Today I have graduated from obsessing about pop stars, wonderfully good lucking soap stars and the like even being able to get all the women in the house off the telephones so I can use it. This was before everyone had a mobile telephone or two for those that can’t relate.

However, todays obsessions seem to firmaly routed in technology. Even for teenagers or should I say especially for teenagers. Gone are the days of visiting one another privately in each others bedrooms and oggling posters of soap stars, boy bands and dishy actors. todays youth have a new electronic obsession. Its still top secret and hiding somewhere in the PC or the Mobile or iphone or whatever new gadget they come with next. They can’t even seem to walk anywhere anymore without one of these new fangeled running gadgets! Teenagers will find a way to keep it top secret. Todays obsessions are no longer in paper magazines or selotaped/nailed to the wall.

The new obsession of today is called facebook. It’s a “social” utility. So instead of visititng each others bedrooms, even when its half way across town, the new obsession is “facebook”. This computer application is so “social” that one finds one’s teenager barricading themselves in their room with nothing other than this annoying machine called a computer/laptop/PC and typing into it!

This PC that connects to the internet via a bunch of wires and is so exiting doesn’t seem to be so much fun at first glance. Its that machine you type into that people say, especially teenagers and computer science types can do lots of stuff if you believe the hype, but usually turns itself off and loses all your work in the middle, “freezes” or won’t do what you want it to right when your almost done.

You know I heard on the radio that the second highest number of face book new users is no longer teenagers. Its fast becoming adults in their 30s and 40s! What a surprise they say. I don’t. Its not rocket science. We are spying on you youngsters. That’s right. Watch out. We are now on facebook too and I feel I must admit fast becoming obsessed with it ourselves–

I bought the iPhone a few months ago to replace my old fashioned phone-phone (it didn’t do anything apart from calling people) I never realised how much more I needed from a phone working in locum jobs for doctors until I had my new toy! I knew that the iPhone could do a few extra things, but I could have never imagined that I would use it pretty much every minute of my life and that it would become my next big love! The first thing I do in the morning after being awaken by the alarm clock on my iPhone, is grab my iPhone to check emails. Then I use my iPhone to check whether there have been any updates on facebook and let my friends know that I am awake and am eating toast. I then put radio on my iPhone to keep me company while I am getting ready to leave for work. On my way to work I check for traffic updates and tube closures on my iPhone, as well as take some pictures of the beautiful neighbourhood I am in. I look for a restaurant to eat in and read the newspaper on my iPhone, I keep tabs on my patients, I use it to measure how long my run is, how many calories I have burnt and how fast I have ran. I also use it to control my diet and find out whether I have had the 40-30-30 carb-fat-protein distribution in my food. I watch some live tv on my phone before going to bed and I kiss it goodnight before placing it to rest next to me before I wake up to its beautiful duck sound in the morning.

iPhone, I love you!

But what annoyed me more than the lack of sleep due to nightmarish visions of tequila-swilling piglets was the street light right outside my window. The damn thing glowed like a beacon, and came flooding through my curtains every single night.

I could have done with being able to turn the thing off. Which is why I am very jealous of this post here.

…Because apparently in some places the residents have that power!

This is not a joke!

Now, us lot in England and Wales and Scotland might not be known for our energy saving initiatives (and certainly we can’t compete with the rest of the world yet), but according to Enigin we are catching up fast (or fast-ish). Which is good news all round. Yes, we may not have the biggest country in the world but we need to get rid of the idea that that means we don’t have to do as much and we can just kick back and relax and wait for China to sort themselves out. The only way we will halt global warming is by all pulling together.

The mere mention of the name of this delectable man brings a broad smile to my lips. What is not to like about Richard Armitage? With his towering, lean, and muscular frame, enigmatic blue eyes, razor- sharp nose, and that swoon worthy smile, he is a god amongst men. And to top that, he is a seriously gifted actor.

I have been dreaming of Richard ever since I caught a fleeting glimpse of him on television. The memorable face was instantly etched in my mind and I started frantically enquiring about the man who owned that face. Finally, I discovered that it was Richard Armitage in the BBC production of North and South.

