This morning, as I was about to leave for work, you danced into the kitchen singing a made up song consisting of ONLY my name, over and over.
When you saw me, you turned red and said "Oh, you're still here."
Ever and anon, the little things in life have special significance for us :')
You'll always be a part of me, I'm a part of you indefinitely.
My freinds told me: "Jake, you will meet people from all walks of life, that's why you have to choose a good one."
Notwithstanding the distance, I still showered you with a plethora of ardor and care.
Please can you tell me, is this love? I never actually grasped it?!
You held my hand fondness, and dipped a light kiss on my forehead, said:" I love you, always have, always will. I know that I owe you an explanation, but I don't want to hurt you even more. Some things are just better left unsaid. Someday, we will understand."
"Please Grasp my hand, love. I won't walk away from this." At that time, I could taste my own tears with my feverish kisses on your forehead.
These day, you have been always telling me you are working on some important stuff, but woke up not wanting to deal with it. You have a pile of things to catch up on...like emails.
The eyes of the little mermaid seemed to say, when you took me in your arms, and kissed my fair forehead.
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Monday 26 April 2010
Jack Tweed cleared of raping 19-year-old as jury spends just 15 minutes reaching verdict
By Colin Fernandez
Last updated at 2:01 AM on 27th April 2010
* Comments (75)
* Videos
* Add to My Stories
Jack Tweed was cleared in less than 20 minutes yesterday of raping a teenage student at his home.
Tweed, the widower of reality TV star Jade Goody, is now set to cash in on his acquittal by selling his story to the highest bidder.
The 22-year-old punched the air as he left court after the woman's 'scurrilous' allegations were dismissed.
Celebrations: Jack Tweed shares a drink with friends at the William IV pub in Essex after being cleared of rape
Free man: Jack Tweed is seen admiring a pretty blonde outside the William IV pub in Essex hours after being cleared of rape
Jack tweed
Toasting his freedom: Tweed looked in good spirits and later headed to a second pub to continue the celebrations
Last night a relieved Tweed was pictured celebrating with a group of friends at the William IV pub in Essex.
Dressed casually in jeans, a light blue shirt and a dark cardigan, the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant looked to be in good spirits and was seen admiring a pretty blonde walking past.
He then headed to a second pub to continue the celebrations.
His jaunt came shortly after the verdict was delivered, bringing an end to the nine-day trial in which Tweed had been accused of forcing himself on the woman six months after Miss Goody died of cervical cancer.
It was claimed his friend Anthony Davis, 26, blocked any escape route by holding the door, before having sex with the student himself.
tweed
Anthony Davis leaves Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London
Walking free: Tweed and his friend Anthony Davis smiled and punched after they were both found not guilty of raping a teenager
But both men said the woman, then aged 19, consented to sex - and their lawyers successfully argued she 'cried rape' after her friends taunted her for having sex with two men at the same time.
Tweed, who has two convictions for assault, said in a statement read outside court by his solicitor Phil Smith: 'I'm relieved the jury have taken a matter of minutes to see through these scurrilous and completely groundless allegations.
'I would like to thank my legal team who fought to establish my innocence. I now wish to put the last eight months behind me and rebuild my life as a 22-year-old man.'
His publicity representatives are preparing to sell magazine and newspaper interview rights and deals for him to appear on reality TV shows.
Relief: Tweed gets a hug from his mother Mary
Relief: He gets a hug from his mother Mary outside the courtroom
Davis, on the verge of tears as he walked free, said: 'This hasn't been a nice experience.'
A senior source at the Crown Prosecution Service said the case 'was not the strongest - it should never have been brought'.
But the mother of the complainant, who is now 20, said: 'She will be very upset by this. She's put herself through all of this and it's come to nothing. It's been hellish.'
Max Clifford, the celebrity publicist who represented Miss Goody in her final days, said: 'I am very pleased for Jack and his family, especially his mum, who I got to know very well when Jade was alive.'
Mr Clifford, who is not representing Tweed, added: 'I hope this will be a lesson for Jack. I warned him about this kind of thing even when Jade was alive. He has become a target for girls looking to make money out of him.'
The trial heard the student and three friends went to a club night promoted by Tweed at the Embassy Club in Mayfair last September.
The girl had 'a few' drinks, including rose wine, vodka lemonade, a sip of champagne, and a 'dab' of cocaine.
She and her friends were invited to Tweed's rented townhouse in the gated community of Repton Park, East London, at around 3am.
She alleged that as Davis held the door shut Tweed raped her against a window sill, and then on the bed, before Davis raped her himself. She said she was unable to move as her body was in 'complete lockdown' and 'frozen with fear'. She said her 'life had been destroyed' after the attack.
But jurors were shown a series of pictures from Facebook that showed her enjoying herself at clubs and on holiday in the six months afterwards.
Tweed said the student had kissed him in a bedroom before the attack.
'I turned round and she was standing right behind me, we looked at each other and just started kissing,' he told the court.
Chanelle Hayes
Chanelle Hayes
New girlfriend: Chanelle Hayes, who is six months pregnant to an ex-boyfriend, leaving Tweed's family home yesterday morning
'We made eye contact. I'm not sure if it was both of them or one of them but she was running her hands through my hair and down my back.'
He said he did not know Davis was in the room and only became aware of him when he walked over and began to have sex with her himself.
A 20-year-old nanny Tweed had befriended in Spain, who was also at the party, said the girl was desperate to stay at the house after the 'attack'.
The woman only reported the two men out of regret at taking part in 'a threesome', Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London was told.
One of Tweed's friends, Ashley Rubin, was initially arrested on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge after it became clear he had nothing to do with the alleged sex attack.
Tweed, of Repton Park, Woodford Green, was cleared of two counts of rape. Davis, of Chigwell, Essex, was cleared of one count of rape.
Sordid, soulless and vulgar... the life of Jade Goody's 'devoted' widower
By BARBARA DAVIES
By the time Jack Tweed's rape trial ended yesterday afternoon, his innocence seemed immaterial.
For two weeks at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the life of Jade Goody's widower has been raked over in microscopic detail. Magnified, it was shown in all its ugliness.
Tweed may not be a rapist, but he is many other things: a violent thug, with two jail sentences under his belt for grievous bodily harm, a lothario of the worst kind, a man frittering his life away boozing in pubs and clubs and indulging in casual sex with vulgar girls desperate for even Z-list celebrity status.
Old times: Tweed and his wife Jade Goody a month before her death
Old times: Tweed and his wife Jade Goody before her death
It was a cry of rape from such a girl that saw Tweed back in court, although the 20-year-old's version of the evening failed to convince jurors that she had not consented to sex with Tweed and his friend Anthony Davis.
Following the verdict, Tweed stands to make a fortune. He is already talking about his desire to 'rebuild my life as a 22-year-old young man'.
holes in the case
Roughly translated, this means he is now at the centre of a bidding war, as his publicity representatives prepare to sell magazine and red-top newspaper interview rights to his story.
And there will no doubt be deals to appear on reality TV shows, perhaps alongside his latest reality TV star companion, Chanelle Hayes, who is pregnant with another man's child.
Perhaps the 'club promoter' will even make another attempt at becoming a model, a profession at which he has tried and failed to succeed in the past.
But more than anything, Tweed's trial has given a unique insight into the sordid, soulless world he inhabits, and finally put paid to the image of the grieving widower laying flowers on Jade's grave.
Who can forget the witness box accounts of the casual sex in which he likes to indulge, or the description of how he had sex with the girl who cried rape against the window sill of his bedroom, and how Davis joined in?
The details of that night speak volumes about the dog-eat-dog and morally bankrupt world of reality television.
Tweed's accuser, say friends, had recently applied - and failed - to be a Big Brother contestant.
If she happily followed Tweed back to his home from a Mayfair nightclub last September, believing that some of his 'celebrity' would rub off on her, she clearly later regretted having done so.
'Do you know how many times girls round here say they've been raped?' says one of her circle.
'They do it to save face. These girls are just desperate to be famous. They want to have sex with celebrities and footballers.
'They're not educated. They don't want a job or a career. They want to be WAGs and have nice homes and nice cars.
'Anyone vaguely famous, like Jack Tweed, will do. The girls swarm to him.' Anyone who thought Jade Goody's death from cervical cancer at the age of 27 would mark the end of Tweed was sorely disappointed.
A year after her death, aside from the periods he has been detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, Tweed is rarely out of the news.
'The problem with Jack,' says one who knows him, 'is that he's not interested in
working hard'
And despite being cut out of Jade's multi-million-pound will and apparently having no proper job, he doesn't seem short of a bob or two either.
By marrying him just a month before she died, Jade set him up for life by permanently linking his name to hers. And, according to one friend, she invested £300,000 into The Manor House - a club in Chigwell, Essex - to help him out.
'He's not legally named as the part-owner because he's got a criminal record' says the friend.
'All he can bring to the place is cash and "celebs".' An associate says: 'Recently he's only been getting about a grand a night, but now his case is over, that will go right up because his face is better known than ever now.'
But even before he met Jade - the girl he fondly referred to as 'Cashpoint' when she was out of range - Tweed had clearly decided that a conventional life of hard work was not for him.
Born in 1987 into a working-class Essex family, he and his younger brother Lewis and sister Laura were raised by his mother Mary, while his father Andrew built up a flourishing electrician's business, eventually buying a £450,000 detached home in Buckhurst Hill.
He had hoped Tweed would also become an electrician after school - but his attitude was less than impressive.
'The problem with Jack,' says one who knows him, 'is that he's not interested in working hard. He's a spoilt mummy's boy. He likes going out and partying with his friends.'
When just two years after leaving school, Tweed, then 18, met Goody, he was soon drawn into her reality TV world of easy money and fame.
He first came to national attention when he joined Jade in 2007's Celebrity Big Brother. The move turned into a PR disaster for Goody, over her treatment of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.
But it offered Tweed his first taste of life in the limelight. Rumours of his infidelity abounded with Jade once admitting-she felt 'more like his mother than his girlfriend.'
'I am lost,' he said, 'I'm 22, my wife's dead. I just don't know how to handle this grief'
In the end though, Jade's terminal cancer bound them together. He proposed at her hospital bedside and the couple wed at a lavish ceremony on February 22 last year. Four weeks later she died.
But the events of the past 12 months suggest anything but a man paralysed by grief.
Just a month after Jade died, Tweed was jailed for assaulting taxi driver Stephen Wilkins following a drunken night out. It was his second conviction for assault.
In September 2008, he had been jailed for attacking a 16-year-old boy with a golf club.
After being released from Edmunds Hill jail in Suffolk last June, he and his cronies celebrated with a 'relaunch' party at a nightclub in Gants Hill, Essex.
And it wasn't long before Tweed's name began being associated with members of the opposite sex again.
He missed a memorial service for Jade to film a video. Days later he was photographed out partying with a worse-for-wear Bianca Gascoigne.
And days after that, he was forced to confess to a one-night stand with a glamour model.
In April last year, only a month after Jade's death, three members of all-girl band Dice described attending a 'disgusting, disrespectful and degrading' eight-hour sexual free-for-all at Tweed's home in Woodford Green.
Later Tweed tried to blame his promiscuity on Jade's death. 'I am lost,' he said, 'I'm 22, my wife's dead. I just don't know how to handle this grief.'
By last summer, Tweed was earning enough cash to move away from the family home and from his mother Mary, the only calming influence in his life.
He moved into his own rented bachelor pad in Repton Park, an upmarket gated complex in South Woodford, popular with West Ham footballers.
It was to this home that Tweed and his friend Davis invited their accuser to join them after a champagne-fuelled night out at the Embassy nightclub in Mayfair.
With hindsight, it was only a matter of time before events would spiral out of control
There, one of his friends passed out in the bathroom after vomiting on a sofa.
According to Tweed, his accuser asked him into a bedroom to search for tracksuit bottoms for her to wear instead of her short skirt.
Perhaps, with hindsight, it was only a matter of time before events would spiral out of control, that one of the girls who continually flocked to his door in the hope of finding some degree of fame would eventually turn on him.
As to what the future now holds for Tweed, it is unlikely that his latest court appearance will hold him back. And little doubt that the queue of women flocking to his door will be as long as ever.
Over the coming days and weeks, he will undoubtedly talk about turning over a new leaf and giving up his partying lifestyle. Perhaps he will even return to the role of the grieving widower.
Every day in court, he has worn his wedding ring and the trousers from the blue suit he wore to his wedding. It is a reminder of the stark contrast between the 'grief-stricken' Tweed often seen posing by Jade's graveside and the sad figure we see before us now.
And so, as Tweed walks free, expect to see him photographed over the coming days at his favourite Essex hang-outs - where hordes of blonde, fake tanned, acrylic-nailed, scantily-clad girls will welcome him back with open arms.
Ashley Rubin
On 4 September we reported that Ashley Rubin was arrested along with Jack Tweed in connection with the offence. We also reported that the woman claimed Mr Rubin had been involved. We are happy to clarify that in fact she did not make any allegation against Mr Rubin who was released without charge.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1268915/Jack-Tweed-cleared-rape.html#ixzz0mGdTVoVk
Last updated at 2:01 AM on 27th April 2010
* Comments (75)
* Videos
* Add to My Stories
Jack Tweed was cleared in less than 20 minutes yesterday of raping a teenage student at his home.
Tweed, the widower of reality TV star Jade Goody, is now set to cash in on his acquittal by selling his story to the highest bidder.
The 22-year-old punched the air as he left court after the woman's 'scurrilous' allegations were dismissed.
Celebrations: Jack Tweed shares a drink with friends at the William IV pub in Essex after being cleared of rape
Free man: Jack Tweed is seen admiring a pretty blonde outside the William IV pub in Essex hours after being cleared of rape
Jack tweed
Toasting his freedom: Tweed looked in good spirits and later headed to a second pub to continue the celebrations
Last night a relieved Tweed was pictured celebrating with a group of friends at the William IV pub in Essex.
Dressed casually in jeans, a light blue shirt and a dark cardigan, the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant looked to be in good spirits and was seen admiring a pretty blonde walking past.
He then headed to a second pub to continue the celebrations.
His jaunt came shortly after the verdict was delivered, bringing an end to the nine-day trial in which Tweed had been accused of forcing himself on the woman six months after Miss Goody died of cervical cancer.
It was claimed his friend Anthony Davis, 26, blocked any escape route by holding the door, before having sex with the student himself.
tweed
Anthony Davis leaves Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London
Walking free: Tweed and his friend Anthony Davis smiled and punched after they were both found not guilty of raping a teenager
But both men said the woman, then aged 19, consented to sex - and their lawyers successfully argued she 'cried rape' after her friends taunted her for having sex with two men at the same time.
Tweed, who has two convictions for assault, said in a statement read outside court by his solicitor Phil Smith: 'I'm relieved the jury have taken a matter of minutes to see through these scurrilous and completely groundless allegations.
'I would like to thank my legal team who fought to establish my innocence. I now wish to put the last eight months behind me and rebuild my life as a 22-year-old man.'
His publicity representatives are preparing to sell magazine and newspaper interview rights and deals for him to appear on reality TV shows.
Relief: Tweed gets a hug from his mother Mary
Relief: He gets a hug from his mother Mary outside the courtroom
Davis, on the verge of tears as he walked free, said: 'This hasn't been a nice experience.'
A senior source at the Crown Prosecution Service said the case 'was not the strongest - it should never have been brought'.
But the mother of the complainant, who is now 20, said: 'She will be very upset by this. She's put herself through all of this and it's come to nothing. It's been hellish.'
Max Clifford, the celebrity publicist who represented Miss Goody in her final days, said: 'I am very pleased for Jack and his family, especially his mum, who I got to know very well when Jade was alive.'
Mr Clifford, who is not representing Tweed, added: 'I hope this will be a lesson for Jack. I warned him about this kind of thing even when Jade was alive. He has become a target for girls looking to make money out of him.'
The trial heard the student and three friends went to a club night promoted by Tweed at the Embassy Club in Mayfair last September.
The girl had 'a few' drinks, including rose wine, vodka lemonade, a sip of champagne, and a 'dab' of cocaine.
She and her friends were invited to Tweed's rented townhouse in the gated community of Repton Park, East London, at around 3am.
She alleged that as Davis held the door shut Tweed raped her against a window sill, and then on the bed, before Davis raped her himself. She said she was unable to move as her body was in 'complete lockdown' and 'frozen with fear'. She said her 'life had been destroyed' after the attack.
But jurors were shown a series of pictures from Facebook that showed her enjoying herself at clubs and on holiday in the six months afterwards.
Tweed said the student had kissed him in a bedroom before the attack.
'I turned round and she was standing right behind me, we looked at each other and just started kissing,' he told the court.
Chanelle Hayes
Chanelle Hayes
New girlfriend: Chanelle Hayes, who is six months pregnant to an ex-boyfriend, leaving Tweed's family home yesterday morning
'We made eye contact. I'm not sure if it was both of them or one of them but she was running her hands through my hair and down my back.'
He said he did not know Davis was in the room and only became aware of him when he walked over and began to have sex with her himself.
A 20-year-old nanny Tweed had befriended in Spain, who was also at the party, said the girl was desperate to stay at the house after the 'attack'.
The woman only reported the two men out of regret at taking part in 'a threesome', Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London was told.
One of Tweed's friends, Ashley Rubin, was initially arrested on suspicion of rape, but was released without charge after it became clear he had nothing to do with the alleged sex attack.
Tweed, of Repton Park, Woodford Green, was cleared of two counts of rape. Davis, of Chigwell, Essex, was cleared of one count of rape.
Sordid, soulless and vulgar... the life of Jade Goody's 'devoted' widower
By BARBARA DAVIES
By the time Jack Tweed's rape trial ended yesterday afternoon, his innocence seemed immaterial.
For two weeks at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the life of Jade Goody's widower has been raked over in microscopic detail. Magnified, it was shown in all its ugliness.
Tweed may not be a rapist, but he is many other things: a violent thug, with two jail sentences under his belt for grievous bodily harm, a lothario of the worst kind, a man frittering his life away boozing in pubs and clubs and indulging in casual sex with vulgar girls desperate for even Z-list celebrity status.
Old times: Tweed and his wife Jade Goody a month before her death
Old times: Tweed and his wife Jade Goody before her death
It was a cry of rape from such a girl that saw Tweed back in court, although the 20-year-old's version of the evening failed to convince jurors that she had not consented to sex with Tweed and his friend Anthony Davis.
Following the verdict, Tweed stands to make a fortune. He is already talking about his desire to 'rebuild my life as a 22-year-old young man'.
holes in the case
Roughly translated, this means he is now at the centre of a bidding war, as his publicity representatives prepare to sell magazine and red-top newspaper interview rights to his story.
