"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Franklin D Roosevelt (32nd President of the United States, 1933-1945) in his First Inaugural Address
A sad realisation is slowly dawning upon myself as I spend another day unemployed.
I worry my journalism dream might be over before it's even begun unless I gain some much-needed confidence.
It is now over six weeks since I finished the NCTJ course at Darlington College and yet I am no nearer to breaking into the industry.
In that time, there have only been four advertisements for trainee reporters on the HoldTheFrontPage website - at the Southend Echo, the Berwickshire News, the Brighton Argus and the Exmouth Journal.
This is despite the fact I passed all of the preliminary exams and invested a lot of my time to ensure I did so first time. I got my 100 words per minute shorthand and enjoyed my work experience at the Whitley Bay News Guardian and News Post Leader.
But the one thing that is evidently holding me back is the fact I can't drive.
In a way, it is no surprise I was rejected even without interview when three of the four advertisements stipulated that a full licence was required.
And while passing my driving test won't guarantee me a job, of course, it will give editors one less reason to toss my application in the bin.
I've held a provisional licence since 2006 when I stalled my way through six hours of ill-fated tuition before giving up, having not even managed the basics.
But on March 13 this year, after a week of studying, I passed the DSA Theory Test. Since then, however, I have not taken any practical lessons and it will not surprise anybody that I feel no more capable of driving a car now than I did a month ago.
I have planned to complete an intensive course, partly because I need a full licence on my CV asap but also just to get it out the way.
But a major reason I have yet to do this is because of fear.
Not nerves, but real pit-of-the-stomach fear that I might cause an accident or that the lessons will move to fast - or I will spend a significant outlay and still barely manage the basics.
I guess this intrepid reporter is not so intrepid after all.
Next week, I will receive an inheritance from my Nanna following the sale of her flat. The money should be enough to cover the cost of an intensive course, although it is not clear whether it will also extend to getting insured on my sister's car as I would appreciate a starter lesson from her first.
I suppose it's down to me to Just Do It, to borrow a phrase from Nike, but standing in my way remains this barely-logical, sickening feeling of fear.
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
The drive to succeed?
The Weekend in Review
A review of the sporting weekend...
Formula 1
The return of F1 was well worth the wait as Brawn GP made a dream start with a one-two in their opening race.
Jenson Button rammed this correspondent's words down his throat by living up to the tag of favourite by leading from start to finish, but this was far from a boring procession.
While Button got off to a flier, team mate Rubens Barrichello was slow off the start and got involved in the usual first-corner mayhem at Albert Park which took out Heikki Kovalainen and ruined Mark Webber's home race.
Instead it was left to Sebastien Vettel in the Red Bull to carry the fight to Button but the main hindrance to the man from Frome was the appearance of the safety car on lap 19 which wiped out his lead.
Nevertheless, Button built it up again but Vettel looked good value for second place until a late crash with BMW's Robert Kubica which was followed shortly after by them both spinning out, promoting Barrichello back to 2nd.
World champion Lewis Hamilton confounded expectations and was classified as third after Jarno Trulli was handed a 25-second penalty for passing Hamilton under yellow flags.
He had started in 18th on the grid in his under-performing McLaren but had managed to find his way to 12th after the first lap before avoiding the carnage in the rest of the race.
Timo Glock finished fourth in another impressive race for the German and Fernando Alonso got his wish for a top-eight finish by coming in fifth.
Nico Rosberg's sixth-place finish would have surely been higher, had he not been let down by his pit team on lap 15. Debutant Sebastien Buemi and Torro Rosso teammate Sebastien Bourdais finished 7th and 8th in the final point-scoring positions.
It was an engrossing spectacle and the Beeb did a good job in its first coverage of F1 since 1996, a particular highlight being Richard Branson calling himself "a lucky bastard" live on air after seeing his investment pay immediate dividends.
Football
Mixed fortunes for the home countries with wins for England and Northern Ireland but losses for Scotland and Wales.
While Scotland's 3-0 loss in Amsterdam was to be expected - and was indeed a significant improvement on their last showing in the Dutch capital when they lost 6-0 - it leaves their qualification hopes resting on them beating Iceland on Wednesday and picking up enough points in their remaining matches to finish as one of the top eight second-placed teams.
