By Cara Sulieman

EDINBURGH Castle had to close its doors for the first time in over a year because of high winds.

Staff at the popular tourist attraction took the precaution after recording wind speeds of up to 60mph at the high points of the building.

Initially it was hoped that the castle would be able to open late on Wednesday, but the weather didn’t improve and Historic Scotland decided to wait until today (Thurs) to allow tourists back in.

The esplanade was also shut, and staff were positioned at the entrance to explain the situation to visitors.

“Extreme winter weather”

The worry was that people might be blown over by the winds, and possibly even swept over the side of the attraction.

It is rare for the castle to close because of the weather, but it was shut for one day last year due to “extreme winter weather”.

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: “The wind speeds being recorded at the higher parts of the castle, and even on the esplanade, were of a dangerous level, in some cases over 60mph, and so we took the decision not to open as normal, but to wait and see if the weather improved.

“Staff carried out checks every hour, but the winds remained high and so we had to close for the whole day. We apologised to tourism, and a lot of them said they would try and come back later in the week.”

The high winds also led to restrictions on the Forth Road Bridge, which was closed to high-sided vehicles throughout the day.

The Met Office said the high winds were expected to die down, but that rainfall is expected for the rest of the week and could become heavy over the weekend.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Around here, the end of November means only one thing – well, actually, it means more than one thing, but the rest are unpleasant (marking, marking, paying your term phone bill *gulp*, more marking) – the End of Term Ceremony. It’s a semi-formal event held in the Castle’s ballroom, and I secretly think the whole idea is just a ploy to see how well some of us scrub up.

This year, I’m going to scrub up quite well, thank you very much, thanks to my new love in online shopping, ASOS, where I managed to find this dress for £20!:

And these marvelous cut-out shoe boots from London Rebel for £25! Unfortunately, the image I found on line doesn’t quite do justice to just how fantastic these shoe boots are … but I think you can get the idea.

I’m hoping the slight edginess of the shoe boots will off-set the shiny frilly of the dress. We’ll see how they work together once they arrive. I have many other pairs of black heels that would go with the dress if the shoe boots don’t work.

I am the Queen of discount shopping.

I recently returned from a fabulous cruise on Holland America’s Prinsendam around the United Kingdom. The cruise was 14 days with 10 ports of call (not counting London/Greenwich where we boarded, Dover where the cruise ended, and Scrabster, Scotland where we couldn’t stop due to rough seas). This itinerary had a lot to offer for a wide variety of interests. If you like to explore castles and/or old churches, every port had one or more of each. Although castles are not my personal favorite, I did explore two. One was at our first port of call, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. Alnwick (pronounced “Annick”) Castle is one of the largest inhabited castles in England (700 years of Percy family history), home to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland and their family. Parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed here, and a group from the University of Minnesota was living there for the summer studying. The other castle I visited was Castle Cornet in St. Peter Port on the Isle of Guernsey. This castle dates back to the 13^th century and now houses 3 military museums. At noon every day a soldier in 19^th century costume fires a canon. Somewhere in the bay is a very large pile of canon balls!! Last year I read the book “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and learned that Guernsey was occupied by the Germans for 5 years during World War II. There are many monuments dedicated to those who survived the occupation and to those who did not. Apparently only the people who went on shore excursions inland saw any Guernsey cows!

I visited 2 churches, again not my passion, but plenty of them in every port to see. The first was Bath Abbey, a 1600 year old parish church that was once the great church of a monastery, in the town of Bath, England. The port was Newport (Cardiff), Wales. Bath Abbey was very impressive, especially the stained glass window (contains 56 scenes of the life of Christ). The village also had beautiful gardens and parks which I enjoyed more…and great ice cream! In the port of Portland, England I took an excursion to Salisbury Cathedral, Britain’s finest 13^th century cathedral featuring the highest spire in Britain, the world’s oldest mechanical working clock (1386), Britain’s largest medieval Cloisters and Cathedral Close, and home of the finest of 4 surviving original (1215) Magna Carta. Although Salisbury was beautiful, the main event of this excursion was a visit to Stonehenge, the unique, ancient circle of stones that evolved between 3000 BC and 1600 BC. The stones are aligned with the rising and setting of the sun at the solstices. It was awe-inspiring!

