Big Brother - Charley must go

Charley might make interesting TV viewing but her volatile and rude nature is insulting to other housemates who also have to cope with homesickness, boredom, sharing limited space with strangers and constant filming.

Charley might think she is an "It Girl" but quite honestly, I cannot see why anyone would want to spend time in her company, unless of course she is quite a different person with her friends.

She seems unable to avoid confrontation and deliberately picks arguments about nothing. Instead of a few cross words, it becomes a slanging match where she refuses to listen to the other person and must have the last word. She picks on Chanelle decrying her appearance when in fact the girl is very attractive, both to look at and in her personality. Charley is making Chanelle doubt herself. She must be centre of attention showing how insecure she really is. She accused Gay Gerry of having sex with young boys which made him explode and I thought he was going to lay charges of slander.

Big Brother have repeatedly had to warn her to cool her behaviour and consider the effect of her words on her housemates. Little arguments and differences of opinion are inevitable amongst a group of strangers forced to live in the same enclosed space for weeks on end but while debate and discussion is healthy, with Charley it always becomes personal. She made Brian cry the other day because he considered her his friend until she attacked him. She has taken to calling everyone "pathetic". Actually, the shoe of pathos fits her.

A couple of times she has shown remorse after the argument but never apologises. We even saw tears the other day but I think this was just a tactic ahead of Monday's nominations and it did not work.

In this week's nominations for eviction, 6 out of 10 nominated her and also her friend, Tracey. Given that they did not nominate each other, that means that 6 out of 8 want both of them out.

She faced fake eviction two weeks ago. Now she must really go and I hope the media humiliate her, not make her into the star which she so craves. The crowd booed her when she enterd the house, there was no reaction when she was fake evicted (crowd held up signs saying "This is a fake audience") although she later lied to the housemates saying they had cheered her and there were several boards in her favour. She contributes nothing in the house, does not work and name drops continually. Who really cares?

Read the latest news from Big Brother on the Channel 4 website.

Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium.

"Guarding the Queen" - The Grenadier Guards

Last night we were treated by ITV to the second of three parts of a programme "Guarding the Queen" showcasing the Grenadier Guards whose job it is to guard the Queen and her palaces whilst at the same time being fit and ready to enter into battle wherever they may be required. At the moment that means active tours in Afghanistan. The Grenadier Guards are the most senior infantry regiment in the British Army and they are also one of the oldest, celebrating their 350th anniversary last year, during which time there have been ten kings and three queens.

We saw the Guards parading in their bearskins and winter dress of thick blue coats which are exchanged for scarlet red jackets in the summer. The then Home Secretary David Blunkett chose a slight change of colour for the jackets requiring an expense of £300,000 to hand-tailor new jackets. Question: How does a blind man choose a new shade of red? The difference between the old and new was certainly not obvious on our TV.

The Guards prepared for the State Visit of the Prime Minister of Ghana and also for the Queen's Birthday Parade. The new musical director prepared the playing of both anthems to finish at precisely the same moment as the Queen's carriage came to a halt. Such precision and such attention to detail is admirable. There is no sloppiness in the British Army. It must be right and it must be perfect. The Queen is the first to notice anyone slightly out of step or with a poor fitting uniform.

Regimental Adjutant Conway Seymour, a Grenadier for 46 years, says: "Of all the great heroes, there's none that can compare with the British Grenadiers." He reluctantly retired after being the fourth generation Guard in his family. The men put on a special musical march for him including "Auld Lang Syne" which nearly brought a tear to his eye. Although band musicians, these soldiers must also be fit and took part in the same drills as the soldiers preparing for active duty.

The Changing of the Guard continues to be one of Britain's top tourist attractions. As the Guards prepared, their Commander told them their orders would be obstructed by cheers of tourists and their sight by camera flashes.

For those chosen for active service in Afghanistan, it was a period of intense training and preparation. We saw them in a mock battle against the Taliban. The aim of their mission will be to assist the Afghan National Army in defeating the Taliban. By stabilising the country they hope to win over hearts and minds and reconstruct a nation ravaged by war. Over 50 British soldiers have lost their lives there with hundreds seriously injured so the stakes are high.

The message was that they had a job to do although privately the troops must have mixed emotions, especially at the point of no return when they collect their battle uniform and supplies.

My friend's daughter is joining the Guards shortly with an anticipated tour in Afghanistan so the programme was of personal interest.

Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium helping people make positive change in their lives.

LBC Radio - London's Brightest Conversation

Whilst in the London area last week, I listened to LBC Radio in the car on 97.3. It was interesting to listen to stimulating conversation on a wide range of topics including:

- Words or expressions you mistakenly believed to have a different meaning.
- Sharing names with famous people.
- Should parents work to demonstrate work ethic to their children, even if better off on benefits?
- Scams.
- If you can see the sun and the moon at the same time, does that mean that parts of the world cannot see either?
- If planets were formed by explosions, how come they are pretty round and smooth rather than odd-shaped and jagged?
- Books you have read even though you did not enjoy them and considered them a waste of time but having started, felt you had to finish.
- The DaVinci Code.
- The UK and Russia tit-for-tat over diplomats.
- Lee Mead's debut as Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat".
- Boris Johnson standing for Mayor of London.

