Ben's Blog

A non definitive dump of things that make me happy

• My imagination
• My Foster Allen shoes
• My Vibram five fingers running shoes
• Travelling
• improving my Capoeira
• Singing in the Roda
• hanging out with friends
• Lost
• Music
• Concerts
• My thick blue Icelandic jumper
• The Tango
• Reading old letters
• Being loved
• Being in Love
• My friends
• my family
• Remembering my grandparents.
• Taking photos
• Making a mix tape.
• Skating
• Lending a helping hand
• Spontaneity
• intimacy
• Laughing so much it hurts
• cycling
• telling a story
• Cooking
• Eating
• running
• meditation
• green tea
• hot buttered toast with Marmite
• learning new things
• the smell of cinnamon
• Security
• Safety
• predictability
• Thrill of the new
• Orange juice
• health
• routine
• Being on top of things
• a sense of accomplishment

Born in the Seventies

Last night my sister was on TV with her fiancée. He had been asked to talk about the Little Princess Trust, a charity that he and his ex wife had founded in memory of their daughter, who lost her battle in June 2005. The charity provide custom made quality wigs for any child that may need one.

The show was called Noel’s HQ, live on Sky one; (Small side note: I found out this morning that the show’s homepage is part of the sky1 website, one of the last projects I worked on prior to leaving BSkyB.)

Lacking Sky, I had no way to watch the show, so I listened. I phoned home and asked that the handset was left by the speaker of their TV. The spot regarding the charity was brief, but I thought tastefully done, I hope the additional exposure proves to be helpful. Noel announced that  Gail Porter would like to be a patron of the charity.

I had arranged to meet up with them after the show. It had been the end of a long day, all were emotional, but happy about the outcome. I got a chance to briefly talk to Gail. I remember fancying her during her days on Saturday morning TV, she came across as intelligent, warmed hearted and funny. She’ll make an excellent face to promote the charity.

Lastly, I couldn’t miss my opportunity to say hi to my old hero. Just at the turn of the 70’s, Noel was one of the biggest stars in the UK, he was a radio 1 DJ and he hosted the biggest show on Children’s TV – Noel’s Saturday morning swap shop. Seeing Noel again, reminded me of when my grandfather managed to get me a signed poster of Noel lounging on a speed boat. I can’t stress how excited and proud I was to have that unique poster, I couldn’t believe it was real. In my five year old eyes, it was held in the same regard as a rare religious artefact. If the house burnt down, the only thing I'd want to salvage would have been the poster, I considered it priceless. So, obviously, I had to go up to Noel and tell him how infatuated I was. He kindly laughed, didn’t call security and said I must have been scared for life, I reassured him that no permanent damage was done and wished him all the best. Sadly, I’m not sure what happened to that poster.