Sunday Comments, February 3

Lines of the week:

• Steve "How could i get it so wrong" (er. don't you always?)
  
• Liz to Vernon "Don't worry about me, i'll keep meself busy" (You and your lover)
  
• Blanche "I'm always civil" (koff)
  
• Blanche "I"m the closest thing this street has to a diplomat"
  
• Fiz to Cilla "There's a first, you going for something real when you could have had fake"
  
• Leanne "You!" Paul "You!" and later she admitted "Somebody broke me" ( taht would be Danny)
  
• Ken to Blanche "Your presence isn't helping" Blanche "I wasn't meaning to help"
  
  

How could Steve have any idea how Michelle is feeling when she wouldn't tell him what the problem was? As usual Steve put both feet into it without thinking. But really, Michelle really does seem to give Steve mixed signals though his come on was bad timing. Then she turned around and told Vi that if you like someone you should "go for it" which is exactly what Steve did and she knew she'd stuck her foot in it that time. At least she finally told Steve what was going on. Well yes, it was Carla that talked Michelle around to not telling Ryan that Paul was driving the car and not his father. So what do they do? Talk about it when he's just in the other room. and now Paul and Carla are at odds and Liam is thinking Paul is going to go off in one of his moods? Who cares? Paul's pushing the marital envelope, though, staying out all night drinking.

Ken says he's got a 12 year old son within 50 miles of there.... Surely Scotland is further than that? Oh dear, Deirdre's getting really nasty now towards both Ken and her mother. I really do think she's having a breakdown. Ken tells Emily that Deirdre is blaming everyone except Tracy. Too right. Then she made some remark about him not doing enough to get involved with what was going on "over the road" which almost sounded as if she was back to believing Tracy was the abused girlfriend like she pretended. But they know that's not true so why would she now think Ken should have done more? As he said, nothing he could have done would have stopped her in her revenge plan especially since they didn't know that's what it was.

I can't blame Ken for taking off. There's only so much you can take and it certainly seemed to shock Deirdre out of her rage. I felt so bad for Blanche though. You know she feels that if Ken is gone, Deirdre will fall apart even more. And she's right, the longer he's away, the harder it will be to come back. Ken didn't go too far, he seems to have found a B&B and he seems to have found something else. A long lost girlfriend and son. He's being pretty circumspect as to what he's been doing too, not telling Deirdre he'd seen Denise and wants to see Daniel. So he must have said 15 miles not 50. Speculation around the net says Stockport or Rusholme as that's the football teams that were mentioned in Denise's salon. And if Blanche could take a taxi all the way there, it's definitely somewhat local. She wrote him that she'd moved back to the area yet even in the last year i remember Tracy flinging Ken's "son in Scotland" in his face. Blanche is just brilliant, though isn't she? sticking her oar in it all at the moment Ken finally sees his son after 12 years or so. She can't seem to decide whether to bicker at Deirdre, at Ken or do what she can to get them back together. Den of Iniquity indeed. *snork*

Doesn't she look great! I always liked Denise Black's acting and her character, Denise Osbourne. So Ken wants to see his son finally though he's been paying into a trust fund all these years at least. We got filled in, how she did let Ken know she'd moved back to Manchester. Maybe all this upset has got Ken wondering and thinking about the mistakes he's made in his life. So now he's going to get a chance to see Daniel again. Denise is afraid Ken will use him to fill the hole in his life and then drop him again. I think there's a very good chance of that. He's got form.

So Odious Morton is living in the shed. Gail and Claire wonder where he's going to the loo. Where do you think you silly gits? Liz is trying hard to get rid of Vernon, gives her more leeway with Dullard Drayman. Jerry pays absolutely no attention to the neighbours' complaints. None. Absolutely no sound proofing at all in that shed either, at least a house has a bit of a buffer. Mel better not lie and say she was driving instead of Darrell because it would get in the way of her new career as a police officer. And doesn't that half give her dad and granddad a start. Now the girls have got Ashley measuring the shed.

Lloyd answered the phone at the cab office, said "5 minutes" and never called out the call to a driver lol Tyrone and Molly are so cute aren't they? I think they have a future together too. They're very well suited. Liam and Leanne are starting to get close. Laughed at him saying she should come back when she was done her meeting. He didn't mind. But if he knew... and you know? Even Leanne's boots and heels look tarty! Liam's got a voice that's made for talking, not singing lol and WHOOPS!! Newest client for "Rachel" is none other than her neighbour Paul. Married neighbour. and she's dating his brother! They both want it kept quiet but i see her career as a prostitute come crashing down soon. And it's not the first time Paul's done this either. Now Leanne is getting closer to Liam and is terrified Paul is going to tell even though it'll put him in a hard place too.

Oh what's this? A blast from Fiz's past? Ok, Youth club DJ and she bunked off school to see him. I bet he was still a fair bit older than her even then. We first met her before she was 16, fostering with Roy and Hayley. When next we saw her, about 6 months later or so, she had left school at 16 and came to work in the factory and started chasing Tyrone. Sophie didn't do half bad singing. Not great. but not too bad. Laughed at Jack winding up Vera with the baby monitor in the pub and then she got her own back by turning it off. But they were pleased to hear that Ty and Molly want to move in together. Celebrating with Tia Maria and chips. That's class!

Why I love Denise Osborne

Denise Osborne is back on our screens in Canada after nearly 12 years. The last time we saw her, she scarpered with baby Daniel up to Scotland where all of Ken's biological children grow up without developing the accent. Only his grandson Adam came away sounding like a Scot and he mainly grew up with his mother in Newcastle, only having spent holidays in Glasgow with his granny Tatlock. Go figure.

Denise Osborne was brought in to be the "next Elsie Tanner" and she nearly had that potential. She seemed to attract men like flies to honey, bringing several of them, including footless Don Brennan to their knees in short order. She was feisty, spirited, in her late 30s and starting to get fed up with men altogether. They then paired her with Ken Barlow which should have had her run screaming to the nunnery. Talk about a mismatched pair! But what happened was Anne Kirkbride (Deirdre) developed health problems and was off the show for awhile so they put Ken and Denise together. At first she found him a nice bloke, safe and unthreatening. Well, he never stopped being that but he also became bland and boring to her. It's Ken Barlow! We viewers never doubted the fact that he was not a dynamic man in spite of the long line of women trailing behind him.

Oops, She finds herself pregnant and isn't sure she wants the spawn of Ken Barlow by this time. Ken is fretful and frustrated. She has a miscarraige which takes the decision out of everyone's hands. But wait! It was twins and she's still carrying one and that was the defining moment when she knew she wanted to keep the baby. Ken is now gleeful but Denise isn't sure she wants anything to do with him. Gasp!

Why i loved her? She always stood up to Ken, both before and after their relationship. She took no crap. She might not be as educated as he was but she was smarter than him, if you get my drift. Ken didn't know what to make of her. He usually always went for submissive women, the kind over whom he could wield his superior intellect and reason and who would meekly accept this arrogance. Then he would turn around and have affairs on these meek women because he couldn't respect them. Denise was different. He didn't really love her because she called him on his shit but she had his baby so he thought the right thing to do was make the effort for Daniel's sake. She tried but realized it just wasn't going to work.

