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Category : Inspirational
As I sit looking at my garden, which some activity has happened with – inspired by Mary Jackson on her last visit (and more planned once my book is finished) – it seems an appropriate time to check out Mary’s recent TEDx Talk at the University of Southampton (she also spoke at Greenbelt 2012):
Last time I met with Mary she’d been helping teachers to teach scientific material using Angry Birds… even I would like to learn more science then! Connect with Mary Jackson on LinkedIn.
But I got distracted by:
One I want to watch fully:
A wonderful talk from a beautiful woman, who indicates that she ‘simply won the genetic lottery’:
Will be back with the embed code which seems to have disappeared, but meantime follow the link.
IMDB
So, I’ve just got around to watching The Hunger Games for a second time, and it’s still an incredibly made story/film (and further away from reading the book, I’m not noticing “what’s missing” and taking it on its own terms).
Just a few thoughts from watching the special features elements on the DVD, of which there’s a huge amount of interesting content, but a couple of things really struck me whilst watching.
So, this is not deeply thought out, just a few ideas that occurred to me in watching several hours of interesting special features – fascinating!
Got a real interest in body image stuff, etc. and remembered seeing some stuff about this in the press, but here’s it’s academic credentials in Times Higher Education:
While some younger Chinese women responded favourably to “idealised Western models”, North American women felt frustrated or insulted by magazines using models whose appearance was “not realistic and not attainable”.
They were more likely to want to buy the clothes worn by a model who “mirrors their size, their age and their race”, the research found.
Dr Barry said it was now up to the industry to take note of “the case for diversity in fashion”.
Read full story, and find out about Ben Barry on Wikipedia, or visit his website.
Having spent the last week feeling fed up stuck in bed with a massive temperature, and getting pretty fed up, yesterday I finally got around to reading Katie Piper’s Beautiful. Soon puts things in perspective, and with a friend’s child who’s recovering from severe electrical burns, and other friends with skin conditions, I’m feeling inspired: Check out what’s she’s now getting up to:
Category : Christian, Inspirational
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mottisfont/
On Wednesday I took a guided retreat day with Brian Draper. I don’t feel the need to share all of it, but despite the weather forecast, the rain held off from the minute we walked into the grounds of Mottisfont Abbey to the point at which we headed for hot chocolate (and without my mobile devices, so no checking in on Foursquare, or taking a photo of the magnificent building/grounds).
Having just read Brian’s Less is More, been de-cluttering, and looking for better work-life balance (although I’ve often talked in terms of work-life integration), and worked through a lot of difficult stuff, I’m seeking to find what Brian describes as ‘making my soul sing’.
15 minutes on a bench with W.H.Davies poem …
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.No time to see, in broad day light,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.No time to turn at beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
from Songs Of Joy and Others (1911)
Category : Charity & Social Action, Inspirational
A really interesting story about someone who gave up her £100 a month clothes shopping habit and wore only clothes from charity shops, setting herself some rules:
First, I set myself some rules. All the clothes I bought had to be thoughtful purchases (no more impulse buys) and from shops where the proceeds go to charity — vintage, or any other variety of second-hand, did not count. I made an exception for underwear. Weirdly enough, I’m not crazy about wearing other people’s knickers.
The first challenge of my new shopping life was to find some “new” work clothes. I’m employed in a high-end hotel, so looking professional in the office is a necessity and attending a meeting looking like a rag-bag was not an option.
In a panic I started scouring the charity shops in my local area, Notting Hill. To my surprise I found most were stocked with a vast supply of smart cast-offs from locals a lot more affluent than me. I was quickly knee-deep in an array of great skirts, jackets and dresses — and even managed to acquire a Gucci blazer for just £21.
Picking up more casual items for the weekend and nights out — including everything from suede and leather skirts to chiffon, floral print tops — was also not a problem. I soon found that other recent high-street styles, including a leather 1920s-style aviator jacket (just £15!), were easily found on the second-hand rails.
Read the full story.
