You know the drill....you go through a break up...you want a new look...you dye your hair. It's the law. In a way. Soooo, my wonderful work colleagues, well namely my co-presenter Sam decided going Red would be my ideal new look. I hastily agreed, after pining for the red head look for some years now but never quite daring to. I get bored very easily with my hair...like my physical height, my hair follicles also seem to be vertically challenged. So growing long lustrous locks has always been far too tedious. It just seems to get to a point...and stop. Or go straggly. So in other ways of experimenting it's been bobbed, short, blue, black, mid way, pobbed, blonde, brunette (natural-rare), caramel, cropped and now....RED. The cropped look was a low point. At 23 I did NOT want to look like an 8 year old boy.
So off to the hairdressers I popped, all anxious and fearful, much like the dentists. This could be disastrous. Recently my hair was at it's longest, most natural and I was generally at peace with it...should I be mixing it up? This happened....
As you can see....disappointment all round. So, just before turning 29, I decided to take action. I LOVED being a bit red, but I'd had a taste and now wanted to really go for it. So I just picked up the brightest permanent red Boots had to offer, went home and applied. The first 5 minutes when it started tingling and a burning sensation crept across my scalp was a tad worrying...but stuck with it...and when washed off the result almost ended in tears. Which is actually a good thing as it was a shock....which means it made a difference!
Anyhoo...I now LOVE it and can't imagine being brunette again...it just seems a bit...boring (no offence-its my natural) but being red feels a little naughtier, more adventurous and as soon as my scalp calms down...the only way is redder!!!
One of my most exciting ventures over the last few weeks has been hosting the first ever Red Bull Rapids at Holme Pierrepont!
I was very excited about this as, no doubt you've seen previous Red Bull events. The Air Races-where pilots, who can only be described as complete lunatics, fly low level, flat out through obstacles, narrowly avoiding various landmarks...and peoples heads. Then of course, the Red Bull Flugtag...which looks far more up my street. You design, build and pilot a 'flying machine' which you then run off a jetway in the hope of flying, yet inevitably nosedive into the water. What I love about Flugtag is the brilliant designs people come up with. Like a flying taco. Or Snoopy. Or a Dragon. It's basically whatever comes into your brain. And I find it very, very funny.
So the Red Bull Rapids is basically the same concept. Except you are building a raft. And navigating your way down 500m rapids....you know this is not going to end well for most.
And it really did not disappoint. Before the event started, having a look at the designs and ideas the teams had come up with was utterly brilliant...
Bubble
The Captain Plaice
Personal favourite....H.M.S Rubber Ducky
The Start...
England cricketeer Stuart Broad was amongst the judges, who were looking for creativity, showmanship and of course....speed. (if they made it down)
I was at the starting jetty where the boats were launched and they performed their 'ritual'. A 30 second dance routine which would also contribute towards their score. At times I was struggling to pull it together, when several teams capsized the moment their vessel hit the water. Hilarious! Sorry teams...was just too funny.
Desert Island Risks...
RAPIDS
Congratulations to local Nottingham team, 'Water Wars' who smashed it and took home the Red Bull Rapids crown!!
I go through phases with my girl crushes. The first I remember was Dannii Monigue when I was about 10. I preferred her to Kylie because everyone loved Kylie and Dannii was a bit less 'obvious'. Plus she had dark hair and so did I. Ridiculous.
Just to clear this up...mainly incase you are male and don't quite understand the 'Girl Crush' concept. Sadly it isn't who I'd like to spend a night with. It is who I'd like to either look like/dress like/act like/perform like/be like/want their hair or boyfriend. Basically admire in some way.
Brief Britney-Slave era only....shaved head-not so much. Abs.
Went downhill with the pretty embarrassing Spice Girl crush. Geri Halliwell. Mainly when she became 'Trixie Firecracker'. Lets try and forget about this one shall we....
Teenage angst lead to Avril Lavigne...you know when she kicks that door in 'I'm With You'. I like...totally got that.
Then the Gwen Stefani stage....(still ongoing tbf)
Katy Perry....
Moss (also ongoing) Still want this exact dress (not the Topshop crappy copy)
And now, introducing my new latest addition....Lana Del Ray. She is like...so hot right now...
Oh the lovely Olly Murs. A load of my friends are IN LOVE with him, which I never really got (sorry Olly) but after interviewing him a couple of times I am starting to see why, he is a good old flirt and loads of fun to interview which always helps! There were hoards of fans outside which he spent ages with, signing autographs and making an effort. Was refreshing to see a celebrity genuinely enjoy all that adoration!
He just got to number one so hats off to Olly Murs...ooh....scuse the pun! (that'll make sense if you watch the video....)
Being a Leicestershire girl born and bred it was ruddy exciting when I first started going to Summer Sundae two years ago. A mini festival right on my doorstep, with the line up of artists getting bigger and better year by year. But in all honesty, the music is just a small part of it. The whole atmosphere of the festival is awesome, so friendly, chilled out and great fun. I mean...when there's giant cereal bowls and noodle discos on offer, what's not to love? I like to think it's like a teeny weeny piece of Glastonbury. Except I don't have to sleep in a wet/sweaty tent. Who needs Bono or Beyonce?!