To get her out of the show, the powers that be fabricated a previously unheard of and unhinted at affair with the even blanderThanKen husband of her sister. You wouldn't mind if they'd had him be a macho builder or a dynamic business man but he was an accountant, for God's sake! Not one of life's matinee idols, are accountants. And this one was no different. This stormy affair over the salon books was soon uncovered and they left for the highlands. Ken tried to manage with the baby but she came back and took him too. And the nanny, Kelly, for good measure.

Ken being Ken, tried half heartedly for a few months, driving to Scotland or having Daniel for visits but one or two nights of a cranky child missing his mum had him taking the low road to Scotland and the only time he saw his son over the next 10 or so years was a photo with his Christmas card and a few pounds in a trust fund.

Now he's had a crisis with Deirdre and has discovered that Denise is only living in Stockport. He remarked on having a son not 15 miles away that he never sees. And who's fault is that? And even now, he's wanting to see his son and the lad agrees. Denise is still predicting that Ken will use Daniel to fill that gap in his life and then disappear again when it's all healed over but since Daniel wants to see his father, what is a mother to do? But you know what'll happen. Exactly that. But for the next few weeks, we get to see Denise do what Denise does best. Tell Ken exactly what he doesn't really want to hear and probably instigate Ken and Deirdre's reunion because she doesn't really want him around under her feet.

She's only back for a few weeks so we know we won't see her or Daniel again and the writers will never mention it other than the occasional birthday card or phone call. We won't see Ken coming in and saying he'd been to see Daniel play footy or he'd taken the lad for a pizza and a movie.

Verbage: The language of Coronation Street

Over on Corrie Canuck, there's a discussion about the phrase "Neither use nor ornament" to describe someone that's a bit of a waste of space. I also wrote about this over on Corrieblog awhile back. One of the things i enjoy about Corrie and other British movies and tv shows is the language and expressions that are so much more colourful than ours here in Canada. This expression is one of the ones i've heard on Corrie over the years but isn't really one i've picked up and made my own though i should do. Some expressions really are incomprehensible such as "I feel like piffy on a rock bun" (feeling very out of place) or "Well i'll go to the foot of our stairs!" (somewhat akin to our "well you could have knocked me over with a feather!" which shows surprise)

One of the ones i love and use is "gobsmacked" which is just so much more colourful and appropriate than "shocked, incredulous, taken aback" or anything like that. I often use words like pillock, wanker, pratt and plonker and it's funny to see reactions on faces thinking "um, is that a bad thing?"

Some expressions you don't hear much as you used to on Corrie, such as "fur coat and no knickers", often used to describe Elsie Tanner by Ena Sharples. Another one i love is "all mouth and no trousers". I think Maud used this about Reg Holdsworth once and it's *so* exactly perfect for men like Reg. All bark and no bite, we'd say, or ... "he's got his head up his own arse" lol!

Because i watch so much British stuff, i pick up expressions and use them myself, though not all of them. It doesn't help that my fiance is from Salford and of course i have a lot of friends from various parts of the U.K. Most of my friends watch Corrie and so they use the expressions too. "What are you doing today?" "Nowt." I even catch myself thinking in "accent" sometimes! I think i need help! Or maybe....

I'll just get me coat shall i?

Sunday Comments, January 27

So I see that corrie.net seems to be down altogether today. Maybe it's part in part what they're doing to try to fix the guestbook, i have no idea. I"m guessing it's related to whatever they've been doing.

Lines of the week:

• Claire "Nice to have a neighbour takes care of his garden"
  
• Gail to Eileen "you're running away because you know you're not right and what's more you know it"
  
• Blanche "Whoever said other people are hell was spot on" Ken "Sartre" (John Paul, philosopher) Blanche "You mean SINatra" (Frank. Singer)
  
• Liz "I'm not a grandma, i'm a mature woman who happens to have a grandchild"
  
• Cilla "Me and Jodie Foster have a lot in common"
  
• Michelle to Liam "You made me hate him (Dean)"
  
• Michelle to Carla "Just because i'm glad you told me doesn't mean i like you"
  
• 
  

Will Jason be able to talk Eileen round? She is feeling the pressure and needs to get away. Will she stay away or not? It doesn't look good. Claire just assumed that Eileen was going to give the baby back, Eileen didn't actually say it. Gail confronted Eileen who loves a good fight and points out that this time she knows it's a fight she can't win so she's running away. This time Gail really does understand. Of all the people that would be the one to really get through to Eileen, you wouldn't have thought it would be Gail. But then, maybe someone who isn't a friend had to be the one that talked the most sense. Nice of Jason to give Gail flowers. I could hear Eileen's heart crack from here when she gave that baby back. I'd like to know how they got that baby to fuss on cue! Eileen and Jerry seem to be a nice pair. Friends? More? possibly. He did make her feel just a wee bit better.

Paul certainly knows how to power play the staff. Hayley and Sally want to put some of the pieces together but a lot of what they think they know is supposition on their part (well, *we* know it's true but Paul seems to be a master at what we in canada call "stick handling". He just avoided the issue altogether and warned them what could happen if they started rumours. and then feeds Sally's ego by implying she's going to get to ge a PA and that caused Sally to do an abrupt about face now that she's "practically" management. Has Paul actually offered Sally the job though, or just made it seem like she would get it to get her on board. I thought Carla knew that Liam wanted her out of the factory? So why did she go ahead and snag another contract? She and Michelle nearly went to daggers drawn over the bar and Carla took out her frustrations on Michelle and now Michelle has the scent about a secret. Liam isn't as accomplished at lying as Paul is. It was written all over his face. I think Rob James-Collier did a great job in the confession scene. Gotta say though, that wasn't much of a slap, very obviously staged. I like my screen slapping to look spontaneous, not posed, and then nearly in slow motion with a light little slapping sound effect. Bloody well take his head off like Sally did to Natalie that time! The gold standard of Street Slaps, that was!

Paul made a remark to Carla about his marraige not looking too good lately. Huh? Up to where Carla more or less let the cat out of this particular bag, they had been looking pretty united. Where did that come from? Ok, well i think i know what they're setting up here but i can't spoil it but i really hate when they start throwing stuff out there like that. Let's face it, Carla and Paul probably always have had a rocky marraige but then they seem to patch it up and stick together. Who would have thought it would be Carla that made Michelle calm down a bit and realize that Ryan would have lost even more if she'd cut him off from his uncles, no matter what they did. At least Liam feels guilty about it. Paul might but he comes across as a lot more "cold" but i suspect, more self destructive.

Derek the grey drayman keeps sniffing around and Vernon hasn't got one suspicious clue to rub against the other. Liz is in this full stop now, though and damn the consequences. It didn't take long for Betty's aerial to start twanging with suspicion. I can't really see what Liz sees in Derek other than he's got a bit more about him than Vernon but Derek probably thinks all his birthdays have er... come at once. So to speak.

New shed... it's bloomin well the size of a small house! I've seen hunting shacks smaller! What's the point of getting Ashley? What's he going to do about it? Mind you, if it's encroaching on the neighbours' property, they could complain to the council and be made to take it down. Jerry's also a master at verbal stick handling. Pretends he is listening and heeding the complaints of the neighbours and goes on and does exactly what he wants. Watching that shed get lifted over the roof reminded me of when Des Barnes did the same with his boat.

