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MIPCOM

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:01:15 +0000

October and MIPCOM was back in Cannes. This year saw lots of celebrities in town for the event. Among those, I interviewed John Nettles, who plays Detective Tom Baranby in the UK drama Midsomer Murders.

He was in town to celebrate it’s 25^th anniversary, along with a few other surprise announcements.

Also at this year’s MIPCOM was The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and producer Al Jean celebrating 20 years of animated mayhem. They were awarded MIPCOM’s first Creative Icon Award.

UEFA Supercup!

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:00:57 +0100

Last week I hosted the UEFA Supercup in English and Spanish. The night was a huge success and a lot of fun. FC Barcelona were playing FC Shaktar Dontesk in the final so I had a lovely Ukranian girl working alongside me doing the Russian translation. The event was held in a huge marquee beside the Stade Louis II in Monaco and it was a very glamorous affair. TB Events, the company behind arranging all the décor, food etc were great. As soon as I receive photos from Anne Marie I will post them up here.

I was also involved with the Cannes Boat Show, one of the yacht shows that takes place on the Riviera every year. I got to go onboard some incredible yachts with Magellan Yachts. However, the most incredible yacht I have ever been on board was one featured at the Monaco Yacht Show in later September called Madsummer. I know the name may not be very enticing but believe the yacht itself certainly is! I think it is about 85 metres and has been decorated very tastefully……..oh if only I had a couple hundred million

Finally, here are some photos from the UEFA Supercup!! Thanks Anne Marie x

“Oooops, I’m sorry we’ve dropped your laptop into the sea….” :(

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:35:10 +0100

Yes, I’ve been several weeks without my laptop - definitely harder than it sounds! Last month my laptop ended up having to be fished out of the Meditteranean…..Mmmm you may think there are no waves in the Med, clearly there are - well that is according to the unfortunate skipper who fell in on route from a tender to a yacht with my laptop! To cut a long story short and by some miracle although my computer was destroyed the hard drive somehow survived. So after a little (lot of) hassle of transferring all my data across I find myself with a brand spanking new macbook pro and back online

I’ve been working on a couple of start up projects and will be seeing where they lead! In July and August I collaborated with Studio Beyond, a new online film company for their first show. This involved a lot pre prod work sorting through potential candidates for interviews, writing scripts, looking for locations and generally learning about new(ish) types of gaming software being used to make films.

I interviewed David Andriole, an actor based in LA, and Domingo Vara the director and producer of the film Between Stories. We did the interview via online video link. It was a fascinating experience seeing (not of course the fact that it was a video chat) but how with some pretty cool software we could record them on full screen and make it appear live. I love technology and don’t care who knows!!!

My little bit of trivia on David Andriole: he voiced the Obama campaign (although was temporarily taken off it and replaced with an older voice/perhaps perceived as a more authoritative - when Obama was vying for the democratic nomination against Hilary Clinton. He was then brought back on as the voice of the campaign when it was Obama V McCain to highlight the difference in age and perhaps emphasise how old Mr McCain was/is?!!! I guess it worked……well done David.

At the end of the interview we did do a very funny “yes” or “no” fireround of questions…..I may post some of the questions and answers as they ended up on the cutting room floor – didn’t really suit the rest of the show but was lots of fun nonetheless

It was a thoroughly enjoyable interview and just hope everyone enjoys watching it as much as I enjoyed filming it. They seemed like genuinely really great guys.

I also interviewed Hardy Capo for the show. Hardy is the British man of Machinima. For those of you not familiar with Machinima (I wasn’t) it is a gaming software which people like Hardy are using to create 3d animation films and online series. One of the most notable series Hardy has created is called Café Insomniac and is perhaps my favourite project of his. The series was inspired by his own personal struggle with sleeping at night time (or so he says!)– something I could absolutely relate to. The series is set in a Café that opens from midnight and deals with all the things that go from midnight to sunrise…….in a film noiresque style. It is pretty addictive and Hardy told me he has himself been surprised by the level of attention it has been getting from the public.

