I Scream...You Scream...We all Scream for Ice-Cream!

Ooo! There's a right proper palaver going on in the Great British Bake Off tent. Diana has become the villain of the piece for taking Iain's ice-cream out of the freezer. And when she was heard to say.......

......the temperature rose in the twitterverse as fans called "Off with her head." Well, maybe not quite off with her head, but you get my drift.

After discovering the state of his alaska.......

....which Sue Perkins has since said was only actually out of the freezer for 40 seconds, this is where Iain deposited it before walking out of the tent.

Diana's face was a picture when she realised what he had done!

I have to say, I do think Diana should have apologised to Iain, although maybe she did in private...who knows? Of course, someone has started a twitter campaign. Really? 

And....and....and....would you flippin' believe it, the BBC had 556 complaints because Iain was evicted and Diana was allowed to stay! Seriously, some people need to get a life. I need to get one too, but at least I'm not ringing the BBC every five minutes to complain about stuff...and there are plenty of things on TV to complain about.

The upshot is that Iain is out of the competition...as Mary said "If he doesn't present something for us to taste, how can we let him stay?"

Mary has spoken.

See you next week for pies..... what kind of pies?....your favourite..... Ooo apple pies?... 

No, chicken pies!   

                                                                                        Tracey 

The Doctor Is In The House

Includes spoilers, so best not  read until you've actually watched it.

Does Steven Moffat weave some mind altering magic into the opening credits of Doctor Who? Magic that makes even the most cynical of us (me) able to accept a new Doctor within five minutes of the first episode. I have to admit (albeit grudgingly) but I think he'll do. He's not David Tennant or Matt Smith and I can't see me ever liking him more than either of them, but I really enjoyed the first episode of this new run. I even shed a tear when Clara (who was having difficulties making the adjustment along with the rest of us) received a phone call from Matt Smith's Doctor imploring her to accept and help him to assimilate his new persona. It was also a stroke of genius on Moffat's part to include Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax in this strange story, (which was really just a vehicle in which to introduce us to Capaldi) a marvelous bit of continuity to help us over the loss of Smith. All in all it was a relief to find, after a twelve month wait, that maybe, just maybe, Peter Capaldi, although craggy faced and a bit older than we're used to recently, isn't so bad after all. I shall be eating my humble pie later...anyone got any cream?

                                                                                                                                          Tracey

A Bit Of Fun

Picture of the Day (1)

Er...is this the queue for the toilet?

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Fun Fact of the Day (1)

Did you know that John Ratzenberger (Cliff from Cheers) has voiced a character in every Disney Pixar film?

How many can you name?

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Picture of the Day (2)


What choo lookin' at?

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Fun Fact of the Day (2)

You can't hum whilst holding your nose.

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Picture of the Day (3)


"What? What are you laughing at?"

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Fun Fact of the Day (3)

There are more fake flamingos in the world than real ones.

                                                                                                                              Tracey

Strictly Big Brother

(To be read in a Geordie accent in the style of Big Brother voice over artist Marcus Bentley.) 

Day One in the Celebrity Big Brother House and the place is full of 'has beens', 'never heard of's' and James Jordan off've Strictly! Wey! Hey!

Let's have a look at what we've got...

One transgender ex-boxing promoter...

Kellie (Frank) Maloney

One Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer...

James Jordan

One very tall boxer...

Audley Harrison

One very short American actor....

Leslie Jordan

One very big headed male model...

David McIntosh

One very odd, ex-addict 70 year old,
(who appears to be going deaf...I said who appears to be going DEAF)
American actor...

Gary Busey

One ex-Emmerdale actress...

Claire King

One ex-girl band singer...

Edele Lynch

...and six, yes six reality TV 'stars'

Dee Kelly from 'Benefit Street'

Lauren Goodger from 'TOWIE'

George Gilbey from 'Gogglebox'

Ricci Guarnaccio from 'Geordie Shore'

Stephanie Pratt from American show 'The Hills'

and finally

Angelique (Frenchy) Morgan from American show 'Rock of Love'

The only one of the reality 'stars' I've even heard of is Lauren Goodger but I've never seen TOWIE 

(not a big fan of the scripted reality shows.)