Deirdre's still snapping at Ken when all he asked her was if she wanted a cup of tea or telling her about his day. Blanche is back, too though Ken wants to confiscate her downstairs room for a study but Deirdre won't have anyone in "Tracy's" room. Why doesn't Ken just make Tracy's room into a study instead? I think Deirdre seriously needs to talk to a doctor. Her heart's broken for Tracy but she's racked with guilt for her own part and resentment towards Ken and probably Tracy as well. As much as Blanche can be critical of Deirdre, she does love her and doesn't want her and Ken to break up.

Laughed at Jack blaming Vera for making him tidy up which caused her fall. Now Vera has hold of a baby monitor, it's like having an electronic umbilical cord to Jack. He won't get a moment's peace at all now! Looks like Fiz is better at sewing knickers than suits. You'd think someone that could design her own gear could do Chesney something that fit, or has the continuity fairy forgot about that? Only Cilla could be responsible for diverting the course of Biblical History and offer Mary and Joseph a room in the inn. I wish i'd seen that school play!

Corrie.net problems.

Yes, folks, the Corrie.net guestbook seems to be down at the moment. It's not just you. I can see other parts of corrie.net but can't ftp in to the server either, without getting an error. (I upload the spoilers and the episode updates regularly). We sit and wait. I emailed the tech support but that's not got a response yet.

Sunday comments, January 20

Lines of the Week

• Janice "Far be it for me to be insensitive" (HA!)
  
• Paul "What's done is done" (he's making a habit of that)
  
• Liam "I've never let ignorance stop me from discussing anything"
  
• Sean "My head's hurting, must be from all this concentrating"
  
• Jason to Eileen "You're more selfish than anyone"
  
• Bill about Cilla "The only blokes who watch her every move? Store detectives!"
  
• Gail "What harm could a little shed do?" (uh oh, i think you'll be sorry you said that)
  
• Lloyd "Is it Mondays. Is it women? or is it me?"
  

They must have put a camera right on the ground and let it go by remote for that shot of the ambulance driving right over it. Amazing how much the factory bees knew about Kasia for someone that could barely speak English. I'm surprised that, when everyone was wondering why Kasia was in so early, that they didn't realize she was working nights too, they must have known she and Vicki and the others had night work all along. And later on they did start musing about it. It just seemed like the continuity was a bit off. Here's hoping that Carla's guilt trip about the insurance for Kasia's family will keep Vicki from telling the truth because Vicki is pretty sharp. She knows that it would mean trouble for the Connors and probably everyone would lose their jobs if the factory was closed. Sally certainly mounted an efficient offensive with Vicki at a "nice friendly lunch" and had Vicki scurrying out in tears. Carla didn't think about how it looked waving a new dress around in the pub with the grieving factory workers. And did you notice the song playing in the background? Careless Whispers. "Guilty feet have got no rhythym...." I thought the upper area wasn't to be used for storage? Yet there are still dozens of rolls of fabric up there. Paul sure isn't very sincere. Working on his video game and then finally confronting the girls and making them feel like dirt because they didn't start up a collection for Kasia themselves.

Leanne seems to have worn out her welcome at her favourite hotel. Thing is, it's clientele from that hotel that called the call girl so really, the clientele *do* want her sort there. I don't know why Leanne was so upset, she must run into this all the time. Embarassment? or maybe Janice's words about going from posh hotels to the street corners hit home. Has she taken to plying her trade outside of the escort service when she's not on an "appointment" or something? Liam seems to be her rebound fella. It seems to me Janice used to have just a one bed flat, because i remember Leanne saying something about sleeping on the settee when she left Danny and stayed with Janice for a bit. I don't think Liam and Leanne are for the long term anyway, their names are too much alike! It'll never work! I think Janice might like a rerun of Leanne and the Underworld boss in some ways. Loved Paul taking the mick out of Liam just like a real brother would.

Mel Morton is in college. Doesn't seem like twin Darryl is. She was secretive about what was in her backpack though. Jerry's ex sure ran down the list of all the electronic stuff missing with out a word about the kids. Even so, i don't think they should have nicked the stuff. She sure gave them up quickly enough. I think they should call her bluff and let them call the cops and then hang the social services on her. Les and Cilla's place is finally looking decent after all the decorating they did. Looks like Sophie and Chesney are both in the school play. Sally doesn't seem to be nearly as strident in pushing Sophie like she did Rosie.

Eileen told Claire that Holly's mother dumped her but she did omit the fact that Holly's mother now seems to want her back. I really don't trust Miss Thing, the baby's mother even though i'm sure in the long run, she'll get the baby back. How will she know what to do with the baby this time around? The actress isn't very good, either, i'm afraid. I don't have any sympathy for her. The whole situation has driven Jason out and where did he land? Gail's (and Sarah's) Jason called Eileen selfish. I suppose she is in a way because it feels like she's filling a hole in her life with that baby without thinking of the baby. I can understand her being reluctant to give the baby back to a woman that abandoned her in the first place but with social services involved, they'll make sure Emma treats the baby ok and the baby isn't any blood relation to Eileen. Is Eileen going to give the baby back? She was doing all the baby's laundry. Poor Claire seems to be having a bad day with Eileen keeping a secret from her as well as the Barlows, that she's taking the baby and running!

Audrey broke Bill's heart and turned down his proposal. Well not really. He wasn't bothered. Nobody likes an proposal out of obligation anyway. Gail's turning 50... er... 49!! I don't blame her for having a gob on her when her own mother got it wrong. I think it really touched an old sore spot with Gail too, after a childhood of what seems to be neglect at the hands of her mother. Leave it to men to think it would be ok to broadcast a woman's age all over the neighbourhood. But Audrey did give her really pretty flowers, didn't she!? David knew that Audrey got it wrong but didn't say a word but that's not typical David, that's just typical teen!

Peter nearly got away from Maria without saying goodbye. But he tried. Get the feeling that Peter has a girlfriend down south? Peter's too old for her anyway. Adam is going with Peter and Denise (Ken's ex) wrote a letter of support. Deirdre thinks all the notes are from people who are basically ambulance chasers and gawpers. Now that Adam's gone and Blanche is away, will Deirdre and Ken be able to stand it with nobody else as a buffer?

Did Vernon really liken himself to a pulsating beast? *gag* He didn't waste any time scarfing the birthday champagne. I don't think Gail's glass even hit the bar before he'd had it. Meanwhile Liz is panting after Derek the drayman and Deirdre knows it.

Lovely little scene between Becky, Hayley and Roy outside the cafe. Claire is still banging on about Tracy's trial. She thinks her testimony sent Tracy to jail and Ken Barlow couldn't stand her to feel that way. He let Claire make the right conclusion and that has given Deirdre even more ammunition against Ken. Jerry seems to be measuring up the back garden. A shed?

Sunday Comments, January 12

Lines of the week:

• Jason "I reckon it's what Charlie would've wanted, me being around to take care of his business" (in more ways than one!)
  
• Sarah about the Mortons "We're posh compared to that lot"
  
• Eileen "It's not about me" Violet "Isn't it?"
  