I am delighted to find that I can listen to LBC 97.3 on-line at http://www.lbc.co.uk, on Sky TV and on Digital Radio in various parts of the UK.

Cream Tea in Alfriston, Sussex

A cream tea is one of the quintessential delights of English village life and Alfriston, Sussex is a lovely village in which to enjoy such a tea.

Forget the diet. A cream tea consists of two homemade scones, jam (raspberry or strawberry are best), clotted cream on top of the jam, a slice of cake such as carrot cake, passion fruit cake or chocolate and a pot of tea per person. The tea should be leaves of Earl Grey, Darjeeling or Assam, not a supermarket teabag.

We enjoyed our cream tea in Alfriston after our visit to Drusillas Park, just a mile or so up the road. It was around 5pm but Moonrakers at the far end of the village were open until 6pm so we enjoyed our tea overlooking the village green and church. How English! All we needed was a cricket match to watch.

See my photos of Alfriston on Flickr.

See my blog on a visit to Drusillas Park and my photos of Drusillas on Flickr.



Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium.

Our Visit to Drusillas Park, Sussex, England

As always, my children enjoyed their visit last week to Drusillas Park which is a park zoo with small animals to appeal to younger children. Small visitors can stamp their books when they sight specific animals and take part in the "Zoo Olympics" which means comparing their performance with that of animals. For example, shouting as loud as a... (surprisingly there are animals which are noisier than my son), running as fast as a ...., weighing as much as a..., jumping as long as a ... etc.

There is a farm section with pigs, cows and goats with an informative description of how milk goes from the cow to our table. Children can even milk a cow, actually just plastic tubes on a pretend cow's udder.

Animals include monkeys, lemurs, walibis, guinea pigs, crocodiles, meerkats (kids love looking through the plastic dome to be at the same height as these animals), servals, beavers, otters, prairie dogs, llamas and the less attractive bats, bugs, spiders and snakes but they can easily be avoided.

Children who celebrate their birthday at Drusillas can enjoy the special treat of feeding the penguins.

There is now a special resident at Drusillas: Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, Annie and Clarabel, Cranky, James, Diesel and of course the Fat Controller, Sir Topham Hat. When the zoo owner, Laurence Smith, advertised for a male Fat Controller, he was told that he could not specify either male or fat in his job description. How ridiculous! The Fat Controller has been a well-loved character for generations and he must be both male and fat. Visitors can ride with Thomas and his coaches from Tidmouth Halt Station.

Very small children will love the real rabbits and guinea pigs on Teletubbies Hill.

On the educational front, Drusillas sponsor a village in the Maasai so visitors can find out about life for these people and walk through a "mud hut". In fact, there are lots of educational areas suitable for tying in with Key Stages in schools.

If the children have any energy left and the grown-ups need a rest, there is an excellent play area suitable for children from the smallest toddlers upwards and cafes alongside for refreshments and rest.

One thing I particularly like about Drusillas is that it is not overly commercial. When we visited LegoLand, after we had picked ourselves up off the floor from the shock of the entrance price, we were bombarded with toyshops and food concessions every few yards which of course results in tears and complaints if not more money is spent. Instead of enjoying LegoLand, children complain about what they did not receive. Drusillas is a pleasure to visit. The entrance fees are reasonable and the toyshops and food areas are few and far between. There is an Explorers restaurant at the entrance and a couple of places in the play area, all of which charge reasonable prices for a good variety of choice. There are three toy shops and they can be avoided although prices are reasonable so cheaper token presents can be bought as a souvenir of a happy day.

Finish the day off with a round of Jungle Adventure Mini-golf, a paddle in Explorers Lagoon or more jumping around on the bouncy castle and don't miss the kookaburras and pheasants on the way out.

See my photos of Drusillas on Flickr.

There are lots of special appearances throughout the year including Scooby Doo, Postman Pat, Shrek, Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Fifi and the Flowertots, Tweenies, Wallace and Gromit, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Spider-Man, Fireman Sam and of course Santa.

Drusillas Zoo is on the A27, between Brighton and Eastbourne, Sussex.

Antonia Stuart-James is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium.

Delay at Calais Car Ferry Port

When travelling by ferry from Calais to Dover on Friday 13 July, we were delayed by 1 hour, 40 minutes by UK passport control at Calais. Apparently, of the 10 available windows, only 4 were manned, of which 2 for trucks and 2 for private cars. Six lanes of traffic including trucks and coaches had to narrow and cross-over to reach the respective windows causing such a delay. The French staff said they had asked the UK passport control to open more windows but either staff were not available or they did not wish to do so. Whatever the cause, we did not appreciate such a delay.

Growing melons

My older son is fascinated by the growth of his melon plant which he has grown from one of the melon seeds in a fruit.