Fairly slow but interesting week on the old celeb-spotting front.
-Fearne Cotton, Gok Wan, Dave Berry (ugh, I reluctantly use the term celeb here), and Rhys and Carmel from Hollyoaks - at the Clothes Show Live in Birmingham, both on stage at the show and later backstage while we did our interviews/vox pops.
-Lee Mead (winner of BBC's Any Dream Will Do and thus star of Joseph) - at La Cage Aux Folle at London's playhouse theatre.... I asked if I could get a photo with him, but he said he didn't really want to draw attention to himself so signed an autograph instead! (I had to hide my disappointment.... I really only wanted the photo for the blog!).
In other news... I received an email yesterday from Twitter with the subject: "Phillip Schofield is now following you on Twitter."
Sweet!
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
I think I might have done it.
"It" being.... learnt how to make the perfect brew. That's cup of tea to you Southerners....!
It's a proud moment, a huge event in the history of teagirl... So here's how....
Tea bag in first, obviously. Pour water in until there is a gap at the top of the cup of only a centimeter. Squash the teabag down to the bottom with the spoon, then stir and let it sit for a few seconds. Then, whilst again squashing the bag to the bottom of the cup, stir four or five times and squeeze against the side of the cup. Stir twice more and finally squeeze on the side again and remove the teabag.
This, of course, is only for people that like fairly strong tea.
Then, add milk. It's best to do this from a small jug, because straight from the carton often means milk overload. If you are pouring from the carton, use a steady, firm hand so as to not add too much milk. Pour slowly and stir at the same time, until you get a nice, solid and not too pale colour.
If you like sugar, it's best to add this before you add the milk, so it will dissolve properly.
And there you have it. The perfect brew.
(I could really do with a promotion sometime soon......for the sake of my sanity).
It's a proud moment, a huge event in the history of teagirl... So here's how....
Tea bag in first, obviously. Pour water in until there is a gap at the top of the cup of only a centimeter. Squash the teabag down to the bottom with the spoon, then stir and let it sit for a few seconds. Then, whilst again squashing the bag to the bottom of the cup, stir four or five times and squeeze against the side of the cup. Stir twice more and finally squeeze on the side again and remove the teabag.
This, of course, is only for people that like fairly strong tea.
Then, add milk. It's best to do this from a small jug, because straight from the carton often means milk overload. If you are pouring from the carton, use a steady, firm hand so as to not add too much milk. Pour slowly and stir at the same time, until you get a nice, solid and not too pale colour.
If you like sugar, it's best to add this before you add the milk, so it will dissolve properly.
And there you have it. The perfect brew.
(I could really do with a promotion sometime soon......for the sake of my sanity).
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
"Hello, and welcome to the Clothes Show Live 2009........for the fourth time..."
After a gloriously early (hmm) Sunday morning train, myself and jennifereditor arrived in Brum. We were shooting the Clothes Show Live as well as a few interviews/vox pops for a promo video for the production company behind the fashion theatre, the Doll. I, of course, was the glamorous assistant. By glamorous I mean setting up the tripod for the camera, carrying stuff and running like a madwoman (on a deathwish – considering the amount of fashion-hungry women the NEC was packed with) for last minute batteries. And who am I kidding, I bloody loved it.
The show itself was fantastic. Actually full-on brilliant. Of course, being the not-exactly-fashionista type (although I did discover green nail polish months before it became a celebrity trend), I enjoyed it more for the dancing. The clothes were great; having previously done London Fashion Week I have kiiiind of begun to appreciate fashion a little more… but most of it is still lost on me. The performances, however, were amazing. The dancers were incredibly talented (I was going to say that there was some amazing talent…. which is also true – ha!) and the routines were amazing.
There were various ‘themes’ throughout the hour-long performance, including the office party, Christmas day fun, a ‘toy town’ section in which all the models and dancers performed and dressed as toys, and towards the end an amazing and rather dark segment with a kind of horror feel, which then turned into a True Blood-esque catwalk show, with the theme song to the show playing. I do have some photos which I took on my phone, and once I get that set up on my laptop I will post a few. It was really great, not a foot out of place and the entire show looked amazing.
We had the joy of seeing the show four times from various angles…. By the end of our shooting I knew half the dance moves and what was coming during and after each segment ended! Each time the show was introduced by Fearne Cotton, Gok Wan and Dave Berry (who, it seems, is entirely oblivious to the fact that he actually isn’t that famous, and most people who do know who he is, well, don’t actually care), and after our last show we went backstage to get a few words from them. It was pretty awesome seeing what was going on behind the scenes, and I was SO impressed to see the dancers in a big circle on the floor, all munching away on sweets and crisps! Priceless!
