Brand-building Medieval-style, the nostalgic joys of Lemon Puffs and never mind parking your bum, go for a park run instead…….

Caroline – Now we know we’re all becoming a nation of fatties.  Too idle even to get up and walk to the TV, we are now hooked on remote controls. No doubt we’ll be using them for everything soon…With obesity on the rise and the myriad of health problems that can cause I’m not surprised that solutions put forward – eat five fresh portions of fruit and veg a day, pay for obese people to join Weight Watchers and the Government’s Count Me In campaign etc – aren’t really having an impact. They are coming from the wrong place. Making you feel bad in the first place for not doing the right thing and dictating a solution. As I see it, the problem is that we’ve basically forgotten how to move and exercise and we need to change the entire culture for generations to have a sustainable effect.  That’s why the Park Run concept is such a fabulous idea.  Basically there are 5k runs every Saturday morning up and down the country and they are free.  All you need to do is register on the Park Run website and you get a bar code.  This helps the organisers record your time and gives you something to aim at week after week.  All ages take part and there are great marshals along the route to encourage you. They start at 9am and, if you live close enough, you are home by 10 enjoying a well-earned bacon (with visible fat removed…) butty. The nearest one to us here in Tewkesbury is in Worcester and there is also one in the Forest of Dean. They are brilliant and I think could do more to tackle our idleness and weight issues than everything we’ve tried so far.  The website is http://www.parkrun.com/home If I was Health Minister I’d get the whole country running for our collective physical and mental wellbeing but maybe this could be the start…..

Ian – As we get older, we look back fondly on our youth and the memories that are precious to us. Last week, I was having dinner with some of my wife’s work colleagues when the discussion came round to food that we ate when we were young. I mentioned memories of my grandma’s house and sitting in front of an open fire drinking milk and eating lemon puffs biscuits. My wife’s friend Penny told me that you could still buy lemon puffs and next time she saw some, she would buy me some…Imagine my surprise on Monday night when Charlotte came home from work with a packet of lemon puffs that Penny had bought over the weekend for me. On Wednesday night - after spending two days staring nervously at the packet - I opened them and within moments the memories came flooding back. They still taste as lovely as I remember all those years ago…

Hilary – I love history and managed to record a fabulous three-part series on BBC4 called The Private Lives of the Medieval Kings. Presented by art historian, Janina Ramirez, the programmes revealed the riches of illuminated manuscripts. These written works of art were used as the image-builders and reputation-makers of their day, being carefully put together as propaganda to reflect power and greatness. Painstaking and expensive to produce, they were usually only ever within the reach of monarchs (because they could afford them and were among the few people who could read) so were often used by European kings to outdo one another: the medieval forerunner to ‘keeping up with the Joneses’. The manuscripts often contained painted minatures of the monarchs, usually portraying them as learned and scholarly as well as magnificent. Using pure gold and rich fabrics to edge the pages and cover the documents added to the opulence. Janina Ramirez explained that personal prayer books and then, after Henry VIII’s break with Rome, psalters, took over from manuscripts. Indeed, bluff King Hal himself was responsible for destroying goodness knows how many precious manuscripts during the Reformation. Later, these prayer books themselves went out of favour as the personal portrait took over as the way for monarch to demonstrate their power, greatness and brand by getting their faces in front of many people as possible. It made me realise that not much has changed over the years when it comes to power and reputation-building. Fascinating stuff. 

Talking animals and the coincidence of coincidence……...

Caroline – As you will know, at Vivid Towers we’re animal lovers ….. and we have a particular fondness for the talking ones. If you remember the days of Johnny Morris and Animal Magic or you are just amused by talking animals, there few better than those on BBC's Walk on the Wild Side. There’s a stack to choose from on You Tube and this is one of my favourites -

Hilary – If you’ve ever had cause to use the phrase ‘well, what a coincidence’, then a Cambridge don might want to hear from you. Ever since studying probabilities in Maths at school, I’ve been interested in coincidences. Are they bound to happen or is there something more interesting at play? For example, Caroline and I have fathers who share birthdays (although not dates of birth), as do our dogs (again, not dates of birth) and we both have Yorkshire roots. We didn’t know any of that when we first became friends (indeed we didn’t have our four-legged friends then). Now Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University is asking people for their tales of striking coincidences for his study into the odds of such peculiar events happening. His examples include a man on holiday in the South of France writing a postcard to a friend, only to bump into him and be able to hand over the card rather than posting it. Then there was the woman standing in a queue talking about the actor David Jacobi, only to find the man himself standing in front of her. If you want to know more or submit examples, visit www.understandinguncertainty.org/coincidences

PS Talking of talking animals, how cute is this video clip of Pancho at The Donkey Sanctuary singing -

Talking animals and the coincidence of coincidence……...

