chesilbeach

Oh no! She's my favourite I'm surprised they didn't try to replace Arlene with her as a judge - that would have made two ballroom/latin specialist judges and two choreography/performer judges. And I've had such a bad day as well, that just tops it all off.

Hi Mac, hope you're well. Just wanted to let you know I finished The Other Hand yesterday, which I bought after you reviewed it - thought it was excellent. Will definitely be in my top books of the year.

She didn't particularly annoy me - at least not more than any of the other judges at times! - but to me, she always felt less spontaneous, like she'd written her comments before she'd seen the dance, especially with her alliteration all the time. I think the problem with adding another judge taking the panel up to five, would have made the judging too long, but they do need to do something about the tie situation, which is rubbish. If it's a tie with the judges, then go back to the public vote and let them decide.

I do like Flavia and Vincent as Argentine Tango dancers, but purely from the competition celeb/professional partnerships, Mark and Karen's was by far the most electrifying one I've seen. I also love the tango (Zoe & Ian's in series three was awesome) and the paso doble (my favourite was Jill & Darren in series two).

I think the Arlene thing has been blown out of all proportion. Last year the press were calling for her (and the other judges) to be sacked after their comments about John Sargeant, and now they are saying she should stay, just because she's older! I think Craig, Arlene and Bruno all have similar backgrounds and any one of them could have been replaced, and I think Arlene is the one that struggles to be natural on screen. They've decided to go with Alesha, and she does bring a unique perspective, even if not from a technical point of view, and at least we know she's passionate about the show, so I'm quite pleased.

It is Karen and Mark! They are my all time Strictly favourites and their Argentine Tango is my favourite ever dance on Strictly. It gives me goosebumps and butterflies every time I watch it.

Hi Mia - thought I'd tell you about Chesil Beach here rather than in the thread - don't want to get told off for going off-topic! Chesil Beach is on the south coast of Dorset and is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. There is a website all about it with some lovely pictures so you can see more at www.chesilbeach.org

Hi Inver - thanks for the comments on my photos. Unfortunately, the Roses tin is long empty of chocolates, and now contains packets of seeds, and the sparkly lights were put up for Christmas in 2002 and haven't been taken down since!

Hi Michelle,

Just popping in to say hello and thanks for the friend invite. Hope you've had a good weekend

Hi Lexie, just wanted to pop in and thank you for recommending the Sookie Stackhouse series to me - I think they're fantastic escapist fun! My library hasn't got all of them though, but at least with the TV series coming out they've reprinted the books and the shops seem to have them in stock again, so I'll be out getting them all soon

Hi Inver, I've just written my full review for A Lifetime Burning in my reading list thread, but to sum up, I thought it was a fascinating book.

I have read all four many, many times I didn't used to admit to it, but peacefield has been convincing me it's nothing to be ashamed of I know what you mean about the mundane things ... the first time I read them, I didn't even stop for food - I actually lost weight!

Tell me about it! I'm about 20 years too old to be acting like a love struck teenager!

Wow, you've been seriously bitten by the Twilight bug, haven't you?

I'll definitely let you know! I've only read Star Gazing so far, which I did enjoy but thought it had some faults, but I've borrowed both Lifetime Burning and Emotional Geology from the library, so I've got them both to read in the next couple of weeks.

Hello. Busy week, but a long weekend - Yippee!! Sun's shining here, so should be good. Hope you enjoy yours too

Hi Janet, just wanted to let you know I did enjoy The Post Office Girl and I'm going to write a full review (probably tomorrow!), but thought it would be better to let you know direct rather than reply in that specific thread

:smile2:Hey Mac. Glad you've got your reading mojo back - always worth going back to a favourite.

Hi Mia, just noticed the quote in your signature, and it reminded me of a line from my (current) favourite book, Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher, which is "Instant gratification takes too long."

An ever increasing pile of books (either already owned, or on the list waiting to bought) is definitely a consequence of reading all the posts here! Like you, I've also found lots of books waiting to be discovered after looking at other peoples reading lists and reviews.

Thanks Scarlette! I searched online for all the book quotes I could find, and I've always loved the Marx brothers films, so it seemed to fit me perfectly.

How are you finding the forum so far? I'm really enjoying it, as everyone is friendly and seems to respect everyone else's opinions.

Hi Roxi,

That's lovely, thanks. I'm intending to update my own blog links at some point, as I've found so many great book blogs since joining the forum, including yours!