Author Archives: Tessa Heywood
Please support Breast Cancer awareness month
Unless you’ve been living on another planet for the last few years, you will be aware that October marks Breast Cancer Campaign’s action month. The event aims to raise awareness about the devastating disease, its effects and ways to prevent it throughout October.
Last night London’s skyline was speckled with pink as its most famous landmarks were lit up in support of the UK’s leading breast cancer research charity. Buckingham Palace, Nelson’s Column, the Tower of London and the BT Tower were among the capital’s icons that were bathed in a rosy pink glow.
I am sure there will be plenty of fundraising activities going on in your area, but you can also donate whatever you can afford on the Breast Cancer Campaign website at: http://www.breastcancercampaign.org/about-us. The money is vital as the statistics speak for themselves:
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Breast cancer is the most common cancer
- Around 47,700 women and 340 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year
- One woman in eight will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime
- Around 12,000 women and 90 men will die from breast cancer each year
- More people are surviving breast cancer than ever before
- 80% of people with breast cancer are still alive five years after diagnosis
- People are surviving longer thanks to advances in research, new treatments, earlier diagnosis, breast screening and breast cancer awareness
As one of the 80% – it is now almost 10 years since my diagnosis – I would urge you to give generously to help people like me survive this horrible disease and, in time, find a way to prevent it. Thank you.
Here we go again!
I’ve read today that Cadbury is launching a chocolate bar aimed at women in an attempt to win back lost sales among the diet-conscious. Regular readers will know just how much this type of targeted advertising really annoys me – just check out my post on Man Crisps!
The Crispello is the first new chocolate bar launched by the company since the 1990s and will be backed by a £7million advertising campaign. Apparently annual sales of single chocolate bars have fallen by some 6.6 per cent in a market worth around £800million a year. Evidence suggests that this slump is almost entirely caused by women buying less chocolate.
Cadbury, owned by American food company Kraft, believes the Crispello will particularly appeal to women who are worried about putting on weight. The new bar comes in at 165 calories, compared with 260 for a Mars bar and the Crispello, which is similar in taste and consistency to Ferrero Rocher chocolates, has three chocolate-covered wafer shells with a soft milk chocolate filling. It is designed with a resealable pack so it can be eaten one piece at a time. [yeah, right!]
The more cynical amongst us might say that perhaps their sales have fallen because since Kraft took them over Cadbury chocolates just don’t taste the same. If you’ve ever had the misfortune to try Hershey chocolate from the US you’ll know what I mean when I say that the Americans just don’t do chocolate like Cadbury used to!
Instead of these half-hearted attempts to win sales on gender, why not just go back to the old recipes that we know and love? Just a thought …..
Good Grief Charlie Brown!
The latest in my occasional series “On this day in History”.
On 2nd October 1950 “Peanuts”, the comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, was published for the first time in seven newspapers. This successful cartoon continued until 13th February 2000, the day after Schulz died.
An incredible 17,897 strips were published in all, and at its peak, Peanuts ran in over 2,600 newspapers, with a readership of 355 million in 75 countries, and was translated into 21 languages. It helped to cement the four-panel gag strip as the standard in the United States ,and together with its merchandise earned Schulz more than $1 billion. reprints of the strip are still syndicated and run in almost every U.S. newspaper.
Charles “Charlie” Brown (occasionally called Chuck by certain characters) is the main character. He is a lovable loser, a child possessed of endless determination and hope, but who is ultimately dominated by his insecurities and a “permanent case of bad luck”. He is often taken advantage of by his peers.
The first strip from 2nd October 1950
In early 1988, Schulz abandoned the four-panel format in favor of three-panel dailies and occasionally used the entire length of the strip as one panel, partly for experimentation, but also to combat the dwindling size of the comics page.
Good Grief!
You’re not as happy as you think you are
Final strip 13th February 2000
If ever there is an iconic comic strip, it is Peanuts which has developed into an enduring classic. Whether you’re pernickety like Lucy, a philosopher like Linus, a joyous Flying Ace like Snoopy, or a lovable underdog like Charlie Brown, there is something to touch your heart or make you laugh, whoever you are, in Peanuts.
Please don’t drink the water!
My rose-tinted spectacles have been well and truly removed and I’m reconsidering my thoughts on a British seaside holiday! A report this week tells how pollution levels at Britain’s most popular beaches reach a decade high as fears rise over tourism impact.
Tests have revealed that raw sewage is still spilling into the sea, despite water companies investing billions in improvements. Blackpool alone could face losing £1bn in revenue unless improvements are made to sewer systems and more than 40 beaches are expected to fail when new standards are introduced in 2015.