• Betty about Vernon "He's like a u-boat, that fella, he only surfaces when it's quiet"
  
• Jason about Holly "But what if i love her or somethin'" (you don't know?)
  
• Jack about Vera's urges "Pretty soon she's marching through Paris!"
  

Emma needs to think hard and long about her motives for wanting that baby. It's all about the money she thinks she should get from the estate (so who got the money from the sale of the house and the business?) Sounds like Miss Emma and Miss Tracy are almost cut from the same cloth. Well nearly. But if that's the case, she's going to have to fight Shelley because she's got just as much of a claim. And i think Miss Thing would just as quickly dump that baby again if things got hard again. I can't blame Eileen for throwing her out on her 4 inch heels. Social services are involved, as they should be. As i expected, Jason really doesn't want to have anything to do with the baby now he knows it's not his. Sean gave him something to think about, pointing out it's entirely up to him. Support from anyone else makes no difference,it's down to Jason but Eileen won't listen. I laughed seeing Emma trying to fight Eileen over the baby. She didn't have a chance. Eileen was twice her size and had anger fueling her!

Kasia sure learned a few words of English quickly. Too bad it didn't serve her very well. Carla pushed and pushed the girls on the night shift and look what happened. One big cover up case. Problem is, the coroner could probably tell the time of death so waiting a couple of hours or so to call them could backfire big time. And with three boxes that fell down with Kasia, one small piece of clothing fell out of one of the boxes. There should have been clothing all over the place. Yes i know, pick pick pick. But isn't that what i'm here for? So Paul is spearheading another coverup over a death. This is turning into a habit. Not only do they have to convince Vicky to go along with the story, which might not be difficult, but Sally has her nose in it now too.

I think Ken has grown into a man that cannot express his emotions. If he has trained himself all those years to be objective then he probably has lost the ability to let it go except on rare occasions. I don't know what's worse. Deirdre screeching at Ken or barely talking to him.

Oh nice. The Morton's take the kids home, rightly so, but then strip the mother's house of food and appliances??? Why wouldn't the neighbour have recognized the other kids if not Jerry. Surely Jerry would have come to drop Kayleigh and the twins off at their mother's different times. The twins get to share a car for their birthday. Here's assuming they can drive. At least it goes, it's in better shape than David's. Partay! I giggled at Sally, Claire and Gayle getting squiffy after they were watching Granddad clear the place out and having a good nose around! I bet they all had sore backsides the next day but i suppose their hangovers were hurting them worse! I was enjoying David's getting shot down by Mel.

So Vernon thinks asking Liz to marry him means he's a changed man? But you know he's not going to change his skiving ways. Vernon just going to propose to her with a cringing song. Somehow, Liz's "all right then" didn't seem to be quite heart felt. Start as you mean to go on. Take Liz out to celebrate and borrow the dosh off Steve. *That's* going to make him a fan, yes indeedy. But *what* kind of blouse was she wearing? It looked likt it was made of about 4 different patterns! Talk about Fugly! Liz shows just as much bad judgement of men as she ever has, thinking Vernon has more incentive to change when all he's doing is letting her down already by getting drunk. And that's pushed her right at Derek. A bit of exciting which is exactly what Vernon isn't.

Another golf game, another set of ugly sweathers. Why is it people seem to feel the need to dress in the tackiest clothes on the golf course? At least they weren't in plus-fours. Yes, why *would* Jason ring his mother to tell her something when he lives so close? Adam doesn't want to go work for Peter because he doesn't want to actually work! Surely he must have spent most of that money he got for his share of the factory by now. Even if it's just on putting gas in that fancy sport car. Eileen wanted Jason to settle the baby but she sure looked quiet to me.

ooh we haven't seen the early morning milk truck for quite awhile! Vera must have been quite a hot blooded passion in her youth if she's still up for some morning dew-me ;) Where's Jack's going to put his pigeons? Will he make Liam feel sufficiently guilty? Oh sure. A couple of pints a week and a vision of his old Grandad and Liam was won over.

Monday two episodes back to back at the regular time.

Annoyances

There are things about soaps that annoy me in spite of the fact that i do love them. I do know it's television and it's not real. I do know they take artistic license sometimes. But I do wish that they'd use a bit of reality when it comes to things legal with regards to real estate. Houses are bought and sold and the new owners moved in practically in a few hours. The latest load of tosh is Charlie Stubbs' estate.

Charlie dies. No will as far as we know. Even if there was one, it would take weeks or months to sort out. But no. Tracy isn't even convicted yet and the house is sold and a new family has moved in. I want to know who sold the house. None of his family came to the funeral though he's supposed to have had some. Wasn't he even supposed to have had a child from a former relationship/marraige? Mind you, nothing he told anyone could have bore any relationship to the truth since he bent and twisted it to meet his needs. That sob story about the younger brother who died from a drugs overdose was always suspect if you ask me.

If he died without a will, there's no way his estate would be in any shape or form to be able to sell the house and now, the business, this soon after his demise. No way. And there's been no word about the flat either unless he was renting that. I know he sub-let it to Maria but i don't know if he owned it or was renting it himself. We'll let that one go to the rent book in the sky.

Also, how on earth could Jason have continued to run the business? He almost certainly wouldn't have had any access to the bank accounts either to deposit payments made for jobs or to withdraw to pay for supplies much less his own payroll. He's no accountant either. He also wouldn't really know the ins and outs of running that business. Stupid stupid stupid.

I really hate when they do things that are just incomprehensible. I'll accept some things for "artistic lisence" like how the immigration department swooped in on the factory the day after Janice called them. A day which happened to be Good Friday though they were all working overtime in the factory. Then Vicky was given a hard time because she had to go home to get her passport. What about all the others? Did they have birth certificates or passports with them? I doubt it but i'll let that one go but only grudgingly. We'll forgive the fact that Janice wears the same grubby old jacket for years but has expensive manicures. The estate stuff really rubs me the wrong way, though.

Another thing that annoys me from time to time is the black hole where all the cars go at night. As far as i can recall, only Rita and Gail's houses have garages. Most of the residents have cars yet you only see one on the street when they come out of the house to drive somewhere or arrive from somewhere. Then it's conveniently parked outside. Any other time, it's invisible. There's barely room in the ginnel for the wheely bins to be taken out by the binmen. There's nothing behind the new houses aside from their gardens. Victoria Street is directly behind them and Streetcars takes up most of that parking space. Behind Streetcars, at the end of the street, you often see the gates of a brewery so no residential parking there either. Where are the cars?

I know i shouldn't really get so anal about these things. It *is* only tv and i'm willing to suspend disbelief a lot of the time. It's just that some things go beyond disbelief. I'll just get me coat.

Sunday Comments, January 6

Lines of the week:

• Foreman of the jury "Guilty!"
  
• David "Whatever i say everyone automatically thinks i'm lying" (um, because you usually are)
  
• Steve "You know i'm going to have to buy her her first bra!"
  
• Janice about Joanne "She should have told me!"
  
• Dev "Mine is bigger than yours" Steve "It's not the size it's what you do with it" (golf clubs!)
  
• Janice "We need to take action" (haven't you already done that?)
  
• Dev about Jerry "Not only did that man kiss the Blarney Stone, he snogged the very life out of it!"
  

