DON'T PANIC

it's your movie

2012-02-08T02:39:00.000-08:00

last year I read a book called The Four Agreements by some dude who knows about the Toltec Wisdom.. with me so far? ;)

I love and loathe self help in healthy proportion.. I think he who thinks he knows it all knows nothing but also that anyone selling something is, well, selling something! ha

in this instance I read it once and was unimpressed. then later in the year with some persuading by the fella to read it again found it incredibly helpful! whatsthatabout?!

so the premise is this: you have learned bad habits, behaviours and attitude that are making you unhappy. that you are master of your own destiny and nothing can hurt you unless you allow it!
of course there are always exceptions to the (4) rules but at the time I was having trouble with someone I had to work with and had to figure a way thru (which is always the best way out!). the book reminded me that I am the star of my own movie and I decide who what where when (for the most part) so to get to work with making it go my way - nobody else will ever have your interests at heart like you do! empathy is humanity but we are not altruists as a species...

the 4 agreements are:

Be impeccable with your word - that is don't be negative about yourself or anyone else, the power of words is stronger than you ever give it credit for!

Don't take anything personally - most of the time if someone says something or behaves in a way that upsets you it's more than likely to be about them and you should shrug it off as such..

Don't make assumptions - when you assume something most times you'll misunderstand which leads to conflict..

Always do your best - what more can you do? and if you have a day when you don't manage it - just try again tomorrow :)

awesome. simple. effective!!!

like the dude who bought Remington's I loved the book so much I bought it for all my friends for Xmas* and can't recommend it enough to you dear reader... unless you know everything of course in which case you know what I think of that! ;) haha

*most of whom haven't read it yet despite my protests... but they will pick it up eventually and then they will thank me! haha

beards: they grow on you

2012-02-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

I do a beard blog and so if you have any interest in the hairy ones please enjoy my quirky past time here :)

The Artist - believe the hype!

2012-01-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

I am not one to get behind a PR machine and I defo was sceptical about the hype this movie had around it - especially since they went for the ad campaign featuring 'happy customers' leaving cinemas.. other people do not encourage me to go see a movie! But then actually my dad said he wanted to go - so I went along, not expecting much... but how wrong could I be?!

This movie is WONDERFUL! having studied the subject of language a little, and worked with it in part for my job writing scripts, the fact that this movie is SILENT speaks volumes about the much bandied-about stat that 85% of human communications are non-verbal -- which is why it makes it so difficult to explain to someone how amazing this movie is! haha they're a victim of their own success at being non-verbal! a movie that makes you FEEL something... and something that you're not used to feeling... something, non-verbal in a world with verbal diarrhoea!! priceless!

As an average Joe I don't go see all movies at the cinema, it's too time consuming and expensive... but this movie is worth well up to £10 - SEE IT!

I know you will love it and your heart will be warmed (if you still have one) haha ;)

stop me if you've heard this before...

2012-01-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

but I am now officially Team Hummingbirds!!!

this bunch of talented young men from Liverpool kicked up a storm down The Cavern last night and frankly I think it's essential listening for anyone who will listen to me! haha

Listen to my current fav ditty of theirs here

and should you feel the need to know more find them at www.wearethehummingbirds.com

i like beards

2012-01-04T07:15:00.000-08:00

if you are at all interested in beards etc you many enjoy my picture blog here

2012

2012-01-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

yikes! you know what they're all saying about 2012 don't you?

well if it IS really really the end of the world this year let's go out with a bang i say (and buy ourselves an airtight underground bunker to hide in until it's all over! eek!)

today i heard my brother's cat had died suddenly yesterday :(

now it's just a cat! and not even my own! but i felt really saddened #RIPHenry

nothing like a death in the family to make you embrace the NOW!

that is all.

go forth and prosper reader!

more energy

2011-12-02T01:52:00.000-08:00

heard this song while downunder on TripleJ (a very fine indie radio network) it makes me smile so much I thought it makes a perfect Friday anthem #enjoy

rock classic o'clock

2011-11-21T02:52:00.000-08:00

since it's monday, and for some of us that can be tough... i believe a little blues gem like this can make the day a little better :) enjoy!

best job ad ever

2011-11-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

**really don't think I need to say anything about this other than it was advertised by a pub in the heart of London's West End and just fabulous - imagine having a boss with a sense of humour?? priceless ;)

This is my England

2011-11-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

By rights I should put this on my picture blog but as I'm having enough trouble keeping up with one blog at the moment I thought better of it! haha

This is a lovely little scene from that London.. it's fairly unusual to see two such iconic English designs together like this, the red post box was a Penfold design from the 1800s while the red telephone box came along later by George Gilbert-Scott, who rather neatly had already designed the just plain fabulous gothic Liverpool Anglican Cathedral*

I love it that here they are nestled together fighting the elements, left a little unloved and perhaps not long for the knackers yard! of course this would never happen, they're worth a fortune on eBay haha ;)

*if you ever get to Liverpool make sure you take a trip to the top of the tower - tis quite a sight up there! and also a little windy - take a scarf ;)

strangers on a train

2011-10-28T08:08:00.001-07:00

hello stranger...

can't believe I didn't blog since August 21 that is an all time bad!!!

i'm back baybee.. did you miss me?*

so I met this fellow on a recent train journey in London... his name is Aror and he is from Lagos, Nigeria check out how smart he is!

we had both just got off long haul flights and it was silly early on a Sunday morning but he looked so dapper I had to chat to him! of course this being London his local relative couldn't quite fathom who this friendly person was on the tube.. but c'est moi ;) after explaining I was from the north we chatted about - in the first place - his very fine hat! turns out he was on his way to a family get together to celebrate his 70th birthday which had been in June...

he was so lovely, i mean do you know what i mean when i say he had good vibrations? call me an old hippy (hey!) but he just had good energy and i was so pleased to have met him... he really wanted me to delay my trip north and go to his party (and possibly marry me off into the family haha) but i explained my momma would be missing me! haha

i am reading a book called Straw Dogs by John Gray and it poses the theory that humans have invented their whole individuality... i haven't finished the book, it may have more to explain but it basically tells me 'humanity' is an invention by self-important humans of old... that we're nothing more than animals getting by in our self-made societies... BUT how do they account for the connection me and Aror made on a tube on a dreary sunday morning in October?

we have nothing obvious in common other than our 'humanity' he was a smiler, as am i.. we both enjoyed a chat.. it was just the best welcome home i could ask for after a long trip.. of course our encounter was of no obvious consequence.. we are social animals after all.. but something tells me that when you meet someone with a similar energy to yourself it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling and that is not worth nothing! #fact haha

so reader, i urge you to be on the look out for your stranger on a train ;)

*i know I have a very small crowd and frankly they're probs all gone now with such a lax attitude to my blogging but dudes i been going thru some real-life bs that frankly overtook my urge to write this so...

people pleasin' gal

2011-08-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

self help books at the ready please people... i am a people pleaser and i'm sick of it! lol

i need some pseudo-shrink advice on whether once a people pleaser always a people pleaser?!

can i break from this self perpetuating prison of niceness?! haha i mean, i don't wanna be a complete biatch, a meanie, the selfish girl... but i need some kind of happy medium where i do what's best for me occasionally... without worrying about how it will impact on those around me!

answers on a postcard please!

creatures of habit

2011-08-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

i am a gym bunny... i love to go, i miss it when i'm too busy to get there.. i am obvs addicted to the endorphins or something..

part of my gym ritual is to use only a few of the available lockers in the changing room.. particular machines on the gym floor get used over and again when there is a selection of treadmills to pick from.. i have a fav spot in the sauna and finally the shower block will have a fav cubicle..

thing is you do all this so subconsciously.. human beans being such creatures of habit it's under the radar.. only when it gets highlighted outside of your little reality tunnel do you step back and say oh yeh! haha

while in the showers last week i overheard 2 friends chatting.. woman 1 says: oh i've never been on this side before woman 2: i think i've been on that side once, but usually i'm on this side.. i smiled to myself while stood in my preferred cubicle.. it made me realise i too had a preferred side and when i saw one of the women in the changing area i said we're such creatures of habit! she agreed, she asked me if i used the same locker over and over again, to which i replied yes indeed i did!

it was a lovely reminder than human beans are so similar in such a fundamental way regardless of shallow differences.. creatures of habit are we.. if only we could have only harmless habits haha #cakesnotwithstanding

good music moves me

2011-08-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

went to see an awesome band last night in Liverpool..

i saw them last summer in London and this was the first opportunity i'd had to see them again, so i was excited and full of anticipation before the gig..

The Suns are a surf/garage guitar outfit from Chester and they rocked my little world last night..

they played 11 songs and each was a beautiful guitar vignette singing to my very soul!

tonight my soul is enjoying the white album by those four boys.. it astounds me that a record i've heard over and over can still be such a joy to listen to! magic men they were, weaving spells with melodies and guitars.. music is good for the soul, amen!

jobseek and you shall find

2011-07-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

so I'm looking for a new job.. have been for a few months now.. my current part time contract runs out in October and I'm very ready for something and some place new!

thing is, as fabulous as I believe I am at the radio stuff I do for a living, turns out I am terrible at answering one-size-fits-all HR questions about my relevant experience.. which is becoming an increasing problem! I'm not even very good when they get more specific.. I'm just good at doing stuff - not talking about it afterwards (much afterwards in some cases)..

now you may think I'm complaining cos I ain't got the goods - but baby I got 'em! I just can't tell you about them haha part of my job is to live in the moment, dealing with the business of live radio under pressure, then moving on to the next thing.. being asked by a HR bod who works in a no-pressure role to give an example of how I deal with problems is an impossible question - I did it.. I moved on! if I remembered every situation at work my head would explode! The job is about living in the moment, which as it turns out is not great for getting a new job! haha

so I guess I'm looking at some hard unemployed sofa time if I don't figure out what these people want me to tell them about myself.. it's so sucky cos I would never apply for a job I didn't think I could do! why doesn't my experience speak for itself?!

I'm mid-application for a job at the very bottom of TV production and the questions they ask you'd think it was to run the entire team! *sighs* best put the kettle on and get back to it.. but cripes I'm looking fwd to a period of NOT filling in job application forms soon!

if you would like to employ me, (of course you would, I'm the Jodester!) do send me a note with my expected responsibilities and salary ;)

let me tell you about #chocswap

2011-06-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

you'll know by now that i'm a keen advocate of micro blogging site Twitter.. tbf it's taken me away from this 'proper' blog as it's so instant and available on my iphone, i can't resist but tweet everyday! imagine that! my inane ramblings every day!! hehe my poor 'followers'*

so a few months back i got a mention from a girl in Cincinnati, Ohio.. she remarked how unlikely it was that there was an @producerjodie working in radio just like her friend @producerjodi which is fair enough an observation to make so i replied hello to both and new friends were found :)

more recently i remarked on Twitter that i had just eaten 5 hobnobs**... to which @producerjodi asked what's a hobnob?? so.. a hobnob for the uninitiated, is an oat cookie with plain and chocolate covered variations and quite moreish, that is to say eating 5 was not my plan but just kinda happened!!! i suggested i send jodi some english biscuits and she send me some yankee ones and so #chocswap was born!

once at the supermarket i opted for some cadbury's crunchie biscuits for the swap, this because cadbury's is sooo english plus they were my new favourites, and no less addictive than hobnobs... packaged up and sent to Ohio we waited for the postal service to deliver them to @producerjodi...

a week later she messaged me on Twitter - they're yummy she exclaimed!! i'm sending yours this week!

another week later i had a pack of Oreo Fudgees in my possession!!! it's safe to say #chocswap was a storming success!!!

i can't think of a better use of internet friends than swapping yummy treats! haha well y'know it made me smile anyway, two radio gals, an ocean apart, going to their local postal service to mail cookies... it's a beautiful thing that we did haha

i recommend this sort of silly behaviour to you reader, the world can be a jaded place, let's make it nice again by doing nice things for strangers!

