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Week ending - 18 January 2008

• Richard Fair
• 18 Jan 08, 10:46 AM

“Tonight, Coronation Street will be a four-hanky episode, the first of the newly scheduled Friday double episodes.” So says . It’s the night we share our tears with Jack as Vera's lifeless body is taken from The Street. “It's an episode none of us really wants to see”, says , but just like driving past a motorway crash we’ll slow down a little and gawp before heading off to Channel 4 to cook along with . Talking of which, I did have a double take checking up on their website for the ingredients. On the it says “Cookalong guinea pig”, but I think that refers to someone giving advice on how to cook steak.

Nigel in Newton-le-Willows is approaching a mid-life moment when it comes to music. “Maybe it’s the prospect of my 40th birthday (next year, not this) looming in the distance, but my music tastes have become decidedly middle of the road recently.

"The other day I compiled a CD of what I can only describe as DadRock,” he says before going on to list the likes of Kate Bush, Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Eva Cassidy.

I was only musing on this week about the signs of getting older. Mine are less to do with taste and more to do with how your body begins to rebel.

Meanwhile at the other end of the age scale are on a steep learning curve when it comes to raising a child. “Nine weeks in, what have we learned?” they ask. Amongst the gems are:

“Babies aren’t very bright sometimes.
Parents aren’t very bright sometimes, either: it took Mummy and Daddy a while to realise that you should never change a nappy in a room with carpet.
If Mummy forgets to wash behind baby’s ears, baby starts to smell of cheese.
If Mummy isn’t ‘allowed’ to shower, put the washing on, get dressed, iron clothes or brush her teeth, then Mummy starts to smell of cheese, too.”

Suddenly I don’t feel like eating my steak anymore.