June 2009 Archives

I've spent today feeling rather hot and bothered, and that's not just down to the weather (and sweltering on the Tube. I don't know how Londoners do it every day).

The reason for the rise in temperature was due to the close proximity of Mr Johnny Depp.

I've met a lot of famous people, but there's something special about being in the presence of a real movie star, and Johnny is one of them.

I was a big fan before, but he really bowled me over.
He just oozes charisma and is a thoroughly nice bloke.

I went to the press conference for his new film Public Enemies and found him to be witty, polite. self-deprecating and articulate, not to mention rather gorgeous. All the women in the room, and half the men, suddenly became a bit giggly when he smiled at us.

Read my full interview with him in Friday's Birmingham Mail.

We also met Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard, who was beautiful but a bit barmy.

Halfway through the interview, she suddenly noticed a digital recorder taping her and seemed rather startled.

"It's going round!" she cried.

She only managed a few more sentences before stopping and staring at the device, saying: "It's funny, no? It's alive!"

How she ever manages to cope with all the high-tech equipment on a film set without pointing is beyond me.

But then she is French.

The phrase 'emotional rollercoaster' tends to be overused, but I certainly felt like I was on one yesterday, thanks to the entertainment world.

First I watched the new film My Sister's Keeper, which is great but really puts audiences through it. I recommend taking a big box of tissues, as only the hardest of hearts could sit through this human drama and not shed a tear. If you're like me, you'll spend most of the film sniffling and quietly sobbing.

Then came the final two episodes of Grey's Anatomy, which also put us through it. We had an inkling that Izzie might not make it to the end of the series as she has cancer - and actress Katherine Heigl wants to concentrate on her film career - but then came the double emotional whammy of George landing in his own hospital, about to kick the bucket after being hit by a bus.

Feeling drained by all this heart-wringing drama, I then learned the incredible news that Michael Jackson had died. And let's not forget the earlier demise of Farrah Fawcett, a TV legend who I grew up watching on Charlie's Angels.

What a day. For once, emotional rollercoaster doesn't do it justice.

I've just seen Transformers 2 at the IMAX in Birmingham. It was great to see it on such a huge screen and encouraging to see so many punters in the cinema, with barely an empty seat to be had.

But why did parents bring along such young children? This isn't a film designed for three and four-year-olds (it's a 12A certificate, after all), who are never going to sit still for 151 minutes, let alone follow the plot. I had trouble enough keeping up with the gubbins about the Matrix of Leadership and Tomb of the Primes, so no wonder the kids started to fidget.

I don't blame them for causing a disturbance as most were pretty well-behaved, but I wish parents would think before taking their children to the cinema.

Incidentally, I'd love a pair of Megan Fox's self-cleaning white jeans. She rolled around in the desert dust for hours before the bright white, tight pair showed any sign of dirt.

Congratulations to my fellow Mercury blogger Glynn Purnell for his part in the Great British Menu banquet to honour homecoming servicemen and women.

He represented Birmingham brilliantly with his mouth-watering curried monkfish dish. I just wish I could taste it, as it looked a wonderful meal.

Though probably not quite, as judge Oliver dramatically overstated it, "a life-changing experience". Food is important but not THAT important.

That exaggeration isn't something you'd catch Glynn coming out with. He takes his food seriously but not himself, unlike a lot of the po-faced chefs who took part in this competition.

The banquet made me proud to be British. Well done, Glynn, or as he would say, cheers chief!

Zzzzzz....excuse me while I nod off. I've just tuned in to Big Brother for the first time in a few days, and wondered why I bothered.

Hardly anything happened. Even the task was boring, dressing them up as dancing flowers. Make them suffer more! Bring back the electric shocks!

The housemates need something to liven them up. About the only character worth commenting on is posh Freddie, who, despite his Oxbridge education, is living up to his new name of Halfwit.

He's forever going on about how clever he is, but he didn't have the sense to realise he was the victim of a lame practical joke when he hid by his bed for a whole 31 minutes in a one-sided game of Hide and Seek.

Though he tried to claim he knew exactly what was going on and had turned it into a "win-win" situation.

Eh? That makes as much sense as describing arguments in the house as "cleansing healthy debate". No wonder he wants to be a politician, though by saying "I don't mind if people don't take me seriously" he clearly models himself on Boris Johnson.