Obviously, I had to watch the film. And what a treat it was for me! The film was crafted elegantly and truthfully, the drama was compelling, the characters were well drawn, and the love story between the main protagonists was fraught with romantic tension. I loved every moment of it and I particularly loved watching Richard, who played the dark, brooding, and entirely irresistible John Thornton. I was awed by his intense voice. As Thornton, Richard smoldered with suppressed emotions and only allowed momentary glimpses into his soul through expressive eyes and rare, almost beatific smiles.

Immediately, I watched Robin Hood, where Richard was Guy of Gisborne. I wondered who could back the hero when the villain was so much more preferable. Armitage, with his long dark hair and tormented eyes, was devastatingly handsome as Guy. He was culpable but so driven and anguished that even as an antagonistic character, he attracted sympathy. Richard shed his powerful persona to play the low-key Harry Kennedy in The Vicar of Dibley, but even there he oozed charm.

It is just divine to know that there is someone like Armitage, not just beautiful and talented but modest as well. I read his messages to his admirers and appreciate his good humor and sincerity. It is evident that he loves his work. But, I love Richard Armitage most because of his ability to become the character he portrays. I can clearly picture him now, as my favorite Thornton, arrogant, vulnerable, intense, and unbelievably handsome (and if I had my way, streched out on a big beach towel…)

Everyone has a favorite celebrity. There is just something about celebrities that draw us to them. My favorite celebrity is an actor. I think Johnny Depp is the ultimate actor. I have seen everything that he has been in. All the way from What’s eating Gilbert Grape through the most recent Alice in Wonderland.

Johnny Depp is such a fantastic character actor. He can play everything from a leading man to a pirate. He is able to take a character and just make it absolutely believable. There are a lot of good actors out there. To me Johnny Depp does not just act a part he seems to become the character. By becoming the character he brings it to life on the screen. It never feels like you are watching Johnny Depp as a character that he is playing. It always feels like you are just watching the character that is in the movie.

I think it takes a lot of skill to bring a character to life that way. Johnny Depp has proven time and time again that he can be more than a character actor. He could have just as easily been a leading man in any movie that has come out. Johnny Depp seems to prefer to push the limits and push himself by playing so many different characters. He was just as believable in Benny and June as he was playing Edward Scissorhands.

If you have not seen very many of Johnny Depps movies you should check some of them out. Whether you are in the mood for a comedy or a drama there is a Johnny Depp movie for you. The next time you are debating on a theme for your movie night you should consider doing a Johnny Depp movie marathon.

Right before I log off, I need to have a little bit of a gloat. I have just bought the smartest newton running shoes that I have ever owned. First wore them to the London marathon this past weekend, it was an amazing thing to behold!

Some people believe that technology will ultimately destroy us, while others believe that when the natural end comes – something that came for the dinosaurs, apparently, and that will inevitably come for us – it will be the one thing capable of saving and protecting us from civilization-ending doom.

Technology and its infiltration in to every facet of our daily lives is the subject of discussion at the following link.

It’s an impossible debate, of course, one fraught with hypocrisy and un-win-able arguments that go round and round, morphing in to yet more unsolvable questions, spiraling out of control. Some things are indisputable, such as that without advances in technology there is no way our modern world could function in the way it does. But, had these things not come in to being, some believe that our lives would have remained purer. In other words, it is the opinion of some that humans were never supposed to have what we now have and that we are now cursed. There is no way back. These people argue that we should have stayed living like the animals that we fundamentally are, and that we have disrupted everything by progressing at such lighting speed.

Whatever side you take, nobody can say that there is nothing good about technology. It’s allowed us to solve complex medical problems, saving thousands, if not millions of lives, and it has connected the planet in a way that allows families to communicate wherever they are. I say embrace what we have, and let us hope that it takes us in the right direction.

