Woof Woofington

"The Most Powerful Woman in Publishing"

Do you know who the most powerful woman in publishing is? Or, for that matter. the most powerful person?

Well, according to tonight's Evening Standard, it's Amanda Ross, sister-in-law to Jonathan Ross and wife to Simon, co-owner of Cactus TV, producers of Richard and Judy and Saturday Kitchen and founder of the Richard and Judy Book Club.

Lucy Cavendish outlines just how influential Mrs Ross really is:

"...one in four books are bought based on her recommendation; 10 of her chosen authors are now millionaires; Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, an Amanda Ross-chosen book, was number one in the list of overall books in 2006. The Island, a summer read by Victoria Hislop, was number two in 2006. And, famously, Cecelia Ahern's cover for the best-selling PS.I Love You was changed from pink to blue on the advice of Ross."

Blimey!

But guess what? I know the real reason Amanda Ross is the publishing powerhouse; it's not the fact she's from Essex (the best girls are, though - I should know!), it's not the fact that she has a house in Italy (the Mistress was SO jealous when she saw that), it's not the fact that she bagged the best Ross (according to her sister-in-laws). No. I reckon it's because Mrs Ross has two great loves in her life - her dogs! Yes, her Tibetan Terriers, Poppet and Bella, clearly have the run of the Cactus office and I really wouldn't be surprised if THEY were the real power behind the publishing and broadcasting throne.

Mark my words, never, never doubt the dogs!

Woof Woof

"Lifting" - Dogs "shut in lifts for fight to death"

We're all getting very depressed in our house. The Mistress and her other half seem to have a lot of friends who want to leave "s**t Britain" for sunnier climes or a calmer pace of life. So many people seem to be giving Britain the thumbs down at the moment and if you read the papers, particularly the Sunday papers, you'll see what I mean. People are having to fight to get cancer drugs, the Government is clamping down on school admissions criteria, the housing market is going down the swanny, MPs are possibly bankrolling their families out of the British Taxpayer's pocket, young people are committing suicide, people are eating themselves to an early death and let's not even start on the sensitive subject of immigration.

And, as if all that weren't enough, today's Observer reports on a new worrying trend involving Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

Such dogs are "being used increasingly for street fighting and a practice known as 'lifting', in which dogs or a dog and a cat are sent down in a high-rise lift in the hope that they will savage each other while being filmed on a mobile phone".

I'm not going to rant about the individuals involved; what's the point? But, surely, someone, somewhere, has got to ask the question - how did these humans become so disconnected?

It seems to me that young people aren't living real lives but virtual ones - living through computers and mobile phones. Face-to-face interaction only happens with conflict, anger and putting on a front.

The Mistress has vowed not to leave the UK because she doesn't want to put me on a plane (in a crate) but, with news headlines like these, I think she may reconsider.

Woof Woof