Post Eurovision chill down

I apologise for a particularly long and bitchy post.

Its all about eurovision... so you don't have to bother reading it if you don't wanna.

Well. That was the most crap eurovision I have ever watched. I thought the presenters were shocking and the humour in the little Finnish interludes between the entries were disturbingly tragic and childish for such a lovely nation.

I have also never witnessed so much shameless political voting in my life. Yes, I know it always happens, but I watch this every year ok. Seriously... I print the score card and everything. I actually love the show - well used to love it.

I am appalled that Serbia won. It was a miserable song with strange dancing and touchy strokey girls prancing about in imperial German wear or some utter rubbish. The singer her/himself looked like a cross between Penfold from Dangermouse and Jimmy Cranky and it was outstanding simply because it was bad.

The trouble is you have 13 or 14 former eastern block/commie states including their mother ship nation Russia all voting for each other. The rest don't stand a chance to be fair.

I must admit there were some pretty random votes from the western countries to countries i SERIOUSLY doubt anyone watching phoned in a voted for. I mean COME OFF IT! There should be some way where we can view the call breakdown because I think its boll***s to be honest.

I have just been looking at a website (www.songcontestvoting.com/eurovision) that gave the predictions based on who 'fans' thought was going to win.


Here is the line up:
1st. Serbia
2nd. Turkey
3rd. Greece
4th. Georgia
5th. Ukraine

Check out my predictions based solely from watching the show and marking dance/outfit/performance/song:
1st. Russia 12pts
2nd. Sweden 10pts
3rd. Hungary 8pts
4th. Greece 7pts
5th. Latvia 6pts
6th. Slovenia 5pts
7th. Finland 4pts
8th. Spain 3pts
9th. Belarus 2pts
10th. Moldova 1pt

Heres the actual 'winners'

1st Serbia (WTF???)
2nd Ukraine
3rd Russia
4th Turkey
5th Bulgaria


Now take a look at the what the site says about how they got their predictions:

"They could only vote once and, where possible, were prevented from voting for their own country. Results were converted to Eurovision scores (1-12). If eligible countries didn't vote in the poll then we tried to fill in the gaps using data from our main survey on which countries they were 'most likely' to vote for.



So as you can see its all a load of Boll**ks. Serbia's song, Molitva, was apparently a heartfelt plea to an estranged lover with religious overtones. The obviously religious Serifovic said she would celebrate her victory with 'litres' of white wine. A nice Christian thing to do... go and get wrecked. "I can't lie to God as I kneel down and pray. You're the love of my life," cried Serifovic as five bouffant backing singers touched her back in support.
The dancing was like a slow-motion lesbian porn film.

Unfortunately the singer Jimmycranky/Penfold aka Marija Serifovic has an unusual resemblance to a particularly horrid Slovakian by the name of Ivana which made the whole thing even more unpleasant for me.

Here is a picture of Ivana drawn by my sister sophi and then a pic of Maria...




Hmmm I forget which one is which now. Maybe they are cousins or something.

The man about to be dunked is Ivana's boyfriend. Poor poor thing.




Anyway, here is a GENUINE result from this houses jury...

This was my rough draft of the score card...
I shall not be watching another eurovision.
And finally, a quote from http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/34098005cp.shtml

"Furthermore most fans either don’t think ‘neighbourly’ voting exists or that it’s just a bit of fun. Only 28% of UK respondents (and 24% overall) thought suspect voting patterns were reducing the contest to a farce."

SHUT UP!! Serbia was awarded the competition's maximum score by five of its eight neighbours.

These are obviously NOT fans because eurovision is now BLATANT and SHAMELESS neighbourly political voting and IS a complete farce.

I am sad to say this was my last Eurovision. Its too difficult for me to watch it anymore because it simply isn't a true reflection of the song/act/dance/outfit quality any more.

In fact maybe they should just get around a table and vote for which country they like best, o want to trade with/exploit and save the general public from the excitement of thinking there really is a contest in the first place.