Gok was fabulous, as always. The director of the show told him to do a piece to camera, and he only took a moment to think about it before launching into a great little speech about this year’s Clothes Show – a man clearly born to be nowhere but in front of the camera! Then, as we tried to get Fearne and Dave to speak, we interrupted them taking a photo of Gok simulating… or perhaps more implying…. something with one of the half-naked models, and laughing about how that’s his Christmas card done for the year – brilliant!
All in all, a wonderful day. Loads of fun, and I’m sure my lovely Jennifer has done a fabulous job shooting the show. Can’t wait to see it. Not sure if it will but I’ll let you know if it ends up online.
Ciao darlings.
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Celeb Spots of the "Week"
Ok, so the lack of internet at my new abode and the lack of surfing time during lunch hours is taking it's toll on the blog. I'm aware. So here's a combined Celeb Spots over two weeks, hopefully to make up for the fact that I saw no bloody celebs last week. Not one. Not a Big Brother housemate in sight. Oh wait, there was Michael Portillo.....
Aside from an old Holby City doctor, and some woman who has been in loads of shows, yet I can't seem to remember even one of them.... this post's first week was very boring in comparison to the week before. There was a bit of a theme going on though...
I randomly spotted Tim Vincent walking down Margaret St one day... you remember him, from Blue Peter?
A couple of days later I answered the buzzer at work only to get the response "It's Diane Louise Jordan for the voice-over...." For those who lived in a life-proof box through the nineties, Diane Louise Jordan is a Blue Peter legend. I had a lovely chat with her in the lift, mainly about losing our Oyster cards and how we should really register them (I know how to schmooze the stars). She is really, really nice. However I couldn't help but think the whole time, "But I watched you on TV every night when I was little. You're practically a childhood hero to thousands of British twentysomethings..."
So I get starstruck by Z-listers. Sue me.
The next week was slightly more exciting....
- Fiona Phillips (ex-GMTV sofa-sitter)
When I saw her name on our day sheet I gasped and said "Fiona Phillips? Of GMTV fame?" to which my colleagues simply raised an eyebrow each. I really need to reevaluate my life.
- Sheikh Mohammed (Ruler of Dubai)
Ok, so I clearly googled this one to see who would be travelling through Soho in a massive convoy with a million police escorts.... but turns out it was this guy. His convoy looked to be carrying the rest of his family, but it could have just been his delegates. Anyway, it was quite cool to see. Fifth richest man in the world or sammink.
- Kate Winslet.
Oh yeah.... I bloody did. It was really cool, she was on Wardour St shopping with her kids and was just getting her 'people' to pack stuff into the car, and telling them it needed to be packed "really flat"... whatever it was. She looked lovely, not too glam, just a nooormal mum (Sorry... I really couldn't resist the Katy Brand reference). I did consider taking a quick pic, which would have definitely got me £200 from Heat magazine. But she was with her kids, and it didn't seem right.
And then I kicked myself all the way home. Balls.
Aside from an old Holby City doctor, and some woman who has been in loads of shows, yet I can't seem to remember even one of them.... this post's first week was very boring in comparison to the week before. There was a bit of a theme going on though...
I randomly spotted Tim Vincent walking down Margaret St one day... you remember him, from Blue Peter?
A couple of days later I answered the buzzer at work only to get the response "It's Diane Louise Jordan for the voice-over...." For those who lived in a life-proof box through the nineties, Diane Louise Jordan is a Blue Peter legend. I had a lovely chat with her in the lift, mainly about losing our Oyster cards and how we should really register them (I know how to schmooze the stars). She is really, really nice. However I couldn't help but think the whole time, "But I watched you on TV every night when I was little. You're practically a childhood hero to thousands of British twentysomethings..."
So I get starstruck by Z-listers. Sue me.
The next week was slightly more exciting....
- Fiona Phillips (ex-GMTV sofa-sitter)
When I saw her name on our day sheet I gasped and said "Fiona Phillips? Of GMTV fame?" to which my colleagues simply raised an eyebrow each. I really need to reevaluate my life.
- Sheikh Mohammed (Ruler of Dubai)
Ok, so I clearly googled this one to see who would be travelling through Soho in a massive convoy with a million police escorts.... but turns out it was this guy. His convoy looked to be carrying the rest of his family, but it could have just been his delegates. Anyway, it was quite cool to see. Fifth richest man in the world or sammink.
- Kate Winslet.