My early prediction for a winner is Kellie, due to the 'journey' she will surely be embarking on.

First out? Hmmm.... hopefully that dreadful Frenchy.

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Day 19,897 in the 'Mum & Dad' House and Philomena is berating Alan for leaving the freezer door open once again!

Alan is called to the dairy room and given an official warning. If he does it again...he may be evicted from the 'Mum & Dad' House.

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Day 18,897 in the 'Big Daughter' House and Tracey is taking a nap...again, because 

'Naps Fix Everything!'

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                                                                                   Tracey 

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on 8th January 1935 and died on 16th August 1977. I was fifteen at the time and I'm now nearly ten years older than he was when he died. That feels a bit mind bending. When I was young I used to love watching his films. I seem to remember they used to show them on BBC2 on Saturday mornings (although I do have a habit of mis-remembering these things...so it could just as easily have been Sunday afternoons or BBC1)

Anyhoo, I used to have one of those old reel to reel tape recorders (can't remember where that came from) and I used to set it up in front of the telly with the microphone pointing at the speaker to record the songs. I remember trying to make whoever else was in the house keep quiet. That probably didn't go down too well. Of course now I have quite a few of the films on video cassette (but no machine to play them on!) and I would spend hours making lists of the films, the characters he played, his love interests, the songs he sang.

My favourite Elvis films are..... all of them, but if I have to narrow it down I'll plump for............................ 

G.I. Blues is probably my favourite favourite (who wouldn't love an Elvis in uniform) and it has some of the best songs.

Indulge me here, I'm posting quite a few videos which you don't have to watch...narrative continues after the said videos.

Songs from G.I. Blues include the fabulous 'Wooden Heart'

'Frankfurt Special'

and 'Didja Ever'

My second favourite is 'It Happened at the World's Fair' which was again choc full of cracking songs including.

'Broken Heart For Sale'

and 'Beyond the Bend'

Elvis Facts of the Day

At the age of 36 Elvis became the youngest recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Elvis had a pet chimp called Scatter who loved scotch and bourbon.

In 1947, Elvis was offered the chance (at aged just 12) to sing live on air, but he was too shy.

His only child, Lisa Marie was born in 1968 during his marriage to Priscilla Beaulieu who he met when she was just 14 years old! Lisa Marie went on to marry Michael Jackson and Nicholas Cage. She is now on her fourth marriage to Michael Lockwood with whom she has two kids and she also had two kids with third husband Danny Keough.

Elvis recorded more than 600 songs but didn't write any of them.

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My third favourite film is 'Fun in Acapulco' which includes 

'There's no room to Rhumba in a Sports car'

'Bossa Nova Baby'

and 'The Bullfighter was a Lady'

Seriously, I could go on forever about Elvis Presley. I think he is one of the most talented people who ever lived and it was a tragedy that he died so young. But bearing in mind that you lot probably don't feel quite so enthusiastic about him, I'll leave it there........

Well.....maybe one more of my favourite songs.....

'Memories'

Dare I squeeze another in, or are you fed up now?

'Don't Cry Daddy'/'In the Ghetto'

                                                          Tracey

Yes Please ....

 

                                                                                                                                              Tracey

12 Oven Fresh Bakers

I can't really cook with any expertise... I certainly can't bake with any finesse. I'm fat and diabetic, so I'm not really supposed to eat cakes, pies etc...so why oh why do I love 'The Great British Bake Off' so much? Well I am quite partial to the odd reality show ('Strictly Come Dancing'...'Big Brother'... 'The Great British Sewing Bee') to name three. Hey, now that I think about it, I can't dance or sew either, and my only brother is my little brother!

