the Miss USA 2010 pageant at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Stunning Paula Dean was also on hand to help celebrate.

Photos By: RD / Kabik / Retna Digital

JOAN RIVERS HITS MISS USA PAGEANT

Paula Deen

Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers was all smiles at the Miss USA 2010 pageant at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Stunning Paula Dean was also on hand to help celebrate.

Photos By: RD / Kabik / Retna Digital

PLAYBOY PLAYMATE KATIE VERNOLA

Katie Vernola

Playboy Playmate June 2010 Katie Vernola made a appearance at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, NV. The sexy centerfold was all smiles for the cameras.
Photo By: Scott Harrison / Retna Ltd.

PLAYBOY PLAYMATE KATIE VERNOLA

Katie Vernola

Playboy Playmate June 2010 Katie Vernola made a appearance at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, NV. The sexy centerfold was all smiles for the cameras.
Photo By: Scott Harrison / Retna Ltd.

REBECCA MADER PARTIES AT LOST LIVE

Rebecca Mader

Rebecca Mader attended the "LOST Live: The Final Celebration" at the UCLA Royce Hall, Los Angeles, CA. This was one star studded event with so many of our favorite stars.
For More Photos Click Here.......
Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

REBECCA MADER PARTIES AT LOST LIVE

Rebecca Mader

Rebecca Mader attended the "LOST Live: The Final Celebration" at the UCLA Royce Hall, Los Angeles, CA. This was one star studded event with so many of our favorite stars.
For More Photos Click Here.......
Photo By: RD / Kirkland / Retna Digital

JONAS BROTHERS AT YOUNG HOLLYWOOD

The Jonas Brothers

Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas & Joe Jonas pictured at The 12th Annual Young Hollywood Awards Sponsored By JC Penney, Mark. & Lipton Sparkling Green Tea - Red Carpet, Los Angeles, California.
Click Here For All The Star Studded Pics......
Photo By: RD / Cortes / Retna Digital.

JONAS BROTHERS AT YOUNG HOLLYWOOD

The Jonas Brothers

Kevin Jonas, Nick Jonas & Joe Jonas pictured at The 12th Annual Young Hollywood Awards Sponsored By JC Penney, Mark. & Lipton Sparkling Green Tea - Red Carpet, Los Angeles, California.
Click Here For All The Star Studded Pics......
Photo By: RD / Cortes / Retna Digital.

LENA HORNE DEAD AT 92 YEARS OLD

Lena Horne

The legend Lena Horne died yesterday. She was 92. Ms. Horne died at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. No cause of death has been announced. This movie star and Broadway legend will be missed.
Photo By: Walter McBride/Retna

LENA HORNE DEAD AT 92 YEARS OLD

Lena Horne

The legend Lena Horne died yesterday. She was 92. Ms. Horne died at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. No cause of death has been announced. This movie star and Broadway legend will be missed.
Photo By: Walter McBride/Retna

Sod it - I'm off to Greece!

After all the recent excitement, I have decided to investigate first hand the Greek financial crisis and to do my best to support them by imbiding vast quantities of Ouzo, Metaxa, Retsina and Mythos! (Greek general strikes and Icelandic volcanoes permitting of course!)

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

Normal abuse will be resumed in a fortnight...

Sod it - I'm off to Greece!

After all the recent excitement, I have decided to investigate first hand the Greek financial crisis and to do my best to support them by imbiding vast quantities of Ouzo, Metaxa, Retsina and Mythos! (Greek general strikes and Icelandic volcanoes permitting of course!)

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

Normal abuse will be resumed in a fortnight...

Queen speaks out!

Queen speaks out!

That election result in full!

That election result in full!

RANDY BACHMAN AND RANDY TURNER

Bachman And Turner

Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are together once again. After being apart for over 20 years. The group is giving away the first track “Rock n' Roll is the Only Way Out” on their website www.bachmanandturner.com. This is one reunion we are very happy about.

