Why buy mince pies in October?

M&S mince pies

Outrage in The Daily Mail today, as M&S have been ‘exposed’ for selling mince pies that have a best-by date of November.

Now on the face of it, this is a perfectly valid story. If you’re buying an obviously Christmas-themed product, you’d expect it to last till the festive season, wouldn’t you?

But then I stopped to think. I know we’re in credit crunch (god, am I fed up with those two words) time and people like to start buying things early, but why would you buy mince pies now – in October – to use on Christmas Day?

I can understand buying crackers or stocking presents. But mince pies?

When I make a batch of mince pies at home, they’re lucky if they last 2 days before starting to be past their best, not 2 months!

What must manufacturers be putting in these pies that allows them to last so long? And more to the point, what are people thinking that makes them decide to buy mince pies in October and expect them to be OK to eat in December.

Let’s face it, it’s the Daily Mail’s fault!

Why is Ricky Gervais dyeing his hair?

Ricky Gervais on Jonathan Ross

Ricky Gervais appeared on Jonathan Ross last Friday continuing his usual chummy banter with the host and was actually very entertaining.

The thing I noticed while we watching, though, is that he’s dyed his hair a really unfortunate shade of black. It’s that black that everyone notices, not the one that people ignore because they assume it’s your natural colour.

The thing is, I don’t understand why. Ricky’s into his 40s, he’s successful because he’s funny, not for his looks. Why does he feel the need to cover up the grey?

I’m 36 and just starting to notice the first grey hairs creeping in. There’s no way I’m going to bother digging out the Grecian 2000 – going grey can often end up looking sophisticated.

And anyway, it’s going bald that you really have to worry about – maybe that’s what Ricky’s really trying to hide!

Bloody DFS!

SofaI know that Christmas is getting closer and that shops have started advertising all their fantastic offers. That’s par for the course.

What I don’t want just yet is any Christmas music. Look at the weather, for god’s sake. It’s sunny and 15°, not snowing and -5°.

So why on earth are DFS playing Mariah ‘bloody’ Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You on their current advert? Like that makes me want to go out and buy a new sofa!

Yes, I know if you order now, you can get it in time for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear a fruit-loop superdiva trilling away on my radio when I’m in the shower in the morning.

Next thing we know British Gas will be plugging their boiler service using Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

Just to round off this slightly bah humbug post (even though I’m not really that way inclined), enjoy Weird Al Yankovic!