I am a Giraffe

I can see the tops of every tree for miles. It's great fun to just watch the birds landing on the highest branches and then wobbling a bit. I sometimes like to frighten the little birds and shake the thin branches a bit with my tongue. Of course, I wouldn't let them fall, I'd catch them somehow.

Anyway, I heard lots of people talking today about technology. They all come here with their clicky cameras and Internet phone devices, but today someone went all the way and put the two together. Some guy (I think his name was Jeff) took a picture of me licking a metal bar and then said: "I've just put that on Facebook". First things first, no, I don't know why I was licking a metal bar. I was hungry but couldn't be bothered to eat, so I thought the taste of metal would help. It didn't. Secondly, yes I do know what Facebook is given that I am great at ear-wigging visitors daily.

Then I thought...what if I could use Facebook or Twitter or Flickr? And then I realised that hooves aren't great for operating a computer mouse. Standing on real mice isn't a problem though, so if anyone needs something to squash a mouse and can't be bothered to buy a cat, then I'm your man!

I like it when people take pictures of me. I imagine I'm David Beckham and pose a bit. I'm not so good at the football bit though, I run like a girl giraffe.

Hmmm...I get very distracted by being able to see so much from here. Wouldn't you if you were this tall? For instance, I can see cars from up here and let's face it, a car can't pass without catching your eye. You do it too when one passes your living room window, don't you?

I think I'll bend my legs now and lean down to prevent further distractions. Ouch, this ain't as easy as it looks! Oh, there goes a camera again...that was a proper pose.

Curse the pig with the Flu!

This is kind of an "in-between" blog post to explain why I haven't been around, and also to explain my next blog post.

Firstly, I moved back to Chester. I love our house very much and it's almost finished in terms of unpacking and making the big bedroom into a study room.

Secondly, I had Swine Flu, which was fun to say the least. TamiFlu messed with my stomach, so once I came off that I started to get better.

Right, my next blog post is going to be something a big different, it's going to be more of a short creative writing piece. I'll be honest, I'm mainly doing this because I'm bored, but it's inspired by a photo I took of my favourite type of animal at the weekend :) I'm going to put myself into the head of the giraffe and write away. If it works, I might do it more often, taking the "Observation" part of "Observation Station" a step further.

Keep your eyes peeled, should be up soon :)

The best things in life are free...sometimes!

Recently, I have tried to make the most of my break but relaxing a bit. This mostly consists of sitting indoors and looking out of the window at the rain. This is free, but it's no fun!

A few weeks ago, me, my boyfriend, his brother and mother went to play Pitch and Putt and managed to get the whole way round without paying a penny. There was basically a turnstyle with a notice on it saying to leave your money in a box. Well, I am an outstandingly honest citizen, so I would have been stupid enough to leave my money there, only for no one to collect it. The others decided that none of us should pay, and this turned out to be the correct decision, as we played all 18 holes without paying a penny (and there were no drinks machines, so we couldn't even be tempted to put a euro in there!).

On the other hand, holidays are not free unless you win them (and the only thing I ever won was an X-Box code that wouldn't work in the UK!). Holidays are the best thing in life at the moment, I mean they must be, because as me and my boyfriend have noticed, everyone is going on one (except us it seems!).

The alternative to going abroad on holiday is erm...staying indoors and watching the rain, so it looks like I'm going to have to learn to enjoy that!

The one thing that is [mostly] free is my laptop. I have already paid the money for it, and this one actually has a decent battery meaning it costs about half the electricity that my last one did. So I'm finding a lot to keep myself occupied in that way...playing games, Tweeting, blogging, looking for jobs/phone companies, reading the news etc. So at the moment my laptop is one of the best things I own!

Anyone else suggest anything that is free and fun? NB: If anyone says "go for a walk", I will kindly remind you that I am living at the top of a hill and it pours with rain like there's no tomorrow here!

Any wonder knife crime is so high?

