Rik Mayall - Rest in Peace

This is a post I really never thought I'd have to write, so i'm gonna try and hold it together.

Later today one of my comedy heroes is being laid to rest and to be completely honest I'm still as dazed as I was the minute I heard about it last week. Rik Mayall has always been a huge factor in my life but like thousands of the other grieving fans around the world I have been stunned by how strong this sense of grief really is. I never had the honour of meeting the man himself but yet i feel like i've lost a friend or a member of my own family.

I have spent many minutes in the past week watching episodes of The Young Ones and Bottom reliving the memory of this fabulous human being. Episodes that i haven't seen for many years. See, i grew up watching Rik and his alternative comedy. Most of the time this was done in secret, having to sneak around and having the TV unbelievable quietly so my parents didn't know i was watching something so inappropriate for a little girl of  5 years old. This man soon became my little secret. So as I write this with an hour until his funeral, as a 24yr old woman I feel like that secret part of my childhood has been taken away from me.

I Couldn't put in to words what Rik meant or represented to me until i watched of of his movies at the weekend. The brilliant Drop Dead Fred tells the story of a girl who's world falls apart after losing her job, husband and car all in one lunchtime, she moves back home and is soon visited by her childhood imaginary friend (Played by Mayall) Madness soon ensues as she goes about getting her husband back with the help of Fred. We soon find out that in his own way Fred is helping her get her life back on track and give her strength to carry on and realise her worth.We see flash backs of her causing chaos with Fred as a child. These flashbacks resonated with me and reminded me of sneaking around just so i could watch him in the latest episode of bottom.As a well behaved young girl, this i guess was my small act of rebelion in a world of innocnece, an innocence that is lost as you grow up. To me I guess Rik represents freedom, he truly embodies Fred as everyone's imaginary friend and i will always hold on to that.

So as the time comes to lay the great man to rest, we can only imagine what the future could've held for him but i'm going to treasure the laughs and the giggle he gave me. He will always be my little secret.

I hate goodbyes, they seem too final
 
"Just Kiss Me and say Drop Dead Fred" 
       

It has been too long!

Hi all.

Sorry i have neglected this page a bit recently. I have been swamped with uni work and meetings none stop since September. Looking forward to a good old chilled out family christmas. Just one more week to go until i finish uni and i can get in to full on christmas mode!!

Stay tuned for a hell of a lot of random blogging as i catch up with EVERYTHING!!! 

Date or no date?

I have just stumbled upon this draft of a blog i meant to submit a few weeks ago, after reading through it i am still none the wiser about dating as a whole.

Thursday night at 9 and I'm watching First Dates on Channel 4.
I have been fascinated by this show since it started. About how people deal with first date nerves, small talk and awkward silences (of which there seem to be many)
The idea behind the show is that the initial 'couples' applied on line and from then on, throughout the week, members of the public can apply via the website to go on a date with a particular person on the show and so on and so forth as the weeks go on. A subtle reality dating show perhaps? This also translates as an interesting social experiment into showing the dating habits and personality traits that we find attractive or not. Although i am currently puzzled by the couple right now who are taking it in turns to say the guy's name - Hank. Hmmmm, Struggling for conversation??
In full honesty it is a clear way of highlighting that some people just aren't compatible but too many relationships are lived out over the cybersphere, in a world of emoticons and lol's. When it comes to a traditional 'date' have we completely forgotten how to act?? Or do we even go on traditional first dates anymore??

http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/2011/07/woman-on-bad-date.jpg

 Speaking from experience, i have been on one 'official' first date. All i will say is that first impressions mean everything and this person's red velvet attire didn't impress me in the slightest! It still makes me cringe to this day!
I had been chatting to the person by text for a few days and seemed to get on OK but then the red suit put me off. Is it shallow of me to base the rest of the evening's enjoyment on that one first look i had of him in that hideous suit??

