Not impressed with the new Masterchef Format

I never thought BBC could change a programme so badly as they did with Film 2010 but I obviously underestimated the ignorance of the BBC. It's easy to be clever in retrospect but it's the job of whoever makes these changes to be clever in advance. To try and anticipate what will work and what won't. Just going by the reaction on this message board alone they got it badly wrong.

The reason for this is taking one programme and trying to make into something completely different. Namely trying to turn Masterchef into X-Factor. It's pathetic. People watch Masterchef for the personalities yes, but it's the cooking that really matters. Now it's all about the personalities, the crying, the families backstage, the dream, the auditions. It's X-factor with a bit of cooking thrown in. It's making John and Greg into Simon Cowell wannabees, demi-gods the contestants and ourselves are supposed to worship. So they now have a programme that's rubbish. It's absolute garbage. They've given it a face-lift and ended up making it look like Sylvester Stallone's mum.

I love Formula 1. I don't know why. I can't stand cars. That may sound like a contradiction but it's not really. Formula 1 is about a lot more than just cars. It's about colour, glamour, exotic and less exotic locations. It's about the history of the teams and the drivers. It's the ups and downs of the championship. It's about the technology and the speed. The cars for me are important but just one part of the whole Formula 1 experience.

But like I said in general I can't stand cars. I've failed my driving test five times. Not just because I'm a rubbish driver. Although that may have something to do with it. But I just don't really get the whole driving thing. I was spurred on to get a driving license by friends who told me 'oh once you have a car it means you have so much freedom.' 'You can go anywhere any time, no more waiting for buses.' 'I couldn't live without my car' etc. So I gave in and took lessons. I'm fine driving. I just feel that when it comes to taking the test I subconsciously want to fail it. I just can't stand cars. I see nothing but traffic jams everywhere. Pollution. Noise. I find it ludicrous there's so many cars on the road all with one person inside. And I cycle everywhere. I love cycling. Especially through traffic jams. I feel healthy, free, happy when I cycle. Something I don't feel when driving.

And now with the ever rising cost of running a car it seems in failing my driving test I had a lucky escape. Fuel, insurance and all the rest of it. No news bulletin is complete without interviewing a depressed and miserable sounding motorist in the midst of filling up his car while he bemoans the fact he is not dead.

Anyway in spite of not liking cars I like Formula 1. And I was looking forward to the first Grand Prix in Bahrain. Although I don't think it should go ahead at the moment. A regime that fires on it's own people doesn't deserve the honour of having a Formula 1 race. It deserves cars but not Formula 1. But when the Formula 1 season does start, possibly in Australia now, I'll be up at 5am watching and enjoying. Quietly glad I never did learn to drive myself.

Changing your mind. The benefit of being a male politican?

Strictly it wasn't a U-turn. David Cameron opened a 'consultation' about the idea of selling off England's national forests(to summarise the policy quickly but not entirely accurately) and decided in the end that it was a bad idea. But I applaud his ability to finally decide something which is by all accounts what most of England would have wanted. And it got me thinking about the benefits of being able to change your mind. That although in the game of politics, this behaviour will be derided by opposition parties, I think it's an absolutely excellent character trait. I don't mean doing a U-turn in the Nick Clegg kind of way, making a clear promise and then reneging on that promise. I mean in not letting pride get in the way of common sense and simply changing your mind.

Because (unfortunately) I can still remember the Margaret Thatcher era. The woman who perhaps most famously declared 'This lady's not for turning!' She did this as if it was something to be proud of. The Tory blue rinse brigade lapped it up, cheering and waving their wigs in the air with the kind of abandon you would see at an average Hornsea Swingers Club for the over 55's.

This mindset of 'not turning' or not changing your opinion was made in reference perhaps to one particular issue. But Thatcher had that general attitude to life. It was an mindset she wore like a Hells Angel would wear a leather jacket. In other words she wore it as a symbol of who she was. And admittedly I'm going to come across as sexist here but I find this certain aspects of this attitude distinctly feminine.

By that I mean if I was to generalise I find a lot of women, once they've made their mind up about something, that's it. You can argue until you're blue in the face but there is absolutely no way on earth she is going to change her mind. Which is fine. But when you try to show her that her behaviour is irrational. That it is simply not the truth to say black is white, hell will still have to freeze over twice before she evens considers there could be another answer other than her own. Even then she will not change her mind. And if in exasperation you ask this woman the simple question 'Why?' you will probably receive the answer 'Because!' Which apparently means you have to fill in your own answer because at the end of the day it doesn't matter. It's still going to mean no. An actual reason is not necessary.