And there will no doubt be deals to appear on reality TV shows, perhaps alongside his latest reality TV star companion, Chanelle Hayes, who is pregnant with another man's child.
Perhaps the 'club promoter' will even make another attempt at becoming a model, a profession at which he has tried and failed to succeed in the past.
But more than anything, Tweed's trial has given a unique insight into the sordid, soulless world he inhabits, and finally put paid to the image of the grieving widower laying flowers on Jade's grave.
Who can forget the witness box accounts of the casual sex in which he likes to indulge, or the description of how he had sex with the girl who cried rape against the window sill of his bedroom, and how Davis joined in?
The details of that night speak volumes about the dog-eat-dog and morally bankrupt world of reality television.
Tweed's accuser, say friends, had recently applied - and failed - to be a Big Brother contestant.
If she happily followed Tweed back to his home from a Mayfair nightclub last September, believing that some of his 'celebrity' would rub off on her, she clearly later regretted having done so.
'Do you know how many times girls round here say they've been raped?' says one of her circle.
'They do it to save face. These girls are just desperate to be famous. They want to have sex with celebrities and footballers.
'They're not educated. They don't want a job or a career. They want to be WAGs and have nice homes and nice cars.
'Anyone vaguely famous, like Jack Tweed, will do. The girls swarm to him.' Anyone who thought Jade Goody's death from cervical cancer at the age of 27 would mark the end of Tweed was sorely disappointed.
A year after her death, aside from the periods he has been detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, Tweed is rarely out of the news.
'The problem with Jack,' says one who knows him, 'is that he's not interested in
working hard'
And despite being cut out of Jade's multi-million-pound will and apparently having no proper job, he doesn't seem short of a bob or two either.
By marrying him just a month before she died, Jade set him up for life by permanently linking his name to hers. And, according to one friend, she invested £300,000 into The Manor House - a club in Chigwell, Essex - to help him out.
'He's not legally named as the part-owner because he's got a criminal record' says the friend.
'All he can bring to the place is cash and "celebs".' An associate says: 'Recently he's only been getting about a grand a night, but now his case is over, that will go right up because his face is better known than ever now.'
But even before he met Jade - the girl he fondly referred to as 'Cashpoint' when she was out of range - Tweed had clearly decided that a conventional life of hard work was not for him.
Born in 1987 into a working-class Essex family, he and his younger brother Lewis and sister Laura were raised by his mother Mary, while his father Andrew built up a flourishing electrician's business, eventually buying a £450,000 detached home in Buckhurst Hill.
He had hoped Tweed would also become an electrician after school - but his attitude was less than impressive.
'The problem with Jack,' says one who knows him, 'is that he's not interested in working hard. He's a spoilt mummy's boy. He likes going out and partying with his friends.'
When just two years after leaving school, Tweed, then 18, met Goody, he was soon drawn into her reality TV world of easy money and fame.
He first came to national attention when he joined Jade in 2007's Celebrity Big Brother. The move turned into a PR disaster for Goody, over her treatment of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.
But it offered Tweed his first taste of life in the limelight. Rumours of his infidelity abounded with Jade once admitting-she felt 'more like his mother than his girlfriend.'
'I am lost,' he said, 'I'm 22, my wife's dead. I just don't know how to handle this grief'
In the end though, Jade's terminal cancer bound them together. He proposed at her hospital bedside and the couple wed at a lavish ceremony on February 22 last year. Four weeks later she died.
But the events of the past 12 months suggest anything but a man paralysed by grief.
Just a month after Jade died, Tweed was jailed for assaulting taxi driver Stephen Wilkins following a drunken night out. It was his second conviction for assault.
In September 2008, he had been jailed for attacking a 16-year-old boy with a golf club.
After being released from Edmunds Hill jail in Suffolk last June, he and his cronies celebrated with a 'relaunch' party at a nightclub in Gants Hill, Essex.
And it wasn't long before Tweed's name began being associated with members of the opposite sex again.
He missed a memorial service for Jade to film a video. Days later he was photographed out partying with a worse-for-wear Bianca Gascoigne.
And days after that, he was forced to confess to a one-night stand with a glamour model.
In April last year, only a month after Jade's death, three members of all-girl band Dice described attending a 'disgusting, disrespectful and degrading' eight-hour sexual free-for-all at Tweed's home in Woodford Green.
Later Tweed tried to blame his promiscuity on Jade's death. 'I am lost,' he said, 'I'm 22, my wife's dead. I just don't know how to handle this grief.'
By last summer, Tweed was earning enough cash to move away from the family home and from his mother Mary, the only calming influence in his life.
He moved into his own rented bachelor pad in Repton Park, an upmarket gated complex in South Woodford, popular with West Ham footballers.
It was to this home that Tweed and his friend Davis invited their accuser to join them after a champagne-fuelled night out at the Embassy nightclub in Mayfair.
With hindsight, it was only a matter of time before events would spiral out of control
There, one of his friends passed out in the bathroom after vomiting on a sofa.
According to Tweed, his accuser asked him into a bedroom to search for tracksuit bottoms for her to wear instead of her short skirt.
Perhaps, with hindsight, it was only a matter of time before events would spiral out of control, that one of the girls who continually flocked to his door in the hope of finding some degree of fame would eventually turn on him.
As to what the future now holds for Tweed, it is unlikely that his latest court appearance will hold him back. And little doubt that the queue of women flocking to his door will be as long as ever.
Over the coming days and weeks, he will undoubtedly talk about turning over a new leaf and giving up his partying lifestyle. Perhaps he will even return to the role of the grieving widower.
Every day in court, he has worn his wedding ring and the trousers from the blue suit he wore to his wedding. It is a reminder of the stark contrast between the 'grief-stricken' Tweed often seen posing by Jade's graveside and the sad figure we see before us now.
And so, as Tweed walks free, expect to see him photographed over the coming days at his favourite Essex hang-outs - where hordes of blonde, fake tanned, acrylic-nailed, scantily-clad girls will welcome him back with open arms.
Ashley Rubin
On 4 September we reported that Ashley Rubin was arrested along with Jack Tweed in connection with the offence. We also reported that the woman claimed Mr Rubin had been involved. We are happy to clarify that in fact she did not make any allegation against Mr Rubin who was released without charge.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1268915/Jack-Tweed-cleared-rape.html#ixzz0mGdTVoVk
Sunday 25 April 2010
Fun ways to get flat stomache
1. High tech trainer
To get a flat stomach you first need to lose fat from your middle – which means doing aerobic exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week. Like the idea of running but need extra motivation? How about Paula Radcliffe as your personal trainer? You can now buy special Nike trainers that wirelessly transmit performance data, such as time and distance covered, to your iPod. If you hit your goals Paula will congratulate you over your headphones!
2. Get Wii Fit
The Wii Fit is the ultimate fun workout you can do at home by yourself or with friends. You exercise on a balance board that uses sensors to measure your weight and track your movements while a virtual personal trainer demonstrates the exercises and gives feedback on your performance. There are lots of fitness games to try, from yoga to step aerobics and snowboarding. Try hula hooping – it's great for working those oblique abdominal muscles.
3. Stay on the ball
The next time you sit down to watch EastEnders swap your armchair for a fitness ball. You may feel silly at first, but sitting on the ball is a great tummy toner as your stomach muscles have to work hard to keep your balance and prevent you falling off the ball.
4. Do the plank
The plank pose is great for working the inner abdonminal muscle that holds the stomach in and supports the spine. Get into the push-up position with your hands under your shoulders and feet together. Look down at the ground with your head in line with your spine. Hold the position for as long as you can. Remember to breath normally and pull your belly button into your spine.
5. Eat your way to a flat tummy
Bloating usually indicates you are not digesting your food properly. Eat more fibre and drink plenty of water to aid digestion and elimnation. Give up fizzy drinks, sugary snacks, chewing gum and alcohol and cut back on the amount of dairy products and pasta in your diet. Foods that are easy to digest include white fish, lean meat, carrots and rice.
6. Suck it in
By exercising the deep 'corset' muscles that keep your back strong you can improve your posture and give your stomach a flatter appearance. Simply pull in your stomach so your belly button is drawn towards your spine. Keep breathing normally and hold it in for a count of 10. Do this waiting for the bus, out shopping or watching TV.
To get a flat stomach you first need to lose fat from your middle – which means doing aerobic exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week. Like the idea of running but need extra motivation? How about Paula Radcliffe as your personal trainer? You can now buy special Nike trainers that wirelessly transmit performance data, such as time and distance covered, to your iPod. If you hit your goals Paula will congratulate you over your headphones!
2. Get Wii Fit
The Wii Fit is the ultimate fun workout you can do at home by yourself or with friends. You exercise on a balance board that uses sensors to measure your weight and track your movements while a virtual personal trainer demonstrates the exercises and gives feedback on your performance. There are lots of fitness games to try, from yoga to step aerobics and snowboarding. Try hula hooping – it's great for working those oblique abdominal muscles.
3. Stay on the ball
The next time you sit down to watch EastEnders swap your armchair for a fitness ball. You may feel silly at first, but sitting on the ball is a great tummy toner as your stomach muscles have to work hard to keep your balance and prevent you falling off the ball.
4. Do the plank
The plank pose is great for working the inner abdonminal muscle that holds the stomach in and supports the spine. Get into the push-up position with your hands under your shoulders and feet together. Look down at the ground with your head in line with your spine. Hold the position for as long as you can. Remember to breath normally and pull your belly button into your spine.
5. Eat your way to a flat tummy
Bloating usually indicates you are not digesting your food properly. Eat more fibre and drink plenty of water to aid digestion and elimnation. Give up fizzy drinks, sugary snacks, chewing gum and alcohol and cut back on the amount of dairy products and pasta in your diet. Foods that are easy to digest include white fish, lean meat, carrots and rice.
6. Suck it in
By exercising the deep 'corset' muscles that keep your back strong you can improve your posture and give your stomach a flatter appearance. Simply pull in your stomach so your belly button is drawn towards your spine. Keep breathing normally and hold it in for a count of 10. Do this waiting for the bus, out shopping or watching TV.
Alexandra Burke is helped out of club after busy afternoon performing at Twickenham
By Sarah Bull
Alexandra Burke showed off two very different looks yesterday.
The X Factor winner performed at a rugby match during the day at Twickenham before heading out to London club Mahiki last night.
But it seems the pace may have been a bit too much for the 21-year-old, who needed a helping hand as she left the nightspot.
Alexandra Burke
Unsteady: Alexandra Burke holds tightly to her friends as she leaves Mahiki
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke
Sexy: The 21-year-old looked stunning in a blue bodycon dress
Wearing a tight, blue bodycon dress, which showed off her incredible figure, Alexandra gripped two of her friends' hands tightly as she tentatively made her way down the steps outside the club.
And her high black heels clearly didn't help matters either.
But the singer managed to successfully negotiate her way to her waiting car, and grinned to herself as she sat waiting for friends.
Chuckle: Alexandra has a giggle as she sits in the car
Chuckle: Alexandra has a giggle as she sits in the car
It seems the singer may have been enjoying herself a little too much after a successful performance during half time of a fundraising rugby match at Twickenham between Bath and the London Wasps.
Alexandra looked stunning in a metallic minidress, covered in silver and black discs, as she gave two energetic renditions of her hit singles Bad Boys and Broken Heels for the screaming 60,208 fans.
More...
* Diana Vickers celebrates her first No.1 single with a box of gooey doughnuts
But the Islington-born singer made no secret of where her loyalties lie, having told fans on Twitter earlier in the day: 'Down at the stadium. Supporting the WASPS !!!! Xx'
Alexandra Burke
Energetic: Alexandra wowed the crowds at Twickenham Stadium
Alexandra Burke
Sensible: Alexandra opted for flat shoes to wear during the physically-tiring dance routines
And it wasn't only Alexandra who was excited about performing at Twickenham.
As well as some sexy male dancers, Alexandra was also joined by 300 schoolchildren, who had auditioned for the chance to perform a routine alongside the singer.
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke
Metallic: Alexandra wore a short dress embellished with silver and black discs
Alexandra Burke
Support: She was joined by 300 schoolchildren, chosen after round of auditions
The unique opportunity for the pupils arose through the Government's Give It A Go scheme, which supports initiatives for schools in disadvantaged areas.
The schoolchildren, aged between 11 and 14, embarked on an intense training regime with a professional choreographer prior to the sporting event.
The match raised more than £1million for the Help for Heroes charity, an organisation which helps those wounded in Britain's conflicts.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1268704/Alexandra-Burke-helped-club-busy-afternoon-performing-Twickenham.html#ixzz0m8kiaJWA
Alexandra Burke showed off two very different looks yesterday.
The X Factor winner performed at a rugby match during the day at Twickenham before heading out to London club Mahiki last night.
But it seems the pace may have been a bit too much for the 21-year-old, who needed a helping hand as she left the nightspot.
Alexandra Burke
Unsteady: Alexandra Burke holds tightly to her friends as she leaves Mahiki
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke
Sexy: The 21-year-old looked stunning in a blue bodycon dress
Wearing a tight, blue bodycon dress, which showed off her incredible figure, Alexandra gripped two of her friends' hands tightly as she tentatively made her way down the steps outside the club.
And her high black heels clearly didn't help matters either.
But the singer managed to successfully negotiate her way to her waiting car, and grinned to herself as she sat waiting for friends.
Chuckle: Alexandra has a giggle as she sits in the car
Chuckle: Alexandra has a giggle as she sits in the car
It seems the singer may have been enjoying herself a little too much after a successful performance during half time of a fundraising rugby match at Twickenham between Bath and the London Wasps.
Alexandra looked stunning in a metallic minidress, covered in silver and black discs, as she gave two energetic renditions of her hit singles Bad Boys and Broken Heels for the screaming 60,208 fans.
More...
* Diana Vickers celebrates her first No.1 single with a box of gooey doughnuts
But the Islington-born singer made no secret of where her loyalties lie, having told fans on Twitter earlier in the day: 'Down at the stadium. Supporting the WASPS !!!! Xx'
Alexandra Burke
Energetic: Alexandra wowed the crowds at Twickenham Stadium
Alexandra Burke
Sensible: Alexandra opted for flat shoes to wear during the physically-tiring dance routines
And it wasn't only Alexandra who was excited about performing at Twickenham.
As well as some sexy male dancers, Alexandra was also joined by 300 schoolchildren, who had auditioned for the chance to perform a routine alongside the singer.
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke
Metallic: Alexandra wore a short dress embellished with silver and black discs
Alexandra Burke
Support: She was joined by 300 schoolchildren, chosen after round of auditions
The unique opportunity for the pupils arose through the Government's Give It A Go scheme, which supports initiatives for schools in disadvantaged areas.
The schoolchildren, aged between 11 and 14, embarked on an intense training regime with a professional choreographer prior to the sporting event.
The match raised more than £1million for the Help for Heroes charity, an organisation which helps those wounded in Britain's conflicts.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1268704/Alexandra-Burke-helped-club-busy-afternoon-performing-Twickenham.html#ixzz0m8kiaJWA
Diana Vickers celebrates her first No.1 single with a box of gooey doughnuts
She was knocked out of the 2008 series of The X Factor in the semi-final.
But today Diana Vickers showed she didn't need the talent show Goliath behind her as she shot straight to the top of the charts with her debut single.
Her track Once knocked previous number one Usher's OMG off the top spot when the official charts were announced this evening.
X Factor star Dianna Vickers is seen here arriving at BBC Radio 1 this afternoon to appear on the chart show
Excitement: Diana Vickers arrives at the BBC Radio 1 studios carrying a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, where she learns she is No.1
Arriving at the BBC Radio 1 studios today, Vickers looked ready to celebrate as she carried a bumper box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts from Harrod's.
Vickers signed a record deal in March last year, but was given permission to put the recording of her album on hold so she could star in the West End production of Little Voice, for which she received rave reviews.
During her time on the X Factor, Vickers stood apart from the other candidates for her insistence on performing in bare feet and 'The Claw', the nickname for her bizarre hand movements while singing.
In a recent interview, she promised fans she would try to tone down her 'claw'.
The X Factor's Diana Vickers at Radio 1 in London
If Cheryl could see me now: Vickers was Cheryl Cole's protogee on the show, but was voted off in the semi-final
She said: 'The claw - oh God. I don't even know why I do it, I have no idea. I literally just go free when I'm singing and I do really weird things.
'I haven't even sung live for ages as me, as Diana, so there might be some new movements popping up somewhere. I don't know, we'll see.'
She caused controversy when producers gave her special permission to 'sit out' week five after contracting laryngitis, which some viewers deemed unfair to the other finalists.
She was eliminated from the ITV show during the semi-final after losing the public vote.
Diana Vickers and her boyfriend pictured leaving 'War horse' at the New London Theatre
New romance: After her brief fling with Eoghan Quigg, Vickers is now dating a mystery man who works in the theatre
Her exit culminated with her rumoured boyfriend Eoghan Quigg breaking down in tears as the pair hugged each other tightly on stage.
As a result of their close friendship, Vickers split from boyfriend Chris Jones while on the show.
Vickers is now dating a musical theatre actor/singer, but has refused to publicly name him.
In hindsight, Vickers is now grateful she didn't win the show.
She told Fabulous magazine: 'I'm so grateful I didn't win. I think the originality is stripped away from those who do make it.
'Between then and now, I've been given time to grow, do Little Voice, which I'd never been able to do had I won.'
But today Diana Vickers showed she didn't need the talent show Goliath behind her as she shot straight to the top of the charts with her debut single.
Her track Once knocked previous number one Usher's OMG off the top spot when the official charts were announced this evening.
X Factor star Dianna Vickers is seen here arriving at BBC Radio 1 this afternoon to appear on the chart show
Excitement: Diana Vickers arrives at the BBC Radio 1 studios carrying a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, where she learns she is No.1
Arriving at the BBC Radio 1 studios today, Vickers looked ready to celebrate as she carried a bumper box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts from Harrod's.
Vickers signed a record deal in March last year, but was given permission to put the recording of her album on hold so she could star in the West End production of Little Voice, for which she received rave reviews.
During her time on the X Factor, Vickers stood apart from the other candidates for her insistence on performing in bare feet and 'The Claw', the nickname for her bizarre hand movements while singing.
In a recent interview, she promised fans she would try to tone down her 'claw'.
The X Factor's Diana Vickers at Radio 1 in London
If Cheryl could see me now: Vickers was Cheryl Cole's protogee on the show, but was voted off in the semi-final
She said: 'The claw - oh God. I don't even know why I do it, I have no idea. I literally just go free when I'm singing and I do really weird things.
'I haven't even sung live for ages as me, as Diana, so there might be some new movements popping up somewhere. I don't know, we'll see.'