* if you wish to join them find me @producerjodie

**i did warn you about the innane updates! haha

ukelele gal

2011-05-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

i joined a uke club! i have wanted to join this club for months but just didn't get around to it... so glad i finally got there... i don't mind telling you that after 2 hours of uke strumming i had a very sore index finger but in fact i didn't mind ;)

can you believe such a thing exists? the world is a wonderful place after all...

supermarket karma

2011-05-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

today i went to the supermarket for some milk, breakfast, lunch etc... nothing out of the ordinary... but as i walked home i had a smile on my face! let me tell you why...

i bought a whole bunch of stuff - including those things i shouldn't have like chocolate biscuits and white choc magnums* - and i got to the checkout to find it wasn't too busy, usually on a sunday supermarkets are queue-tastic! i waited behind this old lady as she and her carer got through their shopping and as i did i saw a guy with an onion and a baguette looking for a place to pay.. now to give you some context i was at the only 'manned' checkout, there were a couple of self-service machines in use as well as the kiosk area for cigarettes, lotto etc but also busy... so i saw this guy and he had a look on his face that i instantly empathized with, the 'oh i only wanted to pop in, buy this onion and baguette and be gone but now i have to wait to pay... ruined' face!

so i caught his eye and waved him over, i said come here, go before me mister! he was reluctant, no, no need.. but i wasn't about to have my good deed turned down! haha i persisted, come on, i said, you have 2 items, it's no big deal, it's your lucky day, go next! after reassuring him i was sure, and this wasn't a trick, or a tv stunt (!) and good for my karma bank haha, he accepted my offer, saying thanks, how he was just parked on double yellows outside and actually how he had to buy fags from the kiosk anyway.. at which point the checkout boy who had obviously overheard the goings on piped up - which ones do you want? he was waiting to serve the next person (me or the dude) but was waiting patiently for the very elderly lady in front to get going... the random guy was incredulous - asked for the brand he wanted and the kid popped across to the kiosk to grab them for him... he said wow this really is my lucky day to which i reminded him it was only 12 noon so plenty of time for some other great stuff to happen to him!

it's a shame that this was such a surprise to him, hopefully he will return the random act of kindness to another human being some time soon and the ripple effect will make the world a little nicer for everyone :)

jeez i'm SUCH a hippy these days! lol

but anyways, i can totally recommend doing a stranger a good turn**, it cheered me right up and i was smiling all the way home***

*omg it's a good job i go to the gym!

**in my experience the reaction isn't always as good as this one was but it's worth the punt people!

***and not just cos i now had choccie biccies ;)

my fridge magnet tour

2011-05-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

i seem to have become addicted to fridge magnets... i think i can blame my mother, not just because that's what you do, but because she is addicted to fridge magnets and seems to have gotten me started with some gift fridge magnets.. which you then can't help but add to! argh!

recently i have been spring cleaning.. and surely one of the things i really don't 'need' in life is fridge magnets.. and yet they tell a great story about my life* do they not? let me explain for you this collection..

top line - no messing about let's get straight to David! haha the classical David from Italy shows off his manhood in this magnet.. my friend Kate bought it for me as a momento when we were in Rome together a few years ago.. he's pretty eye catching no? hehe next across is a silver Liver Bird - a gift from my fridge magnet loving mother!! the Liver Bird is the emblem for Liverpool my home town, two giant Liver Birds sit aloft the Liver Building on the water front and word is, if they ever fly away Liverpool will sink 'neath the river Mersey - ya gotta love these old sailor yarns, only from a port city baby ;)

next up you have a postcard of a Boston Terrier... this is my dream dog should i ever decide to be responsible enough to own one (ahem)

okay next line down L-R we have a Guinness Toucan magnet.. I think I bought this in Kinsale on a weekend away with my mum, and we all know Guinness is good for you ;) this sits next to a signed picture of Deal Or No Deal host with the most Noel Edmondson.. couple of years ago I went with a bunch of friends to sit in the audience to watch people open them boxes and absolutely LOVED it! haha next up my most recent acquisition, a sign post for Australia , it reads 'It's a bloody long way' and it's not wrong!!! moving swiftly on we have a Brazilian magnet brought back for me by my pal Lou, then a lovely eye from Malta i think from the bf's parents.. just under that the word drizzle from a foodie magnet poetry kit of my dads, a Brighton magnet - I used to live there and 'twas amazing... and a superlambanana - a new Liverpoolian emblem, again from my mother..

onto the bull and the Isle of Mull magnet from another weekend away with my mum, up to Oban this time in bonnie Scotland... followed by an Edward Monkton magnet entitled the Pants of Peace**

okay back to Noel's piccie and we have another Aussie magnet - this time from the gallery of NSW featuring the work of native artist Margaret Preston.. underneath that a Holland fridge magnet from my bf's latest trip to Amsterdam.. next to this is a monkey from Monkey Forest in Stoke-on-Trent, this is an awesome day out - if you haven't already.. DO IT! haha the monkeys are right there on the path, i would love to know what they thought of human beans wandering around their forest!

ok next along we have a jailhouse rock Elvis Presley, i have had this a long time and can't recall anyone giving it to me so perhaps i bought it.. next along, a postcard that exclaims 'omg! my mother was right about everything!' which pretty much sums up the last 5 years of my life haha

this is held in place by a wooden heart magnet, another gift from my mother (are you spotting a trend?! haha) next along is a NYC magnet from my 1st trip there, i think it was 2005? not sure, but it was february and it was freezing!

next up more monkeys - this time from Monkey World in Dorset.. i really like monkeys.. underneath - it's a bit bleached out by the sun but there is a tropical fish that denotes the Birmingham Sea Life Centre.. that was interesting.. smelled kinda.. fishy tho! haha

finally my 50s gal magnet has written next to her 'she could never remember was it better to be safe? or sorry?' i bought this for myself and it does make me smile...

please feel free to send me snaps of your own fridge ;)

*of course now i've photographed and blogged this photo i have a log of them so i don't really need to keep them... omg i really have issues, i can't even bear the idea of chucking them away! haha

**this magnet broke today! it's now an ex-magnet...

the royal wedding

2011-05-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

since you asked, i went to the gym and then to the pub on the big day in question.. it was on tv at both! but other than a quick glimpse of frocks i wasn't really up for celebrating.. i'm no party pooper so i didn't get all vocal about it but, y'know as a peasant, i wasn't really up for cheering on the over-priviliged ;) this picture was taken in the bunting-fest that was the beer garden of the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, Birmingham.. a fine establishment, frequented by all sorts of local characters.. including this guy who had this tres amusing Wills face mask!

jetlagged jodester

2011-04-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

oh my.. i really didn't think a week on from being home i would be feeling the effects of going upside down (to australia) and back again.. i keep waking up at 4am or thereabouts.. and you know how i feel about waking up at that godforsaken hour! ha - it's plain unnatural!

thing is 4am here, in Sydney is like 12noon, so it makes no sense why i would be waking then.. no sense at all.. but there it is.. every morning, today in fact it was 3.30am! then i either can't get back to sleep at all or, like today, i tune in a random radio station and drift off after about an hour of worrying about why it is i'm awake at such a stupid time of day..

re: australia, had rather a great time thanks for asking.. can't wait to get back! if only the australian gvmnt didn't have such a plain unfriendly working visa system, they'd be lucky to get the jodester on board! who can i write to to right this wrong?!! hehe well i shall just have to go holiday there.. they do nice beaches.. tho one thing i noticed on the way over via Singapore was all the skin whitening products on sale.. it made me realise once and for all that pale with freckles is what i am and what i should accept! people would literally pay to be this pasty! haha now that is a reality check when flashing my reflective white flesh in a bikini surrounded by bronzed bods.. i made more than one joke about how never in their wildest dreams could they be this white haha, true north west tones i got..

the one thing i learned while away is, that according to our antipodean friends, you can't compare oranges to apples... or is it apples to oranges??

either way, it totally goes over my head too, but i think it has a certain charm... a lot like australia actually :)

simple pleasures 101

2011-03-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

tis long been my belief that it is the simple pleasures, the free, the frequent, the idiosyncratic pleasures that make life bearable...

one of these such pleasures is shooting the breeze with a stranger... nothing warms my heart more than to have a pleasant random conversation with another human being who i happen to be sat next to, stood in a line behind, thrown together with by fate... i understand that not everyone likes to chat, that to some, the idea of a stranger chatting to them is horrifying and an unwelcome intrusion into their reality tunnel*... even if that stranger is lovely little ol' me! ;)

recently i have found myself having more chats that usual, i have had a little extra time on my hands so i guess i just had the time to chat i was missing before... on a train i chatted to a man who was meeting his son for a big day at the football... he told me about his dog (a chocolate lab - i even saw a pic thanks to mobile technology!) his business, his son, his partner, his hometown in Essex... what a lovely window into a stranger's life! later the same day i chatted to a cab driver who took my joke about him knowing how to negotiate the busy Birmingham city centre streets and turned it into a fantastical story about how he was waiting to get wings fitted to his car but the licence to fly in the city was pretty steep hehe, that was fun! another cabbie told me he'd only recenlty figured out he'd been driving his cab for 20yrs, he'd seen it all and after all that was still convinced that on the whole people were good at heart... what a lovely confirmation from a reputable source! another chap i sat next to a another train was from Australia and shared with me that his favourite chocolate bar was a Twix.. which now when i see it in the store reminds me of him! haha

i don't discount the argument that sometimes you don't want to chat to the stranger trying to make conversation... if they seem a little bonkers it's a worry! but you have to negotiate through without seeming rude & unfriendly... my mum says i'm too nice and attract bonkers people but i think there are worse things to be accused of! ;)

i believe a chat with a stranger, bijou and beautiful, gone in an instant, is like a vignette in your life... completely stand alone, of no consequence and yet such a human experience.. we are social animals after all.. i urge you reader to be more chatty and enjoy it!

*my boyf says everyone has this, he heard it via some old philosopher dude... i like the concept and think it rationalises strange behaviours i witness in the everyday!

things I've learned

2011-03-09T01:22:00.001-08:00

stress is not great for keeping up with a personal blog.

that is all.

for now!

daylight junkie

2011-01-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

So I have a new fetish... daylight! haha

Having worked the early shift for 3 years I'm not used to seeing the sun on the way into work, and since it's January there isn't much sun anyway, but let me get to the point... I am currently working a shift covering holiday that allows me to leave for work just before 9am... the sun is up and waiting for me! And it's soooooo nice! It doesn't feel abnormal to be awake once the sun is up! I am, alas, back to a 6.30am wake up pretty soon so it's a short lived blast of normality... but what a diff'rence a day(light) makes as some might say(sing) ;)

Now I preface this by saying that you can find research to prove black is white and vice versa.. but! I read recently that shift workers are more prone to putting on weight because their sleep pattern isn't natural enough... i think there's a lot to be said for Mother Nature's body rhythms, she knows what she's doin' and then modern life comes along and messes it all up!

So while I can I'll be soaking up those daytime rays... i suggest you grab a little sunshine too, vitamin D is good for ya!

radio play rules

2011-01-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

tonight i have Radio2 on - Bob Harris is playing some country style music and he played this band Crooked Still

i would never have heard of them if it wasn't for this chance radio play on a january evening! and they're lovely to listen to!

see!

radio rules! :)

good old rock & roll

2011-01-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

so in order to keep up my spirits for 2011 i sometimes take a walk over to YouTube.. oh sweet time where do you go when one clip leads to another...

well here's one to share good friends of mine ;)

you're welcome !

Festive Working

2010-12-30T00:13:00.000-08:00

I don't mind working over Xmas... I have only actually had to work Xmas Day itself the one time, for lastminute.com in their call centre back in 1999 i guess, I dressed up as an angel including wings & wig and went my local pub first... Clearly back in 99 I had to express my creativity creatively!

Now that I work in the wonderful world of broadcasting working when other people are off is par for the course, bank holidays and the like doesn't mean the radio switches off, in fact people who never listened before might be tuned in while in the shed/ kitchen/ car etc so it's quite an opportunity... it's also a time when the usual lineup may change so you'll hear someone new on the airwaves while the regular talent takes a break...

As I started a new job back in October I thought best volunteer for the rubbish shifts, show willing ;) But oh man the earlies between Xmas and New Year? gah!

Since leaving the Smooth breakfast show I haven't had to wake up before 5am and frankly I haven't missed it one bit! haha I maintain it's plain unnatural! haha but working from 6 in Shropshire means leaving the house in Brum just before 5 which has meant an alarm at 4 for the back end of this week... This is my last one today tho and I'm back to usual shift from the 2nd, with a bank holiday off thrown in!

I suppose the only thing about having Xmas off is that chances are someone near and dear will also have time off and not since the summer school holidays have we had such synchronized time off, so I am considering having Xmas off next year, I had last year off, perhaps that's the way to go, one year on, one year off... I'm thinking California next Xmas, somewhere warm*

*I'm sure this is directly related to my heating being off for the Xmas duration this year :(( it's back working again tho now :))

Xmas Giftage

2010-12-28T23:42:00.000-08:00

Ah giftage the reason we all love Christmas haha

My stepdad gave me USB record player which can convert my records to digital audio via my mac... oooooh! fancypants! I love the crackle of vinyl me, looking fwd to playing with that over the next few days...

