We gathered in the early evening - a queue to enter the Assembly Rooms in Warminster; about 30 folks when we arrived, swelling to around a hundred by the time 8 O'clock arrived and Weightwatchers moved out. A friendly lady walked along the line, checking with each of the ladies to ensure that she wasn't pregnant - something to do with the sheep in lambing season but I didn't catch whether the risk was to sheep and lambs or to the ladies. I didn't see anyone leave; I'm thinking that none of the folks in this queue was expecting ... and I think they have read and taken to heart the no smoking, no cameras and no mobile phones rules for later in the evening as they were using them (and abusing their bodies) with gay abandon at that point.
We were attending the live start of the reality show "The Farm", an event being run at a farm just south of Warminster on the old road up to the Imber Ranges. Bussed out from Warminster, our convoy turned left off the main road up the single track lane to towards the back of beyond where a fairy-tale floodlit cottage appeared as if by magic - totally out of place; we watched for an hour, cheered and clapped when we were told ... and watched the 10 "celebs" as they arrived at the Farm, were interviewed and entered the house. Truth be known, though, I'm getting old. I know
Orville the Duck who came in second or third with his handler, Keith Harris ... but most of the others weren't known to me though they look a colourful bunch; a group designed to make interesting TV, I'm sure but I'm not sure how well this bunch of models, porn stars, actors and ventrilaquists will be able to milk a cow or even cook a slice of toast. No doubt we'll see over the coming weeks.
What does come through at these live TV shows is just what a well oiled machine is backing the whole thing up and how professional the back stage people and the presenters are. Fascinating to watch as they move around an reorganise during commercial breaks and film clips. There was something about the "stars" too; most of them also come across as professionals who are throwing a persona to the camera but yet you end up with a suspicion that "off set" they're more normal people doing a job. Perhaps the whole farm will be an act.
(written 2005-05-10, updated 2006-06-05)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z403 - Organisations [58] Call Centres, selling, and a pause for thought - (2004-09-22)
[472] Are you free on 29th October - Charity ball - (2005-10-21)
[981] Finalist reception - Wiltshire Business of the Year - (2006-12-13)
[1258] A day looking ahead for Well House Consultants - (2007-07-05)
[1278] West Wilts Show - (2007-07-26)
[1280] West Wilts - no longer Wet Wilts - show - (2007-07-28)
[2012] The Wiltshire Police - (2009-01-29)
[2015] Service Excellence Awards - (2009-01-30)
[2026] Melksham Climate Friendly Group - (2009-02-05)
[2128] Wiltshire - where everybody matters - (2009-04-13)
[2236] Alumni - revisiting and supporting the old University - (2009-06-13)
[2271] Dogs Trust, Dog Show, Newbury - (2009-07-06)
[2574] Summary of Wiltshire Core Strategy responses - (2010-01-13)
[2585] Consultation in Melksham, on Melkshams future - (2010-01-17)
[2807] Canal through Melksham - the options and issues - (2010-06-13)
[2869] Contact Information for Melksham Oak Community School - (2010-07-13)
[2902] Community consultation - a true open input - (2010-08-04)
[3317] Self Portrait (in words) - (2011-06-04)
[3484] A Melksham Timeline - Domesday to present day - (2011-10-17)
[3511] Melksham has a heart - have your picture taken and support the defibrillator appeal - (2011-11-06)
[3604] Melksham Campus - a blog you can read, and a place you can comment - (2012-02-08)
[3677] Some advise for guest speakers at meetings - (2012-03-31)
[3704] The Bowerhill Villager - a newsletter for Bowerhill, Melksham - (2012-04-22)
[3712] Some unpublished and historic pictures - Museum of Melksham - (2012-04-28)
[3774] Melksham - a new dawn - (2012-06-23)
[4020] Melksham Community - Annual Report / MCAP - (2013-02-26)
[4039] Seed Swap at Well House Manor - (2013-03-10)
[4548] Melksham - two small townships, or one big one? - (2015-10-22)
Z100 - Daily life [19] interesting products and subjects - (2004-08-19)
[20] Not two the same - (2004-08-20)
[26] Matching Cat - (2004-08-24)
[110] Friday, busy week! - (2004-11-05)
[149] Fish stocks - (2004-12-12)
[206] Fox and Python - (2005-02-08)
[228] Beard Justification - (2005-02-26)