If pub crawling is your favorite way to pass the time, there is no better place! I can’t believe I missed them all this trip, but I have it on good authority that between the pubs, breweries and distilleries, you would never go thirsty! The pubs also offer good food at reasonable prices, and visiting pubs is definitely a good way to meet the locals. I did visit one distillery, Talisker’s on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. It is the only working distillery on Skye, in operation since 1830, making the best single malt.
I enjoy walking through parks and gardens. I think my favorite place on this trip was Edinburgh, Scotland. We arrived the day after a big rain storm and everything looked so clean and green (except, I suppose, for the trash in the streets). Walking through East Princes Street Gardens was spectacular. A lot of open grassy area, trees, flowers, monuments…and a FREE art museum. You could see the famous Edinburgh Castle up on the cliff across the park.
We came across several bagpipers playing on the street. As we were waiting for the shuttle back to the ship, standing in from of the Register House, you could hear the sound of bagpipes in the air. For me, that was Scotland.

In the port of Waterford, Ireland, I went on an excursion to Woodstock Gardens & Arboretum located in the village of Inistioge on the banks of the River Nore in County Kilkenny. It rained for a short time while we were there…guess who wore sandals and had no umbrella! But it was worth it. Everything looked so beautiful..the flowers, trees, buildings. The gardens were designed and created in the mid to late 1800’s. After visiting the gardens, we spent some time strolling through the town of Inistioge. It was Sunday so most places were closed. However, the local river park was beautiful and many of the homes had beautiful flowers planted outside. The movies “Circle of Friends” and “Widow’s Peak” were filmed here.
The 2 biggest cities we visited were Belfast, Ulster (northern Ireland) and Dublin, Ireland. Belfast has “The Wheel”, a huge ferris wheel next to City Hall in Donegall Square. We rode it for 15 minutes, giving us a great view in all directions of Belfast. Since they weren’t busy, we got an extra few turns around. Next to the Wheel there is a memorial honoring Titanic victims. The Titanic was built in Belfast. Then we found St George’s Market shortly before closing. It’s a large farmer’s market/swap meet. Lots of good buys for local crafts (bought a stained glass lighthouse there). I had a fabulous chocolate & strawberry crepe for lunch! The next day we were in Dublin which is a large busy city. It was Saturday and the place was very crowded with young people as there was to be a huge rock concert that night. Again I walked and shopped and took pictures. At this point I needed to rest and do laundry. (day eight)

The port of Falmouth, England was a fun day of strolling, shopping and eating. I tried my first Cornish pasty (or oggy or oggin as they’re called in Cornwall). I tried a whole wheat vegie pasty. It took most of the day to eat it…it was so big and so filling…and not that great. Maybe if it was filled with chocolate…….hmmm. I did buy some clotted cream fudge to send to my brother-in-law who loves Cornwall. I tried some too…it’s caramel! I bought chocolate fudge for myself. Our cruise ended in Dover. The cliffs are really white! No bluebirds though. I saw so much in those 14 days…four countries, 10 ports, and I only had to unpack once. I saw cities, countryside and ports…gardens, lighthouses and marketplaces…I traveled by boat, bus, taxi and van…and I slept in the same bed every night. Definitely my favorite way to travel!

Rosanna Brown

Barbie and The Diamond Castle part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9j63Xpm1MI&hl=en

Related : hepa-vacuum-cleaners

Situated in Western Europe, Switzerland is a federal republic and a multilingual country with four national languages (Italian, German, Romansh and French) and 26 states (also called cantons). One of the wealthiest countries across the world, this nation has been host to organizations like WTO and Red Cross and more.

Following are some of the places to visit when holidaying in Switzerland:

Fraumünster Church

Established in 853 in Zurich, this tourist attraction is rich with architectural features and has huge elaborate organ, Romanesque choir and a striking as well as picturesque built. The major draw of the church that has been pulling tourist and visitors in massive form is the glass windows beautiful stained. The marvelous windows were designed and planned in 1970 by Marc Chagall.

Rhine Falls

One of the dynamic and largest waterfalls of Europe, Rhine Falls is situated in Zurich and due to its natural beauty. The fall has a hill top over it, which holds various shops, restaurant and a medieval castle. When on a holiday in Switzerland, visiting this tourist attraction offers a breathtaking view and spectacular enigma to power of natural beauty. If you re on a holiday in Switzerland during the august, you can also witness superb fireworks presentation hosted by the Rhine falls for celebration of independence of the Swiss land.

Château de Chillon

Château de Chillon is a wonderful medieval castle built in 13th century and is a famous tourist attraction of this Swiss land. The castle has a lakeside location to it and was aimed to manage the area between the lake and mountains for the protection of north-south route. Every year a large number of tourist and visitors come to this castle for its magnificent structure, history and picturesque beauty. Some of the attractions that pull tourist on holiday in Switzerland to this castle are the dungeons, secret passages, courtyard, towers, luxurious chambers, grand knight’s halls, furniture, paintings, huge rooms and frescoed chapel.

