Media Diet Week 40

Press: I seem to have ever less time to read the press and I'm not sure why that is. I'm not going out more at present than I was a few months ago, nor am I spending more time on the computer. If anything, I'm spending less, the PC slack being taken up by a slight increase in my TV viewing. So I was rather surprised today to find myself clearing out a barely read copy of BBC Good Food, pausing only to rip out 3 recipes. New purchases this week included Great British Food, bought for research with a view to pitching (a previous copy acquired for the same reason got lost in the house move) but I'd like to find the time to read it for pleasure too, and Bizarre, as it has a story in it on a campaign I'm involved with. I don't usually read Bizarre as it's just not quite my thing even though it ought to be, so this is a rare purchase for me.

Blogs: Technorati seems to have finally started resolving its problems. My blogs are being pinged again and I'd like to think it's cos I had a moan last week. On the downside, my RSS reader Bloglines is now playing up and being very slow at picking up feeds. I have a back-up in Google Reader but I prefer Bloglines for a number of reasons so I hope this is a temporary blip. I have become obsessed with a new blog called The Bureau, largely because the author clearly belongs to my professional body but their identity is maddeningly elusive. I am clearly more pedantic than Bureauista, though I draw the line at grammar nazism.

TV: I've noticed that my TV consumption has increased slightly. Ok, it's doubled. Probably. But all that means is that I'm probably averaging 90 minutes a day rather than 45 (an episode of EastEnders plus the news headlines, maybe). Naturally, I'm watching Strictly Come Dancing again this year, but I'm irritated by the length of the results show. An hour is over-egging it and I find myself tuning in just for the last 20 minutes. There are also far too many couples this year and I fear the BBC is stretching its brand to the limit. There's cashing in on a hit show and there's alienating loyal viewers. We really do not need Claudia Winkleman on 5 nights a week for 16 weeks. My new secret vice, though, is Katie and Peter: The Next Chapter. I hate reality TV yet I find this weirdly addictive, not least because Jordan has had so much "work" done on her face that her upper lip is becoming a star in its own right. Lesley Ash must be weeping at the loss of her trout pout title.

Books: deeply engrossed in The Arsenic Labyrinth right now. As crime novels go, so far it's shaping up very nicely. And as crime novelists go, Martin Edwards just gets better and better. The Blair Years is still on hold...

Media Diet Weeks 16/17

Press: swanning off to Cyprus in the middle of last week meant I had almost no news between Tuesday 5 April and Thursday 24th. I was given a free copy of the Manchester Evening News at the airport, which I promptly thrust in my hand luggage. It remained unread for 5 days, at which point I discovered Bez from Happy Mondays had made the front page for being made bankrupt again. Er, right. Scintillating stuff. (Not.) Surely a city of Manchester's size and stature could produce a bigger story than that? But apparently not. You can see why I didn't miss the news...

Blogs: not much to report here. I logged into Bloglines once while I was away, felt overwhelmed at the sight of 90-odd unread feeds that had clocked up in just a couple of days and promptly logged out again. Sally at Getting Ink wrote a very thoughtful post on the elusive work/life balance. Her post and the subsequent comments apply whether or not you have spawn. I don't, but still struggle to separate work and personal stuff at times and it's a particular issue for freelances. Something to muse on this weekend.

TV/radio: I tuned into Radio 2 bright and early this morning to learn that the great Humphrey Littleton has left us. He always made me cry with laughter on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. I'm sure I'm at the end of a very long queue of people who will miss his splendid wit and musical talent. I didn't miss the TV much while away - it was easy to catch up with EastEnders and The Archers by reading the web synopses and iPlayer will come in handy this afternoon to catch up on last Saturday's Doctor Who episode, the only programme I really felt deprived of. Hotel telly is never much cop. As usual, the main offering was BBC World, which is just about tolerable for global headlines but little else. This channel only seems to produce about one documentary a week, which is then repeated endlessly and plugged even more. I started to go crazy after 2 days of adverts for a programme on trafficked Nepali women, which seemed to be shown every 15 minutes between the headlines and weather. While I feel for the plight of these women, the relentless plugging only served to turn me off watching. Make of that what you will, Aunty...