[232] Diverse activities - (2005-03-01)
[238] Difficulties with a trolley - (2005-03-07)
[271] Different course every day - (2005-04-07)
[283] Natural or man-made? - (2005-04-18)
[330] An O level comes in handy - (2005-05-30)
[363] Greetings from Edinburgh - (2005-06-29)
[446] Up early - (2005-09-16)
[455] A Stengthening day - (2005-10-04)
[473] Looking different in town - (2005-10-22)
[474] Vintage Bus Day - (2005-10-23)
[516] Open source questions? Anyone can ask. - (2005-12-03)
[580] What to do with milk - (2006-01-28)
[584] Loosing breath with Gerald - (2006-01-31)
[605] Design your day with a walk - (2006-02-13)
[612] Coming or going? - (2006-02-18)
[613] Greetings from Dublin - (2006-02-20)
[623] Behind every face is a person and a story - (2006-02-25)
[635] Odd one out. - (2006-03-06)
[645] Lost Camel - (2006-03-14)
[654] Making use of disabled facilities - (2006-03-22)
[655] Can some food be TOO different? - (2006-03-23)
[692] Healthier eating - (2006-04-20)
[698] Catch up weekend - (2006-04-24)
[706] May day away - (2006-05-01)
[724] Helping mental health through diet, exercise and other lifestyle matters - (2006-05-18)
[752] Over zealous police activity? - (2006-06-09)
[777] On Crosby sands - (2006-06-25)
[817] Working on Weekend in Wiltshire and others - (2006-07-29)
[843] To join an organisation? - (2006-08-23)
[882] Rocks, hard places, trains and funerals. - (2006-09-30)
[897] Too much for the National Trust - (2006-10-18)
[908] And so to Inverness - (2006-10-29)
[911] Letter Home - (2006-11-01)
[921] French Exchange - (2006-11-11)
[978] Wellhouse Manor, Hotel, Melksham - (2006-12-10)
[992] Enthusiastic, but .... - (2006-12-16)
[1056] Another frantic posting! - (2007-01-30)
[1057] Selling by phone and Skype - our policy - (2007-01-30)
[1061] Take vehicles off the road - put all the passengers into one - (2007-02-01)
[1100] Wondering where I have been - (2007-03-06)
[1138] The Holiday - unlikely romantic comedy? - (2007-04-08)
[1151] Gordon Dodge, R.I.P. - (2007-04-16)
[1178] Ducking stool for Melksham? - (2007-05-06)
[1189] Meet, greet and welcome - (2007-05-16)
[1272] Behind closed doors? - (2007-07-22)
[1303] Heading Upstate New York - (2007-08-14)
[1429] Remembrance day - inside a church and inside the day - (2007-11-11)
[1643] A lack of technical content - (2008-05-16)
[1810] Middle aged subsidise young and old - (2008-09-26)
[1953] End of Training, 2008 - (2008-12-20)
[1979] Looking forward, in Melksham, in 2009 - (2009-01-05)
[2000] 2000th article - Remember the background and basics - (2009-01-18)
[2008] The Month Ahead - What is happening in Melksham - (2009-01-25)
[2024] Carry on Training - in spite of the weather - (2009-02-03)
[2027] Who sticks by you in the snow? - (2009-02-05)
[2030] The final step to being British - (2009-02-07)
[2034] Through Snow and Flood to Linux and Tomcat - (2009-02-10)
[2064] East of Melksham Countryside - (2009-03-02)
[2068] Playing Catchup - (2009-03-06)
[2090] Melksham to Georgia - (2009-03-19)
[2105] Hire Car, from Atlanta Airport - (2009-03-27)
[2106] Learning to Twitter / what is Twitter? - (2009-03-28)
[2118] Spring Sprung - (2009-04-05)
[2121] Out in the Vale of Pewsey - (2009-04-07)
[2141] Town Crier competiton - (2009-04-25)
[2159] A long day to guess where - (2009-05-06)
[2164] Updating my public profile - Graham Ellis - (2009-05-09)
[2217] Enjoying the summer weather - (2009-06-04)
[2264] Learning about others private lives - (2009-06-30)
[2371] Quiet summer days? I think not! - (2009-08-22)
[2401] Back Tomorrow - (2009-09-10)
[2450] Family Gathering at 404, The Spa - (2009-10-11)
[2580] C course inspires new teaching examples - (2010-01-16)
[2868] A move towards the family - (2010-07-12)
[3125] The family is defunct. Long live the family. - (2011-01-09)
[3316] Twitter Phishing Trips ... and a great new alert service - (2011-06-04)
[3319] Moving on - a task for the hotel staff! - (2011-06-08)
[3463] Busy weekend of contrasts. - (2011-10-03)
[3553] Changes to morning routines - (2011-12-16)
[3743] Sunday - no longer a day of rest - (2012-05-28)
[4222] Five lessons learned or re-learned on my travels - (2013-12-15)
Some other Articles
Growth painsJust in time - the talk is writWriting a Tcl/Tk GUI is as easy as baking a cakeCall by name v call by valueFarming yesterdayBristol Airport this morning, The Farm this evening.Within about an hourTraining courses in the C languageLambdas in PythonDining full circle