Just updating you on some more suspect word usages that have tickled me. On Monday, Kirstin from Bachelor III kept saying "weary" repeatedly when the context obviously pointed to her wish to say either "wary" or "leery". The gaffe was quite noticeable, and all the more so for being made in front of the Firestone family members she was on such a strained mission to impress. Oh well. I must also admit to my own wrongdoings on the incorrect usage front. Until as recently as last year, I had inherited a perversion of the lexicon from my mama that had me using "calypsion" in the place of "conniption". I don't know what I was thinking, that maybe hysterical fits of apoplexy had their historical roots in, or were somehow triggered by, the blood-boiling sonic tempest that is calypso music, or something. Anyway, I was worthily pilloried. Another recently remembered and quite comical example of a misspoken word occurred a few months back on Letterman. Kate Hudson was the guest and he complimented her on how "ravenous" she looked. Haaaaaaaah! Anyway, he of course meant "ravishing" but it was funny nonetheless.

In other news, I watched Degrassi: The Next Generation today, and you will never believe what's happening to those gods of our youth. I'm serious. It's shocking. So, prepare yourself. Set your faces to stunned. I don't know quite how to break this to you all, but Spike has short brown hair and she is going to marry Snake! That's right. You heard me. SNAKE! And her so-called friends, Caitlin and Luce, are actually supporting the match. Traitors! And Joey Jeremiah is going to be the best man. And I think he has children or something. Yep. Joey Jeremiah! With kids! I swear I would never lie about anything this important. It's all really happening and it's just wrong wrong wrong. What happened to the good old days, huh? When Joey was a schemer and frontman for the Zit Remedy [later shortened to The Zits] and Spike was impregnated by Wheels, but had to raise Emma alone because Wheels spiralled into a vortex of drugs and vehicular manslaughter. And then I think he died or something. Anyway, Snake was the loser of the ensemble and Spike needs to get away from him. But she's pregnant with his baby. Oh, did I forget to mention this? Okay. Spike and Snake are having a baby! This is completely rocking my world. What the hell is going on?

And now... The E List of Things I Love

Mersey Valley Vintage Club is the best cheese going round. It sure is a tasty morsel. And I mean very very tasty and crumbly and sharp and scrummy and such.

Interpol. I know I 've said it before but I must reiterate how much I like them and how deeply their sound has crept into my brain.

Quality English Television via the ABC. I have been enamoured of them for years. The Buccaneers is one of my favourites, based on Edith Wharton's last unfinished novel. Carla Gugino is so lovely. Anyhoo, this year has been great for my Sunday nights. I loved Cambridge Spies because of Guy Burgess. Oh how I love Guy Burgess. Such a principled, tormented, charming and harrowed lush with bohemian pomposity tempered by a devilish humour. Sigh. At the moment the second series of The Forsyte Saga is making me go all cooey over how much of a decent and worthy and lovely gentleman Jolyon Forsyte is. What a pity he died last week. I am even beginning to feel for Soames, can you imagine? He's not quite so bad as he was. And the clothes, my god the clothes. Last week Jon looked positively dapper at the Eton-Harrow match, and every one of Fleur and Ireni's dresses....phew. So lovely. An honourable mention must go to A Dance to the Music of Time which screened a few years ago and which really was excellent.

The Office. This was must-see TV for me. It was just so brilliant. But why, why can't Tim and Dawn get it together and get the hell out of there? A friend of mine who lives in London and who did a lot of temp work when she first got over there said that it was scarily close to reality. Ewwww.

News Guys I love. Tony Jones. Geoff Thompson. Jim Lehrer.

News Gals I Love. Gwen from Newshour. Katie.

Favourite Catch Phrase From a TV Show comes from That's My Bush!. Every show finishes with George and Laura sitting up in bed, Brady style, and discussing the day's events, with each conversation somehow finding its way to George's jovial and fondly delivered, "Oh Laura. One day, I'm gonna punch you in the face", to which the audience "aahhhs" in appreciative recognition. It's an unparalleled achievement.

New Discovery That I Love. Every weeknight at 5.55pm, the ABC is airing Batfink, and it RULES! He's a cartoon superhero bat with supersonic sonar radar and wings of steel, and every action has an accompanying word graphic and big band sting, eg. "Vroom!", "Bang!", "Pow!", "Karate!" etc. It looks old, but I think it might actually be new, pretending to be old, and doing all that ironic referencing that the clever people like to talk about. I really like it, of course, and not simply because I'm a pretentious git. It's funny. And it's called Batfink. So cool.