Lake Geneva (Lac Léman)

Lake Geneva is spread across both France and Switzerland is biggest lake of central Europe. The lake region of Swiss land is rich with attractions like ski resorts, cathedrals, castle, wine-growing villages, boat cruises and amazing lake view resorts.

Bern

Bern is an ancient city of Europe and is also a part of UNESCO’s world heritage site. This Swiss land has attractions like ornate fountains, astronomical clock, old building and cobbled medieval streets. Bern is also thronged with tourist and visitors as it is also capital to this Swiss land.

Best time to visit or holiday in Switzerland

When holidaying in Switzerland for outdoor activities like capturing major Swiss attractions and architectural tour, the best or the ideal time to visit is the summer months from June-September. While for those who wish to visit this Swiss land mainly for its ski activities, the best time is the November to march.

Lately, I’ve been feeling seriously disenfranchised. I know that sounds ridiculous, but “disenfranchised” is the best work I can come up with at the moment. I’ve especially been feeling this way in the classroom. Part of it has to do with not feeling like I fully have a handle on the material I’m teaching, and part of it stems from some very childish and ridiculous tensions that have been crowding the air in my upper year seminar course.

To combat this, I decided that it was time to add a few pieces to my teaching wardrobe. Yes. I am one of those academics who firmly believes that the academy can be populated by well dressed people.

Thus, initially, when I stumbled across this blog about academics and fashion I was elated. Here was a possible source of inspiration, written by people like me. Further perusal, however, left me less enthusiastic. While I applaud the initiative of this group of bloggers, I can’t help but be a little disillusioned by their choices. None of it really appeals to me. Some of the posts echo with some of my least favourite academic stereotypes, namely the “quirky” dresser. Maybe it’s a continental thing – I know that trends tend to arrive on the other side of the pond at different times than they do here – but the blog just smacks of middle America in the worst possible way. There’s nothing overtly daring about the things the main poster, a woman who calls herself La Historiadora de Moda, posts. And there are some outfits, like this little gem, that make me cringe.

I don’t see myself as especially hip or trendy. I don’t recreate catwalk looks in the classroom, I don’t tower over my colleagues and students in 5 inch heels. I don’t think I have an earth-shattering sense of fashion, but I do know that long skirts and t-shirts don’t an outfit make.

When it comes down to it, though I *do love clothes, and I find that the longer I live in England, the more I realize just how *visual the culture over here is – visual in a way that it just isn’t in Canada (or the US). The longer I live in England, the more I’m absorbing the sense of style. I’m slowly starting to pass for one of the natives. I no longer feel like I’m sticking out like a sore thumb.

Here are some of my recent purchases, spurred on by the promise I made to myself to dress a bit better in the coming weeks, especially when I’m working. All of them were made on this site -ASOS- a truly amazing place.

Something snuggleh:

Slouchy trousers (I’m determined to not wear jeans *all the time):

A not-grey cardigan sweater:

And these boots that I have been coveting for almost a month now – black, leather, flat, knee-high boots:

Do new things mean re-enfranchisement? I’m afraid, for me, they do.

Castle - The TV Series

I started watching Castle in the shadow of Chuck, which meant that it had an unjustified disadvantage to begin with. The show supposedly falls in the comedy-drama (or dramedy, if you will) genre. The reason I picked the show up was Nathan Fillion, the guy I loved as Malcom in Firefly and Serenity (the movie.)

Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle

Fillion plays Richard Castle, a mystery novelist with his ex-wife as his publicist. He lives with his very wise teenage daughter, Alexis played by Molly C. Quinn, and his wildly bizarre mother played to perfection by Susan Sullivan. The pilot episode has Castle being called by NYPD to solve a serial murder case inspired by his books. As Castle helps the gorgeous detective Kate Beckett, played by Stana Katic, catch his copycat murder and also struggles with the brickbats for killing his series’ protagonist in the latest novel. With minor twists, reasonable drama, and complete lack of teamwork, detective Beckett and he succeed in catching the murderer. The episode ends with Castle using his contacts and charming his way through NYPD to get the permission to tail the detective on her each homicide so that he can base the new protagonist of his forthcoming series on her! Beckett hates his guts, and Castle flirts every now and then but the chemistry is kind of lost to me. Nothing path breaking but mildly entertaining show of about forty minutes.

A Particular Frame I Like

Only four episodes of the first season down and I can see where the main plot is headed, but I cannot complain. Not every show is supposed to blow your mind, some are just meant to amuse and then be forgotten. I would put Castle in this category. However, the cinematography of the show is brilliant and I love the opening shots of every episode, which mainly show NY skyline. The use of color is also splendid and I find myself paying a lot of attention to every frame.

