It’s a dilemma which is presently in the media-eye and is sure to continue for some time, what with the recent tragedies that have been in the news.

It’s an extremely thorny issue, but one thing is certain. With every appearance of new technology there have been those who find ways to take advantage of it. Look at the humble phone-book for example; before it appeared it was very difficult to find out someone’s address, and afterwards you could do so in a matter of seconds. And what about the freedom of information act? Without even speaking to a human being it’s possible to trawl the internet using Google and find out an infinite amount of information that was previously kept hidden.

So in a way it isn’t Facebook’s fault at all. But that doesn’t absolve them of responsibility, of course. The fact that anyone can sign up and can do so easily without having to identify themselves means that those looking to take advantage can do so easily, and, more shockingly, almost legally.

So the eternal question: should Facebook now tighten up their security? Well, one things for sure. It doesn’t matter how tight they make their security, people with malevolent ideas will always find a way to break through it.

Right before I log off, I need to congratulate myself. I have just bought the nicest saucony running shoes that I have ever owned. Parks Marathon, here I come!

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Growing up among the rolling hills of Wiltshire, Camden Town felt like an unreachable oasis; home to many of the urbane, impossibly cool (well, so I thought at the time) bands I worshipped. Ten years on, I journeyed across Mecca of my youth. Perhaps I was setting myself up for disappointment.

The sprawling World’s End and its subterranean sister club, the Underworld, are perhaps Camden’s nightlife, still seen as one of the best in Camden of course, home of the indie chancer and epicentre of many changeling music scenes. I just wanted to hear a few good tunes - the kind you can dance to, that can ignite a damp squib of a night. They simply didn’t come, replaced instead with an underwhelming selection of mid-paced songs. I feel like I’m either behind the times, or just being a tiny bit snobby, but one week on, I’m still struggling with the song choices.

Classic bands like The Strokes and Kings of Leon were represented, but with ‘Last Nite’, a song that’s impossible to dance to, and ‘The Bucket’, which comes to a standstill in the chorus. The most depressing thing about the whole night though was a total lack of originality. The disinterested bar staff, shabby toilets and sticky floors began to feel like a façade once the playlist, which wouldn’t have been out of place in a Mondeo, started to take shape.

Perhaps the Underworld has become a victim of it’s own success, forced into reverting to cliché whilst having to appeal to an everyday crowd that want songs they’ve heard on the radio. Wandering off down Chalk Farm Road an hour before closing, however, it was hard not to feel totally underwhelmed. Now, when’s the next train to Swindon?

By the way, as promised I have been keeping up with this enigin PLC blog. And I promise all of you that it is actually a really good read, you should all look into it.

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Want to be happy but don’t know how, exactly? It’s a tricky one, as we all know, and the sadder you are the harder it is to go the other way. Don’t ask me, I have no idea, all I have are a few suggestions about how to go in the right direction. Take these with a pinch of salt, and maybe it’ll help you think of a few of your own:

1) Sing along to really bad, funny music. This never fails to work. Just don’t do it on a busy train or bus. Behind locked doors is best—you can really let loose!

2) Surprise someone by jumping out of the dark and scaring them out of their skin: I recently did this to my brother; it entailed hiding in the dark for twenty minutes, but when it finally happened it worked fantastically! Warning: choose your victim very carefully; anyone with a weak disposition or who has had a heart attack is better left alone.

3) Watch a Peter Andre video.

4) Watch a Peter Andre interview.

5) Read an old diary; old diary’s—either yours or a friends—are crammed full of ingenious anecdotes that will have you laughing in seconds.

6) Learn a language: learning a language can be fun as well as a harrowing experience; soon, when the grammar is knocked on the head, you’ll find every foreign word hilarious.

7) Watch You’ve Been Framed.

Go and check out the newest fashionable T shirts in the shops: more often than not they are covered in ridiculous slogans like “permanent vet jobs"that not only make no sense, but that you’d never have on your person in a million years!

9) People watching: this works especially well in freezing weather; it’s always only a matter of time until someone falls over hilariously!

10) Ask a very unfit friend to try and do one press up. Their terrible failure may depress them, but it will definitely put a smile on your face.

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Not thought of anything to do for Valentines yet? Perhaps this might twinge your hinge. Whether you are a loved up couple or a hot-blooded singleton looking for love, why not head down to the well known and much loved night club, The Scala, on Pentonville Road for a night of cabaret entertainment famed for fun, frolicks–and fluff!