Oh yeah.... I bloody did. It was really cool, she was on Wardour St shopping with her kids and was just getting her 'people' to pack stuff into the car, and telling them it needed to be packed "really flat"... whatever it was. She looked lovely, not too glam, just a nooormal mum (Sorry... I really couldn't resist the Katy Brand reference). I did consider taking a quick pic, which would have definitely got me £200 from Heat magazine. But she was with her kids, and it didn't seem right.
And then I kicked myself all the way home. Balls.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
It's surprising, the things you'll do for Michael Portillo...
I'm sleep deprived. Hell, I'm life-deprived right now.
Last week I was on the late shift, which naturally ended up finishing slightly later each night than planned. Then I worked the weekend. I was supposed to go and see New Moon on Saturday evening. But I had to work later. Then I worked 12 hours on Sunday. I got a free Thai meal out of it. But it still felt pretty rubbish.
On the up side, I did manage to watch the X Factor - since there wasn't a lot to do, I had it on in the background! And little lamb Lloyd got the boot, rightly so of course. Considering his..... quality of talent?... I had half expected them to start bargaining off Lloyd votes on offer. Perhaps a reduced price, or even two for one?
So. It's now the end of an eleven day week. All in all my first weekend of work went fairly well, but it is surprising the effect it has on you. On tuesday I nearly fainted, and had to go home early. That was nice. But I've been working in our second building all week, which is a really nice working environment; much more homely and relaxed.
Relaxed, of course, until it came to doing lunches on Thursday. Michael Portillo was in - a lovely fella really, though obviously well used to the somewhat 'celebrity' lifestyle. So here's a few things you might not have known about Michael Portillo (and probably wouldn't actually care to know, but clearly I'm going to tell you anyway!).
He likes a mixture of tea (white, no sugar) and cafatiere coffee (again, white, no sugar) throughout the day. Later in the day, after recording his VO for a good few hours, he opted for a camomile tea. I tried to ask if he wanted milk - which luckily I had brought along in a seperate jug - but he couldn't hear me through his headphones. Some very obvious hand signals later and we established that he didn't. All in all he was very polite, generally a nice guy.
I was slightly miffed when, after travelling in one direction for his colleague's lunches, I had to then sprint in totally the other direction for his food. Nothing to do with him, of course, just bad luck.
And when Michael Portillo wants his second chicken tikka masala (with pilau rice and mango chutney) of the week, what you gonna do?
Last week I was on the late shift, which naturally ended up finishing slightly later each night than planned. Then I worked the weekend. I was supposed to go and see New Moon on Saturday evening. But I had to work later. Then I worked 12 hours on Sunday. I got a free Thai meal out of it. But it still felt pretty rubbish.
On the up side, I did manage to watch the X Factor - since there wasn't a lot to do, I had it on in the background! And little lamb Lloyd got the boot, rightly so of course. Considering his..... quality of talent?... I had half expected them to start bargaining off Lloyd votes on offer. Perhaps a reduced price, or even two for one?
So. It's now the end of an eleven day week. All in all my first weekend of work went fairly well, but it is surprising the effect it has on you. On tuesday I nearly fainted, and had to go home early. That was nice. But I've been working in our second building all week, which is a really nice working environment; much more homely and relaxed.
Relaxed, of course, until it came to doing lunches on Thursday. Michael Portillo was in - a lovely fella really, though obviously well used to the somewhat 'celebrity' lifestyle. So here's a few things you might not have known about Michael Portillo (and probably wouldn't actually care to know, but clearly I'm going to tell you anyway!).
He likes a mixture of tea (white, no sugar) and cafatiere coffee (again, white, no sugar) throughout the day. Later in the day, after recording his VO for a good few hours, he opted for a camomile tea. I tried to ask if he wanted milk - which luckily I had brought along in a seperate jug - but he couldn't hear me through his headphones. Some very obvious hand signals later and we established that he didn't. All in all he was very polite, generally a nice guy.
I was slightly miffed when, after travelling in one direction for his colleague's lunches, I had to then sprint in totally the other direction for his food. Nothing to do with him, of course, just bad luck.
And when Michael Portillo wants his second chicken tikka masala (with pilau rice and mango chutney) of the week, what you gonna do?
Thursday, 26 November 2009
"Good morning... irrationally scared receptionist speaking?"
Yesterday came the moment I'd been dreading for the past four weeks (yes I know, four weeks already). I had to cover our receptionist for the first time.