Stana Ketic as Detective Beckett

Susan Sullivan as Martha, the Mom

As I said, the opening shots use the usual NY structures and much exploited skyline, but the shots are amazing. Check them out for yourself.

Each episode solves a mystery, which works wonderfully for me but the major drawback of the show in my opinion is the lack of depth in the characters. The makers clearly decided that they wanted some romantic tension between Richard and detective Beckett and that Richard would share a complex relationship with his mother and a beautiful one with his daughter, but that is where they stopped. I bet they do not know squat about Richard Castle beyond this and that is reflected in the show. I often see conflicting shades in Castle’s character, which puts me off the show immediately.

Molly C. Quinn as Alexis

Another thing that I find hard to swallow is the flawlessness of Alexis’ character. She is a good kid, I totally buy that but she is sensible to the extent of being unreal. Since they have not paid much attention to the characterization, this stands out like a sore thumb.

All said and done, I do not mind watching an episode of Castle over dinner after a hard day’s work. Nevertheless, it does nothing, absolutely nothing, to fill the vacuum left by Chuck. The withdrawal symptoms continue. The wait for January 10^th could not be any more torturous.

Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland is one of my favourite places to visit.  On this occasion I had taken a short walk through the golf course, past the castle and on to Craster.  It was only about three miles with a stop at the pub in Craster for a crab sandwich but there was plenty to look at on the way.

C: Here’s your weekly Castle review, coming in a little late thanks to a minor catastrophe in the E household.  (All’s well now, only one bone broken.)

As if the show gods heard us last week, this week’s episode treated viewers to a bit of Beckett and “Little Castle” one-on-one time (E: thanks guys!), as Alexis volunteered for three days at the station as part of a school initiative.  Cleaning out the room where victims’ belongings are stashed she stumbles on a little mystery of her own.  In the meantime, Big Castle and the gang are investigating something twistier: the death of a man with a wife and a fiancee. (E: Castle to corpse: “Dude, you are so busted.”)

Of course the whole two-wives-who-don’t-know-about-each-other thing’s been done elsewhere, such as the Bones episode “The Truth in the Lye.”  But the Castle writers add their own spin – the dead man’s motivation in creating a second identity for himself went far beyond the desire to juggle two women.

E: I don’t know about you, but there was a point where the women were throwing guilt at each other, and I started to think, wait, don’t tell me they’ve killed him together. Thankfully (since I’ve already seen that plot) that was not the case.

M: Yes, They added several twists with the man himself, the fiancee, and it all centered around corporate espionage.  The episode itself seemed to be either in honor of, or in response to, NBC doing “Green Week” last week.  We had a battle between rival recycling companies, with the two-timer (who turned out to not be much of a two-timer) really being under cover for the Connecticut recyclers, trying to steal the industry-revolutionizing battery sludge removing secret formula from the New York recyclers.

As always, there were little give-aways, like the New York Recycling Company having a posh downtown office, but this wasn’t the kind of “obvious twist” that they had been going with for several weeks that we’ve complained about.  So apparently, like with the Beckett-Alexis bonding time, the writers are reading us and responding quickly.

E: And they know that I love Buffy, so they hired the hot principal from the last season – the year Nathan Fillion was part of the cast – to play the CEO of the NY recyclers!  Totally awesome.

They also had lots of fantastic exchanges this week.  To wit – Castle, after Beckett taunted him (along with the wonder twins):

“She’s baiting us. Just ignore her and she’ll lose her witchy powers.”  Beckett’s response?  She starts looking for something, deadpan serious, and when asked what, replies “Where’s my broom?”

Also, after Beckett tells Castle she just can’t stop thinking of the fight between the two women, he replies “would you think less of me if I said me too?”

Oh. And how awesome is it that this week Castle makes an off-hand remark which enables Alexis to solve her mystery?  Loved it!

C: Fun to see that cliche in the reverse.  This was overall a fun episode, with Alexis solving her case, Castle getting another chance to glow with paternal pride (something Fillion does very well), and the murder plot avoiding the predictable (I suspected the correct killer from the start, but how they got there held some surprises).  A solid, enjoyable episode.

South Shore Furniture Sand Castle 4 Drawer Chest Review

Check Price Now!

