N is for News

When it comes to reading the news, I stick to a chosen few websites and have my favourite sections to scour too. By no means, do I visit all these news websites every day - I'm not a news junkie. I usually read the BBC new website for the main stories of the day, for local news, sport and the Science and Environment section. The Telegraph website is also a good choice for world news and science, but the best section is the Weird News. You can find all sorts of funny stuff there. I'm not really one for celebrity gossip, but I confess I do often look through the stories on the Femail section of the Mail Online (sshhh) - although I often don't have a clue who they are referring to - Honey Boo Boo, Frankie Essex???? I think it's probably better to be in the dark about most of them.

Today I thought I'd share a couple of the weirder stories that caught my eye. The first one is the rather unsurprising news that men take six months to do 'little jobs' around the house. Apparently, a study by Homebase (a DIY store) found that men regularly put off these little jobs for six months or more either because they don't know how to do them or they lack the time or enthusiasm to do them. The top 5 jobs on our to-do lists are: marked walls, blown light bulbs (I have a few of these - oops), squeaky floorboards, stained carpet and peeling paint. I am definitely guilty myself of putting things off round the house, so I don't think we can only blame men.

The best story by far though was that of Sydney the tortoise, who went missing 10 months ago. His owners spent 2 weeks looking for him last June, and even resorted to calling in a gun dog to sniff him out, all to no avail. But lo and behold, when they started digging up their garden with a JCB for their new extension, there was Sydney laying in a pile of the rubble - alive and well. They think he was so disappointed with the rubbish summer we had last year that he mistook it for winter. I think a lot of us did that. He is absolutely fine and back in his heated vivarium. Phew.

Does anyone else like reading these weirder stories for some light relief? Any suggestions for good websites are more than welcome.

W is for...Weird News

I get really wound up watching the news on TV, as it always feels like they are either catastrophising issues or trying to sway us to one opinion or another by a biased use of the facts. I prefer to read the news on the internet (usually the BBC or Telegraph websites), although I do watch local news which tends to be less irritating. And I have to just mention a particular pet hate of mine, which is the outside broadcast - frequently this will be from outside a victim or suspect's house, a court after hours or somewhere equally unnecessary. Do we really need to hear the news being read from the spot that it happened or from outside a house? No. Does it add anything to the broadcast? No. 

So I read the news online mostly, so I can choose which stories interest me, look up other opinions and compare what different reporters have to say. After skimming through the main headlines and reading any interesting stories, I'll usually have a quick look at the 'weird news' section. If you just need something lighthearted after reading about all the death and despair in the world, then this is the place to head to! For instance, today I read about the Brazilian girl selling most of her 1.6m long hair to get herself out of poverty, about the woman who saved her dog from the claws of an eagle that swooped down to grab it, and that tourism in Kazakhstan has increased tenfold all thanks to Borat! You don't generally get that information on News at 10!

D is for...Doctors

That's the BBC TV show, not actual healthcare practitioners (although I'm sure they all deserve a mention too). It is one of my guilty pleasures that I like to watch the daytime soap opera Doctors. I record it. Everyday. There, I said it.

For those of you who have never seen an epsiode, Doctors is set in a health centre in the fictional town of Letherbridge. I don't think this town is overly representative of the UK population, as there are only ever 1 or 2 patients in the waiting room at once, and you can get an appointment just by walking in on the off chance. The doctors themselves live fascinating lives and they frequently become personally involved in their patient's lives too - they even have time to drop everything in the middle of a working day to make house calls and generally save the day. 

I'm not selling it to you yet? How about I tell you that since I have been an obsessed avid viewer (less than a year), storylines have included; murder, attempted murder, being caught smoking tarragon, squatters, running a brothel (of sorts), domestic violence by a woman, and a man who thought his ventriloquist dummy was talking to him. I have to say, the funniest episode was about a chimney sweep with a phobia of soot! You see, it is brilliant!

I struggled to find a short clip on You Tube so this is the best I could find, just to give you a taster:

This will probably only make sense to other Doctors fans out there, but I have to mention that my favourite characters are Zara (I love the way she is sarcastic, sharp and bitchy) and Imogen (she likes art and photography). The best storyline was Harrison killing Lauren then trying to get away with it, and the most annoying was Akono staying with Mrs Tembe.