She's going down!! Absolutely no doubt in my mind that she would be found guilty. 15 years and Deirdre is going to beat herself up every one of them. Steve is now a single father. I wonder if we'll actually get a storyline where he finds it difficult. Nah. We didn't get it with Ashley, we won't get it with Steve. Tracey would have gone to prison even without Deirdre's testimony. Liz at least probably would be good company for Deirdre. She's had a son go to prison too. Claire's going to get quite a shock when she finds out that her bezzy mate stitched her up and sucked her into her nefarious plan. And Deirdre is now going to lash out at everyone and Ken's going to get the worst of it. Deirdre just isn't going to accept completely that her daughter is a monster and made Deirdre believe what Tracy wanted her to believe. Even knowing the truth, Deirdre seems to still be blocking it out and blaming herself. And even those crocodile tears as she was led away weren't very convincing. So the morning after, it's all over the newspapers. Why wasn't in the papers before that? You only saw it i think, the once, the day after the murder and not one photographer on the street. After Richard Hillman's escapades, the street was thronged with press. This shouldn't have been any different.

Tracy really is sticking the knife in where Deirdre is concerned. Nothing Deirdre says makes any difference. There's no way Ken and Deirdre could possibly afford any more big legal bills. Tracy turned on them some quick when she found that out and then tried the sympathy card ramped up with Amy guilt on top of it all. She's a supremely selfish cow and she deserves to be banged up alone for 15 years. I bet Tracy won't remember her parents' anniversary (will she remember it's also the date her father, Ray, died?) Blanche is gone on holiday, Peter will be gone and Adam with him. It's just Ken and Deirdre and all that guilt and smoke. Deirdre needs to get angry at Tracy, really angry. And not just at Ken which is who she's taking it all out on and i resent her calling him the Voice of Reason! (even if he is! ;)

Poor Steve is in a panic over raising a daughter in a pub and what Amy's future is going to be like. Steve has told Amy that her mommy has done something a little bit naughty. Can you see the panic in that child the first time she is naughty?

Sarah certainly seems to have completely gone against her brother. She doesn't give any quarter does she? Gail has her doubts about David's testimony and knowing about the security tape adds to it but he still managed to talk his mother round. He really knows what buttons to push. Peter's still sniffing around Maria's skirts but I see he really hasn't changed any. He turned around and took off back down South and didn't even tell her, and left the day after he spent the night under her sheets. Bill's buying Charlie's builder's yard? I thought he already did! Will Sally let Kevin invest? No i guess not. I don't suppose they have much money after all those school fees they're paying. But Audrey won't mind and Bill will take her up on it. See i wouldn't want paying back if the business was a good one, i'd rather have the income!

There's another little fallout from the murder. Just when Jason was starting to really like the baby, as we all suspected, the baby that everyone thinks is Jason's, isn't. Charlie was using Jason's name when he was out on the pull though the girl did remember Jason as being at the club that night too. I wonder if Charlie did that a lot or just when he was out catting around on a girlfriend. (and where *has* the baby been in the past few weeks? we've hardly seen her until the last episode this week!) Eileen's going to have a hard time giving up that baby now. I don't think Jason will.

You just knew that Leanne's survey was going to show that the house was just fine. She just enjoyed winding Liam up. As sure as houses, they'll end up together. You can see them sparking off each other already. Vernon's drum school was short lived, because of Amy moving in. Why isn't Sally all agog pushing Rosie on the stage now that she's auditioning for the school play?

Is Kayleigh old enough to be babysitting her little brother? She's old enough to be shoplifting. Guess she gets that from her Granddad. She's definitely not old enough to be left alone with a younger child. So Mel and Darrel are going to be turning 18. Guess they've both left school at 16 without going to do their A levels.

I'm glad to see Vicki standing up to Janice, face to face. Someone needs to offer Janice double and triple shifts and see if that stops her complaining. Except it wouldn't, would it? Ah so we see what's behind Joanne's vitriol against the Poles. She's an illegal immigrant, herself! Oh heck, Janice called in the immigration police and boy did she get a shock when Joanne was shopped! Why would anyone have their passport at work with them? The factory was open on Good Friday though they mentioned that they were doing overtime. I'm surprised the immigration police showed up. I can't think Janice knew they'd show up the day after she made the call and most places like factories are likely closed on a day like Good Friday so did they just arrive on the off chance? Joanne wondered how a child could break the law, well they can't. But she's an adult and has been working. She could have started the paperwork herself as a refugee from a war zone. Paul's hands are tied, though, more publicity might shine the light on Carla's night workers who may or may not be legal.

Sunday Comments, December 30

Lines of the week:

• Tracy to Deirdre about Charlie "It's dead simple. I lose. He wins."
  
• Jane the solicitor to Tracy "You disgust me"
  
• Tracy "Live in the moment, I say"
  
• Dev (about his new shoes) "I can play around all i like and never get in trouble!"
  
• Norris on the practicality of rubber gloves "I think most homicidal maniacs would find bright yellow a bit garish"
  
• Betty "Oh i say. Who'd be a mother!" (don't you just adore Betty!?)
  
• Liz about David "She's got that little swine figured out whether he was lying or not"
  
• Leanne to Liam "What sort of a girl do you think I am?" Um....
  

The main focus this week is of course Tracy's trial. Seems awfully soon that Tracy was on the stand. The prosecution case was over quite quickly. Is it odd that Tracy would be one of the first witnesses for the defence? Isn't it more usual for them to be the last? I suppose it's always different from one case to the next. There's no way if Tracy told the truth on the stand that she'd get off easy. She even started off as if she was going to "tell the truth" but it was the lead in to the abused partner case, wasn't it. I think she poured it on a bit too thick though. She seemed to fail the statue test but adrenaline could account for one-handed strength. The thing is, though, aside from her blood not being on the statue, could they tell from fingerprints which hand was used? Making Claire out to be less than mentally competent was mean but typical of prosecution wrecking character witnesses, i guess. Other than the fact that she didn't witness anything specific, I thought she came across fairly well. But that fact is a big one. It could still cast reasonable doubt.

Deirdre nearly didn't make it and she was close to saying the wrong things a few times. Calling her a good mother and questioning her on one short contradiction. I'm surprised she got through as much as she did and then spilled her guts to the solicitor. Too late, she got back on the stand and the prosecution made mince meat of her, pressing all the right buttons. And David! He was cocky and full of bravado. The prosecution made "dead meat" out of him. Cocked up which hand Charlie was supposedly holding the knife, and the bit about her turning the music down. Tracy shouldn't have forced her mother to testify and Deirdre just couldn't handle the guilt. Now i expect we're in for weeks of Deirdre's scenery chewing guilt and if Tracy gets convicted, we might as well all buy earplugs and oil up the Fast Forward button on the vcr. At least Tracy came clean and told David she was only using him. I don't suppose he'll take that well but it's too late for him to get any sort of revenge.

