Today was International Women's day and I am a woman so I've been celebrating being one, but what is it really all about? Well according to www.internationalwomensday.com International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The website is really interesting, it has a timeline referring to the history of how the rights of women have changed over the years and really does make an interesting read. Personally for me I've been going around all day with the song ' I am Woman' by Helen Reddy in my head. It's such an uplifting 'punch your hand in the air' girl power song. The lyrics are brilliant and can be found at www.metrolyrics.com/i-am-woman-lyrics-helen-reddy.html I love the fact that according to Ray Burton and Helen Reddy, the songwriters 'I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman' and also that I am 'still an embryo, with a long long way to go until I make my brother understand' which is very appropriate for today. I do consider myself to have a long way to go, as a woman, every day is a new day and another one to educate ourselves. I appreciate the sacrifices others have made to give me the rights I have today but there will be always more to improve on. This song also reminded me off Sex and the City as it featured in the second movie. The series told of four women in New York and their story through life's little adventures involving work, love, sex, health and family. It's one of those programmes that will have you laughing one moment and crying the next. Four very different and strong women, but then that got me thinking about other strong inspirational women. There are so many but here are my Top 5: JK Rowling - most famous for being the author of the 'Harry Potter' series but more so by overcoming domestic abuse, depression and as a single mum living on benefits she pushed through all this and found the encouragement she needed to write one of the most successful series of novels of all time. Temple Grandin - world renowned spokesperson in the world of Autism. She was one of the first to talk publicly about her own life living with Autism. If you haven't read her books you really need to as they are very interesting. A true inspiration. For more information you can find Temple at www.templegrandin.com Diana Princess of Wales - A beautiful inspirational woman who lives on through her sons. I never considered myself a huge royalist but through all her struggles she left a massive impression on me. She was the rebel of the the royals, and I liked that she fought for her own individuality and was loved by so many. Very sadly missed but will always remain an icon for many women. Nicola Adams - the first woman to win an olympic title in boxing. I watched her in the Olympics, she was just so exciting to watch, you could see that it was her dream and she has worked so hard to make it come true. Now a professional boxer I just feel she is an inspiration to so many young women who have an aspiration to do something different and succeed, she definitely shows the way. This also applies to our women's football teams too as both these sports were seen as mainly male dominated but now it's on the change. I'm gonna say it..... the girls play better football Go girls!! and the final woman that inspires me the most and has done all my life is: My Mum - this woman has been there through all my ups and downs and never ceases to amaze me with her logical outlook on life. Her continued support is so appreciated and I love her more than words can say. You always wait for a moment when you hope that you made your parents proud and my moment was with the birth of my boys. I wasn't very good looking after my dolls you see and I think it was a main concern when I became pregnant for the first time. After not bothering to dress 'Tiny Tear's and feeding her for days I could see the worry in my mums eyes when I aired those normal, first time mum concerns such as 'will I know when to change a nappy' and 'will I know when my baby will want feeding'. It all worked out ok and my boys are healthy 14 and 16 year olds now, so I think I did good. If I am half the mum my mum is then I'm happy and very proud to be her daughter. So we are women hear us roar!! And we will continue to roar for many years. I hope my fellow ladies had a great day.....catch you for more tomorrow. Thanks for reading.....
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I ventured out the other night to the Flowerpot in Derby to see The Kast off Kinks. Now I've never really considered myself to be a mahoosive fan of The Kinks and really thought I would struggle to remember many of their hits but blimey, how one forgets sometimes. I remembered just about every single song they played, classics such as:
You Really Got Me, Autumn Almanac., Dedicated Follower of Fashion, A Well Respected Man, Where Have All the Good Times Gone, Sunny Afternoon, All Day and All of the Night, Lola, Waterloo Sunset, Apeman, Tired of Waiting for You, Village Green, Set Me Free, Days, Come Dancing..........and many more. I was thinking I was way too young to remember all those, but obviously not. Having not done a lot of research before this evening of nostalgia I hadn't realised that this band were not just a tribute band but actually consisted of former members of the actual Kinks. It does state this on the poster but I must of rendered myself partially sighted after realising how old I was and how far I can go back with my music. Woahhhhh! though, what a performance and ignore me harping on about my age, these guys are in their 70's!! I was totally blown away with the energy and the fact that these guys also cart all their own equipment around as well. How fit? I felt ashamed feeling a little tired after just singing and dancing for a while. I couldn't actually believe how many genres of music The Kinks actually go through, there is something for everyone really and the crowd at Derby were in fine voice showing their appreciation for good quality live music. The venue was packed and a sellout I believe, a wide range of ages which just goes to show what a great band they are and how their music has evolved and appealed to everyone at some point over the years. So thank you to Dave Clarke, John Dalton, Ian Gibbons and the fabulous Mick Avory who performed the classic 'Dedicated Follower of Fashion' with 'style'. I can really recommend seeing them if you get the chance, you can find more at www.kastoffkinks.co.uk Thanks also go to the lovely Alan and Lisa Woolley from Raw Promotions who never fail to put on a great gig at The Flowerpot, they also promote gigs at The Rescue Rooms in Nottingham and many more. Cheers also to all the Staff at the Flowerpot. I love this place.....it's friendly atmosphere makes it just one of the best pub/venues in Derby to visit so if you haven't been please go, they have so much entertainment and food available. Find the gig guide at www.rawpromo.co.uk and information about The Flowerpot at www.flowerpotderby.co.uk Tell us what you think if you've had a night out there, leave a comment below. Please