She caused controversy when producers gave her special permission to 'sit out' week five after contracting laryngitis, which some viewers deemed unfair to the other finalists.
She was eliminated from the ITV show during the semi-final after losing the public vote.
Diana Vickers and her boyfriend pictured leaving 'War horse' at the New London Theatre
New romance: After her brief fling with Eoghan Quigg, Vickers is now dating a mystery man who works in the theatre
Her exit culminated with her rumoured boyfriend Eoghan Quigg breaking down in tears as the pair hugged each other tightly on stage.
As a result of their close friendship, Vickers split from boyfriend Chris Jones while on the show.
Vickers is now dating a musical theatre actor/singer, but has refused to publicly name him.
In hindsight, Vickers is now grateful she didn't win the show.
She told Fabulous magazine: 'I'm so grateful I didn't win. I think the originality is stripped away from those who do make it.
'Between then and now, I've been given time to grow, do Little Voice, which I'd never been able to do had I won.'
Ballade of Dead Actors
Where are the passions they essayed,
And where the tears they made to flow?
Where the wild humours they portrayed
For laughing worlds to see and know?
Othello's wrath and Juliet's woe?
Sir Peter's whims and Timon's gall?
And Millamant and Romeo?
Into the night go one and all.
Where are the braveries, fresh or frayed?
The plumes, the armours -- friend and foe?
The cloth of gold, the rare brocade,
The mantles glittering to and fro?
The pomp, the pride, the royal show?
The cries of war and festival?
The youth, the grace, the charm, the glow?
Into the night go one and all.
The curtain falls, the play is played:
The Beggar packs beside the Beau;
The Monarch troops, and troops the Maid;
The Thunder huddles with the Snow.
Where are the revellers high and low?
The clashing swords? The lover's call?
The dancers gleaming row on row?
Into the night go one and all.
William Ernest Henley
And where the tears they made to flow?
Where the wild humours they portrayed
For laughing worlds to see and know?
Othello's wrath and Juliet's woe?
Sir Peter's whims and Timon's gall?
And Millamant and Romeo?
Into the night go one and all.
Where are the braveries, fresh or frayed?
The plumes, the armours -- friend and foe?
The cloth of gold, the rare brocade,
The mantles glittering to and fro?
The pomp, the pride, the royal show?
The cries of war and festival?
The youth, the grace, the charm, the glow?
Into the night go one and all.
The curtain falls, the play is played:
The Beggar packs beside the Beau;
The Monarch troops, and troops the Maid;
The Thunder huddles with the Snow.
Where are the revellers high and low?
The clashing swords? The lover's call?
The dancers gleaming row on row?
Into the night go one and all.
William Ernest Henley
Saturday 24 April 2010
Self Care in the Dissertation Process, Part II
http://www.abdsurvivalguide.com/News/dissertation-part2.html
by Rachna D. Jain, Psy.D.
Previous Page
================================================
THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE(tm)
Devoted to practical steps for completing
your doctoral dissertation.
================================================
To subscribe, visit www.ecoach.com or e-mail S@mentorcoach.com
with SUBSCRIBE ABDSG in the subject line.
SUMMARY:
Ben's Note--A key for finishing a dissertation and
for long term professional productivity is knowing how
to play the "mental game". This is particularly important
when we are stressed, down, or have just absorbed
a blow. Here we describe more approaches
for caring for ourselves and handling dissertation stress.
<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Ben's Note
2. Self Care in the Dissertation Process, Part II
==============================
1. Ben's Note
==============================
Dear ABDSG Reader,
Last month I described my experience this
spring of dealing with prostate cancer. (For
a copy, send any e-mail--it can be blank--to
juneabd@mentorcoach.com). The response
I received was tremendous. That issue, perhaps
because it was heartfelt, seemed to connect
with ABD readers around the globe. Some of
you are heroic cancer survivors yourself. Others
in equally touching notes shared your own reactions
to my story. Thanks to all of you who wrote.
Your letters meant a lot! (And yes, I continue
to be healthy, 100% cancer free, and to feel
grateful.)
In this issue, we return under Rachna Jain's
guidance to the issue of self care during the
dissertation journey. Taking care of ourselves
and knowing how to play the "mental game"
of staying loose and productive under stress
is a key lesson in the road to long term
academic productivity.
Hope you are having a great summer.
Warm wishes,
Ben
P.S. You may have developed your own, powerful
strategies for self care and stress management.
If you would be willing to share your stories, just
e-mail them to me and I'll share them with our
entire community. (In your e-mail, let me know
if I can use your name, department, and
university.)
==========================================
2. Self Care in the Dissertation Process, Part II
Rachna D. Jain, Psy.D.
==========================================
This is the second in a series of articles dealing with caring for
yourself while working on your dissertation. (For Part I, visit
http://ecoach.com/News/042701.htm).
It is important to tap into all of your social, emotional, and
intellectual resources to complete this next phase of your academic
career. I hope these tips and hints will aid you in feeling happier and
being more productive.
1) Remember that your dissertation is a choice. Sounds simple, but
sometimes remembering this can be very powerful. It might allow you to
move from feeling overwhelmed and helpless to recognizing your capacity to
make this choice and follow through on it. There is nothing worse than
feeling "forced" to do something, so try and change that feeling if you
can.
2) Remember that, at any time, you can choose something else.
This applies to deciding not to do the dissertation, but, also, to the
idea that you can choose how you feel about something. In psychology, this
fits in with the technique of "reframe" in which you find another point of
view on the same situation. In my practice, we call this "The Third
Option", which allows us to consider various choices for the same
problem. It's great for increasing creativity, too.
3) Be as open as is comfortable about your feelings of stress, fear, and
being overwhelmed. Express these feelings-in your journal, or to your
coach or other support system, and get them out of your way.
4) Don't deprive yourself.
A friend of mine went through the initial phases of the dissertation
process and set all these weird limits on herself, like "I won't get my
hair cut until I finish the first draft". Keep in mind, now, that she was
no-where close to writing that draft, and her hair annoyed her
constantly. It was the one main feature of our conversations, aside from
the dissertation. This sounds really silly, but it highlights how
depriving we can be of ourselves and for no reason- the length of my
friend's hair had nothing to do with completion of her dissertation, aside
from the fact that she was living with pointless daily annoyance. She was
wasting away energy and intellect over something unrelated-and, at the
same time, depriving herself of something that would have made her feel
good.
You'll be glad to know that she finally "got it" and had her hair cut at
the next possible opportunity. :)
5) Don't jam-pack your schedule with "musts", "shoulds" or "have
tos" Leave time for "whatever".
Too often we fill our lives and schedules with too many activities or
responsibilities and find ourselves rushing from one "have to" to the
next. You'll find that your life runs more smoothly when you can leave
room for the unexpected-things that run over, run late, or otherwise don't
happen as planned.
6) Ask for help when you need it.
A friend, family member, or coach can be a great source of support and
help. Don't be afraid to reach out for help-more often than not, you'll
actually get it.
There is no extra credit for going through this process alone.
7) Consider using a daily affirmation.
This will remind you to slow down, live in the present moment, and
convince your subconscious to get on board and work with you to meet your
goals.
When creating an affirmation, it is important to make them clear, as short
as possible, and to use the present tense.
An example would be "I meet my goals with ease." NOT "I wish I could meet
my goals with ease."
One to try: "Today I think with clarity, write with ease, and accomplish
without strain."
That version was helpful in graduate school, and I use a variant on it
now, as I work to build my professional practice. It helps to remind me
what I'm striving for, and feels pretty good to say out loud.
Finally, continue to have faith and confidence in yourself. You can do
this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About Rachna D. Jain, Psy.D.
Rachna is a licensed doctoral level psychologist in private practice in
Columbia, MD. She has just begun a coaching practice focusing on life
enrichment for young professionals and those in transition. Areas of focus
include personal coaching, life balancing/integration, relationships, and
time management/organization. She is available to coach ABD'S on
self-care, interpersonal concerns, and management/organization of the
dissertation process. She can be reached by email at drjain@ai.net, or via
her web site at http://www.maximalhappiness.com.
=============
BEN J. DEAN
=============
Ben holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University
of Texas at Austin and is a psychologist in private
practice in Bethesda, Maryland.
In addition to his clinical practice, Ben loves
to train professionals to become virtual coaches.
(If you would like to see Ben's *other* free
newsletter, you may subscribe at:
http://www.mentorcoach.com/)
Ben lives in suburban Maryland with his wife
and two children.
UBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------
If you've received this copy from a friend or
colleague and would like your own subscription,
you can sign up for it directly at
http://www.ecoach.com/
If you would like to have your name removed
from the subscription list, please unsubscribe at
http://www.ecoach.com/
CONTACT INFORMATION
----------------------------------
Ben J. Dean, Ph.D
MentorCoach(tm)
Voice: 301-986-5688
Fax: 301-913-9447
Email: mailto:ben@mentorcoach.com
Web: www.ecoach.com/
Web: www.mentorcoach.com
(c) Copyright 2001 Ben J. Dean. All rights
reserved.
DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS
---------------------------------
The above material is copyrighted, but you
may retransmit or distribute it to whomever
you wish as long as not a single word is
changed, added or deleted, including the
contact information. However, you may not
copy it to a web site. Reprint permission
will be freely granted, upon request, to
student newspapers, universities, and other
non-profit educational organizations. In
addition, advance written permission must
be obtained for any reprinting of this
material in modified or altered form.
by Rachna D. Jain, Psy.D.
Previous Page
================================================
THE ALL-BUT-DISSERTATION SURVIVAL GUIDE(tm)
Devoted to practical steps for completing
your doctoral dissertation.
================================================
To subscribe, visit www.ecoach.com or e-mail S@mentorcoach.com
with SUBSCRIBE ABDSG in the subject line.
SUMMARY:
Ben's Note--A key for finishing a dissertation and
for long term professional productivity is knowing how
to play the "mental game". This is particularly important
when we are stressed, down, or have just absorbed
a blow. Here we describe more approaches
for caring for ourselves and handling dissertation stress.
<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>===<>
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Ben's Note
2. Self Care in the Dissertation Process, Part II
==============================
1. Ben's Note
==============================
Dear ABDSG Reader,
Last month I described my experience this
spring of dealing with prostate cancer. (For
a copy, send any e-mail--it can be blank--to
juneabd@mentorcoach.com). The response
I received was tremendous. That issue, perhaps
because it was heartfelt, seemed to connect
with ABD readers around the globe. Some of
you are heroic cancer survivors yourself. Others
in equally touching notes shared your own reactions
to my story. Thanks to all of you who wrote.
Your letters meant a lot! (And yes, I continue
to be healthy, 100% cancer free, and to feel
grateful.)
In this issue, we return under Rachna Jain's
guidance to the issue of self care during the
dissertation journey. Taking care of ourselves
and knowing how to play the "mental game"
of staying loose and productive under stress
is a key lesson in the road to long term
academic productivity.
Hope you are having a great summer.
Warm wishes,
Ben
P.S. You may have developed your own, powerful
strategies for self care and stress management.
If you would be willing to share your stories, just
e-mail them to me and I'll share them with our
entire community. (In your e-mail, let me know
if I can use your name, department, and
university.)
==========================================
2. Self Care in the Dissertation Process, Part II
Rachna D. Jain, Psy.D.
==========================================
This is the second in a series of articles dealing with caring for
yourself while working on your dissertation. (For Part I, visit
http://ecoach.com/News/042701.htm).
It is important to tap into all of your social, emotional, and
intellectual resources to complete this next phase of your academic
career. I hope these tips and hints will aid you in feeling happier and
being more productive.
1) Remember that your dissertation is a choice. Sounds simple, but
sometimes remembering this can be very powerful. It might allow you to
move from feeling overwhelmed and helpless to recognizing your capacity to
make this choice and follow through on it. There is nothing worse than
feeling "forced" to do something, so try and change that feeling if you
can.
2) Remember that, at any time, you can choose something else.
This applies to deciding not to do the dissertation, but, also, to the
idea that you can choose how you feel about something. In psychology, this
fits in with the technique of "reframe" in which you find another point of
view on the same situation. In my practice, we call this "The Third
Option", which allows us to consider various choices for the same
problem. It's great for increasing creativity, too.
3) Be as open as is comfortable about your feelings of stress, fear, and
being overwhelmed. Express these feelings-in your journal, or to your
coach or other support system, and get them out of your way.
4) Don't deprive yourself.
A friend of mine went through the initial phases of the dissertation
process and set all these weird limits on herself, like "I won't get my
hair cut until I finish the first draft". Keep in mind, now, that she was
no-where close to writing that draft, and her hair annoyed her
constantly. It was the one main feature of our conversations, aside from
the dissertation. This sounds really silly, but it highlights how
depriving we can be of ourselves and for no reason- the length of my
friend's hair had nothing to do with completion of her dissertation, aside
from the fact that she was living with pointless daily annoyance. She was
wasting away energy and intellect over something unrelated-and, at the
same time, depriving herself of something that would have made her feel
good.
You'll be glad to know that she finally "got it" and had her hair cut at
the next possible opportunity. :)
5) Don't jam-pack your schedule with "musts", "shoulds" or "have
tos" Leave time for "whatever".
Too often we fill our lives and schedules with too many activities or
responsibilities and find ourselves rushing from one "have to" to the
next. You'll find that your life runs more smoothly when you can leave
room for the unexpected-things that run over, run late, or otherwise don't
happen as planned.
6) Ask for help when you need it.
A friend, family member, or coach can be a great source of support and
help. Don't be afraid to reach out for help-more often than not, you'll
actually get it.
There is no extra credit for going through this process alone.
7) Consider using a daily affirmation.
This will remind you to slow down, live in the present moment, and
convince your subconscious to get on board and work with you to meet your
goals.
When creating an affirmation, it is important to make them clear, as short
as possible, and to use the present tense.
An example would be "I meet my goals with ease." NOT "I wish I could meet
my goals with ease."
One to try: "Today I think with clarity, write with ease, and accomplish
without strain."
That version was helpful in graduate school, and I use a variant on it
now, as I work to build my professional practice. It helps to remind me
what I'm striving for, and feels pretty good to say out loud.
Finally, continue to have faith and confidence in yourself. You can do
this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About Rachna D. Jain, Psy.D.
Rachna is a licensed doctoral level psychologist in private practice in
Columbia, MD. She has just begun a coaching practice focusing on life
enrichment for young professionals and those in transition. Areas of focus
include personal coaching, life balancing/integration, relationships, and
time management/organization. She is available to coach ABD'S on
self-care, interpersonal concerns, and management/organization of the
dissertation process. She can be reached by email at drjain@ai.net, or via
her web site at http://www.maximalhappiness.com.
=============
BEN J. DEAN
=============
Ben holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University
of Texas at Austin and is a psychologist in private
practice in Bethesda, Maryland.
In addition to his clinical practice, Ben loves
to train professionals to become virtual coaches.
(If you would like to see Ben's *other* free
newsletter, you may subscribe at:
http://www.mentorcoach.com/)
Ben lives in suburban Maryland with his wife
and two children.
UBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------
If you've received this copy from a friend or
colleague and would like your own subscription,
you can sign up for it directly at
http://www.ecoach.com/
If you would like to have your name removed
from the subscription list, please unsubscribe at
http://www.ecoach.com/
CONTACT INFORMATION
----------------------------------
Ben J. Dean, Ph.D
MentorCoach(tm)
Voice: 301-986-5688
Fax: 301-913-9447
Email: mailto:ben@mentorcoach.com
Web: www.ecoach.com/
Web: www.mentorcoach.com
(c) Copyright 2001 Ben J. Dean. All rights
reserved.
DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS
---------------------------------
The above material is copyrighted, but you
may retransmit or distribute it to whomever
you wish as long as not a single word is
changed, added or deleted, including the
contact information. However, you may not
copy it to a web site. Reprint permission
will be freely granted, upon request, to
student newspapers, universities, and other
non-profit educational organizations. In
addition, advance written permission must
be obtained for any reprinting of this
material in modified or altered form.
The sandwich that changed lunch forever
Next time you peel back the opening on a box of Britain's best-selling High Street sandwiches, here are a few facts to think about - though they may take the edge off your appetite.
If you laid out every slice of bread used in this manufacturer's sandwiches each year, it would reach from Manchester to Bangkok.
They also use 700 Olympic-size swimming pools of mayonnaise, two Jumbo jets filled with lettuce leaves, 390,000 tonnes of prawns and enough chickens to go twice around the M25.
British tradition: Marks & Spencer sold its first sandwich 30 years ago
British tradition: Marks & Spencer sold its first sandwich 30 years ago
It's enough to give you indigestion. But then, as those seductive adverts for the store in question might say: 'These are not just any ordinary sandwiches. These are Marks & Spencer pre-packaged sandwiches.'
More than that, they are the sarnies that changed the world - and, some would say, changed it for the worse.
It is now 30 years since M&S sold it's first prepackaged sandwich and in doing so unwittingly launched a food revolution that would change the way that Britain eats. Since then, we've munched through about three billion M&S pre-packed sarnies.
Today, one in five sandwiches sold in the UK is bought from Marks and Sparks. They are part of our cultural heritage. Every supermarket has copied the formula. And they are the food that killed off lunch.
According to The Work Foundation - a group that promotes work/life balance - in the late Fifties, 70 per cent of men went home for lunch. Those who didn't mostly brought in a packed lunch, or ate hot food in staff canteens.
Even those workers who were willing to make do with a humble sarnie bought them fresh from local shops, which made them to order. Marks & Spencer changed all that.
As Jim Winship, of the British Sandwich Association, says: 'The pre-packaged sandwich has changed our lives. M&S started the revolution in the Eighties and now the market is worth £6 billion. That's a lot of sandwiches. They've also changed our working lives. Most people now stay at their desk - eating sandwiches.'
To understand just how significant their impact has been, we need to return to the early Eighties. Margaret Thatcher was just embarking on her economic reforms, beer cost 35p a pint - and sandwiches were something that you made at home, usually filled with cheese and pickle or, if you were feeling adventurous, perhaps a smear of tuna and sweetcorn.
The idea that you could walk into a shop and pick up a triangular plastic box containing two neatly-cut rectangles filled with crayfish tails, rocket and Marie Rose sauce would have seemed as fantastical as mobile phones the size of a cigarette packet and 3D television.
The production line at the Gunstones factory in Dronfield today where M&S sandwiches are made
The production line at the Gunstones factory in Dronfield today where M&S sandwiches are made
Like many world-changing inventions, the Eureka moment for the pre-packed sandwich happened by accident. An assistant in the Marble Arch M&S flagship store wrapped up some leftover sandwiches from the in-store cafe and put them up for sale instead of binning them. Today, any worker trying the same stunt would doubtless be sacked under Health and Safety guidelines.
