Withdrawal pains?

Are you missing Corrie as much as i am? Damn CBC! But take heart, for the 2010 and 2012 games, CBC does not have the broadcasting contract so we won't suffer a 2 week withdrawal until 2014. At least during the NHL playoffs, they still show the Sunday omnibus and have began to show the episodes online as well. I think that worked quite well but they can't do that now because believe it or not, there's still people that don't have the internet!! Yes, i know. Astonishing innit? What's wrong with these people? ;)

I am missing it but it's not too bad. I do spoilers and download some of the UK episodes and look at the ITV episode updates for the rest, I write for Corrieblog.tv (which is a UK site, with spoilers) and i write an episode update for the UK broadcasts using the downloads so my withdrawal isn't so bad as some. I have dozens of Corrie dvds and a few books and a stack of old Corrie magazines that help a little bit, too.

What do you do to get yourself through the drought?

Ashley, Ashley, Ashley

First off, just a note. CBC and Granada have signed a new long term contract so we'll have Corrie on CBC for the foreseeable future. They're also going to create a website for Canadian fans with (i think) streaming video of the shows for catch ups as well as interviews and other features. No eta on that yet.

Some spoilers below but it's pretty obvious where this storyline is going anyway.


I know what the powers that be are doing. Casey lost her baby and now she want's Claire's life. She's slowly pushing Claire out and sucking Ashley in. Ashley is at a vulnerable point. He went through a lot dealing with Claire's post natal depression and he's still grieving for his father. Someone tried to burn down his house, kidnap his son and kill his wife in the fire. We are to believe that all this makes him vulnerable to Casey and he'll end up doing something he'll later regret. He's already kissed Casey once, and this week, it's happening again and much worse! No mistake this time either. The thing is, I just don't buy it. Ashley *might* kiss someone else in a low and weak moment but he'd *never* ever cheat on Claire. Not after what he'd been through with Maxine and the tall doctor.

After all the grief over Maxine's one night stand (which was pretty contrived in itself) and dealing with Matt Ramsden being Joshua's biological father and him wanting visitation, I just don't buy that Ashley would turn around and do the same thing to Claire. Mind you i never bought Kevin's affair with Natalie either but there was no damning precendent. Some people have affairs in retaliation for their partners' affairs. This is not the case here either. It's all about Ashley's vulnerability.

Ok, maybe i'm just being pedantic. Maybe i'm just being sniffy because every soap couple seems to go through this tired old plot device at one time or another. Ashley is just so honest and upstanding. You just want to believe that there are some people that just don't cheat. Ever. Roy and Hayley are one of those couples that are loyal and true. Ken and Deirdre are not. I thought Ashley and Claire were the faithful type, too so maybe i'm only ranting because i'm disillusioned that Ashley ends up being like most men on soaps, feet of clay. (yes, and some women too. Sally's had loose knicker elastic for years!) Soaps are geared primarily towards women and women are mainly the stronger ones of the species, where men are portrayed as weaker, if usually loveable fools just the same.

The actress that's playing Casey, Zoe Henry, is really good though, isn't she? She's not playing it like a crazed stalker with that mad glint in her eye. You can really believe that she really isn't a manipulative cow, she's just totalling inside a whole different world in her head. Something is very broken inside her and she's unraveling but so slowly that nobody notices. She's being Best Friend to both Claire and Ashley all the while making subtle remarks and looks that are pushing the two of them apart, casting doubts, twisting words. I've gotta say that the writers are really quite good and she's really playing it letter perfect.

That's one thing about Corrie. You might not always like the storyline, but most of them are always quite well written. The writers always seem to peg the characters pretty well and are consistent with them. Their remarks, their reactions, their dialogue are always spot on. The actors do ad lib a little i think but not that often. The writers often will pick up on things the actors do and how the actors portray the characters and work with that. It's the mark of a good team. Corrie's always had that. Long may it reign!

Corrie Blogging

My Corrie mate, Flaming Nora, edits Corrieblog, a blog over at the Shiny Media site. I've known her for a good 10 years or more. When i first got access to the internet, through work, the only thing i had access to was email and newsgroups and i found a coronation street group on there. "Nora", aka Glenda Young, was a poster then and shortly after that she started writing weekly summaries of Coronation Street storylines. Occasionally over the years we've corresponded on various issues as well as participated in online discussions in the newsgroup and in the irc chat room. We met in person in 2000 and again in 2001 and over the past year or two have become regular emailers. In January, she asked me if i wanted to contribute to Corrieblog. The articles could be anything i want, mostly just short blurbs and photos but i could do longer ones too. The best thing? You get paid for it! Just a few quid per post, she said, not much. Well the thing is, a few quid is more than doubled in Canadian dollars. That adds up!

So ok, i decided to do it. There were teething pains, getting used to the interface and the rules and regs for posting but by George i think i've got it! I really love writing about Coronation Street. I look through the magazines and books i have for ideas, i draw on my fairly extensive trivia knowledge, having participated in hundreds of trivia quizes over the years and i have quizes i've written that i use as a source for a weekly post of 5 or 6 trivia questions as a mini-quiz. I love the history of the street so i write articles focusing on a particular storyline or character. We also have themes during some months so that gives us all ideas for posts to write about. I find myself surfing the web for old photos of actors or for ebay and Youtube clips that i can post.

What's really great is when i post an article that really goes over well. I recently did a profile on character, Sally Webster that got a few really good comments so i'm going to do more character profiles like that. Today i posted an article on the ITV series Bad Girls because a handful of Coronation Street actors have appeared on it and i think that's going to go over well too.

The payment is usually later than it's supposed to be but it does get through eventually though i've only had one so far. Another one is due, hopefully this week or i'll start nagging them again. You get paid over a month later from when you submit the invoice. That's partly because it takes that long for them to get their money from their advertisers. It's frustrating though, having to wait. I'm saving all the money i make this year for a few days' side trip to Paris in November when i'm going to be in the UK anyway, visiting my fella who lives in Salford, just a stone's throw from Granada studios.

I make a New Year's goal every year to try something new. It's not really a resolution, just a plan. This is my something new for this year and so far it's a success!