I got some new nice smellies (Gucci Rush and Paul Smith Rose), some booze (Kahlua for White Russians mmmm) and some DVDs to while away the winter nights...

I think it's a shame that giftage has become so obligatory tho, I mean I definitely have bought my nearest and dearest pointless stuff because it's the thought that counts... but the thought in those cases was almost always 'oh gawd what shall i get this person, i have to get them SOMETHING or they'll think i don't love them anymore' haha and how is that a good state of affairs? sure it works for the shops selling meaningless tack but getting my stepdad a xmas jumper just so i can give him something seems a bit shallow... surely we should just get our nearest and dearest presents whenever they present themselves! no matter the time of year... i don't mean to be a scrooge - sure spend time with families at Chrimbo if you can, it's nice to hang out for a few days and remember what you like and don't like about folk haha, but i reckon the gift pressure ruins the seasonal spirit...

that said we all like to receive presents so perhaps this is why we insist on buying gifts for other... cos we want to get lots back! lol

Xmas telly

2010-12-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

I don't really watch a lot of telly, I get into a few series and watch those... Since we gave up the PLUS box 6 mnths ago our tv consumption has relaxed and reduced dramatically... altho we just ordered a new one so perhaps it will go thru the roof again next week! lol

The only thing I've watched that's really stood out was When Harey Met Bob and the Live Aid doc that followed, it was a good yarn.. not sure about the casting tho, and Hart's padded suit loooked a bit daft..

One thing that you have to try and see if you haven't already is a comedy series called Modern Family... it describes itself as being a mockumentary about a dysfunctional family but seriously, is there any other kind? isn't a family by nature dysfunctional? haha but anyway this show is really laugh out loud funny, which is quite a rare pleasure... see it, do it!

Xmastime continues

2010-12-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

Ok ok I slipped on the daily dose, but I had to travel to and from Liverpool so I have a decent excuse ;)

Whizzed up north for a flying visit to see my family and catch up with an old friend who now lives in Amsterdam... our festive drinkies are becoming quite the annual tradition with a hangover to match... we went on Pammy Watch as Ms Anderson is doing the big Liverpool panto along with Les Dennis and the yummy Mark Moraghan... we didn't catch the beautiful blonde but did manage to have a moment with MM which is a bit blurry due to the number of Guinness with Tia Maria I'd consumed by the time we bumped into him! I also have fuzzy memories of discovering the jukebox in the pub was on FREEPLAY - which is awesome always - and us dancing with a random local called Tony! oh god...

Hoping to catch Louie and The Hoff in panto in Wimbles next...

Xmas Blog 2

2010-12-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

Boxing Day.

I woke up in my freezing cold home (heating out until Weds I believe) and did a little abs work out on my bedroom floor... this was a win win situ as not only did it help to work away some of the xmas naughtiness I been shoveling down my neck, but also increased blood flow and body temperature!

It definitely feels colder today, I guess the longer it goes since the heating was on last (Thursday night) the colder the walls get.. and the news on tv/ radio and all across the papers explaining this is the coldest christmas in 100 years does nothing to warm my cockles! Lol

So thermals on, snow boots donned, we hit B&Q to look for a portable radiator to help warm the house until Wednesday... And oooh the shops were so warm! And ahhh the car was so warm! And brrrr back in the house it's soooo cold!

But not too cold to blog dear! Lol

so on Xmas Eve* we started to listen to Marley's Not Dead on Radio4 because Richard Madeley had recommended it on Twitter (@richardm56), he had a bit part in it which was really very funny, and loads of other starlets were in it too.. it was really funny, so we just dropped into the iplayer this afternoon and listened to it in full - you can find it here

Then i tuned in to the Adam & Joe Xmas Special broadcast Xmas morning but faaar to early for me on a day off work (10am), and in fact I am one hour into 3 of this show and oh how lovely it is to have our old friends back on the radio... i explained to my dad the joy of being in BlackSquadron - or not depending on the weekend - of knowing what it was to shout Stephen randomly in a crowd - of singing along to the jingles and laughing out loud on the treadmill at the gym when listening to the podcast - they truly are the best i've ever heard on the radio ! they rock and amaze. and now they only do occasional specials because they've got bored of it! how painful and yet so awesome that they would acknowledge it before driving a much loved show into the ground! more kudos earned! (sigh)

food wise you'll be pleased to hear I've eaten lots of the good stuff again today.. mince pies, stollen, German cinnamon biscuits**, ginger choc biscuits and soon trifle! OMG***

But remember those sit ups earlier people! I earned my Xmas treats today! Plus extra cals for the cold surroundings right?! haha

*me and my dad, our Xmas guest hadn't arrived yet

**my FAVOURITE xmas treat, thankfully found in the local deli after the Lidl let me down!

***the 30 days sugar detoc starts Jan 1st people! Lol

The 12 Blogs of Xmas

2010-12-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

I shall attempt to blog for 12 days on the trot to make up for my appalling neglect this last month!

It's Xmas Morn... I am waiting for my fella to come home from his overnight shift... the boiler is bust so there is no heat or hot water and it's a tropical -7 according to my iphone, i assure you that i can feel it in my fingers, toes.. and nose! Lol... i bought an electric heater (gawd help me when the leccy bill comes in) and the landlord brought over another couple and my friend K brought another over... so almost one for every room but no heating engineer visiting until the 29th ! that's a very cool yule people! quick put the oven on! haha

Today on the menu just a few of my favourite things: Popcorn, fruit toast, pizza, chocs, cake, cheese! And to drink? How about some Irish Cream and cocktails?! Wow I am gonna need that Boxing Day walk and then some! Lol

I will watch me something festive on the box, play some scrabble maybe, listen to my ever-growing collection of xmas albums* and try to remember to move around frequently so the blood keeps running...

I really don't give a hooping funt for Christmas, I always offer to work it cos if someone who really loved it had to work instead that would be silly... but time off and seeing family and friends is awesome and ANY excuse for a party baby and I'm there! Lol So I try not to be too humbug about it, plus i get to eat Christmas Pudding!

So may I bid you all a merry winter solstice/ xmas, may you hug and be hugged by someone you love today!

*Elvis/ Spector/ Jazz/ Tijuana/ Isaak/ Tunstall - seriously I love Xmas albums - why not recommend me your favourite?!

You have a favourite, right?! ;)

Are you ready for your close up?

2010-11-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

In the Guardian newspaper every weekend they ask a celebrity or a person of public interest to answer 20 questions...

I love a good Q&A me, and for some time I've wanted to make an audio family & friends edition... because often we're all so busy with the business that is everyday life you don't get a chance to say to your nearest and dearest, 'hey, what do you think the key to happiness is?' right?!

To my shame I have been all talk and no recording so this idea is so far just that, an idea! lol I got excuses but I won't bore you with them ;)

Having said all that, now that I'm publicly shaming myself into getting on with it! This blog is my own kick up the bum, I did sent the Q&A to a few friends this week as a warning shot for what might be to come in the New Year when i get my sh*t together! haha

In the meantime I have decided to blog my own answers to the Q&A, because surely the rule is never ask someone something you haven't asked yourself!

so here goes...

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

listening to good music in good company (on a good hair day!)

What is your greatest fear?

tragically, failure. Although, you'll be pleased to hear i am making real efforts to face this fear head on for a showdown! hehe

With which historical figure do you most identify?

hmm... I'll have to think about this one*

Which living person do you most admire and why?

my mum, she has such beauty and balls, or gumption if you like... she just goes and gets what she wants! amazing... can't argue with that for a role model!

What vehicles do you own?

an 8yr old Fiat Punto with a roof rack - not very glamorous but it gets me there and back... one day I'll have something better looking parked outside, one day...

What has been your most embarrassing moment?

there are so many to choose from... haha

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

starting something but not finishing it... such a slacker!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

people who can't say no, then let you down. just say you can't do the thing, don't make it worse by saying yes then not doing it! too disappointing!

What objects do you always carry with you?

my phone is somewhat of an extra limb these days...

Where would you like to live?

I think London for work, but Dorset/ Cornwall for seaside living...

What is your greatest extravagance?

Probably music, can't resist new CDs; guitar lessons are a must this year; love going to gigs...

What is your greatest regret?

not learning how to play the guitar from birth! seriously, how good a player would i be by now?!

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

likes the song goes "I wish I was a little bit taller" hehe, longer legs please!

What is your favourite smell?

i love that smells remind me of people and places, but i suppose my favourite smell would probably be my mum's perfume because it reminds me of her (JPG btw)

What is your favourite word?

cocktails? the question mark is rather essential too ;)

What is your favourite book?

the book you don't want to end, the book you buy for all of your friends because you loved it so much...

What is your favourite fantasy?

being a great guitarist, in a band, on the road... what a way to make a living ;)

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Radio. It certainly seems to have taken up most of my time, energy and commitment for the last 15 years!

Do you believe in capital punishment?

I don't think evolution of our species is killing each other, we're capable of such great things thru co-operation and most crime is preventable...

How did you vote in the last election?

I agreed with Nick. And look where that got me! LibCons... ruined...

Have you ever said ‘I love you’ and not meant it?

For what cause would you die?

worldwide equality for women

How often do you have sex?

when i can

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

i go thru phases but right now its easily OMG! haha, what can i say in my defence? I'm easily excited?!

What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

financial independence would allow me to pursue my dreams outside of chasing the rent

How do you relax?

play guitar, listen to music, put the world to rights with friends and family, cocktails...

What keeps you awake at night?

the streetlight outside of my bedroom.. grrr!

Do you believe in life after death?

i think one you're gone physically you're gone but your memory lives on with ideas you left behind

How would you like to be remembered?

as a great human being

How would you like to die?

i sometimes think it would be great to get to a stage in life, you've achieved everything you desire, you have a fab party with your nearest and dearest and then you say goodbye on your terms, but i don't think we're ever ready to say goodbye... it's not in human nature, so my answer is... in many many years from now!

What would your motto be?

trying to be good

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

life is too short... and it's a small world... make the most of both of these and you'll be all right I reckon!

phew! that was hard work haha... oh and i reserve the right to change my mind about any of these answers! haha these are strictly answers circa winter 2010 ;)

* i'm thrown by this question... maybe i haven't done enough reading! eek!

hoarders anonymous

2010-11-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

i been going thru some stuff in storage recently... it was fun! i found long lost clothes/ books/ photos/ trinkets... then mum says to me, hey missy, long term what are you gonna do with all this stuff? and i find i'm lost for an answer... i am clearly one of life's hoarders!

in front of me is a pile of unread newspapers and magazines.. let me make this clear, i WANT to read them all.. i just find the time to do so alludes me! but is that a reason to throw away a potentially enjoyable read? i think not! and yet piles of unread papers remind me of my step-dad's piles of newspapers that drove my mum mad! haha did i inherit this bad habit from him? or do we just want to absorb as much information as possible in life?

it's not made any easier - my hoarding habit that is - by the fact that i move house so often! i mean, it's abnormal! haha i have friends who long ago wrote my 'new address' in pencil in their address books because they'd already filled a page with crossed out addresses for me.. but i have blogged about my many moves before... how it relates here is, every time i move i'm confronted with all my 'stuff' haha.. at least if i stayed put i might just put it in the loft and forget about it! but why does it bring me any kind of comfort to have all this stuff... obv there is a lot of sentimental value and i'm a nostalgic bird for sure... but i think i seriously need to car boot most of it! i guess i think it will come in handy sometime... even tho as the years go by it fails to come in handy! haha

perhaps i should stick it all in a storage unit for a year and if i don't miss any of it, just get rid... how liberating/ horrifying that would be!

gone daddy gone

2010-11-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

i have an absent father.

i have a very present step-dad who i love muchly, and even tho he and my glamorous mother parted ways in the 80s, he is the man i call dad... the man i will spend xmas day with and the man who potters in my garden when he visits... he is a lovely lovely man.

the problem i have is because my dad.01 has been absent for much of my life, i have always felt a lack of something... i worry sometimes that i have textbook daddy issues! haha i mean did i make bad choices in men because of this guy? i sure seemed to pick some unsuitable types when i was a young girl... but maybe all girls do this? did everyone have as steep a learning curve? or did i get a tough ride seeking unavailable men? i do believe that every action in life has a reaction, the ripple effect of this man sharp-exiting my life is surely considerable? i read in a magazine when just a teen (uh-oh!) that i was a rejection-junkie; a passive-aggressive commitment-phobe because of the rejection i experienced as a child... (yikes! that mag needed an age restriction...)

and yet, *grown up face* i do not care to know someone who doesn't care to know me... there's only so much rejection a girl can take!

it's an emotional merry-go-round that's for sure.

i think it's pretty shameful behaviour to leave a little girl (and a baby brother) to carry on in this big bad world without her daddy... but maybe he thought i'd be better off without him, low self-esteem sure has a lot to answer for in my life! and i had a very lovely granddad who stepped in to be the father figure before my mum got me dad.02 so don't feel too sorry for me folks, that's not the point of this scribbling at all!

what makes it all worse is the fact that somehow thru some sherlock holmes work by my little bro i was reunited with this man in the 90s... I was 22 i think... we exchanged numbers... we didn't keep in touch! i know that i was angry with him, hence my lack of effort... but i'm only human! i expected too much from this first meeting... i wanted him to explain why he hadn't been in my life for all that time... he didn't give me an answer, what answer could he give me? it's a painful memory... a missed opportunity... and now he is gone again :(

people in my life including my younger bro (the only other person who can relate to my situ direct) suggest it's his loss, why lose sleep over it, and i can buy that theory... i just don't feel it! it feels like unfinished business... i don't want to not know my dad! and yet i have a perfectly functioning step-dad thing going on... it's not about replacing him... it's about knowing the man who is responsible for my being here... i suppose i can choose to forget about him... perhaps its indicative of something else going on in my life that i feel this lack...

maybe i just think too much. actually i know that this to be the case! give myself headaches all the time. i should give myself a break! ;)

i worry that this is classic over-share... but i would welcome your thoughts if you have any on the subject...