I just saw this advert for the first time. Having looked at British National Identity as part of my PhD, fascinated by these kinds of adverts:
Also really enjoyed the #Joyville advert from Cadburys
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/731014
What a brilliant idea …:
Academics from physicists to experts on Scandinavian culture are crafting stand-up comedy routines based on their work. But this is no joke. Matthew Reisz finds that a crowd’s laughter is not the only payoff
Here’s an idea of the content:
The nominal theme, tying in with a major exhibition, Power of Making, is “craft”, though the audience could not possibly have guessed it. Performers explore Tory drinking rituals and the “extreme decollete fashions” of the 17th century; pubic hair loss during the menopause; the importance of anti-Catholic fart humour in the early development of printing; the difficulties of translating Danish jokes into English; and the history of racist comedy (the speaker warns the audience in advance that “because this is a national institution, I’m not allowed to tell you the punchlines”).
A PhD student offers a glimpse of his lonely life: “Today is Tuesday, the day after University Challenge, when I get a chance to spend some quality time with Jeremy Paxman.” There is also a song about dinosaurs in Westminster and a polka-dotted cabaret duo, not to mention the occasional groan-worthy one-liner (“Anyone seen Ralph Fiennes in The Tempest? It’s going down a storm”).
And here’s the rationale:
As head of public engagement at UCL, Cross created his academic comedy nights in response to a specific challenge: to find a way of engaging with people in “the great demographic gap” between the ages of 20 and 40. “Universities have been very good at schools outreach and at getting academics on to Radio 4,” he explains, “but we haven’t been so good at reaching the market in between.” Many museums and cultural institutions face a similar problem.
So how could they get “an audience to turn up and listen to members of the university sharing their research, teaching and knowledge in a meaningful, interactive way, face to face and not through a facilitator”? Cross and his team talked to people who ran theatre, music and comedy nights. “We wanted something with content that would attract an audience beyond those already working and studying in universities. The thing we came up with was stand-up comedy – because of the rise of intelligent comedy, because researchers can learn to perform to a good standard relatively quickly, and because you can make anything funny.”
Read the full story and check out ‘Bright Club‘ on Facebook
Category : Coaching, Event, Inspirational
Wednesday evening, I popped along from working on The Big Bible Project, to check out the first event of its kind held by Psychologies Magazine. Aside from snapping my calf muscle en route (2nd time in 2 weeks), I turned up in time for wine (sure it’s a great pain killer!), and had a chance to chat to some of the team from Psychologies mag – always nice to know more about the people who are writing what you’re reading! I’ve got every edition of Psychologies, although I’ve not necessarily read them all (yet!), and it was great at the end of the event to chat to some more of the team, and there may be an opportunity to write some materials! So, I guess… watch this space… I guess it depends how much I procrastinate about it 
I would go to the bottom of these images and read up…:
Category : Inspirational, Just for Fun
Yesterday, for the first time in ages, I turned on ITV, and caught the re-run of ‘Sing if You Can‘ (a crazy show in which people have to carry on singing whatever is thrown at them…), just as Keith Lemon was talking to Camilla Kerslake (looking stunning in a lovely dress… chosen for her by the ITV producers, in case you’re wondering…). I undertook my coaching training with Camilla’s mum at The Kerslake Company (then known as Serenergise; which has strongly influenced the way I approach my life… still decluttering, several years later)… and you can see the way she has influenced Camilla to keep going through anything in this video (in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust):
Not too late to sign up for The Kerslake Company’s next coaching course, starting 15th May!
I’m looking forward to this:
See here for more information.
Read the following by Andrew Graystone (full article):
“Next week BBC1 will broadcast a four-part drama retelling the story of The Nativity. It has been written by Tony Jordan, one of the UK’s most gifted TV story-liners. He was responsible for the narrative of Eastenders for most of its 25 years. And he’s brought to The Nativity all the same story-telling skills.