Oh hi...
And I was all limbered up.
Friday night we smashed straight into some reggae from 'Toots and the Maytals', then topped it off with a Wagamamas, which coincidently had a dj spinning some 90's hip hop. Noodles and hip hop? Yeah that happened. I didn't see him but I imagine Jay Z was there somewhere...
Want chandelier.
I love campervans. This Airstream was so cool. Bought a drink from it purely on that basis.
With the band....
Pals in a big cereal bowl ala 'Honey I shrunk the Kids'
My new compact camera.
Saturday was all about mojitos in the sun, watching Amy Winehouses god daughter-Dionne bromfield, incredible voice! Then Newton Faulkner at sunset...straight onto our personal fave...the silent disco...
Teens leave such profound messages on the free writing wall. We drew a pair of tits. WE.ARE.28.YEARS.OLD.
Sunday was a bit of a struggle after a couple of debaucherous days (getting old) but managed to squeeze in a spot of McFly. Saw them backstage briefly, they seemed lovely. Watched about 20 minutes of them before realising I wasn't a 13 year old girl...and I only knew 2 of their songs. However they were putting on a great show for the screaming teens!
I am still very tired...all in all great result once again for Summer Sundae. It just gets better every year. Fingers are firmly crossed for Coldplay, Kings of Leon and U2 next year....come on Bono-you and The Edge can stay at mine?! Bring a sleeping bag though.
A few weeks ago we had a text in on the show asking why 'Dangerous Dave' was in fact labelled 'Dangerous'. Well, to be honest, with Dave being a super polite, straight laced church attending good christian boy, it was kind of...ironic. However it only seemed fair that we at least put his name to the test and allow him to prove himself as 'Dangerous'. It would be fun for us if anything?! We have made him eat the worlds hottest chilli in the past which almost floored him but we needed something a bit more challenging. He seemed reluctant but also excited by the prospect of a challenge so your suggestions came flooding in...
After the initial influx of bungee jumps, sky diving etc etc, we came across one text which we decided was the most unique...and funniest for us...err, I mean, Dave. This wasn't just for our pleasure of course...it was to prove a point. So the decision was made. The initial suggestion was that Dangerous Dave would ride a rollercoaster for the duration of the show. We liked the idea...but didn't feel it was quite edgy enough. That was pretty easy. But would it be easy riding it for a full 24 hours?! Oh...and while we're at it, why not stay on long enough to smash a Guinness World Record?! At least you're achieving something from it then! Dave didn't seem keen. Sadly we were and the wheels were put in motion.
Local theme park Twinlakes jumped in and offered us their log flume ride-which turned out even better as you have the added obstacle of water to deal with. Oh dear David. It was starting to become a rather miserable prospect. Especially after we headed down to test the log flume...and it was a lot steeper and stomach churning than I thought! Not to mention pretty uncomfortable...who wouldn't want to sit on a wooden bench for 24 hours?! To clarify-and clear up those grotty gritty details-under the rules of Guinness, Dave would be allowed a 5 minute break every hour, to nip to the loo or whatever he liked. He could choose to build these minutes up if he stayed on longer than an hour. Just needed to clear that up....
First of all...we had to get Dangerous Dave trained up and prepared for 24 hours of...well, getting wet...
And he's off....
Sam and I took some time to get used to accommodation for the evening....
11.30pm-16 Hours into the world record attempt....did some Late Night Fluming with Dave. Citing!
After a good nights sleep, feeling refreshed, Sam and I did the show live from the rooftop of the winnebago the next morning. Dave was still going strong....23 hours in. Bless it...
Then at 24 Hours, 14 Minutes and 45 seconds, Dangerous Dave completed the Guinness World Record for the longest time spent on a theme park ride. Relatively unscathed and most importantly, still alive... AWOOGA!
So if there's an A list celebrity in the East Midlands, we feel it's our duty to track them down and try and get an interview, or failing that, at least stalk them and find out what they're up to. It's our obligation to you of course. We tracked down Michael Buble when he was here...he LOVED our banner we made...we had a chat with Ronan Keating at his hotel, went backstage with JLS, Kelly Clarkson, James Blunt, Olly Murs to name but a few. So when we heard world class actors Anne Hathaway and occasional psycho Christian Bale were filming scenes for the new blockbuster 'Batman-Dark Knight Rises' at Wollaton hall in Nottingham, we were VERY excited. And of course, we wanted to get closer. However this would be a risky one. I mean, we all remember how angry Christian Bale can get if you interrupt one of his scenes....
There was no way of getting Bale or Hathaway in for an interview so we were gonna have to go stealth...and find them ourselves, by invading Wollaton Park. Risky move with this live cannon of an actor. But it was a risk we were willing to take. Well, when I say we...I actually mean Dangerous Dave and Producer Simon from the show. Security was gonna be tight so we had to go to extreme measures...
They were ready to infiltrate....but did we find Bale?!
