I'm hoping that the culturally aware Massive can help me with this one.

I'm a university careers adviser and I'm looking for a few examples of people in the public eye who are doing jobs that are completely unrelated to their degrees. The aim is to reinforce the point that the career path you follow doesn't necessarily have to relate to what you study at university. We already have a few examples but I'm not convinced they're appealing to the 18-21 age group (Brian May, Harry Enfield, Natalie Portman) but I'm finding it hard to identify people who might be. For example, I can think of people like Jo Brand (mental health nurse), Harry Hill (medicine) and Roger McGough (French) but I don't really think they suit the target audience either.

Can anyone suggest any examples that might fit the bill ? Much apprecieated !

I find the Bird's Eye TV ads with the creepy polar bear deeply unsettling. It was bad enough when it used to just lurk in a fridge, but now it's creeping up on a poor woman on her holidays with the greeting 'buona sera Janice'. EEEeek ! Now the thing is talkng to me ! It's using my name and it's starting to freak me out. Husband finds it deeply amusing but I'm wishing it would go away.

Anyone else been freaked out by an advert - addressing them directly or otherwise ?

Calling the Yorkshire Word Massive !

Several months back I asked if there was a Yorkshire Massive and a number of people replied saying they might be interested in meeting up but we didn't take it any further.

As it's a New Year and all that I wondered if we should try again. Is anyone interested ? York and Leeds seemed favourable spots for a meet-up last time - is that still the case ?

After all, if those Southerners can manage it.....

Just wondered ? I'm near York and in reasonable travel distance to Leeds. Not the greatest at organising things, but just wondered how many of us there might be in the vicinity and whether it might be worth a try ?

I know that there are a few fans of this '80s comedy amongst the Word Massive. Just to make sure you all know that the 1st series gets a DVD release on 1st March, with the remaining series to follow later in the year. And about time too !

I can't believe noone has already started this thread. I've just got round to watching it and have to say I really enjoyed it though was a bit disappointed as I'd thought it was the usual 3-parter rather than a one-off. It certainly took me back to the late 70s/early 80s, which suddenly seemed soooo long ago and a bit bleak. And didn't people look so young - Depeche Mode looked about 12, especially Dave Gahan. As a one-off the focus was inevitably on a select group of artists - the husband for example kept asking if Thomas Dolby had been featured yet(he doesn't really like synth music so didn't watch, but for some bizarre reason he does like Dolby). Even Ultravox only got the briefest mention - the focus was much more on bands who used synths almost exclusively.

And as usual, it was always nice to see the people involved talking about that period, which reminded me how much aggro they all faced at the time from the music press - I seem to have blanked that out.

Sorry, this probably isn't the most incisive critique so what do others think ?

Its the time of year when newspapers, magazines and even the Word massive on here are busily recommending books to be read on summer hols. I just don't get it. When I go on holiday I just don't have time to read - once I've paid my money and made the effort to get somewhere I want to be out there seeing what the place has to offer. Our holidays usually see us out of the hotel/B&B by 10.30am and not back in until after 8.30pm, exhausted with walking, sightseeing etc. I took the latest issues of Word and Vogue to keep me company on hols last week and still haven't finished them, never mind a book !

Maybe I just don't go on holiday to relax, or my idea of relaxation is different to other people's. Maybe I'm lucky to have a good work/life balance that gives me time to read at home. I can't be the only one can I ?

Having watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure on TV last weekend for the umpteenth time, I have to confess that I never tire of this film, even though I know the culture police would probably have me locked away for saying so. Does anyone else have any guilty pleasures of the film variety ?

So what is it that keeps bringing me back ?
- Keanu Reeves goofball performance and the language used. It sounds dumb but has some great turns of phrase eg 'royal ugly dudes' and still manages to include words like egregious.
- The daft plot that knows its daft but doesn't care.
- Napolean shoving the kids of out the way to get to the water rides at Waterloo water park
-The other historical characters at the mall - especially Joan of Arc taking an aerobics class and Beethovan wowing them on the keyboards.

Never quite got to feeling the same way about their 'bogus adventure' though. And scarily, its now over 20 years old !