Hardy has also released his first short film, Chanel Untold. The film deals with an aspect of Coco Chanel’s life that has largely remained untold and indeed unknown – the fact that her boyfriend was a very high ranking Nazi whom she lived with in the Ritz hotel during World War II. Check out the show for more info:

Here's a link to the interview:

http://callousproductions.com/home/news.html

You can click here for more blurb on machinima:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima

Here are some more photos from filming with my new laptop:)

We’re all going on a summer holiday……

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:10:06 +0100

Having just got back from my holidays, which included Wimbledon, swimming, sunbathing, eating, drinking and just generally having a good indulgent time in Menorca, I’m gradually getting back in to the swing of life – which can sometimes be a challenge when you live in the south of France – and back to work on a few new projects. Shortly I’ll be able to tell you about the launch of one of them which is going to be VERY exciting indeed and perhaps my biggest challenge yet!

Here’s a photo of me feeling very happy to have my first “tinto de verano” of the summer – really reminded me of my university days in Spain! Also one of me chilling out on a boat.....

This was my first time in Menorca and I really enjoyed it. We were staying at Villa Carolina, one of the villas that is part of Minorca sailing on the north of the island in a village called Ses Salines.

It was great just chilling out (apart from trying to be as quiet when my little nephew was sleeping!)….which of course left us with no option than to familiarize ourselves with the local bar offerings. They were not aplenty, but what they lacked in quantity, they certainly made up for in quality and stunning views of the island. It’s almost worth going to the Balearic island just for some stunning night time star gazing.

Sound times

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:00:24 +0100

Last week was the Fete de la Musique. Every year, on June 21^st, any and all musicians (amateur or professional) perform - mostly for free - in concerts all around France. These concerts take place anywhere and everywhere including streets, hospitals and even prisons! What a beautiful way for all society to share a moment.

I spent the evening in a very quaint French town called Auribeau.

A concert was taking place outside a local bar where you could sit and order inexpensive (but good tasting) bottles of wine and pizza. There were lots of families gathering around, mostly enjoying the music and perhaps hoping some of the fun of the evening will rub off on their children and encourage them to play an instrument or just appreciate music. This is something I notice a lot in France – all generations of a family out together – the way society and work are structured seem to really support maintaining that strong part of the fabric.

The bands playing were pretty good but I found some of the characters attending made for better photographic material! Of the more interesting sights was one particular family where all the males, be they grandfathers, fathers, children, uncles, brothers, cousins, etc without exception, sported ponytails!! No matter what hairstyle they had: long, short, bald or curly they ALL had ponytails. I found out that this had been the case for generations. This family’s dna profile also lent itself towards that of the short and stocky variety. So it was a most fascinating sight seeing them all lined up at a bar drinking together!

An Evening With: Barry Norman......and why not?

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:27:03 +0100

Last Thursday I was back in Monaco for a fabulous evening at l’Hermitage hotel in Monaco. The evening was organised by Azur productions and thanks to my good friends Kate and Andrew Adams (who without doubt run one of the BEST catering/event organisation companies on the Riviera, the eponymously named Adams & Adams) I found myself enjoying a very glamorous evening in Monaco, meeting lots of new and interesting people.

Here you can see Pat Denton (top photographer – and thankfully makes my blog look much more presentable when we work at the same events with his excellent photos!!) Kate Adams, myself, and Andrew Adams, in front of the port in Monaco.

This was out on the balcony having cocktails before dinner was served. The weather was lovely but as you can see I kept my coat on due to the mosquitoes uber attraction to me!!!!

This was my table which also included (l-r) Ben Collison of Pure Design and his wife Alice, Pat Denton, myself, Kate & Andrew Adams, Mike Hardaker of Angloinfo and Roy Broad of Eden garden design and build, with his wife.

But of course the star of the show was Mr Barry Norman. He reminisced over some of his memorable and humorous experiences working as a journalist/presenter. He told a particularly funny story that Denis Thatcher had relayed to him – so if you ever run in to Barry be sure to ask him about that one!

I managed to have a good chat with him after the show where we talked about how things have changed since he retired, the types of presenting styles that are popular now and most importantly how Dublin is his favourite international cityJ. He also talked about his other passion: (apart from pickled onions that is!) cricket. Yes, Barry rates his affection for and knowledge of the game up there with his knowledge of film – and we know that that is vast. In fact, he’s just written and published a cricket book entitled:Barry Norman’s Book of Cricket

Photos courtesy of Ed Wright.