Men are slightly different. A man may say 'There's absolutely no way in a million years I'm going to do that. Absolutely no way!!' But if you then say 'I'll give you a fiver' you'll receive the answer 'OK I'll do it.' because the man is flexible. Open-minded. Or maybe he's less principled and the lure of a fiver is just too much to resist. But the fact is, in my experience, men are far more flexible and open to changing their minds than women. And this is a character trait I find in politicians something to be applauded rather than derided. So well done David Cameron. Listening to public opinion before making decisions is a good thing.

The Big Society. Be wary who you volunteer for.

All this talk of The Big Society is all very well but it rings as hollow as the Phrase 'we're all in this together'. If you are thinking of giving your time to a local charity be wary of which ones to work for. You may have to shop around to find one which suits you. Maybe it's just me but my own experience of doing voluntary could have been better. Wanting to help the community in some way I've ended up working for two local charities. In both cases it seemed to be I ended up running around for the people running the charities rather than for the people the charities are supposed to help. One charity for instance was crammed full of office staff who if going by the cars in the car park were doing all right for themselves. The main concern seemed to be the office canteen which was going through a massive, and no doubt expensive refurbishment. I don't know what percentage of money was going towards their wages but I did find the whole experience slightly uncomfortable at the time. The charity itself seemed to be about people talking about doing this and that and then not really doing very much. It was the same in the next charity I went to. The boss, a very loud, direct woman drove a flash sports car and seemed to spend most of the time talking a lot and not doing much. Maybe I've been unlucky so far. I'm sure there is a good charity out there which means I could genuinely be able to do my bit. But I can't help get the impression there's a lot of local charities out there which get funding and are not really checked up on. It's seen as a cushy number by those in charge and although they may have got into it for the right reasons, a number of people seem to be employed by the council not based on the standard of work they do but the work they are supposed to do. Many I came across elsewhere on a day to day were simply incompetent. Again I'm sure there's undoubtedly more worthwhile genuine local charities who care about the community. But in my own admittedly limited experience other charities shouldn't be taken at face value. If you are volunteering, be aware that you're not getting used for the benefit of the people running the charity instead of working for the people the charity is supposed to help.

I'm not impressed by Wayne Rooney.

Wayne Rooney scored a very good goal yesterday. It was an overhead kick straight into the top right hand corner of the net. It was a good goal. A winning goal. Against United's Manchester rivals Manchester City no less. But by the way the commentators and media are going on you would think it was one of the greatest goals scored in all time. They all talk about the 'wonder goal!'. A piece of genius. Extraordinary! Amazing! Already it's been described as possibly the goal of the decade. You'd think Wayne Rooney had jumped in in air did a double pirouette, a triple back somersault, a song and dance number from Chicago, read extracts from Katie Price's latest novel 'Reading for Dummies', and then deliberately hit the ball into the back of the net with his ear. He didn't. It was an overhead kick. It was a good goal. Nothing more. Get over it.

Apart from that Wayne Rooney could have done a triple back somersault and all the rest and I still wouldn't have been impressed. Partly because it was Wayne Rooney who scored it. This is the man who slagged off the England fans when they booed him and his England team-mates for being rubbish. (Even as a Scot I could see the unfairness in slagging off the people who go out their way to support you). This is the man who pays a lower rate of tax than I do on the millions he earns through deliberately using a tax loophole. This is the man who held Man United to ransom so he could get a hundred percent pay rise up to £180, 000 a week. This is the man who cheated on his pregnant wife by sleeping with prostitutes. So even if Wayne Rooney does score a good score, well an overhead kick at least, I couldn't really care. All I see is the celebration afterwards he does in the pose of the messiah or someone who thinks he is. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not impressed. I'm not impressed by Wayne Rooney.

I watched the last Episode of Not Going Out on Thursday. I thought it was atrocious. What made it so bad is that the programme used to be so good. In fact after the BBC decided to cancel it after the last series I signed as many on-line petitions as I could to get it back on the TV. I kind of wish I didn't now. There's been some some good episodes or more accurately some highlights during this series. But the storylines have got sillier and dafter and have completely lost the essence of what made the first few series so good. Usually (in general I find) with sitcoms the episodes deemed the best are shown first and last to make a good impression. The weaker ones are shown second or third for example. Yet last night last episode was the worst in my view. It was a dream sequence. A kiss of death in most sitcoms and a sure sign the writer has ran out of ideas. Lee Mack's character (Le)e was in a coma so we seen, in a kind of Life on Mars way, Lee in various dream situations which of course included Lucy trying to seduce him all the time, his father (Bobby ball appearing in drag and as a lapdancer etc...The jokes weren't funny and the whole thing stank of desperation. The point is it's such a disappointment to see a really good series end on such a low. And if the BBC decide to cancel it then I don't think I'll be signing any more petitions to bring it back.