I am absolutely outraged by a news story I have just read. A 15 year old boy has purchased a machete over the Internet, and what's more is that it only cost £1.50. Isn't it awful to think that someones life can be taken away by a cheap piece of metal?

This lad was testing underage sales for trading standards, so there is no concern in this case over the purchased machete (just to clear that up!). The story is here.

Knives should not be available to buy over the Internet...full stop. If you need a knife for the kitchen, you go to the shops. And of course, people are going to complain if that measure is put in to place: "Oh but I live in the middle of nowhere", "I don't have time to go to shops" etc. So what, you are willing to let people keep dying because 12 year-olds can but a knife on the Internet, for those reasons?

I shudder when I walk past knives in a supermarket. They are horrible looking things, and so commonly used as weapons. At what point are the Government going to take serious measures on knife crime? All the things they are trying to do are not working, clearly. It is hard to find a day where the news headlines do not include the words "stabbed to death".

Having said this, I have to be fair. There are measure taken in shops to prevent knives being bought by youths. I was asked for ID in TJ Hughes once...I was buying household cutlery. Just for the record, I was 21! Embarrassing...yes!

Moving house is pretty awful!

Moving house is supposed to be one of the most stressful things you can do, and I think I can vouch for that! Ok, so I'm only a student moving out, but the way things work out, I have to put my stuff in storage, before staying in Ireland over the summer, and it's hard work.

There's so much to think about. I have a list as long as two arms, and I'm not even half way there! Silly things that are easy to forget like informing gas/telephone companies, redirecting mail and blogging about it!

I move all my stuff on Saturday, and sleep in an empty house before leaving on the ferry on Sunday. Can't wait for it all to just be done!

Anyway, I had to pack my poor teddy bears away today...they weren't too pleased, and Donkey looked particularly hard done by.


Had a quick break this weekend in London. Stayed with my Mum in Kent, and went to London with my boyfriend to see the sights. It doesn't matter how many times I see them, I love them. Also saw a very strange street act, which involved a person with their head in a flower pot...see for yourself...


Apologies to those of you who will have nightmares after seeing that!

An Interview with: Jeremy Nicholas

Last week, Jeremy Nicholas took some time to talk to me about his West Ham views, Media Masters and more. Enjoy :)











After watching you interview top players on the last day of the season for many years, I always wondered, how does anyone go about getting the job of West Ham announcer?

Well, I always worked in TV and radio, and I used to present a breakfast show on GLR, which is now BBC London, and I always used to talk about West Ham a lot and one day they rang up and said “Do you want to be the announcer?” So I said yes! To start with I said no because I was a season ticket holder and I always used to shout at the players, and I realised that as the announcer I probably wasn’t allowed to do that.

So originally I said no, and then changed my mind because I had this dream that in the summer of ‘98 Rio Ferdinand was in the England squad at the World Cup, and I had this dream that he was going to score the winning goal at the World Cup final and I was the announcer on the pitch at the start of the season, so I said I would do it, and then as it happened Rio didn’t even get off the bench in the World Cup.

Do you still get a buzz being on the pitch at Upton Park, especially on the last day of the season?

Yes, well I interviewed Franco [Zola] on Sunday, and yes that was good because we’d had a cracking season. And Scotty Parker getting the Hammer of the Year was really good, because I thought he’d been awesome all season. The great thing about this year was I reckon there were probably about five people could have won Hammer of the Year, which in my 11 seasons, I’ve seen some desperate seasons where I thought that I don’t really think anyone deserves it. I remember one year when there was a move to the fans to be Hammer of the Year because nobody deserved it. This time round I actually voted for Herita Ilunga, and my wife voted for him as well. But Scotty Parker got it, Rob Green could have had it, I think Matthew Upson, he had a brilliant season, and Valon Behrami, I think he probably would have been on course if he wasn’t injured.

What about next season? Who could potentially win it next season?

Potentially, well Tomkins and Collison both looked awesome I thought coming through from the academy, so they would be in with a shout I would think. Robert Green, who knows, this time next year he could be established as the regular England goalie and then he’s suddenly gone from being England’s number 6 to being England’s number 1 with Davis James injured, so that might be quite good. I don’t see Scott Parker ever have a bad game so he would be in with a shout again I would think.