RANDY BACHMAN AND RANDY TURNER

Bachman And Turner

Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are together once again. After being apart for over 20 years. The group is giving away the first track “Rock n' Roll is the Only Way Out” on their website www.bachmanandturner.com. This is one reunion we are very happy about.

Vote counting - an interesting experience

Despite earlier expectations, I am awake! I got to bed at about 5 this morning and my wife woke me up when she got up at 7:30! I love her dearly but - Arggggghhhhhhh!!

Anyway, our local Tory increased his sizeable majority by about 50% but we still had to recount in case the Green Party lost their deposit. In the end they got 5.1% and we got to go home an hour later than the ideal...

One meets a very interesting selection of people at a count. Predominently they are aged 50+ and about 80% are female. Yours truly felt a little out of place but compensated by taking the lead of his little group.

Generally, all went smoothly and we all rubbed along together, but the candidates and their scrutineers were an odd bunch indeed. If you had stood the candidates in a line and picked them by appearance alone without knowing which was which, you would picked the Tory out as the only one who looked like he was dressed to appear in public. The liberal was the rather tired looking middle aged bloke in a crumpled, shiny M&S suit. The Green was, of course, the bloke with the beard and the UKIP man was the man dressed like Doctor Who. That only left the Labour candidate.

Labour's wife and scrutineer decided to give me a hard time. I had already decided I didn't like them. Frankly they just seemed rather unpleasant and oily! She had the irritating habit of talking about us common counting scum as if we weren't there, taking every opportunity to criticise and interfere - just like the rest of her party really.

On a minor, but by no means unimportant point, the Tory took the time to come round after the count and thank every counter individually. One else bothered to even thank us collectively. Manners maketh the man.

I have to say that I was impressed by the organisation that went into it all, although it seems incredible to me that in the 21st century, we still count votes by putting them on little bits of paper then sorting and counting them by hand. Still, no hanging chads here and it did give one voter the chance to add Robert Mugabe to the ballot paper - not that it counted!

So after all that, isn't it great to know that the result is all buggered up, Broon is still at number 10 and we will probably have to do it all again in 6 months...

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!

Vote counting - an interesting experience

Despite earlier expectations, I am awake! I got to bed at about 5 this morning and my wife woke me up when she got up at 7:30! I love her dearly but - Arggggghhhhhhh!!

Anyway, our local Tory increased his sizeable majority by about 50% but we still had to recount in case the Green Party lost their deposit. In the end they got 5.1% and we got to go home an hour later than the ideal...

One meets a very interesting selection of people at a count. Predominently they are aged 50+ and about 80% are female. Yours truly felt a little out of place but compensated by taking the lead of his little group.

Generally, all went smoothly and we all rubbed along together, but the candidates and their scrutineers were an odd bunch indeed. If you had stood the candidates in a line and picked them by appearance alone without knowing which was which, you would picked the Tory out as the only one who looked like he was dressed to appear in public. The liberal was the rather tired looking middle aged bloke in a crumpled, shiny M&S suit. The Green was, of course, the bloke with the beard and the UKIP man was the man dressed like Doctor Who. That only left the Labour candidate.

Labour's wife and scrutineer decided to give me a hard time. I had already decided I didn't like them. Frankly they just seemed rather unpleasant and oily! She had the irritating habit of talking about us common counting scum as if we weren't there, taking every opportunity to criticise and interfere - just like the rest of her party really.

On a minor, but by no means unimportant point, the Tory took the time to come round after the count and thank every counter individually. One else bothered to even thank us collectively. Manners maketh the man.

I have to say that I was impressed by the organisation that went into it all, although it seems incredible to me that in the 21st century, we still count votes by putting them on little bits of paper then sorting and counting them by hand. Still, no hanging chads here and it did give one voter the chance to add Robert Mugabe to the ballot paper - not that it counted!

So after all that, isn't it great to know that the result is all buggered up, Broon is still at number 10 and we will probably have to do it all again in 6 months...

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!