At least Scotland have qualification in their own hands. Wales' meek defeat at home against Finland in front of a pitiful 22,600 has left their World Cup dreams in tatters already, although it was never a likely proposition considering they face Germany and Russia in their group.
But the only way Wales, who face the Germans next, will get easier draws is by improving their qualifying performance and home losses to Finland completely undermine any other efforts.
The Welsh could learn a lot from Northern Ireland who have had excellent home form in recent qualification campaigns and continued this with a fine 3-2 result at Windsor Park against Poland, for whom Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boric had a nightmare.
The result lifted the Irish to the top of their group although this is a somewhat misleading position considering they have played more matches than any of their rivals, including two games against group minnows San Marino.
The Republic of Ireland took the lead within a minute against Bulgaria through Richard Dunne but threatened rarely after the goal and will be happy that the draw keeps them seven points clear of their opponents.
The chase is not over yet, however. Bulgaria have a game in hand and the Irish must play Italy twice and Cyprus away where they have previously had problems before the campaign is over.
England could just about finish off their campaign on Wednesday if they beat Ukraine and they warmed up in convincing style with a fine 4-0 win over Slovakia with the two goals from Wayne Rooney particularly delightful.
The England forwards, however, failed to heed my warning about 'skating around Slovakian challenges' as Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch all limped off, although Crouch should be fit.
Cricket
England and West Indies traded victories over the weekend with the Windies the first to strike on Friday after another England batting collapse.
England were bowled out for 117 in the 42nd over, which the Windies had no problems chasing down.
Indeed, captain Chris Gayle looked set to record the fastest ODI century but his stunning attacking display was brought to an end on 80 when he was bowled by James Anderson.
The embarrassing loss for England came in the wake of comments by Kevin Pietersen in the Mail on Sunday, expressing his desire to go home.
And so it is to Andrew Strauss' great credit as England captain that he replied to Gayle's onslaught with one of his own in the next match.
Although it was less extravagant than Gayle's effort, Strauss hit an unbeaten 79 to level the series at 2-2 as England comfortably chased down a readjusted target of 136 from 20 overs.
The series decider on Friday in St Lucia will determine if England have anything at all to take from this hitherto fruitless winter.
Other sports
In ice hockey, the Elite League playoffs mainly went to form with Sheffield Steelers emerging victorious against Edinburgh Caps in a high-scoring tie (12-7 on aggregate: 8-2, 4-5) but one which was won in the first match.
Nottingham Panthers also did most of the damage in their home first leg against Manchester Phoenix, winning 9-5 on aggregate (6-3, 3-2).
And although Newcastle Vipers held Coventry Blaze to a 2-2 tie in the first leg, the Blaze were too difficult to overcome and won 6-4 on aggregate.
Cardiff Devils beat Belfast Giants in the most competitive of the ties, winning 6-5 on aggregate. The Devils beat the Giants 2-1 away before a 4-4 tie after OT in the return.
Thus, the semi finalists are Sheffield, Nottingham, Coventry and Cardiff.
Great Britain finished a disappointing third in the medal table at the World Track Championships behind Australia and France.
They managed just two golds from the efforts of Victoria Pendleton and the women's team pursuit trio of Wendy Houvenaghel, Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead.
But the absence of Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Rebecca Romero must also be factored as a genuine reason why Britain did not perform better.
In non-league football, Gateshead stayed top of the Blue Square North on goal difference with a smashing 5-0 win over Hinckley United, the best home win of the season. Lee Novak got two of the goals and an assist.
And Whitley Bay will take a 2-1 lead to Lowestoft after the first leg of their FA Vase semi final.
Finally, Oxford beat Cambridge by a comfortable three-and-a-half lengths on the Thames in the 155th staging of the Boat Race.
The victory was Oxford's fourth win in the last five years, although Cambridge still lead the series 79-75, with one dead-heat.
Formula 1
The return of F1 was well worth the wait as Brawn GP made a dream start with a one-two in their opening race.
Jenson Button rammed this correspondent's words down his throat by living up to the tag of favourite by leading from start to finish, but this was far from a boring procession.
While Button got off to a flier, team mate Rubens Barrichello was slow off the start and got involved in the usual first-corner mayhem at Albert Park which took out Heikki Kovalainen and ruined Mark Webber's home race.