What about your predictions for West Ham as a whole next season?

I don’t really make predictions, but as a West Ham fan, we know we won’t win the title, but I don’t think there’s any disloyalty in that. I remember chatting to Trevor Brooking once and he said being a West Ham fan is all about being entertained, knowing you won’t win the league and just hoping you might get a cup. In my lifetime we’ve won the FA Cup three times, we’ve been relegated about four times, but it’s always more fun than being an Arsenal fan when know they won’t get relegated.

So I don’t really make predictions, but I suppose our best bet is that we might do something in a cup. It would be nice to qualify for Europe next season, I mean, we were so close this time round but just fell away at the end, I think after a few crucial injuries, but watching on Sunday with Carlton Cole back in the team we looked a more balanced side with him as a target man, so if he can stay fit with Dean Ashton and Danny Gabbidon, and Kieron Dyer looked pretty lively, if we had all our player fit again, we’d certainly be able to get into the Europa League.

So for a man that doesn’t make predictions, that’s my prediction!


To add to your many talents, you’re now an author. Tell me a bit about the book.


The book is insider secrets on how to do good TV and radio interviews. I co-wrote it with a guy called Alan Stevens who’s a professional speaker, and he’s actually the vice president of the International Federation of Professional Speakers, so he’s big in global speaking. We interviewed loads of people on what tips they would give ordinary people who suddenly had to be interviewed on TV and radio because you’d gone to a charity, or some organisation or something, or be a business person, and suddenly a TV crew turns up, how you are going to talk to them.

So it’s tips from people like Terry Wogan, Michael Parkinson and Michael Aspel, all TV people, and there’s odd one’s like Uri Gellar, the spoon bender. There are a couple of West Ham fans in there, Phil Jupitus the comedian, Iain Dale the blogger of West Ham Till I Die, and they all give tips. So Phil Jupitus, he obviously says jokey things quite a lot, and he says make sure that if you give an interview, particularly one that’s written down for a website or newspaper, that when you read it back in black and white it hasn’t been taken out of context.

Terry Wogan also says it’s not life or death so just enjoy it. Michael Parkinson says the camera is your friend so when you talk to it pretend you’re chatting to your wife or a family member so that you don’t get nervous. So it’s all little useful tips like that.

One really good one was Becky Adlington the swimmer, and I did her homecoming parade in Mansfield, so I was on the stage getting the crowd whipped up and introduced her on this open top bus in front of 50,000 people in this big square in Mansfield, and her tips were just to be yourself and don’t try and put on airs and graces, just be normal, and when you see her she is just the girl next door, so that’s a brilliant tip.

But there are loads of people who are suddenly on Breakfast News and they start changing their voice or losing their regional accent, or using words that they wouldn’t usually use, so just talk in your normal voice, don’t put on any airs and graces.

So it’s really aimed at anyone who suddenly has to be on a local radio station talking about a charity or organisation or something, and to find out what tips they can get.

And that’s available now?

Yes, in all good book shops and some bad ones as well.

How did you pick the contributors?

Well because I’d never written a book before, I started by calling quite a lot of favours from mates, so Iain Dale and Phil Jupitus being West Ham fans for example. I called Russell Brand, who I’ve met quite a few times at West Ham and I’ve been on his radio show before, and he should have been in it, but then he suddenly got quite busy after the Andrew Sachs business. So I never did get Russell even though twice we arranged to meet as West Ham fans when I wasn’t an announcer this season, but I was in the Dr Martens Upper, and he was in the Dr Martens Lower and we couldn’t get to each other, and later when I was back being the announcer I just missed him in the players lounge.