I was born with the unfortunate disposition of not looking like Peter Andre. Something which I have tried to correct for many years, and something which is only just beginning to change (through, among other things, many appointments at Botox Manchester). Peter is my life, you see. I have made it my duty to do Peter proud for as long as I live. My name is Malcolm, by the way.

I loved ‘Mysterious Girl’. That’s what the shrine in my bedroom is mainly about: it’s an ode to Peter and the best song of all time. It’s my special, sacred thing and nobody else is allowed to go near it. To make the ode stand out from all the other Mysterious Girl odes in existence I play Mysterious Girl constantly, directly out of the cardboard cut-outs mouth. That way whenever I come home Peter is there and he is singing to me. I stand before him and I say “I love Mysterious Girl, how did you know?”

The muscles were the hardest thing. They took a long time. Getting the exact same look as Peter is not easy, you know. It takes absurd discipline and months of labour: but I have a secret weapon which helps me through this. I have a fake Katie ‘Jordan’ Price.

I realized at the start of my fascination that Peter gets all his power from Jordan. This is his life-force. So I knew then that I needed my own fake Jordan. That is why I employ a woman called Janine to be on the end of a phone twenty-four hours per-day. I can call Jordan any time and she will whisper in my ear, aiding my quest to become the re-imagining of Peter Andre. The Peter Andre that Peter Andre should have been–

This will sound harsh, but it’s the truth: people who do not use filtered water to make tea do not deserve the privilege of a tea! Sound a bit serious and over-the-top? Well, that’s as maybe but it doesn’t change the facts! Tea which is not filtered is grim, leaves white scum in the kettle and is the major threat to the future of tea. Is it any wonder that the masses flock to coffee? No, I don’t think it is. It’s very simple. Use a filter when you get a guest around. Otherwise expect dire consequences!

People get scared when they invite me around for tea, probably because they understand the risks that such an invitation possesses. My day job is a tea-tasting expert, you see: so I know good tea and, well, bad tea is enough to seem like a major insult to not only my profession (and it is a profession, few people can really understand and explain the incredible qualities of tea) but my very being. It’s a spit in the face. Which is why I don’t get invited to tea very often, I suppose. But that’s fine to me. If I am to be subjected to awful hard-water, third-world quality and general carelessness, I don’t want to visit a person’s home, you see. Anyone else would be the same if their life revolved around perpetuating the qualities of tea for future generations.

Sometimes I visit schools to spread the tea word. They key, I find, is to catch the kids early before they get subjected to mum and dad’s sub-standard useless tea (it really generally is). That way, they go home that day with an idea in their mind of what tea is really all about. They are never to be corrupted by a bad cup of tea: something which can take many years to pull a child free from!

The payment has finally come through for that last freelance job that I did, you all know what that implies, it’s about time to hit the shops and pick up that new running watch that I have been waiting to get. Pauline, are you up for a treck into London this week?

Customer service isn’t everyone’s strength–to put it lightly. In fact, some companies’ idea of customer service consists of a harrowing (and sometimes frighteningly) bored voice on the end of a line which sounds like it couldn’t care less…sometimes it barely even sounds human; in the worst cases it may even be automated, forcing the user to undergo a tortuous hour or more of button pushing, sometimes resulting in the line going dead…

But not everyone is like that, of course. Some businesses really do care a great deal about how they are perceived and who it is they are serving. One of them is energy-saving breathe of fresh air Enigin. By clicking the following link you can find out more about how this company makes their customers lives that much easier.

And it isn’t only a voice on the end of the phone (and an enthusiastic voice at that) which is ready and willing. There are PDF downloads and guides to an all manner of things, too, which cover all the frequently asked questions and then some. Enigin are pretty sure that they have all the bases covered, but if they haven’t, they will be happy to help you out any way they can. All you have to do is ask.

Another important aspect of Enigin is that it is a global enterprise, and therefore able to help anyone, no matter of their location. Enigin does not comprise of one inaccessible headquarters which controls the company, rather it is made up of many different partners and smaller headquarters located all over the world. And with all of these people committed to helping out the consumer, you don’t need to look far to get the help you need.