Sunday 13 April 2014

The Owl and the Pussycat

Another restless night last night but again I can't say I'm surprised. I feel like the Duracell bunny I'm just going on and on and on. I guess at some point my body will say to my brain 'enough' and I'll sleep like a log but I'm not quite there yet.

Part of the reason for my sleeplessness was my pump. I must have bent the line or lain on it or something because the alarm jerked me awake around two this morning. As I shifted to find out what was wrong the alarm stopped so I'm guessing I'm right on that count. Of course after that I lay awake waiting for it to go off again. It didn't but for me that was the end of my sleep. I hate that pump. I know without it I wouldn't be here to complain but even so, I hate that pump.

Yesterday was spent, as promised, mostly on the settee watching DVD's, though I did spend half an hour ironing. We were running out of t shirts etc. I also browsed through my cookery books and have come up with a lovely rich chocolate cake for Easter and a gorgeous way to cook lamb. I'm really looking forward to it now, I love family meals.

Today we are without Andrew. He got a call late on Friday offering him a job providing emergency medical cover for an event in Ruislip this afternoon. It is an Easter egg hunt and fare. He knows he'll be mostly applying plasters to grazed knees but he can't turn down the money and the more practical experience he gets ahead of his finals the better.

Peter has an afternoon planned washing and waxing the cars so that leaves me back on the settee. At least I'll have Smirnoff for company. He is being so clingy that it's getting a bit dangerous. Not only did he sit on my paper this morning but when I had my bath he lay across the door. When I walked out of the bathroom I nearly fell over him. Right now he's on my desk fast asleep and snoring, silly cat.

Britain's Got Talent Watch

Yay! It's back!

Last night the new series kicked off and it was just as good as ever. My favourite part of BGT is the relationship between David Walliams and Simon Cowell. It is just brilliant the way Walliams knocks Cowell down every time he starts becomes a bit pompous, which to be fair is most of the time. Of course there is also the very watchable Ant and Dec who always seem to enjoy the acts more than the audience.

The absolute stars of the show, of course, are the acts and last night we kicked off with an Owl called Rocky. Rocky was wonderful. I love Owls and this one was a magnificent specimen with the largest orange eyes I've ever seen. Despite their reputation Owls are rather stupid birds but Rocky's owner was convinced he had the Einstein of the bird world sitting on his glove. Rocky's forte was assault courses and obeying his owner's every word. Rocky was placed on a stand and immediately swiveled his head so he was looking away from his owner. This was not in the plan as in order to 'obey' his owner he first had to see him. After lots of shouting that trick was abandoned and Rocky was placed in front of a blue plastic tunnel. Again after a lot of shouting Rocky decided to give his owner a break and walked through the tunnel. By now the buzzers had gone and Rocky was scooped up and sat staring haughtily at the audience while the owner and his act was pulled to pieces. We were off to a good start.

This magnificent performance was swiftly followed by a drummer in a hamster wheel, no I have no idea either. A violinist who was madly in love with his wife, possibly because she has never told him how bad he is, and the usually cute kids act.

Acts of note were an opera singer, a dancing granny and a boy band.

The opera singer looked like Amy Winehouse. She was the act that had the sob story attached. After the usual 'I've had a terrible life' interview and shots of her mother sobbing away off stage I was less than thrilled. Personally I always think that if you have to rely on tugging at people's heart strings to get through then you haven't actually got a lot of talent. This girl had a good voice but not a stand out voice. However she will be in the live show. A tip for all you BGT watchers out there. If they've bothered to film a sob story the act always go through to the lives, often to be voted off quiet quickly, but they always go through.

The boy band was a surprise. They were better than expected and didn't go for the usual light crowd pleasing song. More to the point they all could actually sing. I suspect they are destined to go a long way in this competition because they are perfect for the teen girly vote.

The we had the granny. I hated this act, not because she was  eighty and her partner was at least forty years younger. I hated this act because I was convinced we were going to see a really badly broken hip somewhere along the way. Her partner threw her around like a sack of potatoes while she gamely hung on for dear life. Now in this year's BGT we have the addition of a gold button. This button can be pressed to allow any act through to the next round without having to go through the vote. For some reason Amanda decided this was the act to get the button.  The world is going mad!

My favourite act, and the act that should have got the gold button without question came from the Ukraine.


This act also got a bit of a back story but I was more sympathetic to pictures of war and a man bewildered by what was happening to his country than I every will be to any 'poor me' tales. The act was fabulous involving humans turned into robots via computers and lots of bright lights. It was mesmerising. The only downside was that it had to be performed in total darkness so we were denied the usual reaction shots of the audience and judges. If that act doesn't make it all the way to the finals then there is no sense or justice in this world.

Finally I'd just like to wish John Fisher the best of luck for the London Marathon today. John had a heart transplant in 2000 and has run the Marathon every year since. This will be his thirteenth. John doesn't run for money, though I suspect he collects a bit, but to raise awareness for organ donation. What a wonderful way to say thank to to you donor and how selfless to use his new life to help other get the same chance. There are no words.

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