Other times I’d be interviewing someone for TV, because I do TV reporting as well, and I just asked “can I interview you for my book?” Other people like Uri Gellar, I just had his mobile number from years ago when he was on my radio show on BBC London, and he did some mind reading where I drew someone, and he was on the other side of the room and drew something similar. He was so excited that he drew the same thing as me that he signed something for me and put his mobile number on the bottom of the page. So I just rang this number and he was in Holland doing a TV show and he said “ring me back in 7 minutes and I’ll do an interview”. I thought that was a bit odd, 7 minutes, but when I rang him back he gave me a great interview for about half an hour. At the end he said “sorry if I sound a bit out of breath all the time, but I’m on my exercise bike!”

So things like that really. We were just trying to get people from all walks of life, George Galloway, MP, some sports people, some business people, just so you get all the different opinions.

Now I mainly do after dinner speaking so when I’m speaking often I’m the compère and I’ll chat to whoever the speaker is, and depending on how good they are, I’ll ask if I can have an interview for my book. I just always go round with a little Dictaphone and if I see anyone interesting just say “oh can I talk to you?” I always carry a camera as well so each person in a book has a picture, and because I’m such a show off, I always stand next to them in the picture! So there’s me with Terry Wogan, me with Michael Parkinson, and Alan the co-author really likes photography, so he takes all the pictures of them, but I always like to be in it!

Would you consider writing another similar book but with different contributors?

Yes, in fact the publishers have already said they would like Media Masters 2, and so I’m already working on that. In fact this week I was working with Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram and it was a bit too rushed to interview them for the book, but I might get back to them and do some things. I did get a photograph with Steve Cram and an Olympic torch from the London 1948 games, so I’ve already got that!

What else have you been up to recently?

Well I’m the voice of the announcer on all of the EA Sports games from Fifa 06 onwards and I’ve just recorded Fifa 10. The guys come over from Vancouver once a year, and I go into a little sound booth in Soho for a day and record the names of all the new players in the world, because they do all the leagues from Spain, Italy, Germany, America. Croatia Division Two I did this year too. When there’s a goal you hear me in the background announcing it.

That must be quite surreal?

It is a weird job because I have to do all of the names of all the players very clearly so whatever happens in the game it will say “Goal scored for [team] by [name]”. It’s like a tube announcer with the intonation. People can play anything like England V Barcelona in Brazil so you’ll hear my saying “Welcome to [stadium name] for today’s/this evening’s game”. And the weird thing is, in the background every year I get to do about 10 announcements of my own that I can just make up, so this year I’ve congratulated my wife on finishing the London marathon, so at any point during the game you might suddenly hear that. I’ve done all my friends weddings over the years, I’ve done every car I’ve ever owned that’s left its lights on, my nephews are always lost children. So yes it is a really weird job.

In October I go in again to do all of the teams that are in the World Cup to record the special World Cup version

I’ve heard that there’s something interesting about where you got married. Tell me about it…

I did get married at West Ham, in the Carlsberg suite on November 11th 2006, which is Remembrance Day so I always remember it! I can never miss my anniversary! All the guests stayed in the hotel at the grounds and the reception was in the Bobby Moore suite.

So you had the whole day there?

Yes the whole day, the wedding, the reception, the photos by the pitch and then we all did a lap of honour round the pitch, but it’s quite cold in November. Me and my wife walked round, and all the guests followed us around the track.

Finally, you were once a journalism student. What advice would you give to anyone, like me, who’s finishing their degree now and having trouble finding a job?

Well my first degree was in engineering and I hated it, so I started doing student radio. I hated engineering so much because there was no creativity in it, and then as I got into my final year I started panicking thinking “I don’t want to be an engineer for the rest of my life”, so I applied to do a post-grad radio journalism course. But all the time I was doing it I was helping out on local radio stations, so I think that’s an important thing to be making links, and you’ve got to do the rubbish bits like answering the phones and making the cups of tea just to get in there. But I worked with Chris Evans for years at GLR and he started by being a tea-boy at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester for Timmy Mallet, and eventually you start finding a way of getting on just perhaps to do the What’s On guide or something.

Whenever you do anything, you’ve always got to keep a copy of it and put it up on your blog or Twitter it or something, and just build up a show reel.

