Candle in the whirlwind

Atchoo!

I sit tapping this in a lull between replying to a wrong number texter, blowing my nose and rearranging my diary due to illness.

I have been burning the candle at both ends and that proverbial candle is possibly me. I am totally frazzled.

It was inevitable a nasty cold would get me after 8 consecutive nights going to bed between 1.30-4 am. I successfully delayed it when it made its first attempt on 28^th November.

I have successfully moved everything around and saved money and internal organs by being housebound.

My only complaint is that I missed Under 1 Roof charity night on Saturday which involved Chris Martin duetting with Alan Partridge. Yes it really happened, this is not a delirious dream I had.

It's been a long time since I wrote.  That means I'm going to do that very lazy thing of listing what I've been up to.

In no particular order.

Went to Q&A with Will Ferrell (I didn't got with him you understand) followed by a screening of Everything Must Go.

Had 2 facials and a massage (not on the same day).

Had my karaoke birthday party.

Saw Voldemort & Rodney Trotter in The Tempest. Ok, in layman's terms I saw Ralph Fiennes & Nicholas Lyndhurst but it does sound as surreal as the aforementioned duet (Chris & Alan, not me & Charlie in photo).

I was treated for my birthday to dinner at The Ivy by Tracy (thank you Snoops!) Saw Michael Stipe & Thom Yorke amongst others but they were my favourite diners.

Went to see Ghost the musical with my sis-in law and didn't cry.

Started regular quizzing – I love a quiz! Won some money for not winning - or losing. Win, win. Or is that not win, win?

Saw Feist at the Palladium.

Met up with two friends I haven't seen for ten years. One was an ex. I talked way too much. What me, nervous? I deny it!

Went to the Museum of Everything.

Finally saw the truly incredible Mark Rylance in (the truly incredible) Jerusalem. A few weeks later booked a ticket to watch a Q&A with him. I wish you could buy plays on DVD...

I was lucky enough to have a day trip to Madrid to see Coldplay. Mylo Xyloto was released and we hopped on a plane for a press conference & launch gig in the Plaza de toros Las Ventas.

It was directed by Anton Corbijn. We flew straight back to do Radio 1's Live Lounge followed by a gig in the UEA, Norwich – a very strange juxtaposition to the previous show.  

Coldplay are actually on tour at the moment so in the past week I went to the Manchester's MEN Arena, Camden's Dingwalls (487 capacity) and London's O2 Arena.

I did some more recording for my voice showreel and was pretty happy with the results though my Mum couldn't tell it was me! (That's a good thing in my opinion).

Saw Driving Miss Daisy starring Vanessa Redgrave – I have never seen the film, but I enjoyed it.

Visited family. 3 separate visits actually. Of course that included my gorgeous great niece who insisted while I was reading her a bespoke personalised Disney Princess book I got her to "read it properly" – such was her disbelief at her actually being in it!

Watched the amazing Rae Morris, this time at KOKO.

Put up 2 Christmas trees - one real, one fake.

Joined a gym. It has a pool.

Had dinner(s) with charity winning bidder(s).

In fact, had a lot of lunches and dinners with some of my favourite people. I've managed to see many people who don't live near me too which has been wonderful.

Watched a few films. Twice to the cinema - if there's an Oscar ™ for hair(dresser), it should go to My Week With Marilyn - a couple of DVDs and sofa bound TV movies.

So that was the nutshell, here comes the stuff that I've found shocking, funny, interesting and thought provoking.

I loved the Hallowe'en rules that were put up where I live. It's a gated community and to keep everyone happy, there were guidelines to adhere to:

I did see a Justin Bieber cartoon (excuse the blurry pic) that made me laugh – yes that was tempting to cut the middle man and just call him the joke:

The Poppy Appeal campaign was rather inappropriate this year I thought. I'm sure the various celebs gave their time for free to endorse the slogan "standing shoulder to shoulder with all who serve" that had me puzzled. Er, no, I think you'll find we're not shoulder to shoulder, we're sat at home all safe and sound. Weird. 

Ad watch:

There have been too many adverts attracting my attention for whatever reason.

The Oops ad where that woman who clearly doesn't have any weak bladder mishaps gets her skirt stuck in the lift? Well... I have the exact same underwear as her (not wee stained either I may add) – I've never had that problem but that's not the only co-incidence. I asked the guy from the ad out last year. He said yes but it never happened. Imagine if he'd seen my underwear?

The Very advert is so very annoying with Diana Vickers telling us that her 70s jumpsuit can "make you look taller & slimmer" rather than her size 8 frame and 8 inch heels. Don't get me started on the leather jacket that makes her feel "good to be bad".

The Uniform Dating advert is perhaps the most stupid of all. It starts with a fireman rescuing a woman from a burning building then a nurse appears by a man's bedside - both hit by instantly fancying the uniform. I can't believe there is a dating site to fix you up with someone who wears one! That fire won't put itself out mister so get your hose out. No, not that one!

I am not wasting breath on either the John Lewis or the M&S ads although the latter does lead me finally to the X Factor final.

To me, the X Factor is an entertainment show, a TV show no less and it just so happens that people sing on it and there are musical guests. I tend to skip the Sunday results show as it's usually reserved for manufactured boy/girl groups, previous winners of such talent shows or mega U.S stars with a product to pedal. I can't abide seeing the judges give standing ovations to mediocrity either but the final week, it was deserved - and I obviously do not mean Westlife. 

I have never considered it a very cool thing to appear on X Factor but I will assume that's because of my chosen profession. I have found fun in ranting week in, week out but didn't actually care who won. Then the unthinkable happened. My boys agreed to perform on the final show. I was torn. Surely this was not a credible decision? I have to say I will always defend and support the band to the death (dramatic eh?) but what I witnessed on Sunday made me realise, it doesn't matter what I, you, he, she think... it was for those few minutes finally just about the music. It was an incredible performance and I was actually proud they decided to do what they wanted rather than what they knew other people wanted or expected. To be honest, I can't put it better than the band's Roadie #42 did.

So as I sit here wheezing and sneezing watch this clip and see the shock in the eyes. I leave you with this.