South Shore Furniture Sand Castle 4 Drawer Chest Feature

• 4 vertically stacked drawers for ample storage
• Concave wooden knobs and rounded legs
• Sunny Pine and Pure White finishes
• 42″ H x 32″ W x 17″ D
• 5 year manufacturer’s limited warranty

South Shore Furniture Sand Castle 4 Drawer Chest Overview

South Shore Furniture Sand Castle 4 Drawer Chest Bring a simple, clean look to your child’s bedroom with the Sand Castle Collection. This bedroom collection is available is Sunny Pine or Pure White finishes. This practice bedroom set has a functional unisex design and blends right into any decor. This set provides you with unique and convenient storage solutions to reduce the amount of clutter in your child’s room. Furniture tops and bottoms have contoured edging and feature concave wood-detailed knobs. South Shore Furniture is made from laminated, engineered wood to ensure strength and durability.This Sand Castle 4 Drawer Chest features four vertically stacked drawers for storing clothes and other items. Top and bottom have contour edging and feature concaved wooden knobs. This dresser showcases rounded, bun legs and functional design.

South Shore Furniture Sand Castle 4 Drawer Chest Specifications

South Shore Furniture

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 24, 2009 17:10:04

HP MediaSmart Server EX495

Als er iemand dol is op televisie series ben ik het wel. Ik heb elke avond wel een aantal series die ik gewoon moet zien. Is het een verslaving? Misschien wel een beetje, maar het is gelukkig nog niet zo erg dat ik helemaal ga flippen als ik een aflevering mis want we hebben thuis de meest geniale uitvinding ever: het upc recorder kastje. Ik kan alle progamma’s instellen die ik wil zien en die dan later bekijken. En mocht ik dit vergeten, dan is er altijd nog sidereel.com. Heel handig!

Wat zijn nu mijn favoriete tv series en waarom?

Ghost Whisperer

Ghost Whisperer is mijn alltime favoriet. De mensen die me volgen via Twitter kunnen regelmatig lezen dat ik weer eens Ghost Whisperer aan het kijken ben. Ik volg deze serie al vanaf seizoen 1 en ik kan er maar geen genoeg van krijgen. Het is ook al meedere keren voorgekomen dat het me niet lukt om even een traantje weg te pinken.

Criminal Minds

Ik hou van crime series en Criminal Minds staat bovenaan als mijn favoriet. Elke woensdag zit ik trouw om 20:30 voor de buis voor een vol uur criminal profiling. Ook vind ik Dr Spencer Reid best wel een schatje. Sst niet verder vertellen hoor!

Gossip Girl

Ik heb alle boeken al in mijn bezit en toen ik op internet las dat er een tv serie zou verschijnen werd ik even he-le-maal gek van enthousiasme. Mijn favoriete characters zijn Blair en Chuck. Ik kijk deze serie trouwens niet via de tv, ik kijk alle nieuwe afleveringen via Sidereel of ik pak op een layzie sunday mijn dvd boxen erbij!

Castle

Deze serie is nog niet zo lang te zien op de televisie maar ik moet toegeven dat ik geen aflevering kan en wil missen. Ik vind vooral de hoofdrolspeler Nathan Fillion ontzettend goed acteren en echt geweldig om naar te kijken. Castle is echt een must om te zien. Dit is btw ook weer een crime serie.

The Mentalist

Momenteel word The Mentalist hier in Nederland even niet uitgezonden op tv -ik volg ook deze serie weer via internet- maar is ook een must om te zien. The Mentalist is van dezelfde hand als Castle en is ook een steengoede serie. En het is ook helemaal niet erg om naar Simon Baker te kijken – al vond ik hem in The Devil Wears Prada helemaal niet zo leuk- want die ziet er niet alleen heerlijk uit maar acteert ook super! =)

Dit zijn momenteel even mijn favoriete series. Ik kijk trouwens ook nog weleens naar Numbers – alleen als het onderwerp me aanstaat-, naar Bones -ook al kan ik Emily Dechanel absoluut niet uitstaan- en naar Csi en Csi Miami.

Wat zijn jullie favoriete tv series?

Ciao a tutti! Prima di cominciare vi invito a dare una sguardo alla mia nuova rubrica TV USA Spoilers che parla anche di telefilm americani. Vediamo ora i dati di ascolto statunitensi della serata di ieri 23 novembre 2009, in base alle cifre preliminari diffuse da Nielsen Media Research e pubblicate ogni pomeriggio da diversi siti web USA come Mediaweek e Hollywood Reporter.
In chiusura, alcune news e aggiornamenti di cast dal panorama televisivo statunitense che potranno anche essere approfonditi negli spazi settimanali “TV USA Gazette” e “TV USA Giorno per giorno”, ed un elenco degli episodi inediti di telefilm in onda questa sera negli Stati Uniti.
Per favore evitate nei commenti qualsiasi tipo di SPOILER sugli episodi dei telefilm citati in questo spazio!