The problem is there’s so many media courses now and they’re churning out so many people, and it’s also such a desirable thing to do, that it is quite tough really but if you really want to do it then you will do it.


Thanks very much to Jeremy for taking the time to speak to me. The book sounds great, and is available to buy now from Amazon.co.uk

Find out more about Jeremy at jeremynicholas.co.uk

Pressure piling on Boyle's shoulders

Saturday sees the final of Britain's Got Talent, and it seems as though the pressure has got to poor Susan Boyle a little bit. She has already been on the receiving end of press tactics; build them up then knock them down.

I'm so pleased that she received so much positive press in the UK and US, but why does our press have to then completely dent her confidence with reports of four-letter outbursts and backstage tears?

I know that all this may be true, but by putting this as front page news is really making her life difficult at the moment. We mustn't forget that she put a smile on our faces at a time when news was dominated by job losses and recession stories, so for that I think we (and the press) owe her the decency to keep her private life private. She entered a talent contest because she has a talent, not to receive worldwide attention, that should just be a side note in her current chapter.

For anyone who is interested, here is a news story from tonight about Susan Boyle's struggle to stay calm via Sky News.

Having said all this, I don't think this should allow her an automatic win. I would love to see Stavros Flatley win. I think they are two of the nicest people I've seen in that contest over the last three years, and it would make the whole world smile again if they triumph :)

I did what 5-year-olds do today...

...and made butterfly cakes!

This isn't a major blog post, and I'm sure I've had plenty more in the last few weeks that I should have entered, but TwitPic isn't working so I need a blog post :P

So far I've only eaten crumbs, but they smell yummy!

Mum made the lemon curd, so it's all home made :)

Follow me @lucy_whufc to find out more...if you care!!

Technically, they have to offer the price it is advertised at...

...which in this case would not be good for Shell.

Have a look at this picture and see what's wrong with it.
















Haha, yes I too very much doubt that the price is 1.49p, more like £1.49. Unfortunately I am not enough of an investigative journalist to go in to the shop and try and ask for a 1.49p car wash!

This was spotted on the way to the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester from Sale, so if you know that route, maybe you know the garage. Pop in and try it!

Get your Red Nose NOW!

There's absolutely no excuse this year not to get one. No more: "Oh I didn't get down to Sainsbury's" or "I didn't have any change".

Now you can get an online Red Nose for Comic Relief!

Visit digitalrednose.com and you can download one of three red nose styles to place on a photo of your choice. It also gives you the option to place the image on to Facebook, Bebo or MySpace. You can add it to Twitter too after you've downloaded it to your desktop :D

It costs £1, which is nothing really. I'm a student, and even I could afford it!

I think this is a great idea. With the increasing popularity of social networking it is a great way to show your support and donate money at the same time.

I order you all to do it NOW!

Pop over to this site in the next few hours...

...and 10cents is donated to charity for every comment on the blog. The target is $100 by midnight. Give it a read :)

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT AND DONATE TO CHARITY :)

Mini blog.

While I have been doing my dissertation draft (which I hope I have done now!), I was pointlessly browsing the Internet.

Mostly I have been addicted to Twitter and via that service I came across Spotify which is basically iTunes but it uses the Internet to get almost any song you can think of. It's great!

Also I am currently listening to Richard Bacon, and I think he's great. I have always been a fan of the show, but tonight he is talking about Twitter and just being a bit random! If you want to follow him on Twitter he is here.

Bloc Party report, as promised!

So a week ago today, I went to see Bloc Party after a rush of spontaneity hit me. Managed to get two tickets in the second row of the balcony, right in the middle. This was at the Manchester Apollo by the way, so if you know it, you know it’s a great venue! If you don’t know it...it’s a great venue!


(image from Flickr)

So the support was Tommy Sparks and he was ok. Not as bad as the men behind me were making him out to be! I must find out what song was played last, because I really liked it and it made me smile.

