Slightly annoyed with myself. As my slot ended today, Emma complimented me on air about my shirt (a bright purple one – stripy of course) So I told the tale of how I’d bought them: there were three similar ones of different colours, and I’d got 25% off after asking for a discount. It’s all about haggling....

In last night’s Big Brother, two of the housemates, Kenny and Siavash, were put through a “wealth” test. It involved correctly naming the prices of various objects from a pint of milk to a top end Ferrari. Yet for me the entire premise was fundamentally flawed (I know it’s Big Brother so I’m not taking it too...

Some days are strange…. • Left home went to London’s Charing Cross Station • Got the train to Dover • Ferry’d to Calais • Stayed on the ferry at Calais • Ferry’d to Dover • Am currently on the train back to Charing Cross All this to do a 90-second film for GMTV on mobile roaming, about...

I saw the new Pepsi Max TV ad last night , and was slightly bemused. The ‘Pepsi Max guys’ are at a cricket match. In a chiller box the steward has a raft of Pepsi Max cans. A streaker runs on the pitch, the steward chases her, and when he returns the Pepsi Max has gone. Yet...

Quite a strange experience tonight. Watching Fawlty towers and up pops the MSFs Uncle Terry (Terence Conoley). I always knew he’d been in it but until tonight had never seen him. He’s actually in two episodes. The first was the very first Fawlty Towers “A Touch Of Class” where he constantly demands with ever increasing fury a...

I’m just finishing work on an ITV1 Tonight for Friday 8 May on credit ratings on how they work and how to boost them. As always when filming a detailed programme like this I learn new useful titbits which I can add to the guide (see credit ratings). Each time though, it tends to be something even...

I’ve just come back from the London Press Club lunch, where I was delighted to pick up the “Consumer Journalist of the Year” award. Not coming from a print journalism background I wasn’t aware of quite how big a do this was and when I got there realised most of the National papers editors and many high...

Three cheers for Sir Alan, nope this isn’t about Premium Bonds, as you’ll know from the premium bonds: are they worth it? guide we’re not singing from the same song sheet on that one. Yet when I finally got round to watching The Apprentice from two weeks ago, he did something which made my heart sing. One...

Friends, enemies, site users, viewers, profile writers, colleagues, relatives, broadcasters and somewhere I’m sure even farm yard animals have taken the mickey out of my stripy shirts. Yet I’ve weathered the storm, and remained as faithful to them as stamp adhesive. True, I do now throw in a few plain-styled tapered shirts just for variety, but my...

I’m on the train back from Leeds, where I’ve spent the day in Countdown’s dictionary corner. I watched the programme as a child, so it’s a real joy to be a part of it, and something I had been unable to do in previous years. And of course as a Scrabble player it’s right up my street....