There are three runners at our company and one receptionist, and we all have to squish our lunch breaks into the afternoon, so when the receptionist goes on her break one of us covers the desk for her. I'd managed to escape doing it so far (less 'escaped' and more wasn't asked because I didn't know what the hell I was doing!), but, rightly so, my time to learn finally came.
I've been sitting on reception in our second building since my first day, but there's more to do on the main reception, so naturally I was... well, insert your own faeces-related obscenity. The job in it's entirety would probably prove damn near impossible for me, but covering for an hour, I knew, wasn't going to be all that bad. Basically I answer the phone, transfer calls to staff and clients, take messages, book couriers, log/dispatch tapes and generally be front of house. And, you know, it went ok. Although booking my first courier was bloody scary and could have gone much more smoothly - although tonight, as a result, I booked two, and each went perfectly!
It wasn't until afterwards that I realised just how irrational I was being. One of my bosses said she'd never seen someone look so scared! And I was. But then, when talking to a colleague in the kitchen after my ordeal was over, I realised that this fairly small thing - which, granted, does carry a lot of pressure when there isn't really room for mistakes - scared me more than all of the other, much bigger, less ordinary that I've done and am doing.
Should I travel through seven airports and take two mammoth bus journeys without really knowing where the hell I'm going? Yeah alright. Today you're going to be our sound assistant, which potentially could have a big effect on several takes of our film, alright? Yeah... alright. Wanna film Clothes Show Live with me? Yeah, course (Haven't told you that bit yet, have I!).
This stuff. No probs. Some nerves, but more excitement and total willingness. Covering reception? I'd rather not. Ok, so I did it again today and it went fine. I'm getting the hang of the phone, what to do and what to ask and whatnot, as well as getting to know the system much better. So generally the worst is over, and I should be fine now.
But it's funny. It's funny that the stuff you wouldn't expect to be that scary frightens me much much more than some stuff that would make some people run a mile.
I'm basically just a bit of a silly goose.
There are three runners at our company and one receptionist, and we all have to squish our lunch breaks into the afternoon, so when the receptionist goes on her break one of us covers the desk for her. I'd managed to escape doing it so far (less 'escaped' and more wasn't asked because I didn't know what the hell I was doing!), but, rightly so, my time to learn finally came.
I've been sitting on reception in our second building since my first day, but there's more to do on the main reception, so naturally I was... well, insert your own faeces-related obscenity. The job in it's entirety would probably prove damn near impossible for me, but covering for an hour, I knew, wasn't going to be all that bad. Basically I answer the phone, transfer calls to staff and clients, take messages, book couriers, log/dispatch tapes and generally be front of house. And, you know, it went ok. Although booking my first courier was bloody scary and could have gone much more smoothly - although tonight, as a result, I booked two, and each went perfectly!
It wasn't until afterwards that I realised just how irrational I was being. One of my bosses said she'd never seen someone look so scared! And I was. But then, when talking to a colleague in the kitchen after my ordeal was over, I realised that this fairly small thing - which, granted, does carry a lot of pressure when there isn't really room for mistakes - scared me more than all of the other, much bigger, less ordinary that I've done and am doing.
Should I travel through seven airports and take two mammoth bus journeys without really knowing where the hell I'm going? Yeah alright. Today you're going to be our sound assistant, which potentially could have a big effect on several takes of our film, alright? Yeah... alright. Wanna film Clothes Show Live with me? Yeah, course (Haven't told you that bit yet, have I!).
This stuff. No probs. Some nerves, but more excitement and total willingness. Covering reception? I'd rather not. Ok, so I did it again today and it went fine. I'm getting the hang of the phone, what to do and what to ask and whatnot, as well as getting to know the system much better. So generally the worst is over, and I should be fine now.
But it's funny. It's funny that the stuff you wouldn't expect to be that scary frightens me much much more than some stuff that would make some people run a mile.
I'm basically just a bit of a silly goose.
(Well Overdue) Celeb Spots of the Week...
Apologies. This post is a tidge late. Well, two weeks late. But here's all the goss from my best week so far for celeb spots. I must admit I was dubious as to the future of Celeb Spots of the Week after a few days of celebrity-less-ness.
And then came David Haye. I was walking to work one morning down Regent St when a black cab stopped about 20 yards ahead of me and out stepped a tall, muscular man with corn-rows and a bandaged hand. I thought to myself, "No.... surely that can't be David "The Haymaker" Haye, Heavyweight Champion of the World, as of last Saturday's amazing win against the huuuge and ogre-like Nikolai Valuev?"