Cannes Film Festival

Mon, 18 May 2009 15:11:11 +0100

Tick- tock: yes, no?

Feet throbbing: tick. Head throbbing: tick. 5am to bed: tick. Hmmm, it’s the morning after……

Venue #1: Fashion Night at Villa Oxygene.

Formula for any great party: Great music = important, beautiful surroundings = perhaps, good dance floor = maybe, beautiful people = subjective, FREE booze = an absolute MUST!

The night started off with lots of beautiful people, actors and fashionista’s for a party organised by international lifestyle designer “superier” Richard Nilsson who we later caught up with for a quick chat. For our pure pleasure there were two fashion shows taking place which may have been more enjoyable to the male audience?!These are some shots from the new Edun collection by Ali Hewson and Bono. Not sure about it............

Also on the offering was an exclusive lingerie show by Nichole de Carle. Added to that was a DJ, percussionist and some interesting “exhibitions?” which I managed to get a couple of photos of. Sorry about the quality – was having a little trouble with my camera last night!

With drinks costing almost €30 a pop here, as soon as the shows were over it was straight off to the Croissette to check out some of the happening “sponsored= free drinks” parties on the beach.

Venue #2: Middle Men After Party, Mandala beach aka Le Chacha Beach (for the festival)

Middle Men (film featuring actors such as Luke Wilson, Kelsey Grammer, James Caan). Oh la la, the swanky Parisian club Le Chacha has been teleported to Cannes and transformed the Mandala beach into Le Chacha Beach for the festival. This party was full of gorgeous and glamorous people, lots of Champagne, wine….. and from what I heard later on the grapevine seemed to have been THE party of the night. (perhaps the effects of the Champagne and the film reportage began to take hold!

Venue #3: Agora premiere after party, Carlton beach featuring Rachel Weisz. Admittedly she is even prettier, younger looking and more fabulous in person!

Here's me at the venue, where I managed to get a photo taken in front of the film's main backdrop.

Then it was flat out dancing/drinking for several hours with my favourite DJ spinning the tracks and just having a blast.

The party finally finished around 3am though a group of us decided to party on at The 7 as we were still pretty revved up!

So yes, my head is pounding, yes, my feet are throbbing and yes, I didn’t get to bed until the sun was almost up. But was it worth it? TICK , TICK, TICK J

Sony World Photography Awards

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:44:21 +0100

Last week I was MC'ing at the Sony World Photography Awards in Cannes. This is a relatively new week-long event (currently in its second year) that celebrates and rewards all kinds of photography. There's a wide range of exhibitions on display at various locations on, or close to La Croisette and an awards ceremony gala dinner evening presenting awards to the different photographic categories. This truly is a week dedicated to photographers and their work!

Sony have been a part of it since the festival began and this year Sony launched some impressive new cameras - like the alpha900, great for capturing motion shots and the CybershotHX1- which for the casual/lazy photographer like myself you may be more drawn to ie: does all the hard work for you with pre- settings:)

Sony’s theme this year was urban/grassroots sports. So to show their support of these sports and also give their cameras a magnificent show-casing opportunity Sony brought over some of the World Champion football freestylers like John Farnworth and Parkour Practitioners like Daniel Ilabaca. The guys were amazing and certainly drew in the crowds!

Here is a photo of the team!

I was MC'ing for the week and it was a lot of fun – I learnt a few freestyle football tricks and was blown away by the Parkour guys – but must confess didn’t fancy trying it myself ! The crowds were from Italy, France, Germany, Spain, basically all over Europe…….it was hard to remember what language I was speaking in by the end of the weekJ

Just to prove how efficient I can be with a football here is me balancing the ball on my head:

This was shot in front of a green screen with the footy stadium superimposed afterwards.

There was a photographer taking photos for anybody in the crowd who wanted some free mugshots. By the end of the week I reckon he must have suffered RSI, as he was incredibly busy - with scores of people lining up to have their images taken.

In fact, we noticed a pattern of some people coming back day after day, with more and more members of their families! God only knows what they'll do with the photos - maybe use them for this year's Chrimbo card?!!!