...and yes, I am now off to enjoy the rest of my life.

YAY EUROVISION TONIGHT

Oh yeah. The event of the year (so far!)

Its Eurovision tonight!!

I love that show. Because I have sky plus I record it and watch it about 45 minutes after the start... that way *wicked cackle* I can fast forward all the junk and that stupid Irish idiot trying to crack jokes all the time. WAKE UP FOOL. You are the joke!

I don't know why he slags off every entry... if he doesn't like the job.. resign!! I would do it in a blink!!

I know its tongue in cheek, but there IS a limit.

So, I am off to work now. I have 4 pupils this morning, scattered across the shire. One of them is a new pupil who got mucked around by her last teacher.. so we shall see. Normally there is a reason why teachers muck their pupils about.... normally to get rid of them! Hope this isn't the case and it really is that she was just a doddery old lady who was getting senile.

Back soon peeps.

Oh, and I am not hungry this morning. At all. Go figure.

The Alli Diet Pill Marketing Blitz

You'll be hearing all about Alli everywhere soon. This diet pill is going to be advertised heavily this year. Over 150 million dollars will be spent in just one year to promote this drug. That would buy quite a few celebrity endorsements. It's the first diet pill drug to be approved for sale over the counter, without needing a prescription.

See the New York Times article about the Alli advertising promotion by GlaxoSmithKline.

Alli works by preventing the body from absorbing some of the fat one eats. This could have some very uncomfortable side effects if one eats too many fats.

Tired, bored and not feeling very slim

Hi all,
Finally I am able to post! Did a minesweeper and found loads of junk on my PC from where DS has been playing games. It totally slowed the whole thing down and kept crashing. Thanks to 'spybot search and destroy' its got rid of all the spyware.

Anyway, I didn't have much to write... getting ready for the holiday and buying lots of things.

My clothes I ordered from La Redoute have still not arrived and I am really wanting to try them on. I don't have much time left to get something else if they don't fit!

I am in a bit of a grump today. The weather is horrid. It rained all night long, which will help the new grass seed, but everything was wet and horrible this morning. I hate brushing past every ones hedges and getting soaked. Some people don't trim their hedges well and when you call on them you have to navigate their huge bush/hedge and get a wet coat, skirt and usually feet too. The drops drip down into your shoes all cold and yuk.

Thankfully today we didn't encounter any big bushy hedges or roaming overgrown paths which was great. Nature is so wild really. Just a couple of weeks is all it takes to make what was trim and beautiful all back to a mess again.

So, this week I have mostly been 'not pleased' with not losing weight last week. I have been trying to keep to a 3 meal a day kind of thing this week. I had readybrek one morning for breakfast and yesterday I had fruit and fibre. Today I have a slice of toast. Lunch has been a bit weird. Wednesday I had a tuna and pasta salad from Tesco. Very tasty. Went down fine.Yesterday I had an egg mayo sarnie from the bakery of which I ate the majority but had to leave the last corner as I knew if I ate any more I would puke. So I stopped well before the pain/water and saved myself that agony. Today I haven't had anything yet... but I think I will have beans on toast or something similar.
We have had WFF meals for our evening meals which are calorie controlled and nutritionally balanced so did ok there.

I just feel un-slim and bleugh.

I have got to go to work later on, so I will update my blog after I get back.
I have posted my 3 month post lap band photo on the Photo Gallery... You can then see the successive changes that are being made by each months weightloss. I can see a difference from post surgery to now, and even though I only lost 3 pounds last month, I think my body shape has definitely changed for the better from the last photo. At the end of the day, its what I look like that is important, not what the scales say I am.

Anyway, hoping to feel a bit slimmer later.

*UPDATE*
Well the clothes arrived from La Redoute and EVERYTHING fits!! how about that... even the 18's!! I am really pleased. Last year the stuff I was wearing on holiday was 24-26. I am thrilled.