But those were more innocent days. Within minutes, the first trial sandwiches had all been sold - and M&S realised they were on to something. They trialled readymade sandwiches in five other stores - and a nation that had begun to hunger for convenience snapped them up.
By 1987, M&S had 25 sandwich varieties on offer in all its stores, and rivals began to copy what had already become a multi-millionpound formula. From those humble origins stemmed an entire industry.
That first M&S sarnie is the ancestor of today's High Street sandwiches in all their various forms: the Pret A Manger baguettes, the Boots wraps, the shrink-wrapped supermarket bagels - even those sad, anaemic offerings for sale in motorway service
Yet how often, as you trudge back to your desk with your supermarket BLT or chicken Caesar, do you pause to consider where your lunch has come from?
Not which store, but which actual kitchen? For that matter, who spread the mayo or sliced the tomato?
That's what intrigued me, as I ate my M&S sandwich one lunchtime. And that is how I found myself outside Gunstones Bakery near Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Gunstones (owned by the giant Northern Foods conglomerate) is one of the two official sandwich suppliers to M&S, churning out 18 million sandwiches a year.
The manager, Martin Husselbee, allowed me in to see how they do it. As one might expect, Martin is almost messianic about sarnies. 'Sandwich making is a serious business,' he says. 'You have to use the best quality ingredients. We cook our own bacon and chicken and try to source quality British ingredients wherever we can. It's all about continuity. People want their sandwiches to taste the same every day.'
Do they? Isn't the whole joy of homemade sandwiches that they don't always taste the same? I've spent many a happy lunchtime assembling odd creations by wedging last night's leftovers between two slices of bread.
But this is no time for amateurs or experiments. Martin and I are off to the heart of sandwich central - the factory floor. Before I am allowed anywhere near the food, I must be decontaminated.
I put on big white wellies, a white coat and no fewer than three hairnets (if there's one thing that can spoil a sandwich, it's a rogue ginger hair projecting from the prawn mayo). Once clad, I walk over a kind of cattle grid, where my boots are washed with hot soapy brushes to rid them of germs. Next comes a dollop of antibacterial hand gel.
Only then am I allowed in.
Inside, the factory looks (and sounds) much like any other. The radio is on loud, but barely audible over the busy clatter of the machines. People - all similarly clad in white - are pushing around vast crates of bread, vats of butter and giant containers of sliced chicken, like oversized Oompah-Loompahs.
Finished product: Lucy McDonald pictured at the Gunstones factory with some of the sandwiches on offer
Finished product: Lucy McDonald pictured at the Gunstones factory with some of the sandwiches on offer
When I visit, only seven of the 12 stainless-steel production lines are in use, but during busy times (Christmas and the peak of the summer picnic season) all of them are working at full throttle and extra staff are brought in.
It is an extraordinary process - about as far removed from making a sandwich at home as possible, yet relying on the same basic principles.
The first surprise is that all of the sandwiches are handmade. Indeed, they're made not just by one pair of hands, but ten of them.
Astonishingly, that is the number of people it takes to assemble the average M&S sandwich - enabling each production line to churn out almost 50 a minute. I am assigned to the 'chicken and salad' production line - one of M&S's perennial favourite varieties. Before I am allowed to get stuck in, I watch the experts at work.
At the top of each line, two workers stand opposite each other with the sole job of ripping open the bread packets that come from a local factory and then placing slices on the conveyor belt (The two end slices get thrown away, to be eaten by pigs).
The ones that make it in are then spread by machine with a tiny amount of butter. Only one to two grams are used per slice and you can barely see it, but it acts as a barrier to stop the ingredients turning the bread soggy.
Next come seven wiggly lines of rosemary-infused mayonnaise, which are piped automatically on both pieces of the malted brown bread. The slices move down the line on a conveyer belt to where two more workers are standing by, cucumber slices at the ready.
Each places two on each piece of bread, making four slices in total.
It is surreally choreographed - like some kind of synchronised sandwich ballet. The next pair of workers add a handful of sliced chicken (55g exactly, weighed out on nearby scales) which is then neatly spread out to all four corners of the bread by another couple down the line.
End product: People in a Marks & Spencer food hall. The company considers itself a leading sandwich producer and keeps its recipes a secret
End product: People in a Marks & Spencer food hall. The company considers itself a leading sandwich producer and keeps its recipes a secret
Then come four slices of tomato and a handful of lettuce from another two workers, before both slices of the bread are tipped on top of each other - et voila! A sandwich. But hang on - it's not ready yet.
Next up are the 'sandwich tidiers'. This pair's job is to ensure that the sandwich looks pretty and that nothing is hanging out. Only once the sandwich has passed this test does it go through an automatic cutter that slices it into two triangles.
Just before slicing, the machine gently squeezes each sandwich to compress all the ingredients - much like you would press a sandwich down with your hand after making it at home. They are then automatically put into paper boxes (plastic was phased out in
2006) and sealed, before being stamped with a two- day sell-by date. They then go through a metal detector to ensure no one's wedding ring has slipped off into an egg mayonnaise sandwich. The sandwiches then disappear off the factory floor into trays ready to be dispatched around the country. And that's how it happens, sandwich after sandwich, hour after hour, day after day. I can't help but think it must be mindnumbingly tedious. I have a go at being a sandwich 'tidier' and am bored after a few minutes.
What can it be like for people such as Margaret Freer, 65, who has been making M&S sandwiches for 20 years? 'It does get a bit hectic,' is the closest she gets to moaning. For Margaret, making the nation's lunches is not a chore - it's a source of pride.
'I like making sandwiches. I like thinking of people eating something I've made. It is impossible to get bored as you swap jobs every 20 minutes. It's mind-boggling when you realise how much work goes into one sandwich.'
Even making more than a million sandwiches hasn't dimmed Margaret's appetite for them. 'I love them,' she says. 'I even buy them from the shops. The Club variety is my favourite.'
Gunstones currently employs 1,200 people - mostly local. At the heart of the factory is a tasting kitchen, where Jamie Bosworth, one of the five resident chefs, is busy experimenting with new flavours. 'We look everywhere for inspiration. Recipe books, the internet, restaurants,' he says. 'We even went to New York and San Francisco recently for ideas.
'Mexican food is popular at the moment and people seem more interested in wraps and sushi, as well as traditional breads.' They are currently working on a World Cup range to be launched in May.
Exact recipes are kept secret. Competitors could sniff a chance to launch a similar variety first, and as Jamie puts it firmly: 'We are sandwich leaders, not sandwich followers.' Which is all very well, except that the first ever M&S sandwich sounds truly horrible.
Carlos Diaz, the M&S sandwich buyer, says: 'The first flavour we launched in 1980 was salmon and tomato. To be honest, it doesn't sound that appetising, but tastes were different then. In 1981, we introduced prawn mayonnaise and it's been our best seller ever since.'
And the next most popular varieties? In descending order: chicken and bacon, BLT, smoked ham and mustard, and then, at number five, the chicken salad combo that I've been working on. It's all very impressive. But I come away wondering whether all these sandwiches haven't made eating lunch a rather joyless experience.
These days, the average 'lunch hour' is just 20 minutes long and most likely to be spent at a desk. Although, as Stephen Bevan, of the Work Foundation, says: 'How much of that is because of changes to our work and how much is due to sandwiches is questionable.'
Certainly, not everyone is a fan. Food historian Tom Jaine says: "Readymade sandwiches have come a long way over the past 30 years, but that doesn't mean they taste any better. I think they're disgusting. The bread turns to slime in your mouth."
Mail columnist and lifelong foodie Jan Moir agrees: 'There's nothing quite as dispiriting as a sandwich sweating in one of those triangular coffins. Most taste of chilled nothing. The supposedly fancy ones are the worst. Elsewhere, the cheap ingredients are an insult.'
But their view is not shared by the dozens of hungry shoppers I find milling around my local M&S in Chiswick, West London. Among the sandwiches on offer are the ones I made the day before. I hover by the chicken and salad section, admiring the neat cucumber and the perfectly tidied chicken.
'I helped make that,' I say to a woman as she picks one off the shelf. She smiles at me, looks slightly worried and hurries on in silence. Later, I notice she has abandoned the sandwich by the avocado pears.
Print this article Print this article
Read later Read later
Email to a friend Email to a friend
Share this article:
Facebook
Twitter
* Digg it
* Reddit
* Fark
* Del.icio.us
* Newsvine
* Nowpublic
* StumbleUpon
* MySpace
Add your comments
Comments (25)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
* Newest
* Oldest
* Best rated
* Worst rated
View all
I wish all sandwiches did not have mayonaise smothering them. I hate the stuff.
- Ann, Hartlepool, 24/4/2010 10:05
Click to rate Rating 143
Report abuse
In the first picture some of the workers arent wearing gloves?!? Gross.
- Jasmin, Kent, 24/4/2010 10:04
Click to rate Rating 135
Report abuse
Yes you are right Mrs O'Brien.
- Linda, London, 24/4/2010 09:44
Click to rate Rating 9
Report abuse
30 years, and they still can't make it taste like one you made yourself
- cynic, sudbury suffolk, 24/4/2010 09:38
Click to rate Rating 122
Report abuse
I used to buy ready made sandwiches at a shop in Dean's Gate, Whitehall way back in 1965. These sandwiches were stacked (unwrapped) in their hundreds in the window, definitely a no no in today's high street.
- Dirk Jonas, Pontypandy, 24/4/2010 09:30
Click to rate Rating 65
Report abuse
I agree with Jan Moir, these sandwiches are tasteless rubbish -and overpriced too! what on earth is wrong with making your own, or making up a salad lunchbox - less than half the price, hardly takes any time, tastes REAL
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1268371/M-S-sandwich-celebrates-30th-anniversary-launch-changed-lunch-forever.html#ixzz0m219eFG1
If you laid out every slice of bread used in this manufacturer's sandwiches each year, it would reach from Manchester to Bangkok.
They also use 700 Olympic-size swimming pools of mayonnaise, two Jumbo jets filled with lettuce leaves, 390,000 tonnes of prawns and enough chickens to go twice around the M25.
British tradition: Marks & Spencer sold its first sandwich 30 years ago
British tradition: Marks & Spencer sold its first sandwich 30 years ago
It's enough to give you indigestion. But then, as those seductive adverts for the store in question might say: 'These are not just any ordinary sandwiches. These are Marks & Spencer pre-packaged sandwiches.'
More than that, they are the sarnies that changed the world - and, some would say, changed it for the worse.
It is now 30 years since M&S sold it's first prepackaged sandwich and in doing so unwittingly launched a food revolution that would change the way that Britain eats. Since then, we've munched through about three billion M&S pre-packed sarnies.
Today, one in five sandwiches sold in the UK is bought from Marks and Sparks. They are part of our cultural heritage. Every supermarket has copied the formula. And they are the food that killed off lunch.
According to The Work Foundation - a group that promotes work/life balance - in the late Fifties, 70 per cent of men went home for lunch. Those who didn't mostly brought in a packed lunch, or ate hot food in staff canteens.
Even those workers who were willing to make do with a humble sarnie bought them fresh from local shops, which made them to order. Marks & Spencer changed all that.
As Jim Winship, of the British Sandwich Association, says: 'The pre-packaged sandwich has changed our lives. M&S started the revolution in the Eighties and now the market is worth £6 billion. That's a lot of sandwiches. They've also changed our working lives. Most people now stay at their desk - eating sandwiches.'
To understand just how significant their impact has been, we need to return to the early Eighties. Margaret Thatcher was just embarking on her economic reforms, beer cost 35p a pint - and sandwiches were something that you made at home, usually filled with cheese and pickle or, if you were feeling adventurous, perhaps a smear of tuna and sweetcorn.
The idea that you could walk into a shop and pick up a triangular plastic box containing two neatly-cut rectangles filled with crayfish tails, rocket and Marie Rose sauce would have seemed as fantastical as mobile phones the size of a cigarette packet and 3D television.
The production line at the Gunstones factory in Dronfield today where M&S sandwiches are made
The production line at the Gunstones factory in Dronfield today where M&S sandwiches are made
Like many world-changing inventions, the Eureka moment for the pre-packed sandwich happened by accident. An assistant in the Marble Arch M&S flagship store wrapped up some leftover sandwiches from the in-store cafe and put them up for sale instead of binning them. Today, any worker trying the same stunt would doubtless be sacked under Health and Safety guidelines.
But those were more innocent days. Within minutes, the first trial sandwiches had all been sold - and M&S realised they were on to something. They trialled readymade sandwiches in five other stores - and a nation that had begun to hunger for convenience snapped them up.
By 1987, M&S had 25 sandwich varieties on offer in all its stores, and rivals began to copy what had already become a multi-millionpound formula. From those humble origins stemmed an entire industry.
That first M&S sarnie is the ancestor of today's High Street sandwiches in all their various forms: the Pret A Manger baguettes, the Boots wraps, the shrink-wrapped supermarket bagels - even those sad, anaemic offerings for sale in motorway service
Yet how often, as you trudge back to your desk with your supermarket BLT or chicken Caesar, do you pause to consider where your lunch has come from?
Not which store, but which actual kitchen? For that matter, who spread the mayo or sliced the tomato?
That's what intrigued me, as I ate my M&S sandwich one lunchtime. And that is how I found myself outside Gunstones Bakery near Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Gunstones (owned by the giant Northern Foods conglomerate) is one of the two official sandwich suppliers to M&S, churning out 18 million sandwiches a year.
The manager, Martin Husselbee, allowed me in to see how they do it. As one might expect, Martin is almost messianic about sarnies. 'Sandwich making is a serious business,' he says. 'You have to use the best quality ingredients. We cook our own bacon and chicken and try to source quality British ingredients wherever we can. It's all about continuity. People want their sandwiches to taste the same every day.'
Do they? Isn't the whole joy of homemade sandwiches that they don't always taste the same? I've spent many a happy lunchtime assembling odd creations by wedging last night's leftovers between two slices of bread.
But this is no time for amateurs or experiments. Martin and I are off to the heart of sandwich central - the factory floor. Before I am allowed anywhere near the food, I must be decontaminated.
I put on big white wellies, a white coat and no fewer than three hairnets (if there's one thing that can spoil a sandwich, it's a rogue ginger hair projecting from the prawn mayo). Once clad, I walk over a kind of cattle grid, where my boots are washed with hot soapy brushes to rid them of germs. Next comes a dollop of antibacterial hand gel.
Only then am I allowed in.
Inside, the factory looks (and sounds) much like any other. The radio is on loud, but barely audible over the busy clatter of the machines. People - all similarly clad in white - are pushing around vast crates of bread, vats of butter and giant containers of sliced chicken, like oversized Oompah-Loompahs.
Finished product: Lucy McDonald pictured at the Gunstones factory with some of the sandwiches on offer
Finished product: Lucy McDonald pictured at the Gunstones factory with some of the sandwiches on offer
When I visit, only seven of the 12 stainless-steel production lines are in use, but during busy times (Christmas and the peak of the summer picnic season) all of them are working at full throttle and extra staff are brought in.
It is an extraordinary process - about as far removed from making a sandwich at home as possible, yet relying on the same basic principles.
The first surprise is that all of the sandwiches are handmade. Indeed, they're made not just by one pair of hands, but ten of them.
Astonishingly, that is the number of people it takes to assemble the average M&S sandwich - enabling each production line to churn out almost 50 a minute. I am assigned to the 'chicken and salad' production line - one of M&S's perennial favourite varieties. Before I am allowed to get stuck in, I watch the experts at work.
At the top of each line, two workers stand opposite each other with the sole job of ripping open the bread packets that come from a local factory and then placing slices on the conveyor belt (The two end slices get thrown away, to be eaten by pigs).
The ones that make it in are then spread by machine with a tiny amount of butter. Only one to two grams are used per slice and you can barely see it, but it acts as a barrier to stop the ingredients turning the bread soggy.
Next come seven wiggly lines of rosemary-infused mayonnaise, which are piped automatically on both pieces of the malted brown bread. The slices move down the line on a conveyer belt to where two more workers are standing by, cucumber slices at the ready.
Each places two on each piece of bread, making four slices in total.
It is surreally choreographed - like some kind of synchronised sandwich ballet. The next pair of workers add a handful of sliced chicken (55g exactly, weighed out on nearby scales) which is then neatly spread out to all four corners of the bread by another couple down the line.
End product: People in a Marks & Spencer food hall. The company considers itself a leading sandwich producer and keeps its recipes a secret
End product: People in a Marks & Spencer food hall. The company considers itself a leading sandwich producer and keeps its recipes a secret
Then come four slices of tomato and a handful of lettuce from another two workers, before both slices of the bread are tipped on top of each other - et voila! A sandwich. But hang on - it's not ready yet.
Next up are the 'sandwich tidiers'. This pair's job is to ensure that the sandwich looks pretty and that nothing is hanging out. Only once the sandwich has passed this test does it go through an automatic cutter that slices it into two triangles.
Just before slicing, the machine gently squeezes each sandwich to compress all the ingredients - much like you would press a sandwich down with your hand after making it at home. They are then automatically put into paper boxes (plastic was phased out in
2006) and sealed, before being stamped with a two- day sell-by date. They then go through a metal detector to ensure no one's wedding ring has slipped off into an egg mayonnaise sandwich. The sandwiches then disappear off the factory floor into trays ready to be dispatched around the country. And that's how it happens, sandwich after sandwich, hour after hour, day after day. I can't help but think it must be mindnumbingly tedious. I have a go at being a sandwich 'tidier' and am bored after a few minutes.
What can it be like for people such as Margaret Freer, 65, who has been making M&S sandwiches for 20 years? 'It does get a bit hectic,' is the closest she gets to moaning. For Margaret, making the nation's lunches is not a chore - it's a source of pride.
'I like making sandwiches. I like thinking of people eating something I've made. It is impossible to get bored as you swap jobs every 20 minutes. It's mind-boggling when you realise how much work goes into one sandwich.'
Even making more than a million sandwiches hasn't dimmed Margaret's appetite for them. 'I love them,' she says. 'I even buy them from the shops. The Club variety is my favourite.'
Gunstones currently employs 1,200 people - mostly local. At the heart of the factory is a tasting kitchen, where Jamie Bosworth, one of the five resident chefs, is busy experimenting with new flavours. 'We look everywhere for inspiration. Recipe books, the internet, restaurants,' he says. 'We even went to New York and San Francisco recently for ideas.
'Mexican food is popular at the moment and people seem more interested in wraps and sushi, as well as traditional breads.' They are currently working on a World Cup range to be launched in May.
Exact recipes are kept secret. Competitors could sniff a chance to launch a similar variety first, and as Jamie puts it firmly: 'We are sandwich leaders, not sandwich followers.' Which is all very well, except that the first ever M&S sandwich sounds truly horrible.
