Meanwhile, on Twitter...

• 10:50 Sorry to hear about Sir Tel stepping down from the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Gone from Eurovision too. Alas for a Wogan free existence. #
• 11:20 Why is it people always try and make me feel bad because The Incredibles is probably my least favourite Pixar movie? #
• 14:42 Wonder whether Sir Tel decided to announce his retirement the same day as Moyles became the longest serving on Radio 1 breakfast on purpose? #
• 15:15 Huh. I didn't know the upcoming movie to be based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard is going to be directed by Mike Judge. #
• 17:29 So, why is it colonials have a day off on "Labour Day"? Surely, on such a day, you should be labouring. Why not call it "No-Labour Day"? #
• 21:19 Watching "102 Minutes That Changed America" with radio recordings, amateur video, photos and calls from 9/11. Not sure I can handle this. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

102 Minutes That Changed America

Last night I ended up watching "102 Minutes That Changed America", History's documentary on 9/11 which was shown for the first time on Channel 4 here in the UK. For those who aren't aware of it, it's less a documentary and more a real time compilation of raw video footage, mostly from amateurs, taken in New York during the events along with recordings of emergency calls taken and radio communications between the emergency services.

And it was hard watching. It brought it all home to me that I was there less than a year before and recognizing specific places from my visit from footage taken during the attack... well, it provoked a pretty strong emotional response, let's say.

All of it, of course, is hard to watch: the people leaping from the upper floors; the firefighters, some presumably doomed, headed toward the buildings while everyone else is running away. But one of the things that set this apart from the other films that cover the events was the uniqueness of the footage. It’s not all familiar: just where you’re expecting one of the well-known long shots of the second plane flying into the south tower, you get a startling close-up image taken by two New York University students from their dorm window. The point where the conversation between the two off-camera students turns to screams of horror is one of the most chilling and heartwrenching things I've ever heard. Or the recurring view of the burning buildings, from an apartment a mile north of the site, that seems unremarkable until you listen to the accompanying audio: a child’s voice keeps asking what’s going on, and the parents are heard shooing the youngster away, trying to shield the child from the reality they can hardly comprehend themselves.

Elsewhere, firemen are heard reaching survivors on the 70th floor of the Tower as colleagues attempt to reach them for support; a dispatch controller is heard to tell WTC workers to stay put as rescuers attempt to reach them; crowds convene in Times Square to watch the events on big screens and vent their anger at those who could have perpetrated the atrocities. And then the moments as the towers come down, where a lot of the footage is unique and all of it personal.

I'm choking up now just thinking about it and, needless to say, I spent most of the 102 minutes of the programme sat there feeling sick and trying not to cry. But as a historical document, I don't think any better has been produced. This is powerful and harrowing stuff, made all the more so by the fact that it was all recorded as it happened, by the people who witnessed it, without editorial comments. It should not be missed by anyone who cares, or is interested, about one of the moments that shaped the world in which we live today and probably, hopefully, the most horrifying of our lifetimes.

My latest addiction - &%$#in' Kitchen *&%$in' Nightmares

Speaking of recent television, I've got myself hooked on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares after discovering that Channel 4 has every episode available for viewing on their 4oD online service. Unlike the BBC iPlayer, this has a lot of old series, not just recent programming. And it's been an opportunity to get hooked on Ramsay's expose of failing restaurants.

Of course, colonials in the audience may be familiar with the US version, but I've been watching the true Brit version, where restaurant owners don't collapse into floods of emotional tears at the end of every episode and where there's even more unbleeped obscenity. Despite Ramsay's foul mouth and tendency to rile people up just to get a reaction, I like the guy and I always found the show fascinating. However, I missed a bunch first time around, so in the space of about four days I've managed to get addicted and watch a dozen episodes or more.

The formula, for those that don't know it, is pretty simple. Grumbling Ramsay is invited to a failing restaurant to offer advice to turn the business around. Now, the advice that is given on Kitchen Nightmares is usually pretty uniform. Clean kitchen. Motivate staff. Redecorate. Local produce. Reasonable prices. Work hard. Make money.

Of course, it's getting the restaurant owners and staff to realise that which is the entertaining part. Usually that involves Gordon swearing, shouting, getting exasperated and throwing out something beloved of the owners, then pushing his own menu. And it's the variations on this that make the interesting part. Take, for example, the episode featuring The Fish and Anchor in Wales, where the bright blue eaterie was inhabited by ex-Boxer Mike, who copied all his recipes from Ramsay's home cook books and writes his reviews himself, and his wife Caron, with an an explosive temper and memorably described as "like f**king Shrek in a frock". The arguments there were biblical. With each other, with Ramsay, with the customers. For once Ramsay played it softly, clearly recognising that if he spoke to Mike like he did some of the milder landlords he'd be looking in the tinned curry for his teeth.

But what's lovely is that Ramsay does manage to turn things around in many cases and when he returns, the places he's visited and the people he's touched usually are better for it. In the case of Mike and Caron, not just a saved business, but a saved marriage, seemingly, as well. But getting there is a rocky, including near fist-fights and a distressing accident that nearly ends the relaunch for good.

However, just occasionally there's one episode where Gordon just can't make it work. Take the case of Rachel, originally from Scotland, but now trying to run a vegetarian restaurant in Paris which was losing 5000 euros a month. Bailed out by daddy's money, and despite his and Gordon's help and the appearance of talented new chef India (after Ramsay had to physically carry a crazed Brazilian off the premises), Rachel managed to blow the chance within four days, deciding she just couldn't be bothered. The laziness and bad attitude was staggering ("Since I closed it's like a weight's been lifted from my shoulders!" But not daddy's, who had to pay off her massive loans and debts) and it was clear the prospect of having to actually work for a living was too much. Most people come out of the experience better. Rachel, by the end of the show, was demonstrated to be even more selfish, lazy and repulsive than previously imagined. Good news for India, however, who made such a strong impression she was given a placement at one of Ramsay's own London restaurants.

It's great TV, anyway, and the stark reminder that two thirds of restaurants close within their first year is brought home by show after show of people clearly out of their depths who had no clue what they were getting into. Running a restaurant or pub might seem an idyllic fantasy, but this show demonstrates how much bloody hard work it has to be to succeed.