The reward is my Shephard, I shall not want

Can anyone top this for a less inspiring "prize"?

'Ray of sunshine'? It would put me right off my Smacks

Having said that, it might be fun to discuss shared interests in actors and films. Perhaps, to take an example entirely at random, we could discuss the masterly qualities of Forest Whitaker and how he does that thing with his eye*



* I once saw Mr Shephard actually ask James McAvoy this question while promoting The Last King of Scotland

Tae Kwon Doh!

Had to read this a couple of times before I realised that 'Pan To' was not another form of martial art.

He's behind you! (and about to break your back with a flying kick)

Bipping off my bosh 'til my pips mosh

"Open wide and say urghhhhh...."

I'm all for nice graphic design and doing everything possible to make a course as attractive as possible. Plus I like passion fruits. Really, I'm a fan. But this is disgusting. It looks like an eel with an oral yeast infection. Or the aftermath in Billy's bedroom when the Gremlins hatch.

Livin' in a box

On Saturday we got very excited by this appearing on our TV screen:


Can you guess what it is?


It's the first fruits of my Christmas present: a wireless bird box camera! After hours of fiddling about drilling holes in the box, crafting waterproof storage for the battery pack, attaching this pack to the tree, improvising a wedge from newspaper to ensure the camera points the right way etc etc, we finally got the box up and connected at 5pm on Saturday. We then tried the TV to check that the signal was working. And success! A blue tit (honest, that blob at the bottom is a blue tit) had immediately nipped in and was settling down for the evening. I know the focus isn't great, but that's my fault and not that of the equipment (in taking the lens cap off I knocked it but didn't realise until we switched the TV on).

Excitment was tempered somewhat on Sunday: the signal went and we couldn't see anything on screen. Whether that is due to the constant rain affecting things, or a problem with the battery connection I don't know. We're planning to ditch the battery pack and string a cable across the garden to a plug but that will have to wait for the timebeing. All being well though we'll be back streaming soon and *hopefully* some nest-building and bird family action: I look forward to Springwatch from my very own sofa. CP can be Kate Humble but the annoying one with too many glasses and a braying laugh is not welcome.