Instead it was left to Sebastien Vettel in the Red Bull to carry the fight to Button but the main hindrance to the man from Frome was the appearance of the safety car on lap 19 which wiped out his lead.
Nevertheless, Button built it up again but Vettel looked good value for second place until a late crash with BMW's Robert Kubica which was followed shortly after by them both spinning out, promoting Barrichello back to 2nd.
World champion Lewis Hamilton confounded expectations and was classified as third after Jarno Trulli was handed a 25-second penalty for passing Hamilton under yellow flags.
He had started in 18th on the grid in his under-performing McLaren but had managed to find his way to 12th after the first lap before avoiding the carnage in the rest of the race.
Timo Glock finished fourth in another impressive race for the German and Fernando Alonso got his wish for a top-eight finish by coming in fifth.
Nico Rosberg's sixth-place finish would have surely been higher, had he not been let down by his pit team on lap 15. Debutant Sebastien Buemi and Torro Rosso teammate Sebastien Bourdais finished 7th and 8th in the final point-scoring positions.
It was an engrossing spectacle and the Beeb did a good job in its first coverage of F1 since 1996, a particular highlight being Richard Branson calling himself "a lucky bastard" live on air after seeing his investment pay immediate dividends.
Football
Mixed fortunes for the home countries with wins for England and Northern Ireland but losses for Scotland and Wales.
While Scotland's 3-0 loss in Amsterdam was to be expected - and was indeed a significant improvement on their last showing in the Dutch capital when they lost 6-0 - it leaves their qualification hopes resting on them beating Iceland on Wednesday and picking up enough points in their remaining matches to finish as one of the top eight second-placed teams.
At least Scotland have qualification in their own hands. Wales' meek defeat at home against Finland in front of a pitiful 22,600 has left their World Cup dreams in tatters already, although it was never a likely proposition considering they face Germany and Russia in their group.
But the only way Wales, who face the Germans next, will get easier draws is by improving their qualifying performance and home losses to Finland completely undermine any other efforts.
The Welsh could learn a lot from Northern Ireland who have had excellent home form in recent qualification campaigns and continued this with a fine 3-2 result at Windsor Park against Poland, for whom Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boric had a nightmare.
The result lifted the Irish to the top of their group although this is a somewhat misleading position considering they have played more matches than any of their rivals, including two games against group minnows San Marino.
The Republic of Ireland took the lead within a minute against Bulgaria through Richard Dunne but threatened rarely after the goal and will be happy that the draw keeps them seven points clear of their opponents.
The chase is not over yet, however. Bulgaria have a game in hand and the Irish must play Italy twice and Cyprus away where they have previously had problems before the campaign is over.
England could just about finish off their campaign on Wednesday if they beat Ukraine and they warmed up in convincing style with a fine 4-0 win over Slovakia with the two goals from Wayne Rooney particularly delightful.
The England forwards, however, failed to heed my warning about 'skating around Slovakian challenges' as Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch all limped off, although Crouch should be fit.
Cricket
England and West Indies traded victories over the weekend with the Windies the first to strike on Friday after another England batting collapse.
England were bowled out for 117 in the 42nd over, which the Windies had no problems chasing down.
Indeed, captain Chris Gayle looked set to record the fastest ODI century but his stunning attacking display was brought to an end on 80 when he was bowled by James Anderson.
The embarrassing loss for England came in the wake of comments by Kevin Pietersen in the Mail on Sunday, expressing his desire to go home.
And so it is to Andrew Strauss' great credit as England captain that he replied to Gayle's onslaught with one of his own in the next match.
Although it was less extravagant than Gayle's effort, Strauss hit an unbeaten 79 to level the series at 2-2 as England comfortably chased down a readjusted target of 136 from 20 overs.
The series decider on Friday in St Lucia will determine if England have anything at all to take from this hitherto fruitless winter.
Other sports
In ice hockey, the Elite League playoffs mainly went to form with Sheffield Steelers emerging victorious against Edinburgh Caps in a high-scoring tie (12-7 on aggregate: 8-2, 4-5) but one which was won in the first match.
Nottingham Panthers also did most of the damage in their home first leg against Manchester Phoenix, winning 9-5 on aggregate (6-3, 3-2).