Also, just before I went to work, DH made me some cheese on toast. I only had a slice of toast for brekkie today, so I thought I had better eat something. I managed half a slice of toast. I bit into it and it didn't feel good on the way down. I had a few nibbles, and then scraped all the cheese off it because I thought this might not be going so well, but only a few more short chews and I was doubled up with DH having to pat my back like a baby until it passed. The patting really helps. I don't know whether it helps to get the food down, or takes your mind of the pain in the chest, but it certainly works for me. This episode was not productive in any way... no extra saliva or anything, just the excruciating indigestion thing.

DH realised when I needed help. He was in the kitchen talking to me and asked me a question about something. Then DS came up and started piping in as kids do and asking me something like "can I go play with X friend today pleeeeease" and I could not answer either of them. I simply couldn't speak. So DS kept asking me and DH kept asking me and in the end I just yelled "AHHHH Can't talk!!!" and then DH rushed over and started thumping me on the back. It took a good 10 minutes to get it together and tell them that "NO he couldn't play with X" and "Yes, I will be back in time for dinner".

Ahhh the joys of banding.

then this evening, considering the fact that I had had a slice of bread this morning, and half a slice of bread at 3pm, I was not that hungry this evening....
It was Spanish omelette with chips and peas for dinner tonight. As I was putting it on the plate I said to DH: "I don't think this is going to go too well". I was right. I had to stop a third of the way through. I had eaten about half the omelette, half the peas and about 8 chips. I had to stop for quite a while. I then gingerly continued with the omelette but left the chips and peas.

I have just finished my pudding - a small portion of apple crumble and custard. Just to let you know, these puddings come from WFF as well. They come in a microwavable container about the size of a muller corner yogurt. That should give you an indication of the size. When I say small portion... I really do mean small! But why is it that the puddings go down fine? Typical huh.

I think TB and her husband are coming over this evening... DH said something about it earlier. Hope so as I haven't seen my mate for at least 2 days! :o) I am getting withdrawal!! HA HA

Anyway, better go... need to catch up on Home and Away. I love that show, but its not that good at the moment. Need something to spice it up... new characters of something.

The Best Diet: Volumetrics

Consumer Reports has just released the results of their research on diets and diet books. They have awarded Volumetrics the prize for being the best diet plan.

The Volumetrics Eating Planwas developed by Barbara Rolls, a professor in the department of nutritional sciences at The Pennsylvania State University.

The main point behind the Volumetrics Eating Plan is to focus your eating on foods that have fewer calories per bite, or low 'energy density' foods. The idea is to eat lots and lots of fruits and vegetables.

It's been shown that people who eat a low energy diet end up consuming several hundred fewer calories per day than those with a high density diet. Yet they eat a much greater amount of food in total. It's all about feeling full on fewer calories.

In the picture here, the first small dish of macaroni and cheese has more calories than the second much larger portion. The second dish replaces regular pasta with whole-wheat pasta, uses less cheese and butter and piles on the vegetables.

Ricki Lake Loses 125 Pounds

Ricki Lake has lost over 125 pounds. She was on "The View" last week and was offered the cover of US Weekly Magazine within 48 hours of being on the show.

She's lost the weight without any help from any kind of weight loss surgery. She was partially motivated to lose the weight in order to make her documentary about home birth in the tub. She's outspoken about the negative aspects of hospital births and the pressure for women to have cesareans. Cesarean births make up about 40% of births in many hospitals.

She'll be making a cameo appearance in John Travolta's "Hairspray" remake this summer.

Story Source: Ricki Lake Wows the Glossies

Gluten Free Diets are Trendy

Gluten-free diets are becoming increasingly popular.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. A lot of people consider it a culprit in all sorts of ailments ranging from upset stomachs, arthritis, depresion, acne, infertility and gas. Avoiding all foods with flour products is becoming an increasingly popular dieting trend.

See a good article about this in the New York Times today.