Let's look at the facts. Mary Berry is adorable, Paul Hollywood is gorgeous, Mel and Sue are hilarious and baking is something we all think we could do if we put our minds to it.

Episode 1 began with Swiss Rolls and it still amazes me how something they have been able to practice can go so spectacularly wrong. Case in point...Iain, who decided he should score lines in his swiss roll cake in order to get a better roll. D'oh...Had he tried this at home, he would have discovered, as happened in the tent, his swiss roll became a swiss box!

Iain

Nancy was crowned as the first star baker and Claire became the first contestant to leave the competition, after a disaster with her showstopper cakes, bless her.

Nancy

Claire

I heard later that Claire was abused on social media for being overweight. Seriously, do people have nothing better to do? The Bake Off has had contestants in all shapes and sizes including Mary-Anne who was considerably bigger than Claire, and I don't remember hearing the same story about her. I hope that's because it didn't happen and I wish it hadn't happened to Claire who, when she appeared on 'An Extra Slice' was a gorgeous, hilarious young woman whose enthusiasm for life and baking should not be dampened by these pathetic dickheads.

Mary-Anne

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WEEK 2   'Biscwits'

Yes....I know I've spelled biscuits wrong! I did it on purpose, in the style of Vinnie, the Fox's Biscuits Panda.

We're down to 11 bakers and biscuit week started with the task of making 36 crackers for cheese, fortunately there were no major disasters and we moved on to the technical challenge...florentine biscuits. Er... ok then. What the heck is a ....? Turns out to be avery tasty looking fruity thing with chocolate slathered over one side. This weeks show stopper (3D scenes) provided us with some spectacular looking creations.

Kate's 'Tea Time'

Luis' 'George v The Dragon'

Jordan's 'Monster Attack'

Chetna's 'Day On The Beach'

Richard's 'Pirates'

Richard's confection contributed to his crowning as this weeks Star Baker with Mary citing it as "Melt in the mouth" and Paul calling it "Genius".

Richard

Enwezor marked his own card by having soft biscuits and shop bought fondant and soon became the second baker to be evicted from the bake off tent.

Enwezor's 'Space Adventure Moon Scene'

Enwezor

Next week.......... Bread!

                                                                                           Tracey 

Jelly Belly

You have to admire a sweet that comes in this many flavours. 36 'Gourmet' flavours to be precise. Look at 'em all. Where have they been all my life? Did they exist when I could eat them? Before the dreaded Big 'D' came along and ruined my life. I asked the dentist if he could remove my sweet tooth...but he said I was stuck with it. Apparently, all I need is some willpower. I've looked everywhere....Amazon, ebay, Marks & Spencers. Can I find any willpower? No, I cannot! Hmmph!

"S'not fair," is allegedly not a good enough reason to get huffy about not being able to eat the good stuff anymore. But lookit...just bloody look at all the lovely stuff that's out there, stuff that's been invented since I can't have it anymore..... Boo Hoo!

I hope you're not laughing.... it's not flippin' funny!

I confess, I have tried the Marvelous Creations chocolate, but I haven't even seen this one anywhere yet.


Pah!

I'm going to lie down in a darkened room and suck on a strawberry. It's just not the same though!

                                                                                 Tracey

' Who ' News

For the first time, I'm not looking forward to it. I'm expecting to be disappointed.... it could be the end of a beautiful relationship. One was good, two was the best and three was better than one, but I'm afraid four could be a dud.

What am I talking about? 

Peter Capaldi's 'Doctor Who'.

Objections: He's too old. He's planning on playing it entirely too seriously. He's too old. He doesn't suit Clara. He's too old. Ok....I'm being grumpy about it, I wouldn't have chosen him, but I suppose I ought to give him a chance. And I fervently hope I'm wrong. I will be watching as I love the stories and hopefully Peter Capaldi will be much better than I expect

In other 'Who' News

Uh! Oh.....it looks like the Master is coming back!

How cute are these?

My boys.... Wah! I miss my boys! I'm off to sulk now

                                                                                          Tracey