 On the show, all the women came up dressed to the nines while the men looked much more casual and to be honest in most cases, the women seemed to flow through the conversations whist the men stumbled and stutter.  
Do we put too much pressure on ourselves when getting ready for a date over what we wear, what we need to say, how we put ourselves across because we no longer have a computer screen to hide behind?? or a couple of minutes to think of a witty/flirtatious reply to a text/e-mail

Perhaps i should set myself a little social experiment of my own and go out on a 'first date'

Summer days at Silverstone

Summer days at Silverstone are a new favourite of mine after 2 days at the home of British Motorsport watching the Young Drivers test days with some of my favourite people! Here are some of our snap shots:

A Primark Bowie Bargain!

Hi all

One thing i love about summer is that my mum is off work for 6 weeks. We are in the middle of having a few girly days out doing what i do best..... Shopping. I just had to tell you all about my bargain of the day/century!

Had a quick mooch around Primark and stumbled upon a t-shirt that I have had my eye on for a month or 2.

As you have probably seen from my previous posts, i am a tiny bit of a David Bowie fan. I do love a bit of the starman. So what better way to show it off than on a t-shirt. This was originally £8 so i trundled off to the till and was given a fabulous surprise when it went through as £1... Now that is what i call a Bowie Bargain! 

Olympic legacy??

Hi all

Hope all you sun kissed lovelies are OK. Its a beautiful Saturday afternoon and i am about to sit down to watch the Sainsbury Anniversary Games on the beeb. Quite frankly i am flummoxed as to how this past year has flown by. This time last year we were just sitting down to watch the first full day of competition in London Town.

The legacy is something that as been mentioned many times in the last year and it annoys me how fast people have been to comment on the supposed lack of a legacy. Me thoughts are.... Chill out, it has only been a year! It is going to take many years to feel the impact of London 2012. I truly believe it won't be until 2020 until we really see the begin stages of our true legacy. It will happen though! Our Olympic heroes Jess Ennis Hill, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farrah have become household names and icons in the eyes of children, teens and adults alike. As i mentioned in a previous post i love the idea that these 3 and also paralympians are now role models to our children instead of footballers and singers.

The worry I have regarding the legacy revolves around the government's money saving measures. Growing up in Yorkshire i have seen this at first hand with the devastating news that Don Valley Stadium, the training hub of our golden girl Jess Ennis-Hill is to be demolished in the near future. This in my opinion is a complete travesty, not just for people wanting to follow in her actual footsteps at her home track but for the home of athletics in South Yorkshire. There is talk about moving training facilities to the nearby woodburn Road Athletics stadium but these facilities will require development also. The Don Valley facilities are due to demolished to make way for a newer sporting centre but my worry is that the build time will be too long for any potential olympic hopefuls wanting to take early advantage.

To have your say and sign the Save Don Valley petition please click here

Give me a bed and a bookshelf and i'm happy!

Happy sunny Saturday everyone!

Hope everyone is enjoying this truly stunning weather we are having. lets make the best of it, yes?

My day will be spent in the garden reading while listening to the fabulous Mumford and Sons - I have fallen in love with them even more after their Glastonbury set!

But first i must tell you about my week.........

Well this week has been one of growth and big choices. I am happy to announce i have recently got my own flat and will be moving in within a fortnight! It really is the perfect size for me! I am rather excited but in the same breath i feel a bit empty, as if it hasn't hit me fully yet. I know its not far away but as a family girl, it is a huge step for me to live on my own after growing up surrounded by my beautiful family. Everyones time comes I guess as the baby of the family. its my time now! I am now looking for furniture of some description! Give me a bed and a bookshelf and i'm happy
Something like this would be fabulous for me

The other significant moment in my week was my beloved Ford KA, Vimto failing its MOT (again) I got a rather serious sounding phone call from the mechanic and when i arrived i was greeted with a list as long as both arms, full of things to fix. To cut a very long list short, it was going to cost WAY too much to fix so Vimto is no more, i drove him home one last time, reminiscing about all the good times - the road trips, the laughs, the singalongs.

Goodbye friend!