New job: Day 8

2010-10-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

HEY! So I got me a new job...

The good news is that it's working for a fantastic company... the bad news is that I now have 100 miles round trip commute to sunny Shrewsbury which includes my nemesis the M6*! Noooooooo!

Also I no longer have to rise with the milkman and wake up at 4am (words cannot describe my joy about this! Lol)

As a result I been pretty busy/ tired/ busy/ tired leaving no love for blog! Boo!

So I thought I'd pen a quick update and then hopefully it will be business as usual as soon as I've got my groove on at the new ship :D

I miss writing my nonsense! How else am I gonna remember stuff when I'm 80?! haha

Take care of yourself... aaaaand each other ;)

*The M6 (for non UK residents) is the WORST MOTORWAY EVER! Lol That is to say a cruel mistress that is the only main road from the Midlands to the North West of England and BOY does it get a lot of traffic... I avoid this bad boy if I can because everyday a lorry crashes into someone or something and the M6 becomes a car park! Add this to the "roadworks" that have been going on since the dawn of time (seriously, when is the finish date for this BS?!) and you're on a serious go-slow in life! And now I get to ride this b*tch everyday to and from work! Wooooo! Watch me at 20mph in the fast lane! Lol :(((

So long and thanks for all the fish...

2010-10-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

Prologue Dec 2010: I wrote this entry at the end of September. I guess I forgot to finish it in the hubbub of finishing work, or perhaps I wasn't sure if I should publish it. Anyhow I just rediscovered it and thought I'd round it up and publish :)

Today is my last day at Smooth Radio... after almost 3 years of getting up at ridiculous o'clock to eat biscuits and make radio with Nick Piercey it's all over!

I am lucky enough to have found a new job... and when I say lucky, I truly mean it, the jobs market in radio is fierce since all the groups shed sackfuls of talented staff over the last 2 years...

Having faced unemployment over the last few weeks I have had a lot of time to reflect on what I might want to do should another radio gig not work out... I must say other than wannabe rock star I was at a loss as to what I'd do with myself!

At a recent (and successful) job interview they asked me what I'd like to be doing in 3/4 years time (that old chestnut!) and I said I'd like to be still making radio! I've been making radio since I was 15yrs old! (oh you really don't want to hear those tapes! Lol)

And even though I have worked in other jobs before I signed up to working in radio full time, and while I know that I would always find something to do that paid the bills, there are no words to express why I love working in radio so much... I think others who work in it would agree it feels a bit like a bug you've caught, almost impossible to shake off, regardless of job insecurity and terrible wages! Most of the people I have met working in this industry over the last 8 years have been so lovely... and all addicted to working in radio!

Epilogue: I am 9 weeks into my new job and it's going great.. i still love making radio and i still have high hopes to get to the almighty Radio2, altho will they appreciate it when i tell them i loved them before it was cool to do so! Lol I just had a conversation with a new radio recruit about how tough it is out there and he was shocked and appalled - oops! i told him hey you can get on in radio you just have to want it beyond any material things haha i think any industry that makes it near impossible for new blood to trickle in will die of old age and lack of fresh ideas.. not cool ! it seems that the bean counters have ruined another industry.. they always win! but on the flip side, because its so difficult we're left with a bunch of people who really want to be there and really love it - right?! ;)

Turn on, tune in and never quit!

my friend done a blog

2010-09-13T01:59:00.000-07:00

about one of my favourite subjects too... cakes! :)

http://cupcakesetal.blogspot.com/

holding ya nerve

2010-08-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

so i am facing a period of 'resting' as an actor might say.. yes, i shall soon be in between jobs!

it's been a while since i was a job seeker... almost 3 years ago i was almost unemployed when i moved to Brum but i managed to get a last minute reprieve and a job at Smooth Towers... so the last time i was out of work was about 2001 and that was only for a few months before i landed at Radio Juice* but i remember the boredom and lack of cash as the biggest problems... i signed up for free classes in 'stress management' and Microsoft Powerpoint just to get out of the house... but i had to count the pennies for busfare! my poor housemate would get home from work and i'd talk her head off cos i had been home alone all day! lol (she is a saint that girl) - this was before internet was as 'affordable' and cost per minute so at least come October I'll have Twitter and Facebook to keep me company! lol

having this break makes you inevitably take stock and seek advice from those around you... what to do next? my industry has taken quite a knock or three in the last couple of years and too many people for my liking are keen to push me to do something else! but i love doing what i do and it seems a bit previous to say i'll quit now cos the going got tough! lol i suppose in 6 months if i was still watching daytime TV and chatting on FB i might need to change direction in life, but to give up at the first hurdle seems... unseemly! certainly i hope i'm made of tougher stuff! but i suppose it means i'm thinking about what other stuff may fulfill me and earn me money should the situ arise...

you may recall i have a new electric guitar so mostly i'm looking fwd to lots of practice time! lol but infact maybe my geet is the new career on the horizon! the new roadie on the block ;) and my mum is gonna give me some insight into the sewing machine - i could be the next big name in shift dresses! lol it certainly is giving me plenty to think about.. 'know thyself' being the ultimate enlightenment... and yet navel gazing a little indulgent if left unchecked! lol

*bless them halcyon Brighton days!

Eating for England

2010-08-27T02:59:00.000-07:00

I shall attempt today to eat only classic English fodder!

I have begun my quest with that traditional English brunch: Beans on toast... I can't properly explain how tasty and comforting it was! haha Perhaps it's simply belly nostalgia! I've been eating beans on toast for so long that now it seems like an old friend... it's cheap and cheerful... not too naughty... is good at any time of day... it's a bit of an easy feed too, so that's always going to help... open tin... tip beans into bowl... pop toast in toaster... nuke beans for 2 mins... butter up that toast... tip beans on toast season with black pepper... good times! haha (you can taste it can't you? you're gonna have it for your tea aren't you?!!)

So what for lunch? I have my eye on fish & chips* for tea! Perhaps egg & soldiers for lunch... don't really fancy eggs tho today... could do bangers & mash** but had some bangers on Tuesday and they weren't that nice... don't really do that sorta stuff anymore... ooh i know i should have a classic English sandwich for lunch, cucumber perhaps? in little triangles haha with afternoon tea and scones!

As much as i dream about living in another country I love my English creature comforts too much to be gone for long! I certainly hope that Kraft don't ruin Cadbury's, life would be less indeed if they were to turn Dairy Milk into anything that resembled American chocolate!

Mmm, maybe as part of Eating for England day I should have some classic English goodies too, chocolate digestives and a double decker for a treat anyone? Of course that would mean getting dressed and missing the end of Trisha...***

*sans fish obv

** veggie bangers obv ;)

***holidays are amazing! lol unemployment looks better every day!

London Calling

2010-08-12T01:04:00.000-07:00

How much do I love our capital city? Well I was conceived there so I'm practically a Londoner ;)

On my most recent jaunt had the best time with my mate B.. we visited the Royal Academy of Arts and the Tate Modern* for a wee spot of culture..

then headed to see a surf garage band from Chester The Suns ** play The Borderline just off Charing Cross Road via Crobar for some cheeky happy hour Sambucas...

a good time was had by all.. you just can't beat Londinium for a weekend.. if you're a city girl like me anyways... maybe I'll move back there one day when I can face the rent prices hehe

*will post some pics here

** who were frickn awesome! fyi

White Out

2010-07-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

Saw a fabulous exhibition by Todd White in Birmingham Mailbox yesterday... Never heard of him before but his PR guy assures me he is WELL famous! Lol

Turns out Todd was chief artist on Spongebob Squarepants! OMG! respect! and now he's Hollywood's favourite artist... well this ex is on until September at Three White Walls Gallery and he's flying in from LA to make a special appearance at the gallery in September too, can't be bad!

Wish I could move a brush like that across canvas... *sigh*

the joy of random

2010-07-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

i have long come to the conclusion that if you watch out for it the joy of random can truly enhance your life experience... you just gotta know when to grab it!

today on the high street in Kings Heath i was popping to the bank and post office boring stuff.. then at the lights i saw a man wearing a bright yellow Hull City teeshirt, i smiled to myself as i know 2 very ardent HCFC supporters and i thought how unusual...

then i notice he was reading a book about an Italian singer/songwriter called Carmen Consoli

now when my mum lived in Rome in the late 90s and i visited as much as was practical i heard Carmen on MTV and bought a couple of her albums, she is in essence a guitar chick in Italian, sure i can't understand everything she sings but it sounds good anyway! lol

but a random guy in a Hull City top reading about her - in Italian i might add - curiosity just got the better of me!

"sorry, are you reading about Carmen Consoli?" he looks up from his book surprised by my outburst.. "it's just i own a couple of her albums and obviously she's only known in Italy.. so how come you know about her?"

turns out he also had lived in Italy, was studying for a MA in Italian Studies and Carmen Consoli was featuring in his dissertation! we walked and talked for a little while he explained all this and how she had an album out just last year and he travelled to Milan to see her live.. we then arrived at a grocers where i needed to get some broccoli.. he also needed the grocers so i asked his name (Noel) and said 'piacere, ciao'

such a wonderful random moment in life, no more no less... and reminded me about Carmen Consoli - hope you like!

Gay Paree How I Love Thee

2010-07-16T04:16:00.000-07:00

So I been to Paris! For the first time ever! And I can't believe I've never been before!!! Argh!

Loved it so much! And all those French movies I've watched too, how could I not have hopped over the Channel to visit our nearest chic European city?!

The people were tres fabulous, the weather was scorchio and the sights were leg killing! Lol

Okay the checklist:

Saturday we* went up to Montmatre and walked up the massive incline to Basilique Sacre Coeur... listened to a string quartet busking up there, checked the view of the Parisian skyline.. went for dinner at Le Moulin de la Galette (complete with original windmill) and enjoyed a glass of vin rouge (say hello to my new friend Olivier the waiter if you get there!).. enjoyed some pastis at a bar before heading back to our apartment on Rue Saint Maur..

Sunday croissants and fresh baguette for breakfast! Then it was Louvre o'clock and a bit of face time with Mona, Venus et al (plus lots of getting lost - that place is seriously huge!)... Sunday night after a siesta and some gorgeous camembert and tomato homemade baguettes we headed for Lady Eiffel via the Arc Du Triomphe, me legs nearly dropped off from all the stairs but the view was fabulous and worth every step! lol We got a taxi home and met a nice man from Guinea who had been in Paris for 10yrs and loving it..

Monday we spent a few hours roaming the exhibits at the Pompidou Centre, my little mind was blown by seeing Dali/ Matisse/ Picasso up close and personal (which is more than you can say for Mona in her glass cabinet 6ft away!) then in the evening went to the Latin Qtr and ate at Le Jardin D'Ivy because it was recommended to me by my friend Belle.. very cool!

Tuesday me and the papa went shopping.. Dad really needed to see the brand new Apple Store on Rue Halevy - a converted bank with the vault doorway intact! I bought a fabalas French cover for my phone... then popped over to H&M and found a little red dress which is tres Ooh La La! haha

A ruddy marvellous time was had by all! Other notables were the French radio station I found that played Franco/ English pop and had the Autoglass ad in French! Awesome! And on the way in at passport control the chappie checking my papers saw my retro 80s sunnies hanging on my teeshirt and gestured for me to put them on.. I was confused at first but then realised what he was asking and he laughed when I posed in them and said I was cool! a tres bien beinvenue indeed!