Jordan has portrayed the central characters with intense honesty; two young people caught in an impossible situation, struggling to cope with the arrival of an unexpected baby. Meanwhile there are parallel stories unfolding; three wise men are following what they take to be signs in the sky; farm-hands scratch a living while an uncaring government takes away what little resources they have. All along you feel that these diverse narratives are destined to crash into each other in some extraordinary event. What is different about this story is that at several key points the camera zooms out and we see the earth from space. There is a groaning sound. Tony Jordan is telling us that in this story something cosmic is happening; something of ultimate significance.
Many people in our generation are attracted to the idea that life is a continuing drama. Walt Disney’s “circle of life” reassures that that the human narrative need never end. It means we don’t have to clean up our own mess. If there is a divine story-liner, his job is to keep the narrative permanently open. But a story that is endless is ultimately meaningless.
Christians don’t believe that the human story is a continuing drama. History doesn’t go round in circles like the London Eye. It is linear and purposeful like the London Marathon. The human narrative had a beginning in God, a historical middle in which God intervened definitively in the most spectacular and dramatic way, and an end that God will surely bring about.”
See the trailer:
I look forward to seeing the rest of it on iPlayer when I get back from Egypt (looks like it’s on, but I won’t believe it til we’re in the air!)! (And for a change of pace, try ‘The Accidental Farmer‘… so funny, particularly when you come from a farming background!
Category : Charity & Social Action, Experimentation, Inspirational
Category : Digital Media, Event, Experimentation, Inspirational
What a lovely video… almost makes me want to go back to T-Mobile (still have 6 months on contract!)
And wow… look how much effort it is to arrange a real flashmob!!
Category : Charity & Social Action, Inspirational, Travel & Adventure
I used to work with Jack Highwood on the IT Counter at the University of Winchester. I was doing my PhD, Jack his degree… and he decided to go out to Cambodia, where he’s been for several years. I always think it’s great to see people following their passions in life, and there’s no doubt that Jack is passionate about what he’s doing out in Cambodia. I went to Cambodia, but was on fixed timetable, so it wasn’t possible to visit… tempted though! This year, however, it’s Egypt!
Been around for a while, but just been reminded of it!
Category : Career, Event, Inspirational, Just for Fun
Scanner’s Night!
Could you be a TV expert? Claire Richmond – findatvexpert.com Ex TV Producer…
Read the official blog from the event, and listen to the podcast…
Here’s my rough notes from the evening, notebook coming into play
Background of PR. Big Breakfast Work Experience, 3 years, 1 year blagging prizes. Moved to make TV programmes ? Endemol (Changing Rooms/Ready Steady Cook). London TV, BBC.
Aged 42, set up platform to help connect experts with TV programmes, can showcase selves to TV/industry… and journalists to find experts… Can’t get an agent until already known… TV already looking for the next big thing/twist/person…
UK leader in factual programming – watch/entertained, go away knowing something… TV Gold = formatted factual show, can recycle with different content year in year out. Everyone loves it – audiences know what they get, get professionals in. Experts, 3 minutes, breakfast shows, etc. Succinct. Experts – authority, credibility, passion to a show! Cross-section of people – those who challenge us/make us question how we think/entertain us/love to hate.
Meets with producers weekly to help hook up with … long & varied, especially gardening, property, cookery, new business, etc… TV helps raise your profile… Media Profile, sales of books, etc… If you’ve got it, flaunt it…
What makes a good TV expert?
Knowledge & Expertise – know their stuff (related background, almost any subject can works)
Passion (different forms, may not be TV personality)
Attitude (think Gordon Ramsey… engages – like or hate!)
Quirkiness/Uniqueness (bit different, mad & crazy)
Experts with access/projects working on (your clients/your world that TV researcher/producer won’t have access to – things that are everyday in your life, can make a producer excited, e.g. follow something being set up/a journey); friends with someone ‘in the know’ can give good access…
**** Change education from inside***
Entertain, Inspire, Inform… in that order!!!
Never go in saying you have a book to sell – if it’s part of the package it’s OK. Think what makes you special… same as if you’re launching a business/a product. Need that extra something that a researcher thinks will make it work…
Production Company – needs to pitch to a broadcaster, what is going to make a viewer want to watch you…
Top Ten: What Next?