Yes, indeed, Bunny Warren presents ’Yes yes yes!’ a night of valentine vivacity with a poignant theme of love and romance. It promises to be a frivolous evening with a line up of intriguing and exciting acts which includes singing, dancing, juggling and burlesque.

Saucy French dance troupe, Gentry de Paris will cause an oo-la-la and maybe a bit of va-va-vroom with a scintillating line up of striptease and burlesque dancers as will London’s very own Hunny Bunny’s, renowned for being the capital’s best dressed dance troupe - if you call frolicking in sexy lingerie, Basques and corsets well dressed!

Boldo and Matt Hennem provide the circus entertaining in the form of aerial acrobatics and ethereal ball juggling and the Amazing Norvil, together with his beautiful assistant Josephine will demonstrate their award-winning magic show - and maybe pull one of the hunny bunny’s out of his big hat.

Music is provided by ripping blues band ’The Organ Grinders and funk and RnB boy band ’Chromatone.’ If that wasn’t enough DJ’s and other ambient acts will see revellers through to the 3am close.

Yes yes yes will be held at La Scala on Saturday 13^th 2010 from 9pm-3am. Book in advance and take advantage of the ticketweb 2 for £20 offer by entering code “bunnyswonderland”

Chalets booking sorted out everybody, I am really excited about our long weekend trip. I need part of the cost by next monday.

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The idea of Bar Music Hall in Shoreditch had us in very good spirit. So we headed down to Curtain road where it is located, and braced ourselves for some innovative snacks and beaming punters. What we discovered though was refreshingly different in the already packed town. It has a large bar with a magnificent kitchen and a great environment for a good night out.

Bar Music Hall was spacious, on the Tuesday night though it felt a little bare and decor was bland, lacking the spark a bar should carry. A few cruel things were expected in a bar setting, but the most satanic of all was our blunt waitress who was in her own way fun to have serve us. She immediately accused my cocktail order as being safe. She soon gave us an expert lesson on pre-dinner cocktails and all their specialist beers. This affirmed our stance that this was a den for drinkers.

The food at Bar Music Hall was surprisingly delicious. The menu there was short but very enticing. We did not expect anything outstanding from a busy bar. The appetizers were mad of fine local produce, and my friend’s roasted quail was roasted to perfection and the portions were extremely good.

The minted fish pie in prawn butter that I ate later was simply too good. It probably lacked a bit of size though, but nonetheless it was certainly made on site and was very tasty. My friend’s steak was well grilled and satisfying, and his chips again fell victim to pinching, by me off course. We ended the night with some Banoffee Pie which really capped of a magnificent night of exciting food and flavors. We expected good music and some fine selection of drinks at Bar Music Hall. The crowd was interesting but the food turned out to be a winner.

Just came across this online contest where the prize is some time at one of three resorts. Everybody should really put your names in, this would be such a cool way way to spend winter, and get out of this damn London snow!

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London, as we all know, is the world’s greatest city, teeming with 7 million people and with a never ending supply of things to do and places to go to. When you are on your own in London though, this otherwise friendly metropolis can seem like the loneliest place in the world. At every corner you bump into couples happy in each others arms, restaurants are full of tables for two and supermarkets are offering buy one get one free for young lovers, while you are heading home to enjoy beans on toast for one and watching Eastenders.

There are many dating options out there from internet dating sights, full of frauds and stalkers, to speed dating nights where you dread the humiliation at the end of the evening when you realise that out of the forty eligible people that you have ’dated’ not one of them has any interest in seeing you again. Are you in fear of 2010 being another lonely year, yet another write off full of ’might-have-been’s and ’if-only’s? What you need is a meddler!

’Meddlers of Honour’ are a new concept in dating that is taking the capital by storm, and they are on a mission to ensure that nobody remains single! They hold regular ’Meddle Dating’ nights at the Jerusalem venue on Rathbone Place in the West End and their proud slogan is ’The party where every single person gets hooked up’.

Meddlers realise that the main stumbling block to being a success at dating is shyness, or a fear of rejection. The parties are filled with not only a huge amount of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes but also a large number of professional ’meddlers’ who will break the ice for you and ensure that you have the time of your life.