Caroline – As you will know, at Vivid Towers we’re animal lovers ….. and we have a particular fondness for the talking ones. If you remember the days of Johnny Morris and Animal Magic or you are just amused by talking animals, there few better than those on BBC's Walk on the Wild Side. There’s a stack to choose from on You Tube and this is one of my favourites -

Hilary – If you’ve ever had cause to use the phrase ‘well, what a coincidence’, then a Cambridge don might want to hear from you. Ever since studying probabilities in Maths at school, I’ve been interested in coincidences. Are they bound to happen or is there something more interesting at play? For example, Caroline and I have fathers who share birthdays (although not dates of birth), as do our dogs (again, not dates of birth) and we both have Yorkshire roots. We didn’t know any of that when we first became friends (indeed we didn’t have our four-legged friends then). Now Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University is asking people for their tales of striking coincidences for his study into the odds of such peculiar events happening. His examples include a man on holiday in the South of France writing a postcard to a friend, only to bump into him and be able to hand over the card rather than posting it. Then there was the woman standing in a queue talking about the actor David Jacobi, only to find the man himself standing in front of her. If you want to know more or submit examples, visit www.understandinguncertainty.org/coincidences

PS Talking of talking animals, how cute is this video clip of Pancho at The Donkey Sanctuary singing -

Hilary –I have always admired people who explore the globe (and further afield) to find out more about its mysteries. From Shackleton to Scott, Hillary to Bonnington and Fiennes to Hempleman Adams, there are many people who have braved the elements and perils of nature in their quest for knowledge and to achieve great physical feats. Two names in particular stand out as early childhood memories – Sir Edmund Hillary and his ascent of Everest and Captain Scott and his polar expedition. I think it was probably through a Ladybird book that I first read about Robert Falcon Scott and his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Later, I remember reading about his letters home to his wife and to the son he would never see grow up. I can still remember the excitement I felt almost 15 years later when, as a journalist, I met Sir Peter Scott, not just because it was an honour to meet such a wonderful man in his won right but because he was Captain Scott’s son. As I sat next to Sir Peter on a small boat at The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge, it seemed that we were in another world from that of his father. This year, and indeed this month, it’s 100 years since Captain Scott and his team reached the South Pole and I’m pleased that Radio Gloucestershire will be featuring the story of a member of that team, Cheltenham-born Dr Edward Wilson. Wilson was Scott’s Chief Scientific Adviser and was, according to Sir Ranulph Fiennes, ‘the most respected man on the expedition.’ Each time I walk or drive past the house in which he was born in Montpellier Terrace, I am in awe of what he and the rest of the team had to face. It’s strange that we know quite a lot about the expedition given that media coverage would have been nothing like we get today. But there is still a lot we don’t know. On Sunday, we will get the chance to hear more, not just about the expedition but the people involved. Radio Gloucestershire’s Pete Wilson has interviewed David Wilson, Edward Wilson’s great nephew. I’ve no doubt that, given his track record, Pete will do the programme justice. He always takes a keen interest in the people he interviews and his Sunday shows focus on what’s at the heart of Gloucestershire and its communities. From 12 noon, the programme will be broadcast on the station. If that’s not a good time for you or you don’t live locally you can catch it online or ‘listen again’ via Pete’s page on the Radio Gloucestershire’s website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7jr

Ian – After many years of DJ-ing at weddings, birthdays & Christmas parties, I decided to find a venue where I could play the music I really love (Ska, Reggae, Latin, Funk and Northern Soul). The monthly event at The Sheppey Inn (The Sheppey Soul Shack) is increasingly becoming more popular. Since I started my little DJ hobby I have used both CD’s and more recently a laptop, which to be honest is enjoyable, but hardly very challenging and there could only be one answer… Over the past 12 months I have rediscovered my love affair for old record vinyl and at least once a week you will find me in a number of charity shops hunting down various 7” & 12” singles and albums from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s. At the beginning of December, I asked my family to give me money for Christmas rather than presents and today a new turntable & mixer have arrived via Parcel Force for me to take my “vinyl fixation” to the next natural level. Over the next few weeks, I intend to practice DJ-ing using both a turntable and my laptop, so at some stage in the near future I can find different venues to play the music I love in the original format that they were intended to be heard….