What about pitching your own format for an idea? It’s tricky – hard to have an idea no one had’s before… A lot of production companies (some say accept ideas) want to be the creators/owners of the idea and profit from it, otherwise it gets a bit difficult to say who it belongs to. Tended not to open emails that said “This is my idea”… Tend to have had the idea before, or triggers off an idea for something different… then whose idea is it!
Once get known for e.g. Jamie Oliver, for cooking – then can try out his other ideas such as School Dinners, etc… What IS different – something new setting up. Make it yourself & put it on YouTube (e.g. Make Up Tips, ended up on TV)
How do you entitle the email if you’re trying to attract TV – find someone who knows someone in TV. Getting on TV isn’t easy… thousands of other people with ideas/up against! Who Wants to Be a Millionaire turned down for YEARS… can all be a question of timing!!! Networking is key.
Specialist factual genre – science, history, factual, etc… that’s different!!! *** PhD thesis on posters BEFORE a book?*** ***Church and Media Network*** make more of those contacts!
What about regional/foreign accents… local accents are quite in!! Depends on the programme – sometimes it works!!
Posters: September Films: “The Power of the Poster”; “History in Pictures” WW2 memorabilia. More interest in that than doing the cartoon angle.. Series of 6 through images.. tell history through these iconic images… “Your Country Needs You”, “Keep Calm and Carry On” – what else is HUGE…
TV = visual – watch the coaching process – wouldn’t work on TV! People love transformation, has to happen quickly… 30 seconds…
Findadate – Ben – make the news – YouTube, Twitter #findmeadate, then you’ll be on This Morning…
Philip – wants to destroy the school system!! Find some unusual schools – the wackier the better so far as schools are concerned! Makeover – school turnaround (no?), need a result, compare something with something! Need to film in 3-6 months! Over half-hour slots… Kids in Charge – set up a school… Know what’s in the news – can you tie it into everything that going on… …
Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a Queen.
Age 8:She looks at herself and sees Cinderella.
Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an Ugly Sister (Mum I can’t go to school looking like this!)
Age 20: She looks at herself and sees “too fat/too thin, too short /too tall,too straight/too curly”- but decides she’s going out anyway.
Age 30: She looks at herself and sees “too fat/too thin, too short / too tall,too straight/too curly” – but decides she doesn’t have time to fix it so she’s going out anyway.
Age 40: She looks at herself and sees “too fat/too thin, too short/too tall,too straight/too curly” – but says,”At least, I am “clean” and goes out anyway.
Age 50: She looks at herself and sees “I am” and goes wherever she wants to go.
Age 60: She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can’t even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.
Age 70:She looks at herself & sees wisdom, laughter and ability, goes out and enjoys life.
Age 80: Doesn’t bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world.
Send this on to all the women you are grateful to have as friends. Maybe we should all grab that purple hat earlier. Please send this to five phenomenal women today in celebration of Beautiful Women’s Month. If you do, something good will happen: you will boost another woman’s self esteem.
On May 21st 2006, I ran my first long-distance timed-event, the BUPA Manchester Great Run, in typical Mancunian weather (rain!). When I signed up for the event in January, I’d never run more than 2k, and that was all on the treadmill, but I thought I’d treat myself on the first anniversary of coming to Manchester (yes, I moved up 21st May 2005)! I aimed to complete it in under 1.5 hours…
www.flickr.com
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I have long been hankering after one of Cherry’s beautiful photos, which have been featured/won awards in newspaper articles. I just can’t decide which I’d really like, but definitely lean towards the Summer Jewels section!
“Mounted prints, canvases and images for business are available from £9.99 + p&p.”
Particular favourites:
A friend of mine, Mike Macdonald, started truly promoting his photography yesterday, and look, he gets on the front page of BBC News! Awesome work!
Check out: http://www.macmacphotography.com. Become a Facebook fan of his work.