Paris c'est magnifique!

Can't wait to get back!

See some of my Parisian pictures here

*Me and my dad :)

Bubblegum Masterclass

2010-07-09T04:01:00.000-07:00

Recently at a friend's anniversary BBQ I met a couple of my their young kids aged 5 and 6 respectively... In my car I had a big bumper box of retro bubblegum... given to me by my mate CF and unlikely to get an airing until I thought of putting the two together! Turned out it was quite the though provoking combination...

Blowing bubbles with bubblegum isn't something you give much thought to as a 30-something young lady, but I realise now that at some point you had to learn to do it!

And so began a Sunday morning Bubblegum Masterclass in a kitchen in Somerset... it'd been a long while since my last bubblegum session but let me assure you it's like riding a bike hehe

The boys both chewed the pink retro gum til it was soft then tried to poke their tongue through... failing to find the strength, we resorted to a beginner's cheat... taking the softened gum out of our mouths and flattening into a mouth shaped piece, holding with fingers and sticking tongue in, then trying to position behind the teeth... then blowing without spitting the piece out again... mind blowing stuff! you take so many life skills for granted.. the playground is invaluable after all lol

after about a half hour we were beginning to get small beginner bubbles but i left them a large bag of bubblegum to practice with ;) when i visit again this summer I'm hoping to get a picture of them doing some serious bubbles!

I'm so proud to have been the one to pass on this great life skill to a couple of West Country boys haha, they'll always remember Aunty Jodester who 'talks funny' haha

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T01:38:00.001-07:00

A proper Canadian treat for y'all ;)

moving on

2010-06-25T03:35:00.000-07:00

I moved house again this week.

Again I say cos let me tell you there's been a few... in fact I've more than likely talked of moving before on this blog!

But when you've lived in Liverpool (3 addresses)/ Basingstoke (2)/ London/ Cambridge (3)/ Kingston/ Brighton/ Sheffield/ Manchester (5)/ Birmingham (3 so far) it all adds up to a lifetime of boxes and people commenting on how many shoes you own!

We were at the last place for just shy of 2 years and probs would've stayed a bit longer (despite it being the coldest house in the world!!!) but the landlady wanted to sell up and now we're living in a much hipper part of town so...

I'll miss my nice neighbours tho, to the left was a lovely couple Craig & Sue and Craig proved invaluable for any handy man help... to the right were Stella & Pete... across the street John who knew about cars and helped me start my battery last winter.. and round the corner Bert the veg man reminded me why you should never buy supermarket produce - it tastes of nothing! been chilled to death!

a couple of people have said hello to us as we've been moving stuff into the new place, so hoping our new neighbours will be just as nice, but it's a shame you can't check before you commit! haha

so the next couple of weeks will be me unpacking and trying not to spend any money as i wait for the deposit to be returned*, boy moving is expensive!

then need to consider a house warming...

*the boyf has a crazy idea about this that involves him never getting a deposit returned... more money than sense clearly!

gimlet girl

2010-06-24T04:03:00.001-07:00

It was my birthday this week! And if you know me, and I know you do ;) You'll know this means weeks of self loathing (why aren't i fluent in Italian/ joined a rock band/ found the meaning of life yet? etc etc) followed by my annual birthday cocktails!

a friend of mine* recently noting my liking for Vodka Lime and Soda, recommended i try a Vodka Gimlet! excitedly we tried to find one that very eve but i had to wait until I was at cocktail bar Nuvo in Brum Monday night for my first meeting with the Vodka/ Lime blend...

but OMG it is a tasty treat! Just look at it! so for my birthday i got a new favourite cocktail and a new favourite Beatles** record!

new fave Beatles you ask? well somehow by living on a B-side and never making an album Yes It Is had passed me by and yet is so easy on the ears i just love it... check them vowels! i have since discovered more unfamiliar B-sides and bootlegs (ah the internet is a wonderful place sometimes) and it's quite a treat!

*/** many thanks R

a proper boozer

2010-06-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

Address: 119 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 7LN

this weekend while in London I found this great little traditional pub in Kensington... me and my rock & roll compadres enjoyed a few cheeky beers/ vodkas/ jacks in here and the staff were lovely if a little cheeky*

and you really can't give enough kudos to a pub that has a ladies loo like this one! Flowers in there, hand lotion, the business!

so i suggest youtake a trip over for a quick pint or three asap if you are that way inclined! :)

* the following night we met one of the bar staff rather worse for wear while at the Shepherd's Bush Empire!

Rock & Roll Makes My World Go Round

2010-06-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend I enjoyed a bit of old fashioned Rock & Roll at the Shepherd's Bush Empire... Been watching the Chris Isaak band doing their thang for 19 years now so I know to expect a great night out - those boys can rock it good!

This track is one of my all time faves...

new old music

2010-06-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

me and my man love a good music documentary we do...

the beeb are particularly good at making them and we seem to fill our digital recorder with these hour+ epics to enjoy on a rainy/ non rainy afternoon... and while watching these stories of music from yesteryear we think 'ooh we really should have more fleetwood mac/ ac/dc/ genesis etc" and a record store browse and buy sesh was organised because we are old and prefer a physical purchase rather than a 'download' - tsk such luddites hehe...

*** at this point may i just say that i had continued this blog and somehow google saw fit to log me out because i logged out of my email on a different account thereby deleting all my creative ramblings GRRRRR!***

we landed in HMV Bullring and had a few ideas of what we were looking for.. some solo early McCartney after listening to an old Fireman album and liking the guitars... some early Fleetwood Mac after my loving Oh Well... some Led Zepplin after reading of Pamela Des Barres exploits with the band... some Genesis because we love hearing I know what I like (In your wardrobe) on Planet Rock... the list continues but that will do for now, you get the gist of the situation.. this wasn't a list of people we'd no knowledge of, but stuff we felt deserved further investigation!

I worked in HMV many years ago on a Saturday in Basingstoke and absolutely loved being around music all day, before that I'd worked in some inde shops in Liverpool and was so pleased to be there... I can't say the same about the staff we met last week, but maybe music retail isn't as much fun as it used to be since digital took all the customers away...

But I digress... we came away with a veritable feast of listening pleasures including: AC/DC Back in Black, Genesis Selling England By The Pound, Paul McCartney & Wings Band On The Run, Jimmy Hendrix Are You Experienced, Led Zepplin Vol III, and a Fleetwood Mac album I can't remember the title of but features Oh Well... (Then Play On it is - I have recently listened to and loved!)

Absolutely loving AC/DC and Hendrix so it was a trip well spent, though haven't had a chance to listen to all in full - such is modern life and the demise of albums - who has time?! hehe

I am going to continue my education, I'm thinking some Talking Heads and Bob Dylan may be next on the list... and if you think I should hear an album just get in touch :)

Sound City

2010-05-25T00:58:00.001-07:00

In Liverpool this weekend I happened across a live music festival called Sound City... loads of pubs/ bars/ venues got involved to put on a great 4 day-er of live music, lots of it free!

My favourites were local band The Mono LPs and French synth kids Curry & Coco which I've found a couple of clips of for you to enjoy :) I'm nice like that...

what do you think?

Roadtrip

2010-05-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Recently me and the other half hit the South West for a few days for a roadtrip...

We saw a documentary about the singer Donovan and he raved on about how cool and inspiring St Ives was when he was a young man and it had a very good review from my mum so I decided it had to be my next destination! Its a fair few miles to drive so a bit of a commitment but we arrived on a Monday at 4ish and stayed til Thursday afternoon so worth the effort..

We started in St Ives and were very pleased to happen upon an open mic night full of locals jamming to classic tunes (and a poet who everybody quickly tired of and talked over!) - what a great start to our little holiday, full of cider and cheered by friendly locals... we just about stumbled our way back to the hotel... the next day, after a short walk on Porthminster Beach we enjoyed breakfast overlooking the sea which warmed my soul, a city girl I may be but I was brought up by the river so water really does it for me haha

We went to have a look at the Tate St Ives and the exhibitions were closed for a refurb (of all the days in the year! ruined!) but we were able to have a peek thru doors and watch surfers on Porthmeor Beach from the roof terrace cafe... We made our way back thru the lovely cobbled streets and bought some postcards and fudge then headed off for Land's End and Sennen Cove...

Sennen Cove was a bit windy but beautiful blue and turquoise sea.. fabulous! It didn't occur to me that it was the Atlantic Ocean, but it is! How exotic! Then we stopped off at Land's End Aiport for a cuppa and the skinny on how to fly to the Scilly Isles the following day... The Airbus holds 8 passengers and is that small! We booked in... (more on this later!)

Then we had a look at Land's End, took a trip to Porthcurno Beach and the Minack Theatre and a quick half in a pub at Logan's Rock... for WOW factor definitely recommend Minack Theatre, they have shows from May to Sept too so I'll be going back! A theatre built into a cliff, just beggars belief how they managed it! It's featured in a film too, Love Story, altho they abandoned filming there when the weather got too bad and recreated it in a studio!

Then we found a place to stay in Sennen and ate dinner at the First and Last Inn in England! It had a smugglers tunnel on display and a gruesome story about an old landlady who got left on a pole on the beach and left to drown for being a part of a smuggler's ring! charming!

We flew to Scilly and the man totally bricked it! he isn't a traveller bless him and the plane was so small he clenched his fists the entire 15 minute journey... i did feel for him but i thought his refusal to fly home to the mainland a little over the top, it was only 15 minutes for goodness sake! so we had to swap our ticket for the 2 and a half hour ferry back instead! and i am no sea-woman! haha luckily for him i didn't chunder...

while in Scilly we saw St Agnes and walked almost the entire island! imagine living someplace so small you could walk the circumference of in a few hours... blows my tiny mind! Lol we had a Cornish pasty (well he did, i had a soup thing, very nice too) and a bit of local tipple and then headed back to St Mary's for a few hours before returning to the mainland... we stopped in to say hi to the man who runs Radio Scilly and he gave us all the gossip about the island's differing personalities, very interesting! he also said he only occasionally misses the mainland for a curry but they get them choppered in when there's a big group! how glam is that! curry by helicopter! brilliant!

our ferry arrived at Penzance and our car was at Land's End carpark.. so we eventually got home to our B&B but only had time to repeat visit First & Last for tea which was fine as the other punters (locals and tourists) in there provided lovely company as well as the food being fabulous...

then it was already time to head home again but on the way north we popped into Tintagel to spy their castle and picked up some mead! it is like a very strong honey wine - omg! not good! lol we also discovered a place called Boscastle up the way and popped into their Witchcraft Museum, very interesting! and my boyf bought a wand... gawd help us!

and that's it.. the roadtrip deets in full! a fab week and totally recommend if you haven't been :)

you can see some pics of my trip here

reward motivated

2010-05-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

i was in Liverpool recently and went to stay with my dad... he had an orchid that had just flowered, no big news there, but then he told me it hadn't flowered for 5 years! FIVE YEARS! what does that tell you about a person? that they're willing to wait 5 years for a flower?!

as possibly the most impatient person i know i cannot fathom such a quest! i don't think i've ever waited 5 years for anything in my life! what does this say about me? am i lacking as a person? it certainly makes me question how i am motivated.. quick thrills please lol

i had a caller to the radio show recently who when telling me about the best place he ever had breakfast (in Tenerife incidentally) he was with a girl he'd waited 10 years for... swelled my romantic heart! but 10 years?! seriously?! lol i defo couldn't do that!

what's the longest you ever waited for something?

vinyl man

2010-04-26T01:21:00.001-07:00

This is my mate Keith, he runs a record shop in Kingston Upon Thames here!

If you are ever in the neighbourhood, pop in and tell him I sent ya! I'm not on commission but I do love a record shop and think people like Keith are keeping them alive!

There is something so seductive about the smell of old vinyl... and don't get me started on the crackle! Just rediscovered this via a recording and it gave me goosebumps. One of the great reasons I love that I am a child of the 70s is that I can appreciate vinyl and all its crackling joy. Kids today etc etc ;)

My first shop job was in a record shop in Liverpool on Matthew Street called Backtracks... I was 16/17 and soon also had a cloakroom job in a nightclub called The Buzz... ah good times! I loved working listening to music all day.. hence my radio bug methinks!

Later when I moved to Basingstoke I got a Saturday job at the brand new HMV and met my first love...

So here's to record shops, long may they live on street corners, full of indie kids, soul divas, metal heads and all the rest!

a whiff of the past?