Carlos Diaz, the M&S sandwich buyer, says: 'The first flavour we launched in 1980 was salmon and tomato. To be honest, it doesn't sound that appetising, but tastes were different then. In 1981, we introduced prawn mayonnaise and it's been our best seller ever since.'
And the next most popular varieties? In descending order: chicken and bacon, BLT, smoked ham and mustard, and then, at number five, the chicken salad combo that I've been working on. It's all very impressive. But I come away wondering whether all these sandwiches haven't made eating lunch a rather joyless experience.
These days, the average 'lunch hour' is just 20 minutes long and most likely to be spent at a desk. Although, as Stephen Bevan, of the Work Foundation, says: 'How much of that is because of changes to our work and how much is due to sandwiches is questionable.'
Certainly, not everyone is a fan. Food historian Tom Jaine says: "Readymade sandwiches have come a long way over the past 30 years, but that doesn't mean they taste any better. I think they're disgusting. The bread turns to slime in your mouth."
Mail columnist and lifelong foodie Jan Moir agrees: 'There's nothing quite as dispiriting as a sandwich sweating in one of those triangular coffins. Most taste of chilled nothing. The supposedly fancy ones are the worst. Elsewhere, the cheap ingredients are an insult.'
But their view is not shared by the dozens of hungry shoppers I find milling around my local M&S in Chiswick, West London. Among the sandwiches on offer are the ones I made the day before. I hover by the chicken and salad section, admiring the neat cucumber and the perfectly tidied chicken.
'I helped make that,' I say to a woman as she picks one off the shelf. She smiles at me, looks slightly worried and hurries on in silence. Later, I notice she has abandoned the sandwich by the avocado pears.
Print this article Print this article
Read later Read later
Email to a friend Email to a friend
Share this article:
* Digg it
* Fark
* Del.icio.us
* Newsvine
* Nowpublic
* StumbleUpon
* MySpace
Add your comments
Comments (25)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
* Newest
* Oldest
* Best rated
* Worst rated
View all
I wish all sandwiches did not have mayonaise smothering them. I hate the stuff.
- Ann, Hartlepool, 24/4/2010 10:05
Click to rate Rating 143
Report abuse
In the first picture some of the workers arent wearing gloves?!? Gross.
- Jasmin, Kent, 24/4/2010 10:04
Click to rate Rating 135
Report abuse
Yes you are right Mrs O'Brien.
- Linda, London, 24/4/2010 09:44
Click to rate Rating 9
Report abuse
30 years, and they still can't make it taste like one you made yourself
- cynic, sudbury suffolk, 24/4/2010 09:38
Click to rate Rating 122
Report abuse
I used to buy ready made sandwiches at a shop in Dean's Gate, Whitehall way back in 1965. These sandwiches were stacked (unwrapped) in their hundreds in the window, definitely a no no in today's high street.
- Dirk Jonas, Pontypandy, 24/4/2010 09:30
Click to rate Rating 65
Report abuse
I agree with Jan Moir, these sandwiches are tasteless rubbish -and overpriced too! what on earth is wrong with making your own, or making up a salad lunchbox - less than half the price, hardly takes any time, tastes REAL
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1268371/M-S-sandwich-celebrates-30th-anniversary-launch-changed-lunch-forever.html#ixzz0m219eFG1
Friday 23 April 2010
Chest workout
http://bestchestguide.com/best-of-gynecomastia-treatments.php
http://www.gynecomastia.org/content/general/gynart.shtml
http://www.gynecomastia.org/content/general/gynart.shtml
I'll be vilified, but shouldn't we let nature decide if premature babies survive?
By Virginia Ironside
Last updated at 9:11 AM on 22nd April 2010
* Comments (387)
* Add to My Stories
As the number of babies born weighing just 2lb doubles in two years, a provocative view from respected advice columnist VIRGINIA IRONSIDE.
At first glance, it seems such wonderful news. The number of babies born weighing only 2lbs has more than doubled over the past two years.
Their survival is miraculous, and often seems like a feat of tiny, wilful endurance against overwhelming odds. One can only imagine the joy of these vulnerable children's anxious parents as it becomes clear their child will live.
And it is thanks to the advances of modern medicine that these little miracles have now become an everyday reality - after all, these are babies who are often no bigger than a bag of sugar. Without the support of modern technology, how else could they possibly have survived?
Small miracle: But premature babies can have serious problems
Small miracle: But premature babies can have serious problems
It is a natural response for us all to rejoice along with these families and their exceptionally premature babies - by which I mean those children born before 24 weeks.
We all hope that these little ones can go on to live long and fruitful lives. But, sadly, the hard fact must be acknowledged that in many cases, this will not happen.
None of us likes to even think of children being in pain, so it is tragic to realise that half of these children born at such an early stage of pregnancy will suffer from cerebral palsy.
More...
* Calls to reduce abortion limit as number of 2lb survivors soars
Many will also have bowel, kidney, respiratory or developmental problems. Often, the hours spent waiting in hope at the side of an incubator as these tiny babies battle for life will be replaced in later weeks, months and years by hours inserting feeding tubes, doing painful physiotherapy work, or comforting a child in distress.
There are thousands of devoted parents of disabled children who do just this, day in, day out. They do a fantastic job and are to be much admired.
Despite such devotion, and although I know my thoughts go against the current tide of opinion, I want to plead on behalf of these children.
Faced with a desperately premature and undeveloped baby, I can't help but wonder whether in some instances it is the right thing to fight to keep them alive.
Should modern medicine be saving these babies who often face a life dominated by pain and illness? I feel uncomfortable saying this, but I don't believe it should in every case.
Why do I feel this way? A lot of people say that life is worth preserving at any cost. And yes, thankfully, some of these extremely premature children will have healthy, happy lives. Every one must be counted a blessing.
Controversial view: Agony aunt Virginia Ironside
Controversial view: Virginia Ironside believes nature should decide whether premature babies survive
But the sad fact is that it is a huge gamble to resuscitate a premature baby, and may risk bequeathing those tiny babies a lifetime of agony.
Often there is a reason a child is born early - because they have either a disability or weakness. Isn't this Mother Nature's way of saying that they are not meant for this world?
But then we intervene with all our gadgets and scientific advances. Sometimes, of course - and I can't emphasise this enough - intervention can be absolutely the right thing to do.
There is nothing more heartening than reading the story of a baby that has triumphed against the odds, who has passed its milestones unscathed by his or her premature birth.
But often prolonging the life of a tiny baby that would otherwise have died can be irresponsible.
In practical terms, keeping these exceptionally premature babies alive places huge pressure - some £125 million a year - on the already heavily burdened health service.
The resources that are keeping these babies alive are, by necessity, being taken away from those who have a strong chance of life: the young mothers and fathers hit by cancer, or the sick five-year-olds desperately in need of treatment.
But most of all, and more importantly than any financial cost, is the human cost to the baby.
As an agony aunt, I read about so much suffering. Allowing these babies to die isn't an easy option - far from it. It can cause parents and families pain and guilt for years.
But I believe that it can sometimes be an unselfish and loving act not to prolong the life of a child who will never leave hospital or be free from intrusive and distressing medical intervention, before he or she can suffer.
Parents who make that tough decision should be supported. Instead, though, it is often the parents who - albeit unwittingly and with the best of intentions - prolong their child's suffering who are praised. I have written extensively about the pain of bereavement, of losing a loved one.
But there does come a time when you have to accept that death comes to us all. While I know my argument may sound hard-hearted, anyone who saw this week's BBC programme Caught in the Machine, about the children being cared for in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Great Ormond Street Hospital, will empathise - and perhaps even share my concerns.
Female nurse examining a newborn baby in an incubator
Lifetime of treatment: None of us likes to even think of children being in pain, but some premature babies will need constant care (file picture)
Take tiny Uzoma Igwe. The eight-month-old little girl had never left the hospital in the course of her young life, and had been admitted to ICU four times with respiratory failure.
Her delicate face covered in bandages holding an artificial ventilator in place, she was born at just 27 weeks and faced the harshest of battles from then.
Indeed, the child's consultant, Dr Christine Pierce, said: 'Her lungs aren't strong enough for her to do the things normal babies do at her age. She is still the same size she was seven months ago - all the energy she has is used in surviving, not in growing or developing.'
It was heartbreaking watching nurses trying to sit her up in a baby chair.
One said: 'I do feel sometimes we do things you wouldn't do to an animal. Sometimes the treatment is futile.'
She was given a tracheotomy, a hole in her throat to help her breath, but became increasingly distressed.
TODAY'S POLL
Should we let Mother Nature decide whether premature babies survive?
Yes
No
VOTE
nurse examining a newborn baby in an incubator
POLL RESULTS
Close
All polls Click to view yesterday's poll results
Eventually, after a month in ICU and an operation on her stomach, she died. Another minute baby was born on the very cusp of survival, at 24 weeks.
By eight months, she had suffered almost every complication possible, from severe chronic lung disease, to bleeding in the brain causing severe brain damage.
She eventually went home, but will face continuing problems. I would never wish to proscribe what is right or wrong in individual cases, but as a general principle I worry that just because medical science can keep more and more desperately premature babies alive, it doesn't always mean it is the right thing to do.
That may sound cruel and uncaring. But in many cases I believe the opposite to be true. Sometimes letting go can be the bravest - and most unselfish - decision a parent can make.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1267878/VIRGINIA-IRONSIDE-Ill-vilified-shouldnt-let-nature-decide-premature-babies-survive.html#ixzz0lxgSpYs0
Last updated at 9:11 AM on 22nd April 2010
* Comments (387)
* Add to My Stories
As the number of babies born weighing just 2lb doubles in two years, a provocative view from respected advice columnist VIRGINIA IRONSIDE.
At first glance, it seems such wonderful news. The number of babies born weighing only 2lbs has more than doubled over the past two years.
Their survival is miraculous, and often seems like a feat of tiny, wilful endurance against overwhelming odds. One can only imagine the joy of these vulnerable children's anxious parents as it becomes clear their child will live.
And it is thanks to the advances of modern medicine that these little miracles have now become an everyday reality - after all, these are babies who are often no bigger than a bag of sugar. Without the support of modern technology, how else could they possibly have survived?
Small miracle: But premature babies can have serious problems
Small miracle: But premature babies can have serious problems
It is a natural response for us all to rejoice along with these families and their exceptionally premature babies - by which I mean those children born before 24 weeks.
We all hope that these little ones can go on to live long and fruitful lives. But, sadly, the hard fact must be acknowledged that in many cases, this will not happen.
None of us likes to even think of children being in pain, so it is tragic to realise that half of these children born at such an early stage of pregnancy will suffer from cerebral palsy.
More...
* Calls to reduce abortion limit as number of 2lb survivors soars
Many will also have bowel, kidney, respiratory or developmental problems. Often, the hours spent waiting in hope at the side of an incubator as these tiny babies battle for life will be replaced in later weeks, months and years by hours inserting feeding tubes, doing painful physiotherapy work, or comforting a child in distress.
There are thousands of devoted parents of disabled children who do just this, day in, day out. They do a fantastic job and are to be much admired.
Despite such devotion, and although I know my thoughts go against the current tide of opinion, I want to plead on behalf of these children.
Faced with a desperately premature and undeveloped baby, I can't help but wonder whether in some instances it is the right thing to fight to keep them alive.
Should modern medicine be saving these babies who often face a life dominated by pain and illness? I feel uncomfortable saying this, but I don't believe it should in every case.
Why do I feel this way? A lot of people say that life is worth preserving at any cost. And yes, thankfully, some of these extremely premature children will have healthy, happy lives. Every one must be counted a blessing.
Controversial view: Agony aunt Virginia Ironside
Controversial view: Virginia Ironside believes nature should decide whether premature babies survive
But the sad fact is that it is a huge gamble to resuscitate a premature baby, and may risk bequeathing those tiny babies a lifetime of agony.
Often there is a reason a child is born early - because they have either a disability or weakness. Isn't this Mother Nature's way of saying that they are not meant for this world?
But then we intervene with all our gadgets and scientific advances. Sometimes, of course - and I can't emphasise this enough - intervention can be absolutely the right thing to do.
There is nothing more heartening than reading the story of a baby that has triumphed against the odds, who has passed its milestones unscathed by his or her premature birth.
But often prolonging the life of a tiny baby that would otherwise have died can be irresponsible.
In practical terms, keeping these exceptionally premature babies alive places huge pressure - some £125 million a year - on the already heavily burdened health service.
The resources that are keeping these babies alive are, by necessity, being taken away from those who have a strong chance of life: the young mothers and fathers hit by cancer, or the sick five-year-olds desperately in need of treatment.
But most of all, and more importantly than any financial cost, is the human cost to the baby.
As an agony aunt, I read about so much suffering. Allowing these babies to die isn't an easy option - far from it. It can cause parents and families pain and guilt for years.
But I believe that it can sometimes be an unselfish and loving act not to prolong the life of a child who will never leave hospital or be free from intrusive and distressing medical intervention, before he or she can suffer.
Parents who make that tough decision should be supported. Instead, though, it is often the parents who - albeit unwittingly and with the best of intentions - prolong their child's suffering who are praised. I have written extensively about the pain of bereavement, of losing a loved one.
But there does come a time when you have to accept that death comes to us all. While I know my argument may sound hard-hearted, anyone who saw this week's BBC programme Caught in the Machine, about the children being cared for in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Great Ormond Street Hospital, will empathise - and perhaps even share my concerns.
Female nurse examining a newborn baby in an incubator
Lifetime of treatment: None of us likes to even think of children being in pain, but some premature babies will need constant care (file picture)
Take tiny Uzoma Igwe. The eight-month-old little girl had never left the hospital in the course of her young life, and had been admitted to ICU four times with respiratory failure.
Her delicate face covered in bandages holding an artificial ventilator in place, she was born at just 27 weeks and faced the harshest of battles from then.
Indeed, the child's consultant, Dr Christine Pierce, said: 'Her lungs aren't strong enough for her to do the things normal babies do at her age. She is still the same size she was seven months ago - all the energy she has is used in surviving, not in growing or developing.'
It was heartbreaking watching nurses trying to sit her up in a baby chair.
One said: 'I do feel sometimes we do things you wouldn't do to an animal. Sometimes the treatment is futile.'
She was given a tracheotomy, a hole in her throat to help her breath, but became increasingly distressed.
TODAY'S POLL
Should we let Mother Nature decide whether premature babies survive?
Yes
No
VOTE
nurse examining a newborn baby in an incubator
POLL RESULTS
Close
All polls Click to view yesterday's poll results
Eventually, after a month in ICU and an operation on her stomach, she died. Another minute baby was born on the very cusp of survival, at 24 weeks.
By eight months, she had suffered almost every complication possible, from severe chronic lung disease, to bleeding in the brain causing severe brain damage.
She eventually went home, but will face continuing problems. I would never wish to proscribe what is right or wrong in individual cases, but as a general principle I worry that just because medical science can keep more and more desperately premature babies alive, it doesn't always mean it is the right thing to do.
That may sound cruel and uncaring. But in many cases I believe the opposite to be true. Sometimes letting go can be the bravest - and most unselfish - decision a parent can make.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1267878/VIRGINIA-IRONSIDE-Ill-vilified-shouldnt-let-nature-decide-premature-babies-survive.html#ixzz0lxgSpYs0
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Premature ejaculation could be passed to men genetically, scientists say
By Pat Hagan
Last updated at 12:50 AM on 22nd April 2010
* Comments (0)
* Add to My Stories
It can leave men feeling like a failure in the bedroom and damage even the strongest marriages.
The problem of premature ejaculation has long been linked with psychological issues - but now scientists say it could be something that is inherited.
Researchers have found men for whom sex is over all too quickly are more likely to have a genetic abnormality.
Couple in bed
Problems with premature ejaculation could be inherited: Scientists have found a genetic abnormality can affect levels of a chemical in the brain
These men carried a defect in a gene that controls the release of dopamine, a chemical ' neurotransmitter' that plays a crucial role in everything from movement and attention span to the brain's perception of pleasure and reward.
The researchers in Sweden and Finland believe drugs that boost dopamine levels in the brain could be a new way of treating a condition that affects one in four men in the UK.
As far back as the 1970s, researchers noted that dopamine-based drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease had an aphrodisiac affect on some patients.
But until now, most experts agreed premature ejaculation was probably linked with psychological issues - such as difficulty relaxing during sex.
Treatments usually involve relaxation techniques, although doctors do sometimes prescribe anti-depressants to control anxiety.
The latest study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggests the problem may be passed down through the generations.
Experts looked at almost 1,300 men aged between 18 and 45 and asked each one on how long they were usually able to last during sex. They also took saliva samples to test for defects in a dopamine transporter gene, called DAT1.
The results showed that men with a slightly different form of the gene were much more likely to suffer from premature ejaculation.
In a report on their findings scientists said: 'The results of this study indicate that drugs directly affecting dopamine levels may be candidates for treatment.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267824/Premature-ejaculation-passed-men-genetically-scientists-say.html#ixzz0lmxIYG8Q
Last updated at 12:50 AM on 22nd April 2010
* Comments (0)
* Add to My Stories
It can leave men feeling like a failure in the bedroom and damage even the strongest marriages.
The problem of premature ejaculation has long been linked with psychological issues - but now scientists say it could be something that is inherited.
Researchers have found men for whom sex is over all too quickly are more likely to have a genetic abnormality.
Couple in bed
Problems with premature ejaculation could be inherited: Scientists have found a genetic abnormality can affect levels of a chemical in the brain
These men carried a defect in a gene that controls the release of dopamine, a chemical ' neurotransmitter' that plays a crucial role in everything from movement and attention span to the brain's perception of pleasure and reward.
The researchers in Sweden and Finland believe drugs that boost dopamine levels in the brain could be a new way of treating a condition that affects one in four men in the UK.
As far back as the 1970s, researchers noted that dopamine-based drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease had an aphrodisiac affect on some patients.
But until now, most experts agreed premature ejaculation was probably linked with psychological issues - such as difficulty relaxing during sex.
Treatments usually involve relaxation techniques, although doctors do sometimes prescribe anti-depressants to control anxiety.
The latest study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggests the problem may be passed down through the generations.
Experts looked at almost 1,300 men aged between 18 and 45 and asked each one on how long they were usually able to last during sex. They also took saliva samples to test for defects in a dopamine transporter gene, called DAT1.
The results showed that men with a slightly different form of the gene were much more likely to suffer from premature ejaculation.