MipTV

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:12:28 +0100

MipTV is definitely quieter this year than normal! I’d like to say it’s down to the weather (yes, it’s pretty much been raining non-stop) but I don’t think that has ever effected the Irish or British having a party or two. According to sources the credit crunch may not be affecting the market (all the “important” people are still here) but it is definitely affecting the entertainment and catering industries. Restaurants are quieter than last year and some of our die hard partiers seem to be missing. Please contact Mr Andy Grumbridge with any such complaints.

So aside from doing interviews, going to a conference keynote speech here and there and the odd meeting, I’ve been fighting the lure of hanging out drinking free champagne in the VIP area of the Palais (life is tough)!

Had dinner last night chez Peter & Susan Rhodes. Peter (in the photo above) is the MD of REEDMIDEM UK and unsurprisingly for Peter had lots of varied and fascinating guests at his dinner party! Among those was fellow Irishman Derry O’Brien who was leading the Irish contingent here at Mip. Several hours and several bottles of wine later we all headed home – well actually I think Derry may have gotten lost in the “crowd” and unfortunately ended up at the bar in the Grand Hotel............ Oh well, these things happen!

Cead Mile Failte........

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:03:24 +0100

In Ireland we have a saying: “cead mile failte”. Its basic meaning is “Welcome” but the literal translation is a “hundred thousand welcomes” - the Irish are a very poetic lot! So instead of coming up with endless excuses why I have been sooo bad at updating my blog I just want to say a hundred thousand apologies/ “sorries” – if that makes any grammatical sense? Hopefully discerning readers, you understand exactly what I mean.

The last nine months have been filled gadgets, dolphins, numbers (yes, I was in the running for Carole Vorderman’s Countdown job!), and several other projects which I shall elaborate on as and when the time is right. Translation = hopefully VERY soon.

Here’s a link to the new gadget show Boxed which I co present with Absolute Radio's Adrian Hieatt. Boxed “is an online entertainment gadget show that takes a quirky, irreverent and informative look at all the newest and coolest gadgets out there”

We’re not sure at the moment what’s going to happen with it. There are a couple of companies interested in sponsoring it and also a pretty huge UK production company that may take over the production. I’ll keep you all posted!

In the meantime here are photos from some of the highlights of the last few months:

Monaco Grand Prix:

For those of you who have never been to a GP before - I'd suggest Monaco as a great starting point!

However be warned! Prepare yourself for an UNBELIEVABLE amount of noise - and crowds aplenty! This is a picture from the walk from Monaco train station to the apartment where I watched the race.

Forget driving into Monaco - naturally most of the roads are closed and so many race fans besiege the principality that it is pretty much impossible to move by any form of wheeled transport.

That said, you can almost taste the excitement and despite not being a confirmed race fan I was equally revved up by the time the race began!

Here's a couple more photos for you:

We were situated just over the start/finishing line - so had fantastic views!

I watched the race at Stelios' (Mr Easy Jet) apartment - then went on to party through the evening as he'd laid on food, drink and a great DJ!

NBC Universal Party

I was hosting the NBC Universal Party at 67 La Croisette during MipCom and managed to get hold of some photos thanks to Mr Photographer extraordinaire Pat Denton. This is one of the most amazing penthouse apartments in Cannes so I wanted to share a taster of what it’s like and the views from it. It even has its own swimming pool running between the floors!!

This is the terrace!

Here are some shots of the Croisette from the terrace.

A fire works display was going on at the other end of the Croisette.

Just as a side note, for six weeks every summer starting Bastille Day (July 14^th) there is the most incredible fireworks display over the bay of Cannes.

It’s a pyrotechnic competition with six countries from Europe competing. The whole display is like a work of art, all synced to music and lasts around 15 mins. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area but be sure to get to Cannes early as huge crowds turn up to watch. Better still if you have a boat you can watch it from there!!

Here I was being held at gunpoint by a chick from the sci fi channel!

There were some great costumes on show - I felt pretty under-dressed, even the feather boa was given to me by the feline lady to liven up this shot!

