why are the bananas at pret so horrible currently?
if i weren’t going on holiday for two weeks to somewhere where they possibly don’t have prets (= france!) i wd pursue this fiercely –> they taste ok-ish kinda at point of chew but […]

POP FACTOR: 635 CONTROVERSY RATING: 183
The new Thunderbirds are not puppets any longer – and so who better to soundtrack their adventures than Busted… who… are also… not…. gnarrrrr. This record exists beyond all defin[…]

You Don’t Win Anything with Kids
Tom’s mention of kids in restaurants reminded me of one of my bugbears; kids.
I was at a barbecue on Saturday. Lots of thirty somethings drinking in the sun. Loads of kids. Location was Essex, so most of […]

Concept Testing
If there’s one thing guaranteed to raise people’s hackles about marketing, it’s the concept of a “target market”. Nobody likes to be told they’re predictable. Particularly as (in general) they&#8217[…]

Dining Distractions
Children in restaurants: no bad thing, train their palates young, etc etc.
Lone diners: no bad thing, takes a bit of guts but lack of company should never deter the dedicated foodie.
BUT!
Children in restaurants ignored by their p[…]

Sports Pick N Mix
This is the viewer appeal of the Olympics. Or to put it another way: if a football match is a big bar of Bourneville, which takes a while to munch through (but might still leave you feeling sick), the Olympics are the open box of Bl[…]

ABBA Song of the Week!: a weekly partwork of amateur downloadable ABBA remixes, quality not guaranteed, and only one at a time, but even so this is the kind of thing that makes me feel good about the Internet. All these tireless remixers working to a[…]

Fruit Cobblers
I’m not much for sweets, but it’s hard to beat a fresh fruit cobbler when the peaches and blueberries start coming in. I’ve tried several cobbler recipes over the years and they’ve all come up short – producin[…]

What is the correct response to the old ‘what are your influences‘ chestnut?
It really should be an interesting question as genuine influence is usually pretty fascinating. Witness, for example, the John Lennon jukebox CD/documentary or, […]

Superhero TV Cartoon Theme Songs
I think my favourite and least favourite TV theme tunes are currently from superhero cartoons. The best of them is the Teen Titans theme. It’s a terrific show very much in the Japanese style throughout, all the […]