Pop Buzz UK

There I was merrily minding my own business last night when an earthquake hit Britain and made me feel like the house was about to collapse. Okay, it was only a minor earth tremor in the big scheme of things, but this is the UK, and earthquakes are not regular occurrences. In fact, this is the first one since 2001, and the first I have ever experienced.

I was actually sitting in the bath at the time, reading a book, and looking forward to bed when the earthquake hit at 12.56am. The bath was probably the worst place to be, as I could feel the water shaking around me, and actually thought the whole unit was going to rip apart and leave me on the floor in a puddle of water.

It’s a really weird experience as not being used to quakes in the UK, it’s not the first thing that goes through your mind. I thought the guy upstairs was banging about at first, and then when the tremor stopped, wondered what on earth could have caused it. Luckily my girlfriend explained, having been in the area when the 2001 one hit, and knowing the signs.

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Oh God, here we go again, the Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne story has gone public again, this time with the former England footballer being sectioned under the mental health act, after being arrested at a hotel in Gateshead.

It seems not a few months can go by without some story or event happening in the life of Gazza, and drag his name, kicking and screaming, back in to the media.

For those that are too young to remember, Paul Gascoigne was one of the most talented soccer players England has ever known, and when he was on form, for both his various clubs, and country, he was up there with the best in the world.

Unfortunately, he was also very highly strung, and didn’t seem to be able to switch off between games. When he was injured just after signing for Lazio in a career making move to Italy, he descended in to a downward spiral of boozing which meant the second half of his career never matched up to the first. Basically, he had a touch of the George Bests.

This latest twist to the saga that is his life, started after he stayed at a hotel near his home town of Newcastle to recuperate from a hip operation.

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Jeremy Beadle, the man best known for being a notorious television prankster, has sadly died of pneumonia in hospital at the age of 59. Beadle had previously battled cancer of the kidney, and then leukaemia, both of which he fought and beat, but died in hospital after contracting pneumonia and being admitted to hospital earlier this week.

The TV funnyman leaves behind wife Sue, daughters Cassie and Bonnie, and stepchildren Leo and Claire.

Beadle was born in Hackney, east London in 1948. He had an unsettled childhood, having to spend multiple times in hospital being treated for a rare genetic disorder called Poland syndrome. This condition stunted growth in his right hand, a disability for which he was mocked in later life.

He started a writing career after a number of different jobs came to nothing, and a career on radio and television beckoned. When he was young, he provided material for stars such as Terry Wogan, Noel Edmonds and Kenny Everett.

He became a well known celebrity in his own right after becoming a presenter on Game for a Laugh, where alongside Matthew Kelly, Henry Kelly and Sarah Kennedy, he would set members of the public up in small pranks.

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Well okay, fourth favourite son after John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, but still, it’s news.

Ringo Starr was born and brought up in Liverpool before joining The Beatles and seeing his whole world turned upside down. Obviously with money, came the opportunity to leave Liverpool, and head off in to the sunset, which of course, all four of them did.

But wait, what’s this I see? Ringo has a new album to promote and so all of a sudden starts playing on his Liverpool roots again, and even turns up to perform at the city’s Capital of Culture launch.

The whole of Liverpool, glad to see the return of one of their local heroes, obviously unfurled the red carpet for him, and gave him the kind of welcome Liverpool is renowned for, although I gather Ringo got to keep his wheels, and his teeth, intact.

While playing the gig at St. Georges Hall, he even went as far as telling the crowd that he was close to returning to live in the city, and wanted to return to his home town. Which went down great, except that he was lying though his teeth.

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Regular readers of Pop Buzz UK will be well aware of my hatred for Jeremy Kyle, his show on ITV, his guests, his smarmy attitude, and everything else which comes wrapped up with the cult of Kyle.

In the past I have laughed at Kyle as Jon Culshaw has done a brilliantly accurate yet scathing impression of him on Dead Ringers, and then gone to town on the hypocritical piece of work as his ex-wife sold her story, and called him a lying, gambling addict.

And now the news is even better, as The Jeremy Kyle Show has been named the worst programme the daytime television schedule has to offer… yes, it’s even worse than Loose Women!

And this isn’t just the worst programme on TV currently, oh no, even though that would be humiliation enough for the irritating cheeseball, it’s been named as the worst EVER.

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All of us loyal Dr Who fans only have a few days left before we can watch the Christmas special, starring Australian pop tartlet Kylie Minogue as the Doctor’s assistant.

Titled Voyage of the Damned, it follows the Doctor trying to persuade passengers on a ship of his magical powers, and in the process saving them from a meteorite storm.

Nice story, original, fun, and it should be exciting to watch. But wait, what is that there on the horizon? It’s some religious zealots who assume once again have taken to assuming everything is about them.

Unbelievable as it may seem, some Christian groups have criticised the programme’s makers for allegedly insinuating that the Doctor is the second messiah. Oh dear God, how the hell did they come to that conclusion.