Ok, so it all happened a little quicker than that. I whipped out my notepad and pen and said "Excuse me? Can I please get your autograph?" He was really lovely. Really nice. I asked how his hand was and said I'd watched the fight, and he chatted away about how he'd done the same thing to his hand a few years ago too. And then we went our seperate ways.
I later pulled out the autograph to look at it, and had to laugh.
"To Ash. Stay sexy. David Haye x x x"
Awesome.
"So..." you're now asking yourselves, "...surely that's the only A-lister for one week's worth of celeb spots?" How wrong you are.
Whilst out on a run for work the following Friday I walked past HMV on Oxford St and saw a poster advertising Russell Brand's DVD signing that evening. So, naturally, I legged it round there after work and joined the ma-hussive queue of Russel-and-his-ball-bags fans. He did a half-hour Q&A sesh which was, of course, really bloody funny - at one point he plucked three-year-old Brendon out of the audience and - after being very cute with him - asked him if he thought the new DVD was any good, to which he replied "Mmmm." Russell said goodbye, passed him back to his parents and said to one of his guys, "That boy is not a good marketing ploy. Have him killed." In all it's inappropriateness, absolutely hilarious.
I finally got to meet him after queueing for an hour and a half. I passed him my DVD sleeve, said hello, and he said "Come in for a cuddle..." Awesome? Ya-huh. He said thanks for buying his DVD, I said thanks for signing it. And that was that. Short but very, very sweet.
And then. THEN. There was Cheryl. See earlier post named "Hey" for the deets. But there was eye contact. There was hand contact. There was a smile and a "Hey." Basically Ash = happy bunny.
Clearly with me being at The X Factor there were a few more spots, so here'y'are....
Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh (obv.)
All 10 X Factor finalists.
Sinitta.
Brian Friedman (celeb? debatable)
Chico (again.... debatable)
Dermot O'Leary
Holly Willoughby
N Dubs (sat quite near them in the audience!)
"What? Not more A-listers, surely?"
Yup, 'fraid so....
Brian May & Roger Taylor (uuuuuber cool)
Mariah Carey
And that's yer lot.
Cheerio.
And then came David Haye. I was walking to work one morning down Regent St when a black cab stopped about 20 yards ahead of me and out stepped a tall, muscular man with corn-rows and a bandaged hand. I thought to myself, "No.... surely that can't be David "The Haymaker" Haye, Heavyweight Champion of the World, as of last Saturday's amazing win against the huuuge and ogre-like Nikolai Valuev?"
Ok, so it all happened a little quicker than that. I whipped out my notepad and pen and said "Excuse me? Can I please get your autograph?" He was really lovely. Really nice. I asked how his hand was and said I'd watched the fight, and he chatted away about how he'd done the same thing to his hand a few years ago too. And then we went our seperate ways.
I later pulled out the autograph to look at it, and had to laugh.
"To Ash. Stay sexy. David Haye x x x"
Awesome.
"So..." you're now asking yourselves, "...surely that's the only A-lister for one week's worth of celeb spots?" How wrong you are.
Whilst out on a run for work the following Friday I walked past HMV on Oxford St and saw a poster advertising Russell Brand's DVD signing that evening. So, naturally, I legged it round there after work and joined the ma-hussive queue of Russel-and-his-ball-bags fans. He did a half-hour Q&A sesh which was, of course, really bloody funny - at one point he plucked three-year-old Brendon out of the audience and - after being very cute with him - asked him if he thought the new DVD was any good, to which he replied "Mmmm." Russell said goodbye, passed him back to his parents and said to one of his guys, "That boy is not a good marketing ploy. Have him killed." In all it's inappropriateness, absolutely hilarious.
I finally got to meet him after queueing for an hour and a half. I passed him my DVD sleeve, said hello, and he said "Come in for a cuddle..." Awesome? Ya-huh. He said thanks for buying his DVD, I said thanks for signing it. And that was that. Short but very, very sweet.
And then. THEN. There was Cheryl. See earlier post named "Hey" for the deets. But there was eye contact. There was hand contact. There was a smile and a "Hey." Basically Ash = happy bunny.
Clearly with me being at The X Factor there were a few more spots, so here'y'are....
Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh (obv.)
All 10 X Factor finalists.
Sinitta.
Brian Friedman (celeb? debatable)
Chico (again.... debatable)
Dermot O'Leary
Holly Willoughby
N Dubs (sat quite near them in the audience!)
"What? Not more A-listers, surely?"
Yup, 'fraid so....
Brian May & Roger Taylor (uuuuuber cool)
Mariah Carey
And that's yer lot.
Cheerio.
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