Robert Hampton

Damn it, I like James Blunt and I don’t care who knows it!

Series 1 of A Bit Of Fry And Laurie is out on DVD in April!

If you’re as excited as I am about this, you might like to know the BBC are bringing out some special commemorative oven gloves, in the shape of special commemorative oven gloves.

…oh Christ, I left the iron on.

From — yes, them again — BBC News:-

Forget learning lines or polishing jokes – having sex may be the best way to prepare for giving a speech.

New Scientist magazine reports that Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley, found having sex can help keep stress at bay.

I wonder if the Queen does this before giving her Christmas message?

I spent an hour typing rude words into Streetmap.

And here are the results: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

I’m going to hell.

Let us honour the great man.

…Bachmann announce they’re going to do a model of a Class 150/2 Sprinter and you actually clench your fist and do the “yes!” gesture.

Watching the tail end of the Snooker Final, waiting in vain for an American Dad episode which never appeared, I was able to draw a couple of conclusions:-

1. Snooker requires an incredible amount of skill. Getting the angle of the cue right; to make the balls roll and bounce off the cushions so that you not only pot one ball, but set yourself up to make the next shot too: it’s not easy. Snooker is a difficult game to play and John Higson or whatever his name is should be praised for his victory.
2. Skilful or not, it is the most tedious thing in the entire world to actually watch.

BBC News 24 have just announced, in hushed tones usually reserved for the death of a Royal Family member, that the whale found in the River Thames has died.

Am I the only one who thinks the media have gone ever so slightly over the top in covering this story? In the normal scheme of things I would expect this to be relegated to the back end of the Six O’Clock News, just before The News Where You Are. I turned on Sky News earlier today and found it in full “Breaking News” mode with graphics flying all over the screen and continuing live coverage.

As of this moment, Google News has found 1,001 stories about the whale; almost as many as the recently announced Iraqi Election Results.

My new credit card arrived today, together with a letter informing me that I need to phone up and activate it before it can be used. “Lines open 7.30am to 9.00pm” it said. I phone up, and it’s an automated system using the touch tone buttons. So why does it have limited opening times? Why can’t it run 24/7? If there’s an obvious reason, I can’t think of it right now.

Cool Runnings II — this time it’s personal.

“Viewers may be pleased to know that Clive Pounds, who died during the making of that programme, has since come back to life.”

My Look Around You Series 2 DVD arrived yesterday, and all other activities ceased while I watched it. I ended up watching all 6 episodes plus all the extras in one go, which I don’t normally do except in cases of extreme brilliance such as this. A lot of people slagged off series 2 when it was shown, and I cannot comprehend why, especially when it was packed full of lines like the one above.

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Today’s news story straight out of a sitcom script comes from Leeds.

The Guardian makes quite a good point about the whole Sven-Goran Eriksson thing: why do people keep falling for the fake sheikh? You’d think after two or three times they’d catch on and learn to be just a bit more wary about a total stranger turning up with an invite to an evening of champagne-quaffing.

Still, I’m not going to be too hard on Eriksson — it can’t be easy to manage a football team and make all those mobile phones too.

The Merseyrail line which runs past my house is closed every weekend until the end of January. A minor inconvenience, although to hear my parents’ reaction you’d think we were completely cut off from the rest of the world. If only there were some form of public transport which ran on roads instead of rails…

I’m working on a new design for the site. The black text on yellow background looked OK when I first did it, but seems a bit drab now. My new favourite font is Trebuchet MS, so expect to see that everywhere.

And yes, I will get the “About Me” page done.

Here’s an advert I found in the February 2006 issue of Model Rail magazine. I’ve circled a part of the ad which I thought was slightly strange. Have a look and see if you agree:-