Kill ITV

Perhaps I'm just frustrated that England failed to win their opening match of the World Cup, but ITV's coverage was shockingly poor and I need to vent. If they had any decency they'd just concede that they're not up to the task and let the BBC take over for England's remaining games.

I subscribed to Sky HD in preparation for the tournament because watching football in high definition is great. Well it is on Sky or the BBC. Three minutes into tonight's coverage on the ITV HD channel they mistakenly cut to an ad break. Somebody then realised that you're not meant to have adverts during the actual match and the screen went black as they tried to restore the live feed. I swore loudly at the TV and thought to myself, 'If we score while they're off air I'll never forgive them.' A few seconds later when coverage was restored the first thing we saw was Steven Gerrard and his team mates in celebration. Unbelievable. It's not even the first time they've missed a goal in this manner - it happened about 18 months ago in an FA Cup match between Everton and Liverpool. It was the only goal of the game. Lessons learned? Of course not. ITV are just utterly incompetent, and tonight they couldn't even offer a proper apology. The bumbling Adrian Chiles quickly mumbled something about losing pictures before sweeping it under their bulging carpet but there was nothing to acknowledge the fact that they'd missed the most important moment of the game. To make matters worse, the final three quarters of the match was broadcast in standard definition as the HD switch appeared to be flicked off.

ITV have long been clueless when it comes to broadcasting. They've been using uniform end credits for years in an attempt to form a 'brand' but it's an abysmal idea that kills creativity. Can you name a single show on ITV that's worth watching? I can't. Their news is awful, everything's awful. Someone should pull the plug once and for all. I'd seriously pay double my licence fee for more BBC channels in place of ITV's woeful garbage.

Here is the fateful moment, courtesy of YouTube.

Duff portrait

My speed painting video of Karen Gillan is a YouTube flop. There are probably videos of people taking a dump that have been viewed more often in a comparable timescale. A sensible person would have taken the hint and moved on, sadder but wiser for the experience. Me? Well, I just thought I'd make another one. Persistence and stupidity are hard to tell apart sometimes.

My subject this time is Hilary Duff, one of America's finest singers and actors. If you decided to look for the point where her talent ends you would be searching in vain, for there is no end to her talent. Cited by just about everyone as the single biggest influence on their career she is, quite simply, a perfect human being and therefore a very worthy portrait subject. She is not, thankfully, just another person who I find quite attractive and decided to paint on a whim. Meanwhile, if you look down, you might just catch my self-respect making a crater in the floor.

Click here to view it within YouTube.

Finished painting can be viewed here, as usual.