Blog Archives
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!!!
#KnowTheCode
I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the irreverent male body spray Lynx taking advantage of the Prince Harry story. The Company ran these tongue in cheek adverts that reinforced what the brand is promising – helping get young men into naughty situations with attractive young ladies!
The adverts, playing on a previous campaign idea of the Lynx man being hounded by scantily clad women, have run with the tagline ‘Sorry Harry. If it had anything to do with us.’
Another advert has featured a pair of Union Jack briefs with the line ‘One has unleashed the chaos.’
Already used in newspapers, including The Sun which was the first paper to print the controversial pictures of Harry in the buff, the Lynx Effect ads have prompted a huge response on Twitter and Facebook.
It was also a masterstroke by Las Vegas itself to also use the event to reflect and reinforce their brand story of “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas“. They ran the two adverts below, along with a social media campaign called #knowthecode . It was all about reminding people that the code is to ensure what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
I’m sure he thought that a lads holiday in Vegas wouldn’t be anywhere as big a minefield as serving in Helmand Province where he was dodging bullets and rocket attacks from Taliban insurgents and performing patrols in hostile areas – the mobile phone is clearly a much more dangerous weapon!!!
If you believed they put a man on the moon
Sad news this weekend that US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, has died aged 82. A statement from his family says he died from complications from heart surgery he had earlier this month.
He set foot on the Moon on 20 July 1969, famously describing the event as “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”.
There have been many conspiracy theories that continue to circulate including:
-
Maintaining that NASA and others knowingly misled the public into believing the landings happened by manufacturing, destroying, or tampering with evidence; including photos, telemetry tapes, transmissions, rock samples, and even some key witnesses.
-
Speculation that NASA faked the first landing in 1969 in order to win the Space Race.
-
Claims that the landings helped the US government because they were a popular distraction from the Vietnam War; and so manned landings suddenly ended about the same time that the US ended its role in the Vietnam War.
This is despite the fact that since the late 2000’s, high-definition photos taken by the LROC spacecraft of the Apollo landing sites have captured the lander modules and the tracks left by the astronauts. Then, earlier this year, images were released showing the Apollo flags still standing on the lunar surface.
In their statement following his death the Armstrong’s family spoke of a man who never lost his “boyhood wonder” at the pursuits of aviation and spaceflight, adding: “For those who may ask what they can do to honour Neil, we have a simple request. Honour his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.” Twitter was of course quick to respond with the hashtag #WinkAtTheMoon trending worldwide.
Despite his incredible accomplishment of being the first man to walk on solid ground somewhere other than Earth, he seemed to be extremely down to earth. I think my favourite quote from him was, when revealing publicly his initial concerns about the Apollo 11 mission, when he had believed there was only a 50% chance of landing on the moon, his statement “I was elated, ecstatic and extremely surprised that we were successful.” This from a man who had the ultimate bragging rights. May he rest in peace, dreaming [for the first time apparently] of “Walking on the Moon”.
Book ’em Danno!
I don’t pretend to fully understand America’s political system or what is happening in the latest Presidential elections and I have no idea whether the USA should stick with Obama or vote in Romney instead. What I do understand, however, is that the behaviour of the individuals themselves, like our own less than savoury lot, always manages to regress back to their childhoods with the sort of playground bullying tactics coming into play that make us all want to cringe with embarrassment.
Putting Romney’s tax affairs to one side along with Obama’s dope smoking whilst at High School, the latest row seems to centre around Obama’s heritage.
Mitt Romney firmly believes President Barack Obama was born in the United States, or at least he says he believes it. But apparently he also believes there’s no harm in jokingly implying otherwise. At a campaign stop in Michigan, the presumptive Republican nominee happily pointed out he’s a native and that ‘no one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate.’
The usual partisan fireworks ensued with an Obama spokesman claiming Romney had chosen to ‘enlist in the birther movement,’ (don’t you just love these made up words?) and Republicans crying hypocrisy over Democrats ‘feigning outrage.’
