Given all of the furore surrounding the BBC’s decision to allow BNP Leader, Nick Griffin, to appear of last night’s edition of Question Time, it was always going to be a high-profile show.

Interest in the show was clearly demonstrable, both at the BBC TV centre, with angry protestors reaching near the 1,000 mark at one stage, and also by the audience viewing figures.  Initial overnights suggest the programme pulled in around 8m viewers, approximately 50% share of total viewing and almost three times their usual audience draw.

Whether a poorly veiled attempt by the BBC to boost their ratings, or a genuine demonstration of freedom of speech, it really was one to watch.

This Wednesday (22nd July) marks the inaugural Maxus softball tournament.  With the agency being split into three teams, (Milly’s Masochists, Emily’s Extremists and Louise’s Lunatics) you can practically feel the adrenaline as you walk through the office…… Waggers and Jonesy have come up with a feasible sounding game-plan, Milly is confident that she has the strongest team and P.Rick, well P.Rick is American so is genetically programmed to do well!

For those of you less familiar with softball rules and regulations you may find the following useful:  http://www.ehow.com/facts_5184173_basic-softball-rules-regulations.html

Now we just have to hope that the current forecasts for 22oC of glorious sunshine ring true.

The new series of BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” is expected to hit our screens in September and there already seems to be quite a bit of controversy surrounding the show. 

After last years voting debacle (in which irrespective of how many public votes he won, Tom Chambers could not be saved from the dance-off;  high drama indeed) one might have thought it would take a few episodes before people were given a reason to start complaining.

This time around however, the furore is surrounding the judges, not the contestants.  It seems that Arlene Phillips has (allegedly) been given the elbow for being too old (she’s 66) and will instead be replaced by Alesha Dixon (30), the 2007 winner.  The BBC denies accusations of ageism, though accepts that they are trying to pull in a younger audience than their average 52 year old.   Slightly mixed messages?  I’m not really sure, but what is clear is that out of the 5-strong regulars (Brucie – 81, Len Goodman – 65, Bruno Tonioli – 53, Craig Revel Horwood 44) it was the lady of the show who was shown the door.   

Given previous allegations of the BBC treating the more mature lady rather unfairly (namely Moira Stuart being axed from her Sunday morning news bulletin) you can understand the consternation surrounding the decision.  I for one am not really sure whether it is about ageism, or a pre-show publicity drive or just that Arlene didn’t really add anything extra to the judging panel.  What I am certain of though, is that throughout all of these discussions Ms Dixon is being lauded as a “youthful” creature, giving hope to fellow 30 year olds everywhere!

….. has been a cause for consternation to me, for quite some time.  My main concern lies with the whole kissing thing.  When and where does it become appropriate to kiss?  Now I’m not talking about going in for a full on lunge, but just your run of the mill, polite kiss on the cheek – which in itself is a potential social minefield.  Should it be one?  Two?  Or (if you’re just being ridiculous) 3?  As a Northerner I favour one, but this doesn’t seem to get the popular vote in media-ville. 

Also, who should you kiss?  Clients?  Media Owners?  Would it just be at lunches/more social occasions or before and after meetings?  Surely, if people opt for the meeting kiss it could all get a bit ridiculous – especially if you’re having about 3 meetings or so a day….

I don’t know.  Maybe kissing etiquette is something which should be imparted in the early days of your career – at media circle or such like.  Or maybe the standing back and waving with both hands approach is the way forward and though this may look a bit odd it could potentially save hours of angst for everyone…..

Oh dear it looks like the folks at Amazon have made a bit of a “cock-up” with one of their latest ventures.  Quite ironic really given that the root of  said boob was their apparent de-ranking of any literature deemed a bit rude or too “adult” in content, or indeed any LGBT literature, which then resulted in the titles not appearing in any Amazon.com searches. 

As well as authors such as Jaci Burton and Stephanie Tyler, being in the firing line, classics such as “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and “Tipping the Velvet” were also de-ranked.  Whilst this may very well provide a great excuse for VI formers across the UK not to do their reading homework, it really does seem a little bit on the crazy side -i f not disturbingly big-brotherish.
 
Quite understandably  the backlash against this has been rife.  People have been twittering and blogging about it left, right and centre, Wossy has got involved.  There’s an online petition (now boasting over 15,000 signatures) and there’s an online campaign to start a “google-bomb”.  It seems a pretty big PR nightmare, for something which Amazon are trying to pass off as a “technical glitch”………..

Tuesday evening saw Team Triumph heading down to Cafe de Paris to look at a bunch of arses!

I’m not talking about the usual type of WAG Wannabees or dodgy blokes you might usually find frequenting these types of establishments, but real live bona fide bottoms!  Even better it was for work related purposes and everything!

This was the UK “show me your sloggi” competition, in which the winners not only won a Vespa but will go on to represent the UK in the international final in Paris, where they will be battling (bottoming?) it out against the finalists from 32 other countries to win the prestigious title of “best bottom in the world!” (plus some cash and potentially a modelling contract).

Needless to say a great time was had by all: We all got drunk.  I decided that if Media doesn’t work out for me then I could always pursue a career as a “bum expert” (yup such a job does exist), Tim got so excited by the bevvy of lovely ladies that his specs steamed up and the lovely Lou managed to get herself a date!  All in all a very successful evening.

Go to www.smys.sloggi.com for more details or see below…Which bum would you chose?