Chief Meddler, Helen Gleave, explained how their parties work: “The Meddlers are expertly trained by ninjas to seek out who you fancy and then meddle away until you are chatting and swapping numbers. Imagine actually speaking to someone you fancy? It can and it will happen!”

Meddle dating is proving to be so popular, and successful, that even some celebrities go along to have their moribund love lifes meddled with, so what are you waiting for - shyness need no longer be a barrier to finding the love of your life (well, a pleasant night out or two at least) so head down to Jerusalem to find the dating phenomenon that is captivating London. You might even see me there, if you do please don’t be afraid to have a meddle!

Amazing update everyone, Viola just got a few months work with a place that sells dresses for beach , I expect freebies!

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I was a complete insomniac last night and decided to go trolling round the web for something to keep me occupied, and I ended up on the House Forum until the early hours of the morning and woke up really tired. Then this happened to me:

How unlucky can you get? I sometimes wonder if I am living under a curse. Perhaps my ancestors upset a witch doctor many years ago…

My day started off with me discovering I had a flat tyre on my car. This meant that;

a) I was going to be late for work.

b) Changing the wheel would not be a whole lot of fun in the freezing cold.

c) I felt like going back to bed and pretending it was all just a bad dream.

I called work, told them of my predicament and put on as many layers of clothing as possible. I would actually have worn even more clothes, but I had to be able to bend various joints in my body to change the wheel.

It turned out that it wasn’t actually as cold as I had expected; it was far worse. When I finally managed to remove the wheel I immediately saw why I had a puncture. There was a lump of sharp metal embedded in the tyre.

When my fingers were warm enough to use a phone, I called the tyre centre on the industrial estate. They had the right sized tyre in stock! I drove down there feeling a bit more positive… but that would soon disappear.

The guy at the tyre place asked me to leave my car out the front. I parked it up, applied the handbrake and heard a loud CLUNK! The guy heard it too. He came running over, looked under my car and informed me that I had snapped the handbrake cable. The day was going from bad to worse.

* * *

I didn’t get into work until lunchtime, my car cost three times what I had expected to pay and I lost half a day’s wages.

But I’m feeling better now. I am back at home, my dinner is in the oven and I’m finally getting warm. ‘It’s just one of those days’, I told myself. ‘Everyone has them from time to time.’

BANG!

Uh-oh. I’m going to have to go. That sounded like the cooker…

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Comic art is sadly overlooked a lot of the time. It gets more recognition today than it ever did, but still not as much as it deserves. There are a lot of truly amazing artists in the world of comics and one of my absolute favourites has to be Berni Wrightson.

Wrightson illustrated several of the stories in ‘The House of Mystery’, but he hit the big time when he started working on ‘Swamp Thing’. His highly stylised drawings were perfect for the story and fans could not get enough.

Over the years he has gone on to work in many other areas. He has dabbled with album covers, films and book illustration. Meatloaf’s ‘Bat out of Hell’ and ‘Dead Ringer’ were both drawn by Berni Wrightson, as were the illustrations for ‘Cycle of the Werewolf’ and ‘The Dark Tower’ by Stephen King. He also created a whole graphic novel of the film, ‘Creepshow’ when it was released in 1982. Comics that contain the work of Wrightson are hugely collectable and they always hold their value. If you want to get buy any of his stuff then it is certainly going to cost you.

Some of his greatest drawings are the ones for ‘Frankenstein’ and the tales of Edgar Allen Poe. Berni Wrightson really is one of the great ‘daddy illustrators’ in the comic scene and he is very highly respected.

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What about the fact that there is still a link perceived between some of these vaccinations and various forms of Autism? There’s been no absolute 100% positive research to prove this, but unfortunately for parents there haven’t been any reassurances that there is no link. So what’s a parent supposed to do – have their children vaccinated against their better judgement and risk Autism? Or have their child uneducated, or with a lower standard of living because they will be financially penalized for making what ought to be a parental choice? Even if the Government did invest the money into research about the vaccinations being safe to all children, is this really a Government concern? Making the vaccines available to those who chose to use them is, forcing parents into a choice they aren’t comfortable with shouldn’t be. Isn’t child rearing supposed to be in the hands of the parents? What kind of democracy are we living in?

In more cheery news at CHC we can now offer botox in our London clinic. We have enough doctors on board now that any time any appointment is booked their will always be a fully qualified doctor on hand.

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