And although Newcastle Vipers held Coventry Blaze to a 2-2 tie in the first leg, the Blaze were too difficult to overcome and won 6-4 on aggregate.
Cardiff Devils beat Belfast Giants in the most competitive of the ties, winning 6-5 on aggregate. The Devils beat the Giants 2-1 away before a 4-4 tie after OT in the return.
Thus, the semi finalists are Sheffield, Nottingham, Coventry and Cardiff.
Great Britain finished a disappointing third in the medal table at the World Track Championships behind Australia and France.
They managed just two golds from the efforts of Victoria Pendleton and the women's team pursuit trio of Wendy Houvenaghel, Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead.
But the absence of Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Rebecca Romero must also be factored as a genuine reason why Britain did not perform better.
In non-league football, Gateshead stayed top of the Blue Square North on goal difference with a smashing 5-0 win over Hinckley United, the best home win of the season. Lee Novak got two of the goals and an assist.
And Whitley Bay will take a 2-1 lead to Lowestoft after the first leg of their FA Vase semi final.
Finally, Oxford beat Cambridge by a comfortable three-and-a-half lengths on the Thames in the 155th staging of the Boat Race.
The victory was Oxford's fourth win in the last five years, although Cambridge still lead the series 79-75, with one dead-heat.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Sport Preview, 27-29 March
There is a busy weekend of sport ahead including the return of F1, potentially decisive football World Cup qualifiers and more cricket in the West Indies.
Formula One
It's back - and it's back on the BBC so there should be no chance that we miss a vital overtaking manoeuvre as Lewis Hamilton starts the defence of his title at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Hamilton has played down his chances this weekend and suggested McLaren are not quite ready for the season.
And he's probably right to do so, considering his practice times overnight which saw him finish 16th and 18th.
The Williams - and Nico Rosberg in particular - made an impressive start to the weekend, topping both practice sessions.
And Brawn GP, headed by ex-Honda boss Ross Brawn, have lived up to the promise they showed in testing 4th and 6th in the first practice, and 2nd and 5th in the second session. Rubens Barrichello beat Jenson Button for pace both times.
Nevertheless, Button remains 4/1 fav with most bookmakers to add to his single career GP victory this weekend. Make of that what you will...
I'm just looking forward to hearing The Chain by Fleetwood Mac again.
Football - World Cup qualifiers
A big weekend of World Cup action for four of the British Isles' teams.
Scotland face Holland in Amsterdam amid an injury crisis following the withdrawals of David Weir, Kirk Broadfoot, Kris Commons, Paul Hartley and the latest victim, Celtic captain Stephen McManus.
The last time the two teams met in Holland, the Dutch prevailed 6-0 and overturned a 1-0 deficit in the playoffs for Euro 2008 qualification.
Scotland are a better team now and should avoid a similarly crushing blow despite their injury problems while looking to pick up maximum points at home v Iceland on Wednesday to strengthen their hold on second place.
Wales simply must beat Finland at home to maintain any hopes of progressing from a tough-looking Group 4.
The Welsh follow this up with a second match at the Millennium Stadium against Germany who are already four points clear of the chasing pack (although Russia have a game in hand).
The group draw was hardly kind to Wales who have produced a batch of talented youngsters and you feel the best they can do is finish behind the powerhouses of Germany and Russia then hope for better next time.
Like Wales, Northern Ireland play two home matches in the World Cup double-header and must make it count at Windsor Park - otherwise opponents Poland and Slovenia will race off over the horizon, not to mention the Czechs and the Slovaks.
The Republic have put themselves in a decent position in second but level on points with leaders Italy in Group 8.
They face a similarly vital weekend and would further strengthen a top-two position by beating Bulgaria (minus Dimitar Berbatov) on Saturday before a tough test in Bari against Italy.
Meanwhile, England's players will skate around Slovakian challenges on Saturday in the hope of avoiding injury before the somewhat more important match in a qualifier v Ukraine, their closest Group 6 rivals at Wembley on Wednesday.
Beating Ukraine would put England in a wonderfully strong position, five points clear of Croatia - assuming they deal with the arduous task of beating Andorra - and eight points clear of Ukraine.
In local north east football, Whitley Bay will hope to take a big step to a second successive Wembley appearance in the first leg of their FA Vase semi final against Lowestoft Town at Hillheads on Saturday at 3pm.