Some of Britain’s most popular beaches, including Weston-Super-Mare, Exmouth and Blackpool, recorded the worst bathing water quality standards for more than a decade, according to a list obtained by The Sunday Times.
In 2015, tougher standards are being introduced and will be partly based on this year’s results. At the worst beaches, signs will go up warning people not to swim.
Water companies need to make more efforts, as well as farmers and householders to protect beaches from becoming polluted and there needs to be more information on the times of sewage overflows. The overflows, which operate during heavy rainfall, are one of the biggest causes of pollution flowing into the sea along Britain’s coastline. They are supposed to operate only three times in one bathing season, but some resorts can have more than 100 sewage spills during a wet summer.
Brings a whole new meaning to the words “I’ve had a s**t holiday!”
Laziness descends to another level!
I remember being appalled on a recent shopping trip to Waitrose to find pots of ready peeled garlic on sale in the vegetable aisle . Now I’m all for saving time and making my life easy but really, just how difficult is it to peel a clove of garlic?
The madness continues however. I’ve read this week about a supermarket chain which has been forced to apologise after they stacked their shelves at stores in Austria with peeled bananas – pre-packaged and wrapped in foil. German-owned Billa, which calls on its own customers to use more common sense when it comes to the environment, was slammed by customers who took to Facebook and Twitter to condemn the move.
Shoppers first became aware of the wasteful product after the store itself allegedly posted pictures of the product online.
You have to ask yourself what is going to be next? Are we really that consumed with our lives that eating, one of the most basic and simple pleasures in life, has become such a chore that we can’t do anything for ourselves any more. Exactly how far away from just taking a pill to satisfy our hunger cravings are we?
I for one will definitely NOT be going down that route! Quite apart from enjoying the whole process of preparing and cooking food, there is nothing more satisfying than others enjoying your handiwork. So you can keep your ready-made meals and pre-prepared products – I’m not buying!!!
Introducing Clyde the Thistle Man
Now that the London Olympics are finished, the next big sporting occasion to look forward to is the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. The official mascot of the Games was unveiled this week as a Thistle man named Clyde. Clyde is the brainchild of Cumbernauld schoolgirl Beth Gilmour whose mascot design was chosen from more than 4000 entries in a UK-wide competition.
Beth, who won four tickets to the Games opening ceremony as part of her prize, said: “My idea was that Clyde was friendly and sporty. On my entry, I drew him running and winking so he’s a wee bit cheeky as well. He’s exactly how I pictured him.”
and Glasgow 2014 chairman, Lord Smith, said: “Beth’s design captured the imagination and the spirit of not only the Games, but also of Glasgow and Scotland. Clyde is the cheeky but friendly face of Glasgow 2014 and will take the Games message to the people of Scotland.”
Clyde, named after the our City’s famous river, was introduced in a short animated film narrated by 2014 Games ambassador Billy Connolly. It tells the story of how the thistle was planted by Captain Bristle and taken around the Commonwealth on HMS Shipshape. The captain then returned to his base on the Clyde, where the thistle came to life.
The excitement is starting to build – I’m sure that Clyde will be popping up all over the place in the next 2 years – keep your eyes peeled!!!
Celebrity baby names
OK, I understand that “celebrities” live on an entirely different planet from the rest of us mere mortals but it never ceases to amaze me that these people feel the need to give their offspring such ridiculous names that they will surely hate their parents for when they’re old enough to understand the ridicule!
This is not a recent trend. In the 60’s Frank Zappa called his eldest daughter Moon Unit and, strangely, she is still known by this name today, whereas Zowie Bowie, son of David Bowie, changed his name unofficially at the age of 12 to the more normal “Joey” and around the age of 18 officially to Duncan Jones.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the Geldorf offspring of Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom and Little Pixie, though these names may have had more to do with their mother, the late Paula Yates, who went on to have another daughter by the late Michael Hutchence and called that poor mite Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily!
So it comes as no surprise that Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda have decided to call their new daughter by the name of Theodora Rose, to be known “affectionately” as Teddy apparently. This after saying recently that they weren’t going to go for an “Apple-esque” celebrity name.
I wish people would remember that these cute little babies are going to grow up and will have to live with these names until they’re old enough to change them and a lot more thought could go into their choices. I can’t help but wonder that if Robbie’s next child is a boy then he may just call him “Train Set” or “Football” to keep the theme going. Those poor kids!!!
Childhood memories
A lady called Patricia Bevan, 65, has just beaten hundreds of entries to win a national competition to find Britain’s best beach hut with her patriotic red, white and blue affair, complete with bunting and Union Jacks in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee.