2010-04-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

my mum has long been a fan of the bacon sarnie... and i know she isn't alone in this... bacon sizzling on the grill is probs one of the most popular whiffs when people are asked their favourites...

but hear this! i, being the vegetarian of many years that i am, am perplexed by something that happened last week while on holiday in Cornwall...

walking down by the seafront early one morning i got a whiff of this cooking bacon and was surprised to feel myself enjoying the smell! my finding the smell of bacon cooking pleasant in any way is at odds with my moral belief that it is inhumane to eat animals... and yet something biological maybe was saying 'mmm, dinner!'

in these situations it's best to blame your parents! lol

my mum tried to be a veggie in the 80s but the bacon buttie proved too tempting a mistress and she had sneaky meat treats when out of the house she shared with her then veggie husband (my dad) on more than one occasion... which must've somehow made an impression on me haha, the bacon sandwich forever cast as forbidden fruit!

i must say i had/ have no desire to actually eat a bacon sarnie, the idea of chewing on flesh after more years than i care to count is actually abhorrent to me.. i love to remind people that Einstein said humans would have to evolve to be vegetarians*, it all comes down to simple economics! i'm the cheapest date! lol so no chance of my being corrupt into an omnivore again any time soon.. but i have always wondered how i would cope if i got pregnant and had a meat craving! the social pressure to give my baby/ body what it 'needed' would be massive, what a horror!

so i'm guessing that pre-13 i enjoyed a bacon sarnie with my mum on more than one occasion and enjoyed her enjoyment of said snack so much that the smell of it makes me smile...

*and they love to remind me that Hitler was a vegetarian... which by all accounts may just be a bit of propaganda anyway! how rude! i never ask people why they eat meat and i am always asked why i don't.. i know it's the norm to eat meat in western society but surely now we're 1 in 10, people can get over it? i suppose it's like when you don't drink, people want to know why because it reflects badly on them somehow... ah the world is a strange and beautiful place...

hungover on a sunny day

2010-04-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

today is very sunny and the weather reports assure me it's going to be lovely and warm too. but i am hungover and unable to a) get dressed b) open the curtains - my tiny eyes couldn't cope!

i am glad to report that i have a couple of unidentified drunken bruises. why is it that you always come home from a night of vodka with bruises?

i've been drinking vodka a long time now and let me tell you* it never ceases to amaze me when i wake up with a sore head. i take this as proof that vodka is no good for the memory!

*this is my new fave phrase courtesy of Dave...

dream a little dream

2010-04-02T05:29:00.000-07:00

I've had a few odd dreams recently... maybe you can tell me what they mean (if anything)

in the first one i was driving in my car in the rain. then it cut to my looking for my parked car ahead of the rain coming. couldn't remember where i had parked it and was very worried about it!

in the next dream i was driving my car along a treacherous winding road through a woody area, that seemed high up, in possibly a foreign country. i was concerned about driving along this road and the journey ahead...

the last dream of a driving theme saw me driving but unable to make my rear view mirror sit in the right position. that is to say it would sit too high or too low but not where i wanted it to. the boyf says this represents my not being able to see clearly where i've been!

so what is it? a lot of driving... a lot of uncertainty and anxiety... maybe that's it, just anxiety dreams... what do you think?!

Flattery will get you everywhere...

2010-03-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

So today I was asked for ID at the supermarket when buying some alcoholic ginger beer*...

THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT'S HAPPENED ALL YEAR! Lol

I know she was wearing glasses haha, but she was so amazed at my senior years that she told her till buddy who had a customer who chipped in! they all agreed I looked 21! good work girls! way to cheer a lass up for a tired Friday arvo!

This summer I'm going to 20/15 haha - that is 20 years since I was 15! WTF?! haha I can remember so well what I got up to that summer... how time flies... and you know you're old when you say stuff like that!

But as your body inevitably decays and your memory fades why is it that we still 'feel' so young? i guess it's a cruel trick of the mind to make us keep going!

*i know! i've been meaning to trying it for ages! and i will report the results of my taste test asap!

Happy St Patrick's Day

2010-03-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

May your stout be creamy and your fiddle be merry!

geetar girl

2010-03-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

a colleague said i looked like i might play guitar! how cool is that? i don't actually know what it is about me that says this to them but i'm just gonna go with it...

i have fallen off the wagon a bit (a lot) with my guitar playing... can't put my finger on it but i just wasn't feeling it, despite my love for guitar music not lessening any!

i'm sure if i carried on doodling for another 10 years i might get someplace... it just seems so impossible when you see a lege like James Taylor play effortlessly, or you hear a lovely fiddly bit on a cd...

plus i'm more than a little embarrassed (a lot) that i've only written one decent song in the 3 years i been playing - clearly i'm not naturally gifted! Lol i tried to write some more but they just felt twee.. have all the best songs been already written?! hey that sounds like a good line for a song! haha where's my pencil...

i clearly need inspiration...

i done a picture

2010-03-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

yday i went to Hereford for the first time - blimey it's far out! and i don't mean in a Dennis Leary kinda way! haha

stopped at the New Inn in Pembridge for a Ginger Ale - as you do - and took a picture which you can see here of a sign on the bar... love a good sign...

but after a lovely road trip i can safely say you can take the girl out the city but you can't take the city out of the girl! haha

whispering to dogs

2010-03-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

this week i saw The Dog Whisperer LIVE! can you imagine a better thing to do on a cold Thursday night in Birmingham? Cesar Millan in the actual flesh! OMG!

he walked on stage and did his impression of a dog wagging its tail - too cute! he made a lot of women in the midlands very happy right there...

before i went along i wasn't sure what to expect, the TV show is great but how would that translate to a stage show? would there be actual dogs or just a lot of multi-media? well in fact he had a combination of both... what surprised me most was how much he talked about relationships between men and women as part of his spiel... i mean i understand he talks about relationships between people and dogs... i suppose he was using it as a point of reference... it unnerved me tho haha

there is something very special about seeing someone in the flesh for the first time after having seen them on your telly every week for a year - oooh they're real! haha and he's so likeable! i tried so hard to arrange to interview him via work but he had no PR time for the likes of me - boo! well, whatever... his loss... etc etc (gutted! haha)

he was a great showman too, it must be pretty daunting to step out infront of thousands of people to give what is a tarted up dog training seminar, safe to say he has big ones... and he made lots of gags about how we love to humanise dogs, hey, it's funny cos it's true buddy! Lol

my friend at work said the name of the show made it sound like he goes around whispering to dogs - "oi come here rover" - which is quite an amusing concept... of course as any good Millan follower will tell you he trains people and rehabilitates dogs...

my seventies mommy

2010-02-27T04:59:00.001-08:00

Check out my beautiful 70s mommy!

That's my gene-dad there too but we don't know much about him so... he does look like my brother tho!

I guess my mum is just 21 here, big hair, love the hat! i believe she made that dress herself and folks i'm more than a twinkle on this special day ;)

i was at my uncle Alan's the other day and talking about how i would go about tracking down my long lost gene-dad... seems i have to get me to the library to trawl electoral rolls etc, all seems very dull with more rejection at the other end a real possibility! lol (yeah laugh it up jodester!)

so he says hey check out these old pics i have and dishes out 5 old family albums with pics such as above for me to coo over! pictures like these are priceless... i wonder what she was thinking when this was taken, another shot shows some serious platform shoes (i'm so proud!) so maybe her feet were aching after a long day of wedding nonsense... maybe she was looking fwd to the disco (she is still a party animal!)

i read an article a year or so ago about a photo website that was asking for pics of people's parents from when they were young... lots of cool snaps were loaded up from the 50s/ 60s/ 70s.. might just have to find the site and add my own folks to the collection!

Dennis

2010-02-27T04:42:00.000-08:00

If you want to know what happened when I met Dennis... just click here!

billie

2010-02-27T03:51:00.000-08:00

i just heard this Billie Holliday track for the first time that i can recall... and i just LOVE it!

it's so evocative of an era! it seems to draw me into a smoke-filled jazz club of old and a time of less sophistication and more earthy pleasures haha

it also reminds me of the rainy days i spent listening to Dina Washington on vinyl in my bedroom in Basingstoke back in 1993 (of all places! haha but that's where it takes me! what you gonna do?!)

i think it's funny how certain tracks can transport you to far off places in your mind.. what a strange and beautiful beast the human brain is.. the flaming lips will always take me back to London circa 96, the wannadies take me back to Cambridge, i'll always remember playing Sheryl Crow Soak Up The Sun at sunset on Pier Radio in Brighton... the list is endless but how does the memory attach a memory to a song?! crazy but fabulous i suppose...

the mix tape

2010-02-27T03:22:00.000-08:00

So even though the mix tape has died a death due to hardly anyone having a tape player anymore, it's safe to say that the mix cd is alive and well... and while not as time consuming certainly still top marks for effort...

i was sent a mix cd by a friend just recently and it's so cool to think of a person concocting the perfect mix of tunes for you... altho in this case it's full of songs i never heard before and no track list! doh! need to get that by email me thinks...

on this particular cd i can even hear the vinyl crackling - how is that possible?! that's something i thought lost to tapes forever! i guess my friend has some fancydan vinyl to digital converter that i haven't bought into yet... but omg the crackle literally made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end... what a child of the 70s i am lol

it's been so long since i heard an actual record... i own many and used to trawl second hand places for those old portable box record players but they were way old and they always broke... my brother bought some 'decks' a few years back and said recently i could have them as he no longer used them but i haven't quite got round to picking them up and now i wonder why?! i need the vinyl crackle back in my life! if i wasn't broke i would head to Richer Sounds this very day and purchase me some hi-fi equipment! lol

this latest cd got me to thinking about all the mix tapes/cds i ever got and and made over the years... i made a birthday one just recently... and before that i think i made myself a few driving compilations... it seems like something i want to get back to... an ex-boyf of mine has a record club i might try and crash... think a few people make a compilation playlist* every month using a keyword for inspiration and then send a copy to each club member..

my jazz guru Chadders made me a cd a few years ago and i still listen to it... and i think if i for some reason had to chuck out my music collection i'd keep all the homemade stuff... it has heart in it after all... you don't make a mix tape for just anyone! lol

having said that - if anyone wants to make me a cd just for fun go right ahead!

*because to actually make these mixes is technically illegal and yet no monies has exchanged hands... silliness to criminalise sharing in this innocent capacity and the reason the music industry finds itself in such dire straits...

Best Valentines Ever

2010-02-19T04:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I went to The Electric Cinema in Birmingham to see Breakfast at Tiffany's with my boyf. Since this is my all-time favourite film this was definitely the best Valentines Day Ever!

I first saw this film when I was just 17, I caught it by chance on late night TV and it had me hooked from the beginning... what's not to love? I cried like a baby at the end and made sure I got a copy on VHS asap.

18 years later and it still gives me goose bumps. I don't know whether it's because it reminds me of being 17 or just the gorgeousness of the movie itself, but it's timeless... I'm pretty sure all those shots of Carrie Bradshaw nipping into her brownstone in SATC are styled on the Holly Golightly version from all those years ago...

Seeing it at the cinema for the first time was a real treat. You get to see the edges of the scene my little TV can't cope with - hear the fantastic Mancini soundtrack to it's optimum effect... and wonder at what went wrong for George Peppard when it all went so right for Audrey Hepburn*

And the boyfriend didn't even fall asleep! Brownie points a plenty! He did raise an eyebrow to Mr Yoonioshi which is only fair (we'd all like to erase THAT character performance from Mickey Rooney!) but he said he could see it was a well made and influential film... (like he would dare slag off my fave film! lol)

And yes. I cried like a baby at the end all over again! How embarrassing, you can't take me anywhere!

