The Voice continues, with the dreams of half the hopefuls dashed upon the mix decks of their coaches and mentors.
Wordless Wednesday
Sunday Slackers
This week’s lazy Sunday selection …
Art: Sort of – people who didn’t know they were art until it was too late!
Business: 5 Reasons Darth Vader made a great leader
The physics of productivity: Newton’s Laws for getting stuff done
For writers: 10 Blunt Tips from Geoff Dyer – who has to feel like he’s bunking off from something!
Film: Raiders of the Lost Ark sweded – by 11 year olds
Sharing the optimism for Medway UTC
Medway UTC opens in September – a few spaces remain for students entering Years 10 and 12.
With construction well underway, the new University Technical College for Medway is on track to open its doors to Year 10 and 12 students on September 7.
4 Top Twitter Takeaways from Get Social Kent
There were many great hints and tips shared at the recent Get Social Kent, with Zoe Cairns ensuring everyone scrabbled for pens and paper when she recommended these terrific little Twitter tools:
Followerwonk: Twitter analytics with bells on. Compare your influence with competitors or search for like minded people and influencers to connect with. Paid upgrade available.
Tweetreach: Check out which tweets are likely to travel further. I was surprised to see #silentsunday and #wordlesswednesday performing better than #peoplesstrictly – but unsurprisingly, #socialmedia totally outstripped them, reaching as many people and gaining more impressions than those three added together. Paid upgrade available.
Tweetwall: Display your event hasthag and get your audience involved from the start – they’ll all be vying to be top of the leaderboard. At only $29 for a day’s use, it beats the soul destroying begging for feedback forms to be completed.
Tweriod: Tweet when more of your followers will see it. Although only the latest 1000 followers are used on the free platform, it did confirm to me that the vast majority of my followers are in the European timezone. Nice to know I don’t need to stay up all night to engage them in real time!
I’ve had a little play but am yet to check them out fully – let me know how you get on.
The weirdest dream I ever had
… not for those who are squeamish about snakes!
I have a corn snake – that’s her/him (I don’t know which) above, called Sam. S/he is in the dream but is very real.
So, in the dream, I meet Lewis Hamilton, who also owns a corn snake, which, for some unknown reason, I borrow. Maybe I was in a devil my care mood, I don’t know, but I also ordered one to be delivered with my weekly shop. A bigger, more aggressive one. A Python.
It cost me £175. That seemed to be my biggest concern.
So now I had three snakes.
I was somewhere but couldn’t say where – there were lots of people around, somehow connected with F1 but not in the pits – which would have been apt, since the snakes were roaming around quite happily – but which is strange because a) Sam is kept in a tank (that’s her/his odd day out, in the paddling pool) for fear of her/him burrowing into a sofa and having to be cut free – as happened to the friends we re-homed her/him for – and b) no-one seemed to mind.
I did try putting them all in the tank, but they were escape artists.
Then another, smaller but pretty, snake appeared. Lewis assured me it wasn’t poisonous (because tiny and pretty = deadly).
Lewis was wrong. There was much hissing and slithering as the big snakes all tried to get away from the tiddler.
And then I woke up.
Freud had a theory about the interpretation of dreams. I wonder what he’d make of this one?
I own a snake. I’d been reading about Formula One beginning on Sunday week.
I think that’s about it.
Wordless Wednesday
Silent Sunday
The People’s Strictly Blub-Fest
The People’s Strictly kicked off last night – and shares in Kleenex must have soared!
With an audience potentially split between this, The Brits and Wolf Hall, it quickly became clear that for depth of character, drama, passion and all round life affirming goodness, BBC1 was the place to be.
This wasn’t just any emotional rollercoaster. This was us being more emotionally rollercoastered than ever before, as we met three of the deserving Strictly Come Dancing fans being given their chance to shine in the Strictly ballroom.
Michael, Cassidy and Heather are three of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet. Their selflessness in the face of shattering adversity in their own lives just serves to remind us how powerful the human spirit really is. Read all about them below, along with Trishna, Anna and Phil, who we’ll be introduced to next week and whose stories are just as incredible.
From left to right of the above image (top row and then bottom):
- Anna Kennedy, who set up a school for people with autism, is dancing with Robin Windsor
- Former Marine medic, Cassidy Little, is dancing with Natalie Lowe
- Heather Parsons, who set up a charity to support intensive care patients and their families, is dancing with Ian Waite
- Youth theatre company director and fundraiser Phil Barnett is dancing with Janette Manrara
- Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser and awareness campaigner Trishna Bharadia is dancing with Aljaz Skorjanez
- Meningitis fundraiser and awareness campaigner Michael Pattie is dancing with Aliona Vilani
The couples will compete for the People’s Glitter Ball in a live show on March 11, hosted by Tess and Claudia. We’ll vote for our winner, who’ll be crowned The People’s Strictly champion during Comic Relief on March 13.
The Twitter timeline was awash with virtual tears and tributes to these amazing people. Here’s a selection (to prove it wasn’t only me sobbing my heart out!)
The Three Heroes (click to read the quotes)
The Heartbreaking One
The Men Sobbing
The Competitive Edge
The Unashamed Tributes (a fraction)
The Last Words
Wordless Wednesday
Floral Cemetery
Jaye Nolan 