"I want to make politics cool, sexy and fun," says the man who's neither cool nor sexy, or, indeed, much fun. Good luck with that!

Fancy putting a bunch of politicians in the hot seat and calling them to account for the mess the Commons and country is in?

Then here's your chance. This week's Question Time was to come from Llandudno, but BBC bosses have quite rightly decided that Birmingham is better than a wet Welsh town, so they've shifted the location.

Though it's really more to do with the fact that, due to the fast-changing nature of politics these days - who knows who's going to resign next? - the show could go out live on Thursday.

If you fancy being in the audience and giving an MP what for, ring Alison Fuller on 01299 829299 or long on to the BBC website www.bbc.co.uk/questiontime

NOOOoooooooooo! Right, Suralan, we need to talk. We're beginning to take this personally.

Do you have a downer on Midlanders? Why won't you recruit one as your apprentice?

You should have gone for Wolverhampton's Ruth Badger a few years ago and blew that chance.
Now tonight you passed up the opportunity to employ Cannock's own Pretty Woman, Kate Walsh. Big mistake. Huge!

It was a genuinely tense boardroom and I really didn't know which way it was going to go. I had a feeling Suralan was always going to go for Yasmina, even though Kate has clearly performed better.

Her chocolates were much nicer. I knew Yasmina knew nothing about the subject when she said white chocolate was her favourite, a sure sign of a pretender who likes childish chocolate like Milky Bars.

Yasmina was also, once again, a huge fibber. "Everyone has given us positive feedback," she said of her Cocoa Electric chocs. What, even the people who spat them out in disgust?

Ben was still harping on with his tacky sex sells projects, while Philip showed he can dance as well as sing. But they were, after all, taking advice from a bloke who still thought Pantsman was a great idea.

Almost as bad as Kate not winning was the bombshell that Margaret is leaving. At least Nick, my favourite, will return next series.

So a disappointing evening, but never mind Kate, Yasmina has to now work with digital signage, which sounds really dull.

It's like the United Nations in the new Big Brother house, though I'm sure it won't stay united for long.

But what's with the multinational feel to it? There are people from Brazil, Russia, America, Iran, Ireland and India. Don't we have enough freaks in England, then?

And then there's Lisa, the 41-year-old unemployed Brummie lesbian. We can feel so proud.

Actually she's really pretty, with a lovely smile, beneath all those piercings and tattoos. I can't see that Mohican hairdo lasting the course, though.

She is one of several contestants who are unemployed. But why bother getting a job when appearing on Big Brother is a career option in itself?

I can foresee problems with too many names that sound similar - Sophie, Sophia, Saffia. I love Sophia though, she's a bundle of fun. Rodrigo is a cutie too.

Wolverine, sorry Marcus, thinks he's so cool but is just weird. As my friend said, "he's the kind of man I worry about my daughter encountering in the park".

Siavash is Justin Lee Collins crossed with Salvador Dali.

So far, so fascinating. I have a feeling it's going to be a great summer!

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Well, that wasn't too surprising, was it? We knew Kate would make the final of the Apprentice, and Yasmina stood a good chance too.

After all, of the remaining candidates, they're the two with the Midland connections, so of course Suralan would go for them! Yasmina's is more tenuous - her father lived in Kidderminster for several years - so we should be rooting for Cannock Kate.

Especially as Yasmina is such a liar. If Suralan wants to employ a barefaced fibber, he should go for Yasmina. I was amazed when she came out of a terrible interview with Claude, who told her she was talking nonsense, and said: "That was actually enjoyable!" Rubbish!

She has fab shoes but her hairbands annoy me, and, worryingly, they seemed to have spread to Kate during the Final Five documentary.

Apart from the dodgy headgear, is Kate just too good to be true? Who'd have thought it could be such a disadvantage. "You're Little Miss Perfect, aren't you?" said Claude, in that insulting way he has.

It wasn't surprising, but I was sad to see James go, as I'll miss his wonderful metaphors and imagery. This week he talked about not wanting Suralan "kicking me so hard up the arse I've got his toes for teeth". Brilliant!

He should learn to close his mouth, though, as that gormless look really does make him look like the village idiot.