Who would have guessed in the 1960s that Michael Parker a typical young Army officer would turn into one of the most remarkable showmen of his generation? Michael Parker's creativity & originality
- all too often achieved in the face of stifling bureaucracy
- along with an ability to organise down to the last detail
- meant he was in continuous demand to mastermind all kinds of events such as most of the British royal jubilees & birthday celebrations for The Queen the Queen Mother. Other events included London's G7 conference royal weddings in countries such as Jordan victory commemorations charity events & some of the world's largest military tattoos
- Berlin Edinburgh & the London Tournament. He records his triumphs & disasters & the inside story of some spectacular c**k-ups
- although to the spectators & television audiences all might have seemed fine. The pundits thought The Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 would be a non-event
- Who would come?" they said. But Michael Parker had no doubt that he could lay on a show that was worthy of the Queen
- & of Great Britain. He was right & proved the critics wrong
- 2 million people flocked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace to enjoy the celebrations he had helped organise. Some 25 years earlier his complex plans for the Queen's 1977 Silver Jubilee bonfires definitely did not go to plan
- much to the Queen's amusement
- & as for those fireworks in Hyde Park to celebrate Prince Charles & Diana's wedding
- that's another story.. .as is the escaping python at the Berlin Tattoo."










...

Last spring after a particularly grueling schedule & lapse of overindulgence Gwyneth Paltrow was feeling fatigued & faint. A visit to her doctor revealed that she was anemic vitamin D deficient & that her stress levels were sky high. He prescribed an elimination diet to clear out her system & help her body heal. But this meant no coffee no alcohol no dairy no eggs no sugar no shellfish no deep-water fish no wheat no meat no soy nothing processed at all! An avid foodie Paltrow was concerned that so many restrictions would make meal time boring so together with Julia Turshen she compiled a collection of 185 delicious easy recipes that followed her doctor's guidelines. & it worked! After changing her diet Paltrow healed totally felt more energetic & looked great. Now in IT'S ALL GOOD she shares the go-to dishes that have become the baseline for the restorative diet she turns to whenever she feels she needs it. Recipes include: Huevos Rancheros Korean Chicken Tacos Salmon Burgers with Pickled Ginger even Power Brownies Banana ' Ice Cream' & more! ...

Jeremy Vine is one of the most successful broadcasters of recent years & in 2012 clocks up a quarter of a century at the BBC. In It's All News to Me he takes a look back over his career from the very first day when he arrived at broadcasting house (by coincidence an inauspicious news day
- the fateful Black Monday of 1987.) Jeremy explains his big break as a Today programme reporter when he was fired at by a sniper during the early days of the war in Bosnia; he walks us through the corridors of Westminster in the 1990s when he was a political correspondent trying to deal with the likes of Alastair Campbell & Peter Mandelson; he reflects on the steep learning curve that was his posting as African correspondent at the turn of the millennium; & his return to the UK where he was dubbed Paxman's mini-me" on Newsnight. He also explains what it's like presenting Radio 2's lunchtime show & talking to 6 million listeners
- people who as he puts it "have better stories than we do." Written in Jeremy's unmistakably lively & self-deprecating voice It's All News to Me paints a vivid picture of what it's like to be trapped inside the BBC
- arguably the most interesting organisation in the country
- for 25 years. It's also about our obsession with news
- just exactly how & why it happens
- & the power of real life stories versus the media's desire to shape them."





...

Jeremy Vine is one of the most successful broadcasters of recent years & in 2012 clocks up a quarter of a century at the BBC. In It's All News to Me he takes a look back over his career from the very first day when he arrived at broadcasting house (by coincidence an inauspicious news day
- the fateful Black Monday of 1987.) Jeremy explains his big break as a Today programme reporter when he was fired at by a sniper during the early days of the war in Bosnia; he walks us through the corridors of Westminster in the 1990s when he was a political correspondent trying to deal with the likes of Alastair Campbell & Peter Mandelson; he reflects on the steep learning curve that was his posting as African correspondent at the turn of the millennium; & his return to the UK where he was dubbed Paxman's mini-me" on Newsnight. He also explains what it's like presenting Radio 2's lunchtime show & talking to 6 million listeners
- people who as he puts it "have better stories than we do." Written in Jeremy's unmistakably lively & self-deprecating voice It's All News to Me paints a vivid picture of what it's like to be trapped inside the BBC
- arguably the most interesting organisation in the country
- for 25 years. It's also about our obsession with news
- just exactly how & why it happens
- & the power of real life stories versus the media's desire to shape them."





...

A wonderfully funny & poignant novel about growing up in the seventies teenage angst growing pains & first love. Rachel & Susan do not like to be beside the seaside. Hastings is so uncool. Plunging headfirst into the choppy waters of adolescence they are determined to survive their teens by sticking together. It's a rollercoaster ride of nutty parents randy language students stoned hippies all-night parties on the pier & an amusement arcade of emotional neediness. ...

Use your favourite photographs along with the tools tips & techniques included to design a scrapbook that is all about you. Included in this set are 10 sheets of paper over 30 stickers decorative scissors photo cropping stencil tiny treasure envelopes a journal pen glue stick & a FREE mini keychain scrapbook. ...

Do you wish you'd learnt to play the piano when you were younger or that you hadn't given up? Then this book is for you
- because
...

It's Not How Good You Are It's How Good You Want to Be" is a handbook of how to succeed in the world
- a pocket "bible" for the
...

'I loved Jon's book. It's even better than the real thing because you can't hear his voice.' Michael Mc Intyre A control freak looks for love (women who leave wet teaspoons in sugar bowls need not apply). 'I haven't woken up with a cup of tea by the bed for seven years. It seems such a small thing but it's one of a thousand things I miss about having someone around to take care of me. I have spent my entire adult life getting things the way I want them & all I want now is someone to give it all up for.' Is your filing faultless? Your CDs apostrophes cutlery all in the right places? Can you eat a biscuit in the correct way? Then Jon Richardson (single for seven years & counting) could be your ideal man... Living alone in a one bedroom flat in Swindon Jon has had far too much time on his hands to think. In fact to obsess. About almost everything. Jon's obssessive compulsive personality disorder has seen him arrange the coins in his pockets in ascending size & colour code his bookshelves. It takes him less than 90 seconds to locate a receipt for a pair of shoes he bought in 1997. Over to the filing cabinet & R for receipts S for shoes. But Jon doesn't want to be like this in fact he would quite like to share his life with someone. But who could that someone be? Someone like himself a quarrelsome perfectionist only with breasts & less body hair? Absolutely not. But who exactly is Jon looking for & where will he find her? Faced with a loveless future filled with his own peculiar quirks & perfectionism Jon sets about his search for The One. The question is will he mind her keeping the knives to the left of the forks in the cutlery drawer or organising the CDs by genre & not alphabetically? ...

Black holes. DNA. The Large Hadron Collider. Ever had that sneaking feeling that you are missing out on some truly spectacular science? You do? Well fear not for help is at h&. Ben Miller was working on his Physics Ph D at Cambridge when he accidentally became a comedian. But first love runs deep & he has returned to his roots to share with you all his favourite bits of science. This is the stuff that you really need to know not only because it matters but because it will quite simply amaze & delight you. ' Let me show you another perhaps less familiar side of Science; her beauty her seductiveness & her passion. & let's do it quickly while Maths isn't looking' Ben Miller ...