Damanhur

One of the most fascinating places I visited last year was Damanhur. Based in Italy, just north of Turin this must be one of the most incredible places on the planet. I couldn’t believe I had never heard of the place before. Nestled in the side of a mountain, the brain child of man named Oberto Airaudi (aka Falco), are some of the most extraordinary temples I’ve ever seen. It was like taking a trip back in time to ancient Egypt!

They are now known as the Temples of Humankind.

Airaudi claims he be began having visions of the temples when he was only 10 years old. With help from a few volunteers he spent 16 years secretly digging in to the side of a mountain.

Excavation was done in complete secrecy as Airaudi had not obtained planning permission, apparently it would have been almost impossible to get.

So in the late 1970’s Airaudi and some followers started carving in to the side of the mountain with basic tools like hammers and picks. What was created is astonishing! Take a look at the pictures.

When the police did turn up at his door in the early 90’s they were amazed to find the largest underground temple on Earth.

We had an amazing tour of the temples and everybody in the group was left with an overwhelming sense of reverence.

Irrelevant of religious or spiritual beliefs, I really recommend a visit to the temples.

They are now considered to be the 8th wonder of the world - a view I entirely concur with!

The Bus Conductor of Life.......!

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:44:52 +0100

The bus conductor of life is the mythical character that suddenly announces "All Change" - a frequent occurrence in this industry!

I’m really sorry for the delay in updating my blog the last few weeks. But it has been so busy, busy and even more busy that I’m not sure where to start! I have a feeling this could be quite a long entry….....

Ok, as you know I’m no longer presenting iBall but now have five separate projects started or starting! I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in pre production on one of them (except for time spent at MipTV in Cannes last week and chilling with BJ my dog) and I'll tell you all about everything as soon as my contract allows.

I’m particularly excited about this programme and look forward to writing about it as it’s happening. I promise to try and take as many photos as possible too!

You may remember me talking about a documentary I was presenting on Dolphins?! Well, I’m going to be heading back out to Tenerife to shortly to do more work on that. This time I’ll try and get some more underwater photos of the Dolphins – such incredible creatures!

I had a great evening at Soho House recently. I met up with my friend Frank Rehwaldt. Frank and I worked together a couple of years ago on Channel4’s thisisaknife show and will hopefully be working on another project together in the near future. Frank hails from sunny California but apparently LIKES grey skies so splits his time between LA and London. He’s produced extremely successful shows in the US from Big Brother to the Osbournes, Rich Girls etc and also been the screenwriter on several other shows. Here’s a piccy of the lovely Frank….

A few weeks ago I was invited to meet Gary Chippington (Director of presenter led programming) and Ian Lamarra, a senior producer, both at Tiger Aspect – one of the UK’s biggest and most successful production companies. We had a great meeting and fingers crossed – we’ll be working together in the future.

As I mentioned, last week was MipTV in Cannes. As usual it was filled with stacks of meetings and the obligitary attendance of parties – so I was feeling a little worse for wear come Friday! The week started with a bang when I met up with party creator extraordinaire Mr Andy Grumbridge – he’s a very talented guy (and top bloke) who is Director of Digital Media for Virgin Radio (having been poached from Channel 4 last summer to head up their online side) – fun does tend to be his middle name! We ended up having a very messy night ably aided and abetted by Andy Taylor (of All3media) with his wife Lara and John Nolan (NorthOneTelevision)!

It was also great to meet up with Jim Manson and Fiona Sanderson (the managing directors of the Luxury Channel) www.theluxurychannel.tv. They are creating incredible documentaries to be shown on CNBC around the world and online, having a niche audience of the top earners around the world who are looking for something extra special. I’m looking forward to seeing them both again very soon in London.

On Thursday I met up for dinner with Ashley Highfield and a few of his BBC mates at Tantra. http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/cannes/le-loft-cannes.htm

Ashley has been headline news this week as he has just resigned from his job as Director of Future Media & Technology at the BBC to take over as CEO of Project Kangaroo - an initiative planned by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to encourage further take-up of online video. So good luck Ashley!

I’m going to try and update this blog every week so stay tuned for all the news that I will be sharing as soon as I can. Thanks again for all your kind emails - I really appreciate them.

