Holloway holiday camp

I have been watching the programme on ITV about life inside Holloway prison, expecting to be shocked by the levels of security and threats of danger,etc as when I think of women's prisons, especially Holloway it conjurs up images of the most dangerous women all enclosed and desperate to get out.

How wrong I was, it seems most of the inmates try their hardest to remain inside for as long as possible and as soon as they are released the majority of them return withing weeks if not days. They seem to have got into the pattern of being fed 3 times a day, being able to wear their own clothes, go the to prison gym and swimming pool and generally live quite a life of luxury.

At one point it really did resemble a holiday camp, with 'jobs' earning them the money to buy treats each week and a TV for their cells costing £1 per week. Visits to the hairdressers are at discount costs while the rest of us pay full price in the outside world for all these things!

It has left me wondering what exactly this programme set out to achieve, as many potential offenders would not be deterred from offending, if anything they probably see it as an easy way to pay for their crime.
I will watch the rest of the series as I am a bit hooked now so it could reveal a more meaningful side eventually...

Jenny

Happy Friday!

So I stepped out of the office for my lunch break and went walking around with squinted eyes (I felt like a small animal emerging from their burrow into the big wide world) and it’s now what I’d officially call spring. There was blue sky, birds chirping (quietly in comparison to the veritable smorgasbord of traffic noise) and yes also the slight indication I could walk about without my coat on and developing frostbite!
Yes, it probably helps that shops are crammed full of Easter paraphernalia: Bunnies and chickens galore! I enjoy the fact that window displays are embracing the colour yellow and somehow, miraculously, this has encouraged the sun to peak through the clouds and grace pasty English!
May I say welcome back Mr Sun, may you stay for the spring and summer haul of 2009...
And please don’t leave us!!!
Cat

Happy St Patrick's day!

While the celebrations are going on all over the UK and many other countries with Irish links, I have found a few facts about Ireland and its traditions:
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!
- There are an estimated 10,000 regular three-leaved clovers for every one lucky four-leaved clover
- The colours in the Irish flag represent different things- green is for the people of the south, the orange is for the people of the north and the white represents the peace that brings them together
- The Irish consume an average of 131.1 litres of beer per year, the 2nd highest amount after Czech republic
- The common surnames starting with 'Mac' mean 'son of' and 'O' mean 'grandson of'

Jenny

My little pony

On the BBC news website there is a story about a pony who is being mistaken as being stuck in the mud in the field. Apparently many passers by have been calling 999 to report the incident and the poor little pony has been causing chaos without even knowing!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7939187.stm

At half the height of the other ponies in the field, this vertically challenged animal must look quite amusing!

Jenny

Still got it!

Hurrah! Cadbury have seen sense and brought back Cadbury Caramel Rabbit! She’s now even saucier featuring bigger curves and more make up but thankfully she’s still wearing her trademark pink bow.
8 years on since the bunny was the spokesperson for the chocolate bar she’s back in order to help encourage a more ‘up-market’ appeal of the chocolate. Along with a change in packaging which will feature more flowing calligraphy with the phrase ‘Still got it’, the design has been altered to represent the smoothness of the caramel.
Just goes to show that presentation is extremely important (and one can never underestimate the significance of a bunny with a pink bow.)
Cat

A Killer of a show

I was lucky enough to see the Killers at Nottingham Arena last night and can honestly say it was the best live concert I have been to. From the opening track 'Human' to the final encore of 'When you were young' the band gave it their all and gave a faultless performance.

I had recently read reviews that mentioned Brandon's Dad-like dancing but I would be concerned if my Dad wore skinny jeans and a feather embellished jacket! I will not hear a bad word said about his talents as a front man, he kept the crowd going throughout.

Jenny

Looking into the void...

As I perused the Guardian website I came across an exhibition that’s going on in Paris's Pompidou Centre entitled: “Various Voids, a retrospective” which is basically various rooms left completely starker’s.
Apparently it “assembles in a totally original manner exhibitions that showed absolutely nothing, leaving empty the space for which they were designed.”
People are able to walk through the dozen rooms and experience “Emptiness also represents a form of radicalness” personally it doesn’t sit well with me as ‘art’ but that’s probably because I like more art a little more visually stimulating!
But then again kudos to the artists for managing to sell this idea to people to such an extent there’s an exhibition dedicated to white-wash installation walls.

Multi-tasking for pets

I came across this link today on sky news:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Hamster-Powered-Vacuum-Cleaner-Roomba-Video-Skynewscom/Article/200903115232375?lpos=Strange_News_First_Strange_News__Article_Teaser_Region__0&lid=ARTICLE_15232375_Hamster-Powered_Vacuum_Cleaner_Roomba_Video_Skynews.com

It is a contraption that you put a hamster in their exercise ball on and they generate the power to activate a hoover.
Being a hamster owner myself, this seems like a genius invention! My little furry friend is in his element when he is running around the house crashing into walls and generally trying his hardest to break free from the confines of his plastic ball.

My only concern is that my hamster is male so probably wouldn't master the art of multi-tasking!

Jenny