The best response however may have come from the President’s Twitter account which posted the following tweet: Song of the day: ‘Born in the USA.’
If Obama (aged 51) does lose the campaign in November, may I suggest an alternative career for him? If he was indeed born in Honolulu, he could perhaps take the lead role in a new TV series called Hawaii 5-1!!!
Better luck next time!
Amir Khan wasn’t quite as successful in the wee small hours in his fight against Danny Garcia in Las Vegas. Amir Khan wanted to prove he is the best in his class by beating Danny Garcia and then moving up to welterweight to face Floyd Mayweather.
Khan, 25, went into this light-welterweight bout with WBC holder Garcia as WBA champion after Lamont Peterson was stripped of the title. Some readers will remember that Khan lost his WBA and IBF titles to Peterson in a controversial defeat last December but the American subsequently failed a drugs test.
Unfortunately though Amir Khan suffered his second successive defeat as he was stopped in round four by the unbeaten American. He was knocked down three times as Garcia claimed the British fighter’s WBA light-welterweight belt and held on to his WBC title. After a strong start, Khan was floored in the third by a counter and could not recover from shots in round four.
People have been quick to call for Khan to retire after this unexpected defeat but let’s not forget he is still only 25 years old and has only lost 3 of his professional fights, having won 26 with 18 knockouts. Perhaps we should leave the final words to the man himself who said on Twitter:
“Can I apologise to my family, friends and everyone. I got caught with a shot and I know millions of you are upset but that’s boxing for you.”
Basking in reflected glory?
The internet has responded in fine form to the Chelsea skipper, John Terry, donning his full kit to receive the Champions League trophy last night. If you’ve been on planet Mars for the past few weeks you will not know that Terry was suspended from taking part in this crucial fixture due to an extremely stupid tackle in the semi against Barcelona that saw him receiving a sending off. However, last night, when Chelsea were the ultimate victors on penalties, Terry changed out of his suit and into his kit to go and receive his winner’s medal and lift the trophy.
My 3 favourite tweets are:
During the match – a spectator
After the match – taking part in the celebrations
And am I the only person who sees his inclusion in the squad for the Euros and Rio’s absence as sending out the wrong message???
Happy 1st Anniversary!
It seems hard to believe that I started this blog a year ago today. When I published the first post I was very unsure about whether I would be able to commit to blogging on a regular basis but now I can’t imagine not doing it. It has become a way of life – a place where I can explore ideas; share experiences and reflect on things I’ve read about. Along the way I have learned a lot about blogging and so I’ve decided to share some of what I’ve learned, today, on my blog’s 1st Anniversary. Here goes:
1. It’s what you write that matters
It might sound obvious but it’s all about the content. Find a theme that is clean and uncluttered so that people can just concentrate on what you have to say. Pick interesting topics to write about and find your own writing style. It isn’t a good idea to “nick” content from other writers but it is ok to use other’s ideas for inspiration!
2. It’s okay to post at your own pace
Starting to write a blog can be intimidating, particularly when you see that some bloggers post at least once a day, sometimes more. I originally set out thinking that I would blog at least twice a week but I quickly realised that it was important to not just write for writing sake but only when I had something to say. On the basis that this is my 127th post, I’m still meeting that target on average! How often I post is affected by a number of factors but mainly by my workload. Remember that quality is far more important than quantity!
3. It’s important to post material that is provocative (from time to time)
I’m not suggesting here that you set your stall out to… but it will come as no surprise that many of my most read posts are the ones that were a little contentious, that focused on challenging issues where others will certainly have an opinion. And it is also good to pick up on topics that are being readily discussed. Here are some examples of posts that caused a storm:
4. Make sure your about page is up to scratch
The about page on your blog is arguably one of the most important pages as many new readers who come across your blog will want to know more about it and the person behind it. Who are you? Why do you write this blog? How often can they expect to see new posts? These are just some of the questions a new reader may have.
