Hello, its Peter here and welcome to Tuesdays Levy Letter. Hope your days going well and you can join me on BBC One tonight at half past six for Look North. Paul may or may not be with us today, it depends if hes better or not, so wish him well. Either way, well have a weather forecast, and also on the programme tonight
Well be investigating the row over claims David Blunket authorised the use of machine guns against inmates in the Lincoln prison riots of 2002. Thatll be a contentious issue, and I bet youll have lots of views about that. Well be finding out why Bourne Cemetery has been named the Cemetery of the year! And I'll be speaking to acclaimed actress and ex Dynasty star Kate O'Mara. Do you remember her from Dynasty? Well shes still going strong and Im looking forward to that chat. And a new home is being sought for a replica of the Queen's Coronation Coach after it was discovered - for the second time - in a Lincolnshire cellar. Everyone thought it was lost, its amazing how these things happen. Well also have exclusive pictures of a police crackdown on underage drinking. Another one that Im sure will provoke a big response. And you can find out how school children have been taking part in a recreation of William Wilberforce's historic anti-slavery speech. So thats BBC One at half past six, join me a little bit later on. Children In Need This is my daily reminder of our Evening with Peter Levy which is coming up on November 12th. Were selling tickets to make money for Children in Need. Im going to have a load of special star guests and Id love you to be there. Tickets are £15 and £12.50 for concessions, and if youd like to ring the Hull Truck Theatre box office for tickets, do it as soon as possible because theyre going quickly! The number is 01482 323638. Countdown Several more emails on the subject of Countdown. Several people have told me that yesterday that Michael Aspel has turned down the offer to be the new Countdown presenter. He was offered the show outright. He said I was just offered the job but said no. He said It was nice to be asked, but the success of the show was Richard Whiteley with his loud ties and bad jokes, and it didnt need a laid back presenter like me. What about the other possible replacements for Des? Well Michael Aspel doesnt think Stephen Fry should do it, be he says maybe Martin Jarvis or Giles Brandreth. Who do you think should host countdown? Get in touch on that, and indeed anything else at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Restaurants Ever tried to impress someone in a posh restaurant, but then become hopelessly tongue-tied trying to order that foreign dish? Well if you struggle to order something on the menu, youre not alone apparently. Most Britons cant pronounce what is on their plate. Millions of self-styled gourmets leave waiters wincing with their excruciating pronunciations of exotic dishes from countries such as Italy, France, and Spain. Well, top of the list of culinary clangers, according to a study for the BBCs Good Food Magazine, is the Italian toasted bread dish Bruschetta. And apparently it should be pronounced BRU-SHETTA. I didnt think that one was particularly difficult, but it seems we struggle with pronunciations of foreign foods in restaurants. Overweight The latest swipe at people who are a little overweight is that they are not as clever as their slimmer counterparts. A study of nearly three thousand adults showed that the higher your body mass index a ratio of your weight and height the poorer your mental performance. Researchers believe that hormones secreted from fats could damage cerebral cells, or the excess fat could harm arteries in the brain in the same way as they do in the rest of the body. There we are, more bad news if youre a bit overweight, well, youre not as bright as the slimmer ones! House Prices This is a subject which weve done so much on recently, but each time it always gets a big response in emails, and thats rising house prices. Well now it seems that rising house prices, and the sharp increases in stamp duty are discouraging home owners from moving according to research. I touched on this last week. The huge expense involved is putting off potential buyers, and many are choosing to improve their current home rather than look for a new one. Those who can do out a loft or build an extension are doing so, because nobody wants to pay stamp duties, now charged at a record 3% on all homes over the price of £250,000 and 4% at over £500,000. And so many homes are now over £250,000 that stamp duty affects almost everyone. Smacking A third of all parents smack their children, a survey has shown. Theyre increasingly turning to traditional types of discipline, as many believe that children are more aggressive and disrespectful than ever before. According to researchers, the success of television programmes such as Super Nanny has caused the growth of tougher 1950s style parenting. One in three parents now smack their children even though it has been illegal since 2005 for an adult to smack a child hard enough to leave a mark on their skin. So there we are, one in three parents are smacking children these days. Weather It seems extraordinary that there were pictures in the paper yesterday of people on the beach at the weekend, sunbathing, and enjoying temperatures of 18 Celsius, thats 64 Farenheit on the beaches on the south coast. Its hard to believe thats only ten weeks before Christmas that the mercury reached 65 degrees Farenheit in one resort in Brighton. It is extraordinary, and they reckon its going to be the warmest October on record. The heat has continued deep into the Autumn, and the average for this time of the year is just over 13 Celsius. But there have been many days with temperatures getting up to 21 degrees. Extraordinary isnt it? Well thats it! Enjoy youre afternoon, and join me tonight on BBC One at half past six. Bye for now Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