And Gateshead will hope to stay top of the Blue Square North by beating Hinckley on Saturday at the International Stadium at 3pm.
Cricket - one-day internationals
With the series tied at 1-1, England will play two decisive matches in Barbados on Friday and Sunday against the West Indies.
England had failed to win a match all winter until being gifted victory by the Windies coach in the first one-day international when he failed to understand the Duckworth-Lewis tables (although, having said that, who does?)
But the Windies continued to show the determination on display through the Test series to level at 1-1, winning by 21 runs after a century by Shiv Chanderpaul.
England will want to win more legitimately while the Windies will want to put themselves within reach of a Test-ODI double.
As I type, it's not started at all well for England who are 47-5 after 16 overs following the loss of Strauss, Bopara, Pietersen, Shah and Flintoff all caught.
Other sports
In Ice Hockey, it's playoff time in the Elite League with the following match-ups played over two legs this weekend:
Sheffield v Edinburgh (first leg in Sheffield on Fri, second leg in Edinburgh on Sun)
Belfast v Cardiff (first leg in Belfast on Sat, second leg in Cardiff on Sun)
Coventry v Newcastle (first leg in Coventry on Sat, second leg in Newcastle on Sun)
Nottingham v Manchester (first leg in Nottingham on Sat, second leg in Manchester on Sun)
So, by the end of the weekend, we will be aware of the combatants on finals weekend (4th/5th April) at the National Ice Arena in Nottingham.
And GB's cycling team continue their pursuit of gold in the World Track Championships in Pruskow, Poland.
Formula One
It's back - and it's back on the BBC so there should be no chance that we miss a vital overtaking manoeuvre as Lewis Hamilton starts the defence of his title at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Hamilton has played down his chances this weekend and suggested McLaren are not quite ready for the season.
And he's probably right to do so, considering his practice times overnight which saw him finish 16th and 18th.
The Williams - and Nico Rosberg in particular - made an impressive start to the weekend, topping both practice sessions.
And Brawn GP, headed by ex-Honda boss Ross Brawn, have lived up to the promise they showed in testing 4th and 6th in the first practice, and 2nd and 5th in the second session. Rubens Barrichello beat Jenson Button for pace both times.
Nevertheless, Button remains 4/1 fav with most bookmakers to add to his single career GP victory this weekend. Make of that what you will...
I'm just looking forward to hearing The Chain by Fleetwood Mac again.
Football - World Cup qualifiers
A big weekend of World Cup action for four of the British Isles' teams.
Scotland face Holland in Amsterdam amid an injury crisis following the withdrawals of David Weir, Kirk Broadfoot, Kris Commons, Paul Hartley and the latest victim, Celtic captain Stephen McManus.
The last time the two teams met in Holland, the Dutch prevailed 6-0 and overturned a 1-0 deficit in the playoffs for Euro 2008 qualification.
Scotland are a better team now and should avoid a similarly crushing blow despite their injury problems while looking to pick up maximum points at home v Iceland on Wednesday to strengthen their hold on second place.
Wales simply must beat Finland at home to maintain any hopes of progressing from a tough-looking Group 4.
The Welsh follow this up with a second match at the Millennium Stadium against Germany who are already four points clear of the chasing pack (although Russia have a game in hand).
The group draw was hardly kind to Wales who have produced a batch of talented youngsters and you feel the best they can do is finish behind the powerhouses of Germany and Russia then hope for better next time.
Like Wales, Northern Ireland play two home matches in the World Cup double-header and must make it count at Windsor Park - otherwise opponents Poland and Slovenia will race off over the horizon, not to mention the Czechs and the Slovaks.
The Republic have put themselves in a decent position in second but level on points with leaders Italy in Group 8.
They face a similarly vital weekend and would further strengthen a top-two position by beating Bulgaria (minus Dimitar Berbatov) on Saturday before a tough test in Bari against Italy.
Meanwhile, England's players will skate around Slovakian challenges on Saturday in the hope of avoiding injury before the somewhat more important match in a qualifier v Ukraine, their closest Group 6 rivals at Wembley on Wednesday.
Beating Ukraine would put England in a wonderfully strong position, five points clear of Croatia - assuming they deal with the arduous task of beating Andorra - and eight points clear of Ukraine.
