As mentioned previously it seems that Eddie has been on our tv screens here in the Uk much earlier than his small stint on Animal Ark, which aired in May of 98. According to Tiimmy Mallet there is a possibility that they'd met when Eddie was just 8 years old, on the tv game show that he had presented.

The idea that we could have watched him and his brother many years ago, before he'd even become famous as little kiddies ourselves seems so weird. I mean the idea that he could have been sitting on that chair in that game show, without anyone realising this little kid of 8 would go on to do amazing things seems so bizarre; but not impossible. Although some of us fans are a little skeptical, as we've never heard Eddie himself ever speaking of his experience on the show before. Some might say well in the picture with Timmy, Eddie seems to have a big grin on his face, but that could just be because Eddie recognises Timmy from the show.

Image taken from Timmy Mallet's twitter page.

We all grew up with the show, I remember watching wacaday back in the day as a child myself. We'd get up early in the morning during our summer holidays just to watch the show, not that there was much choice of kid's programs on tv back then, we only had four channels. But it's definitely possible that he'd grown up watching the show himself. It could be could be possible even still that he did go on the show. So I'm not saying he didn't, just that this is the first time I'm hearing this. I've not heard Eddie speak about it. It would be interesting to watch that episode of the show.

I'd really like to see a video of that moment he was actually on the show. If only the studios still had copies of tapes from the show perhaps and would put them up for fans to see? That would be great!!!

With Balfe still in the wilderness it was left to me to hold the fort again. I did take along a cuddly toy (above) to keep me company. Here's where you can stream

Ministry_Apr_10 by Thecosmictruth on Mixcloud

Matt: You said mallet too many times, it doesn’t mean anything!

Russell: NO! MALLET! MALLET!

After studying French for the duration of nearly seven years at secondary school and two years at university, it is now apt time to evaluate my French capacity. Needless to say, I’m disappointed. Even though there is a consensus that British people may find difficulty in adopting a Latin-derived European language, it is still regrettable that not only have I been unable to develop my accent, but I still struggle in regards to successfully capturing spoken French, as well as being thrown off by certain written pieces. Now, I can rule this down to one simple fact, which is that I simply did not work hard enough. Throughout secondary school and lamentably the first year of university, I breezed through, thinking that I was, quite frankly, the bollocks, and that it was regular to need multiple years to learn a language fluently. How wrong I was. Looking back (with hindsight being the most practical tool of futility), I would be at a far more sufficient level if I was more humble and even a little more motivated. An ‘A’ grade is great when you can fulfil the required criteria, but in terms of the route to becoming a lingual expert, it is neither helpful nor meaningful. Let us look at Year 12 as an example. Coming off the back of successfully spelling my name to receive an A in GCSE, I certainly under-estimated the necessary rise in quality while equally over-estimating my own ability. Winning combination, I think not.  Reparations in A2, and any rational person would have thought to themselves ‘Christ, you got away with that one; let’s not make the same mistake yeah?’ It is at this point that I should mention that on a scale from one to ten, I am somewhere near Timmy Mallet in terms of sensibility. That bodes well for an illustrious career I am sure. So here I now am, playing catch up as I did in A2. But while the former consisted of discussing ‘la contre-plongée’ and the repercussions of ‘Mai ‘68’, I now find myself frantically preparing myself for a year in France! If I was either blind, mad, or conceited, I would suggest that I had been thrown into the deep end. However, with the gleaming quality of being able to recognise my mistakes, I now know that I launched myself off the diving board whilst trying to do a triple somersault. Or at least I thought about it, then just pencil dived because I was too lazy (I feel the diving/swimming metaphor was necessary, the Olympics are coming you know). Having never lived in France, I am optimistic that this year will provide the excellent opportunity to improve my skills verbally, audibly and literately. I remember saying that with a year in Strasbourg, which lies in the Alsace region; it will be a disgrace if I am not fluent in French and do not possess a respectable grasp of German by summer 2013. After that, all I will have to do is improve my English; which has recently become the thorn in my side (Because French coursework finished). The sad tone to that of course is that I should not be worrying about how my abilities will improve during this year. A year in France should be used to refine my skills, not create or develop them. Yet, here we are, nearly ten years targeting the apprehension of the French language, and I’ve moved no further than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping (Blackadder, 1917). Time to lament? Probably not. Time to regroup and reproach? Perhaps. Time to stop writing a stream of consciousness in English and actually get on with some French? Most certainly.