Dr Deborah Kerslake is the owner of the Coaching College where I did my Life Coaching qualification, then known as Serenergise. I went to see Debs for a day, gave her some advice on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. and advised that her site needed a more professional look/more functionality, and put her in touch with Brown Bear Art… and here’s the result. Almost as proud as if it was my company/I had done it, now I just need to persuade Debs that using Twitter/Facebook are fun – although Camilla has so much experience now, she doesn’t need my help any more!
I just had to post about this video, it’s so beautiful! Yes, I have met Camilla, yes I do know her Mum, but I wouldn’t be so enthusiastically posting about this if I didn’t like the music!
I’ll be posting on Digital Fingerprint about her use of social media later this week!
Check out “ToiletTwinning.org“
A series of events hosted by Hannah J Image Consultancy designed for fun loving fashionistas to polish up their fashion saavy in a relaxed social environment.
Dates for your diary:
1st October @ 6pm A/W 09/10 Trends
Preparing you and your wardrobe for winter – as well as covering key trends, we will highlight chic investment buys and smart ways to update your wardrobe.
12th November @ 6pm Beautifully Made-Up
Discover how to make the most of you by spending an evening with our team of professionally trained dermatologists/make-up artists who will share their tricks of the trade.
3rd December @ 6pm Christmas Party Prep
Ensure you are equipped for the party season by knowing exactly what you want from your perfect party dress by finding out what colours and styles suite you.
Each evening will be held at the Hannah J Image Consultancy studio located just off Brick Lane, drinks/nibbles wil be provided and the cover charge is a chiconomic £10.
Category : Event, Inspirational, Winchester
Feels like a conspiracy here tonight.
“A small crowd gathering in an old bookshop, gathering around an idea, spilling onto the streets, albeit in genteel, Winchester fashion, quietly determined, perhaps, to connect, and to make a difference.
Quietly determined to whisper conspiratorially that there must be more to life than slavishly serving money or massaging ego;
Quietly determined to stop sleep-walking through life, and start waking up to the moments of clarity, to the gifts of epiphany, to the glimpses of magic we are all presented with every day, if we did but realise them.
Quietly resolved, perhaps, to try living as if less really is more.
As if you’ve got to lose yourself to find yourself.
As if you’ve got to die, somehow, in order to truly live.”
Wow, this is really interesting!
Category : Christian, Inspirational, Winchester
Are you angry?
Are you “temperamental”: 50% temper; 50% mental?
Barbara Sher
My random wanderings around the web tonight started with an email from Barbara Sher… I picked up her “What do I do if I want to do everything?” before I went travelling, and it was a great revelation (I need to do the activities, although I read the book cover to cover!)… scanners are not diletantes, but exceptionally intelligent with a lively sense of curiosity! Listen to Barbara Sher (geniuspress) talking about ideas she’s been working with for over 30 years (or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/barbarasher):
Scanner Links
John Williams, aka “The Creative Maverick” (first came across in careershifters… yes, this man is a true scanner!) is the obvious man to follow. Inspired after a retreat with Barbara Sher, he set up Scanner Central in London (no, I’ve not made it there either). For the April event we’ve apparently just missed Beyond Chocolate (which I remember seeing on the TV at some point, if it’s been around for a while).
Other Links
What a weekend!
Brilliant, this afternoon I became a certified life-coach, with one of the few ICF accredited courses in the UK, with the company Serenergise. It’s been a very enlightening course, with support offered at every turn in order to help us achieve our own success! The formal assessment was this afternoon, but continuous assessment has been on-going!
Graduation
We all passed, with Deborah Kerslake energetically proclaiming that she was proud to send us out as Serenergise trained coaches, and as a part of the certificate presentation, we were all asked to offer each of our co-coachees an indication of what we thought their strengths/gifts were, as observed throughout the course (which lasted over 3 weekends over 3 months).
Bex’s Strengths
Feel free to add further positive feedback if you know me (as one of my coachees did)! Meantime, I am about to check the train times for my life-coaching session with Debs on Tuesday, and then going to relax (maybe ensuring what I know the week ahead holds!)! Ya-hoooooo!
Last Tweets
