Now, I’m pretty good at navigating websites and second-guessing the nuances of wizz kid designers.  So whilst I won’t go as far as to say the new Spicer Hallfield website actually got me beat, time is money, and after fifteen minutes of trying to locate the products I wanted, I caved in and picked up the phone.

Me: Hello, I’d like to place an order please.
SH: I’m sorry we can’t take your order over the phone.

After explaining I couldn’t locate the items on their new web site, she put me through to someone called Mark who kindly talked me through the intricacies of the new portal.  Apparently it is easier to enter a keyword, such as “Classic” to narrow down the number of items you have to scroll through!  Once you’ve found the album you require, however, there is no link to buy spare pages for that album.  You have to start a completely new search, again guessing what the best keyword might be this time!

OK, so we’re getting there.  Wait…!  It states on the website that read the rest of this article…

Whilst in the thick of decorating and floor-laying last week, we reopened the studio briefly (pun intended) to do a quick fashion shoot in the name of charity.

Roger (Mr July) of Autoproducts, has been testing out his company’s new printing press by putting all the Cheeky Chappies calendar pictures onto tee shirts to be sold for charity.

The calendar itself raised over £2,700 for North Wales Cancer Services.  It is hoped the sale of the printed tee-shirts will push the total to over £3,000.

Law student Charli, of Bodfari, took time out from her studies to model the garments.  It was hard to believe she had never modelled before.  She was an absolute pleasure to work with.

So if one of the Cheeky Chappies is close to your… erm.. heart, you will soon be able to buy one of these limited edition sets via the Cheeky Chappies web site or at selected outlets in Ruthin.

More pictures on the Cheeky Chappies web site soon.

We’ve just enjoyed another great night out in Liverpool.

The evening began with a nosh at the Everyman Bistro. Who cares if it’s like sitting in a school canteen – the food was brilliant. Loads of vegetarian choices and lots of gluten-free dishes too. (It truly is the mark of a good, caring, restaurant when they acknowledge the one in fourteen of us who are veggies and the ever growing number who are medically intolerant to wheat). The atmosphere in there was great too. And it was interesting ear-wigging Matthew Kelly and his chums on the next table!

Our theatre tickets, however, were for elsewhere. So we left the Matthews Rixon and Kelly to perform their Endgame at The Everyman and walked back into the city centre.

Alan Bleasdale penned On The Ledge some fifteen years ago, and has rewritten parts of this black comedy for it’s current airing at the Royal Court Theatre.

It is set three stories up read the rest of this article…

We’ve got wall-to-wall floors you know!

…and sore knees!

Actually, the laminate flooring went down quite well.  It took all afternoon, mind you.  And by afternoon, I don’t mean a couple of hours after a long lunch, then a tea break, then another hour before going home.  No,  I mean the whole six-hour afternoon – and a chunk of the evening!

It’s not that it was a large area. Far from it.  It’s just that our shop/reception is in a part of the building that was added in 1933 on a piece of triangular land between this property and next door, so there are no right angles in the whole room.  They got away with all sorts in those days.  Now, if you so much as utter the phrase  “uPVC Windows” the listed building police will come and take you away.

No Skirting boards yet.  That’s a job for the morning – along with clearing all the junk out of the camera room for a fashion shoot in the afternoon.  Then it’s business as usual for a few days before starting on the camera room itself.

The Whole Story

 
There can be few things in life quite so exciting as watching paint dry.

There’s the anticipation as you open the can. Well… plastic tub actually. Why did they do that?  What was wrong with the good old fashioned tin can?  You knew where you were with a paint tin.  You stuck your screwdriver under the rim…  a quick flick of the wrist…  and off popped the lid! 

Now we have to reverse engineer the designer’s miracle new fastening.  We have to get into the mind of the maniac who decided this lip would clip into that groove and hold the lid on so tight your finger nails would give up long before paint ever saw the light of day.

There is a slot that is way too big for a humble screwdriver – yet far too small for a handyman’s thumb.  And has this one got a plastic tab to tear off first?  Or not?  Give us a bloody clue!  Better still – give us a paint tin!

Then there’s the dismay as the lid finally pops off to reveal a blotchy globby gel-like substance which doesn’t even come close to resembling the colour chart.  Tell me:  If they call it non-drip, why has it got a half-inch-deep runny stagnant pond sloshing about on top of it?

The label says “Do Not Stir” but it doesn’t tell you what to do with the pond!

Now the real fun starts.   When two people are involved in the decision making process, the first paint stroke hitting the wall will usually coincide with the brown stuff hitting the fan.

“It’s too dark”. “No it’s not”. “I told you we should have gone for magnolia”.  Boring old fart”.  “Well I wanted to wallpaper”. “But woodchip went out with the 20th century”. “It is – it’s much too dark”.  “It’ll dry lighter”.

It didn’t.  Dry lighter, that is.  But I have to admit, it was exciting watching it happen.

The Whole Story

The woodwork got painted today. 

Thank goodness for quick-drying undercoat!  Without it we’d never have been able to rub down, undercoat, rub down, undercoat again, then gloss all in one day!

The purists would say you shouldn’t try to do all in one day anyway.  But then, the purists say a lot of things – much of which is Pure Bollocks. 

Can I say that in here?  read the rest of this article…

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So tell me – how DO  they do that on TV’s 60 Minute Makeover?  Jayne and I have worked out we’ll be hard pressed to finish this little lot in 60 days! 

Although we did get the ceiling painted in the shop/reception, most of today was spent on preparation.

Up came the carpet.  Three years ago it was a good idea.  Unfortunately, read the rest of this article…

Meat Loaf he ain’t

…but Hell, you wouldn’t know! – He’s got the hair, the belly, the look and charisma.

As we drove down to the venue, Jayne remarked “This Hollis guy’s going to have to be good to sound like the real thing”!

She needn’t have worried. Sure, Hollis was a Dead Ringer for Michael Lee Aday (Meat Loaf to you and me) – but most of all he’s got the voice too.

This wasn’t just another tribute band.  This was the Meat Loaf Rock Opera, and as the story unfolded, Hollis, his singers and his band delivered a superb performance from start to finish.

Close your eyes and it WAS  Meat Loaf.  Open them again and you still found it hard to believe that this wasn’t the man himself, delivering song after powerful song from the stage at Rhyl’s Pavilion theatre.

I honestly couldn’t fault it.  The band were brilliant – and kudos to their new bassist who delivered a flawless base line throughout despite this being only his third appearance with the band.  He was really living the dream and he did it effortlessly.  I’ll wager not many of the audience even picked up on the fact he was having to keep one eye on the sheet music as he gave it his all.

Sound quality – so often left wanting at this type of event – was spot on.  The two sound engineers did a great job.

The four girl singers – all from Cornwall – were not just decoration and backing vocals.  Each of them performed solo numbers which proved what talented singers they were.  One of the newest, who played the dippy character Daisy, had a squeaky “little girl” speaking voice and an authentic New York accent.  You found it hard to believe where the sound was coming from when this delightfully diminutive creature belted out “Devil Gate Drive” with such gusto that would have put Suzi Quatro herself to shame. Absolutely brilliant!

Jayne and I came away with our ears ringing, hands stinging and our feet still tapping.

If the Meat Loaf Rock Opera tour includes a venue in your area – don’t miss it!  Hell! If it ISN’T visiting your area – still don’t miss it!

You’ll find the tour dates on their web site:

www.thedeadringerfromhell.co.uk

Mr April, Myfyr Roberts, is a stickler for wearing the correct safety equipment whilst on site!

• Use the “Calendar Shoot” topic link below to view the rest of this year’s charity calendar.