Love

Susan x

Last Week

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:07:40 +0000

Well, last week was busy with lots of running around London. First on the social/work agenda, once filming was finished on Tuesday, was meeting with my friend (and apparently huge iBall fan – if not, as he claimed, the biggest!!) Sam Crowther! Sam worked for Capital Radio.

We met up in a bar in Leicester Square for a catch up and a couple of glasses of Merlot. Since I last saw Sam he's been very busy - in fact he's now married with two absolutely adorable kids, Saul and Woodie.

Here's piccy of Sam last time he was down in my neck of the woods - here he is taking a boat tour around St Tropez! Sam and his wife Marie (who also worked at Capital) decided to take a sabbatical, leaving their jobs and buying an old VW camper van! They then proceeded to drive around Europe stopping wherever they fancied. Marie is a keen photographer and took some fantastic photos which I'll find a link for and post up soon.

Wednesday and Thursday were filled up almost entirely with filming though I did manage to met up and have a great Chinese meal with the lovely Siobhan McCreesh. I just love the choice of restaurants in London! Siobhan is Director of events for Global Radio, having organised big events like Party in the Park for Capital Radio over the last ten years - although rumour has it it may be the Oscars next;-)

I received some dubious emails from fans suggesting I show more cleavage in my shows – in the interest of entertainment of course. I am, as always, delighted to receive such helpful tips!

I also met up with my manager who told me about some exciting new projects I’ll be doing soon so will keep you all posted.

Well, after basking in sunshine for the past few days, chilling out in Cannes drinking some fine French wine and generally enjoying the good life, I’m now back in London. Thank goodness the flights were all on time (though I was flying BA so no big surprise) and I'm about to leave for the studio to start filming the next few iBall episodes. Will update again soon - until then, have a good week guys.............

Blue Group......This Way!

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:13:23 +0000

Ok. Now I really think I understand the perils of being a tour guide. After the surprise meeting with Ronnie Johnson and his son George at Nice airport (see previous Blog entry) I deferred to Ronnie's request for some suggestions for things to do whilst in the Cote d'Azur. Yesterday a few of us took Ronnie and George to Mandelieu, which is on the coast about 5 km West of Cannes. One of Mandelieu's most imposing sights is Chateau de la Napoule (http://www.chateau-lanapoule.com/)

which (as you can see from the photo) looks like a Castle, but is in fact an international center for nurturing talent and artists from all nations. As you can probably tell from the photo Ronnie took on his mobile, the weather was glorious and the views as you walk along the beach are stunning. This is one of my favourite walks - miles of beautiful coastline - the perfect place to gather my thoughts away from my busy schedule in London. As you hug the coastline the beaches are punctuated by amazing coves and rockpools. In the summer the beaches can become pretty packed with sun worshippers down here, so it's worth exploring the coast to look for these type of inlets that are hidden gems and far from the maddening crowd! So long as you're prepared for the (sometimes steep) walk from the clifftop pathways down to the beaches, you can be rewarded by relative seclusion - with little risk of frisbees, footballs, beach balls, toddlers or God knows what else disturbing your reverie! Factor in the absence of obese older gentleman in miniscule yellow g-strings and some of the less pleasant sights of those women who really shouldn't go topless, arm yourself with a coolbox with suitable refreshment and you have the recipe for a perfect relaxing day. The water is warm enough to spend as much time as you want in it - so great for either a healthy long swim or just to cool down from the heat.

Here's a picture of Ronnie and George on the beach near the port just before we went for lunch. Also I included this photo of George doing his "Centurian" pose or as he later explained his Christiano Ronaldo look - the one the Man Utd star displays after yet another impressive footballing feat! This was followed by a hilarious lunch at the splendid Collins Bar, during which we somehow decided that a game of tennis would prove the perfect afternoon tonic to our culinary indulgence!

Cue a dash to Go-Sports (a huge sports store) to purchase shorts for Ronnie and George and a new grip for one of the spare racquets - then......... off to Opio to the Tennis centre!

