BB FANS

Woken up mega early and never going to get back to sleep so thought I'd actually do this this week lol.

The main bit is all about additives in food and what they can do to behaviour, especially for children with the likes of ADHD. The Foods Standards Agency has suggested a voluntary ban on some food colourings next year (yes please!) and he says that if it is going to be good for young people it is good in his opinion.

Remembering Margaret Thatcher used to manage on four hours sleep a night and apparently Myleene Klass does the same.

"Buy one get one tree" scheme which he joined at the end of last year where the manufacturer said that they'd plant a tree for every litre of smoothie purchased. They're going to be planting 164,000 trees in India and will be training farmers who've said they'll look after them meaning they'll have an income for the next 10 years.

Saying Heather Mills should stop making a fuss about everything so much.

Plug for the Student Show which is going to be performed in Aberdeen this week (starting tonight!).

On that note I'm going for a shower! Hope you're all well x

Do you remember the advert “I’m with the Woolwich”? I don’t know how many are these days, but figures show that the biggest slice of the Britain’s mortgaged homeowners are with the Halifax. And in a move last week the UK’s biggest lender raised mortgage rates by between 0.35 and 0.5%, ignoring pleas by Gordon Brown to pass on the Bank of England interest rate cut to struggling homeowners.
The Bank of England cut interest rates recently, but lending institutions are allegedly finding it difficult to translate this cut into reductions for the man in the street. Lenders are blaming the high costs within the money markets for this apparent unfairness.
I was speaking to a friend of mine on the Aberdeen ferry last week who told me that after he and his wife bought their house 21 years ago, mortgage interest rates reached figures of up to 13 and 14% - levels which would undoubtedly cause massive panic and even widespread disaster in the current climate. If we were faced with interest rates in the teens of percent these days we wouldn’t know what to do.
The cost of mortgage borrowing represents over fifteen percent of the average household income these days, compared to just over 9% ten years ago. That’s really half as much again. Despite figures from homeless charity SHELTER showing that the average household income increased by 55% over the same 10-year period, the average price of a first-time-buyer property has seen a meteoric rise. Just over £38,000 would have got you onto the property ladder in 1997 but almost THREE TIMES that figure is required nowadays.
It brought back to mind the timely wisdom from my Dad when I was renovating my house and grumbling about the price of materials. “Just get on with it. It’ll never be cheaper than it is noo.”
And boy was he ever right! House prices in Orkney rose by 91% between 2002 and 2006, substantially more than the national average of 65%. In Scotland as a whole, prices have rocketed by 180% over the last ten years. In theory it’s all very well having a house valued at “X” but what happens if the money’s called in at some stage? Scotland seems to be weathering the storm better than other parts of the country but we have to take more financial care or it’ll end in disaster.


Figures released on Friday should make pleasant reading for Alistair Darling after his recent budget. It was revealed that a whopping two-thirds of motorists who plan to change their cars within the next year are making moves towards a greener option. It’s interesting to note however that 47% are looking for more efficient vehicles purely for financial reasons, whereas just a fifth cited environmental issues as their primary concern when choosing a new car. I must admit I was over the moon when my last trip away returned an average 66.2 miles per gallon. I’ll have to examine whether I was happier saving money or the planet though!


Even though Leona Lewis has just made US music history by becoming the first British singer to debut at No1 in the album charts, I don’t think she’ll still command the fees that Madonna is getting for her upcoming tour. She’s alleged to be getting £7.5m for a one-off gig in Dubai this November. I hope I’m on her Christmas card list!


I love the mementoes and unusual knick-knacks that I pick up on my travels. And some of you will remember my 6ft x 6ft cow portrait which we named ‘Mo the Moo’. But imagine paying £400,000 for the skeleton of a 65 million year old dinosaur like an anonymous American collector did this weekend. Imagine having enough house-room, never mind cash!


As Scottish hard-man John Anderson might say, “Gladiators RETURN”! An all-new series of the action show is back, presented by gorgeous Kirsty Gallacher and Arsenal’s Ian Wright. But it doesn’t seem all that long since it left our screens. I wish they would re-invent programmes like Fawlty Towers or George and Mildred. Real classics with built-in belly laughs.

The main bit includes really interesting statistics on how much can be saved by people cutting down on plastic bags, shops cutting down on packaging etc.

Megan Fox winning the FHM Sexiest Woman poll (I've never heard of her but I think the EE must've distorted the picture as they're oh so good at... she looks like an alien). Kate Moss has been dropped out apparently and Angelina Jolie, Kylie Minogue and Dannii Minogue are still in there.

Being glad about Richard and Judy leaving C4 and how Terry Wogan and Richard Hammond are favourites to fill the gap.

Taxes again and Wesley Snipes getting a jail sentence and huge fine for willfully failing to make a tax return.

Wondering if aspects other than physical and personality ones can be hereditary - after finding an outboard motor in his mum's cupboard wondering if he inherited being a hoarder from her!

I'm away to do a photoshoot tomorrow, something to do with the launch of the new series. I couldn't fit in a trip to London so they're kindly sending a photographer and a journalist up to meet me in Edinburgh. I'll be away when the mag comes out so I hope somebody keeps a copy for me hahaha!

Sorry for being so rubbish and not getting it done at all last week, had so much going on that it just wasn't on my mind.

