Diversity win Britains Got Talent #BGT

And because they are from Essex I feel compelled to write and post a blog about them.

Ok, I shall admit to never having heard of them until Thursday evening. I don’t have a love of  ‘talent’ shows and do my best  to avoid watching them. Which means I have avoided most of ‘Britains got Talent’ like the plague

Anyway at Lakeside on Thursday, Sophie the marketing guru there said that they had had Diversity in earlier that day. Well, a young bloke called Perry and everyone wore Perry masks and they had lots of fun. Mum said “vote Diversity cos they are local” and like all good East End girls that live in Essex, I did exactly that. I voted for them as they were local to me.

(c)Pic Evening Echo - Diversity

I also voted for them as I felt that Simon Cowell needed a challenge and it would be easy for him to make money off of Susan Boyle or Julian Smith. A dance troup would be a challenge for his money making skills

Diversity are from Wickford, Basildon and Dagenham in Essex (or East London if it gives ‘em more street cred ) Diversity is consists of Basildon brothers Ian, Jamie and Matt McNaughton, Wickford brothers Ashley and Jordan Banjo, Dagenham brothers Sam and Mitchell Craske, Warren Russell from Dagenham, Terry Smith from Rainham, Perri Kiely from South Ockendon, and Ike Ezekwugo, from Leytonstone.

The choreographer is a very talented 20 year old called Ashley Banjo. He is very talented more so than Matthew Bourne and he owes this to his mother Danielle and her dance studio.

Taught the basics of ballet, tap and jazz by Danielle, and then left to create their own style, Diversity feel excited about being on the cusp of something quite new. Ashley says: “Unlike America or even Japan, there’s never been a street dance group to follow in this country. There is no next step. We are one of the first groups to show it is a proper form of dance. We can set the path.” Source : The Telegraph

I actually enjoyed watching them on stage, I haven’t watched any dance since I saw Giselle at the ballet 6 years ago. How times change! I like the fact that Wickford and Basildon are showing an incredible amount of talent (aside from Chantelle Houghton and Brian from Big Brother). I like the fact the the kids in the dance troup have studied hard, the older ones have A levels. They have not relied on their talent alone, they have a back up plan and that really impresses me.

Diversity really live up to their motto “dream, believe and achieve”. I wish you well guys, and I think you are terrific role models to the younger generation in Essex. I shall even watch you on the royal variety show

Sarah

Business Networking in Essex

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£3 lippy, ice cream, postman’s leg and Pitsea Market

A few weeks back we dropped into Pitsea market, to kill some time before Star Trek came on at the cinema. We found a stall that was just cram packed with pet things and said we would go back. Today we went back.

Essex Fm & their Thunders were there as well face painting and handing round balloons. We wandered through the market and found our pet stall. The guy working there made a real big fuss of Spartacus and we were able to get a short lead, a new muzzle and a postmans leg… which is a bone that you would expect to have come from a dinosaur

Elvis Presley via last.fm

We then decided to look around some more places. I am not a lover of markets when I have the kids with me, I find I enjoy them when they are not there touching everything and demanding everything they see, but today Pitsea Market was a pleasant experience. Everyone was so friendly. People stopping to stroke the dog, the elderly chatting to the kids. It was real nice, for the first time in all the time I lived in Essex I felt like I belonged. It must have been sunstroke

We stopped for a while outside a restaurant that had a variety of entertainers in, Castaways it’s called. They had a DJ outside and then a young guy in his 20’s got up on the stage and he started singing. It turns out he is the number one young Elvis impersonator in Europe. He was blinking tall and quickly had a gathering of young and old ladies admiring his singing and dancing. Never having been much of an Elvis fan, I was dispatched to get ice  creams.

I got sidetracked slightly by a cosmetics stall selling l’oreal lipsticks for £3 and shock horror they had some of my favourite shades. I have run out excuses not to wear it anymore (did you know throughout her lifetime a woman will ingest 5lbs of lipstick?) so I bought one, just to show willing. I kicked, screamed and reluctantly paid. Then I recalled I was actually getting some ice cream.

Whatever happened to lemon ice? they don’t make it any more it seems, which is a real shame. There is nothing more refreshing on a hot day than a real lemon sorbet, so I got Screwballs instead. After being called love, darling and mate 17 times, I carried the screwballs back to Kev and the girls. There I found Spartacus barking at Young Elvis and I think they were glad to see the back of us when we started to walk back to the car.

As I type this I reflect that it was an enjoyable couple of hours and was dirt cheap for pet stuff, lipstick and ice cream. I should visit more often.

Sarah

PS Castaways can be found here, if you go drop me a line and let me know what it is like.

Lelipads (Lelli Kelly in the real world)

Why do kids always ask for £100 worth of shoes when you have only a tenner in your pocket?