*I read recently that this part should have gone to an English actress who died recently... (I can't remember her name, do you know it?) And that the reason she got the cold shoulder was she didn't service the casting couch properly! Eek! The dark underbelly of 50s Hollywood!

not only but also

2010-02-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

i just did a new blog here

i also posted a picture on this blog

now i sleep.

homegrown

2010-02-05T13:24:00.001-08:00

while i was in Manchester recently i visited the Urbis and caught an exhibition called Homegrown, the story of UK hiphop...

it was fab! i learned about shebeens, clubs in people's front rooms born out of racist door policies in British clubs at the time... a music rag article said of them you don't want to live next door to one but you should have one across the road!

it was interesting to think about the rise of a new art form in the 70s, it's spiral into mayhem in the 90s, american dominance, fall from grace and back to the roots for the millennium... funny how everything in western culture seems to be cyclical, like nothing is constant, everything must be fluid and reinvent itself forever...

i later learned that this is to be one of the last exhibitions to be shown at Urbis - that they will no longer be a gallery.. i hope they don't just turn it into another glass office block! how disappointing would that be?!

go see if you are in town before it ends...

eyes wide open

2010-01-31T08:09:00.000-08:00

sometimes it feels like your eyes are more wide open than ever before... you take more of your natural environment in somehow... u know?

in Manchester this weekend i happened upon this gallery as i strolled around in the winter sunshine*... inside was what i guess you would call urban art, graffiti style painting prints of pop culture subjects, easy on the eye stuff... if you're in the Northern Qtr with nothing to do for a half hour pop in to the Richard Goodall Gallery on Thomas St!

but this new hyper awareness is a little disconcerting too... i think i must spend too much time rushing around from place to place, missing all the little things! well i'm gonna make a real effort to keep my eyes wide open from now on... and perhaps some more of the things i notice will end up on here and my picture blog!

*seriously, you can't know how surprising sunshine in Manchester is...

simple pleasures

2010-01-30T12:58:00.000-08:00

the moon is on fine form this weekend! what a fabulous free treat for the plane earth it is!

i am a little fragile after a weekend in Manchester and have indulged in some of my fave crisps bacon fries this arvo, altho i feel a bit sick now, they are soooo tasty!

earlier today, to recover from aforementioned partying, i went for a soak and catch up in the bubbles with my lovely pal Juliet... always good for the soul those sessions... plus we were given a sharp reality check by a girl who is my thinspiration down the gym, she told us she has to have open heart surgery in 4 days and she's scared! omg.. she is so lucky they caught the heart murmur when she went in for a breathing related issue... turns out she had a scar from birth on one of her pipes that grew with age and could have killed her at anytime if it had gone undiagnosed! makes you think about how fragile life really is...

and makes you really appreciate the simple pleasures!

little blue people

2010-01-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

was supposed to go and see Avatar today... it's been out for a month i reckon and i still haven't found 3 hours to spare for 3D and popcorn...

we had to postpone again cos the man had trouble dropping off last night and couldn't get outta bed for the preferred performance time but i'm feeling unsure as to whether it can possibly live up to the hype... i guess i need to expect very little from the blue movie and then it will be an enjoyable experience!

you can tell it's awards season too - great films come and go week by week but with only a week of shows - that i am not organised enough to catch! i've missed so many great films at the flicks this year and it's not even February yet! lol

one film i will be seeing at the cinema for the first time soon tho is Breakfast at Tiffany's... i have booked a couple of tickets for a Valentine's screening of my favourite film of all time! it will be so great to see it on the big screen, that fabulous Mancini soundtrack... just darling! I'll have to put on my best little black dress in honour of the big A...

i digress... if you recommend the blue movie let me know before i commit my bum to 3 hours of cinema seating!

sweet anticipation

2010-01-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

the weekend after next i'm off for a girlie weekend and to say i'm enjoying the anticipation is an understatement!

which makes me think about the strange pleasure of anticipation... half the time this is more enjoyable than whatever it is you've been looking fwd to! and it also makes me think i should book more stuff in my diary! lol holidays, nights out, seeing friends, getting that new cd? they're all stuff that you enjoy before they've happened!

when we're kids anticipation is almost too strong an emotion to contain... too much to bear! i can remember the yearning for Christmas/ birthdays etc as a kid, it's so intense it's amazing they don't burst! what a strange thing the mind is...

what function does it play for a human bean? is there an evolutionary point to looking forward to something? why don't we live in the moment? or is the anticipation merely a cultural invention, something we've learned? it's an interesting question... i may* have to wiki it! lol and if you have a thought on it do drop me a comment!

meanwhile i hope you enjoy the anticipation of my next post... haha

*as you can see i couldn't resist - altho it wasn't that enlightening...

Eastbound and Down

2010-01-15T03:36:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen Eastbound & Down - you really gotta! It was on FX on Sky a few months ago and I left it sat on my Sky+ for ages before trying it out, but omg it's sooo frickn funny!

The Season 1 DVD gets it's UK release in a few weeks (March 10) and I will be pre-ordering my copy for sure!

Kenny Powers is the best anti-hero ever, says stuff that makes me and my man cry laughing... amazing!

Will Ferrell also gets a mention since he produces and has a bit part... but seriouisly check it out, you'll love it!

eye candy

2010-01-10T02:44:00.001-08:00

i have a pictorial that i haven't really kept up to date... a combination of laziness and bad technology - but not this year!

you'll be glad to know i fully intend to update Bird's Eye View weekly in 2010!

hope you enjoy the stuff i post...

no business like snow business

2010-01-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

if you hadn't noticed, the UK is experiencing quite an unusual amount of snow this winter... hehe and it's been front page news for weeks! i mean come on journos - talk about giving the politicians and bankers a holiday from the press!

the picture above is the snow angel i made outside my office last week - its my first one and you can see a short video of me making it here - i made it last wednesday and it was still there friday as we'd had no more snowfall... wonder if it will survive the weekend!

it's a shame snow makes the roads so dangerous because it's quite picturesque and fun to make snow people, have snowball fights, go sledging, etc

the latest scare story was that the snow is stopping the supermarkets getting deliveries and people are panic buying food... a supermarket manager's wet dream then? lol

i haven't panic bought anything as yet, tho i am running low on milk... hope they still have some tomorrow haha

bangs and bongs (or nye 2009)

2010-01-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

happy new year! it's twenty-ten! how futuristic does that sound?! lol

i spent my new year at Big Ben in Londinium with some friends as my man worked the wee hours thru xmas and new year... mulled wine and warm clothing was the order for the day as due to 'people management' the bridge we wanted to stand on was closing at 8pm or full capacity... now folks it don't take a genius to recall that a New Year strikes at midnight Dec 31st so that was a cold four hours we waited for them there fireworks! we literally hoped for Big Ben to bong some more so we could get back home to the warm and some champers and tea! lol

it was fun though and i'm a great believer that it ain't what you do - it's who you do it with that counts when it comes to these great landmarks in the year...

i been chatting to people about resolutions and the general consensus is that people make them but have no faith in making them work! what kind of a start to the year is that? well i suppose i should try and be better but i know i'll fail?! haha shut up! so my hopes for the new year are to continue my gym journey! a flat stomach for summer? why not! i did the Davina: Power of 3 DVD workout on Sunday - omg - my legs have been killing for two days! brilliant! i'll have thighs to die for any month now hehe

i want to pick up my guitar and try to write some songs for my soon to be new band featuring my very good friend Belle on bass.. we were thinking the breakfast club but its already taken, we really liked the rockettes but a troupe of dancers in new york seem to have that too... ruined! any suggestions?!

i want to go places i haven't been before, i managed to get to quite a few last year both inland and abroad! Lyme Regis, Pembroke, Oben, Poznan and Palma! hello airmiles! this year I'm thinking Amsterdam, New York, Paris, LA and Sydney... with some great British beach thrown in for good measure...

i want to learn how to make my own clothes, mini dresses and shopping bags would be perfect! i get thru so many! and i want to get some more Italian under my belt - I'm nearly 35 and I can't speak another language? how rubbish and typically English is that of me? Si, certo!

and finally... the snow has been big news this festive season - a white christmas no less, well not actually on christmas day (don't know how the bookies dodged that bullet! lol) but before, during and after! tonight i'm being sent to a hotel within walking distance of work so i don't get snowed in at home - its nice to feel wanted! lol and i'm happy to report that at 34 i have just bought my first thermals! and not to go skiing! just to put on and not take off until it stops ruddy snowing! i'm not built for this sort of weather!

George Lassos The Moon

2009-12-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

have just finished watching my favourite Christmas movie It's A Wonderful Life...

that mean ol' Potter, Clarence and George get me every year! if only the bankers of the world would watch and learn! lol

i am now infront of a warm fire with the radio on hanging out with my dad eating, well, you know, christmassy things! he brought some chocolate covered prunes and nutty turkish delight, i have provided pistachios and baileys, and yet i still feel the need to graze! lol no wonder everyone puts on 10lbs over xmas!

my only escape will be bedtime!

the man is working overnights this festive season so he will be mostly absent from the eating fest that is the next few days, altho i do intend on feeding him up in between shifts, a chocolate orange won't eat itself!

i will be making an effort to blog over the festives... i am sure it will be fascinating... lol

the eternal city

2009-12-03T04:15:00.000-08:00

Just back from a trip to Rome, Italy... jeez that place is so beautiful I cannot tire of visiting!
I went with a friend who had never been before so I got to play tour guide too hehe, so yes we went to a few drinking holes!

Went to one establishment that is unembarrassingly touristy The Drunken Ship mosty frequented by students on gap years/ holidays looking to get trashed with their ragazzi! Only thing is I used to frequent it 10 years ago so my pilgrimage, while pleasantly nostalgic, made me feel a little old to say the least! lol

And I'm very proud to report that having got in a sizeable siesta I managed to stay out partying til sunrise! The only time recently I've seen that is from work as I'm quite the Breakfast shift lightweight these days, so you can imagine my surprise to be walking home to our hotel after 6am as the sun came up along deserted Roman streets... quality!

More pics will follow :)

Captain's Log

2009-11-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

Baker St: Jorge the porter says to me 'No you're not!'

'I'm not what?' I asked him...

'Shorter than Napoleon'

lol

You see I wear a badge that I got at a show in Edinburgh called Taller Than Napoleon. At the end of the show you decided whether you were shorter or taller and took the appropriate badge. Turns out he was 5'6" which makes me shorter. Stories that he was shorter were propaganda during the war apparently.

So most times people read this badge and look slightly bemused and don't say a word. But me thinks Jorge was French and had a very strong opinion on the matter! lol

I said 'Yes I am shorter, he was 5'6" and I'm only 5'5" tops!' and he was quite certain that this was incorrect but I had to interrupt his flow to ask directions on a messy tube journey (engineering works are a ruddy nighmare!)

But Jorge safely wins the best comeback to that badge EVER!

frockn friday the 13th

2009-11-13T13:34:00.000-08:00

nothing like a bit of frock therapy to cheer a gal up!

yesterday was a bit of a mean reds day, so when i got home from a moody gym workout i had a major pamper session (bubble bath, nails, hair etc etc) but then i did something that turned out not only very productive but very therapeutic... i undertook a frock inventory!

it's party season officially as of next weekend so i needed to see what i got so as to avoid buying more dresses only to wear them once then gather dust in my wardrobe (it's a recession you know!)... a couple were too small, but that's okay cos they're real old (like 10yrs old!) and i've put on a few pounds - thing is they only slightly too small so they staying in the 'wishlist' lol
a couple were too big! yey! haha
a couple didn't really do it for me this season but that's not to say they won't come round again so will hang on for a while (famous last words! haha), a couple were more daytime than night time so they've been moved to the everyday wardrobe (inc the killer blue dress i wore to work today, was loving it!)
and a few were alright!
all in all a great refresher of what's what and i didn't spend a penny - yet! hehe
will try to resist but new party frocks are so cute! wish i could make my own, maybe my mum will teach me next year... would be so cool!

plus today's frock taught me an invaluable lesson; a frock on a friday is good for the soul! :)

kissing frogs

2009-11-11T02:24:00.000-08:00

In the world of girls... we have a saying that goes 'You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Prince!'

A newly single friend of mine is finding this out again after a few years off the market... painfully it would seem from where I'm sitting...

Why anyone would even contemplate a date with an estate agent is beyond me - even a cute one! haha they don't have a terrible reputation for nowt! the path to meeting a partner in modern life is certainly a cluttered with freaks... divorced ones, insecure ones, bitter ones and I don't mean either sex is better by the way!

Human beings certainly seem to be going backwards when it comes to getting along with each other... I suppose the answer could be free sex on the NHS so that relations are purely personality based! lol Then at least we won't have people 'just trying to get their leg over' as it were... If I'm going to pay tax for all the boring stuff they could at least pay for something fun right?!

I shudder to think how many losers I wasted time on in my twenties but you can only learn the hard way that sometimes you pick the wrong partners... good luck single sisters!

Brooker Love

2009-10-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

i LOVE Charlie Brooker.

there. I've put it out there for all to see.

when he just wrote the saturday guardian's guide feature screenburn for all those years i felt like he was my little secret and only a few were in the Brooker Love Club but recently he's gone BigTime and now i have to share him with the rest of the world.

this is a little annoying but i am glad he's doing well. like a proud aunty or something haha

he is mostly marvellous on twitter. especially when narrating XFactor on a saturday night. too funny. what a legend.

Gush over.