ASCOLTI USA di lunedì 23 novembre 2009
Dancing with the Stars segna il suo record stagionale con oltre venti milioni ma Dr. House fa meglio nel pubblico giovane. Bene la serata di sit-com CBS e il nuovo reality Find My Family partito fuori programmazione. Male come al solito Trauma e Heroes, sui soliti valori le altre serie.
Ecco la classifica degli spettatori totali dei cinque principali network statunitensi (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX e The CW): nella prima colonna è indicata l’audience in milioni di spettatori, nella seconda il rating e lo share nella fascia di pubblico 18-49 anni.

	AUDIENCE	RATING/ SHARE
	15,88	3,4/9
	11,86	4,0/10
	9,58	3,6/9
	5,01	1,8/5
	1,28	0,6/1

Ecco un elenco degli episodi inediti di serie e sit-com trasmessi ieri sera sui cinque network:

• ore 20.00 Dr. House – Medical Division 6×09 (FOX), How I Met Your Mother – E alla fine arriva mamma! 5×09 (CBS), Heroes 4×11 (NBC)
• ore 20.30 Accidentally on Purpose 1×09 (CBS)
• ore 21.00 Due uomini e mezzo 7×09 (CBS), Trauma 1×09 (NBC), Lie to Me 2×08 (FOX)
• ore 21.30 The Big Bang Theory 3×09 (CBS)
• ore 22.00 CSI: Miami 8×09 (CBS), Castle – Detective tra le righe 2×10 (ABC)

Di seguito entro più nel dettaglio dei programmi trasmessi, con una classifica per fascia oraria di trasmissione ordinata in base agli spettatori totalizzati.

ORE 20.00

1. Su ABC una nuova puntata del reality musicale Dancing with the Stars ha avuto ben 20,49 milioni di spettatori (4,1/10) fino alle ore 21.30.
2. Su FOX è andato in onda il nono episodio inedito della settima stagione di Dr. House – Medical Division che è sceso a 11,88 milioni di spettatori (4,5/12).
3. Su CBS sono andati in onda episodi inediti delle sit-com How I Met Your Mother – E alla fine arriva mamma! (salito a 8,79 milioni di spettatori – 3,7/10) e Accidentally on Purpose (con 7,90 milioni di spettatori – 3,2/8).
4. Su NBC l’undicesimo episodio inedito della quarta stagione della serie Heroes ha avuto 5,17 milioni di spettatori (2,3/6).
5. Su CW una replica della serie One Tree Hill ha avuto 1,33 milioni di spettatori (0,6/2).

ORE 21.00

1. Su ABC è proseguita la puntata del reality musicale Dancing with the Stars e alle 21.30 è andata in onda, in maniera speciale, la prima puntata del nuovo reality Find My Family (con 12,90 milioni di spettatori – 2,9/7).
2. Su CBS sono andati in onda episodi inediti delle sit-com Due uomini e mezzo (con 13,91 milioni di spettatori – 4,7/12) The Big Bang Theory (con 14,22 milioni di spettatori – 5,2/13).
3. Su FOX è andato in onda l’ottavo episodio inedito di Lie to Me (sceso a 7,27 milioni di spettatori – 2,7/7).
4. Su NBC il nono episodio inedito della serie medica Trauma ha avuto 5,32 milioni di spettatori (1,6/4)
5. Su CW una replica della serie Gossip Girl ha avuto 1,22 milioni di spettatori (0,6/1).

ORE 22.00

1. Su CBS il nono episodio inedito dell’ottava stagione della serie poliziesca CSI: Miami ha avuto 13,18 milioni di spettatori (3,7/10).
2. Su ABC il decimo episodio inedito della seconda stagione della serie gialla Castle ha totalizzato 10.46 milioni di spettatori (2,7/7).
3. Su NBC la puntata n°51 del talk-show quotidiano The Jay Leno Show ha avuto 4,54 milioni di spettatori (1,4/4).