go out and support live music!! Take care for now and catch you tomorrow for Teapot Tuesday. Twenty years of World Book Day, a delight for some but a nightmare for others, usually flustered parents who haven't quite prepared a costume for the big day. I love the concept of World Book Day because there is nothing quite like children being excited about books and encouraging them to read. This is the event where a great number of children own their very own book for the very first time. Tokens are distributed around schools and there are ten free books to choose from or the voucher can be used for £1 discount on other books including audio too. It's great!!.......or is it? World Book day, for some is one of the most stressful days of the year. It's the time where nurseries and schools thought is was a great idea to not only get children reading and book friendly but also to dress up as their favourite character from a book. I love this personally and really want to dress up myself. My kids are older now so there is part of me that misses it a little bit but another part of me that doesn't miss the complete disorganisation of it. As a parent you usually remember about World Book Day the night before. You can't blame the lost note in your child's bag anymore as it gets plastered on social media now and if the school has a text service, well it's usually there in black and white.....dressing up time!!! yippee. Amazon sales must soar at this time of year, the dressing up shop staff are rubbing their hands together as the world has just created yet another time to spend money on costumes that are not going to be worn again, a bit like Halloween and Christmas jumper day. The best idea is to just pop to your local charity shop as there will be loads of costumes there just waiting to be recycled for a time like this. The thing is though the shops are not open 8pm when you've completely forgotten to get something sorted and even Amazon are not that quick. Panic!!! Your house then turns into an episode of Blue Peter as you gather all emergency household products to build a costume that may just pass for a literature character. Some people actually create a whole new character no one has heard off to go with the costume about to be created. There is now an enormous amount of pressure to produce the kind of outfit to compete with the other child in school whose parent has a wardrobe for every eventuality, although they keep the adult costumes somewhere secret!!! (wink wink). Yes there's always the one child that when you turn up at school on the day you have to do a double take to see whether Harry Potter has actually made a guest appearance as that wand is very authentic. Maybe they could use it to cast a spell on some of the costumes which you struggle to work out what they actually are, you can't ask as that would just upset the small person and the parent, who will always confirm that it's bloomin obvious what it is!!! After all a lot of cardboard, paint and duck tape went into to making that masterpiece. Some children just don't want to take part and actually realise how much they appreciate their uniform, I suppose it's optional but it does become quite competitive. It's good to see the pictures on social media as there are some great effort made. and it is so nice to see children smiling, having fun and showing an appreciation for literature. If it starts the road to a passion of reading and a love of books then it's got to be a good thing, it must be as it would not have been successful for all these years. Hold in there fellow parents, remember - leave plenty of time and you don't have to buy expensive costumes. The World Book Day website give plenty of hints, resources and all the information you need really at www.worldbookday.com I'm just off to decide what to wear next year, I might just randomly take part, must remember to stick to children's books and not go for anything 50 Shades style but thats' another blog for another day.......take care and catch you tomorrow for Free From Friday! So today became the day for tougher laws regarding mobile phone use in cars. Woah....a massive £200 fine and 6 points on your licence if you are caught using your phone while driving. For new drivers, having passed your test within the last two years, you could see your licence being revoked and having to take a retest. So is this a long time coming? Too harsh? Personally I think it's about time. I am not sitting here writing this, polishing my halo (not been issued with one) and saying at some point I have not done things by the book but for most of the time, while I'm driving I do tend to put my phone in my bag and the bag goes in the boot (trunk for my US readers). For me I just can't have the distraction, it's enough to have passengers in the car without a phone ringing, a text message pinging or my sat nav sending me in the wrong direction. I do use the hands free option on a long journey and use the sat nav on my phone but I would honestly prefer the old road map. This is where I may consider I have a place on the autism spectrum, amongst other things I do obsess about a map. I could read a map like people read novels. Love it! If I've been on a journey I like to retrace my route afterwards. My perfect preparation for a long journey though is to read a road map the night before, I can memorise the route quite well which totally surprises me as I can't for the life of me remember anything else. Then what I do is write the main roads down in order and stick it in the car, job done! I have never gone wrong using that method. The sat nav however totally frustrates me. You program your journey and it takes you everywhere except the place you want to go. The shortest journey??? It turns into the longest ever, I swear there is a real pixie person in that box, goodness knows I swear at it enough. I do feel for the people who use a mobile phone a lot in their car for work but I just feel safety comes first and as we see more in the media, lives need to be saved. These rules on how we use our phones while driving have been in place since December 2003 but I think the changes in the penalties has highlighted what we can and can't do regarding taking calls and general usage. I can't actually believe the amount of people who were caught out today after all the media attention. They were probably reading the news on their mobile phones on the way to work when they got caught. I find the information on the AA website is really good regarding 'using mobile phones while driving' www.theaa.com/driving-advice/legal/mobile-phones .....hope this helps and just please be careful when driving. There are many distractions while driving, not just phones. I've never been able to even mess with the stereo in my car especially after the 'Rachel Incident' the last episodes of the original Cold Feet. I won't spoil it if you've not seen it, for those that have will know what I mean. That has stuck with me for years now. So please stay safe, and join me tomorrow........ |
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