The Stef Factor

28 Apr 2007

Rachael says I'm a geek. I've seen most series and films of Star Trek, and I think Star Wars is great. I'll draw the line at accepting that games are geeky though. I'm going to go against the grain here and say I don't like this new generation of Doctor Who. Just watching the latest episode with complete indifference, and find myself actually looking forward to the Joseph show afterwards, which is just strange. I've caught a handful of episodes since Christopher Ecclestone came back as the new Doctor, and most of them have featured Daleks. Most of them have involved flying (!) Daleks being destroyed forever and yet still they come back, every few episodes. Rachael gets freaked out by them, but I think the series could do with a new enemy. So I'm sitting here with an ice cold Asahi. I can hear Rachael stirring a sizzling pan in the kitchen and I've just caught a whiff of the battered prawns being stirred into a sweet 'n' sour sauce. My stomach has woken up and is making all sorts of yearning noises. I'm thinking back on an interesting week. By interesting, I mean hellish, for a number of unconnected, but no less significant reasons. I'm not going to go into any of them here, I'll just assure you that I don't wish to repeat it, ever again. So anyway, it's Joseph Vs Grease Is The Word, both of which I can take or leave. I have to say that for all its faults, I really like X Factor over all the 'reality TV' out there, and am looking forward to its return. I'll let you into a little secret here, I applied for the last series, but the audition date coinciding with a heavy jetlag from LA, a lack of sleep, and no bottle last year. So I watched the last series thinking of what could have been, imagining ever hopeful and hopeless auditionee was me and wondering how I'd have done. Don't get me wrong, I'm realistic about my chances, I'm approaching 30 and my gut isn't exactly pop. But, I enjoyed the daydream. Ever since leaving the band a couple of years back, I could never psyche myself up to starting something new. The X Factor seemed like a fastrack way to competing on a grand scale, which, however uncool, is something that really appeals. This year I applied in good faith, fully intending to attend the audition this time, even spending a bit of time practising for it. I gave the application to a friend in the hope that he'd send mine off with his, and he told me he did. I have to take his word for it, as nothing's come through and I know that the auditions are imminent or may have already gone, so I've missed out. How bleeding ironic. And considering the week I've just had. How gutting. Still, there's always the open audition, if I haven't missed it. Wish me luck. Better go, I can hear the plates clattering in the kitchen and the sizzling's stopped. Which means only one thing, my stomach can finally stop doing its own auditioning.