• The Dome arriva in televisione
  La Dreamworks di Steven Spielberg realizzerà un film televisivo/miniserie basato sull’ultimo romanzo del celebre scrittore Stephen King, The Dome (Under the Dome in originale). La storia è ambientata, come al solito, in una piccola cittadina del Maine dove all’improvviso cala una barriera invisibile che blocca tutto e tutti quelli che sono all’interno, anche l’aria. Inizia una quindi, per i protagonisti, una lotta contro il tempo per salvarsi.
• FlashForward si ferma
  La ABC ha fermato per una settimana la produzione di FlashForward, la nuova serie sci-fi iniziata da quasi due mesi. La cosa avviene un mese dopo l’abbandono di Marc Guggenheim, showrunner della serie, e dopo l’ennesimo calo di ascolti che la sta affliggendo. Il motivo quindi sarebbe quello di consentire agli scrittori di rimettere mano alle sceneggiature. Intanto il 3 dicembre assisteremo in USA all’ultimo episodio per questo 2009.
• Psych avrà una quinta stagione
  La notizia non giunge inaspettata, comunque ora è ufficiale. USA Network ha annunciato che la serie comico-poliziesca Psych avrà una quinta stagione di sedici episodi. La serie racconta le divertenti avventure di Shawn (James Roday), un finto sensitivo con un grande senso dell’osservazione e Gus (Dule Hill), il suo migliore amico che collaborano con la polizia di Santa Barbara. La serie è partita nel 2006 segnando il record di ascolti all’epoca per il canale e ha continuato ad avere sempre ottimi risultati. Psych intanto tornerà il 29 gennaio con la seconda parte della quarta stagione mentre la quinta debutterà la prossima estate.
• Ultimo episodio di V per questo 2009
  Stasera va in onda il quarto ed ultimo episodio per il 2009 di V. La serie di fantascienza tornerà poi a marzo con i restanti nove episodi e andrà in onda dopo Lost. Intanto sono stati calcolati i dati delle registrazioni della prima puntata che accresce il già buon risultato di ulteriori 2,4 milioni, portando il dato finale a 16,7 milioni (6,2); ottimo debutto quindi per la serie, specie nei ratings, anche se negli episodi successivi gli ascolti sono scesi. Di seguito il trailer dell’episodio.

QUESTA SERA IN TV NEGLI STATI UNITI…
Gli episodi inediti di serie e sit-com su network e canali cavo
Informazioni tratte dallo spazio “TV USA Giorno per giorno”.

Martedì 24 novembre 2009

• ore 20.00 NCIS – Unità anticrimine 7×09 (CBS), V 1×04 (ABC)
• ore 21.00 NCIS: Los Angeles 1×09 (CBS)
• ore 22.00 The Good Wife 1×09 (CBS), Sons of Anarchy 2×12 (FX), Sherri 1×12 (Lifetime)

“It’s been around as long as I can remember”.

“How long can you remember though?”

Windsor Castle, Windsor, SL4

“Oh, not long”.

Good morning faithful flock, we’ve shaken off our Monday blues here at the mydeco office (it’s like someone has slipped happy pills into the water supply) and everyone is jovially hard at work. Read on to see the fruits of our efforts, with a selection of the latest and greatest in design news.

mydeco’s pick of the top three news stories:

1. Design Milk : Mary had a little lamp

Image credit: Design Milk

Ever had that morning-after horror, when you roll over in bed and realise that you didn’t come home alone last night? Well imagine that you awoke to find that not only do you have company…but he has a lamp for a head. Scary. Still, should you decide to invest in this lamp to stop you feeling lonely when going to bed with nothing more than a good book, I would advise against Danielle Steel. Trust me, it’s bound to end badly.

2. Telegraph : Carla Bruni’s Castle for sale

Image credit: The Telegraph

Once upon a time there was a little girl, whose grandfather was the king of all the tyre-manufacturers in the land. The little girl grew up in a beautiful 11th century castle in Italy, complete with frescos, marble floors, and 173 acres of parkland to frolic upon. When the little girl grew up, she dropped out of school, became a model, and dated Mick Jagger. Now she lives in a different palace, and her old one is on sale for $28m. Follow the link to find more information on how you can buy it and live happily ever after.

3. dornob: Traffic-stopping style cone-shaped breakfast set

Image credit: dornob

The alarm goes off, and you grudgingly drag yourself out of bed. Those who have risen earlier greet you with a cheery ‘good morning’, and you discover feelings of unadulterated hatred you never thought yourself capable of. What could possibly make 6am worse? Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Pierre Lescop’s traffic-cone shaped breakfast-set.

The best of the rest:

dornob : Amazing home atrium and multi-level interior garden design

Daily Mail: Why Bread’s Jean Boht is selling her £2.25m home in Reigate

Daily Mail: Why estate agents also shared the joy of Magnificent Seven’s lottery win

Daily Mail: Average cost of fixed rate mortgage falls below 5% for first time in 5 months

Daily Mail: As number of empty shops in Britain soars, why are local councils turning down bids to turn them into homes?

The Guardian: All fired-up: Wood burning stoves

The Guardian: Let’s move to…Cromer

The Guardian: Myspace: Alan Yentob, editor and TV presenter

Want more? Well, make sure you join us again tomorrow for Wednesday’s instalment of design news.

Top Chef: Culinary Olympics

How I Met Your Mother: Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap

The Venture Brothers: Self Medication

The Big Bang Theory: The Vengeance Formulation

Castle: Love Me Dead

White Collar: Threads

It’s a cold Tuesday morning and I’m hanging around in Colchester with an hour to spare before I can get a bus to the small village of Great Wenham, where I’m due to collect a car to deliver to Peterborough.