The only person Tracy'll listen to now and then is Steve and even then she keeps trying to push herself back into his life. I think after being married to Karen who was a bit of a psycho herself, maybe Steve is one of the few people who understand Tracy a bit. She certainly seems to be more herself with him than with anyone else. Tracy sure has a lot of nerve making cracks to her mother about telling the truth. I've never seen a pot more kettle looking in my life! She's holding her mother responsible no matter what happens and leaving with Amy. The thing is, people like Tracy, no matter how much they say they've cut off their family, will have it hanging over them the rest of their lives. Why shouldn't David to to see the end of the trial? It's not that odd since he had an integral part in it and as far as anyone else knows, he was supportive of Tracy, not a blackmailing little git. So we hear the closing arguments and we wait. Put yourself in the jury's box. Judging from *just* the evidence and the barristers' speeches, if you didn't already know what happened, would you have said Tracy was guilty or not? Is there reasonable doubt that she was abused and lashed out in self defence? Well, you'll have to wait until Tuesday night to find out what happens.

Janice seems intent on sabotaging Leanne's jobs. Good for her! More foreign speaking workers for Underworld. As long as they're getting equal pay, what difference does it make? Well i don't suppose any of us should be surprised at Janice's attitude. She's like that with almost every new stitcher, regardless of whether they're foreign or not. The Polish workers... They're working both night *and* day shifts? Is that legal? Looks like Leanne has Liam well and truly wound up about the house inspection. Probably nothing wrong at all.

Jerry's ex-wife seems a bit of a prize cow, doesn't she? I don't see why Molly should make fun of Dev's excitement over shoes? Women sure go into ecstatics over footwear, after all. And he sure is getting obsessed with golf, between the shoes and practicing on the computer game. I think Amber might have hit the nail with the club so to speak, substitute for no sex? Again, a car mysteriously appears in front of the house when it's needed but you never see them parked on the road any other time, do you? Ashley won't like that Claire left Freddie with a woman she hardly knows. She gave Claire a bit of a start too, disappearing with Freddie like that. Hasn't she ever heard of leaving a note? It might have hurt Casey's feelings that Claire jumped to conclusions but it should have been understandable.

Tracy in the dock

This photo is misleading. It is from the brief alternate ending to Tracy's trial. There used to be a Youtube of it but it looks like most of the Corrie clips have been removed for copyright issues. I wrote awhile back about how alternate endings are rarely written and how i believe, as most veteran soap watchers to, that Tracy would be convicted of Charlie's murder regardless of whether i already knew the outcome or not. Which i did anyway. Canada will find out this week but as i said before, you would have to be a complete newcomer to soaps to believe she might get off.

What did you think of the trial? I tried watching it as if i was one of the jury, with no prior knowledge of the storyline at all. Mind you, that's not easy because we didn't see all the evidence, only as it pertained to the testimonies of our characters. But going from that, and a bit that Peter and Blanche might talk about back at the house after, would you have convicted her or was there reasonable doubt? Would you have believed her story about being abused? Or would you see a manipulating, bad tempered woman scorned who could very well have planned the murder?

The evidence about her cut hand came out. No blood on the statue but could she have picked it up one-handed and clubbed him hard enough to kill him if she were pumped up on adrenaline? She couldn't do it in court but could she have done it that night, with a man allegedly coming at her with a knife? Not so sure. Reasonable Doubt #1.

David got the hands mixed up as to which one he saw her use. That alone was enough to discredit his testimony but his smirking smug attitude on the stand more than helped, too. David also insisted that Tracy stopped in the middle of it all to turn down the music. Tracy coached David but i don't think she told him to say that. It would have been smarter to say that she turned down the music before he came at her, not in the middle. It just wouldn't happen that way. She did coach him about the left hand but he messed that up in his cockiness. Reasonable doubt #2.

Peter mentioned about an expert witness that said he thought Charlie was sitting down when he was hit but, when badgered, allowed that he *could* **possibly** have been standing up for the first blow and then fell back onto the settee. But look at her height and Charlie's. The angle of impact just wouldn't be there if he'd been standing up. If the second blow had obscured the angle of the first one, then the expert wouldn't have been able to say what he felt about charlie being sat down. Charlie could hardly have been running at her with a knife if he was sitting on the settee, could he? Reasonable Doubt #3.

Deirdre's testimony was all over the map, poor woman. She wasn't handling the stress at all. She contradicted herself a few times and made a few passing remarks that weren't followed up that made it clear she was hiding something. Reasonable Doubt #4.

Then there was all the various statements by people like Maria who claimed Tracy was having a go at her when she found out about the affair. Jason said Charlie was going to finish with Tracy which contradicts Tracy's statement that she was trying to leave and he wouldn't let her. (Even Steve said that though he wasn't asked to testify). Why didn't Jason say he saw her and David practically canoodling on the cctv? Maybe that's hearsay since he didn't have the tape to back it up but they could then have questioned Deirdre about what she did with the tape if Jason had said he gave it to her.

I don't know that, in real life, her past deeds could have been brought out. Sometimes in trials they aren't allowed as evidence if they aren't directly related but it's too bad. It sure would have shown what Tracy's really like if the jury could have heard about how Tracy tried to cancel Steve and Karen's wedding and all the confrontations subsequent to that. Then there was the whole baby selling incident where she bedded Roy on a bet and used it to cover up her pregnancy by Steve. Scheming cow! Any jury would have decided it was an open and shut case after hearing that. Guilty, Yer Honour, lock her up!

All that aside, yes, if i was on the jury, i think i would have had enough reasonable doubt to find her guilty. As i said before, it's a soap, and someone that cold bloodedly plan a murder *always* get found guilty in the end.

Corrie Sunday Comments, December 23

Lines of the week:

• Fiz "Les likes his food like his women, fast and cheap"
  
• Janice to Leanne "You are the nearest thing to a daughter that i've got" (you mean, besides your biolgical daughter Toyah?)
  
• Deirdre "There are too many questions"
  
• Deirdre to Tracy "I know you better than anyone in the whole world"
  

Tempers are wearing thin at the Barlows' house. No wonder. With Tracy's temper and the stress levels rising, and her guilt trips aimed at Deirdre, number 1 is going to bust wide open, starting with Deirdre's panic/anxiety attack. Peter shows as much sense as he always had presented with a pretty skirt. Of all the women, wouldn't he know better than to stick his tongue down his sister's most recent rival? Course he wouldn't. Bloody right, Tracy, it's all your fault, more than everyone knows yet but Deirdre is going to get it out of her if it's the last thing she does. If Deirdre was called for evidence, why wasn't Ken? Tracy expects her mother to "pull a panic attack" in front of the whole court? She thinks testifying is a positive way to tackle the panic attack. Just when you thought she couldn't sink any lower!!

In a rare two-handed episode, we see Deirdre and Tracy lay it all out on the table. Deirdre wanted Tracy to be honest with her. But it took a half an hour to drag it all out of her. Deirdre reckons she knew Tracy was lying all along. Horse hockey! She was naive and believed everything Tracy told her up until the stories started not adding up. Even after all the truth was bared, Deirdre still wanted to believe that Tracy was making it up, ashamed at being battered. I'm glad Deirdre threw it all back in Tracy's face. All that history, even Samir! A few more truths came out than expected on both sides. They really tore each other up. Now Deirdre knows the truth, all the ugly details of it. Shouldn't have been surprised at the lengths to which Tracy went to exact her revenge. I am surprised Deirdre didn't have another panic attack though, the way she was sucking on the ciggie and the wine glass. Even at the end of it, Tracy sat on the stairs and cried. Guaranteed that her mother would hear, one last little guilt trip. And still she thinks Tracy isn't a bad girl. Some excellent performances, though. All three of them, Ken included. I don't normally rank William Roache in the list of great actors but now and then he can really pull out a blinder.