We arrived at the tennis club (http://www.tennis-club-plaine-vignal.com/index-gb.htm) and managed to book a court. We then made our way to the alloted slot navigating the club's bar despite Ronnie's protests that a "loosener" might be in order! We then proceeded to play a form of tennis (the sort post-Wimbledon Brits play for two weeks after the tournament) which involved participants coming on and off court to make up doubles teams with winner stays on. We somehow managed to sustain this for an hour before Ronnie announced it was refreshment time and promptly headed off to the bar! After gathering the tennis balls that had ended up in trees, bushes and other courts we 'repaired to the bar' ourselves. The door to the bar was much like the changing room in a Mr Benn program as we found ourselves stepping into a surreal kind of time warp. A breed of British ex-pats were loudly opining about the state of the UK and how awful the French were - in an endless and futile self-defeating argument! This scenario can often be found in the South of France and can prove to be amusing to listen to. Inevitably though, the propagators of this type of rhetoric generally seek to enlist support from other English speaking bystanders and sure enough, despite the fact we were wrapped up in our own cosy little group, a drunk 'Colonial' with a ruddy complexion strolled over to engage us in conversation. Amongst us were some highly erudite, smart and open-minded individuals who quickly dismissed The Colonel (as we nicknamed him) and his negative monologue and sent him back to his fellow drinkers to while away the rest of the afternoon. This left us in peace to plan the rest of the day, quickly coming to the conclusion that we should meet again in Cannes for the evening entertainment................!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back........!

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:48:17 +0000

I arrived back in France yesterday ready to unwind after this week's filming. Having monitored my Mac weather widget, I was looking forward to the prospect of some warmth and sun - a welcome change from London! So having switched off from work mode, I found myself easily slipping into a state of relaxation with the help of Air France and some very good vin rouge! The flight was prompt, smooth and without incident, surely another good omen for a few chilled out days back home? We touched down at Nice bang on schedule to glorious blue skies, I waltzed through customs and glided to my pre-arranged meeting place for my lift when................. "SUSAN!!!!!" I turned around and there to my astonishment stood Ronnie Johnson! For those who don't know Ronnie, just check out his MySpace page www.myspace.com/ronniejohnsonmusic

Apart from appearing in a Beatles film, Ronnie has played guitar for Dylan, Sting and Van Morrison to name but a few. He's a fantastic guy and definitely one of life's more "colourful" characters!!! We met when I was interviewing Leo Sayer for a project and Ronnie was one of his band members. Ronnie is a frequent visitor to the South of France, this time he was accompanied by his lovely son George and as it transpired staying very close to where I live! Needless to say all plans of a few calm days were promptly thrown out of the window as I put on my "Susan-The-Tourist-Guide" head! As Ronnie really enjoys his nights out, I elected to dial up a few friends and generally rally the troops to provide adequate support to ensure survival!

Last night a few of us visited Cannes and went to one of the best kept secrets on the Cote d'Azur - Le Carignan - a fantastic wine bar in Le Suquet (the old town), who's proprietor Leandre is one of France's top Sommeliers and is both charming and funny in equal measures! I have a couple of pictures of Leandre from my sister's hen night which I thought I'd share - here he is at his most compelling - being utterly gracious and spoiling us girls! As you can see he's quite a character and a superb host, So if you're ever in Cannes make sure you pay him a visit.

Last night I'm pleased to report he was on fine form and the wine he served us was superb. Mostly we let him choose our drinks for us and he unfailingly manages to recommend wines that hit the mark. Unsurprisingly we spent most of the night there. Despite that, I feel absolutely fine this morning - in fact I'm about to go for a swim and then off to Mandelieu for a walk along the beach. No doubt they'll be more to report after tonight's activities so I'll try to update this again tomorrow!

More dolphin photos here!

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:27:42 +0000

End of the week..........

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:55:55 +0000

Well another week is almost over. I arrived back in France late last night after yet more airline delays. I've really not had any luck flying this week, so I'm just going to chill out over the next few days with very little traveling scheduled! In fact not everything went to plan at all this week! On Tuesday I arrived at the studio, proceeded to prepare for shooting, was made up and had my hair done when....... I found out that there were technical problems with the lights and the whole day's filming was cancelled! Instead we had a production meeting with the team covering the next few episodes. In case you're not familiar with any of the iBall crew I thought I'd share a photo of iBall editor Steve McDowell with you guys (below).......