I’ve walked up to the castle, on the edge of the town centre, and am looking around the grounds.

Colchester castle dates back to the eleventh century and boasts the largest Norman keep in the country, not so much because of the ambition of the architects but because it was built around an even older building – the Roman temple of Claudius.

The castle was originally four stories high, but the top two are long gone now, not due to the ravages of time or warfare, but due to the actions of a certain John Wheeler, a local businessman who purchased the place from the Crown in 1629 with the sole intention of demolishing it to sell the rubble to local builders. However by the time the upper two stories had been knocked down he had concluded that he would not make a profit from the enterprise after all and abandoned it.

The absence of the top half of the castle did not prevent the Royalists from holing up there for a twelve week siege during the civil war, in 1648. A small obelisk now marks the spot where their generals were executed following their surrender to the Parliamentarians.

Three years earlier, Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General himself, had also concluded that there was enough of the building left for him to make use of as a prison in which to hold and interrogate suspected witches. Anyone who has seen the classic 1968 film starring Vincent Price, then in his fifties, might be surprised to learn that Hopkins was only twenty five when he began his witch hunting career. He died just two years later in uncertain circumstances, by which time he and his partner John Stearne had been responsible for the deaths of twenty three women. In a strange echo of modern times, Hopkins’ interrogations were hampered by the fact that torture was unlawful, meaning that he had to resort to such tactics as sleep deprivation and the ’swimming test’ which involved determining whether the suspect would sink or float in holy water.

The castle was acquired by the local council in the 1930s and went through various restoration and repair projects to arrive at its present state. Now that it is considered part of our national heritage and worthy of preservation, it’s easy to think that this must place a full stop at the end of its history, but who knows? Maybe sooner or later someone else with big ideas will get hold of it again for better or worse.

This post was supposed to happen yesterday. Whooooooooops.

Tonight:
8pm – Heroes on NBC
8pm – House on FOX
9pm – Trauma on NBC
9pm – Lie to Me on FOX
10pm – Castle on ABC

TUESDAY:
8pm – V on ABC
8pm – So You Think You Can Dance (Top 12) on FOX
8pm – NCIS on CBS
9pm – NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS

WEDNESDAY:
8pm – So You Think You Can Dance (Results) on FOX
9pm – Glee on FOX
10pm – CSI: NY on CBS

THURSDAY:
8pm – FlashForward on ABC
8pm – Bones on FOX
9pm – Fringe on FOX

FRIDAY:
10pm – White Collar on USA

SATURDAY:
11:30pm – Saturday Night Live on NBC

Nothing particularly exciting this week.

Melted Brain To-Do:

• Last week’s FlashForward/Instant Replay
• Finish catching up on NCIS: LA
• Catch up on Fringe
• Catch up on V
• Hindsight: BSG
• Catch up on White Collar?
• Last week’s SNL?

The end.

Well, Saturday, for once, we decided to do something. Initial ideas involved going to Caen, or Nantes, but, as it happened, Fougères won. Anyway, we all arrived at the Gare Routière at 11.30 (give or take, some were tardy), purchased our tickets and waited. Waiting took quite a while, until the bus arrived. More waiting ensued on the bus, but this time, waiting to get there. Fougères is only 36km from Rennes. I don’t know what that is in real measurements, but it’s not 1h10 away. Anyway, we arrived, mid dinner-time, so naturally the castle was closed. After a walk around the outside of the castle and into what appeared to be a public toilet (hole in the ground, duh), we decided that it would be a good idea to have something to eat. This is where Fougères made up for the castle being shut. I’m not a fan of galettes. I’m not afraid to admit that. But the one I had for lunch, the galette paysanne, was actually the best meal that I have eaten abroad. Ever. It was basically galette with chips, bacon and a parsley and garlic sauce. So. Amazing. Anyway, we got let into the castle, with our free audio guides, and the adventure began. This was a proper castle. Finally. A few issues arose: the annoying man on the audio guides; the scary steps up anywhere; the “spectacle” that was actually nothing. Anyway, after that, we attempted to explore the rest of Fougères. It’s a bit nothingy to be honest. It’s pretty, but just so nothingy. Anyway, after what felt like an AGE trying to find it, we finally found the “bus station”. This consisted of a bus shelter, and a slightly bigger bus shelter. We weren’t even sure if it was the bus station. But it was. And we made it home alive, so all is good.

This picture sums up the day.

Neuschwanstein Castle – Bavaria, Germany as recreated in Lego as part of the LEGO Castle Adventure exhibition on Henry Ford Museum.