Books: I just managed to finish Martin Edwards' The Cipher Garden before my trip and am not sure whether to be cross or pleased that he managed to mislead me so wonderfully over the ID of the murderer. I took Tom Reynolds' Blood, Sweat and Tea away with me for a holiday read as it was both light-hearted and thought-provoking. And now I've just started Blitzed! by Steve Strange, for yet another take on the events of my misspent youth.

Media Diet Week 15

Press: it's been a busy week, meaning I've had little time to do more than just skim my papers online over the last 7 days. I've not even opened a magazine, apart from Press Gazette, which arrived late as usual.

Blogs: Roy Greenslade pointed me in the direction of Kristine Lowe, who has an intelligent and thoughtful take on hacking and blogging. Meanwhile, those delightful Churners managed to churn themselves. Foot, mouth, etc... never mind, lads - keep up the good work!

TV/radio: so, farewell Hotel Babylon for another year. You kept me mindlessly entertained for 2 whole months and I shall miss you. And with Torchwood gone for more than a whole week already, my evenings are infinitely duller. Compensation arrived in the form of a new series of Doctor Who, although after a better-than-expected start last week in episode 1, the very annoying Catherine Tate reverted to being Shouty Chav Donna (as in the Xmas special in 2006) in episode 2. Tut. How depressing. If she carries on like this and Tennant goes too, I may skip season 5 altogether. At least the recreation of Pompeii was good and the script was fabulous - I lost track of the number of in-jokes and witty references to other classic TV series. The only redhead more irritating than Tate is, of course, Bianca in EastEnders. My eardrums are still ringing from Friday's slanging match with Riiiiickaaaaaay!

Books: I'm close to finishing Martin Edwards' The Cipher Garden and (for once) I think have worked out whodunnit well ahead of the ending. I will definitely be seeking out the next in the series and also looking out for his Liverpool series of crime fic. I also have the new Val McDermid on my stack to be read. I always love a good rummage in the huge number of charity shops in my vicinity. They are a great place for finding out-of-print titles - this week, I picked up a copy of Gerard Depardieu's cookery book, as well as Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Food. Yes, apart from the ridiculous number of dictionaries and crime novels at Wordsmith Towers, there is a vast collection of cook books....

Media Diet Week 14

Press: once again I found myself buying the Guardian and the Sun to read on a train. I'm so used to reading online editions now that hard copies just feel, well, odd. The main plus is that I get to do the sudoku and crossword. I'm starting to like Look. I mean, what's not to like? It's a quid. It rounds up the best high street fashion each week. And it has short and snappy sleb features such as "Amy Winehouse: why I can't give up drugs". I bought another issue this week and feel drawn in. I tell ya, it'll be downhill from here on in.

Blogs: the hot tip right now is The Churner Prize. Sheer brilliance. As a hack who deplores churnalism, this blog really nails the culprits. Name and shame is my motto (well, one of them, anyway) and this does it admirably.

TV/radio: I've had a crazy busy week, leaving little time for much viewing and listening, but it has to be said, dahlinks, that this week when it came to TV, the star of the show was me. I got to sit in Jeremy Paxman's chair and be quizzed by the inestimable Race Noddy and, and, AND win the debate on points. What could be better? And thank gawd yet again for iPlayer, which will allow me to catch up on the Apprentice, EastEnders and owt else I've missed due to illness and propping up Aunty single-handedly. I did catch the finale of Torchwood - suffice to say I was shocked that Owen and Tosh got killed off. I guess they had better offers before season 3.

Books: I've started The Cipher Garden. So far so good, despite being only 100 pages in. I trust Martin Edwards not to let me down. I like the Daniel Kind and Hannah Scarlett characters, both of whom are developing admirably. Other crime-fic writers should take note. This is an easy, undemanding read yet with a very decent layer of complexity that requires close attention.