For now!

the day i should have stayed in bed

2009-10-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

there are some days in life when it feels like anything that could go wrong will go wrong.

i am still suffering the emotional scars of such a day because i had one just recently!

let me tell you what happened...

i was in Yorkshire to stay with a friend in a lovely lodge in the Dales, it would have been for the whole weekend but another friend had booked me in the Midlands for the Saturday night...

So after a very fun Friday night in the pub (we even stumbled across an Ale Festival! pun intended!) and a quick whizz round the local castle and theatre on Saturday morning i set off back down south...

apart from the 50mph zone with no actual road works being done (why do they do this to us?!) it all started off ok... but then a warning about a closed junction on a motorway up ahead made itself known and since i wasn't familiar with the area i pressed onwards figuring there would be a diversion signposted.

then nearing said junction i tried to get creative and got off on an A road that probably went in the same direction... only for SatNav to make me nervous and turn me back around... after 20 mins sat in traffic avoiding the motorway problem... why i thought i best turn back i have no clue.. i was tired and wanted to get home asap i guess... so back to the motorway i went and immediately hit on a problem on the slip road...

an RAC van had parked infront of the right hand lane and i assumed there had been an accident and drove onto the slip road... but then all the cars in front of me - all of them mind - started doing u-turns to try and leave the slip road, hence the traffic facing the wrong direction being held up by the RAC man... i put my window down and asked a older guy what was happening and he told me the motorway was blocked off and 'you can't get on'

my next mistake was to take this man at his word. what he meant - or had been told himself by another numbnut was the motorway was fast becoming a carpark due to the closed junction a few miles up ahead... but hindsight is a wonderful painful thing isn't it.

i thought i couldn't get on the motorway so i also did a u-turn. it was about this time that the traffic police turned up. i thought well they'll sort things out and tell me where to go. no they just took my number plate and shouted at me for facing the wrong way and 'you knew what you were doing. it's illegal to be faced this way on a slip road.' really? in all scenerios? like if you wouldn't get on the motorway because of an accident? really? i doubt it. but a policeman never told me to move so i made a mistake. the worst thing is the guys behind me knew that he was toruble and did a bunk before he could show up and get their numbers so i was one of the lucky few who actually waited to speak to him about what was happening. what an idiot!

so i turned around again and headed onto the motorway - sorry car park - and waited 90 minutes while they dealt with a 'police incident' on the closed section of the road. after an hour i was beginning to need a wee but luckily i held onto it haha or there would have been another thing they could punish me for! the call of nature must be obeyed right?! not on the motorways apparently!

so now i wait. will they punish me to the letter of the law or realise it was just a mistake and too much paperwork to deal with. or perhaps they have a target i just helped them reach? who knows. i guess i'll find out in the next few weeks. but it was truly an awful experience and not one i wish to ever repeat!

finally a footnote. just after i escape my traffic jam my friend who is meeting me in the Midlands calls it off sick due to a hangover. so it was all for nothing.

there's no justice. i had to write it up as a learn. don't try and do too much stuff in one weekend! you'll only get a numb bum! haha

google mindbender

2009-10-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

today i confused the google account with a google mail account. i think. i'm still confused.

i almost couldn't log in and frankly their pages of 'help' was anything but helpful. i'd offer that it was in fact just more confusing!

they want me to log in using a google account and yet the user name i have is for another mail account... this seems to be okay... sometimes... i may never figure out how to log in again, if so, so long, and thanks for all the fish!

i don't mind having a google mail for my user name but somehow the system they have put in place doesn't allow me to amalgamate the two... which is just confusing.

i had intended on writing about my truly awful day on the British motorway system yesterday. but that seems pointless if i'm going to have to give up this blog due to google's inability to have a simple 'contact us' button... i guess they don't make enough money to pay for that service.. oh.. except they're one of the richest companies in the world.. oh.. oh well..

40 Years of Silliness

2009-10-08T01:54:00.000-07:00

Happy 40th Birthday to Monty Python!

After watching re-runs of Monty Python's Flying Circus on TV all week I've been reminded how very funny they are... I'm particularly enjoying the Colonel who stops sketches for being far too silly!

The Life of Brian is possibly one of the best films ever made and should be shown every Christmas Day on British telly in my humble opinion!

I once went to a Life of Brian themed NYE party - there were women in beards, romans, Peoples Front of Judea - all brilliant characters!

And we've not even mentioned the funny songs! It's more difficult than you can ever imagine to get a funny song right (sorry Mitch Benn) but these guys had so many silly ditties, if you haven't already get on youtube and check out the Monty Python Channel...

ps. If you're into that sort of thing John Cleese regularly Twitters and just yesterday offered a poll in which you could vote for how he might top himself on his 70th birthday...

The Time Traveller's Wife

2009-09-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

love love loved this book! my dad gave it to me to read and i wasn't able to put it down once i started! you know the kind of story you ponder about while doing the washing up/ sitting at traffic lights, the kind you really regret coming to the end of!!!

of course now i can watch the movie which will be fun but gosh - i don't think a book has made me cry* for a long time, and this managed to get me three times! i must be turning into an old softie..

i recommend!

*don't worry it's only a little sad some of the time!

the clooney

2009-09-09T03:47:00.000-07:00

So i'm now too old for The Clooney*!?! lol

here he is pictured with a 30yr old Italian babe... i was so close!

at least she's a brunette! and i'm a little bit Italian... there's still hope right?! haha

going to start a new club: All The Girls Love Clooney...

*recently voted my number 1 on The List of Allowed Celebrity Shags! haha
fyi The Hoff and Russell Brand 2 and 3 respectively! lol

closer each day

2009-09-08T04:08:00.001-07:00

after a summer break it's back and already i'm hooked!

how did this happen?! i was really honestly considering giving up my home&away habit... my fave fella Roman has been 'sent to prison' ie left the series with a door open... it was taking up WAAAY to much of my time and my boyf pulled a very discouraging face whenever he saw me eyeing it up on the skyplus list!

but i thought i'd just watch one... or two... and then bam i was hooked again! yesterday through my drugged-up haze (for something resembling a horibble cold ladies and gentlemen) i watched as Belle lay in hospital and Aden discovered his bride to be was dying! DYING! o jeez, i wept like a baby! lol

and so today i wait with baited breath, will Aden turn up for the wedding in today's episode? will i really watch H&A for the rest of my life?! tune in next time....

haha i would certainly pay good money to be an extra down at The Diner one day!

ah, we can dream...

snow monkeys

2009-09-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

i went to the gym after a hard day at the office and treated myself to a jacuzzi/ sauna sesh!

while sitting there peering over the bubbles at my co-cuzziers (is there a better term for these people?!) i was reminded of those cute snow monkeys you get pictures of in the paper every now and again, little red faced fellas loving the natural hot springs over in Asia... apparently the first monkey to try it copied the men it saw having a dip and then all its monkey friends joined in too!

which led me to wonder about whether the reason humans have no body fur like other mammals is to help us to swim, making us more aerodynamic perhaps? or maybe we don't have fur because we started off in hot climates south of the equator and adapted from there... which reminds me of reading some place about how the Spanish Armada failed to defeat Britain due to our inclement weather! it's a wonder this country isn't competely barren or full of a special breed of waterproof humans! I also recall hearing that the Romans despised our cold and rainy climate too, but they certainly stayed for a good innings anyway, i have a Roman nose! haha

which reminds me that the Gaugin picture my friend sent me of a chick from the 1400s certainly doesn't look too different to me and he was in France then, i guess i have Euro roots which is reasonable given Liverpool's history as a port town.. but all this wondering about human history from a few bubbles after work!

maybe the chlorine has gone to my head... hehe

ooh but it was nice ;)

what would ferris do?

2009-08-07T03:01:00.000-07:00

sad news today about John Hughes leaving this lifetime... Ferris Bueller's Day Off is simply one of the best films of all time... at least John's family can take solace that he made a lasting impression on everyone of a certain age...

in my Liverpool home

2009-07-31T03:27:00.000-07:00

a strange homesickness has come on of late... i'm not sure where it came from except i recently spent a long weekend with my Dad, visited my mum and then spent the weekend in the company of my best friend from school and it's been particularly strong ever since...

only recently have i found the Liverpool accent more alluring than ever before, previously i found those very distinctive vowels unappealing and before my many travels ironed out my accent to a 'very soft scouse' hated hearing my own voice ... but now i've found what i can only assume is a nostalgic pleasure in hearing the accent of my youth!

my own accent was that of Beatles country, south Liverpool - not the harder footballer's wives type from north Liverpool, in fact so different to the northeners did i sound that they would accuse me of being a woolyback! how rude! (a woolyback being the worst of insults, suggesting one came from outside the city limits, St Helen's for example, with only sheep for friends! lol) but for as long as i can recall i would mimic the accents around me...

this meant that while on a kids holiday aged 11 with a bunch of kids from all over i came home talking with a strong Yorkshire accent... ridiculed quite rightly as i was, i took great pleasure in 'talking' differently... that aged 14 i pretended to be from Dublin, Australia or America depending on what mood took me! strange indeed... a wonder i made any friends!

Liverpool is a great night out and has lots of rellies to pass the time over a cup of tea with but other than that having left the city limits to find a place in the world i know that it's all just nostalgia - I returned for a few weeks after university to find it still without real opportunities and left for sunnier climes in Brighton, so for a gal who's never looked back that spot of homesickness was a mostly harmless episode... i think!

new friends

2009-07-28T04:12:00.001-07:00

a friend of mine just moved to a more desirable postcode and i had the pleasure of a night out in said 'hood this weekend!

after a very tasty Burrito and far-too-strong Margharita we happened across a pub called The Cow and its noisy but cheerful patrons...

we sat for a while before we were taken under the wing of The Good German and Dr Dave (friendly locals are always a good sign when in a new drinking hole) who took us to The Studios - a nearby late night drinking and dancing establishment...

everyone at the club (except us) was steaming drunk and dressed up in sportswear ( a charity thing apparently) and it took about a year* to get served at the bar but it wasn't jammpacked elsewhere and the music was ok so job done!

what a pleasant evening i thought, but my friend noted the leering drunken men and suffered a wine-head the next day so i guess the glass will always be half empty for some ;)

*only slight exaggeration!

FeelBetter Part 2

2009-07-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

More for my friend who needs reminding we've all been there and all got through it with a little help from our friends...

broken car

2009-07-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

yesterday a builder bust a window on my car by reversing into it...

it was in the car park at work and i guess if this was going to happen it was the best place for it - you know cctv, building security informing me and showing me the perpetrator... but man it totally pished all over my day!

from 10.30am til 5.50pm i was dealing with various dispassionate call centre folk who all would tell me i needed to either a) wait an hour for a phone (which invariably never came) or b) speak to someone else

and at the end of this day of mental pain had anything been resolved? did i have a new window in my car? of course not!

today i had to hand over my car to a garage til Wednesday at the earliest while i had to chase the insurance companies hire car company to find me a vehicle! then they wouldn't even drop the car off for me and i had to go fetch it from the branch... mio dio!

so when the man who bust my window sent me a lovely bunch of flowers today i thought 'Mmm that's nice, wish i didn't have to put up with all this b*llshit though!'

on a positive note my hire car has aircon which is very trendyknickers! haha

breaking up is hard to do

2009-07-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

a very good friend of mine broke up with her bloke recently so I've decided to dedicate a series called FeelBetterYouTubeMoments!
Here's Part 1:

and while i'm at it

2009-07-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

just incase you weren't sure about the last one, here's another ruddy great viddy i've come across this week :)

how did they do that?!

rollerbabies

2009-07-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

i know that by posting this video i am 1. helping promote an international water brand that doesn't need my help at all! 2. am a big softie, i mean baby videos, seriously? and 3. being a little lazy on the new blog front...

well i admit all 3 straight off - i been busy twittering which i know is bad that i got suckered in to a new trend but man i love it so much! i just can't quit it! haha

anyways - this is really cool so just watch it already! what's not to love?!

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough

2009-06-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

blimey! what a day - first you lose the bestest Charlie's Angel then the most famous Jackson dies!

i remember Michael Jackson so fondly from the 80s when i was bought Off The Wall double LP and a Jackson Thriller doll - i thought he was so cute! i was only young and i guess that's why the news today is such a shock! he has been around for my whole life! i even put that classic lyric 'I'm a lover not a fighter' on a teeshirt when i worked at a tee printing company! and the jackson 5 'can you feel it' was the first record i played on my very first radio show back in 1990! big news that he's gone forever... and just when he seemed to be making a comeback, so poignant.

watch my favourite MJ track here

shocking news like this hopefully makes every one appreciate their loved ones a bit more...