In local north east football, Whitley Bay will hope to take a big step to a second successive Wembley appearance in the first leg of their FA Vase semi final against Lowestoft Town at Hillheads on Saturday at 3pm.
And Gateshead will hope to stay top of the Blue Square North by beating Hinckley on Saturday at the International Stadium at 3pm.
Cricket - one-day internationals
With the series tied at 1-1, England will play two decisive matches in Barbados on Friday and Sunday against the West Indies.
England had failed to win a match all winter until being gifted victory by the Windies coach in the first one-day international when he failed to understand the Duckworth-Lewis tables (although, having said that, who does?)
But the Windies continued to show the determination on display through the Test series to level at 1-1, winning by 21 runs after a century by Shiv Chanderpaul.
England will want to win more legitimately while the Windies will want to put themselves within reach of a Test-ODI double.
As I type, it's not started at all well for England who are 47-5 after 16 overs following the loss of Strauss, Bopara, Pietersen, Shah and Flintoff all caught.
Other sports
In Ice Hockey, it's playoff time in the Elite League with the following match-ups played over two legs this weekend:
Sheffield v Edinburgh (first leg in Sheffield on Fri, second leg in Edinburgh on Sun)
Belfast v Cardiff (first leg in Belfast on Sat, second leg in Cardiff on Sun)
Coventry v Newcastle (first leg in Coventry on Sat, second leg in Newcastle on Sun)
Nottingham v Manchester (first leg in Nottingham on Sat, second leg in Manchester on Sun)
So, by the end of the weekend, we will be aware of the combatants on finals weekend (4th/5th April) at the National Ice Arena in Nottingham.
And GB's cycling team continue their pursuit of gold in the World Track Championships in Pruskow, Poland.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
The Apprentice - series 5, ep 1: Empire cleans up
A typically explosive start to the new series of the Apprentice ended with the boys' team Empire coming out on top and Anita as the first candidate fired.
Empire beat the girls' team, Ignite, by making a profit of £239, despite a smaller turnover.
It was an altogether unexpected victory for the boys who started a man down after one candidate, Adam, inexplicably withdrew from the competition before it had even started.
Sir Alan asked his teams to set up any type of cleaning company and both teams set up a car cleaning company with the boys also setting up a shoe-shine service. Mona (Ignite) and Howard (Empire) volunteered for the role as team leaders.
Even as they returned to the boardroom, the boys seemed unsure if they had got their tactics right.
Some of them were still arguing that the shoe-shine business was more profitable even though they abandoned it halfway through having spent ages cleaning just their first car.
Margaret Mountford said: “Never in the history of car washing have so few cars been cleaned by so many people.”
It did not matter, though, as the girls spectacularly failed to adhere to simple business rules despite starting late.
They only made a profit of £160.55 despite making £10 more than the boys after spending almost the entire £200 budget on costs.
Sir Alan said: “It’s a classic business message. They just simply overspent.”
The boys celebrated their somewhat fortunate victory in boisterous fashion at their cocktail-making (and drinking) session.
But the unexpected loss for the girls meant they completely fell apart in their inquest that followed and it was even more confusing when team leader Mona argued the toss with Anita and
Deborah who she had brought back to the boardroom with her.
Ultimately, though, the error was laid at the door of Anita who held the calculator as their budget was splurged.
Sir Alan said: "You showed no initiative in spotting that you were heading for disaster. And on that basis, you're fired."
Anita, in her fairness, said: "I'm bitterly disappointed but I accept that I was not particularly stellar."
It’s good to have The Apprentice back on our screens and reassuring to find that the programme-makers have not changed its successful format in what is now its fifth series.
With so many talking heads, it was difficult to see who might make the biggest impression. But, as Adrian Chiles pointed out on sister show The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Deborah stood out as the possible ice-maiden of the series as long as she continues to be reprieved.
Empire beat the girls' team, Ignite, by making a profit of £239, despite a smaller turnover.
It was an altogether unexpected victory for the boys who started a man down after one candidate, Adam, inexplicably withdrew from the competition before it had even started.
Sir Alan asked his teams to set up any type of cleaning company and both teams set up a car cleaning company with the boys also setting up a shoe-shine service. Mona (Ignite) and Howard (Empire) volunteered for the role as team leaders.