The girls have been watching TV this afternoon because their swing is boring, their trampoline is boring and their 8 in 1 slide tunnel thing is boring too. Along with the wendy house, thats boring… in fact anything outside and in the sunshine was boring.

It seems like Lelli Kelly have been running adverts every 5 minutes, I timed it and it was every 15 minutes but the girls still demanded a pair each. Lelli Kelly took seriously the section on pester power marketing in their marketing training. They don’t care that their feet will smell nicer and not get hot in them, they just want sparkly feet.

At £52 a pair the girls have very little chance of  getting them, the dog would eat them and I would would have to put my arm down his throat to remove the beads and gemstones… and then they would fight over them and pull the beads off. I heard a rumour that boys are easier, they must be if they don’t require everything to be sequin studded.

I had a brainwave. We would make Lellipads as the girls insist they are called.

I went to Tesco and got two pairs of canvas ballet slippers, bright pink metallic paint, more glitter (we used a lot this morning making vanity dressing table sets) and more sequins. Total spend £9.78 and that includes the apples they insisted they needed as well!

The real Lelli Kelly

We have just finished painting the canvas shoes they look very pink and later we will stick the sequins on them. I think I am getting rather creative these days, first easter bonnets and now Lellipads…

Sarah

Oi, Sarcozy – who do you think you are?

I read in the paper today that the Queen isn’t invited to the D Day celebrations. This is all rather tragic, as she actually served in the war unlike Sarcozy who wasn’t even born then.

Now the Queen is the queen as she was born into that role, her life has been dictated to her by well meaning advisors, less than well meaning politicians and other groups who all use her name to gain respectability / likeability and more income from the association. So, a snub and not inviting her to meet the veterans who lost friends and family is real nasty. It’s being a user of the first class.

Of course Gordon Brown and his lot won’t defend her, they are too busy tearing down a fictitious class divide and creating a class of their own. I sincerely hope that they are not giving Michael Martin a knighthood, a tool of class repression… give him nothing but the honour of public service.

In fact Gordon Brown and his lot are attending the ceremonies, I hope its not being paid for by the public Gordon, because believe it or not the war heroes don’t want to see you. You probably will do your best to avoid the beaches where the Brits fought and avoid anything that could be remotely construed as supporting the British soldiers, which is a shame because any more expenses fiascos and you will be calling the troops to quell the rioting public.

Anyway, back to Sarkozy and who does he think he is… nearly 18,000 Brits and 6,000 Canadians are buried in France, died to free them and this is their French response – no invite to the Queen. Gallic manners indeed.

We still have that law on our statute books that say all Englishmen have to practice Archery for an hour a day on a Sunday, perhaps we should all take it up again and remind the French just how good we are at giving them a thumping when they get out of their prams.

Sarah

If you are not going to the Airshow today

You may want to drop by St Margarets Church in Stanford Le Hope. They are having a Garden fete from 2pm today.

As well as traditional garden fete stuff, they will have donkey rides as well. My girls are understandably excited, Jas is going to capture the donkey and then she and Spartacus are going to ride it home…

Maybe I would be better off keeping them at home today

Sarah

V, it’s back and has been made-over

Well it will be in America, who knows when the Uk will get it!

It seems like only last week I blogged that it was due a remake and that I felt with todays technology it would be fantastic. Well as fantastic as people pretending to be alien lizards could ever be

Here’s a clip for you… Video from the live feed blog.

The leader is called Anna instead of Diana, and she is played by a Sci Fi actor, Morena Baccarin. The show is being released later this year and four seasons are planned each consisting of 13-22 episodes.

It has a new, modern look and some familiar cast members from some of the current favorite tv shows including Joel Gretsch (4400) Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) and Morena Baccarin (Firefly) and Alan Tudyk.

Lets hope it’s not as wooden as the original but still retains enough of it to keep us watching. Because I am a lot fussier now than I was in 1983….

Sarah

Something for the Bank Holiday in Essex – Southend Airshow

Luckily in Essex, the last bank holiday weekend has the  spectaular Southend airshow. If you have  never been to the Southend Air Show you are missing out!

For 2009 it has been rebranded the Festival of Air… it is one of Europe’s largest free airshows and has

• The Red Arrows
• The Wing Walkers
• Battle of Britain memorial flight
• Apache Helicopter display
• plus much more…

The show is staged over the sea and you can watch the Essex skies fill with WW2 planes, bi planes, helicopters and all sorts of aircraft on their way to Southend.

I have found over the years that it’s best to park and ride from one of the stations (usually Pitsea) into Southend, the traffic is horrific otherwise. Rain or shine, the Southend airshow is something well worth visiting over the holidays.

See you on the beach?

Sarah

PS 24th and 25th of May, starts around 2pm till 5pm ish

A new addition to the family…

Although tabby cat, Peppa-Fifi is pregnant with what we think is 4 kittens, Jasmine has insisted on having another kitten.