Wearing it blue and being a trailblazer…..

Blue Caroline – January is without doubt the most depressing month of the year.  The weather is cold and miserable (well apart from today when the sun is shining I guess!), same goes for your depleted bank account and ‘stretched to the limit’ credit cards and as for your waistline….But this year I’ve got something to take my mind off the downsides of January. I’m wearing something blue every day in January for Cobalt.  In case you don’t know what Cobalt is it’s a fantastic home-grown success story in Cheltenham.  As a registered charity, the aim of Cobalt is to help people affected by cancer and life-limiting conditions.  They do this in five ways - providing state of the art imaging for diagnosis, promoting awareness and prevention of cancers, facilitating cancer screening programmes, funding appropriate medical research and providing education and training courses for healthcare professionals. In January Cobalt is asking as many people as possible to raise money for them by wearing blue for a day.  I’m taking it a step further and wearing something blue every day.  That said sometimes it’s a little bit tenuous and it’s only the first week (!) but it’s proving a fun challenge. On January 1^st I was tempted to go with the slightly blue tinge around the black bags under my eyes after the New Year’s Eve celebrations but I had a better idea in my delicate state.  I would rely on my engagement ring; a blue sapphire. Genius.  By January 2^nd I had more energy and it was time to get back into the running for my Monday night session I wore my blue running top.  On 3^rd January I rummaged through my drawers to find my blue socks and the next day  for a business meeting I wore a smidgen of blue eye shadow.  Yesterday 5^th January was blue jeans day and today, Friday, is the turn of my lovely cobalt blue cardigan.  My aim is not to rely on the same thing twice and the lovely team at Cobalt has sent me a blue t-shirt so that’s there for emergencies.  I also have blue eyes so I may also need to fall back on my peepers at some stage!  Do please join me if you can. The link to find out more is http://www.cobalthealth.co.uk/fundraising/ways-to-raise/wear-blue-4-cobalt.aspx

Ian – Being a trailblazer …. Michael Kiwanuka has come top of the BBC's Sound Of 2012 list….Many months ago his track ‘Tell Me A Tale’ was my Friday Fave …Vivid lead and BBC follow. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16266507

As we head towards the end of 2011, we’re thinking of our favourite things from the year. For today’s Farewell 2011 Friday Favourites, we’ve pulled together a few of the ‘Top’ lists of 2011 for your delight and delectation:

When You Tube unveiled its Top 10 Most Watched Videos in the UK, top dog was … well, a talking dog of course…..with the Ultimate Dog Tease video. See it at Others making it to the top 10 included the Royal Wedding video spoof and the talking twin babies. You can see them at http://news.sky.com/home/technology/article/16133746

If you like your television adverts, the Media Guardian brought us the Top TV Ads, with the gin-loving pensioner proving the most popular http://gu.com/p/34byv/tf

Then, if you were Jeremy Clarkson, David Cameron or Richard Keys, there were things you wish you hadn’t said – particularly when you were near a microphone…. with the Top 10 Gaffes – http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/28/did-i-say-that-gaffes-year?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fmedia%2Frss+%28Media%29

Did you have your Favourite Face of 2011? The BBC’s list of favourite women caused controversy when it included a lady panda who flew in from China - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16200429 Its list of men caused similar rumblings when it failed to include Fenton the Dog (forever associated with the yell of ‘Jesus Christ!’)

For the team at Vivid Towers, it has to be Fenton the Dog for us. Like many dog owners with (usually) well-behaved canine companions, we did look at Fenton and think ‘there but for the grace of God…….

We wish you a healthy and Happy New Year. May 2012 be a good one for you.