So then after the usual setting up and sound checks, Bloc Party came out in modest fashion and went straight into ‘One Month Off’. From that moment, I just had “that” feeling that it was going to be a good’un!

I couldn’t contain myself at any point from head-banging/swaying/screaming lyrics! To anyone behind I must have looked like I was having some kind of fit, but at the time I really didn’t care. I was just so into it, and they really drew me in. I felt as though it was just me and them in a room, and I was lapping up everything they had to offer.

Matt Tong’s drumming was fantastic, and Kele’s vocals really reflected the beautiful but complicated lyrics.

I have to mention at this point that the couple in front of us disappeared after about 15 minutes, and never came back, so actually we more or less had front row seats!

They also played a cover version of the Girls Aloud hit ‘Call the Shots’ which was slightly surreal, as everyone was trying to work out what song it was. By the chorus, everyone was singing along! I think I’m right in saying they haven’t played that at any other venue?

Then the encore came, and a standing ovation after that, as the gig was over. We ran to the back of the hall to catch a train, and then...out they came again! WOW!

So we stayed standing this time, as everyone else was, and I completely let myself go. I must have entered the “really ecstatic” level of happiness as I waved my arms around (and I never do that coz I’m too shy!).

They finished on ‘This Modern Love’ which was brilliant, and most definitely one of my favourites.

I really cannot fault the evening at all, and it was a welcome change from sitting indoors with dull weather, staring at the TV (not that I dislike doing that!). I am so glad I was decisive enough to get the tickets and go to one of the best gigs I think I’ve been to.

One of the coolest pics ever!

Found via Plime, this is taken in Port Lympne Zoo in Kent.

The photographer just happened to click at the right time...amazingly cool!

See the full article here.

Spontaneous Moment of the Year so far!

I saw someone on Facebook say they were going to see Bloc Party tonight, and I was gutted that I didn't know about it.

Looked for tickets and there still seemed to be some available. So I bought them, with only 4 hours till the doors open! =D

Can't wait to see them! So look forward to a Bloc Party gig review soon!

First Impressions Matter

The following is a piece that I wrote a while ago based on a previous experience. I just thought I would share it with you here on my blog:

A handshake to me was always something that older people did. It was a formal act in my opinion, and suggested that two people didn't really know each other that well, if at all. Whether or not the hand shakers knew one another was not a concern for me though; by looking at people and the way they shake hands, it is not difficult to tell how they relate to one another. I took the view that handshaking was just like saying "hello", so it didn't really matter how you did it.

The first part of this statement is true, the second is not! Hand shaking is in fact a way of saying "hello", and in the same way, it does matter how you go about it. If you say "hello" to someone in a tone that suggests you really don't want to be there, they can sense it. If you smile and say hello, the greeting takes on a different meaning. The same goes for a hand shake.

If you are meeting someone for the first time, the handshake is the first opportunity they get to relate to you on a personal level. If you are not meeting for the first time, it is likely to be more informal, and doesn't create a lasting impression.

I learnt this the hard way. As a young woman, I tried to avoid hand shaking. It was quite an embarrassing situation to find myself in, and evidently, my handshake showed this discomfort. On work experience at a local radio station, I met someone for the first time in the kitchen. I said hello in a friendly manner, and tried to come across as a confident young woman, even though inside I was quite nervous.

The woman then came over to me to shake my hand. I was thankful that my hand was not clammy, so I continued in my usual manner to shake her hand in a loose and reserved manner. This turned out to be my biggest mistake of the week. She told me that I had an awful handshake, and it showed that I was not confident, and did not like the situation I was in. Okay, this was partly true, but I did not want it to be so obvious.

After some conversation about the handshake, I learned that it should always be a fairly firm grip, accompanied by good eye contact and a confident smile. Suddenly, handshaking felt important. I had learned a valuable lesson to take to future job interviews, and also social situations.

This is not to say that when you meet friends you have to firmly shake hands and appear confident. Of course, the handshake depends on the situation, but clearly as my experience shows, a handshake is a gateway to your personality.