5. Harness social networks to spread the word
If you want to grow the number of visitors to your blog you must harness the power of social networks. Twitter and Facebook are two of the most powerful tools in driving people towards my blog content and have helped connect me with many other bloggers who share similar ideas and write about similar topics. It is also worth sharing your content on topic specific forums if they let you – I’ve been banned for life by some of the Football boards as they seem to think I’m advertising, despite pointing out there is no financial gain whatsoever – hey ho!
6. It is about discussion
Most bloggers are looking to generate discussion around their posts. This is what the blogging thing is all about and it’s really important that you respond to comments from people. I try to reply to comments within 24 hours although occasionally life gets in the way.
The commenting does not end there though. It is not all about you. If you want to drive people towards your blog and encourage them to comment on your own posts then you must comment on other people’s blog posts. It raises your profile amongst the blogging community and will encourage people to look up your blog when they have seen you comment on their own posts.
7. Understand SEO and analytics
Without going into too much detail, if you are serious about blogging and see it as more than an opportunity to collect your thoughts then it is worth taking a bit of time to understand ‘Search Engine Optimisation’. In very basic terms this is making your blog more visible to search engines like Google. I could end up writing an entire post on this and only scratch the surface in many ways. To really get a handle on how your blog is doing it is also worth signing up to Google analytics. There is a very handy WordPress plugin to help with this.
And with that I will bring this post to an end. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last twelve months of blogging and I’m very excited about the next twelve. There are some amazing events coming up such as the London Olympics later this year and the Glasgow2014 Commonwealth Games in 2 years time so expect lots more posts from me over the next few months and years!
Only thing missing was a helicopter!
This time last year I was writing about Helicopter Sunday when the SPL title race was left to the final day of the season and the cup was taken to the winning ground by helicopter – on that occasion it was Rangers … what a difference a year makes!
Today, however, the sheer distance between the 2 teams in contention for the Barclays Premiership was too great for even a helicopter to be able to reach the winning ground in time so apparently there were duplicate trophies at both Sunderland and Manchester City’s grounds to be awarded to the victor of today’s nail-biting decider … and what a close one it was too!! I was unable to watch the game live but had both Twitter and Sky Sports on my phone and practically kicked every last ball myself it was so tense!
With the Man Utd game finishing a matter of 3 minutes before the Man City game, they and their supporters could have been forgiven for thinking they’d done enough with a 0-1 win, but City were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with two injury time goals, the winner on the 94th minute from Sergio (Kun) Aguero. Happy days! Having not won the title since 1968, this is an historic moment for the blue half of Manchester and I am delighted for them.
With my actual team, Arsenal, finishing the season in 3rd place, we are assured another exciting season of Champions League football to keep us all on the edge of our seats next year and I leave you with this final thought …
Arsenal are the best team in London. United aren’t even the best team in Manchester – BOOM!!!
Tweet of the week
My award for Tweet of the Week goes to Kate Higgins @burdzeyeview for: “How can someone so clearly as unrehabilitated as Tommy Sheridan have been eligible for early release? #justasking”
Closely followed in 2nd place by Aarran McPherson @AarranMcPherson for: “Tommy Sheridan is out of prison, I have no doubt in my mind that this won’t be the last time I say that.”
Out with a bang – or was it a whimper?
Social network Twitter ground to a halt yesterday as it was overloaded with New Year messages. In Britain the site crashed at about 3pm and was out of action for more than an hour.
It coincided with midnight celebrations in Japan when revellers were sending a record 16,197 tweets per second.
The overload meant no one could post new messages or read existing ones. Instead, frustrated users were greeted with the error message: ‘Twitter is over capacity.’
The site returned to working order but then stopped on several other occasions, prompting speculation that it was being hit by the arrival of New Year in different parts of the world.
One user tweeted: ‘It’s amazing how three words can ruin my day! Twitter over capacity.’
Another joked: ‘Twitter’s New Year resolution needs to be I will never go over capacity.’
Conversely however, I was actually able to send texts at midnight last night that were going through straight away and responded to immediately – an unheard of event in years gone by … perhaps technology hasn’t moved quite as far ahead as it would have us believe?
Tessa's Blog 