As its Christmas this weekend, we thought we’d bring you a few of our festive favourites:

We know it’s been around for a few years but this e-Christmas card from Jacquie Lawson still makes us all feel festive. She has designed some fabulous cards but this is our favourite (follow instructions and turn the volume on). See http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0263168021

And we hope Military Wives and ‘Wherever you Are’ make it to number one. If you haven’t bought the single, please do and raise some festive funds for The Royal British Legion and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association. You can see more and buy it at http://www.garethmalone.com/cd

And while we’re on the subject of good causes and goodwill, let’s not forget the animal shelters, many of whom are already full to brimming even before they have some of those unwanted Christmas puppies. On our own doorstep, Cheltenham Animal Shelter is badly in need of food and blankets so please help if you can. You can see more at http://www.gawa.org.uk

And if you’re after a seasonal stress-buster you can do a lot worse than visit The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon. Seeing the fantastic mix of rescued donkeys is always therapeutic but, given the role of donkeys in the Christmas Story, it’s particularly apt. As well as seeing the donkeys and hearing about the sanctuary’s superb work, you can enjoy great walks, many with coastal views. You can see more at http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/visit

Merry Christmas from all at Vivid Towers, including four legged team member Chester. Whether you’re with family friends or own your own, we hope your Christmas is everything you want it to be.

Renting a tree for Christmas, taking the pain out of Christmas shopping and more than just a red breast ….. 

Ian – It’s always been important for my family to try to do our bit our bit for the environment, so for the last couple of years we have rented our Christmas tree from a company called Trees For Rent in Dorset. The company grows trees from a seed in a pot. Once they are mature, they are rented out people to use for Christmas and are collected January, either to be re-used the following year or if they are too big either replanted or offered to large companies to improve their landscape and help neutralise their carbon emissions. We have always been impressed by Trees for Rent’s customer service and helpful staff. For example, the man who delivered the tree was at great pains to explain how much water to give it and how else we should care for it. I would recommend the company to anyone who wants a traditional Christmas, but is fed up of seeing hundreds of discarded trees at their local dump in January. For more information go to http://treesforrent.com/

Caroline – There’s a lot of perceived wisdom about how to do Christmas shopping.  Some have taken to the internet like ducks to water, judging by the amount of people in Cheltenham shopping recently many still seem to prefer the traditional trudge around the shops and the most organised of us do it in the January sales.  I’ve discovered another way - a half hour dash around the duty-free shops at Birmingham airport before you board your 6.30am flight. I’ve always liked Birmingham Airport but it has been improved recently, driven by the need to get people through security checks more quickly and efficiently. Now as soon as you are out of being frisked you are thrown straight into a brightly lit avenue of perfumes, presents and perfect shopping. With prices typically appearing to be 20 per cent lower than the high street, you get double the pleasure!  Then the best bit.  Having ticked off just about everyone remaining on my list and starting to worry I would be lugging a couple of bags around Belgium for the day, I was told they would package them up for me and I could collect them on my way back through later that day! Wonderful. Then on the way home another great experience. I used the biometric features on my passport for the first time. A little bit weird but it saved the long queues and a German gentleman in front of me was gushing about UK technology; now there’s a first!

Hilary – I’m sure we have all admired the wonderful red breasts of Robins, particularly at this time of the year but it now transpires that the fantastic crimson plumage is not just lovely to look at. Research from Spain shows that it contains a wealth of hidden information. Apparently, the size of the distinctive read bib and width of grey feathers framing it allow other birds to judge its gender and age. So next time you see a Robin red breast, just think that although we may see it as splendid to look at, it’s communicating a range of information to other feathered friends.

Memories of growing up in an orchard, it’s good to talk and do put your daughter (or son) on the stage…. 