It’s true that there have been some threads of storyline, and dialogue which have hinted at the fact that the Doctor may be more than just a mere mortal, but that’s because he’s a timelord, not a human. No-one has ever said that the Doctor is the reincarnation of Jesus!

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WARNING: Contains Major Plot Spoilers…

My girlfriend and I went to see The Golden Compass last night and as fans of the book came away slightly disappointed, partly by the amount of changes made from the book, and partly by the fudged ending.

I previewed the film way back in June, when I was super excited about the prospect of seeing one of my favourite books ever be brought to life on the big screen. My review is slightly different…

The casting is pretty much spot on, with Nicole Kidman being perfect for Mrs Coulter, and Ian McKellen doing a fine job as Iorek Byrnison.

Some of the special effects are stunning, with the armoured bears particularly standing out. The whole Iorek part of the story, especially his fight to become king of Svalbard, was the highlight of the film for me, and stopped me walking out in disgust.

The daemons were also well realised, being exactly as I’d imagined them in the books. It must have taken some incredibly detailed work to get so many daemons on screen at one time.

Some of the alterations to the text I could understand, while some I could see no rhyme nor reason for. The ordering of the story is altered substantially, with Iorek becoming king BEFORE Lyra visits Bolvangor.

To people who haven’t read the book, this won’t matter a jot, and the film will probably leave them content. For fans of the book however, there are some glaring omissions, the biggest being the soppy ending.

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I live in the UK, and at times it’s bloody depressing. It DOES rain all the time, we don’t seem to belong anywhere in the world, kind of being European, but not, having a friendship with America, but disagreeing fundamentally on some policies, crime is rising, immigration is continuing at a pace that our island is struggling with etc etc.

And it seems that I’m not the only one getting a bit down on the whole thing, as anti depression tablets are now being prescribed at a massive rate.

A News of the World study found that over 32 million anti depressant prescriptions are issued each year in Britain, which roughly translates to one every SECOND.

Middlesbrough, a town in the north east of England has it worse than anywhere else, with people fromt he area taking £7.58 worth of the drugs each per year.

The whole of the north east of England does badly, with neighbours Gateshead, Redcar, Cleveland, and Newcastle coming next on the list of the saddest places in the country.

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I wrote last week about the lack of available Wii consoles in the UK this Christmas. Unlike the PS3 and Xbox 360, which are both in ready supply everywhere around the country, you’d be hard pushed to find a Wii in any store.

It seems that now, retailers are making the most of the lack of supply, and great deal of demand. When they do get stocks of the Wii in, instead of just offering it on a first come, first serve basis, they are bundling the basic console with games and accessories, which consumers have to buy, and pay a high rate for, if they want to get their hands on a Wii.

MCV carried out research that shows some retailers charging £400 ($850) for a Wii, and extras, which is over double the recommended retail price of the stand alone system.

The trade paper found GameStation, Zavvi, HMV, Toys R Us and Woolworths refused to sell just the consol on its own, selling them only as part of bundle, charging from £250 with two games at HMV to a £400 bundle with five games at GameStation.

Ths has obviously caused controversy and anger amongst gamers, and also parents of children who want nothing more than a Wii for Christmas, and won’t settle for the alternatives such as PS3 and Xbox 360.

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She may have only come third in this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, but Cerys Matthews has probably emerged from the jungle with the most chance of making a million on the back of it, and she’s got a new boyfriend out of the experience too.

On Friday night, the latest series of the massively popular reality show, hosted by Ant & Dec, came to an end, and old school entertainer Christopher Biggins emerged victorious, just scalping ex supermodel Janice Dickinson to the title of jungle King or Queen.

Apart from the always present tension and arguments, the biggest story, and one which certainly kept me interested throughout the 2 weeks the show was on ITV, was the love affair between Cerys Matthews and Marc Bannerman.

They had a connection and a mutual attraction as soon as they met, and their experience in the Australian outback seemed to draw them closer together.

Almost mimicking the romance between Peter Andre and Katie Price from a few years ago, the more time the couple spent together, the more interested in a romance they got. The problem was Bannerman already had a girlfriend on the outside, a long term one who he lived with no less.

He was the first celebrity to be booted out, partly because the public wanted blood, and partly because they thought of him as a bit of a love rat, which he was to a certain extent. But, you also can’t help falling in love, and that seems to be exactly what happened on this occasion.

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Michael Parkinson has been simultaneously interviewing the biggest celebrities, and delighting audiences around the world for over 30 years now, but every career has to come to an end, and Parkinson is no exception.

Earlier this year he announced, via his Radio 2 show, that he would be making this latest ITV1 series of his chat show, the last ever. So to commemorate the occasion there will be three specials to end his reign as the king of chat show hosts.

The second of the specials, to be shown on ITV1 on December 15th is the big one, as it comprises Michael Parkinson’s wish list of guests. He hand picked every person who would appear, a mixture from his many years, and people he looked up to, enjoyed interviewing, and counted as personal friends.