So the trial begins. Jason's testimony was iffy but Maria's managed to paint Tracy with a bad temper though also painted Charlie the same. I'm surprised the defence didn't ask Peter *why* Charlie beat the crap out of him. It would have shown Charlie as being really jealous, good for Tracy's case. Ahh good they pointed out that there should have been blood on the statue. They should be able to tell which hand she hit him with from the angle of the injury. Mind you she did pick it up with both hands but even then it would have come from one side or the other. that would determine which hand was holding it. If she only used her right unbloodied hand, she could only really have hit him effectively on one side of his head. Was that the side that was injured? Still, it came out. Now they have to see if she can lift that statue with one hand even without adrenaline. And the expert says he had to be sitting down. Well he was in spite of the "possibility" that he could have been hit standing up then fell back. Will Deirdre be able to lie on the stand or won't she? Stay tuned!

Derek the drayman seems to have an odd looking upper lip, kind of like there's a moustache missing. Love Molly and Amber winding up Dev! I think i like Doreen but she certainly brings out the worst in Norris. Mind you most people do that anyway. The Actress that is playing the judge is the real life wife of William Roache. So Claire has made a new friend in this Casey.

So Leanne just got into hooking by accident? She was going to shag some guy who gave her money so she thought oh why not? Now Janice is going to have to carry on the lie as well. You wouldn't think Janice would have jewelry good enough to sell for 400 quid. Janice is in a hard place, really. What can she do about Leanne? Not a lot. Leanne lost her bid to buy number 7... to Liam! Obviously these Mortons are a cheeky, shifty lot and that grandfather? No taste in clothes. His shirts and ties clash horribly! He gives me the creeps, i'm telling you. Good god there's another Morton, 6 year old Finlay! Dear me, they're like rabbits!

Boy, Anne Kirkbride's mouth area is really showing the effects of all those years of smoking, isn't it? Well one thing about Rita having Doreen under her roof, at least we get to see a bit more of Rita and her having a good time. Candice is getting married in Greece! Aww!

Notice that Corrie is only on four times Christmas week, with two on Wednesday (Boxing Day) and two on Friday!

Corrie Sunday Comments, December 16

Lines of the week:

• Deirdre to Ken about Tracy's case "Isn't it about the truth?" (well you might say that. I couldn't possibly comment)
  
• Janice "They (blokes) aren't all like Danny Baldwin" Leanne "Yeah they are"
  
• Maria to Peter "Like you were too much a gentleman to explain to one wife that you had another?"
  
• Sarah "You know i don't know why people bother with reading, not when you can watch it on the telly" (that explains so much!)
  
• Liam "I know i'm dead 'andsome" (uh yeah, you are!!)
  
• Janice to Leanne before she knew about Leanne's real job "Sex sells!" "It's all about looking professional" (well they do call them girls 'pro' don't they?)
  
• Leon "what am i going to do with a big ping Jerry?" (the mind boggles)
  
• Steve "How long does a game of golf take" Dev "depends on how good you are" Steve "Maybe we should borrow some torches"
  

Liam didn't seem to waste any time telling Carla the secret about Dean. He says it's because Paul took himself out of the picture but he was only been gone five minutes. More like a tempest in a teapot. It's a sure bet that Michelle is going to find out about what Paul and Liam did on the night Dean died. Didn't take Liz long to start running after the new brewery guy, Derek. I think she's getting bored with Vernon. I knew that would happen. Then Vernon squashed her plans with a potential fancy man.

Tracy sounds like she's starting to fall apart. She wasn't very convincing with the barrister and even her solicitor is now having doubts i think. All those clever questions are there for a reason and they're working. And i don't think i'd be telling that Charlie had affairs. Isn't that a good motive for murder? Tracy doesn't "get" that she can't put on a performance in court. Of course she doesn't get it, her whole premise in this situation is a performance. Peter thinks Maria is smart even though she just admitted not being able to see through Charlie's games. Deirdre decided to take the matter to Gail, and Gail's reaction to David's supposed "nightmares", and then Steve's comment about Charlie supposedly leaving Tracy not the other way around has raised her suspicions even more. So what does Tracy do? Go on the offence. Works every time with Deirdre but it won't be so easy to squash those doubts now that they're seeded. Tracy going on about how she's only playing the game pretending to be best friends with Claire because she needs her testimony isn't helping. Deirdre has to testify and so does Claire and it looks like Tracy realizes that her mother is entertaining doubts. I think Tracy is starting to feel things closing in on her.

So this is Casey, the woman that Claire has been telephone councilling. She lost her baby, right? New neighbours too, and they are related to the one that was in charge of the building project. Jerry Morton et. al. They've bought Charlie's house. From whom? That's what i want to know. They've bought the house Charlie owned yet Jason is continuing to run the business. Why wasn't that sold as well? I think they're going to have to fit all the family in with a shoehorn. They didn't waste any time ticking off the neighbours with loud music. And he seems pretty good at scamming the sign people to get a few bob off. I expect the junk food joint will do better than the bakery though. Mind you, Jerry has a bit more cheeky charm and charisma than obnoxious Diggory did. Now let's see, the twins are a little older than David and Rosie but i can't see Rosie fancying that scruffy Darrel though David could crush on Mel. The younger girl Kayleigh looks like she's about Sophie's age or a shade older. Could be a romance for Ryan there. I'm surprised Sophie didn't develop cow eyes for Ryan, too.

And why is Joanne so vicious about Vicky and her gift of cakes? I just don't buy Leanne as a real estate investor/seller. There's something fishy there. Violet can still have a baby, with possibly a bit of difficulty. Well that's good news, isn't it? Janice managed to get her job back again, only because they needed a good machinist and he didn't tell Leanne and Liam seemed to enjoy her flirting with him to get Jan's job back for her. (Aw but isn't he cute?) Now we just have to get our heads round Leanne the prostitute who's using the name Rachel. I'm surprised the concierge was so welcoming to Leanne. Is he getting a cut? Leanne reckons being an "escort" is honest but as Janice pointed out, she's lying about what she's doing and using an assumed name. I agree with Janice. Leanne is deluded. She's go nowhere to go but down if she keeps on.

Dev and Steve must go play golf with Paul sometime? Golf? Steve? Not sure Steve would know which is the business end of a golf club. Paul might have come across like a pro but his first shot went into the trees. Something tells me he's a bit more of a plonker than he wants people to think or is he just suckering them for that bet he made? Seems he's blaming his new clubs. lol Sign guy at the new fast food place.. "Leon's Neons" ? lol! Laughed at Norris finding all the rubbish in Chesney's paper bag. After years of working with lads you'd think he wouldn't be surprised at all. And Norris was nasty to Ryan and ended up making a prat of himself as usual. You know, for the amount of lovely looking lingerie they sew in Underworld in the usual colours (white, red, pink, black, purple) they sure had a lot of rolls of ugly print material in the stock area of the factory!