Caroline - There has been much talk this week about the growing trend in some organisations to ban the use of email. Atos, a technology company, has announced that it will be phasing out use of internal email by 2014.  I’m sure there are some people sighing deeply worried that they’ve only just got used to email and fearing that they’re going to have to learn something new again! But I don’t think they have much to worry about.  The decision by Atos is to move employees to more appropriate forms of communication and, shock horror, encourage people to get up from their desk and wonder over to the other side of the office and talk to a colleague as opposed to hide behind their monitor and lazily send an email. The same can happen with people communicating with customers or clients.  It’s easier to email rather than pick up the phone. But that makes communication just one way and the process becomes mono dimensional and often you get an inferior outcome. Talking enables you to immediately gain feedback from both the words used and the tone of voice which enables you to move to a resolution or sale much, much quicker. It also gives you the opportunity to develop a proper relationship and the benefits that provides – loyalty, commitment, empathy and friendship. So rather than ban various forms of digital communication – which have huge advantages – why not focus on the positive and encourage people to talk? Make that the priority and, if you can’t achieve that, consider other forms of communication.  It’s Good to Talk! (as Bob Hoskins used to say for BT…)

Hilary – About a year ago, our Friday Favourites contained a Friday Frown in which I bemoaned the loss of orchards in this country and despaired at the fact that so many shops (especially supermarkets) stocked apples from abroad when we have so many fantastic and delicious varieties in this country. So I was delighted this week by the news that a new orchard has been planted in Gloucestershire. The good folk at Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust have created a new fruit orchard using 60 local variety apple, pear and plum trees at their Vell Mill nature reserve near Newent. It’s a sad statistic that during the past 30 years traditional orchards in Gloucestershire have declined by 67%. As someone who grew up in rural Worcestershire with an orchard in the back garden, I’ve always valued the privilege of being able to pick fresh fruits from trees and eat them. I well remember all the apple, plum and damson pies, jams, cakes and other delicious things my Mum used to make using the fruit from our orchard. Now the Trust is helping to make sure future generations can do the same and is supporting our health, heritage and environment by planting the 60 different fruit tree varieties, including the fabulously named Jackets & Waistcoats, Lemon Pippin and Jacob Plum. As an added touch, many of the trees were dedicated to individual people, with 12 planted in recognition of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust’s past Chairmen and a number for the local community. As another nod to tradition, the trees were blessed using the old custom of balancing cider-soaked toast on the branches, and adding a trickle of local cider to water the roots. As someone who has been to a Wassail or two in Somerset, that’s something worth seeing. Well done to the Trust and to BBC Radio Gloucestershire for great coverage of the planting. You can find about more about the orchard and the work of the Trust at http://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/news/2011/12/06/new-community-orchard-created-vell-mill

Ian - Having three young children means that my wife and I are constantly driving them to clubs and activities. However, all the aggravation is paid back tenfold when you get to see them take part in various events which leave you with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye. We had the pleasure of watching Joseph and his friends singing Christmas carols at Wells Cathedral. It was a beautiful event involving many local schools from around the area singing classic carols and Christmas songs in a wonderful setting. Earlier in the week I saw my five-year-old daughter Natalie take part in the school nativity play. As much as I tried, I found it hard not to cry watching her singing along with such gusto and saying her words so clearly. I also had the privilege of watching my eldest daughter Molly taking part in her school’s production of ‘The King & I’. She was absolutely brilliant in her role as one of the princesses and I felt so proud watching her. Up and down the country there must be thousands of parents going through the same emotions as I have over the past few days and it’s one of the things that make this time of year so special.

Paying with the flick of a wrist and those catchy Christmas ditties……. 

Hilary – With mobile phones, laptops and i-pods, it seems we’re having to carry more things than ever now. I’m all for the paper-less office but not if it means I have to carry loads more …particularly when it means I often need two extra pairs of hands to search for change, house keys, train tickets etc! So I was heartened this week to hear about a new gadget – a watch that means you can pay for things with the flick of a wrist. Watch2Pay is Britain’s first contactless payment timepiece. After loading it with up to £15 credit, you simply wear it on your wrist and use it to pay for small items rather than having to search for change. Available in eight colours, as they say, time is money …. or it is now. You can see more at http://www.watch2pay.co.uk

Ian – Some songs stick with you all your life and it doesn’t matter where you hear it, or indeed how many times you hear it, for me one of those songs is ‘The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping’. It’s such a great pop song and just hearing the sleigh bells and piano, followed by the guitar at the start of the song makes me smile and feel that I’m 12 years again. It drives my wife mad as I must play this song at least three times a day throughout December. Interestingly it was never a Top 40 hit, which I’ve never really understood, as it’s unbelievably catchy and amazingly ‘poptastic’. Altogether now ‘Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Couldn’t Miss This One This Year; Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Couldn’t Miss This One This Year…..Catch it at