Another weekend down, and the Mags managed to scrape past Swansea on Saturday.

Back working at the club after my American adventures, trying to minimise some of the damage to my battered credit card.

The truth about nightclubs is that the flattering light (or dark) makes even the worst of complexions look okay. As soon as I step into the glare of the dressing room my own skin certainly doesn't look as glossy as it does 'out there'. But it's nothing compared to the full-blown case of acne one poor girl is sporting, partially covered under layers of make up.

If you are new to birding then one of the best ways of getting to know more and meeting other like minded people is joining one of the local bird clubs here in the North East. The region is very well served in this area with four superb clubs covering the from Teeside to the Scottish Border. All of the clubs have regular indoor meetings during the winter months and field trips to destinations near and far. Three of the four publish regular bulletins and annual reports and all have websites with degrees of interactivity ranging from sightings pages, member forums and photographs.
Teesmouth Bird Club is a thriving club which is very active in conservation work in Cleveland and produces the Cleveland Bird Report annually. It has 'exclusive' members access to a number of good bird sites on Teeside. The Durham Bird Club has just opened a luxurious new hide at Castle Lake, Bishop Middleham and also occupies the much used 'observatory' at Whitburn, mainly used to watch seabirds.
Further north the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club covers the area north of the Tyne including the whole county of Northumberland in it's annual publication Birds in Northumbria. The North Northumberland Bird Club may be the smallest of the four in terms of membership but they celebrate their 25th anniversary this year and are still going strong. Each of the clubs have websites, you can reach by clicking on their name in this post, providing full details of how to join and their activities. If your a birder and not already a member check them out as they are all great places to share sightings and meet new friends as well as engaging in some serious birding.

HAVING made my modelling debut at the Stadium of Light last year, it was good to be invited back for the SAFC Foundation's second annual fashion show.

Just like last year I really enjoyed it and it was good to catch up with some of the players from last year and meet the new players Steve Bruce bought in the summer.

I've been a Sunderland fan all my life but it's at events like this week's, when you get to see the players away from the pitch, that you get to see a different side to the team. You could tell the club is definitely moving in the right direction.

I was lucky enough to hear Armando Iannucci - creator of The Thick of It - earlier this week.

He joked about an episode that featured a minister about to make an announcement, only to phoned up by the Treasury and told not to because there was no money. Sound familiar?

Next the minister had make up something in the back of the car on the way to make the announcement. Mr Iannucci revealed that former Cabinet Minister James Purnell later said he was that minister in that car!

Well, if you want back of the fag packet policies - you should try Gordon Brown's free home care scheme for those in "highest need".

The Alternative Christmas Gift Fair will be held at Holy Trinity Church in Jesmond, between 10am and 2pm this Saturday (28th November)

There will fairly and ethically traded goods, Christmas cards and plenty of present ideas, so it's a great place to do you Christmas shopping.
Admission is free and stall holders include Oxfam, PeopleTree, Traidcraft, the Ethicalsuperstore.com and many more.

A curious story emerged today. the Bank of England lent Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS £61.6bn in a "dire emergency" at the height of the financial crisis.

But Bank Governor Mervyn King said that was impossible in the Rock's case despite that potentially having avoided the run on the bank.

Here's what he said in September 2007 to MPs, blaming it on the EU's MAD directive - I kid you not.

Been said many times this season, but another hard fought win. Hard fought but welcome. The result puts us two points clear of West Brom and six clear of third.

Whizzing down the slides at Disney's Blizzard Beach was ridiculously good fun. After a day of landing headfirst in splash pools, my Bourjois waterproof mascara had, admirably, smudged only a tiny bit. My sister's Latisse-fed magical lashes, however, still looked as luscious as ever- as did her beautifully groomed, perfectly arched eyebrows.

'Semi-permanent make up' she said with a wave, pointing out that her lip-line had been done too.

(The lip-line can look a bit dodgy, truth be told, once the lipstick has faded, leaving a rather harsh, unblended outline behind- a la those Las Vegas porn stars. )

I WAS able to get back into sparring after my injury yesterday, thanks to my friend Pete Friar.

For those of you who don't know, Pete is the physio at Sunderland Football Club and just one of the many people at the Stadium of Light who have really supported me since I turned professional as a boxer.

Pete's been to three of my four pro fights cheering me on but just recently his support has been more hands-on.