This has brought back many happy memories of my childhood holidays in Birchington-on-Sea in Kent where, every summer from the age of about 6 to 15, I spent the entire school holidays [come rain or shine] in a beach hut on the prom at Minnis Bay.
I have to say that our hut bore little resemblance to this colourful specimen in Westwood Ho. In fact, apart from the 2-ring gas burner, it was a million miles away from this cheerful, inviting space! We spent many rainy days huddled around that gas burner drinking tea or tomato soup [though not at the same time], but we also had many weeks of 
gorgeous sunshine and fabulous walks, either along the promenade to Epple Bay or, if we were feeling more adventurous, to Reculver which was a terrific walk along the coast and is just on the outskirts of Herne Bay.
As a child, the walk seemed epic. However, looking at a map today it can’t have been much more than 2.5 miles!
The lure of cheap package holidays to the sun when I was in my teens meant that I soon stopped wanting to go to that beach hut in Birchington. I will always remember though just how lucky I was to get 6 weeks by the seaside ever year and it seems that the humble British beach hut is now experiencing something of a renaissance.
Well known hut owners such as Suggs from Madness [Whitstable] and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones [West Wittering] may do little to help encourage the younger generation that beach huts are “cool” and to give them a try – but who needs a Costa when you can have the simple life a lot closer to home? Hmmmm …..???
Keep your eyes on the road
A recent study by insurance firm MoreTh>N has discovered that over a third of drivers, 34%, have had a prang or near miss in the UK as a result of taking their eyes off the road to admire a view. And an admiring 14% have slammed on the brakes to get a longer look – typically reducing their speed by 27 mph. Accidents resulting from these distractions cause an average £413.56 of damage each time.
And top of the list is the well-known tourist spot of Stonehenge where distracted motorists have more accidents passing here than any other British landmark. A quarter of motorists, 26%, have been distracted by the pre-historic monument of Stonehenge near Amesbury, Wiltshire.
The Angel of the North, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, is the second most dangerous landmark and the Blackpool Tower, in Lancashire, third. A captivated 18% and 12% of motorists find their eyes drifting towards these sites as they pass. Just over one in ten of these drivers, 11%, have had or nearly had an accident at these two beauty spots.
The top ten also includes the Scottish Highlands, the Houses of Parliament, Windsor Castle, Tower Bridge, and Clifton Suspension Bridge. Cheddar Gorge and Severn Bridge complete the list.
So, in the words of Paul Evans from 1959, “Keep your mind on your drivin’, keep your hands on the wheel, keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead…”
A Royal week in Provence
Hot on the heels of the now infamous photos of Prince Harry getting naked in Las Vegas, we are now being bombarded with tales of topless photographs being taken of his sister-in-law Kate at their remote holiday villa near Provence and sold to the highest bidder.
And the language being employed by the Palace press office is quite frankly ridiculous! Kate is said to be in ‘agony’ while she and William are being unspeakably ‘brave’ as they are still managing to go tree climbing in the jungle or whatever it is they do for a living.
Now I know women in ‘agony’ and who are ‘brave’ because they have a serious or life-threatening illness. Perhaps we could save these words for when we really need them.
It’s not that I don’t feel sorry for her – I am sure it is extremely embarrassing to have such photos spread across the pages of gossip magazines but it’s surely time to put things into some sort of perspective. She’s an attractive, young woman with a great figure (if a little skinny!) and this is, after all, the 21st Century when surely we aren’t shocked at the sight of a pretty girl with hardly any clothes on?
And let’s not forget that Kate is no stranger to baring her flesh for the cameras. She came to the attention of Prince William when he saw her in a Fashion Show in 2002 while they were both studying at St. Andrews. The Prince forked out £200 for a front seat at the charity student fashion show where Kate strode confidently down the catwalk in a see-through lace dress which revealed her black underwear.
It also appears to be another epic fail by the Royal Protection Service. As with Harry’s partying antics, this again begs the question as to what their security people were doing. If the paparazzi could see the couple by their remote swimming pool, why could the bodyguards not see the photographers and send them on their way? Perhaps they were too busy enjoying the holiday themselves as would have appeared to have been the case in Vegas?
In a short statement issued yesterday, the palace said that legal proceedings for breach of privacy have been commenced in France and because the French have some of the strictest privacy laws in the world, I expect some hefty donations to charity will be made in the coming weeks. However, with fines less harsh than in previous years, publications are more prone to take the risk as their boosted revenue will far outweigh the amount they will be forced to pay in damages.
Of course William and Kate are entitled to a degree of privacy when they are not on official engagements. However, like many before them who have been photographed in such a way have discovered, there is a market in this celebrity obsessed world for such pictures and maybe, just maybe, she should have kept her kit on?
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