In a report on their findings scientists said: 'The results of this study indicate that drugs directly affecting dopamine levels may be candidates for treatment.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267824/Premature-ejaculation-passed-men-genetically-scientists-say.html#ixzz0lmxIYG8Q
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Revealed: The X-rated family Cheryl Cole left behind
By Richard Price
Last updated at 2:21 AM on 12th November 2008
* Comments (154)
* Add to My Stories
Perfect features: Cheryl shows off her enviable figure
Relative values: For all her fame and fortune, Cheryl can't escape her unfortunate family problems
For a woman who seems to work every hour God sends, Cheryl Cole has an extraordinary - some might say infuriating - knack of looking as fresh as a daisy.
On Saturday night, ten million viewers marvelled at her megawatt smile and impossibly glossy hair on The XFactor, despite the fact that she was suffering with a severe dose of the 'flu.
Her pop group, Girls Aloud, are sitting pretty at the top of the album charts; her already lucrative X Factor contract is up for renewal, with an opening bid of £1.5million a year; and at the end of a hard day's preening she goes home to the sprawling Surrey pile she shares with her husband, Ashley, a Chelsea footballer whose salary dwarfs even Cheryl's substantial income.
All the while the starlet's perfect features are a fixture in newsagents across the country, gazing down from the glossy covers of endless magazines.
It all seems to come so easily to the fiercely ambitious 25-year-old, who likes to be known simply as Mrs Cole. Consider that these very words are tattooed - quite literally - on the back of her delectable neck, and it soon becomes clear that this is one lady who was not born into privilege.
Indeed, had opportunity not come knocking six years ago in the form of Popstars: The Rivals - the reality television show which led to the formation of Girls Aloud - things might have turned out very differently for the then Cheryl Tweedy.
Three hundred miles north of her six-bedroom, gated mansion in leafy Oxshott (complete with its own cinema - she is, after all, a WAG) lies an altogether different residence.
It is here, in a down-at-heel terrace house in Heaton, Newcastle, that the Tweedy family seat can be found. And away from the stylists, airbrushes and PR mollycoddlers of Cheryl's ivory tower, the picture isn't quite as pretty.
Cheryl and the other X Factor judges: Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Simon Cowell
Cheryl and the other X Factor judges: Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Simon Cowell
Take her elder sister, Gillian, for example, who answers the door with a brusque: 'We don't talk to the Press.' Only four years separate the sisters (Gillian is 29), but in terms of lifestyle and appearance, the two may as well be from different planets.
'Where Cheryl's hair tumbles almost to her waist in impeccably groomed chestnut curls, Gillian's is mousy brown and scraped back into a hair band.
While Cheryl is personally dressed by fashion designer Matthew Williamson, Gillian (who recently gave birth to a baby boy named, rather colourfully, Keric) lives in frayed jeans and tracksuits accessorised by gaudy jewellery which owes more to Argos than Tiffany.
Indeed, the one thing the sisters have in common is a track record of appearing in court charged with brawling in public.
But Cheryl's and Gillian's convictions (of which more later) pale into insignificance when compared with the track record of their brother, Andrew, an alcoholic glue-sniffer who has clocked up more than 50 court appearances and spent a third of his life behind bars.
Relative values: Cheryl's sister Gillian Tweedy
Relative values: Cheryl's sister Gillian Tweedy
It is Andrew who illustrates with sobering clarity just how differently the nation's newly crowned sweetheart could have turned out.
Yesterday the 28-year-old broke cover to give a self-serving interview to a downmarket tabloid, in which he admitted to his addictions and life of crime, revealing that Cheryl had visited him in prison and had even offered to pay for him to go to rehab.
More...
* Cheryl Cole's big brother in court charged with 'interfering with a motor vehicle'
* Barry George's obsession with Cheryl Cole revealed after he begs for an X Factor ticket
* Unsteady as she goes Cheryl Cole needs help getting home after celebrating No.1 chart success a little too hard
Andrew Tweedy, who last saw Cheryl two months ago at a family gathering, recalled how she visited him in Acklington jail in Northumberland last Christmas. 'She came on her own. She looked so sad and tired ... with her hair scraped back in a ponytail and the hood up on her sweatshirt. It broke my heart to see her so cut up.
'Everyone in the visiting hall knew who she was, but she just didn't care that they could see her crying.'
Andrew Tweedy: An alcoholic glue sniffer who has clocked up over 50 court appearances
Andrew Tweedy: An alcoholic glue sniffer who has clocked up over 50 court appearances
He went on: 'Cheryl wants to help me but I'm too far gone. I know I'm breaking her heart, but I'm not strong enough to sort myself out. I watch Cheryl on TV and think: "Your life is so different to the one you left behind."
'She tells me I should be inspired by what she's done and that I can turn my back on booze and violence. Instead, like a fool, I go back to the drink and the glue.'
All of which makes it understandable that while Cheryl has always made a point of being proud of her working-class roots, back in Heaton there is a growing body of opinion that she should cut down on the pronouncements from her ivory tower.
Neighbours on the street where she grew up have detected a softening of her Geordie vowels, plus a tendency to refer to her home town as a hotbed of heroin abuse and deprivation.
Model behaviour: Picture perfect Cheryl keeps her family secrets to herself
Model behaviour: Picture perfect Cheryl keeps her family secrets to herself
Margaret Ross, 59, who lived next door to Cheryl, told me: 'I have known Cheryl her whole life. She's a lovely girl. But since she went down to London for that TV show years ago I haven't seen her. Not once.
'She's left this life behind. If you speak to folk round here, you will find they are good people who aren't happy about what she says about the estate. If there is heroin available, it's well hidden.'
This view is not shared by Cheryl, who says of Heaton: 'There were lots of users in my area. Heroin was there for the taking. I could have taken that route, but I always maintained my ambition and I'm proud of myself.'
Her comments, prompted by the death of a childhood friend three years ago from a drug overdose, were no doubt heartfelt. But they have touched a raw nerve with her former friends in Newcastle.
Another neighbour who knew Cheryl as a teenager, 36-year-old Nicola, is furious with Cheryl's comments about her childhood home.
When I heard what she had said, I was disgusted. She's made out it was completely drug addled but it wasn't. Every town has bad areas but there are a lot worse than this.
'It's a shame because I was good friends with her when she was growing up. She was always round our house, and we hung out together. I even went down to see her in London when she was on Popstars.
'But in recent years I haven't seen her at all. If she does come back I haven't heard about it and I've certainly never seen her.'
With such a dubious family background, however, it is not hard to imagine why Cheryl should seek to put a few miles between herself and the life she left behind. These days.
Cheryl has the benefit of a tenstrong entourage who follow Girls Aloud around the television studios (their GMTV appearance earlier this month required the attentions of two hairdressers, two make-up artists, a stylist and five further lackeys to ensure neither a hair nor a word was out of place).
Prior to the rough edges being knocked off, however, she had a well-publicised brush with the law when she assaulted a nightclub lavatory attendant in Guildford. A jury decided the attack in January 2003 was not racially motivated, but she was convicted of actual bodily harm and ordered to pay out £3,500 and carry out 120 hours' community service.
Cheryl
Stars in her eyes: Cheryl as a 13-year-old hopeful in Newcastle upon Tyne
Judge Richard Howarth described what happened as an 'unpleasant piece of drunken violence' and was astonished to note that the star - a role model to thousands of young women - had 'shown no remorse whatsoever'.
This appetite for petty violence is something of a family trait, however. Gillian, for example, was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months after becoming involved in a fist-fight along with Andrew.
It happened in November 2002 after the siblings had been out on a drinking binge to celebrate Cheryl's success in reaching the finals of Popstars: The Rivals.
Yet this incident pales into insignificance in comparison to Andrew's other exploits. In 2005 he was given a four-year jail term for mugging a teenager. (This being modern Britain, of course, he was released long before the end of his sentence.) The details of the case, though thoroughly unpleasant, bear scrutiny. Andrew and an accomplice targeted stranger Kian Brady as he made his way home from Newcastle city centre in the early hours after finishing work.
Six years, five albums and 19 Top Ten hits: Cheryl with her band Girls' Aloud
Six years, five albums and 19 Top Ten hits: Cheryl with her band Girls' Aloud
The pair followed him and jumped on him from behind, knocking him over and pushing his face into the ground. They then repeatedly punched him and demanded his money, credit cards and PIN numbers, before fleeing with his portable CD player, mobile phone and £6 in cash.
Their victim was left barely conscious with horrendous facial injuries which required hospital treatment.
During the court case, it also emerged that Andrew had a string of previous convictions dating back to a street robbery when he was just 13. Most shockingly of all, however, he was sent to a young offenders' institution for six years in 1996 for stabbing two students in a pub.
As he described in yesterday's tabloid interview: 'Cheryl was only 11 and it hit her really hard. For the three years I was locked up, she came to see me a few times with the rest of the family.'
Despite these tribulations, Cheryl has remained fiercely defensive of her family, and remains particularly close to her mother Joan, 48. So close, indeed, that Joan lived with Cheryl and Ashley for several months after their 2006 wedding.
And after lurid allegations emerged earlier this year that Ashley had cheated on Cheryl with a hairdresser, causing a furore in the tabloid Press, it was Joan who rushed to her younger daughter's side.
Their relationship is understood to be more like that of sisters than mother and daughter. They have been known to go out clubbing together on many occasions - and even Joan is not immune to the Tweedy proclivity for violent outbursts (she once rather charmingly told a reporter: 'I'll rip your face off if I see you again.').
Cheryl's other siblings, however, are said to be rather more sensible than Gillian and Andrew. Eldest brother Joe, 31, has kept out of the limelight, but he and his wife, Kerry, remain extremely protective of Cheryl.
Then there is youngest brother Garry, 21, a student with whom Cheryl took her first steps as a child model in two advertisements for British Gas.
Even he sees fit to illustrate his Facebook webpage with photograph in which he has a traffic cone on his head. Sensible, it seems, is a relative word.
It should come as little surprise then that trouble has a habit of following Cheryl around. Yet in the past year she has discovered the knack of making the tribulations of life work to her advantage.
While she ruminated on whether to forgive Ashley's infidelity or not, the public bought magazines in their millions, agog at the tales of drastic weight loss and private screaming matches.
Whether these stories were true or not didn't really matter; almost overnight Cheryl Cole became circulation gold for the magazines, a wronged, fragile beauty whose face alone was guaranteed to shift copies.
As her public profile soared, so did her earning potential, culminating in an £800,000 contract to join The X Factor as one of the four judges, replacing the outgoing Sharon Osbourne.
In a few weeks' time, after a breathless year, she will take a break for the first three months of 2009. Whether she will be heading back to her Newcastle roots for a long overdue catch-up is questionable, but it is fair to say that the private beaches of Dubai and Mauritius are a more likely destination.
In the meantime there is yet more work to do, and the coming week will be spent busily preparing her two remaining acts for another potentially life-changing performance on The X Factor stage.
Brother Andrew, meanwhile, is awaiting yet another court appearance on Friday on charges of interfering with a motor vehicle, failure to surrender to arrest, assault and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Perhaps Cheryl's determination to stay with her philandering husband in their palatial Surrey mansion is not so hard to understand after all.
Print this article Print this article
Read later Read later
Email to a friend Email to a friend
Share this article:
Facebook
Twitter
* Digg it
* Reddit
* Fark
* Del.icio.us
* Newsvine
* Nowpublic
* StumbleUpon
* MySpace
Comments (154)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
* Newest
* Oldest
* Best rated
* Worst rated
View all
I hope Cheryl reads the comments attaced to this pointless article. She has never hidden that she escaped a possible life like her family. Everyone with any sense would want to get out and make a better life for themselves - she should be applauded. Good luck Cheryl - you've got it all and deservedly so!
- Molly, Singapore, 11/11/2008 07:21
Click to rate Rating 34
Report abuse
When someone has had the guts and determination to escape from the life that is described in this article I think they deserve credit and should not be mocked for in any way turning their back on their past. Cheryl appears to have tried to help her family members, but I don't blame her at all for not being back there every five minutes and allowing them to in any way represent who she has become as a person and as a successful entertainer. I'm not famous and rich but I have left behind a background similar to this and no, I don't go around telling everyone about it because I've worked hard to move forward, but I do support my family in any way I can, and that is what Cheryl appears to have done. What is wrong with that, and why does this article have to be written like it's an expose and a subject she is trying to hide from? The mentality of these people is not who Cheryl was in the past or who she is today, so why should she pretend otherwise. Leave the girl alone.
- Terry, Guildford, Surrey, 11/11/2008 07:00
Click to rate Rating 29
Report abuse
she is gorgeous, can sing and the world loves her. why would she go back to the grim and desperate.
smart girl.
- louise, Melbourne, Australia, 11/11/2008 06:05
Click to rate Rating 12
Report abuse
Cheryl, you are pretty and that 13 year-old shot really is cute. You stood behind your man Ashley who cheated. That was very good of you. Do not be worried about what your one time neighbours say. It is your life and do take care of yourself and Ashley.
- Al-malik, Malaise, 11/11/2008 01:44
Click to rate Rating 3
Report abuse
Achievement is that much more sweeter, and inspirational, when someone has had to overcome many struggles and high odds to pursue a dream. Cheryl should never be judged for a background that makes her experience in life so rich. She should be applauded for it, and held up as an example to everyone in any walk of life about the indefatigible nature of someone chasing a dream - and making it happen! Cheryl is a walking, glowing inspiration. As for her mum, you couldn't meet a nicer woman with a big heart. Like any Lionness, she will protect her pack - so let the family be, and cease the judgemental smirks and snide comments.
- Steve, London, UK, 11/11/2008 01:10
Click to rate Rating 9
Report abuse
Just goes to show that water seeks its level. She has a lot of talent, and is a very sweet and down to earth person, so its wonderful she managed to make something of herself. She has never pretended to be from anywhere nice, and seems to be a very loyal person. She has no control over her trashy family members--doesn't everyone have one of those? I think shes great. Sure she's rich, but she earns every penny with hard work and talent, and never forgot where she came from, good or bad.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1084308/Revealed-The-X-rated-family-Cheryl-Cole-left-behind.html#ixzz0lhGGxDDs
Last updated at 2:21 AM on 12th November 2008
* Comments (154)
* Add to My Stories
Perfect features: Cheryl shows off her enviable figure
Relative values: For all her fame and fortune, Cheryl can't escape her unfortunate family problems
For a woman who seems to work every hour God sends, Cheryl Cole has an extraordinary - some might say infuriating - knack of looking as fresh as a daisy.
On Saturday night, ten million viewers marvelled at her megawatt smile and impossibly glossy hair on The XFactor, despite the fact that she was suffering with a severe dose of the 'flu.
Her pop group, Girls Aloud, are sitting pretty at the top of the album charts; her already lucrative X Factor contract is up for renewal, with an opening bid of £1.5million a year; and at the end of a hard day's preening she goes home to the sprawling Surrey pile she shares with her husband, Ashley, a Chelsea footballer whose salary dwarfs even Cheryl's substantial income.
All the while the starlet's perfect features are a fixture in newsagents across the country, gazing down from the glossy covers of endless magazines.
It all seems to come so easily to the fiercely ambitious 25-year-old, who likes to be known simply as Mrs Cole. Consider that these very words are tattooed - quite literally - on the back of her delectable neck, and it soon becomes clear that this is one lady who was not born into privilege.
Indeed, had opportunity not come knocking six years ago in the form of Popstars: The Rivals - the reality television show which led to the formation of Girls Aloud - things might have turned out very differently for the then Cheryl Tweedy.
Three hundred miles north of her six-bedroom, gated mansion in leafy Oxshott (complete with its own cinema - she is, after all, a WAG) lies an altogether different residence.
It is here, in a down-at-heel terrace house in Heaton, Newcastle, that the Tweedy family seat can be found. And away from the stylists, airbrushes and PR mollycoddlers of Cheryl's ivory tower, the picture isn't quite as pretty.
Cheryl and the other X Factor judges: Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Simon Cowell
Cheryl and the other X Factor judges: Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Simon Cowell
Take her elder sister, Gillian, for example, who answers the door with a brusque: 'We don't talk to the Press.' Only four years separate the sisters (Gillian is 29), but in terms of lifestyle and appearance, the two may as well be from different planets.
'Where Cheryl's hair tumbles almost to her waist in impeccably groomed chestnut curls, Gillian's is mousy brown and scraped back into a hair band.
While Cheryl is personally dressed by fashion designer Matthew Williamson, Gillian (who recently gave birth to a baby boy named, rather colourfully, Keric) lives in frayed jeans and tracksuits accessorised by gaudy jewellery which owes more to Argos than Tiffany.
Indeed, the one thing the sisters have in common is a track record of appearing in court charged with brawling in public.
But Cheryl's and Gillian's convictions (of which more later) pale into insignificance when compared with the track record of their brother, Andrew, an alcoholic glue-sniffer who has clocked up more than 50 court appearances and spent a third of his life behind bars.
Relative values: Cheryl's sister Gillian Tweedy
Relative values: Cheryl's sister Gillian Tweedy
It is Andrew who illustrates with sobering clarity just how differently the nation's newly crowned sweetheart could have turned out.
Yesterday the 28-year-old broke cover to give a self-serving interview to a downmarket tabloid, in which he admitted to his addictions and life of crime, revealing that Cheryl had visited him in prison and had even offered to pay for him to go to rehab.
More...
* Cheryl Cole's big brother in court charged with 'interfering with a motor vehicle'
* Barry George's obsession with Cheryl Cole revealed after he begs for an X Factor ticket
* Unsteady as she goes Cheryl Cole needs help getting home after celebrating No.1 chart success a little too hard
Andrew Tweedy, who last saw Cheryl two months ago at a family gathering, recalled how she visited him in Acklington jail in Northumberland last Christmas. 'She came on her own. She looked so sad and tired ... with her hair scraped back in a ponytail and the hood up on her sweatshirt. It broke my heart to see her so cut up.
'Everyone in the visiting hall knew who she was, but she just didn't care that they could see her crying.'
Andrew Tweedy: An alcoholic glue sniffer who has clocked up over 50 court appearances
Andrew Tweedy: An alcoholic glue sniffer who has clocked up over 50 court appearances
He went on: 'Cheryl wants to help me but I'm too far gone. I know I'm breaking her heart, but I'm not strong enough to sort myself out. I watch Cheryl on TV and think: "Your life is so different to the one you left behind."
'She tells me I should be inspired by what she's done and that I can turn my back on booze and violence. Instead, like a fool, I go back to the drink and the glue.'
All of which makes it understandable that while Cheryl has always made a point of being proud of her working-class roots, back in Heaton there is a growing body of opinion that she should cut down on the pronouncements from her ivory tower.
Neighbours on the street where she grew up have detected a softening of her Geordie vowels, plus a tendency to refer to her home town as a hotbed of heroin abuse and deprivation.