While filming the show, he is reported to have had to fight back tears, no surprise seeing as this seems to be Parky’s final bow in broadcasting, with him also quitting his radio show to write an autobiography and do some travelling.

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Amy Winehouse had a bit of a difficult day yesterday. First of all she went to visit her husband Blake Fielder-Civil in Pentonville prison, where he is currently remanded in custody awaiting trial on charges of perverting the course of justice.

I wrote the full story up on Brit Music Scene, but in a nutshell, he is accused of allegedly trying to fix a trial in which he was accused of assaulting a pub landlord.

While visiting hubby, also a drug addict like Amy herself, The Sun claim she had her famous beehive haircut searched for drugs. Now this could be bullshit, but it made me giggle none the less, so I thought I’d run with it. I’ve never thought of Amy’s beehive being useful for storing things in, but thinking about it, it’s the perfect place!

I can just imagine her having her own pharmacy stored up there, and if she actually combed it, a whole barrage of drug paraphernalia would tumble out on to the ground.

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I’ve made no secret of the fact I’m not a big Jeremy Kyle fan, as I find him one of the most obnoxious people on television. I’ll stand by my appraisal of him as Jerry Springer without the humour or class.

For those outside of the UK, or not a member of the underclass, Jeremy Kyle has a chat show, come agony aunt type programme, which wholly exists to grab the dregs of society off the streets and place them on our televisions for everyone to laugh at. Here’s a spoof clip on YouTube which should help you realise what the show is like.

Jeremy’s role in all this is as the ringmaster and master of ceremonies who conducts his prey as they admit to being a druggie, or of cheating on their partner, or if Jeremy had his way, of being the worst human being ever to have lived on Earth. He pretends he cares, but you can see in his eyes he’s just in it to provide some cheap entertainment for the masses and give himself a nice pay packet.

So I’m overjoyed this fine Monday morning to learn that his ex wife Kirsty Rowley has spoken to a Sunday newspaper and dished all the dirt on him. And it turns out our friendly Jezza is no angel himself, and is actually a “hypocritical liar”.

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The Sunday tabloids have brought another round of the Paul McCartney versus Heather Mills to the attention of the public.

After Heather Mills McCartney (oh how she must hate us still calling her that) went on television to berate McCartney over his behaviour in the divorce settlement row, he is reportedly fighting back by seeking full custody of their Beatrice.

According to the News of the World Paul has already contacted lawyers and instructed them to apply for full custody. He fears Heather is poisoning Bea’s mind against him and his family, especially his fashion designer daughter Stella.

A friend told the News of the World:

“Paul’s main concern is Bea’s safety and well-being. Going for full custody is a last resort but he’s really scared for his child. He doesn’t feel he’s got a choice now.

“And if Heather’s life is at risk, then so is Bea’s. Paul feels he just can’t take the risk any more and wants to know that his daughter is safe and well—and that means being with him.”

“Paul did plead with Heather to consider Bea before she went on these TV shows, but she ignored him. Now he’s deeply concerned their daughter is growing more aware of the public war between them.”

Paul is said to believe that Heather now needs professional help for her obviously perilous mental state. And Heather demonstrated further proof that she may indeed be finding the strain too much when she appeared on yet another television show, and again made claims against the McCartney clan.

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Pop Buzz UK is now over a year old, and in that first month last October I wrote an interesting article about Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills divorce proceedings turning nasty. In a Nostradamus style premonition I titled it ‘Paul Vs Heather Round 1′… and how right I was because it’s still going on.

After last month’s supposedly friendly secret meeting to discuss and hopefully figure out a compromise deal, the gloves are back off and Heather is playing hard ball again. Last month’s meeting ended with both parties walking away claiming the other was unfair and asking for too much, and now Heather has given two TV interviews where she has been quite vicious on a number of the claims.

First of all she told America’s Today show that she had offered Sir Paul (more commonly known as Macca) a “very gentle and quick divorce” but was turned down.

“All I can say is when we first split, I said to Paul: ’I’m going to be crucified. You know why we split. You know the truth. They don’t need to know the details, but you need to stand up and say: “I’m responsible for the breakdown of this marriage.”

’If you say that, I’ll walk away with nothing, and we’ll do a very gentle and quick divorce.’ And he promised he’d do that. I have evidence of that. And he did nothing.�

She then went on to claim that she has so far spent £1.5 million on legal fees. Further justifying her claims on such a huge portion of Macca’s fortune (which she must admit had nothing to do with her influence) she says she put her life on hold for the seven and a half years that the marriage lasted.

She then claimed to have received death threats and without naming names, almost fingered Paul McCartney himself saying:

“Well, I can’t say who I think it is because it will affect our family, but I know a lot of information and, you know, certain people don’t want certain things coming out because of their image.�

Yeah whatever love.

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