We were round my mums for Sunday lunch when she decided she wanted one of Mums ginger kittens.

Naming them has always been part if the fun, and we have Niles (I named that one) Peppa-Fifi (Jas named that one after Peppa pig and Fifi and the Flowertots). We have also had Finding Nemo-Aladdin and Ben 10 (named by Kira). The wag likes to think she does better but her cats have been Hermoine Grainger and Bubbles. She even had a dog called Scooby Doo at one point.

So Jas has fell in love with her new kitten and even though its a boy he has been named Angel-Princess-Spike. I shall call him APS for short.

APS has already learnt how to trampoline, Spartacus the rottie puppy is feeling left out, last week he was the favourite and was allowed to trampoline. APS has also learned how to have a bath, that he will sleep in the laundry basket next to Jas’s bed and that he is now Jas’s best friend and constant companion.

Just one small incident when they thought would show him how to play catch… thankfully APS is fine and Jas is aware that cats and kittens don’t like playing throwing games! She even wants to take APS to the photo shoot we are going on this afternoon.

Can’t wait till Peppa Fifi has her kittens, then the mice will really know whats hit them!

Sarah

At last, the MPs start to pay back the money!

Anyone ever been in need of a loan from the Social Fund administered by the Benefits agency will know how hard it is to claim public money when you are in desperate need. I worked with people who were termed ‘harder to help’. These were people who had disabilities, abusive partners, the homeless and many others. Part of getting them back on track meant new accommodation.

By the time we had jumped through enough hoops to get the accommodation, the next step was to furnish it. No John Lewis list here, just an Argos catalogue and the form. We would go through the catalogue and order only the essentials, saucepans, plates, cutlery etc then we would take form back. The benefits officer would then cross out items and leave only what was  essential… cushions, curtains, bath mats, table mats, table cloths – not essential and off the list. If you asked or in some cases pleaded with them to include something like a duvet cover the response would be – “this is public money, we cannot waste it. If it’s not essential you cannot have it“. No carpets, no heavy curtains (essential, when you have an abusive former partner), no mirror to put your make up on, an alarm clock but only the cheapest… Essentials only.

So how come the Benefits Agency gets it right, yet the MPs get it so wrong?

David Cameron has ordered his MPs to pay back the items that are non essential, even if they have yet to break the rules.

At last!

All that banging on from Gordon Brown about being the son of a minister, you would think he would know why the public are upset, personally I think he has been corrupted by power and fears a backlash from a heap of Labour MPs who have spent the publics money frivolously and and are not able to pay it back.

Show you background, the courage of your convictions. Order them to pay it back and then change the rules so the public have faith once more.

Then we may have a whine any day soon from our favourite Jacqui “it’s not my fault, it was in the rules”  Smith, she will no doubt be bleating she can ill afford to repay things as she is deprived, she lacks  a second home / country house / hereditary knighthood…. I really hope she has her directorships lined up for when she leaves office. Can you ever see her working again with that attitude?

There is only so much the public is going to take, whether it’s in the rules or not. You cannot have one law for those in need and another for MPs. Someone has to say “clean your own moat, we are not paying for it”. Next time one of them wants to furnish a flat, send a benefits advisor who will tell them a radio is able to keep them abreast of the news, that’s £30 compared to £2000 for a plasma TV.

Essential items only.

Sarah

Related articles

• MPs’ expenses: Payback time
• MPs’ expenses: David Cameron and shadow cabinet to repay expenses
• Cameron’s victory in the flipping battle heralds big cuts in top public sector pay
• What planet were MPs living on?
• Britons Outraged at Lawmakers’ Liberty With Spending Accounts
• MPs’ Receipts Could Be Published Early

Challenging teens

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I have been practising Bob Nicoll’s giving up the (k)nots in my communication… that means I am trying to communicate better with the children. So far, so good.

I also found that my dear friend Christine Miller has written an excellent blog on living with your teen.

1. Listen - very carefully. Difficult and scary as it may be, try to give your teens a place where they can express their thoughts and needs. Their world is different; be eager to understand and be curious about it and don’t condemn, judge or assume. If you want to make a comment, use their own words back to them – e.g. ‘So let me check I’m understanding you, what you’re saying is….’ (that’s why it’s listen very carefully…) They won’t argue with their own stuff…well, not too often anyway.
2. Set firm but realistic boundaries – it’s better for everyone. It shows you care. Rules can be good news – it gives your teens a very valuable let-out when peer pressure is being applied. If they can assert with total confidence that something’s not allowed, it bolsters their strength to resist temptations to reckless behaviour.

You can read the rest of the article on Christine’s blog and I thoroughly recommend that you do – Living in peace with your teen.

So a combination of de (k)notting and Christine’s wise words mean chez Arrow will be a sanctuary once more. If only it worked on Rottweilers…

Sarah