Model behaviour: Picture perfect Cheryl keeps her family secrets to herself
Model behaviour: Picture perfect Cheryl keeps her family secrets to herself
Margaret Ross, 59, who lived next door to Cheryl, told me: 'I have known Cheryl her whole life. She's a lovely girl. But since she went down to London for that TV show years ago I haven't seen her. Not once.
'She's left this life behind. If you speak to folk round here, you will find they are good people who aren't happy about what she says about the estate. If there is heroin available, it's well hidden.'
This view is not shared by Cheryl, who says of Heaton: 'There were lots of users in my area. Heroin was there for the taking. I could have taken that route, but I always maintained my ambition and I'm proud of myself.'
Her comments, prompted by the death of a childhood friend three years ago from a drug overdose, were no doubt heartfelt. But they have touched a raw nerve with her former friends in Newcastle.
Another neighbour who knew Cheryl as a teenager, 36-year-old Nicola, is furious with Cheryl's comments about her childhood home.
When I heard what she had said, I was disgusted. She's made out it was completely drug addled but it wasn't. Every town has bad areas but there are a lot worse than this.
'It's a shame because I was good friends with her when she was growing up. She was always round our house, and we hung out together. I even went down to see her in London when she was on Popstars.
'But in recent years I haven't seen her at all. If she does come back I haven't heard about it and I've certainly never seen her.'
With such a dubious family background, however, it is not hard to imagine why Cheryl should seek to put a few miles between herself and the life she left behind. These days.
Cheryl has the benefit of a tenstrong entourage who follow Girls Aloud around the television studios (their GMTV appearance earlier this month required the attentions of two hairdressers, two make-up artists, a stylist and five further lackeys to ensure neither a hair nor a word was out of place).
Prior to the rough edges being knocked off, however, she had a well-publicised brush with the law when she assaulted a nightclub lavatory attendant in Guildford. A jury decided the attack in January 2003 was not racially motivated, but she was convicted of actual bodily harm and ordered to pay out £3,500 and carry out 120 hours' community service.
Cheryl
Stars in her eyes: Cheryl as a 13-year-old hopeful in Newcastle upon Tyne
Judge Richard Howarth described what happened as an 'unpleasant piece of drunken violence' and was astonished to note that the star - a role model to thousands of young women - had 'shown no remorse whatsoever'.
This appetite for petty violence is something of a family trait, however. Gillian, for example, was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months after becoming involved in a fist-fight along with Andrew.
It happened in November 2002 after the siblings had been out on a drinking binge to celebrate Cheryl's success in reaching the finals of Popstars: The Rivals.
Yet this incident pales into insignificance in comparison to Andrew's other exploits. In 2005 he was given a four-year jail term for mugging a teenager. (This being modern Britain, of course, he was released long before the end of his sentence.) The details of the case, though thoroughly unpleasant, bear scrutiny. Andrew and an accomplice targeted stranger Kian Brady as he made his way home from Newcastle city centre in the early hours after finishing work.
Six years, five albums and 19 Top Ten hits: Cheryl with her band Girls' Aloud
Six years, five albums and 19 Top Ten hits: Cheryl with her band Girls' Aloud
The pair followed him and jumped on him from behind, knocking him over and pushing his face into the ground. They then repeatedly punched him and demanded his money, credit cards and PIN numbers, before fleeing with his portable CD player, mobile phone and £6 in cash.
Their victim was left barely conscious with horrendous facial injuries which required hospital treatment.
During the court case, it also emerged that Andrew had a string of previous convictions dating back to a street robbery when he was just 13. Most shockingly of all, however, he was sent to a young offenders' institution for six years in 1996 for stabbing two students in a pub.
As he described in yesterday's tabloid interview: 'Cheryl was only 11 and it hit her really hard. For the three years I was locked up, she came to see me a few times with the rest of the family.'
Despite these tribulations, Cheryl has remained fiercely defensive of her family, and remains particularly close to her mother Joan, 48. So close, indeed, that Joan lived with Cheryl and Ashley for several months after their 2006 wedding.
And after lurid allegations emerged earlier this year that Ashley had cheated on Cheryl with a hairdresser, causing a furore in the tabloid Press, it was Joan who rushed to her younger daughter's side.
Their relationship is understood to be more like that of sisters than mother and daughter. They have been known to go out clubbing together on many occasions - and even Joan is not immune to the Tweedy proclivity for violent outbursts (she once rather charmingly told a reporter: 'I'll rip your face off if I see you again.').
Cheryl's other siblings, however, are said to be rather more sensible than Gillian and Andrew. Eldest brother Joe, 31, has kept out of the limelight, but he and his wife, Kerry, remain extremely protective of Cheryl.
Then there is youngest brother Garry, 21, a student with whom Cheryl took her first steps as a child model in two advertisements for British Gas.
Even he sees fit to illustrate his Facebook webpage with photograph in which he has a traffic cone on his head. Sensible, it seems, is a relative word.
It should come as little surprise then that trouble has a habit of following Cheryl around. Yet in the past year she has discovered the knack of making the tribulations of life work to her advantage.
While she ruminated on whether to forgive Ashley's infidelity or not, the public bought magazines in their millions, agog at the tales of drastic weight loss and private screaming matches.
Whether these stories were true or not didn't really matter; almost overnight Cheryl Cole became circulation gold for the magazines, a wronged, fragile beauty whose face alone was guaranteed to shift copies.
As her public profile soared, so did her earning potential, culminating in an £800,000 contract to join The X Factor as one of the four judges, replacing the outgoing Sharon Osbourne.
In a few weeks' time, after a breathless year, she will take a break for the first three months of 2009. Whether she will be heading back to her Newcastle roots for a long overdue catch-up is questionable, but it is fair to say that the private beaches of Dubai and Mauritius are a more likely destination.
In the meantime there is yet more work to do, and the coming week will be spent busily preparing her two remaining acts for another potentially life-changing performance on The X Factor stage.
Brother Andrew, meanwhile, is awaiting yet another court appearance on Friday on charges of interfering with a motor vehicle, failure to surrender to arrest, assault and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Perhaps Cheryl's determination to stay with her philandering husband in their palatial Surrey mansion is not so hard to understand after all.
Print this article Print this article
Read later Read later
Email to a friend Email to a friend
Share this article:
* Digg it
* Fark
* Del.icio.us
* Newsvine
* Nowpublic
* StumbleUpon
* MySpace
Comments (154)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
* Newest
* Oldest
* Best rated
* Worst rated
View all
I hope Cheryl reads the comments attaced to this pointless article. She has never hidden that she escaped a possible life like her family. Everyone with any sense would want to get out and make a better life for themselves - she should be applauded. Good luck Cheryl - you've got it all and deservedly so!
- Molly, Singapore, 11/11/2008 07:21
Click to rate Rating 34
Report abuse
When someone has had the guts and determination to escape from the life that is described in this article I think they deserve credit and should not be mocked for in any way turning their back on their past. Cheryl appears to have tried to help her family members, but I don't blame her at all for not being back there every five minutes and allowing them to in any way represent who she has become as a person and as a successful entertainer. I'm not famous and rich but I have left behind a background similar to this and no, I don't go around telling everyone about it because I've worked hard to move forward, but I do support my family in any way I can, and that is what Cheryl appears to have done. What is wrong with that, and why does this article have to be written like it's an expose and a subject she is trying to hide from? The mentality of these people is not who Cheryl was in the past or who she is today, so why should she pretend otherwise. Leave the girl alone.
- Terry, Guildford, Surrey, 11/11/2008 07:00
Click to rate Rating 29
Report abuse
she is gorgeous, can sing and the world loves her. why would she go back to the grim and desperate.
smart girl.
- louise, Melbourne, Australia, 11/11/2008 06:05
Click to rate Rating 12
Report abuse
Cheryl, you are pretty and that 13 year-old shot really is cute. You stood behind your man Ashley who cheated. That was very good of you. Do not be worried about what your one time neighbours say. It is your life and do take care of yourself and Ashley.
- Al-malik, Malaise, 11/11/2008 01:44
Click to rate Rating 3
Report abuse
Achievement is that much more sweeter, and inspirational, when someone has had to overcome many struggles and high odds to pursue a dream. Cheryl should never be judged for a background that makes her experience in life so rich. She should be applauded for it, and held up as an example to everyone in any walk of life about the indefatigible nature of someone chasing a dream - and making it happen! Cheryl is a walking, glowing inspiration. As for her mum, you couldn't meet a nicer woman with a big heart. Like any Lionness, she will protect her pack - so let the family be, and cease the judgemental smirks and snide comments.
- Steve, London, UK, 11/11/2008 01:10
Click to rate Rating 9
Report abuse
Just goes to show that water seeks its level. She has a lot of talent, and is a very sweet and down to earth person, so its wonderful she managed to make something of herself. She has never pretended to be from anywhere nice, and seems to be a very loyal person. She has no control over her trashy family members--doesn't everyone have one of those? I think shes great. Sure she's rich, but she earns every penny with hard work and talent, and never forgot where she came from, good or bad.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1084308/Revealed-The-X-rated-family-Cheryl-Cole-left-behind.html#ixzz0lhGGxDDs
Monday 19 April 2010
New volcano ash cloud prompts fresh flight doubts
Lorna Gordon reports from Iceland as the coastguard releases new footage
A new ash cloud spreading towards the UK is causing uncertainty over plans to reopen some airspace on Tuesday, air traffic control body Nats has said.
Earlier, it said the flight ban would be lifted over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
But Nats said there was now a worsening situation in some areas. The outlook for Northern Ireland is most uncertain.
Scottish airports are still expected to reopen from 0700 BST, but Nats said it would report again at 0300.
A further update will be made at 0900 BST on Tuesday.
Nats said more airspace over England was expected to become available from 1300 BST although not as far south as London's main airports.
'Dynamic conditions'
In a statement, Nats said: "The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.
"This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working."
EXPERT ADVICE
Latest health advice
Latest: Air passenger rights
Q&A: Volcanic ash cloud
Travel latest
It said it expected the situation to change overnight, and emphasised it was in regular contact with the Met Office and the UK's safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority.
It added: "We are working closely with government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions."
In a statement released shortly before Nats', the Met Office said: "Eruptions from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano are weaker than they were at the weekend but eruptions still take ash over 10,000ft at times.
"Weather patterns continue to blow areas of ash towards the UK.
"As the volcanic activity changes, there may be some clearance of ash at times, over parts of the UK."
Troops delayed
The spread of volcanic ash has affected large swathes of Europe for the past five days. The event has caused huge disruption for air travellers, many of whom have embarked on long journeys over land and sea to get home.
Gordon Brown said Royal Navy ships would be deployed to bring home some of the estimated 150,000 Britons stranded abroad, including British troops heading home from Afghanistan.
The UK government's emergency committee, Cobra, met twice on Monday and plans to meet again on Tuesday.
UK traveller: "We drove 2150km in two days"
After the second meeting a No 10 spokesman said the committee agreed the government should "continue to do whatever it can" to return stranded Britons to the UK.
Earlier, British Airways announced it would try to resume some flights from London airports on Tuesday evening, but in light of the new Nats statement it said it was "reviewing" its schedule.
Manchester Airport said it was sticking to plans to open at 0900 BST on Tuesday, but will monitor Nats reports.
The EU has now moved to ease air travel curbs with transport ministers saying there would be a core no-fly area, an open-skies area and a third limited-service zone.
Planes were first grounded in the UK at midday on Thursday amid fears particles in the ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano could cause engines to shut down.
Air travellers, due to fly into reopened airspace, are being advised to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.
In other developments on Monday:
* British Airways says it has asked the European Union and the government for financial compensation for the closure of airspace
* Eurostar says it has 30,000 standard class seats available from Tuesday to Sunday for £89 one-way and it plans to run at least 28 additional trains
* Celebrations on a brand new £500m cruise ship have been put on hold to rescue about 2,000 British tourists stranded in Spain. Luxury vessel Celebrity Eclipse is due to leave Southampton for Bilbao on Wednesday evening, returning on Friday
* Germany's aviation authority has granted Lufthansa permission to fly 50 planes back to Germany
* School exam timetables could be readjusted to help pupils stranded overseas by flight cancellations, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications
* The Europa League semi-final ties involving Liverpool and Fulham on Thursday will provisionally go ahead
A new ash cloud spreading towards the UK is causing uncertainty over plans to reopen some airspace on Tuesday, air traffic control body Nats has said.
Earlier, it said the flight ban would be lifted over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
But Nats said there was now a worsening situation in some areas. The outlook for Northern Ireland is most uncertain.
Scottish airports are still expected to reopen from 0700 BST, but Nats said it would report again at 0300.
A further update will be made at 0900 BST on Tuesday.
Nats said more airspace over England was expected to become available from 1300 BST although not as far south as London's main airports.
'Dynamic conditions'
In a statement, Nats said: "The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.
"This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working."
EXPERT ADVICE
Latest health advice
Latest: Air passenger rights
Q&A: Volcanic ash cloud
Travel latest
It said it expected the situation to change overnight, and emphasised it was in regular contact with the Met Office and the UK's safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority.
It added: "We are working closely with government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions."
In a statement released shortly before Nats', the Met Office said: "Eruptions from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano are weaker than they were at the weekend but eruptions still take ash over 10,000ft at times.
"Weather patterns continue to blow areas of ash towards the UK.
"As the volcanic activity changes, there may be some clearance of ash at times, over parts of the UK."
Troops delayed
The spread of volcanic ash has affected large swathes of Europe for the past five days. The event has caused huge disruption for air travellers, many of whom have embarked on long journeys over land and sea to get home.
Gordon Brown said Royal Navy ships would be deployed to bring home some of the estimated 150,000 Britons stranded abroad, including British troops heading home from Afghanistan.
The UK government's emergency committee, Cobra, met twice on Monday and plans to meet again on Tuesday.
UK traveller: "We drove 2150km in two days"
After the second meeting a No 10 spokesman said the committee agreed the government should "continue to do whatever it can" to return stranded Britons to the UK.
Earlier, British Airways announced it would try to resume some flights from London airports on Tuesday evening, but in light of the new Nats statement it said it was "reviewing" its schedule.
Manchester Airport said it was sticking to plans to open at 0900 BST on Tuesday, but will monitor Nats reports.
The EU has now moved to ease air travel curbs with transport ministers saying there would be a core no-fly area, an open-skies area and a third limited-service zone.
Planes were first grounded in the UK at midday on Thursday amid fears particles in the ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano could cause engines to shut down.
Air travellers, due to fly into reopened airspace, are being advised to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.
In other developments on Monday:
* British Airways says it has asked the European Union and the government for financial compensation for the closure of airspace
* Eurostar says it has 30,000 standard class seats available from Tuesday to Sunday for £89 one-way and it plans to run at least 28 additional trains
* Celebrations on a brand new £500m cruise ship have been put on hold to rescue about 2,000 British tourists stranded in Spain. Luxury vessel Celebrity Eclipse is due to leave Southampton for Bilbao on Wednesday evening, returning on Friday
* Germany's aviation authority has granted Lufthansa permission to fly 50 planes back to Germany
* School exam timetables could be readjusted to help pupils stranded overseas by flight cancellations, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications
* The Europa League semi-final ties involving Liverpool and Fulham on Thursday will provisionally go ahead
Our love is exquisite, yet so intricate
Preface:
Do you still remember the zephyr that deliberately caressed your impeccable skin? - So soft that it touched the strings of your fragile heart. 'cause I still do. Remember when your dreams have ended, time can be transcended, just remember me. Never lose our way on this ever changing path. Love creeps into our hearts and decides to stay. It is so exquisite, yet so intricate.
Babe, our hands hold the sacred, like the weavers of fabric. We weave our life, with constant grace. Still, yet dignified.
Babe, you are honored for having and being aging gracefully, while the heart like the fountain spring grow unguarded, bubbling with unlimitedness and creating ripples of change.
Babe, my heart has opened the secret, standing your ground where beauty resides the pure, the virgin that innocence the mover and the shaker with integrity in your actions.
Babe, you have invited love as you let loose of your ego and self-centeredness, as you safeguard self-interest, as the connector of positive peace that admirable courage to start a new.
We are ready to embrace the everyday rituals of family life that has awakened the bond, the element, that gives a family a reason for living.
Babe, you have mended the broken pieces. So now you free your self
from hurting relationships so that we can carry with our children the stories, culture and traditions but most especially the love that sustains
the great civilization of man.
Babe, you now free your self from your name and fame that may limit others to see you from the inside. For you are the pure manifestations of the hands of the divine. May this birth become a trademark of our children who will show people the greatest fashion.
Babe, I am the risk taker that surrendered myself to a commitment of the sacred union of marriage, or as a mother peace in the absence of royal jelly, in the advent of hot and cold flushes. Let God be the space when words are not spoken, when beds are quiet, when pillows are distant, when rooms are separate, when we are wanting more, when we are restless.
Babe, as a gift certificate, you are entitled to endless multiple orgasms. We embrace the passion to serve and find newness in loving is what matters and after opening and closing your legs. The menopause experience becomes a new beginning.
Babe, I am reclaiming my lost passion, rediscovering my brush strokes, taming my hands, acknowledging my rhythm, accomplishing my mission, learning to love, freeing myself of a disease, giving birth to a new set of ovaries, healing my uterus, slowing down my walk, living my talk, embracing the child in me, reconciling with my inner beauty, allowing God to breathe in life to my soul.
Do you still remember the zephyr that deliberately caressed your impeccable skin? - So soft that it touched the strings of your fragile heart. 'cause I still do. Remember when your dreams have ended, time can be transcended, just remember me. Never lose our way on this ever changing path. Love creeps into our hearts and decides to stay. It is so exquisite, yet so intricate.
Babe, our hands hold the sacred, like the weavers of fabric. We weave our life, with constant grace. Still, yet dignified.
Babe, you are honored for having and being aging gracefully, while the heart like the fountain spring grow unguarded, bubbling with unlimitedness and creating ripples of change.
Babe, my heart has opened the secret, standing your ground where beauty resides the pure, the virgin that innocence the mover and the shaker with integrity in your actions.
Babe, you have invited love as you let loose of your ego and self-centeredness, as you safeguard self-interest, as the connector of positive peace that admirable courage to start a new.
We are ready to embrace the everyday rituals of family life that has awakened the bond, the element, that gives a family a reason for living.
Babe, you have mended the broken pieces. So now you free your self
from hurting relationships so that we can carry with our children the stories, culture and traditions but most especially the love that sustains
the great civilization of man.
Babe, you now free your self from your name and fame that may limit others to see you from the inside. For you are the pure manifestations of the hands of the divine. May this birth become a trademark of our children who will show people the greatest fashion.
