Couple get engaged on rollercoaster

A loved-up couple had the ride of their lives on Friday when they got engaged on the tallest rollercoaster in Europe.

Jenny Harold, 28, took advantage of the February 29 leap year tradition to propose to boyfriend Patrick Hyde on the Stealth ride at Thorpe Park.

Rollercoaster enthusiast Patrick, 26, said he was amazed when Jenny popped the question.

Jenny kept her plan secret for almost two months, telling her now-fiance that the day out was a late birthday present.



“I did think something was amiss,” said Patrick.

“My birthday was a month ago, but she just kept saying ‘I’ve got something planned’.”

The couple, who have been an item for more than a year, had one of their first dates at the theme park so it was the perfect setting for Jenny’s proposal.

“I’m glad it came together – it could have gone horribly wrong!” she said.

“I just feel completely relieved.”

Stealth was introduced to the park in 2006, and now goes from 0-80mph in 1.9 seconds, producing G-forces of up to 4.8g.

First printed in: Surrey Advertiser Online

"You're like... the coolest person I've ever met and you don't even have to try"

Every so often, a film from the left field of the American movie industry has critics and cinemagoers alike falling over themselves to garnish it with praise and, very often, awards.

Last year Little Miss Sunshine scooped two Oscars - best actor for Alan Arkin and best original screenplay – unprecedented for a film with a budget of just ₤8million and no major stars.

In 2008, Diablo Coby’s Juno looks set to be the surprise hit of the season, having made an appearance in almost every top ten list of the past few months.

Telling the story of a 16-year-old who finds herself pregnant by her best friend, Juno is a witty, fragile, perceptive piece of work that says more in 92 minutes than an army of Orks and Hobbits could in more than nine hours.

Ellen Page is the undoubted star, and with a spot hosting Saturday Night Live lined up for next month, she will surely enjoy the dazzling Hollywood limelight for a while longer.

Page’s depiction has been described as spunky, quirky and razor-sharp, but there are subtleties to her performance that go deeper than her delivery of the BAFTA winning script.

She seems to defy the character’s tender years, to the extent that the penultimate, brutal labour scene serves as a jarring reminder that this all-conquering, Stooges-loving tomboy is in fact just a child herself.

Plaudits must also go to the solid supporting cast. Michael Cera and Jason Bateman - reunited after the tragic cancellation of Arrested Development – share low-key, intimate moments with Page, while Allison Janney and J.K Simmons are perfect as Juno’s parents, even more confused and lost than the teen herself.

The Academy Awards may not adorn this sleeper hit on February 24 with so many other great films vying for honours, but it’s a little gem to be cherished in an industry so obsessed with doing things on a grand scale.

Sam Blackledge

First published in Surrey Advertiser Online

the death of journalism?

The Guardian came over all self-pitying and masochistic today.

On Comment is Free, Martin Bell believes that newspapers and TV networks are "retreating into a comfort zone of celebrity stories, consumer news, sport, health-scares and crime...the coverage is mawkish, exploitative and highly speculative."

In MediaGuardian, Nick Davies goes one better, suggesting that the media is involved in the "mass production of falsehood, distortion and propaganda." Journalists have become "passive processors of unchecked, second-hand material, much of it contrived by PR to serve some political or commercial interest," he says. "Not journalists, but churnalists."

While it is frustratingly true that much of a journalist's work nowadays involves wading through a sea of PR guff, most of the reporters I have met over the past year seem to be in it because they care about issues and want to tell the truth. If the Murdoch empire and increasingly media-savvy press departments block the way occassionally, then we'll just have to find another way around.

S

The RPM Challenge

this month i will be mostly doing this.

This is the challenge: record an album in 29 days, just because you can.

That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material recorded during the month of February. Go ahead… put it to tape.

Anyone can come up with an excuse to say “no,” so don’t. Many of you are thinking “But, I can’t do that! I don’t have any songs/recording gear/money/blah blah blah...” But this doesn’t have to be the album, it’s just an album. Remember, this is an artistic exercise. Well written, honest music is compelling and undeniable no matter what it was recorded on. So put it to tape.

After failing miserably last year, I have got off to quite a good start and I have three or four 'finished' songs (although i don't think the word finished really applies to this project in any way). I am struggling with lack of gear and a crackly hissy snivelling computer but hey...

check out my efforts so far here.