Due to Tuesday's technical problems we had to work flat out on Wednesday and Thursday to make up time.

As one of the shows was on Hornby we were faced with the added distraction of the boys (of all ages) sneaking off to play with the train sets too! Throw in a couple of nights out with friends and it's been a busy week all in all. I'm keeping my fingers crossed next week will run a little smoother on all fronts.

We finally finished everything on Thursday and I was faced with the dash to Luton airport to make my flight! Despite managing to arrive at the airport on time I was faced with the demoralising news that the flight had been delayed - for 4 hours!!!!! As usual it was chaos at the Easyjet desk and it wasn't long before one bright spark pointed out that by the time the rearranged flight touched down in Nice - the airport would be closed!!!!! Cue more confusion! After various threats, discussions, shouting and general grumbles of discontent our disposition was brightened by the news that our flight had been changed yet again. This time to the detriment of a flight to Malaga..... cue chaos from those unfortunate passengers who suddenly found out their plane had been hijacked to take us to Nice!!! The upshot was that our flight finally took off an hour later than planned (in the plane originally bound for Malaga), my last memory of Luton airport being a crowd of furious people upset that their holidays to Spain had been delayed for 4 hours!

As I spent most of Valentines night on an EasyJet flight I've decided to postpone it until Saturday and celebrate it in Cannes. You know how the French love the idea of romance, so I thought it would be a good idea to go to one of my favourite little restaurants with this view of the beach:

Have a great weekend everybody!

Susan

iBall, iFly (or not) and imoan!

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:34:15 +0000

For the second week running, my Air France flight back to the UK to shoot iBall was cancelled - AAAUGH!!! After protracted telephone conversations I decided that the offered flight option of traveling to Birmingham via Lyon wasn't much help to me! My initial anger was exacerbated by the guy on the phone who was one of those condescending "we're-doing-you-such-a-favour" types! Anyway I've had to end up buying a last minute (expensive) flight on Easyjet to make sure I can get to the studio in order to keep our filming schedule. We've got a busy week coming up focussing on BSkyB, Torotrak, Hornby and Gold. Not to mention an interview with somebody yet to be confirmed for our Friday show. Throw in a couple of socials with mates from Capital Radio and then Valentines night and it's going to be pretty full on all round! I'll try to update my Blog as much as possible from now on - subject to my filming schedule of course. Also thanks for all your messages of support guys - much appreciated!

Update!

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:10:17 +0000

A belated Happy New year to everyone!

It's been a while since I updated my Blog due to an extremely busy Christmas and January on the work, social and family fronts! After a great Christmas, I spent New Year back in the UK catching up with friends before flying to Tenerife for a break and to swim with Dolphins! I spent some time with the guys at Whale Nation - a Dolphin and Whale research charity doing some fantastic work trying to raise awareness about these beautiful creatures. I expect to spend quite some time out there this year and you can even expect the odd vidcast to be hitting iTunes with yours truly presenting!

Here is a photo of some bottlenose dolphins which permanently live there. I'm waiting for the Dolphin centre to send me some other photos and video footage which I'll post up as soon as I receive them.

The weather was pretty good too and I was amazed by the rich vein of culture that exists on the Island. Did you know that Tenerife is meant to be the lost city of Atlantis? Or that it has the highest UFO sightings in the world?! Or that the Holy Grail is meant to be hidden there?! Whether you believe or not, it makes for a very entertaining few days and I'd thoroughly recommend it to anybody who wants a winter break. I can also suggest a fantastic guide - Ed Bentham, the founding trustee of Whale Nation! Thanks Ed - you really made my visit. If anyone is interested in the work Whale Nation does check out www.whalenation.org

Shares Awards

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:54:51 +0000

I've just received these photos of an award presentation I had to do at this year's Shares Awards, so I thought I'd stick them up for you guys to see.

We all had a great night as you can probably tell!

I introduced iBall to the audience and played them a promo of the stuff we've been up to.

It was held at the Grovesnor Hotel and Michael Portillo was the host.

It's all a bit crazy at the moment with filming extra shows for Christmas and catching up with people before the holidays. I've got to dash now as once today's filming is completed, I'm off to Virgin Radio and then on out with some old buddies from Channel 4.

Susan