Babe, I am the risk taker that surrendered myself to a commitment of the sacred union of marriage, or as a mother peace in the absence of royal jelly, in the advent of hot and cold flushes. Let God be the space when words are not spoken, when beds are quiet, when pillows are distant, when rooms are separate, when we are wanting more, when we are restless.
Babe, as a gift certificate, you are entitled to endless multiple orgasms. We embrace the passion to serve and find newness in loving is what matters and after opening and closing your legs. The menopause experience becomes a new beginning.
Babe, I am reclaiming my lost passion, rediscovering my brush strokes, taming my hands, acknowledging my rhythm, accomplishing my mission, learning to love, freeing myself of a disease, giving birth to a new set of ovaries, healing my uterus, slowing down my walk, living my talk, embracing the child in me, reconciling with my inner beauty, allowing God to breathe in life to my soul.
Gordon Brown: ''Ark Royal will be sent to the Channel''
Three Royal Navy ships will be drafted to help return Britons stranded abroad as UK airspace remains restricted.
The move was announced after the UK's emergency committee Cobra met to discuss options in addressing travel chaos caused by a volcanic ash cloud.
The ships HMS Ark Royal, HMS Ocean and HMS Albion are heading for Spain and unspecified Channel ports.
On Monday morning, flight restrictions were extended by air traffic control service Nats to 0100 BST Tuesday.
Planes were first grounded in the UK at midday on Thursday amid fears particles in the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajoekull could cause engines to shut down.
Travel agents' association Abta said its "rough estimate" was that 150,000 Britons are currently stranded abroad, and rail and ferry services have been stretched to the limit by passengers seeking other means to return.
'Human consequences'
Following the Cobra meeting, the prime minister outlined discussions he had held with Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero about the use of airports in Spain, which retain a limited service as they are at the edge of the ash cloud.
HMS Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal will be used to help bring Britons home
Stranded Britons: Rescue plan
"I talked to Prime Minister Zapatero and he has offered in principle the use of Spanish airports as a hub to bring people back to Britain," he said.
"We are now looking (at) transport arrangements that we will support as a government - coach, ferry and train - to get people either from Madrid or another Spanish airport back to Britain."
He added that the Navy ships would soon be deployed towards Channel ports for the effort.
"I believe this is one of the most serious transport disruptions we have faced," Mr Brown said.
"It's got financial consequences as well as human consequences and we will do everything in our power to make sure all the arrangements are in place to help people where possible to get back home."
HMS Albion was deployed to Spain to return 220 members of the 3 Rifles battalion to the UK, as they remain stranded on their way back from Afghanistan.
On Sunday, 300 of the 3 Rifles battalion returned to the UK via coach and ferry.
HMS Albion is due to arrive in Santander, in northern Spain, on Tuesday morning and may also carry civilians on its return.
MAJOR EU AIRPORTS 0800 19/04
Heathrow - closed
Frankfurt - closed after reopening on a limited basis for several hours on Sunday
Paris Charles de Gaulle - closed
Schipol, Amsterdam - closed
Rome - limited service
Madrid - limited service
Shadow transport secretary Therese Villiers said: "It is good news for Britons trying to get home that the government are now looking to make use of the Royal Navy... People stranded abroad need to know all that can be done to help them is being done and this is a first step".
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said the length of time British passengers faced being stranded for needed to be "urgently assessed".
In other developments:
* Europe's biggest travel operator TUI Travel, which owns Thomson and First Choice, says the disruption caused by the volcanic ash has cost the group about £20m so far
* Radio 1 breakfast show presenter Chris Moyles misses his show after being grounded in New York
* Bodies representing most European airlines and airports call for an urgent review of the flight restrictions being imposed
* Teachers' union NASUWT has urges schools not to penalise teachers who fail to return after the Easter holiday because of flight suspensions
* Norfolkline, which runs a cross-channel ferry service between Dover and Dunkirk, is providing coaches on its ferries to enable foot passengers to travel and from the UK on Monday
* Stranded travellers are using social media to organise inventive ways to return home
Clouded economics
EU transport ministers are also expected to hold emergency talks by video conference on how to ease the chaos caused by the volcanic ash cloud that has paralysed air travel across Europe.
EXPERT ADVICE
Latest health advice
Air passenger rights
Q&A: Volcanic ash cloud
Travel latest
The talks come as airports and airlines have called for flight restrictions - said to be costing airlines $200m (£130m) a day - to be reviewed.
British commercial pilots' union Balpa said the industry will need the same of kind of government rescue following the eruption as some banks have had, with a number of airlines "staring bankruptcy in the face".
Tim Jeans, managing director of the airline Monarch, said that "clearly you cannot sell a ticket for somebody from say Alicante to London for £60 and pick up a £2,000 bill".
"No business could stand that and the UK airline industry is no different."
Airports Council International (ACI) Europe and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) have questioned the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed.
ACI's director general Oliver Jankovek said safety was an "absolute priority" but it was important to distinguish whether there was a "genuine risk".
However, Eurocontrol, the organisation in charge of air safety in Europe, has denied aviation authorities are being over-cautious.
I was due back at university today. Some are jeopardising their degrees by missing dissertation deadlines and important exams. We have been emailing our lecturers to inform them of our situation
Alice Pegrum
Stranded in China
Live text: Volcano ash as it happens
A number of airlines, including BA, have said they have carried out test flights within restricted zones with no obvious damage to aircraft.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said: "In light of the test results we're getting from flights in Britain and similar test flights that have been taking place in Europe, discussions are taking place between the safety authorities and the manufacturers, to see whether there can be any updating of the safety regime for operating planes."
Meanwhile, Dr Guy Gratton, head of the Facility of Airborne Atmospheric Measurement, a joint body belonging to the Met Office and the Natural Environment Research Council, said that "it's still quite a complex mixture of clear air and very worrying - but invisible -volcanic ash at all sorts of heights".
Anyone concerned about the safety of a British national stranded abroad can call a Foreign Office helpline on 020 7008 0000, or visit its website at www.fco.gov.uk.
Stranded Britons should contact their local embassy, high commission or consulate.
The move was announced after the UK's emergency committee Cobra met to discuss options in addressing travel chaos caused by a volcanic ash cloud.
The ships HMS Ark Royal, HMS Ocean and HMS Albion are heading for Spain and unspecified Channel ports.
On Monday morning, flight restrictions were extended by air traffic control service Nats to 0100 BST Tuesday.
Planes were first grounded in the UK at midday on Thursday amid fears particles in the ash cloud from Eyjafjallajoekull could cause engines to shut down.
Travel agents' association Abta said its "rough estimate" was that 150,000 Britons are currently stranded abroad, and rail and ferry services have been stretched to the limit by passengers seeking other means to return.
'Human consequences'
Following the Cobra meeting, the prime minister outlined discussions he had held with Spanish premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero about the use of airports in Spain, which retain a limited service as they are at the edge of the ash cloud.
HMS Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal will be used to help bring Britons home
Stranded Britons: Rescue plan
"I talked to Prime Minister Zapatero and he has offered in principle the use of Spanish airports as a hub to bring people back to Britain," he said.
"We are now looking (at) transport arrangements that we will support as a government - coach, ferry and train - to get people either from Madrid or another Spanish airport back to Britain."
He added that the Navy ships would soon be deployed towards Channel ports for the effort.
"I believe this is one of the most serious transport disruptions we have faced," Mr Brown said.
"It's got financial consequences as well as human consequences and we will do everything in our power to make sure all the arrangements are in place to help people where possible to get back home."
HMS Albion was deployed to Spain to return 220 members of the 3 Rifles battalion to the UK, as they remain stranded on their way back from Afghanistan.
On Sunday, 300 of the 3 Rifles battalion returned to the UK via coach and ferry.
HMS Albion is due to arrive in Santander, in northern Spain, on Tuesday morning and may also carry civilians on its return.
MAJOR EU AIRPORTS 0800 19/04
Heathrow - closed
Frankfurt - closed after reopening on a limited basis for several hours on Sunday
Paris Charles de Gaulle - closed
Schipol, Amsterdam - closed
Rome - limited service
Madrid - limited service
Shadow transport secretary Therese Villiers said: "It is good news for Britons trying to get home that the government are now looking to make use of the Royal Navy... People stranded abroad need to know all that can be done to help them is being done and this is a first step".
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said the length of time British passengers faced being stranded for needed to be "urgently assessed".
In other developments:
* Europe's biggest travel operator TUI Travel, which owns Thomson and First Choice, says the disruption caused by the volcanic ash has cost the group about £20m so far
* Radio 1 breakfast show presenter Chris Moyles misses his show after being grounded in New York
* Bodies representing most European airlines and airports call for an urgent review of the flight restrictions being imposed
* Teachers' union NASUWT has urges schools not to penalise teachers who fail to return after the Easter holiday because of flight suspensions
* Norfolkline, which runs a cross-channel ferry service between Dover and Dunkirk, is providing coaches on its ferries to enable foot passengers to travel and from the UK on Monday
* Stranded travellers are using social media to organise inventive ways to return home
Clouded economics
EU transport ministers are also expected to hold emergency talks by video conference on how to ease the chaos caused by the volcanic ash cloud that has paralysed air travel across Europe.
EXPERT ADVICE
Latest health advice
Air passenger rights
Q&A: Volcanic ash cloud
Travel latest
The talks come as airports and airlines have called for flight restrictions - said to be costing airlines $200m (£130m) a day - to be reviewed.
British commercial pilots' union Balpa said the industry will need the same of kind of government rescue following the eruption as some banks have had, with a number of airlines "staring bankruptcy in the face".
Tim Jeans, managing director of the airline Monarch, said that "clearly you cannot sell a ticket for somebody from say Alicante to London for £60 and pick up a £2,000 bill".
"No business could stand that and the UK airline industry is no different."
Airports Council International (ACI) Europe and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) have questioned the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed.
ACI's director general Oliver Jankovek said safety was an "absolute priority" but it was important to distinguish whether there was a "genuine risk".
However, Eurocontrol, the organisation in charge of air safety in Europe, has denied aviation authorities are being over-cautious.
I was due back at university today. Some are jeopardising their degrees by missing dissertation deadlines and important exams. We have been emailing our lecturers to inform them of our situation
Alice Pegrum
Stranded in China
Live text: Volcano ash as it happens
A number of airlines, including BA, have said they have carried out test flights within restricted zones with no obvious damage to aircraft.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said: "In light of the test results we're getting from flights in Britain and similar test flights that have been taking place in Europe, discussions are taking place between the safety authorities and the manufacturers, to see whether there can be any updating of the safety regime for operating planes."
Meanwhile, Dr Guy Gratton, head of the Facility of Airborne Atmospheric Measurement, a joint body belonging to the Met Office and the Natural Environment Research Council, said that "it's still quite a complex mixture of clear air and very worrying - but invisible -volcanic ash at all sorts of heights".
Anyone concerned about the safety of a British national stranded abroad can call a Foreign Office helpline on 020 7008 0000, or visit its website at www.fco.gov.uk.
Stranded Britons should contact their local embassy, high commission or consulate.
Sunday 18 April 2010
In a taxi with... Stephen Mulhern
After perfecting his patter on the market – and royalty – a big future beckons. The boy’s got talent
By Benji Wilson
Last updated at 8:00 PM on 2nd May 2009
* Comments (0)
* Add to My Stories
Stephen Mulhern
For all the deflated and deluded souls rejected by the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, here’s some small comfort – Stephen Mulhern, the twinkly-eyed presenter of sister show Britain’s Got More Talent, and the man ITV have clearly decided is the future of light entertainment, shares your pain.
‘At 18, I auditioned for My Kind of People with Michael Barrymore and didn’t get through,’ admits Stephen, now 32. He’d gone to show off a comedy-magic routine he had been working on at Butlins in Somerset. ‘I turned up in my red coat, because Barrymore used to be a redcoat. Cheryl Barrymore was his manager at the time. Her words were, 'He doesn’t want to be reminded of that,' so I didn’t even get a chance. That day was a total washout for me; I’d travelled all the way from Somerset…
I know what it’s like to be judged.’
Stephen also knows about trying again. After the Barrymore brush-off, he entered another TV talent show with his magic routine, this time hosted by Jonathan Ross, and won a place on the Royal Variety Performance. ‘It’s mad to think that now I present a talent show where the prize is…to go on the Royal Variety Performance,’ he says.
Mad, but in hindsight, kind of predictable – Stephen has been a performer since he was a boy. Born in Stratford in East London, his parents were market traders. Stephen, his two brothers and a sister all worked on the stall from the age of 14. ‘My dad would teach us the spiel and all the tricks of the trade. That was the first time I realised that I liked an audience.’
‘Princess Diana walked past and I said to her, “Can I show you the fastest trick in the world?” She carried on walking, but half an hour later came back’
The magic came from his father. ‘My dad always did magic and he began training me. Instead of a bedtime story he would do a couple of tricks. That got me hooked.’ He got a job at Hamleys toy store in London as their resident magician. It led to a job at Harrods – and a different order of punter.
‘Princess Diana walked past with all her security and I said to her, “Can I show you the fastest trick in the world?’’ She carried on walking! But half an hour later she came back and said, “You’ve got to let me see the trick.”’
What trick did he do? Saw Camilla in half? ‘I gave her a card and asked her to rub it on her arm – it changes right away.’ Another satisfied customer. He moved to Butlins, spending a further two years honing his act. All the time he was going to TV auditions, which eventually led to a job on the Disney channel, and then to Children’s ITV and the coveted Saturday morning slot – alongside Holly Willoughby. ‘Saturday morning is the pinnacle for a children’s presenter – there’s nowhere else to go. Once you’ve finished kids’ shows you’ve got to break into prime time.’
Stephen has not just broken into prime time – he’s set up camp. We’re on our way from his apartment in West London, where he lives alone, to a studio in Soho, where we will deposit him for a ten-hour voiceover session for Animals Do the Funniest Things. He has also recorded a pilot called Just the Trick, which he hopes will bring magic back to Saturday nights.
These are what TV industry bods call shiny-floor shows – big-time light entertainment where the host’s job is to keep the punters smiling. Stephen certainly has the common touch – when we stop to take his picture he’s as at ease bantering with the bored Soho builders over the street as he is chatting about Britain’s Got Talent with driver Jo from Wallington. He’s an old-time entertainer in the Brucie mould rather than a shock jock. ‘I’m not interested in late-night stuff where you’ve got to be offensive or swear. My shows are family-based and I hope that continues.’
All of which leaves only one more box to tick: ‘Sadly, I’m not going out with anyone,’ he confesses. ‘I would like to, but it hasn’t worked out yet.’As we drop him off he mentions Emma Barton, who played Honey in EastEnders, as his ideal woman. I tell him we’ll put it in the magazine – and see if someone can’t work their own bit of magic on Stephen Mulhern for once.
Britain’s Got More Talent is on ITV2 on Saturday at 9.15pm
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1174331/In-taxi--Stephen-Mulhern.html#ixzz0lTqzHuMA
By Benji Wilson
Last updated at 8:00 PM on 2nd May 2009
* Comments (0)
* Add to My Stories
Stephen Mulhern
For all the deflated and deluded souls rejected by the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, here’s some small comfort – Stephen Mulhern, the twinkly-eyed presenter of sister show Britain’s Got More Talent, and the man ITV have clearly decided is the future of light entertainment, shares your pain.
‘At 18, I auditioned for My Kind of People with Michael Barrymore and didn’t get through,’ admits Stephen, now 32. He’d gone to show off a comedy-magic routine he had been working on at Butlins in Somerset. ‘I turned up in my red coat, because Barrymore used to be a redcoat. Cheryl Barrymore was his manager at the time. Her words were, 'He doesn’t want to be reminded of that,' so I didn’t even get a chance. That day was a total washout for me; I’d travelled all the way from Somerset…
I know what it’s like to be judged.’
Stephen also knows about trying again. After the Barrymore brush-off, he entered another TV talent show with his magic routine, this time hosted by Jonathan Ross, and won a place on the Royal Variety Performance. ‘It’s mad to think that now I present a talent show where the prize is…to go on the Royal Variety Performance,’ he says.
Mad, but in hindsight, kind of predictable – Stephen has been a performer since he was a boy. Born in Stratford in East London, his parents were market traders. Stephen, his two brothers and a sister all worked on the stall from the age of 14. ‘My dad would teach us the spiel and all the tricks of the trade. That was the first time I realised that I liked an audience.’
‘Princess Diana walked past and I said to her, “Can I show you the fastest trick in the world?” She carried on walking, but half an hour later came back’
The magic came from his father. ‘My dad always did magic and he began training me. Instead of a bedtime story he would do a couple of tricks. That got me hooked.’ He got a job at Hamleys toy store in London as their resident magician. It led to a job at Harrods – and a different order of punter.
‘Princess Diana walked past with all her security and I said to her, “Can I show you the fastest trick in the world?’’ She carried on walking! But half an hour later she came back and said, “You’ve got to let me see the trick.”’
What trick did he do? Saw Camilla in half? ‘I gave her a card and asked her to rub it on her arm – it changes right away.’ Another satisfied customer. He moved to Butlins, spending a further two years honing his act. All the time he was going to TV auditions, which eventually led to a job on the Disney channel, and then to Children’s ITV and the coveted Saturday morning slot – alongside Holly Willoughby. ‘Saturday morning is the pinnacle for a children’s presenter – there’s nowhere else to go. Once you’ve finished kids’ shows you’ve got to break into prime time.’
Stephen has not just broken into prime time – he’s set up camp. We’re on our way from his apartment in West London, where he lives alone, to a studio in Soho, where we will deposit him for a ten-hour voiceover session for Animals Do the Funniest Things. He has also recorded a pilot called Just the Trick, which he hopes will bring magic back to Saturday nights.
These are what TV industry bods call shiny-floor shows – big-time light entertainment where the host’s job is to keep the punters smiling. Stephen certainly has the common touch – when we stop to take his picture he’s as at ease bantering with the bored Soho builders over the street as he is chatting about Britain’s Got Talent with driver Jo from Wallington. He’s an old-time entertainer in the Brucie mould rather than a shock jock. ‘I’m not interested in late-night stuff where you’ve got to be offensive or swear. My shows are family-based and I hope that continues.’
All of which leaves only one more box to tick: ‘Sadly, I’m not going out with anyone,’ he confesses. ‘I would like to, but it hasn’t worked out yet.’As we drop him off he mentions Emma Barton, who played Honey in EastEnders, as his ideal woman. I tell him we’ll put it in the magazine – and see if someone can’t work their own bit of magic on Stephen Mulhern for once.
Britain’s Got More Talent is on ITV2 on Saturday at 9.15pm
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1174331/In-taxi--Stephen-Mulhern.html#ixzz0lTqzHuMA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)