Even as they returned to the boardroom, the boys seemed unsure if they had got their tactics right.
Some of them were still arguing that the shoe-shine business was more profitable even though they abandoned it halfway through having spent ages cleaning just their first car.
Margaret Mountford said: “Never in the history of car washing have so few cars been cleaned by so many people.”
It did not matter, though, as the girls spectacularly failed to adhere to simple business rules despite starting late.
They only made a profit of £160.55 despite making £10 more than the boys after spending almost the entire £200 budget on costs.
Sir Alan said: “It’s a classic business message. They just simply overspent.”
The boys celebrated their somewhat fortunate victory in boisterous fashion at their cocktail-making (and drinking) session.
But the unexpected loss for the girls meant they completely fell apart in their inquest that followed and it was even more confusing when team leader Mona argued the toss with Anita and
Deborah who she had brought back to the boardroom with her.
Ultimately, though, the error was laid at the door of Anita who held the calculator as their budget was splurged.
Sir Alan said: "You showed no initiative in spotting that you were heading for disaster. And on that basis, you're fired."
Anita, in her fairness, said: "I'm bitterly disappointed but I accept that I was not particularly stellar."
It’s good to have The Apprentice back on our screens and reassuring to find that the programme-makers have not changed its successful format in what is now its fifth series.
With so many talking heads, it was difficult to see who might make the biggest impression. But, as Adrian Chiles pointed out on sister show The Apprentice: You’re Fired, Deborah stood out as the possible ice-maiden of the series as long as she continues to be reprieved.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Wise Words?
"Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice;
journalism what will be read once."Cyril Connolly (1903-1974), English intellectual and writer, on the importance of clarity in writing as a journalist in that if your intro, in particular, needs to be read more than once to be understood, it's probably too long and certainly isn't good enough.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Welcome
Welcome to The Intrepid Reporter, a blog mainly about British journalism.
First, a little bit about me (though I will spare you the finer details)... in February 2009, I completed the NCTJ preliminary certificate, the industry-recognised qualification in journalism, at Darlington College. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a job as a trainee reporter within the industry, despite having passed all of the exams and built a decent portfolio through work experience.
This is not a major surprise considering the current state of the industry - more on that in the coming days - and so this blog can be considered as a way of me letting off steam by allowing my fingers on a computer keyboard.
While I do not think you can ever predict exactly how a blog will turn out right from its inception, I expect that most posts will relate to my views of the media coverage of current affairs and major sporting events.
(At this stage, I feel it is only responsible to warn you that I am a Newcastle United supporter and predict that I will be majorly depressed in May).
But to keep myself cheery, I also plan to include smaller features such as famous quotations about journalism and haikus, just because they’re fun.
And if it is pertinent, I will update you on how my own attempts to break into the industry have fared. If I am feeling generous, I may even pass on tips to current candidates sitting the NCTJ exams.
Feel free to comment and disagree with any of my posts or to ask for advice regarding the NCTJ, but please refrain from racist, sexist or homophobic language and beware of the libel laws.
Enjoy the blog!
First, a little bit about me (though I will spare you the finer details)... in February 2009, I completed the NCTJ preliminary certificate, the industry-recognised qualification in journalism, at Darlington College. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a job as a trainee reporter within the industry, despite having passed all of the exams and built a decent portfolio through work experience.
This is not a major surprise considering the current state of the industry - more on that in the coming days - and so this blog can be considered as a way of me letting off steam by allowing my fingers on a computer keyboard.
While I do not think you can ever predict exactly how a blog will turn out right from its inception, I expect that most posts will relate to my views of the media coverage of current affairs and major sporting events.
(At this stage, I feel it is only responsible to warn you that I am a Newcastle United supporter and predict that I will be majorly depressed in May).
But to keep myself cheery, I also plan to include smaller features such as famous quotations about journalism and haikus, just because they’re fun.
And if it is pertinent, I will update you on how my own attempts to break into the industry have fared. If I am feeling generous, I may even pass on tips to current candidates sitting the NCTJ exams.
Feel free to comment and disagree with any of my posts or to ask for advice regarding the NCTJ, but please refrain from racist, sexist or homophobic language and beware of the libel laws.
Enjoy the blog!
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