The main bit is about things he's had the opportunity to do and he particularly likes speaking about the benefits of learning a new language. Mentions a local primary school in Aberdeen which has been teaching some classes in a foreign language since 2000 and apparently the children's skills in English have improved as well as all they've gained from being taught in the other language. Various other info then finishes by recommending people making choices for school/uni etc to choose a language.

People at Bristol Uni developing a new chewing gum that doesn't stick to pavements and the like.

Not usually liking Gordon Ramsay much but agreeing with him saying laws should be brought in that say fresh produce should be used only when it is in season... "a bit extreme, but the man has a point".

Heading off this week to the National Trust cruise again heading to Sweden first then onto Estonia and Russia.

England being called "overweight, celebrity-obsessed and a nation of telly addicts" by the Rough Guide which says various not very nice things about the place... wonders what they'll about Scotland.

Any clues as to what mag we might find these photos? We'll be exausted, if we've to look out for everything, from Good Housekeeping to Vogue. Hopefully you won't be appearing in this 'publication' (warning, not suitable for minors, or well, anyone with good taste!):

http://bbmenuncut.blogspot.com/

'New!' magazine.

Yep, it's new! magazine right enough Jezi old girl - not sure which issue or date etc. though, sorry. You'll know better than me likely anyway, what with your professional connections and all LOL.

Well, on another thread Vilt UK has said that todays issue of New magazine has interviews with all the past winners, so I would imagine it is that one.

It's a nuisance, I have only just come back from the shops. I wish I had known before.

enough of the old girl thank you very much

sorry for being rubbish with this, life keeps being super busy.

LAST WEEK

Property in Spain, with him it is a long-term project but some people have it to make some fast money... good job really as according to the Spanish finance minister it isn't a "good way to make a quick buck" at the moment. Speaks about a lot more people living abroad now but how a lot of them claim they feel homesick and he can't understand how they can say they have a good quality of life if they want to come home all the time.

John Cleese having to pay £75,000 a year to his 3rd wife til their divorce comes through!

Strawberries being very good for you... they have lots of vitamin C, help whiten your teeth and you'd need to eat 12 punnets to get as many calories as one banana.

He was saying how he'd not long set off on the cruise at that point... saying an island he'd be going to an island which belongs to Finland but the inhabitants speak a different language, have their own stamps and their own flag - he says it'll be like going to Shetland.

People paying a ridiculous amount of money for disabled car badges on the black market.


THIS WEEK!

The main bit is all about his trip so far... I really need to go to bed so not going to go into detail but basically it sounds great!!! Will do this bit properly the next time I get a chance.

Problems with flights which nearly created a problem for a girl who was playing violin on the boat but it was all good cos she caught another flight.

Fuel prices and spotting that in Estonia it was only two thirds as much for diesel and petrol as it is here so as well as profits the companies are making people from here are paying tax too.

79% of people in a survey not knowing how to boil an egg or roast a chicken!

Golfer Justin Rose predicting an exciting time for European golf... he sat next to his mother on a trip to Johannesburg and went rallying with his brother too.

Dermot O'Leary gave definitive instructions on how to roast a chicken on BBLB, in the spring of 2007. '180 degrees, 20 minutes per lb*, plus 20 minutes over'.

*(or 45 mins per kg, if you're in the part of Europe that's modern )

Speaking about a travel guide he has been reading written by a lady called Mrs Mortimer in the 1800s who speaks about places despite never leaving Shropshire. He has enjoyed reading her views on the places he has been visiting on the cruise and finding what she says funny. Speaks very highly of St Petersburg.

Opening a market in Stonehaven this Saturday where they're hoping to make £40k.

The post office boss making £3 million a year and being disappointed when thinking how a sum of money like that could help fund some of the rural post offices that are shutting.

Seeing a TV programme where there was a dog in a cage in the boot of a car with a TV to watch!!

BB starting this week and having high hopes for it!

Not having much of an interest in geneaology and not understanding how people can find it so fascinating yet on the other hand he's gripped by cars and gets angry if people know nothing about them but the colour. Says he knows most of the people with the last name Stout from Orkney came from the Fair Isle half way between Orkney and Shetland, they were supposed to be visiting there with the cruise but because there was "too much swell" couldn't go ashore... says he was very disappointed and is now wondering if he's becoming a family history enthusiast after all.

Sick of advice on how to cut down fuel useage saying it is a load of rubbish and should be dealing with the actual problem of tax on fuel.

Being chuffed to see Annie Lennox winning the Glamour prize for inspiration and one of his other top people, Dannii Minogue, winning the award for TV personality of the year.

Finding out statistics of what the people onboard have eaten over the course of the cruise including 3.5 tonnes of beef, 750 litres of ice cream and 21 tonnes of fruit and vegetables.

Being intrigued that half of us never shop from mail order catalogues according to a survey this week and coming to the conclusion most people prefer "face-to-face service".

It is very important for the environment and future generations, that we cut down on fuel usage.

Oh sorry christine probably more the way I summarised it... i think he means the advice their giving is rubbish - he gives examples of the way they're suggesting i.e taking stuff out your car boot, checking tyre pressure and not accelerating too hard.

There's something about saving the planet in it most weeks so don't think he meant it like that.

Sorry!