Christmas in Corrieland

Y'allright? Nearly Santa time but sadly, here in Canada, we're only up to about early March. Hard to feel Christmassy watching the show when we're not even seeing Easter decos in the Kabin! I won't grumble on about CBC now though. Been there, done that and it does no flaming good. The only thing that strike did for us a couple of years back was catch us up a bit. I'd love to see them show an hour a night over the summer every year, wouldn't you?

Anyway.

I've got a dvd that i obtained in a Corrie Christmas magazine that was released in the UK a few years back now. It's Region 2 so won't play on just any North American dvd player/computer because ours are coded Region 1. You can, of course, change the region in your computer software but that only lets you change 5 times and it'll stick on the last one it's been changed to. I have two dvd thingys in my computer, one that just reads and one that reads and writes. The one that just reads is set to Region 2 all the time so i can play my UK stuff. My home dvd player is also "hacked" so it will play all regions dvds.

I'm digressing again, aren't i?

Corrie Christmas dvd...yes... it's got clips from Corrie Xmases past with some very good scenes. Babies born, weddings, disasters, it's got them all. It's got Hilda's goodbye in the pub, it's got scenes of Ena Sharples playing carols on the piano with everyone stood around singing along.

One of my favourite scenes took place in 1992. All the single women had Christmas together in the pub... Bet, Rita, Denise Osborne, Raquel and Phyllis and the scene showed Raquel charading the movie title "Desperately Seeking Susan" to the hilarity of the others. Good fun! Another great scene had Jack and Vera returning to the house to find that the dog Jack had bought Vera had eaten the turkey and then chased them up the stairs! Then there was Sally giving birth in Don's cab with Liz there to catch the baby (Rosie born on Rosamund street.... they sure didn't get very far, did they!) Other Christmas babies included the Mallett twins and Ben Watts.

Another good Christmas, though it wasn't on that dvd, was a couple of years ago when Karen took off in the car that she and the Barlows were sharing only she didn't realize that baby Amy was in the back in her carseat. Tracy thought Karen took the baby on purpose and went spare. About the only time she ever showed any maternal instinct, if you ask me. Karen ended up burning the car on the red rec and Tracy thought the baby went with it and tried to run over Karen with a cab. Of course the baby was ok, Karen took her to Roy and Hayley. After it was all over, the next day (Christmas Day) Steve saw Vera hollering at Jack and asked Vera if she ever got tired of rowing with Jack. I can't remember what she said but she sees that Steve is upset and when he says that karen miscarried, Vera hugs him right there on the street. It seemed to fix his decision in his head and that's when he goes back to the flat and tells Karen they're finished. Great stuff. The actors were dynamic right to the moment when Karen stalked off down the street in the snow, head held high.

What's going to happen this year? We in Canada will have to wait until early next Fall to find out unfortunately. I already know and there will be a few surprises, emotional and physical bruises and one or two happy families.

Sunday Comments, December 9

I'm back! And on a fortuitous day, too! Happy 47th Birthday Coronation Street! Over at Corrieblog, i've posted the episode summary with a few pics of the very first episode that appeared 47 years ago on this date. I'm back from my hols and had a lovely time with my fella, walking the streets of Paris, London and Manchester.

Lines of the week:

• David to Tracy "Have i got 'muppet' across me forehead?"
  
• Tracy to David "So... how's school?"
  
• Dev "I'm the boss!" (I'm sure Amber lets him think that!)
  
• Liam to Leanne "I'll take you anywhere you want" (yes please!)
  
• Steve to Vernon "You should be on a stage... in a cage"
  
• Liam "Tribunal and homophobia." Carla "Majority and shareholder!" Liam "Nut and case."
  

Leanne is sure spouting a lot of jargon about property development and profits and losses. Who on earth owns Number 7? Blanche did and Danny wanted to buy it but she didn't sell it to him as i recall. Something is telling me she did sell it to someone to raise the money for her Polish hip. Now Leanne wants to buy it and rent it to Jamie. Talk about conflict of interest! She also seems interested in Liam, too. Somehow i don't really buy her tales of making a mint in property sales.

Vicky already seems to have got the measure of those cows that are treating her like dirt. Seems like the wages she's getting are dirt too. *tsk* Oh Peter's back for a bit and Janice is back too! Did you find it strange that the television seemed to be behind the dining room table at the Barlow's? Surely it used to be out in the main room anytime we actually saw it. Maybe it was just the angle.

Tracy is still stringing David along. She managed to get the keys to Charlie's flat to take David there but hey, there's stil a security camera watching the door and she doesn't know about it! I bet that comes back to bite her on the backside since she's not supposed to be consorting with witnesses. She nearly had to follow through on her empty promise. God, i don't kno whow she could stand it, being there with a smirking smug teenage boy. Desperate times. (and where's his tan coming from?) David actually looked scared to death and even Jason could tell something was up and now Deirdre has her suspicions too. Tracy always seems to put that little extra detail too much into her stories, doesn't she? Saying that David is traumatized is one thing but wetting the bed?

Deirdre is starting to see behind Tracy's lies i think though she isn't quite ready to admit it. Destroying that tape which is evidence, could get Deirdre banged up again too. I don't see why it's so unbelievable that Tracy might actually "interfere" with a spotty 16 year old when she was perfectly willing to interfere with her grandmother's boyfriend who was close to 80! Tracy's pleading not guilty. Of course!

Can't blame Michelle for being upset with Sean. It's causing so much trouble in the pub between Michelle and Sean that poor Jack had to change the barrel in order to get his pint. Sonny didn't waste any time either did he? Michelle dumps him so he might as well go back to Sean? "We could be good together" What??? two days before that he was proposing to Michelle (obviously to cover up his fling with Sean) Selfish scum, that's what i think and that's what Sean told him too. Poor Michelle. Seems she gets all spikey when she gets dumped instead of mooning and crying. Makes a change at least. Poor Ryan thinks it's his fault but he found out the hard way.

I still don't understand why Sean when knocking on Sonny's door after he tossed Sonny out the day before and that's bollocks that "Sonny" was playing games with him. Michelle, yes a lot more so. And i really didn't buy that the kid would jump into a powerful Porche to get his own back. Obviously it's brought back pretty bad memories for Michelle who lost her partner to a car crash and it's *really* touched a nerve with Paul because Paul and Liam are keeping a secret about when Michelle's husband died. Paul was the one driving, not Dean! and Holy Crap, did Paul overreact to Sean or was he justified? I know he's got a right to be angry with Sean for Michelle's sake but attacking him and firing him like that was a bit much. Still, the strike was effective.

I still fail to see what Liz sees in Vernon. He's really a waste of space. He's going to offer drum lessons in the upstairs of the pub??? Where? In a bedroom? It didn't take her long to start making eyes at that new drayman, did it? both of them complaining to the other about their respective partners. There lie dragons, i tell yer! Dev is trying to get himself back out in the dating scene again. But somehow i think his charm is falling a bit flat. Is he getting fat? Maybe a little but he looks fine to me. Dev the charmer though, probably could use new duds for confidence. I laughed at him and Peter both wearing the same shirt and getting all fussy about it like two women at a ball. Sean said they should get a peephole but it looked like there was one in the door when he opened it to Joanne.